Bitter Realm: My Feet Step Through the Flames of War

A moment later, Gu Ling Shi Yan and Xi Gong Diao Ying arrived at the scene. The giant demon god descended from the clouds, hissing and roaring, sometimes facing east and sometimes facing west.

"Master, what does the Troll God mean?"

"Someone intervened, and they fled in two directions."

Which way should we chase after them?

"No need. I hope your junior brother will not disappoint his master again."

Xuanming set foot on Yufeng Island and met Du Wuyu, the Sword of Wind.

Unfortunately, Du Wuyu did not give him the answer he wanted. Not only did she refuse to help deal with Gu Ling Shiyan, but she also hid a giant demon god from the Battle Cloud Realm.

Xuanming left in disappointment, but was blocked by Gong Wuhou on the way.

"Ice King, Gu Ling Shi Yan tells me that the Ice Tower is gone."

"What? My imperial sister!"

"You are all going to die."

A great battle ensued, fought for life and death, for hatred and revenge.

The wind howls, and the red sword weeps blood.

Snowflakes fluttered down, and bones eroded the earth.

By the time Duanmie Chanti found this place, the battle was already over. Xuanming Shi used the Linglong Bone, which had absorbed the energy of the Primordial Creation Ball, to defeat Gong Wu, but his own power was completely destroyed.

Upon seeing the hairpins and pearls of her younger sister, and hearing of the fall of the Ice Tower, Xuanming was so shocked that she fainted.

Duanmie had no choice but to carry Gong Wuhou and Xuanming back to Tiandu, one in each hand.

Huang Quan clicked his tongue in amazement: "You can even pick up two people while visiting relatives. The tradition of picking up people in the heavens is being carried on."

Luo Hou stared at Gong Wuhou's blood-tear eye, which resembled a teardrop-shaped blood diamond, indeed eerily beautiful.

Gong Wuhou's acupoints were locked by Xuanming Shi, preventing him from using his Yuan Gong. Upon seeing the legendary Martial Lord, he felt the same curiosity.

"Are you Luo Hou?"

"Of course."

"Can you defeat Gu Ling Shi Yan?"

"Never fought."

This answer made Gong Wuhou lose interest, and he closed his eyes and stopped talking.

The child should be returned to his parents.

Luo Hou instructed Duan Mie to send Gong Wuhou to Mo Liu Huanghun and hand him over to a man named Bie Huanghun.

Xuanming slowly awoke.

After a few words of thanks and pleasantries, Xuanming understood the current situation.

"Martial Lord, my martial arts are ruined, and there is no hope of revenge. I am willing to give you the Primal Creation Orb, one of the Four Wonders, in exchange for Tiandu's help to eliminate Guling Shiyan."

"Sorry, Tianbu is not an assassin organization."

"Gu Ling Shi Yan killed my brother and my friend, destroyed my Ice Tower, and committed countless evil deeds. Is there no one in the world to punish him?"

"As you said, he has done many bad things, so he will naturally get his just deserts."

Xuanming was disappointed again: "Why are none of you willing to help me?"

It is true that Yandu persecuted Binglou, but Binglou also persecuted the Demon Realm, and the Demon Realm in turn ravaged the Bitter Realm.

Such causal lawsuits would go on endlessly, and even Heaven was not a public court for the three religions, let alone Wu Jun, who had no intention of posing as a holy arbiter.

"Stay here and recover from your injuries."

"No need. Please, Lord Wu, take temporary shelter for my younger sister. I will come to retrieve her after I have dealt with the matters of the Ice Tower. The Xuanming Clan will be eternally grateful! Thank you."

"Take care of yourself."

Xuanmingshi left, dragging his injured body.

Huang Quan felt a pang of pity: "Grandmasters aren't exactly saints, why not do them a favor?"

"The way of Heaven is cyclical. Intervening in one matter brings ten variables, and intervening in ten matters brings endless variables."

"You still interfered in Mara's affairs."

"The three events of Mara, the Three Yangs in One Heaven, and the Reincarnation of the Underworld have already greatly affected the current situation in the Bitter Realm. Hopefully, the changes in these three events will turn out for the better."

"Three items? So you really haven't been idle."

At this moment, Shao Hao came in: "Godfather, someone has approached Shepherd God and Senior Yi Ye Shu."

The person who approached was Bu Xiangchen. She used her eighth-grade supernatural powers to find the location of Yan Da and the other two.

Just as they were about to get closer, a burly figure appeared before them.

"Wandering through the desolate desert for thousands of miles, I travel alone to the ends of the earth."

"Hmm? The Five Dragons of the Heavenly Empire?"

"This road is blocked."

Bu Xiangchen looked at the deep, secluded forest, her mind racing, and then smiled, "So it was Wu Jun's arrangement. I understand now."

Seeing Bu Xiangchen leave, Mo Dao Juechen leaped onto an old tree branch, sat down, and continued to meditate.

Deep in the dense forest, the dilapidated thatched hut had been rebuilt, and a pot of tea was bubbling inside.

The three sat down and discussed philosophy.

During this period, the struggle between demons and Buddhas, whether through verbal or physical means, remained unresolved.

The god of shepherd intentionally guided the two to transcend their inner demons and discuss the broader three religions:

"Although the martial arts world refers to Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism as the three religions, the origins of these three are quite different. If we take the Central Plains as the standard, Taoism can be traced back to the ancient worship of nature. However, I refer to it as the Taoist school, which includes Taoism and its mixed doctrines."

"Although Buddhism is a foreign religion compared to other religions in China, it actively integrated with Chinese customs and traditions, thus branching out and eventually becoming a major religion. Furthermore, because its founder was Shakyamuni, it is also referred to as Buddhism when the three religions are discussed together."

"But in terms of intellectual origins, although Confucianism is not a religious belief, it has the greatest influence. Therefore, Confucianism has a place in the convergence of the three teachings. However, if we look back from a new perspective, the convergence of the three teachings was not deliberately manipulated, but rather preordained."

How should we view it?

"It would be better for each person to explain their teaching philosophy in detail."

Yan Da spoke first: "The Buddhist school takes the Dharma Wheel as its aim and promotes the Eightfold Path, but I believe this is not the true Dharma. What truly represents Buddhism is the Eight Sufferings: birth, death, sickness, separation from loved ones, encountering those one hates, not getting what one desires, and the burning of the five aggregates. This is the true meaning of Buddhism. It's a pity that those who practice Buddhism today see the root but not the cause. I disdain them!"

The god Pan asked, "What do you think is the practice of a Buddha?"

Yan Da answered fluently: "There is nothing to grasp in the body, nothing to cling to in practice, nothing to dwell in the Dharma. The past has ceased, the future has not yet arrived, the present is empty and still. There is no doer, no receiver of retribution, this world does not move, that world does not change. What Dharma in this is called pure conduct?"

Pan asked again, "I have heard that there are ten methods of practice. What are these ten methods?"

"The knowledge of what is not what is, the knowledge of past, present, and future karmic retribution, the knowledge of all meditations, liberations, and samadhis, the knowledge of the superiority or inferiority of the senses, the knowledge of various understandings, the knowledge of various realms, the knowledge of the path to all destinations, the knowledge of unobstructed divine vision, the knowledge of unobstructed knowledge of past lives, and the knowledge of permanently severing habitual tendencies are called the ten."

The god of shepherd pondered deeply, and unconsciously nodded in agreement.

Yi Ye Shu smiled knowingly: "If you understand all sentient beings, you are a Buddha. If you don't understand all sentient beings, you will find it difficult to encounter the Buddha even after countless eons."

How can you tell if someone has Buddha-nature?

“The Buddha said that there are two kinds of good roots: one is permanent, and the other is impermanent. Buddha-nature is neither permanent nor impermanent, therefore it is continuous and is called non-dual. One kind is good, and the other is not good. Buddha-nature is neither good nor not good, therefore it is called non-dual. The aggregates and the realms are seen as two by ordinary people, but the wise understand that their nature is non-dual. The nature of non-duality is Buddha-nature.”

The god of shepherds kept asking, "If one kills to save someone, is it good or bad? Does it show or not Buddhahood?"

“There was once a family of butchers. One day, while slaughtering a pig, he heard the pig’s miserable cries, which aroused his boundless compassion. From then on, he shaved his head and became a monk.”

"Slaughtering pigs and killing people are ultimately different."

"Yesterday's heart was that of a demon, today's face is that of a bodhisattva; the difference between a bodhisattva and a demon is not a thin line."

These four lines of verse deeply moved the god of shepherd.

Yi Ye Shu sighed, “The cultivation of all beings can be summed up in eight words: Do no evil, do all good.”

“These eight words are very common; even a village woman can say them.”

“A three-year-old child can talk about it, but an eighty-year-old man may not be able to do it.”

Pan was struck dumb, as if by thunder.

Yan Da grew impatient: "You've talked about Buddhism for too long, it's time to talk about your Tao."

Yi Ye Shu shared his insights: "Taoism originates from the Tao Te Ching, taking Tao and De as its guiding principles. Tao is not only the way of the universe and the way of nature, but also the method of cultivation."

For a long time, the god of shepherds has been the king and god of the people of the heavens, and their sole teacher.

However, during these few days of conversation, Yi Ye Shu and Yan Da gradually opened the door to their thoughts that he himself had tightly closed.

He voiced his doubts:

"The Tao that can be spoken of is not the eternal Tao; the name that can be named is not the eternal name. Nameless, it is the origin of Heaven and Earth; named, it is the mother of all things. Therefore, one should always be without desire in order to observe its mystery; one should always have desire in order to observe its manifestations." What does this mean?

Yi Ye Shu replied loudly: "The Dao is nothingness, existing before heaven and earth; it is existence, nurturing all things. It is invisible because the Dao is emptiness; yet it is also practical, allowing us to see the traces of all things. Nothingness and existence actually originate from the same source, and this unity is called the mystery. The mystery is the source of all the mysteries of the universe."

Yan Da added: "Taoists believe that all things originate from the Tao, hence the Tao gives birth to one, one gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, and three gives birth to all things."

"The Way is like an empty vessel, yet when used, it is never full."

"Haha, what I heard today is true."

Yan Da looked at the Shepherd God expectantly: "It's time to hear your Confucian insights."

"I humbly offer my opinion: Confucianism originated from the words of sages, following the teachings of Yao and Shun, and modeling itself on the principles of Wen and Wu. However, today, the world is in a state of moral decay, and although there are the Three Cardinal Guides and Five Constant Virtues, people from all walks of life resort to force against each other, deviating from the way of the sages."

"Oh? What's your opinion, Rinmu?"

The shepherd's voice boomed: "Conquer the world by force, and forcefully promote virtuous governance, rule of rites, and righteousness!"

Yi Ye Shu frowned and said, "No! If we take the world by force, the world will be forever mired in war and turmoil. The Six Calamities of the Azure Dragon have already proven that this is a path to death."

Chapter 232 Only by drawing wild beasts to fight can balance be achieved.

Today, it started snowing heavily.

In the midst of utter silence, suddenly, a deep and melodious flute melody rang out, blowing away the ice and snow.

Before long, another clear and melodious flute sound joined in, the phoenix flute and jade flute playing in harmony, their notes overlapping and swirling, drifting and flowing.