From Under One Person: Sincere Journey Through the Heavens

This was exactly what Jiang Liu wanted, and his figure slowly dissipated.

"Whoo~"

Seeing that the monkey had disappeared, Dapeng stopped chanting the incantation. Just as he was about to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead, he saw the outline of Sun Wukong appear before him again. Startled, he immediately started chanting "Mommy, Mommy, please."

He only opened his eyes secretly after reciting it three thousand times. When he could no longer see the monkey, Dapeng finally breathed a sigh of relief. But then he suddenly heard a "tick-tock" sound, which startled him so much that he jumped away, but felt his body was a little heavy.

Take a closer look!

His clothes were soaked with sweat!

Just now, a drop of sweat dripped from his sleeve onto the ground!

Having cultivated himself into a human form and become a demon king, Dapeng had no recollection of not having sweated for hundreds of years. Yet, this time, encountering his inner demons, he found his clothes completely soaked.

"That damn monkey!"

Dapeng slumped to the ground, gritting his teeth and frowning, "Even in death he can't rest in peace, he still has to turn into a demon to torment me!"

No!

"Inner demons aren't so easily vanquished. I must personally kill that monkey once to truly defeat the demons within me!"

But the monkey is already dead, so how can we kill it?

The chosen one!

As everyone knows, that is the reincarnation of Sun Wukong!

Killing him will have the same effect!

Thinking of this.

He transformed into his original form, spread his wings, and soared into the sky. Looking up at the charnel ground, he saw a group of people approaching, two of whom were acquaintances.

One is Zhu Bajie, and the other is a man whose appearance is exactly the same as Sun Wukong, except that he always has a smile on his lips!

"Good! Good! Good!"

"It came to me without any effort!"

"I originally intended to ignore Tathagata and Peacock and head directly east to find the chosen one, secretly ambush him, and kill him to break the demonic thoughts in my heart. I never expected to end up at Lion Camel Ridge!"

Dapeng was overjoyed and returned to Lion Camel Kingdom. With a tremor of his body, each of his 84,000 acupoints generated a powerful obsession, which multiplied into 84,000 demons and ghosts, each taking human form and spreading throughout Lion Camel Kingdom, preparing to "lure the enemy into a trap"...

Chapter 1548 The Three Corpses Are Difficult to Deal With and Must Be Slain

Lion Camel City.

Before even entering the city, Hu Yuan and Hu Jue heard shouts coming from inside and exclaimed, "Could it be that the Buddha Mother Peacock is deceiving us? There are clearly living people in this Lion Camel Kingdom!"

Hearing human voices, Pigsy was also a little suspicious. He brought up a past event and said, "Before becoming the Buddha Mother, the peacock, like the roc, also loved to eat people. Could it be that she was really deceiving us?"

"Don't talk about others behind their backs, and don't worry too much. Those who cultivate themselves must overcome even mountains of knives and seas of fire ahead, and must not retreat."

Jiang Liu's primordial spirit returned, and he was the first to enter the city gate.

The other six people quickly followed.

Upon entering the city, one sees:

Willows and painted bridges, emerald curtains in the wind, eighty thousand households scattered about. Markets lined with pearls and jewels, households overflowing with silks and brocades, a bustling prosperity stretching for miles. On the streets, osmanthus blossoms ripen in autumn; in the city, the aroma of wine wafts for miles. Children hold hands, blowing on windmills; couples lean on each other, discussing dowries and betrothal.

It truly is: the Western Paradise, a wonderful country in the vacuum of space!

"Could it be that the Bodhisattva really deceived us? Otherwise, how could this place be so prosperous?"

Pingping was so engrossed in watching that she couldn't help but speculate.

"It is indeed bustling."

Liang Luzhen also spoke up, looking left and right, and for a moment he was dazzled.

“Brother, I think the prosperity of this city is an illusion.” Pigsy was initially also blinded, but his state of mind had approached that of a Bodhisattva, and he had vaguely gained some wisdom. Although he could not tell the truth from the falsehood, he was different from before and would not be attached to appearances.

“There is indeed a problem.” Jiang Liu knew perfectly well and nodded slightly.

"Ha ha!"

In an instant.

Everyone in the city burst into laughter, transforming into a giant roc with a Kun-headed head and golden wings, and shouted in unison, "The chosen one! Your death is near!"

"Oh no! It's that Roc!"

But it was already too late!

The eighty-four thousand incarnations transformed into streaks of black energy, obscuring the sky and the sun, enveloping the entire Lion Camel Kingdom, merging with the local energy and transforming into yin and yang energies.

It's better if they don't say anything.

This statement—

"It feels quite cool."

Liang Luzhen muttered to himself.

"really."

Pingping also said that if Dapeng only has this little bit of ability, it wouldn't be a problem for him to stay for seven or eight years.

Bear!

In an instant.

Flames rose from the ground, turning the entire city a fiery red, and forty fiery serpents, each a thousand feet long, emerged and coiled around the crowd.

"Look at me!"

Ba Jing leaped up, manifesting his true dragon form, surrounded by nine dragon pearls. One was his own, while the remaining eight were obtained from the eight sons of the Jing River Dragon King. He had refined them into magical artifacts, and as he used them, lightning flashed and thunder roared, and a torrential rain fell, extinguishing the flames and engulfing the fire snakes, washing them away to who knows where.

"Dapeng! Your methods aren't working either!"

Seeing that Dapeng's method was just a bluff and was easily extinguished by Bajie's water, Bajie patted his belly and laughed heartily.

"Humph!"

A cold snort echoed from the void, and three fire dragons appeared out of thin air, each ten thousand feet long, with fiery scales, horns, claws, and tails. In an instant, they evaporated the rain that had fallen from the Eight Pure Ones.

Ba Jing exclaimed in disbelief, "That Roc has actually reached the heavens!"

Most of the immortals, Buddhas, demons, and monsters in the primordial world only cultivated tangible pills, did not understand the true meaning of the Great Dao, did not comprehend the principles of connecting with the heavens, and rarely were they able to borrow the power of heaven and earth for their own use.

How can this roc be so powerful?

“Ba Jing, come down. This Dapeng has already refined the Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle before. Now that he has died once and cultivated 84,000 acupoints, he must have also comprehended some of the Great Dao, which is why he has such abilities.”

Upon hearing this, Bajing hurriedly returned to his original human form and landed beside Jiang Liu. Together with the others, they used the Fire Avoidance Technique to resist the raging flames spewed out by the three ten-thousand-foot-long fire dragons.

The so-called Fire Avoidance Technique is actually based on the same principle as the Water Avoidance Technique. It involves using the Samadhi Fire Method to perceive the four seasons and six energies, stabilizing the inner energy core, and releasing a thin membrane that not only avoids fire and water but also resists wind and thunder. However—

If the mind is not calm, the practice will be hindered, the spirit will be scattered, and the breath will be disordered, making it difficult to resist.

The river flow was unimpeded, and Bajie and Bajing were able to resist it, but Hu Yuan, Hu Jue, Pingping, and Lüzhen's cultivation was somewhat lacking, and they could not withstand the fire, which disturbed their minds.

Seeing that their Qi was in disarray, Jiang Liu tore off the big red sleeves on his body and covered the four of them, as well as Bajie and Bajing. It could only cover six people, and he sent them all out of the Lion Camel Kingdom.

"Ok?"

Seeing six of them enveloped in a cassock and rushing out of this world, Dapeng was stunned for a moment, then looked at the "chosen ones" still remaining and said sarcastically, "You monkey are really loyal and righteous—"

Back then, because I lied and said I had eaten your master, you killed all 40,000 demons on Lion Camel Ridge and turned Lion Camel Ridge into a charnel house.

This time, in this cycle of reincarnation, nothing has changed. Instead of lending that treasure to get out on its own, it helps them escape their predicament, which truly moves me.

But how will you escape now?

As soon as he finished speaking, the three ten-thousand-foot-long fire dragons spiraled down and crashed directly into Jiang Liu's body, bursting into flames that burned down the streets and houses of Lion Camel Kingdom.

But the river flowed unharmed.

"Um?!"

Dapeng was filled with doubt and trepidation, his body and mind trembling.

“I’m not in a hurry; they will come to my rescue.”

Seeing that the three fiery dragons, each ten thousand feet long, had reformed, Jiang Liu smiled slightly, having already seen through their true nature: greed, anger, and ignorance.

The Great Roc was able to cultivate 84,000 incarnations by incorporating the obsessions of 84,000 lesser demons into its 84,000 apertures, but ultimately, it was still primarily driven by the three afflictions of greed, anger, and ignorance.

Cultivation requires severing the three corpses.

What are the Three Corpses?

It's not about good, evil, or ego, but rather greed, anger, and ignorance.

Using Journey to the West to Discuss Cultivation—

The first encounter with the Three Corpses was at White Bone Ridge:

The story of Sun Wukong being demoted back to Flower Fruit Mountain by Tang Sanzang after defeating the White Bone Demon three times is an analogy for cultivators who use the Mind Monkey to violently sever the three corpses. They rarely succeed, and both sides suffer losses. They can only achieve temporary peace and tranquility, and they still need to teach the Mind Monkey to return to the heart and recuperate.

The second encounter with the Three Corpses was at Lion Camel Ridge:

The Green Lion, White Elephant, and Roc are the Three Corpses that need to be subdued in cultivation.

The blue lion represents anger, the white elephant represents ignorance, and the roc represents greed.

Sun Wukong could defeat the Green Lion and subdue the White Elephant, but he suffered a slight loss at the hands of the Roc. This means that at this stage of cultivation, he has been able to see through anger and ignorance and is no longer controlled by these two poisons, but he does not know how to deal with the poison of "greed".

The true meaning of "slaying the three corpses" is to transform them into one's own power.

Anger and delusion are transformed into mounts, suppressed beneath the rider, to aid in unleashing thunderous attacks.

Greed is like an umbrella, sheltering one's head so that the world can see it...

Greed is the act of making money through shady means. But if one does it openly and honestly, with proper and compliant procedures that are visible to everyone, then even if one earns thousands of mountains of gold and silver and provides endless benefits to future generations, it is still considered honesty.

It was during the ordeal at Lion Camel Ridge that Sun Wukong received instruction from the Buddha, understood the way to sever the three corpses in his heart, and realized the Bodhisattva state of mind by cutting off the three corpses in his heart and using them for his own purposes.

But in this primordial wilderness!

The reality of cultivation cannot be compared with that in "Journey to the West". Dapeng was completely killed by Jiang Liu's monkey-like Wukong... but after being resurrected by Tathagata, he comprehended some of the true meaning of the Great Dao, cultivated 84,000 incarnations, and his obsessions entered his body, which is a true testament to the 84,000 afflictions!

Greed and afflictions number 21,000!