Chapter 1389
Xuanji
Chapter 1389 Xuanji
'A wondrous land…'
As Dangjiang descended from the sky, he felt a hazy, heavy feeling, as if he had fallen to the bottom of a cliff, which was extremely uncomfortable. After a long time, he could see colors again, a vast expanse of white, with wind and snow all around. He looked into the distance and found that the mountains were undulating, and he was standing on the top of a snow-capped mountain.
So he stretched his arms and legs and realized that his supernatural powers were still pitifully weak. Only then did he untie the green jade lotus from his waist, hold it between his hands, and begin chanting a spell.
"Your humble servant is insignificant and unworthy to receive this mandate. I have been misled by evil and heresy, and am unable to appease the spirits... Now, following your example, I have received divine favor and been granted supernatural powers to restrain and pacify the land below—I humbly request the relevant officials to grant me this favor..."
He prayed for a while, and then he saw the blue lotus light up, with patches of blue clouds emerging. He quickly stepped on it and felt the world expand. He then threw the lotus, which transformed into the lotus pattern between his eyebrows. He stepped on water and fire and rushed down from the snow mountain.
He was merely a minor official in the heavens; how could he have ever possessed such extraordinary supernatural powers? This exhilarating feeling made his face flush slightly. He flew around triumphantly for quite a while, passing over various palaces and halls, which were elegant, magnificent, and beautiful, yet he couldn't see a single person.
'It was indeed completely empty.'
This, on the contrary, made him feel extremely at ease. He first carefully bowed on the monument in that wondrous land, put his hands together, and murmured:
"I do not know which esteemed officials or immortals you are... I have received your divine mandate and obeyed the orders of the Registrar to come and discipline you and atone for your sins. If I have offended anyone, I hope you will forgive me..."
So he kowtowed nine times, then turned to look behind the mysterious stele. There he saw small characters, read them carefully, and gradually understood what was going on.
'This Great Boundless Wonderful Land is said to be the sacred place of the Southern Master, governing the beings of the seven desires realm and the wondrous disciples of the three true worlds. It is truly powerful. This land transcends the three realms, unknown and unknowable to anyone.'
"Besides the main hall, there were four high platforms here, named Qinglu, Guangshi, Xuanle, and Baoguang, each with its own Heavenly Kings, Vajras, Arhats, and Monks. These should all be gone now."
He spent three whole days admiring the various halls, copying the images of each statue, and memorizing them. Then he went to the Hall of Robes and Bowls in front of the main hall, took out the seals and documents that were not in use there, sorted out the lineage of each branch and had a clear understanding of everything. Only then did he formally change his robes, cross the Hall of Robes and Bowls in the center, and go to the main hall.
He bowed respectfully and kowtowed before pushing open the door and leaving.
'Good heavens!'
Then he saw inside, a figure with a red face and fangs, a solemn and dignified appearance, a fierce and evil-quelling gaze, and a serene and serene lotus-like countenance—all terrifyingly powerful appearances. His legs went weak, and he knelt down with a thud, his hands clasped together in prayer.
'No offense intended, no offense intended…'
He dared not look any longer, and simply closed the palace door, scrambling back up the steps, breaking out in a cold sweat.
'This is hardly the behavior of an adult!'
'I should have realized this! Since he's a close friend of the Lord of the Underworld, his Dharma forms must number in great numbers… Oh no, oh no… I've messed this up; I'm afraid I've offended half of the Buddhist and Taoist communities!'
He pondered deeply, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and hurriedly ran to the front hall. Like an ant on a hot pan, he flipped through the documents and seals placed in the hall, scratching his head and thinking for a long time.
He pondered for days and months before some ideas slowly formed in his mind. But he was suddenly startled awake. With a flick of his wrist, the blue lotus reappeared in his palm, glowing with a white light, as if it had already sensed something!
He was both surprised and uneasy. Holding the blue lotus, he didn't know whether to pick it up or put it down. After a while, he calmed himself down and looked down at it.
Wow... what a huge pot of oil!
The heads inside were exploding with a series of loud popping sounds; the sight made his teeth ache. Looking around, it seemed to be some extremely terrifying prison. Dangjiang's little scheme immediately took hold:
'This seems to be some kind of prison... they use some kind of torture to torment him... he's not a simple character. Alright, alright, let me recruit a capable assistant!'
He stood up, then became secretly wary again:
"Shao Hui is right. Let's put aside merits for now. We must avoid making any major mistakes, the most serious of which is leaking Xuan Tian's secrets… Once this is committed, and the truth comes out, any crime will be punished tenfold!"
He raised the blue lotus, gently blew on it, and a blue mist surged forth, enveloping him completely, transforming him into a dashing and debonair immortal master. He took a step forward, looked around at his surroundings, and then shook his head.
'No...no...being a celestial official won't win people's respect. Now that I'm in this wondrous land, I should become a monk!'
Then he turned around again, and in the clear light, he transformed into an old monk, dressed in blue robes, with a solemn and dignified appearance. He then transformed the blue lotus seal into a Zen staff, jingling and shaking it once or twice before stroking his beard with satisfaction.
“From today onwards, I will no longer engage in any river-drifting activities… As for this title… since it is a transformation of the Mysterious Lotus and is also related to my position as a water official, perhaps… I should choose the name Xuanji…”
'Presiding over the ceremony...hehe...'
For some reason, the loose-fitting Zen robe made him feel relaxed and comfortable, and he was quite used to it. He also swung his Zen staff freely and unrestrainedly.
'They only let me handle things... It's true what they say, having real power and governing a region is the most comfortable thing.'
He then gently touched the blue lotus flower to guide the person in, before putting on airs, shaking his staff, and slowly walking down from the main hall at the top.
Then he took the roll out from his sleeve.
【The Treasure Map of Slaying the Mysterious Crows】!
This treasure was bestowed upon him by a great master, enabling him to suppress an entire realm; it must be an extraordinary treasure. He has also gleaned some insights from its mysteries these past few days, and through his perception, he has gained considerable understanding:
'It must be a divine general... who fought against many alone, and then passed away peacefully. This scroll can be used to summon the power of his clones to suppress lower cultivators.'
This was the first time he had used it. With a gentle toss, golden light shot up, thick gray clouds surged into the sky, and a colossal body appeared in the world, exuding divine might. Its six arms reached straight up to the heavens!
Standing beneath this divine general, Dangjiang felt like an ant, seeing only billowing gray smoke and divine light weaving through the clouds, unable to even see the face. Overwhelmed with both surprise and joy, he cried out:
"it is good!"
So, with a slight thought, the bottommost hand of the deity descended, as large as a small house. He climbed up and sat inside, placing his staff on his knees. He then conjured up all sorts of strange and inexplicable water and fire, which surrounded him. He clasped his hands together, pretending to be practicing meditation.
'Now that I've brought you here, I might as well scare you a little, or I'd have come for nothing!'
……
It was flashing white light.
'This day has finally come!'
Back then, Wu Mu blindly plotted and ended up in the great lake in the south, accidentally offending an extraordinary person. He mistakenly thought he would surely die a gruesome death, but unexpectedly, he turned misfortune into blessing and gained the attention of an immortal.
For a long time, Wu Mu kept this secret, not only changing his style, but also no longer focusing on the position of Maha that he had not obtained for hundreds of years and had been looking forward to all year... He just waited for the command from the supreme heaven.
That is why he was lazy and negligent when he came to conquer the Great Lake, and then he was willing to give up his future and hide in this prison to be tortured in the oil cauldron. It has been more than 30 years since then!
Thirty years!
He was old and, in terms of seniority alone, even surpassed many Mahayana practitioners. However, he had spent the last thirty years immersed in boiling oil. Even with the miraculous pain suppressant, he had long since become exhausted.
Now, floating and immersing himself in this boundless heavenly splendor, he felt as if the heavy burden that had been constantly weighing on him had finally been lifted, and his body and mind were filled with boundless joy and ease.
After an unknown amount of time, he finally felt his feet firmly on the ground. He dared not raise his head, nor look around; he knelt down with a thud, curled up tightly on the ground, and wept:
"grown ups!"
Only the hollow sound of the wind answered him. Wu Mu waited for a long, long time before slowly raising his head and seeing the white expanse everywhere.
It seemed to be on a plateau, with an extremely open and flat area all around, but covered by a thin layer of snow. Wu hesitated for a moment before lifting his foot and gently sweeping it across the ground, finally seeing the rough, dark blue-green wasteland beneath his feet.
'Where is this?'
This old fellow was very shrewd. He got up and touched his body, finding that his spirit was weak and faint. All those treasures were gone, and he could no longer summon any sacred soil. He only had a thin short robe draped over his body.
He felt a strange sensation in his heart. Although it was not easy to use his spiritual sense here, and it was even difficult to penetrate the surface of his body, the distant snow-capped mountains and the buildings that vaguely appeared in the snow were very real. He pinched the snow under his feet and his rich experience told him that this was very likely a place similar to the Land of Release!
'Wonderful…'
Wu Mu was overwhelmed with excitement and joy. He clasped his hands together and walked forward through the snow.
After walking several hundred miles, the terrain gradually rose higher, and the snow became heavier. Wu Mu had not measured the earth with his own two feet for many years. With one foot deep and the other shallow, he trudged forward through the snow, thinking that the future was bright, and it felt quite novel.
As he approached, he could see distant buildings, elegant and graceful yet solemn and dignified. From afar, they appeared to be temples, shrouded in gray clouds, the nature of which remained a mystery.
'ah?'
His heart pounded, and he quickened his pace. After walking for an unknown amount of time, large, uneven stones gradually appeared on the ground. Lichen grew on the back of the stones, and a few lone sea buckthorn bushes stood there, showing signs of life, which stirred something within him.
'But it looks like... a naturally occurring living thing...'
When it comes to creating a new world, he, a Buddhist cultivator, is naturally familiar with it. All seven realms are vast Buddhist lands, and he had seen secret realms and grotto-heavens when he was a cultivator. All of these can be considered as creating a new world... but they are quite different.
He disregarded the fundamental nature of the Buddhist land, yet he knew that within it there were flowers and lotuses, countless pieces of glass, gold, and jade, but these were all inanimate objects, rarely nurtured by Buddhist or Taoist treasures, let alone ordinary mortals... there would be no naturally born mortal objects.
"I've heard... that the mountains and rocks in some True Lords' grotto-heavens were mostly moved in from the outside. Many powerful figures are too lazy to bother with these things, simply setting aside some water and fire to prolong the process... If a True Lord is no longer alive, and their status lacks the virtue of nurturing, there's a high chance of extinction and the complete loss of life."
He had a general idea of what this place was like, estimating it to be more like a grotto-heaven than a Buddhist sanctuary. So he continued forward until he reached a row of buildings in the distance. Looking up, he saw a gate tower and a mysterious stele, which were quite mysterious and strange. They were inscribed with unknown characters, but one glance was enough to understand their meaning.
The character "青" is clearly visible on one side:
Having relinquished his three bodies, he came to this path.
The character "玄" is clearly visible on one side:
[Tolerate all seven emotions is to be in the heavens]
In the very center hung four large characters.
【乌玄于兹】
Wu Mu looked up and pondered for a while, but the words brought tears to his eyes. For some reason, he felt an urge to cry, so he knelt down, bowed three times, and murmured:
"I wonder where this great being comes from!"
Upon arriving at this place, he knew that it could no longer be a place for immortal cultivation, but must be the abode of some powerful Buddhist or Taoist master. He was filled with fear and apprehension, not knowing where he came from or where he was going.
He could only bow again and again, clutching his short coat tightly as if he were cold, and went up the dark blue steps. He saw snow pools and precious images, which were completely different from the real world. They did not like gold but preferred red, and were all connected by blue and green, which made them look especially precious.
As he climbed halfway up the mountain, he suddenly saw rolling gray clouds, so thick that he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. He became even more terrified and took a step forward. The clouds in front of him disappeared, and his pupils were filled with an infinite golden-black color.
It was actually a golden body that stretched straight to heaven and earth!
The golden statue was engulfed in raging flames, and the statue sat cross-legged on the mountain. Its body reached into the sky, seemingly about to burst his entire field of vision. He couldn't remember anything in his mind, except for two words that flashed through his mind:
'Dharma Image!'
His legs went weak, and he knelt down, kowtowing and crying as he kowtowed. He mumbled something incoherently, but there was no response. He could only move forward step by step, kowtowing, and naturally, he didn't dare to look at anything.
After all, he himself is a Buddhist practitioner and understands Buddhist methods. It would be better if he didn't look at it. If some powerful being looked at it without reason or evidence, who knows if the one who lowered their head would still be his five eyes!
But after shifting for a while, his head suddenly bumped into something hard, almost causing him to flip over. He had to look up and saw a huge, wide golden hand with a person sitting on it.
This person had a demonic appearance and had already shaved his head to become a monk. However, the blue robe he wore carried the aura of a demonic cultivator. He placed his monk's staff on his knees, and endless water and fire surged and swirled around him. It was unknown what kind of wondrous spiritual object it was!
'What a wicked monk!'
He figured it out – there were probably few living people in this area, and this so-called demonic body was likely the true form or image of this Dharma image. He silently got up and tried to go around it.
But suddenly a calm voice rang in my ears:
Who has come here?
He suddenly raised his head and saw that the monk's fair face had opened his eyes. Those eyes were calm and still, yet they carried an extremely terrifying power, which almost made him cry out. He quickly lowered his head!
Wu Mu never expected to bump into a living person. He didn't know if the person was a Dharma image or some kind of demon. He trembled and didn't know what to say. He could only hear the sound of the Zen staff shaking gently.
"jingle…"
The sound was crisp and clear, like a spring of clear water in the scorching world, causing the terrifying gray shadow that had been pressing down on the world to vanish. The enormous figure that filled the world disappeared, and the pressure that had been weighing on the mind and body suddenly dissipated!
The cold wind from the snow-capped mountains blew again, and the surroundings returned to the magnificent and serene world of the White Mountain Temple. However, Wu Mu's heart sank into infinite unease and fear.
The blue monk's staff was already planted before him, and a magnificent and majestic voice filled the heavens and earth:
"Where do you come from?"
Wu Mu couldn't hold back any longer and resolutely kowtowed, his voice trembling as he cried out:
"Xiao Xiu... Xiao Xiu Wu Mu! His secular name is Xiao Jing! He is... he is from the Hetao region! Sir! I have met you before!"
He didn't possess much supernatural power, and after being repeatedly threatened, he finally wavered and became quite at a loss, even revealing his common name. Upon hearing this, Dangjiang above frowned and pondered.
'grown ups? '
'Who is it, sir?'