From Under One Person: Sincere Journey Through the Heavens

"Senior brother, the mortal world is full of strife and killing, a dangerous place of right and wrong, a sea of ​​evil words. How can we solve this problem? Should we teach everyone to cultivate?"

Pigsy knew in his heart that this was impossible. Even if everyone could cultivate, they would still fight each other, causing the wronged souls in hell to pile up like mountains.

"To do something knowing it is impossible is true wisdom."

Jiang Liu laughed heartily at Bajie's realization that this goal was an unattainable dream, for it was a sign of enlightenment.

Anyone with lofty ambitions knows that their dreams are far from being realized.

Yet they were all willing to go through fire and water for it, sparing no effort.

Why?

The reason why humans possess such a small degree of spirituality is precisely because they follow the laws of nature and act solely on instinct.

Upon hearing this, Bajie felt a sense of bewilderment, a sense of understanding, but not a complete comprehension. He simply stopped asking questions and led the way with Bajing, his heroic spirit growing ever stronger!

As they were walking, a long-armed ape that looked like a mandrill suddenly jumped out of the forest ahead, startling Pigsy. He quickly raised his rake and shouted, "Where did you come from, you monster? How dare you block our way!"

But the monkey ignored Pigsy, stared at the river for a while, and then spoke in human language, saying, "Man of Heaven, hand over the aggregates of form, feeling, and consciousness!"

"Give."

Jiang Liu recognized the old ape, but without hesitation, he tossed the Three Elements into her hand.

She took the three essences, confirmed their authenticity, and was momentarily stunned. She glanced at Jiang Liu, noticing his identical face to the Great Sage, except for the constant smile on his lips and his eloquence. For a moment, she was unsure whether to leave immediately or inquire about the truth…

Chapter 1507 The Five Aggregates Become Empty and the Six Ears Return

Poetry:

Desiring to save the Great Sage, but his mind was clouded, he left the mountain and wandered far and wide, east and west.

Because of the attachments hidden within, one is unaware that the five aggregates reside in the mind.

The gibbon, having attained the three aggregates, opened its mouth as if to speak, but hesitated, and finally left with the three aggregates in its heart, disappearing into the mountains and forests.

"What a pity about those three treasures!"

Seeing that Jiang Liu readily offered the Three Elements to the gibbon, Bajie felt a pang of regret and complained, "Brother Monkey, if you don't want it, you can give it to me. Wouldn't that be a great favor? It's just a waste of money for that monkey."

"Those are monkeys from Flower Fruit Mountain."

Jiang Liu said.

"Oh, so it's someone from your hometown! No wonder you looked familiar!" Pigsy recalled the past and realized that he really did have an impression of that old gibbon.

"Back then, she led Xin Yuan to the monkey troop and watched him grow up."

Jiang Liu added more.

Upon hearing this...

Pigsy fell silent, refraining from further sarcastic remarks, and focused on continuing their journey...

···

Having attained the aggregates of form, feeling, and consciousness, the gibbon returned to its cave and placed them together with the aggregates of perception and mental formations.

Not long after.

The five aggregates surround the corpse and slowly merge into it. The form aggregate activates the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and body, giving it senses and giving birth to instincts; the feeling aggregate enables it to perceive the outside world through its senses; the perception aggregate gives rise to thoughts; the mental formations aggregate transforms it into something else and gives it will; the consciousness aggregate gives rise to the mind root, which in turn gives rise to consciousness, thus giving rise to consciousness in the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and body, namely, eye consciousness, ear consciousness, nose consciousness, tongue consciousness, and body consciousness.

After the corpse had fully absorbed the five aggregates, it opened its eyes, its golden pupils flashing, and its body was filled with surging Qi, burning away the golden headband on its head. It pulled out a Ruyi Jingu Bang (the Ruyi Golden Cudgel) from its ear, but it was also engraved with the words "Ruyi Jingu Bang weighs 13,500 jin". It threw its head back and laughed loudly: "Buddha, I have broken free of the golden headband! I have returned!"

Having said that, he glanced at the excited gibbon, but ignored it, and looked into the shadows with his golden eyes, shouting, "Sneaking around, come out here, Old Sun!"

With a single swing of the bat, the mountain wall instantly split open, and half of the mountain collapsed.

"Don't hit! Don't hit!"

The young monk stepped forward, a bead of sweat glistening on his forehead, his smile stiffening slightly. "Back on the journey to the West, I even helped you, Great Sage."

"It's you, you laughing monk."

The monkey, carrying a stick, chuckled coldly, "On the journey to the West, he allowed his disciples to wreak havoc in the mountains and cultivate by eating young boys and girls. What kind of compassionate leader is that?"

The only reason I didn't fight you back then was because I had the golden headband on my head.

"Now that you've removed the golden headband and resigned from your Buddhist position, you're free. How dare you show your face before me? You truly don't know what's good for you!"

Having said that, he was about to draw his stick.

"Wait a minute!"

Then Yuan Shoucheng jumped out and questioned, "Are you really Sun Wukong?"

"Who do we have here? It turns out to be a fortune teller who is skilled in the art of divination."

The monkey, with its golden eyes, saw clearly and understood the origins of the matter. It sneered, "Spiritual enlightenment and the six ears are both the mind. Whoever wins is the true one."

Although I died back then, none of the gods and Buddhas in the heavens could control my soul.

Why do you think so?

The Six Ears originally represented the carefree spirit within the heart of the enlightened!

If I die, he will also lose his freedom!

But I still live on in his heart. I know everything he went through, until his death, when I became the chosen one…”

The gibbon standing nearby was startled and momentarily at a loss for what to do.

Judging from what this "King" is saying, that chosen one is the reincarnation of the true King...?

At this point, the Six-Eared Macaque stared at Maitreya Buddha and chuckled coldly, "You want to use me to deal with the chosen one?"

Is it feasible?

Maitreya asked with a smile.

"Sure, why not?"

The Six-Eared Macaque laughed heartily, "As long as I kill him, retrieve the five roots, defeat the obsession he left behind in his previous life, and merge that root of will with me, I will be the Great Sage Equal to Heaven!"

Maitreya was silent for a moment, then looked at the two sides of the Six-Eared Macaque's face. He saw that it only had one pair of ears, not six. He sighed and said, "Six ears doesn't mean six ears. I've really learned something new."

"To comprehend the Way of Heaven and obtain magical arts, do not treat metaphors as mere statements. The Golden Elixir is not a single pill, nor is the Holy Embryo developed within the womb."

The Six-Eared Macaque glanced at Little Maitreya's large belly, his face full of arrogance and a hint of mockery, "Three minds and two intentions make one six ears, one thought and all laws are realized in emptiness. Two minds are truly impossible to sever, returning to oneness is the true path."

After the song ended.

He then looked at the gibbon and said, "I'm going to find that chosen one and settle things with him, to decide who is better and who is worse, to decide who lives and who dies."

Whether he dies or I perish, the Monkey King you long for will return.

He's just the Monkey King.

The gibbon opened its mouth, speechless.

When she came to her senses, the Six-Eared Macaque had disappeared, leaving only Little Maitreya and Yuan Shoucheng.

You lied to me!

The gibbon, its voice hoarse, questioned Little Maitreya, "He is not my king!"

"Monks don't lie."

Little Maitreya smiles.

after all--

He wasn't lying.

How can you say that the Six-Eared Macaque is not Sun Wukong?

But this was not his original intention, so he added, "You may go with him to take a look; you might gain something from it."

The gibbon had doubts, but it was still worried about its king, so it went down the mountain as well.

"The Six-Eared Macaque knows a lot."

After she disappeared into the forest, Yuan Shoucheng pondered, "But he absolutely cannot kill the Chosen One."

"He is the same person as Sun Wukong, who was killed by Erlang."

"It is precisely because he is Sun Wukong that he cannot defeat Gu Yue Yuanjue."

Yuan Shoucheng had already grasped the key point: "Gu Yue Yuanjue is the reincarnation of Sun Wukong, but he is not Sun Wukong... According to your Buddhist teachings, he is the present body and the future body."

"But the Six-Eared Macaque is a past incarnation!"

Lost in the past, longing for the past, seeking only the freedom and boundless joy of yesteryear, like the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, the Six-Eared Macaque Sun Wukong, indifferent to right and wrong, unwilling to be bound by the slightest constraint…

How can it compare to the spirit stone monkey Sun Wukong, who sacrificed his life to prove the Dao, exchanged his fighting spirit for eternity, and wanted to fight for all living beings, thus opening up a completely new path?

"Sir, you seem to have a good understanding of our teachings," the young Maitreya said, extending an invitation. "Would you be willing to join my sect?"

"Why must spiritual practice be divided into Taoism and Buddhism? It's a side path!" Yuan Shoucheng said leisurely.

Upon hearing this, Little Maitreya was taken aback for a moment, then laughed heartily and said, "Sir, you are truly audacious to dare to say that Taoism and Buddhism are heretical sects?"

"Taoism and Buddhism are the right paths, but the Taoist and Buddhist sects are actually side paths, not the true path."

"Oh? This world is ruled by the Taoist and Buddhist sects."

"Who decides who gets to decide the fate of that monkey?"

"...Sir, that's not very interesting."

"The Taoist and Buddhist sects have come to understand so many principles, yet in the end they still determine the order of host and guest by force. How are they any different from beasts in the forest and ordinary people in the world?"

Yuan Shoucheng gazed at the blue sky, watching the clouds roll and unroll, and shook his head, saying, "People say that immortals and Buddhas are transcendent, but how many people know that immortals and Buddhas are no different from ordinary people, and are also constantly vying for fame and fortune?"

Pitiful!

sad!

What a pity!

Little Maitreya said, "That's why there are reclusive immortals and Buddhas like you in this world! But what you're saying... makes it seem like that monkey can change all of this?"

"Perhaps."

Yuan Shoucheng, however, seemed unfocused, unable to see clearly...