The Word of Heaven

Chapter 257 Return to Me
Under the dome of the sky, Daoxiu's figure was extremely tall under the reflection of countless Buddha lights, passing through the misty clouds.

The Yuanmie Mirror stood behind him, like the eternal halo behind the Buddha.

Countless golden scriptures appeared from nothingness, floating in half of the sky of the Buddha's kingdom, shining brightly and brilliantly like flowers.

The scenery is extremely magnificent.

It was as if the sun was rising again on earth.

The other half of the sky in the divine capital was filled with gloomy clouds, which was a sad and miserable sight.

The cloud vortex condensed by the Heavenly Dao Seal is about to be torn apart by the Buddha's light and will no longer exist.

His Majesty the Emperor looked at Dao Xiu and said with emotion: "Incredible."

Dao Xiu said: "If I can't do things to this extent, how can I stand in front of your Majesty?"

"Makes sense."

His Majesty the Emperor smiled, a carefree smile, and asked, "How do you feel?"

Dao Xiu said seriously: "Very good."

Since the decisive battle in Xuandu, he has never really taken action again until today.

After a hundred years, it feels good to welcome this battle now that I am in my late twilight years, and I can be happy about it.

His Majesty the Emperor looked at the abbot and asked again, "Is it worth it?"

The abbot remained silent.

It's not that she was indifferent, but that at this moment she was bleeding from all seven orifices, her once calm face was gone, and her brows were tightly furrowed.

Her body was shaking violently, but her right hand, which was tightly holding the rosary, and her left hand, which was holding the Dharma seal, remained calm. However, the speed with which she turned the rosary was constantly slowing down, as if mountains were falling on her fingertips, overwhelming her.

Debris was peeled off from the rosary, piece by piece, and burned in an instant, like dust from the stars.

The price is already visibly heavy.

Dao Xiu didn't say anything.

His Majesty the Emperor watched quietly, with countless rays of light flowing in his eyes, extremely bright.

The master of the temple has not left and is still here.

“Whether it is worth it or not is a decision to be made before choosing, not a question to be considered at this moment.”

The Taoist said, “And it’s worth it.”

When he said this, he did not deliberately lower his voice, but it was still known to all the gods in the room.

When people heard this, they were stunned for a moment, then had completely opposite feelings.

Those loyal ministers who were loyal to the White Emperor were occupied by a strong sense of uneasiness. In contrast, the leaders of the various families and sects were ecstatic after being stunned, believing that victory was about to come.

Yes, that is as it should be.

First, the two masters of the two sword sects risked their sect's thousand-year heritage and forcibly broke half of the Divine Capital formation. Then, the temple master risked his life, Taoism, and the Supreme Immortal Flying Diagram to break the remaining half of the formation. These were already two full-strength attacks at the Feathering Level.

Even if the Demon Lord comes back to life, we must look him in the eye.

Afterwards, the abbot held a rosary and chanted Buddhist verses, using the hearts and minds of the people gathered by the Karma Mirror to form a golden bridge, which fell into countless temples on earth, summoned countless monks to be pious, and finally cast the golden body as tall as the sky.

In a sense, this is a full-out attack.

All the Zen sects of ten thousand years have come to the capital of gods.

Otherwise, why would half of the gods become Buddhist countries?
……

……

No dynasty has a longer heritage, is more ancient, and has a longer history than Zen Buddhism.

Even the Qin Dynasty, which had entered its second millennium, was still far inferior.

In this world, only Taoism is qualified to be compared with Zen.

And today, Taoism and Zen stand side by side.

Then.

Who else can be the enemy of the eternal Zen Buddhism?
The answer is no.

His Majesty the Emperor is doomed to fail.

This is the conclusion reached by people all over the world.

……

……

With the Weiyang Palace as the boundary, the Buddha's light advances step by step.

The warm light passed through the window lattice and fell on the shiny floor, leaving a bright space.

As the wind blew, the millions of lights shattered into countless golden leaves, drawing extremely beautiful patterns in the empty and deserted Weiyang Palace.

If you look deeply into it, you will find that all of these patterns contain extremely profound Zen meanings that encourage people to be good.

The once magnificent and majestic beams and columns are fading.

Just like the fate that Daqin is about to face.

……

……

In the city of God.

The Buddha's light shines all over the earth like a Buddhist kingdom, bestowing the beauty of meditation and tranquility, but it still cannot cover up the dust and wailing everywhere.

That is the blood and fire of the capital of gods.

That was the life and death of countless people.

Lin Wanyi looked at the sky blankly, feeling the real warmth brought by the brilliant Buddha's light, but did not feel too much warmth from it.

She bit her lower lip, closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again and looked forward.

Chu Jun and Lin Qianshui just stood there.

"Let's go."

Chu Jun looked into Lin Wanyi's eyes and said, "There's nothing we can do."

When she said this, her tone was serious and her pronunciation was particularly clear.

Lin Wanyi smiled slightly and said, "But where should I go?"

Chu Jun was silent.

Yeah, where else can we go?

When the most spectacular rain in the world fell, silently announcing Chaotian Jianque's long-planned stance, what should Lin Wanyi, who was in Weiyang Palace not long ago, do?
Just as Chu Jun was about to speak, a tired voice came from not far away, mixed with the sound of buildings burning and collapsing.

"Maybe there's a letter you should read."

The person who came was Chen Chi.

His hair was disheveled, his clothes were torn, and his body was covered in blood. It was obvious that he had survived one battle after another.

Lin Wanyi's eyes changed slightly and asked, "Is it his letter?"

Chen Chi did not answer this question. He just stretched out his hand and handed over the letter, then he breathed a long sigh of relief, found a wall at random, sat down with his back against the dustpan, raised his head greedily, and breathed in the stale air.

Lin Wanyi thanked him and opened the envelope.

This is of course the letter written by Gu Zhuo.

Perhaps because he had already taken her current situation into consideration, the wording on the letter was very simple and extremely direct.

With just a quick glance, she understood what the letter said and remained silent.

Lin Wanyi came to her senses, put away the letter, and asked, "Does he have anything else for you to bring to me?"

Chen Chi shook his head and said, "No more."

Lin Wanyi thought that this was the way it should be.

Chen Chi said: "But I have a few words to say to you."

As he spoke, he still leaned against the wall, his eyes still bright and clear despite the dust.

"I don't know what's written in the letter, but I really don't recommend you to go back to Chaotian Sword Palace. I also hope you don't have any extravagant dreams, because even people like me have such a hard life, let alone you?"

This is Chen Chi’s true sigh.

Lin Wanyi remained silent.

Chen Chi stood up and said with emotion: "I used to think of the sect as a person with real feelings, or a father or a mother, but the fact is never like that. It is just a group of interests composed purely of people. For such an existence, there is no old thing that cannot be forgotten. I hope you can understand this truth."

After hearing this, Lin Wanyi did not react much.

Chu Jun's expression changed inexplicably.

Everything that needed to be said had been said, the letter had been delivered, and Chen Chi was ready to leave.

He left two paths for himself. If the sect was about to win, he would continue as before. If he lost, he would go look for Gu Zhuo. In short, staying alive was the prerequisite for everything he did.

Beyond that, many things no longer matter.

For example, the survival of a sect, or the satisfaction of revenge.

Lin Wanyi looked at his back and asked, "In your opinion, what else should we care about?"

Chen Chi said: "All those who have real emotional ties with you, at least, I think they are still worth caring about at this moment."

As soon as the words came out, the sky suddenly changed.

The four of them subconsciously raised their heads and looked toward the sky, only to see the tall figure reaching the sky shaking uncontrollably.

The vast expanse of Buddha's light flickered in silence. The Buddha's kingdom, which had already arrived, was like a castle built on the beach, which was experiencing irreversible collapse.

The sound of the sutras continued, the sorrow and suffering in them becoming even more intense, with every word expressing one's heart.

Suddenly, cracks that could not be ignored appeared on the Yuanmie Mirror, and golden light could be faintly seen flowing through it.

Could that be the blood of Buddha?

……

……

Wang Ji, who was standing on the lonely cliff, watched this scene and remained silent for a long time.

His gaze stayed on the capital of gods. He looked at the bleeding shadow of the Buddha and saw the destruction that was approaching in countless temples on earth.

……

……

Dark clouds appeared out of nowhere in the sky above Cha'an Temple.

The monks in the temple are reciting scriptures diligently, using the supreme and subtle Dharma to travel to other places with the most sincere thoughts to establish a Buddhist kingdom on earth.

So, when the cloud blocked out the warm winter sunshine, no one knew.

Until a thin beam of light fell from the clouds, bringing destruction.

The monk inside was awakened in shock, looked up at the dome of the hall which was instantly shattered by the beam of light, and wanted to do something, but it was too late.

boom!
The ground was shaking.

The Buddhist temple collapsed and smoke and dust rose.

The monks in the temple fell in the ruins, their bodies covered with bricks, stones and beams, blood slowly flowing along with the gravel, and no one was alive.

When the dust settled, the dark clouds just happened to disperse.

The bright sunshine once again shines on the earth.

The sound of the old scriptures.

No longer heard of.

……

……

The same thing happened above every Buddhist temple everywhere in the world, and above the heads of every monk who recited scriptures, without exception.

Before this scene actually appeared, no one could imagine it... Even though everyone knew that the White Emperor had killed Taoist Yingxu with heavenly punishment, silencing the entire world.

But that is fullness and emptiness.

Not the nameless masses.

Thousands of light beams, some thin and some thick, fell down, and tens of thousands of monks died without knowing it.

The living stand in the ruins covered by dust, looking at the things in front of them with blank eyes, either accompanied by warm sunshine, or cold rain, or the most ordinary cloudy winter day.

A moment later, a cry of fear and panic suddenly rang out, carrying with it a fear that would never be erased for the rest of his life.

At that time, the vast majority of people in the Divine Capital still knew nothing about this.

……

……

"How will this scene be recorded in history books?"

"In the winter of the fortieth year of the sagehood, on the winter solstice, the White Emperor fell from the sky and destroyed Buddhism."

"I regret it." "Huh?"

Gu Zhuo looked towards Wang Ji.

Wang Ji said seriously: "I should have gone to see the battle in Xuandu a hundred years ago with my own eyes."

After a moment of silence, Gu Zhuo said, "I roughly know what path the White Emperor is on."

Wang Ji's expression became extremely solemn, and he asked, "What kind of road?"

Gu Zhuo's voice was very complicated: "Those in heaven shall return to heaven."

Wang Ji was stunned.

Gu Zhuo said: "You should understand."

Wang Ji understood, so he didn't know what to say.

Gu Zhuo suddenly smiled.

Wang Ji looked at him with a puzzled look.

Gu Zhuo was filled with emotion and said, "These are two completely different paths."

……

……

The mirror of fate hanging in the sky is covered with cracks, and the shadow of the Buddha on earth is no longer bright, swaying weakly in the wind, and perhaps the final disillusionment and shattering will come in the next moment.

The Buddhist kingdom once again became the most distant thing from the human world, and what replaced it was not the sky full of wind and snow.

On the way down, the snow was burned and melted by the last rays of sunlight and turned into rain.

The rain is not cold, it is warm.

Just like human blood.

In front of Weiyang Palace.

The rosary in the abbess's hand had shattered, and more than ten streams of blood gushed out from various parts of her body, completely staining her monk's robe red. Her breath was extremely weak.

Today, she has done the best she can, and there is no possibility of her taking any more actions.

She wiped her bloody cheek with her sleeve, but found it impossible to wipe it clean. She said in a hoarse voice, "I'm leaving first."

Having said this, the abbot walked away without waiting for a reply, his steps unsteadily.

Before leaving, she glanced at the master of the temple unintentionally, but said nothing.

The master of the temple looked calm, as if he was unaware.

There was dead silence in the square.

Until the rain falls here.

Dao Xiu stretched out his hand, feeling the warm rain, his eyes as calm as usual.

What happened in temples all over the world, the death of countless monks and the wailing of the living, did not seem to be something worth his sadness, or perhaps all this was within his expectations?
This is destined to be a question without an answer.

His Majesty the Emperor is very tired.

No matter how high his realm is, no matter how much preparation he has made beforehand, he still has to pay an extremely heavy price to accomplish this task, and this is reflected in fatigue.

The rain flowed down his face, bringing with it an unconcealable fatigue.

So he sat down on the steps.

Daoxiu sat cross-legged.

Separated by a distance that was no longer far, the two men looked at each other calmly as they walked up and down the stone steps.

What’s interesting is that the master is still standing.

His Majesty the Emperor looked at Dao Xiu and said, "Let's talk about this world."

Dao Xiu said, "It's time to talk."

No matter how you listen to it, what they said is very confusing.

Yes, judging from worldly principles, when a war causes heavy casualties that both sides cannot bear, it is quite reasonable to start peace talks.

However, neither His Majesty the Emperor nor Daoxiu should be such a person.

His Majesty the Emperor said: "I have always believed in the existence of Heaven's Way."

Hearing this, Dao Xiu recalled the past and said, "It's hard not to believe it."

His Majesty the Emperor looked at him and said, "Perhaps Heaven is impartial and regards all living things as nothing, but I still don't like it."

Dao Xiu said: "Who would like it?"

His Majesty the Emperor said: "It is precisely because of dislike that cultivation is like sailing against the current, and one must spend one's whole life trying to reach a higher place."

Dao Xiu said: "It is still not enough to carve out our own world in the human world with a Taoist temple, so we must also become immortals, so that we can transcend the mundane world and finally ascend to immortality."

His Majesty the Emperor said calmly: "For thousands of years, countless people have walked this road, one after another."

Dao Xiu was silent for a while, then said, "What is in the history books is too long ago. You and I have seen his path before. That may be a path that leads to the end."

His Majesty the Emperor said: "But that is only the path of one man."

Dao Xiu said: "Practice has always been a one-person thing."

His Majesty the Emperor raised his head, looked at the sky which was still raining, and said: "The changes that practitioners bring to the human world are never the work of one person alone."

Daoxiu understood.

“What is God’s will?”

His Majesty's voice became increasingly indifferent: "In the eyes of the monarch, it is actually very simple, never complicated. It is earthquakes and floods, hurricanes and sky fires, endless rainstorms and heavy snow, and the cold that has killed countless people...all these disasters that can be seen with the naked eye."

Dao Xiu still didn't speak.

These words did not require him to respond; they were simply a calm exposition of his own ideas.

Why do you say it?
Because ideas are not about life and death, they need to be left in this world so that future generations can know them.

That’s what being first is all about.

His Majesty the Emperor withdrew his gaze from the sky.

He looked at Dao Xiu again, smiled and said: "What I want to do is very simple, never complicated, that is, let heaven return to heaven."

Dao Xiu was silent.

"The human world..."

The emperor said to the world: "Return to me."

……

……

The voice of the White Emperor was heard throughout the world.

His words were so concise and so simple that there was no possibility of them being misinterpreted, yet they were so incomprehensible because no one could have imagined how this could be done.

During the conversation in front of the Weiyang Palace, the abbot always answered the White Emperor's several questions about the Way of Heaven with the answer that Heaven is silent.

The Way of Heaven is an ethereal and traceless existence. It will not appear in front of you out of pity to comfort you and grant you immortality just because you sincerely believe in its existence.

That's something that only fairies living in stories would do.

The way of heaven is like life and death, living silently in your world. You are truly aware of its existence and want to toss and turn with it on the bed thousands of times at all costs, but that is just your empty fantasy. When you wake up, there is only the empty bed, which you cannot keep or get back.

This is something you can't change anyway.

Just like that girl you fall in love with to death, no matter how good you become, no matter how handsome, rich, talented, and more you are, she may still not like you, and there doesn't need to be any reason for this.

How can you make the way of heaven speak to you?

Over the past tens of millions of years, countless people have failed on this road.

Even the Taoist master failed.

Your Majesty, how are you going to do this?
The next moment, many people suddenly remembered what the master had said not long ago.

——God’s will will appear before your Majesty in some way.

……

……

"Nothing that exists is truly empty. The so-called silence is nothing but contempt."

"Since you are speechless, you shouldn't care about worldly affairs."

"There should be no more natural disasters on earth, the rains should be good all year round, and the solar terms should be distinct, for all my people to enjoy."

“Everyone can stay in their own position, without having to be displaced, and have their own preferences.”

“This is my world.”

……

……

His Majesty the Emperor spoke these words in a calm tone, without any trace of emotion. He was extremely composed and powerful.

Dao Xiu was silent for a moment, then asked, "What will you do, Your Majesty?"

His Majesty the Emperor said: "I'll give you a glass of wine."

Dao Xiu sighed and said, "How can there be an emperor who lives for a thousand years in this world?"

His Majesty the Emperor said: "Precisely because there is nothing, there must be something."

What a domineering statement this is?

The world is silent.

Dao Xiu said: "Running water does not rot, and door hinges do not rot."

His Majesty the Emperor looked at him and said, "The most correct choice in this world is always made by one person alone, never by following the crowd."

Dao Xiu was silent again and said, "The Holy Lord of all ages is absurd."

His Majesty the Emperor said: "This is a ridiculous statement, it is unprecedented."

Dao Xiu said: "Your Majesty, you have infinite confidence in yourself."

For the first time since the conversation began, His Majesty the Emperor fell silent and did not give an immediate answer.

But this is not hesitation or lack of confidence.

But this sentence is very important to him.

"I have pondered this issue for more than 40 years. To describe it simply as self-confidence is too narrow."

His Majesty the Emperor said seriously: "This matter has nothing to do with self-confidence, but only with the fact that this is the only option to bring about eternal peace."

Having said this, he stood up from the steps.

The emperor's robe was slightly wet from the rain, and his white hair was fluttering in the wind.

At this time, his aura was much weaker than before, and the difference was obvious compared to his initial peak.

At this time, his momentum was unprecedentedly strong, and no one in the past or present could match it.

Even the Taoist master who sat on Xuandu in the past was not as good as him.

Because he is doing something that has never been done before.

……

……

On a solitary cliff.

Wang Ji asked, "Why ten thousand generations?"

When he asked this question, he already had the answer in his mind, but he was not sure.

Gu Zhuo looked at the Divine Capital, as if he saw with his own eyes the monarch who was climbing to the highest peak of his life, and said softly: "Since all living beings depend on one person's life, how difficult is it to live forever?"

Wang Ji's expression became extremely complicated. After a moment of silence, he murmured to himself and asked, "The monarch of all ages...what kind of world would that be?"

As he spoke, he unconsciously gripped the sword in his hand and slowly exerted force with his five fingers.

Gu Zhuo saw it very clearly.

……

……

The gods are silent.

This is especially true in front of the Weiyang Palace.

The rain will soon stop.

Dao Xiu raised his hand, wiped his face, and said calmly: "These words are very interesting, but Your Majesty should clearly understand what the premise is for you to accomplish this."

His Majesty the Emperor said nothing.

Dao Xiu stood up, looked at him and said, "First, Your Majesty, you must kill all those who dare to stand up against you, and make this world as silent as a cicada. Only in this way can there be eternal peace."

His Majesty the Emperor said calmly: "Isn't that what I'm doing?"

(End of this chapter)