Mang Shusheng's Ink Painting Practice

Chapter 342 Buddha Relics
Thanks to Qiu Yuzi's efforts, the Heavenly Court managed to maintain some semblance of dignity.

The long-standing grudge, after that concentrated outburst, began to slowly ferment.

Boundless resentment began to permeate the world.

In this resentment, all living beings become more prone to extremism.

To put it more bluntly, there are more tyrannical monsters and more indiscriminate killers.

Even the celestial beings in the heavens, who should have been happy and carefree, have encountered many disputes.

What were initially minor conflicts that could have been easily dismissed were escalated into bloody clashes and eventually large-scale struggles.

If the celestial realm is like this, what about the mortal realm?

The conflicts in the mortal realm also intensified, but soon stabilized thanks to some prior arrangements.

Why?

Because the land on earth has become increasingly barren and simply cannot support so many people.

The conflicts in the mortal realm are far more sophisticated than those in the celestial realm; they are wars between forces vying for living space.

In the past, one could expand their sphere of influence and gain more wealth by acquiring more land.

But now the land is becoming increasingly barren, and more land and more people mean more burdens.

Even before the ancient grudge erupted, there had already been several large-scale massacres in the mortal realm.

If we don't massacre the city, or even occupy new land, it would be a losing proposition.

But this trend was only stopped when the eight righteous gods descended to earth.

Each righteous god protects a piece of land, enabling the people on that land to cultivate and harvest normally, and to live and work in peace and contentment.

Thus, the mortal realm entered a completely new social system adapted to the current environment earlier than the celestial realm: a city-state system centered on the descending gods.

The size of a city-state depends on the area that the gods' power can cover.

Within the city-state, the weather is favorable and the land remains fertile.

But outside the city-state, there were vast stretches of wasteland.

Originally, many people lived in this wasteland, but gradually they all migrated to the city-states... or they died.

This was the method Zhao Yifu could think of to preserve the most people.

How densely populated was the Daxu area in the past?
After unifying the North and South and experiencing a period of stable development, the population has reached nearly 300 million!

But now, only a little over 50 million of those 300 million remain...

Those who died didn't have time to reincarnate, and most of them have now come to Zhao Yifu's dream world to reside temporarily.

If things are like this in the mortal realm, what about in the celestial realm, which has an even larger population?
That's an even worse situation.

Celestial beings possess far greater talents than mortals; they can even develop unique abilities based on their environment. This is an adaptive change resulting from the rich spiritual energy of heaven and earth combined with their own innate talents.

But now, the primordial energy of heaven and earth is mixed with a great deal of ancient resentment...

One after another, celestial beings began to transform into demons.

They turned into crazed demons, driven by boundless hatred, wanting to wipe out all living things they could see.

However, the Heavenly Court had no way to resolve this situation, because Youquan's subordinates were simply unable to withstand the erosion of the ancient grudge, and they themselves were 'demonized' first.

Only the heavenly soldiers and generals of the original Heavenly Court were able to put out the fires everywhere.

Li Jing no longer had time to argue with Nezha, and instead led his men to slay demons and monsters everywhere.

Later, Lady Yin, who had regained some of her memories, also went with her.

Gradually, they seemed to find the feeling they had back in Chentang Pass.

Looking at his parents, who seemed to have suddenly been rejuvenated, Nezha felt like he was superfluous... Not just him, but his two older brothers were superfluous too.

He approached Zhao Yifu, who was in seclusion, and muttered, "What do we do now? The world is in complete chaos, and I don't know what to do."

His confusion is understandable; many people share the same confusion.

Zhao Yifu did not open his eyes, but suggested, "There is a chaotic balance now, but this balance will not last long. Real chaos will come soon."

"Instead of wasting your time standing here in a daze, you should practice your Taoist arts diligently. You'll definitely need them in the future."

Nezha reluctantly agreed, but just as he was about to go to cultivate, their expressions suddenly changed, and they looked down at the foot of the mountain...

But then a fat, big-eared figure was seen tumbling and crawling through the woods.

"Brother Zhao, Brother Zhao, please help your Pig Brother!"

Zhao Yifu noticed that something was wrong with it; it was rolling over, dragging a cloud of karmic fire around it.

This karmic fire is no small matter; it is something that cultivators in the world fear and try to avoid at all costs. It is a manifestation of worldly sins and is difficult to resist.

How do we put this thing out?

Once infected, it's almost impossible to eradicate!

Oh, maybe so.

Zhao Yifu thought of something and took out some spiritual liquid he had stolen from the Heavenly Court.

These spiritual liquids were originally collected by the Heavenly Court to brew wine, but he took a lot of them based on the principle that it would be a waste not to take them.

If the karmic fire corresponds to 'fire and sin', then these spiritual liquids are 'water and virtue' produced by the accumulation of water elemental energy in the Heavenly Court and the influence of incense and merit.

Its function is similar to the Buddhist 'Eight Treasures Merit Pool', but its effects are definitely far different.

However, he can focus on volume.

So a large amount of spiritual liquid was poured onto Pigsy's body, slightly suppressing the momentum of the karmic fire.

Zhao Yifu continued to pour the spiritual liquid, and the momentum of the karmic fire was finally suppressed and slowly extinguished.

Finally, the liquid formed a puddle, which Pigsy tumbled around in, making it muddy and messy.

It's uncomfortable.

The karmic fire appeared to be extinguished, but half of its body was deeply infected with fire poison, and it would feel unbearably burned as soon as it was removed from water.

"Brother Zhao, help me out! The pig's almost cooked!"

Zhao Yifu couldn't help but ask, "Is it delicious?"

Pigsy's expression froze. He instantly remembered the sea monsters that lived around the Heavenly Prison deep in the Liaoshan Mountains.

Those sirens weren't just soldiers in wartime, but also food in peacetime...

Goodness, how could it overlook that?
Nezha burst out laughing.

He said, "That pig's head was terrified!"

Zhao Yifu realized he had misspoke and could only laugh awkwardly as if it were a joke, saying, "Alright, enough joking. I can only try to suppress your fire poison with Frost Calamity Qi, how about that?"

Pigsy looked timidly at Zhao Yifu, still feeling that this man had really taken him for a dish just now...

A well-controlled aura of icy calamity enveloped Pigsy's body.

In terms of power and quality, the Frost Calamity Qi is actually a bit inferior to the Karmic Fire, but now that the Karmic Fire has been extinguished and only some residual poison remains, the Frost Calamity Qi can wash it away.

Zhao Yifu himself had extremely strong control over the Frost Calamity Qi, and after withdrawing the Frost Calamity Qi, Zhu Bajie was unharmed.

Nezha asked curiously, "Hey, you dead pig head, how did you end up in such a miserable state?"

Pigsy shuddered suddenly, as if some unpleasant memory had been triggered.

Zhao Yifu frowned and said, "I remember you said you were going back to Lingshan, Brother Pig?"

Pigsy then came to his senses and said, "It's Mount Ling, Mount Ling... it's all engulfed in karmic fire..."

Zhao Yifu asked in surprise, "What's going on?!"

Pigsy's expression turned to one of recollection, though fear still lingered. He said, "That day, I was eating melon seeds."

Noticing the strange looks from Nezha and Zhao Yifu, it explained, "I am the Clean Altar Messenger, so my job is to clean up the offerings!"

"I was eating watermelon that day, and it was so sweet..."

"Cough cough, and then there was a loud bang in the sky, and a hole opened up in the sky."

Nezha interrupted, "We all know this; it's the breaking of the seal on the ancient grudge."

Pigsy said, "Don't interrupt."

"After the ancient grudge was broken, Mount Ling was thrown into chaos."

“Those Arhats and Bodhisattvas were all discussing how to deal with it, and it was very noisy.”

"But as the argument went on, suddenly one of the Buddha statues caught fire, and then more and more people caught fire!"

"I ran out immediately, but I didn't expect to catch fire myself..."

Zhao Yifu and Nezha listened with great interest; it was just that Mount Ling had suffered.

Pigsy, having calmed down a bit, asked, "What's going on? How could the ancient grudge erupt and ignite the karmic obstacles suppressed at Mount Ling?"

"Brother Zhao, you are a top disciple of the Taiqing Sect, you must know something, right?"

Zhao Yifu nodded and said, "I can guess some of it. Let me make some calculations first."

As he spoke, he began to calculate with his fingers.

The two people beside them waited patiently.

After a while, Zhao Yifu frowned and said with great distress, "It involves the sages at its core, and I can't figure it out."

However, at that moment, a sneer came from the side: "Tch, it's just that the two Western Saints borrowed money to become saints back then, and now the evil consequences are showing."

Zhao Yifu immediately looked over and saw his own ancestor, Xuandu.

To be honest, he wouldn't dare to speak so presumptuously about a sage, so he spoke rather cryptically.

But Master Xuandu was different.

Grandmaster Xuandu had also attained the Dao Fruit of the Primordial Golden Immortal, but he had not yet become a saint.

Moreover, the second-generation disciples of the Taoist sect who experienced the Investiture of the Gods probably don't care much for the two Western Saints.

Zhao Yifu immediately greeted, "Greetings, Grandmaster."

Upon seeing this, Nezha quickly bowed and said, "Greetings, Uncle-Master."

Pigsy didn't dare to act recklessly at all, and even shyly called out "Uncle-Master".

Yes, the old pig's nine-toothed rake was actually created by the Sage Taiqing, and it is indeed related to the Taiqing lineage.

Xuandu waved his hand and said, "No need for formalities. These are turbulent times. If you don't want to live peacefully, you might as well go out into the world to slay demons and monsters."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yifu immediately replied, "Master, rest assured, I have already instructed many of my incarnations to respond to the requests of the mortal realm."

Xuandu smiled and said, "That's right. Your primordial spirit is powerful, so this is the best choice."

Zhu Bajie and Nezha were in an awkward position, as they did not primarily cultivate their primordial spirit, and therefore could not differentiate their primordial spirit.

At this moment, Pigsy changed the subject, saying, "Uncle-Master, do you think Mount Ling is beyond saving?"

Zhao Yifu's understanding was that the Buddhist community at this time was in a state of 'insolvency'.

Back then, the two Western Saints made a grand vow to become saints, which meant they borrowed a large amount of merit from heaven and earth to forcefully push their own realm into the Hunyuan Daluo Golden Immortal realm, thus fulfilling their saintly status and becoming saints.

But the hidden danger is that they will have to find a way to repay the debt of merit from now on.

So how did they do it?
One reason was the splitting of the Xuanmen (Taoist sect) into the Buddhist sect. Later, the spread of Buddhism and the subsequent Journey to the West led to a flourishing of Buddhism, which was like a raging fire.

By this time, the merits and karmic debts of the two saints had actually been transferred to Buddhism, while they themselves remained hidden behind the scenes.

So now it is Lingshan that is in trouble, but it may not be the Western Paradise.

Xuandu listened to Zhu Bajie's question and thought for a moment before saying, "Perhaps the Buddha can help, but those who rely on Buddhist merits to achieve Buddhahood or Bodhisattvahood will suffer a backlash."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yifu immediately began calculating with his fingers again.

He then said, "The three great Bodhisattvas, Avalokiteshvara, Manjushri, and Samantabhadra, are all unharmed, so the Buddha should be unharmed as well."

As he spoke, he suddenly thought of Ajita, wondering what had become of that future Buddha...

Suddenly, he heard a Buddhist chant.

Moved by this, his primordial spirit separated from his body and suddenly arrived in the Western Regions.

He saw Mount Ling being burned by karmic fire, and then he saw the great Buddha on Mount Ling being enveloped by raging karmic fire.

Zhao Yifu's primordial spirit bowed and said, "This humble Taoist, Fu Yinzi, greets the Buddha."

The Buddha looked at him with kind eyes and said, “Benefactor, I entrust my disciple Ajita to you from now on.”

As he spoke, he closed his Buddha eyes and then transformed into a relic in the karmic fire, which fell into the hand of Zhao Yifu's primordial spirit incarnation.

The relics were still burning with karmic fire.

However, the energy of the relics is very concentrated and refined, and the karmic fire has a very limited effect on it.

Moreover, the moment the relic fell into Zhao Yifu's hands, the karmic fire was extinguished.

Zhao Yifu then realized that he was not afraid of karmic fire.

Why?

He actually possessed a wealth of merit at that moment.

His great merit lies in the fact that he single-handedly carried the souls of many who were originally destined to be displaced!
In this era, this is almost comparable to the reincarnation of the ancestral shaman Hou Tu in the past.

Such great merit can naturally suppress karmic fire.

Thus, this precious Buddha relic was preserved.

Zhao Yifu looked at the relic in his hand but didn't know what to do with it. This was the 'protection fee' given to him by the Buddha.

Clearly, with the Buddha's wisdom, he had foreseen that Buddhism would suffer its most devastating loss at the end of this era.

The leader or protector of the next era is Zhao Yifu.

He used his last relics as 'protection money' in order to give his successor a pass to revive Buddhism in the next era.

However, Zhao Yifu had no idea how to use the Buddha's relics. Did he eat them?

He pondered for a while without success, and finally decided to go back and ask his grandmaster Xuandu how to use this thing.

……

Xuan Du: "..."

No, the Buddha passed away peacefully?
He gazed at the Buddha relics that Zhao Yifu's primordial spirit had captured and fell into deep thought.

To be honest, he still respected the Buddha quite a bit.

After all, the Buddha was the founder of Buddhism, and one of the few beings in the Three Realms below the saints who could rival him—a Primordial Golden Immortal.

Why would a Primordial Golden Immortal, who is already invincible, choose to perish?
Indeed, in Xuandu's mind, the Buddha would never be burned to death by mere karmic fire. The only thing that could cause a Primordial Golden Immortal to perish was himself.

He suddenly understood and said to Zhao Yifu, "Keep it safe. If the Buddha returns one day, you can return it to him."

Zhao Yifu asked in surprise, "The Buddha will return?"

He felt that the Buddha had already been giving him instructions before his death!

Xuan Du laughed and said, "Yes, but by then it might be a different person."

"After all, the new era belongs to the future Buddha."

(End of this chapter)