A Scroll of Infinite Glory

Chapter 318 The Heavenly Demon Wields His Blade to Dissect the Heavenly Demon

Why should we study Buddhism?

The slightly overweight teacher, with sunburn marks on his face, dressed meticulously in monk's robes, sat under a banana leaf and posed this question to his disciple.

"Because Buddhism possesses incredible and miraculous power!"

"Nichiren Snow Sea—" the child answered excitedly, explaining as if chanting from scriptures he had heard and read, "Royalty, priests, warriors, slaves, heretics, gods, demons of the desire realm, Asuras… they all have their own secret methods and divine powers, and they roam freely in this world. Buddhism is one of them. Those who practice Buddhism can still gain respect and achieve victory in this powerful world!"

This was hardly an outstanding answer, but the teacher laughed.

Those answering the questions are, after all, just a group of children; there's no need to be too demanding.

The teacher smiled and said, "Yes, Buddhism is very powerful, but the story is a metaphor for spiritual practice. It doesn't mean that there are really that many divine powers and demonic powers, nor does it mean that the great power of Buddhism can only be displayed by dealing with demon kings and gods."

When Nichiren Yukkai was born, the technology of True Spirit Mechanical Modification had not yet appeared. However, by the time he was a teenager, he had already come into contact with many people who had modified their limbs.

The technology used for transformation in that era was still in a very primitive and rudimentary stage.

People have gained superhuman strength by replacing their limbs for various purposes, but most people have also lost a lot while gaining this power.

It could easily destroy wood, stone, and steel, but the replaced body had no tactile sensation, no pain or itching, no hot or cold sensation; a sense of power and emptiness coexisted.

In battle, the mechanical limbs and the body can coordinate very well, but in peacetime, they cannot achieve such harmony. Countless times in my dreams, my flesh and blood torso is awakened by the cold, hard prosthetic limbs.

Some people enjoy the convenience, honor, and money that mechanical limbs bring them, but they quickly fall into an abyss of self-doubt. It seems that everything they have is due to mechanical modification. So, after the mechanical technology is updated, will they be able to keep up? Will they be left behind and return to the same mediocre state as before, or even worse?

Over time, these people, who have more or less psychological problems, will seek help from various psychological counselors and become keen on visiting many temples.

Strangely enough, the mechanical modifications made by the True Spirits, which are clearly technological advancements, have led more and more people of extraordinary status to return to the ancient temple with "at least more" respect than before.

Just like the stories depicted in the scriptures of ancient temples, in a world filled with desires and pleasures, some people begin to feel disgusted and seek the comfort of Buddhism.

At that time, Nichiren Sekimi looked at the cars and bodyguards coming and going in front of the temple, just like nobles in a story riding elephants or horses, accompanied by fierce samurai, just to worship the gods and bodhisattvas.

He would always connect reality to stories, and he would get extremely excited about it, immersing himself in a joyful mood every day.

As he grew up, he developed abilities that surpassed those of his teachers in his youth. He helped many famous people who were confused and lost, gaining a great deal of wealth and fame. He then used what he had to help those in need in society.

They went to help the disabled, children, women, and lonely elderly, and received countless thanks and praise.

Many people, upon receiving that help, expressed their gratitude to him through video and written messages, often with tears in their eyes. In places he was unaware of, even more people prayed for him after finding happiness themselves.

He often connects stories to the realities around him, and thus, whether in the day or at night, he smiles knowingly, enjoying the feeling of being able to help others.

However, he was not satisfied.

Because compared to stories, reality lacks many elements. From childhood, he was immersed in a wonderful world built from numerous stories, which contained not only commoners, nobles, respect and gratitude, but also slander, framing, slaughter, monsters, and so on, using all sorts of conspiracies and divine power to add the most vibrant colors.

Before the 20th century, for thousands of years, Buddhism existed, but divine power did not. The beautiful and colorful world was ultimately just a story.

Nichiren Snow Sea, I want to turn the story into reality.

He delved deeply into the field of science and technology, which at the time was considered the closest thing to supernatural powers in the world.

And from the field of technology, it was only natural that they chose the True Spirit Technology branch; everything happened so smoothly.

When Nichiren Yukkai entered middle age, his research and application of True Spirit Electricity had reached the world's top level. However, at that time, he was not actually good at fighting. All his research was used to simulate the magical power in the story.

He incited many people to slander him, lured vicious people to be hostile to the temple, and placed his disciples in turbulent areas, deliberately bringing disaster upon himself.

He replicated the story in reality, giving it a realistic background, making it look completely different from the ancient legend, but the core is the same.

During that period, no matter how Nichiren Sekai outwardly appeared—whether it was hardship, sadness, anger, or solemnity—his heart was always joyful, constantly immersed in boundless freedom and happiness.

In the country he lived in, nothing could stop him anymore.

Then, he was stopped by someone unexpected.

He was his teacher, a man he had long since surpassed, now old, obese, with cloudy eyes and difficulty walking.

"I'm going to die," the teacher said. "When I die, I have only one wish. Can you grant it to me?"

Nichiren Sekai: "Of course."

The old monk, panting, said, "I hope you won't go down the mountain again?"

Nichiren Yukami asked in confusion, "Why?"

The old monk said, "Because you can accumulate immeasurable merit while you are on the mountain. You can study Buddhism, study supernatural powers, invest in technology, create new cultivation techniques, in every aspect, big or small, until you accumulate immeasurable and precious wealth."

"To enlighten others, guide them to higher realms, strengthen their minds, lighten their bodies, and prolong their lives—such wealth is incomparable to gold and silver, and is infinitely enduring. In the future, it will also bring you a reputation far surpassing that of this world."

The old monk grasped his hand and said earnestly, "You can accumulate immeasurable merit, as long as you don't go down the mountain or tempt others to do so, let those who are meant to come come and those who are meant to leave go. In that case, a hundred years from now, you will be revered as a true Buddha."

"As long as you don't go down the mountain, your talent is so rare that you can become a Buddha. Don't taint your achievements."

After saying this, the old monk died. After his death, his ashes were not buried in the pagoda forest, but were scattered around the foot of the mountain.

Nichiren Sekai wondered if the teacher had noticed something.

Probably not. The teacher is already old and his mind is dull. Even when he was young, he wasn't particularly smart. Perhaps the smartest thing he ever did was pick up an abandoned baby, name him Nichiren, and raise him.

However, Nichiren Setsuna really couldn't go down the mountain anymore, because the old monk died too quickly. Even though Nichiren Setsuna had a hundred ways to easily explain the past, he didn't have time to say them.

They died way too quickly.

From then on, he devoted himself to studying his supernatural powers on the mountain and also received information from the outside world. True spiritual energy was transformed into spiritual energy. Year after year, ten years, a hundred years passed.

As centuries passed, Nichiren Sekai seemed to have gotten used to life in the mountains, though sometimes she would still feel angry and a little melancholy, thinking, "I guess I'm really going to die in the mountains."

But the moon fell.

Numerous disasters struck the land, and even in broad daylight, the mountains that had stood alongside the ancient temple for hundreds of years trembled.

The monks were in a panic, and in the city not far from the foot of the mountain, there was a cacophony of screams.

As Nichiren Sekai stepped out of the temple, she looked down at the ground at the foot of the mountain. A dark crack had appeared, with soil and rocks broken and dust and smog spreading through the air.

The old monk's ashes were scattered there at the time, and may have fallen into the cracks, or perhaps they were stirred into the air and turned into this thick fog.

Nichiren Sekai, lost in thought, knew that cracks were spreading up the mountain, so he took a step forward and stopped the trembling mountain.

With each step he took forward, a section of the crack in front of him closed.

From the top of the mountain to the bottom, all the cracks closed up. Only when he stopped did he realize that he had unknowingly crossed the circle at the bottom of the mountain.

He was somewhat stunned, while the monks, having found their anchor, swarmed around him, bowed, and inquired about his orders.

"Then let's go down the mountain to rescue them."

He saw some disciples carrying instruments for spiritual resonance, intending to descend the mountain, and added, "Don't use resonance technology to combat disasters; it will only be a waste of effort and a path to your own destruction. You..."

He didn't realize he was laughing. "Wait until the disaster is over, then we can save the rest of them, right?"

The monks soon left, leaving only Nichiren Sekai slowly strolling along the foot of the mountain towards the city.

The effects of the lunar impact continue, making cities more dangerous than the wilderness.

Everywhere there were leaning high-rise buildings, gushing sewage, exploding flames, and billowing smoke.

"The world is in chaos! What a sin!"

Nichiren Yukami couldn't help but laugh out loud, "Since I didn't mess it up, it's okay if I play around with it a little."

The disaster was so terrible that it immediately reminded him of a story that had been brewing for a long time.

Before and after the chaos of the world, humanity was in a sea of ​​suffering. The Buddha attained enlightenment, but Mara thwarted his progress.

………………

"In the sea of ​​suffering, a Buddha was born. Originally, this demon king Mara was prepared for Yan Zhen and the others. Their wishes and actions were very suitable for playing the role of the enemy of Mara."

Nichiren Yukami looked up at the majestic statue and said, "It's a pity you're too strong. I'll have to let you try first."

"bring it on!"

He raised his hands high, his figure suddenly fading away, dodging a bright, gleaming blade of energy that swept across the sky.

"Guan Luoyang, come and fight Bo Xun in a way that shakes the heavens and the earth."

"Mara should die, and those who have not yet attained Buddhahood should also die at the moment of enlightenment. Only then will the Buddha be born in Nirvana."

Nichiren Sekai's voice spread in all directions: "After you die, a new Guan Luoyang will appear. I will become the new ruler of the Eight Leaves as you, take over this land, change the increasingly oppressive policies of the past, bring new life to my suffering people, and start a brand new story."

Not only did his figure disappear, but his voice also became eerie.

Guan Luoyang could even clearly feel a small stone in front of him vibrating, and Rilian Xuehai's voice was clearly coming from that stone.

However, when Guan Luoyang focused his attention on the pebble, the sound source immediately shifted. In the distance, several corpses of Bhikkhu warriors were speaking at the same time, their chests rising and falling, their mouths opening and closing, uttering the words of Nichiren Sekai.

The seal of the formless realm!

Altering reality is like walking in a colorless realm, a method of concealment that is both untraceable and seemingly omnipresent.

If Nichiren Yukkai had used this seal during the previous battle, Guan Luoyang might have been able to detect his true form using his unfathomable Vacuum Divine Power.

But now, Mara is taking shape, and dense spiritual energy fluctuations are spreading everywhere, both in the heavens and on the earth.

In this environment, it is simply impossible to pinpoint Nichiren Yukkai's true form.

With a slight turn of the blade, Guan Luoyang turned his gaze to the towering statue of the three-faced, six-armed demon Mara.

Every spiritual calamity is a collection of negative emotions containing destructive desires. If it is attacked during its creation, the destructive desires contained in the attack will only be absorbed by the spiritual calamity and used to strengthen itself.

Moreover, the spiritual calamities during the birth process are formless and intangible, ever-changing, and may produce even more dangerous mutations after being stimulated.

In the information about spiritual disasters, there is a key point highlighted in red: after discovering signs of a spiritual disaster, one should not rush to take action. One must wait until the spiritual disaster has taken shape and its structure has stabilized before launching a comprehensive attack to eliminate it.

However, this Mara is not the same as the spiritual calamities recorded in the documents of the United Government.

The Eight Leaves Court's method of governance is not the bloody and primitive form of oppression, but rather a subtle and gradual exploitation. They even guarantee the livelihood of the people. Even as the number of unemployed people increases, the Eight Leaves Court can provide for them to continue living, resulting in an increase in the population of the entire territory.

Using this method, the negative spiritual energy accumulated over the past fifty years from hundreds of millions of people, even after being largely depleted in various engineering projects and wars, is still enormous and immeasurable.

If He truly takes form...

Guan Luoyang figured he had no choice but to immediately activate the Ninefold Tribulation Fire, moving from the Foundation of Dao realm to the Tribulation Transcendence realm, and finally to the Nourishing realm, allowing the Heavenly River Orthodox Dharma to reach the six-star level.

When his cultivation level rises significantly, all the imprints in his Dao foundation undergo transformation, and his Heavenly Demon Technique grows in tandem, he will be able to wear down this spiritual calamity.

However, after staring at it for a moment, Guan Luoyang had a different idea.

"You ruled them for fifty years, resisted the alliance requests of the coalition government, and let them live in misery without their knowledge, just to complete this story, right?"

Guan Luoyang spoke slowly. The little information he had gleaned from the spiritual energy of the Sun Lotus Snow Sea, along with the relevant records and speculations from the Brahma Brain, was enough for him to understand what the Sun Lotus Snow Sea had done.

This person was far more wicked than he imagined, treating his hundreds of millions of subjects as tools for amusement, and taking their joys and sorrows as part of his entertainment.

While others suffer from depression due to stress, this one person laughs and jokes.

"But I think the casting for your story is wrong. Let me revise the plot for you."

Guan Luoyang raised his long sword, held it upright in front of him with the tip pointing downwards, and slowly raised the sword with his right hand while his left hand stroked the back of the blade.

The shadows of his arm and the blade seemed to divide his face in two.

Half bright and compassionate, half dark and furious.

The demon's sword intent surged into the sky amidst the light and darkness.

Suddenly, a huge gap was torn open in the clouds that were flowing with spiritual light in the sky. The gap was clear and deep black, and there were no clouds or mist inside, nor any flowing spiritual light.

"Oh? You dare to strike before the calamity even forms? Didn't anyone tell you the basics of this? Being attacked during the formation of a calamity..."

The person hidden in the shadows was startled before he could finish speaking.

With a flick of his longsword, a beam of light shot into the sky. The massive blade energy, capable of cleaving through the clouds from the ground, slashed out solidly, striking the statue of Mara.

Guan Luoyang actually drew his sword!

Suddenly, the world fell silent.

Whether in the open or in the shadows, everyone's eyes were fixed on the statue of Mara, which had been stabbed.

The blade of light cleaved along the center line of the Mara statue's chest, from top to bottom.

The intense, snow-white light was even intertwined and locked in a stalemate with the indigo aura of the Mara statue.

Guan Luoyang's sword slowly lowered.

In his eyes, there was no statue of Mara, only countless tiny flames gathered together.

That towering, majestic statue was merely formed from tiny flames, no bigger than a red bean.

The fires were gradually intertwining, and to onlookers, all they could see was their towering grandeur.

Guan Luoyang, however, saw countless invisible threads connecting the tiny flames to their source.

The sheer number and the chaos were so immense that even if someone saw it, they would be powerless to do anything about it. But Brahma could.

With enough computing power to calculate the future to a certain extent, they can be sent back to their original owners.

Even I, who swallowed Brahma, can do it too.

The blade's energy dissipated and seeped into the body of the Mara statue.

The six-armed dancers paused, and the three divine faces revealed tears, hatred, and numbness.

The statue collapsed, and the spiritual light spread. In the blink of an eye, the entire Narayana Province was engulfed in a torrential downpour of spiritual light that swept across the sky and covered the earth.

The light is spreading, and this torrential rain will spread throughout the entire territory of Baye.

"What did you do?!"

In the void, Nichiren Yukkai's figure trembled slightly, never before feeling such frustration, astonishment, and anger. "You..."

"Don't rush."

Guan Luoyang raised his face toward him, the knife already aimed at his head.

"This is the ending I gave to the story..."

The man holding the knife, seething with rage, spoke to Nichiren Sekai.

"Mars, you can die now!!!"

(End of this chapter)