Investiture of the Gods: I am Bigan, the Master of Conspiracy

Chapter 193 My Heart Belongs to Heaven!
After leaving Wuzhuang Temple, Yin Ziyu and Luo Shen headed west to begin planning their calamity.

Actually, before the Wuzhuang Temple, Guanyin had already arranged many tribulations. There were so many of these tribulations, whether they counted or not was up to them to decide.

In other words, the Buddhist sect decides whether or not to calculate a minor difficulty, but Heaven will assess the difficulty and bestow merit accordingly. Therefore, they will naturally decide whether or not to calculate a difficulty.

If Yin Ziyu had set up major calamities on their journey to the West, and they couldn't overcome them, their scriptures would inevitably be deducted. In that case, Yin Ziyu wouldn't care how they calculated the calamities.

Luo Shen's beautiful eyes were filled with worry as she softly asked Yin Ziyu, "Ziyu, is it really impossible to restore innate spiritual energy? There is endless chaotic energy in the chaos, is it impossible to make it into innate spiritual energy?"

Yin Ziyu sighed deeply, his expression full of helplessness: "To restore one's innate spiritual energy is as difficult as ascending to heaven. If this matter could be accomplished easily, those sages would not have sat idly by; they would have taken action long ago."

Luo Shen frowned slightly and asked, "If we really want to try, what should we do?"

Yin Ziyu's expression was solemn as he slowly said, "Chaotic spiritual energy is unrestrained and violent, while innate spiritual energy is orderly and gentle. Transforming chaotic spiritual energy into innate spiritual energy is no easy task. First, chaotic spiritual energy must be broken down into earth, water, fire, and wind, and then it must undergo the sorting process of the laws of heaven before finally being recombined into innate spiritual energy. This process of decomposition and recombination requires the combined efforts of the two supreme innate treasures, the Chaos Bell and the Taiji Diagram."

"The chaotic energy contains disordered laws. If the formation is not stable enough, it may cause immeasurable consequences. For example, the spiritual energy it generates will carry chaotic attributes. Once a cultivator inhales it, it is uncertain what will happen in the entire Three Realms, such as the resentment of chaotic gods and demons, demonic energy, etc. This is a method to disrupt the Three Realms!"

This is somewhat similar to a prehistoric version of a zombie apocalypse.

"If we forcibly inject foreign chaotic spiritual energy into the primordial world, it is highly likely to cause a conflict of rules. The chaotic spiritual energy and the primordial heavenly way repel each other, thus causing the collapse of spacetime. If this happens, the heavenly way will judge it as heresy, and there will be endless heavenly punishment!"

"Now that the foundations of the three primordial paths—Heaven, Earth, and Man—have been destroyed, spiritual energy will continue to leak out through the gaps. To truly solve the problem, the conversion efficiency must exceed the rate of loss, and the amount of chaotic spiritual energy input required for this is almost comparable to the terrifying amount Pangu used when he created the world. It's impossible!"

Upon hearing this, Luo Shen couldn't help but sigh softly, "Now that the Chaos Bell has disappeared, accomplishing this task is even more difficult than before!"

Yin Ziyu's expression also darkened, and he sighed, "The river of time flows endlessly forward. If we want to change the Three Realms as they are now, at least one of us, you or I, must attain enlightenment and obtain that supreme power, only then will there be a glimmer of hope."

In fact, with the decline of spiritual energy in the Three Realms, some people naturally intend to absorb chaotic spiritual energy. However, this is chaotic spiritual energy, and those whose cultivation level is not above the Great Luo level dare not walk in the chaos, and those who are not above the Primordial level dare not inhale it, otherwise it will damage their Dao foundation.

This is similar to how people on Earth dare not walk in space.

The process of refining innate spiritual energy is incredibly difficult. Even a sage could refine it, but would a sage be willing to pay such a price for the sake of all living beings in the Three Realms?

Luo Shen's eyes flickered as she looked at Yin Ziyu and said softly, "Ziyu, I really didn't expect that the Buddhist sect would agree to your bet."

Yin Ziyu remained calm, a knowing smile playing on his lips, and said, “They are single-mindedly pushing forward the Journey to the West, which represents the trend they believe in. In that case, they must prove the superiority of their faith. If they dare not confront the doubts, their faith will instantly lose its so-called superiority in the eyes of all beings in the Three Realms, and the meaning of the Journey to the West will be lost.”

Luo Shen nodded slightly, her beautiful eyes sparkling, and said thoughtfully, "In that case, participating in the Journey to the West in the form of a bet can be considered as allowing all living beings to participate and witness together whether faith and cultivation are indeed the general trend. Should we now arrange the calamity according to the five points you previously explained?"

Yin Ziyu nodded and said, "Exactly. All the tribulations on this journey to the West will be carefully planned based on these five points. They will also have to prove the advanced nature of this path of faith to all living beings."

Luo Shen frowned slightly, her expression showing some worry, and said, "But we need to ensure that they cannot easily break the calamity. This must be perfectly arranged, without any oversight."

After hearing this, Yin Ziyu smiled faintly and said, "Don't worry. This path of faith and cultivation, fundamentally speaking, cannot completely resolve the hidden dangers. To completely resolve them, we must address the root cause. The West is the stronghold of Buddhism, and the Western faith is pure, so they naturally won't see the hidden crisis for the time being. This is also the reason for their confidence. However, once they spread their teachings to the East, the situation will be completely different, and it will inevitably evolve in an intractable direction. We only need to grasp this point, guide the situation accordingly, and the calamities we create will be difficult for them to overcome."

Luo Shen's gaze shifted thoughtfully as she looked at Yin Ziyu and asked softly, "Ziyu, according to this logic, should we really arrange eighty-one tribulations?"

Yin Ziyu gently shook his head and slowly said, "No need. We only need to arrange five difficulties, which are the five I mentioned before. You need to understand that the so-called eighty-one difficulties are the total number of hardships that Tang Sanzang is destined to experience on his journey to the West, but it does not mean that we have to actually arrange eighty-one. Furthermore, even if we arrange not enough difficulties, they will definitely make up for it on their own."

Luo Shen nodded slightly and then said, "I see. But if that's the case, if they can't even pass these five tribulations, according to the previous agreement, wouldn't they only lose five scriptures? That's a bit too few."

Yin Ziyu smiled knowingly and said, “It’s not that simple. Eighty-one, in the numerology of the universe, represents the number of perfection. Even if they were to pass on eighty copies, though it’s only one short, it would still be far from perfection, representing incompleteness. This seemingly small difference has a world of difference in meaning for them. Missing one scripture is enough to affect their hoped-for Journey to the West project and the promotion of the faith it embodies.”

Luo Shen understood Yin Ziyu's explanation. Her beautiful eyes were still filled with worry as she softly asked, "Is it really true that the path of faith cannot resolve the five points you mentioned, Ziyu?"

Yin Ziyu tilted his head slightly, lost in thought, and after a moment slowly said, "It cannot be resolved. The root cause is that the East is not their territory for spreading their religion. If they want to spread their religion in the East, they must use benefits to lure people, otherwise it will be difficult to gain their faith. Therefore, if they want to obtain pure faith, they must make people like Sun Wukong."

After hearing this, Luo Shen pondered it carefully.

Like Sun Wukong... Indeed, this method is quite similar to that of the Chan Sect, both of which leave sentient beings in a state of ignorance and confusion, and then tell them that only by kneeling and worshipping the Buddha can they enter the Pure Land after death.

To put it bluntly, it's all the same method of proselytizing—breaking someone's leg and then offering them a crutch. Whether it's Buddhism or the Chan sect, it's all the same.

There's a core issue here: cost. This way, there's no cost to proselytizing.

Yin Ziyu continued, “Only the dull-witted can develop so-called pure faith. However, the Eastern land has experienced countless millennia of power struggles and conflicts. Even ordinary people have experienced the ways of the world and would not easily develop such pure faith. Nowadays, ordinary people in the East have formed a concept: if it works, they worship; if it doesn't, they don't. In this light, the path of faith that Buddhism hopes for is nothing more than wishful thinking on their part.”

Luo Shen seemed thoughtful, then asked, "So it seems that this method of faith and cultivation is ultimately wrong." Yin Ziyu did not answer immediately, but pondered for a moment and slowly said, "They can't solve it, but we can. We can't oppose for the sake of opposing."

Upon hearing this, Luo Shen was slightly taken aback and asked in surprise, "Shall we resolve this?"

Yin Ziyu nodded firmly and said, "That's right, we'll solve it. The so-called pure faith, like the faith that you, Mi Fei, obtained in Luoshui, is pure. I have pondered this for a long time. Now that the realm of the heart has been formed, the growth of the realm of the heart needs to rely on the hearts of all living beings. This journey to the West can be the perfect opportunity for the growth of the realm of the heart."

Luo Shen's eyes flashed, and she immediately understood, saying, "In Zi Yu's realm of mind, everything is mind. All living beings in the Three Realms are bound by various shackles and fetters, and only in Zi Yu's realm of mind can they achieve perfection. If this is true, then one can indeed use the Journey to the West to achieve the Way of the Realm of Mind."

Yin Ziyu, with a solemn expression, continued, “The current state of the Three Realms is all due to the decline of spiritual energy. The decline of spiritual energy will give rise to change, and faith and cultivation are the first wave of this change. Whoever can control this change will dominate the future. We don’t need to oppose faith for the sake of opposing it, but rather to be more progressive. Therefore, the Mind Realm, with its idealistic approach, provides all beings with a new path to ascension, and this is the direction of the future. If the Mind Realm is to achieve great success, it needs to unite the hearts of all beings, and then unite the fire of humanity, using the Mind Realm to support the future of the Three Realms. And if I want to open the sixth aperture, I must also unite the fire of humanity.”

Yin Ziyu gazed into the distance. This was a way to combine his own methods to complete the Journey to the West. Stopping the Journey to the West was not the fundamental goal; the fundamental goal was to use this opportunity to achieve his own objective.

Whether it's Buddhism, Chan Buddhism, or Renjiao, we shouldn't treat them as enemies, but rather as sources of experience and lessons learned. That's the right approach.

Randeng also welcomed Yin Ziyu's arrangements for the Journey to the West, precisely because Randeng also regarded Yin Ziyu as a source of experience points.

Yin Ziyu is now famous throughout the Three Realms and can be said to have never been defeated. If one could defeat Yin Ziyu, the prestige and fortune gained would be indescribable.

This creates a phenomenon: because Yin Ziyu is so famous, defeating him brings huge gains, while being outmaneuvered by him results in minimal losses, which seems to be quite reasonable.

Therefore, Randeng welcomed Yin Ziyu's plan for the Journey to the West. If handled properly, the gains would be enormous, and the merit of the Journey to the West would be the greatest.

Because Yin Ziyu represents the remaining force that hindered the great trend of the Investiture of the Gods calamity, defeating him would be equivalent to eliminating Yin Ziyu, and the merit bestowed by Heaven would naturally be immense.

Now, Yin Ziyu has attained enlightenment through his heart and is facing the prospect of entering a new realm, a realm above the Great Luo Immortal. This realm is extraordinary, representing the ultimate path of sublimation, a crucial step between the Great Luo Golden Immortal and the Primordial Great Luo Golden Immortal.

Using the Qian hexagram to describe this state, it is like leaping from the abyss, at the moment of the final leap.

To reach this level, one must now fully perfect the Mind Dao system.

Now we need to draw upon the hearts of all beings to gather boundless spiritual power and strengthen our spiritual realm. This comes from Yin Ziyu's unwavering belief that my infinitely vast heart is transforming from the abstract to the concrete.

The reason for the establishment of Wuzhuang Temple is that it was founded to gather the hearts of all beings and perfect the path of self-cultivation.

Luo Shen gazed at Yin Ziyu with deep affection and inquiry in her eyes, and asked softly, "Ziyu, do you perhaps intend to use the momentum of the Journey to the West to forge your own path to enlightenment?"

Yin Ziyu nodded slowly, his expression resolute, his eyes filled with determination: "Exactly. The path of severing corpses to prove one's Dao may seem smooth, but it is actually a dead end. Therefore, I must seize this opportunity and forge a completely new path to prove my Dao."

Luo Shen looked at Yin Ziyu gently, her tone resolute: "No matter how treacherous the road ahead may be, Mi Fei is willing to follow Ziyu all the way."

Yin Ziyu was slightly moved and nodded in response: "You and I have come all the way since the era of the Investiture of the Gods, experiencing countless trials and tribulations, to reach this day. We must also walk hand in hand on the road to the future."

Luo Shen tilted her head slightly, pondered for a moment, and then asked, "Ziyu, so the key to your current enlightenment is to focus on improving your mental realm?"

Yin Ziyu nodded again, his expression solemn, and said, "The way of Heaven is to take from the excess and give to the deficiency; while the way of the heart is to use the wishes of the masses as a sharp blade to dissect the illusory Heaven and thus forge a brand new world."

Yin Ziyu didn't say anything more, but the ultimate goal is to act on behalf of Heaven. How can this be achieved?

This is to take the thoughts of all beings as the source, reconstruct the underlying rules of all beings, and ultimately achieve the primordial transcendence of the human mind being the mind of Heaven.

Luo Shen's eyes flashed, as if she had realized something, and she asked, "Does this mean that we need to leverage the entire Three Realms in the Journey to the West, using the will of all living beings as leverage and the power of the source of the heart as the fulcrum, in order to achieve enlightenment?"

Yin Ziyu's eyes flashed with approval, and he nodded in affirmation, "That's right. This discussion at Wuzhuang Temple is the beginning."

With a hint of expectation and doubt, Luo Shen softly asked Yin Ziyu, "In the future, does Ziyu have the intention to return the Three Realms to the Primordial Era?"

Upon hearing this, Yin Ziyu couldn't help but smile slightly: "Returning to the Primordial Era has always been the grand ambition of the Jie Sect. However, if I can successfully attain enlightenment in the future and plan to bring the Three Realms back to the Primordial Era, it is not actually contradictory."

Luo Shen nodded slightly, her eyes full of agreement, and softly echoed, "Ziyu is absolutely right."

Yin Ziyu's expression turned serious as he said, "Let's go. The most important thing right now is to start setting up the first ko. This first ko is like the first move in a game of chess; it is crucial and will set the tone for everything that follows."

Luo Shen nodded slightly, her mind in tune with Yin Ziyu's. A flash of light enveloped them, and they vanished from their spot, leaving behind only a silent void.

(End of this chapter)