The True Lord has arrived

Chapter 108: How high is the path to immortality?
A shimmering light appeared on the jade book. This time, it wasn't a new page that was turned, but rather the page of the rat spirit "Lamp Shadow" who stole the lamp oil from the Buddha's lamp.

The story of the rat spirit is not yet complete.

However, although ripples have appeared, they have not continued to unfold.

This hollow place of Buddha's heart is not small. It spirals and spreads downwards. Zhou Yan, holding his sword, walks slowly downwards, using the power of the Mountain Lord Jade Talisman to ride the flowing wind.

A gentle breeze swirled around Zhou Yan.

Once an enemy approaches, the flowing wind will transform into ripples, transmitting this change to Zhou Yan's heart, allowing him to react quickly.

In the main hall of the Reclining Buddha Temple, Chen Xuanli, Li Longji, and Gao Lishi watched the young Taoist priest descend with his knife, their hearts slightly pounding. Chen Xuanli paused for a moment, then said, "Your Majesty, you said he is—"

Lord Taishan.

A first-rank immortal deity personally bestowed with titles by successive generations, possessing unparalleled cultivation and immeasurable magical power.

However, that young man, although brave and bold, and whose magical power seemed unfathomable, was still limited to the level of the human world. According to Gao Lishi's judgment, he was considered one of the top young generation of the Taoist sect.

His cultivation was profound; according to the imperial court's classification, he should be considered to be between the fifth and sixth rank.

Wearing a purple robe at a Taoist ceremony signifies a high-ranking Taoist priest.

But the Lord of Mount Tai... all the Taoist and Buddhist masters of this era combined would not be a match for the Lord of Mount Tai. Those who can rival this title are the top three immortals who have existed for thousands of years, one or two, or even one in several generations.

Li Sanlang simply replied, "Who knows?"

He looked around. The Buddhist temple was towering, and behind the Buddha statue were murals painted by skilled craftsmen, depicting stories from Buddhist scriptures: hungry ghosts, asuras, yakshas, ​​beauties, arhats, vajras, bodhisattvas, and all kinds of sentient beings surrounding the Buddha.

"The rope is secured..."

But at that moment, a faint, intermittent mechanical sound was heard.

Li Longji and the other two saw the Buddha lamp suddenly spin and then plummet downwards. Chen Xuanli was holding the rope and couldn't reach it. Although Li Longji reacted the fastest, the Buddha lamp was falling so fast that he couldn't grab it in time.

Li Longji reacted instantly: "This is bad!"

The secret path of Buddha's heart is instantly locked.

The locked steel plate was covered with layers of Buddhist scriptures, including the "Buddha Speaks of the Dharani Sutra for Longevity, Eradication of Sins, and Protection of Children." Chen Xuanli's heavy sword got stuck in it, causing his treasured sword, which he had forged over decades, to collide with the hidden Buddhist gate, bursting into flames.

Chen Xuanli single-handedly withstood the Buddhist barrier that connected to the earth's veins.

With a burst of energy, he suddenly pulled the rope.

The rope was pulled up, but it broke in the middle.

His expression changed slightly, but the rope breaking was unexpected. So when he pulled on the rope, he exerted too much force, which caused the knife to sway backward. Golden light flashed across the hidden door of the Buddha's Heart, and with a crisp sound, Chen Xuanli was forced to retreat.

boom! ! !
The hidden gate to the Buddha's heart was firmly shut.

With a loud boom, a layer of golden light emanated from the huge reclining Buddha. The golden light spread out like ripples, and the wooden platform that Zhou Yan had broken and leveled was restored. The red candles on it were lit, but one Buddha lamp was missing.

Blue prayer flags hang down, and the wooden lattice is painted with mythological stories of the Buddha preaching and the gathering of sentient beings. When the wind blows, it mixes with the golden ripples of the reclining Buddha and the echoes from the hidden door, all converging into a solemn and dignified Buddhist chant.

【牟————】

The earth and the air were shaking.

Chen Xuanli said, "Oh no..."

Li Longji realized that Zhou Yan had probably entered the most central part of the entire temple; otherwise, there wouldn't be such a setup where the mechanism would be activated, and the object that activated it would be taken away after entering.

The three of them arrived in front of the Buddha statue. The Buddha's heart was empty, but now it was filled with a special material engraved with scriptures. Chen Xuanli pressed his palm there, and blue, glass-like earth vein fire rose up and pressed down hard.

This fire, powerful enough to shatter demons into dust, had no effect when it touched the Buddha statue. Ripples spread across the Buddha's heart, and the golden Buddhist aura lingered.

Chen Xuanli recognized the current situation: "This is not a single demon, but a large-scale demon barrier based on the temple and rooted in the earth's spiritual veins."

Li Longji said, "If this is the core mechanism..."

"So, the commotion here represents what?"

The emperor turned around.

The door to the Buddhist temple had opened at some point, and the monks who had been wandering outside had gathered there, densely packed, without a sound or movement. Their expressions were all the same, with their hands clasped together at their chests.

He quietly observed the three people in front of him.

Hua Hua——

The cicada crawled out of its eye and flapped its wings.

They opened their mouths and chanted Buddhist prayers, without any ripples or emotions, just repetition.

"Amitabha."

Oops!
........................

Zhou Yan was walking down the Buddha Heart Passage when he suddenly felt something fall straight down from above. A gust of wind swirled and pulled him, and with a clenched left hand, it was pulled sharply towards him.

The thing flew towards Zhou Yan, who raised his hand and caught it.

Upon closer inspection, it was indeed that bronze Buddhist lamp.

When Zhou Yan saw the Buddha lamp, he immediately realized something was wrong. He pulled the rope, but it had already broken. He ran towards it, only to find that the path he had previously taken had been blocked off layer by layer.

Zhou Yan channeled his magic power, and his divine eyes saw with unparalleled clarity that what sealed the entrance was actually a complete vein of black iron ore. The dark black iron was directly connected to the earth, and unless one possessed the strength to lift a mountain, it would be difficult to get out of here.

"...Heh, it really does seem to be the core area of ​​the Reclining Buddha Temple."

Zhou Yan's temples were a little sweaty. He was tense, but he still had a carefree and playful mind. He turned around and looked at the deep and quiet passageway, and said, "So, should we go straight for the enemy's headquarters, or be lured into a trap?"

He looked at his arm, where the golden lines representing the infestation by the cicada had spread to his wrist. The purification mantra written by Yuan Danqiu after he performed the ritual was restraining the infestation.

With this spell in place, even if the golden patterns spread, Zhou Yan will remain unharmed.

However, once the [Purification Mantra] is broken, those Golden Zen Insect Eggs will begin to devour Zhou Yan's flesh and blood. At that time, it will truly be too late to save him. Zhou Yan clenched his fist and exhaled.

By now.

Be bold!
"What the hell are you afraid of!" Zhou Yan gripped the Buddhist lamp, tightened his grip on his sword, and slowly descended. As he held the lamp, it naturally lit up, spreading out a warm, golden light that enveloped Zhou Yan.

It is a treasure that can connect with the spirit world, making things visible to the naked eye disappear, and also illuminating and revealing things that are normally imperceptible. Zhou Yan paused in his steps as he saw something on the wall next to him being illuminated by the Buddha lamp, thus revealing itself.

It was a colorful mural. Zhou Yan shone a Buddhist lamp on it.

The mural depicts a withered old monk sitting under a pine tree, with three young monks listening to him preach. Illuminated by the golden Buddhist lamp, it exudes a Zen-like Buddhist atmosphere. There are words written in some unknown pigment next to him.

Its body is like a cluster of foam, impossible to fathom;

My body is like a bubble, and I cannot stand for long;
Its body is like a flame, born from thirst and love;
Its body is like a banana leaf, with no solid core;

The body is like an illusion, arising from delusion…—Vimalakirti Sutra, Volume 1

Zhou Yan gazed at the Buddhist Zen-like atmosphere; the jade book shimmered with light, and a new line of text appeared on the page illuminated by the lamplight: 'One night, a curious rat spirit followed the abbot into a secret chamber and saw the portrait.'

The abbot sighed, “Mahayana Buddhism says that the body is merely a dream, an illusion, like a bubble that cannot be touched, like dew that vanishes in an instant, like a flame born of desire, like a hollow banana tree, like a phantom originating from delusion… Yet this body is ultimately real.”

'I am also decaying; what use are gold and silver treasures to me?'

Beside Zhou Yan, the light of the jade book flowed, as if there was an old monk. A mouse stopped beside him, looking at the mural and sighing. The mouse spirit and the old monk were both transparent. This was just a remnant of the past.

It was illuminated by the divine power of the jade book and the golden light of the Buddha lamp.

The illusory figures of the old monk and the rat spirit slowly dissipated.

Zhou Yan slowly walked down, and after about a hundred steps, he came to the second mural. The mural depicted an elderly monk and two other older monks, just as the first mural described.

There was a line of hastily written text on the mural.

[The sole cause of attachment to the body is the protection of this physical body] — Chapter Six of the *Bodhicharyavatara*

The jade book in the lamplight lit up, and the Buddha lamp swayed.

Zhou Yan's shadow twisted, and the old monk seemed to reappear before the jade disc. He said:
"Tibet also has Buddhism, but if it is true, as Master Xuanzang said, that all phenomena are only consciousness and that one's own spirituality is the Buddha's mind, then why do I grow old, and why is it so painful when I grow old?"

"Buddhist teachings, Buddhist teachings, cannot explain the cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death in this body."

"Is there a wonderful method that can enable me to see the Heaven of Liberation?"

"Is there a miraculous way to free me...?"

Zhou Yan slowly walked down and saw the third mural. It was also under the light of the Buddha lamp, which illuminated things that were invisible to the naked eye. In this mural, the old monk had died, and his body had decomposed to a certain extent. Insects were crawling around in his seven orifices.

The characters on the mural are twisted and stuck together, like insects.

[Look at yourself, you are like a broken vessel.]

[Three hundred and twenty joints are connected, with eighty thousand corpse worms within] — *The Secret Essentials of Zen*, Volume Two

Zhou Yan looked at the scene and slowly walked forward. Further forward, the old monk in the mural, who originally had a strong Buddhist spirit, had turned into a skeleton. Insects began to crawl from the seven orifices of the skeleton.

Each of these murals contains the authentic teachings and scriptures of various lineages.

I've heard that insect molts have revived in the Lingnan region, revealing a miraculous method for achieving immortality.

There are also those in Taoism who attain immortality through corpse liberation, having obtained the Taoist scriptures, and who say:
[There are those who die and are reborn; there are those whose heads are severed and already dead, yet emerge from the side; there are those who have died but were not buried and whose remains are lost; there are those whose human form remains but whose bones are gone; there are those whose clothes remain but whose forms are gone; there are those whose hair has fallen out and whose forms are lost.] — *The Chapter on Corpse Liberation: The Supreme Secrets*

As Zhou Yan walked forward, and the Buddhist lamp in his hand emitted a faint Buddhist light, the scenes on the murals next to him seemed to connect. The old monk in the murals gradually grew flesh and blood and returned to his original state.

In the end, Zhou Yan finally understood everything. From the old monk's perspective, what he did was to use the "Cicada Shedding Method" to try to understand the three paths of Buddhism: "All dharmas are consciousness-only," "spirits and monsters undergoing molting and rebirth," and "the path of corpse liberation and ascension to immortality" through unorthodox and heretical methods.

They kept trying and experimenting, attempting to dissolve their bodies using the method of insect molting, in their quest for immortality.

Zhou Yan walked to the end and saw the monk laughing loudly with his head held high.

He was already in his prime.

Beside him were blood-red characters, seemingly still retaining some semblance of order, but Zhou Yan perceived them only as expressions of madness:

If the physical body is a bamboo raft, one can ascend to immortality through corpse liberation; if the spirit is the foundation, all phenomena are manifestations of consciousness.

[That's even easier to put into a physical body! So one takes insects as one's body, skin as one's clothing, and the spirit as one's master.]

[Isn't that me too?]

【It's still me!】

[Isn't it still me?!]

Zhou Yan stared intently at the portrait, and the calamity he had witnessed finally revealed part of the truth.

On the jade scroll, the record on the page with the lamplight was complete—'The rat spirit saw the abbot's madness, saw his quest for immortality at any cost, and saw those who knelt in worship during the day turned into skins hanging here.'

'As you wish, as you wish'

'And whose wish has been fulfilled?'

The rat demon was frightened and turned back.

The abbot heard this but didn't pay it any mind; perhaps, at its core...

The same words as those on the jade scroll rang in Zhou Yan's ears as a voice:

"It's just a spying mouse."

call--

Watch out, watch out, someone is breathing on you.

In Zhou Yan's hand, the Buddhist lamp that illuminated the netherworld flickered and was blown out.

Darkness enveloped the surroundings.

Therefore, the lamplight fled the temple.

[On the night the rat spirit left the temple, it carried away a green lamp.] — *Jade Book: Lamp Shadows*

(End of this chapter)