The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

Hotogtu's spiritual world was as vast as a starry sky. Sparkling stars were scattering all around just like the Milky Way. The Lotus Throne Mountain, Shaolin Temple, and Jiang Zhiwei had disappeared from sight. However, the starry sky in this world was rather different from that of the real world. It was covered with a layer of semi-transparent green glaze that made everything looked illusory.

Meng Qi was standing on a desolate but tall mountain that was covered with thousand-year-old ice. The mountain was located in the north-central part of a large planet.

Looking up at the sky, Meng Qi saw Hotogtu floating in the starry universe. After transforming into the Golden Body of Trailokyavijaya, he had three heads, eight arms and a green body of enormous size. The black Trailokyavijaya Wheel in his hand was as large as the planet that Meng Qi was standing on.

As compared to him, Meng Qi was as small as an ant!

"In this Pure Land of Soul, I'm an almighty being. Everything that I want will come true. So, none of your attacks will be able to hurt me!"

Hotogtu's voice was echoing in every corner of the planet. Holding the black Trailokyavijaya Wheel in his right hand, he smacked toward the tall mountain where Meng Qi was currently standing, just like how he swatted a mosquito or a fly.

In Hotogtu's spiritual world, he would be having absolute power. If he was able to use his power well, he could undoubtedly have his wishes come true!

Therefore, fighting in other people's spiritual world would put oneself in a dangerous and disadvantageous position. It was nothing different from fighting against a God that created the world!

The shadow of the Trailokyavijaya Wheel was shrouding the entire planet as it moved toward Meng Qi rapidly. As light was being blocked by the huge shadow, the whole mountain sank into darkness. There seemed to be no way for Meng Qi to dodge the attack!

However, Meng Qi did not even pull out his blade. Without a change of countenance, he clenched his right hand into a fist and punched forward. Purple thunderlight, along with the force of virtues, were gathered in front of him. They turned into a yellow dragon surrounded by thunderlight and flew toward Hotogtu's green glazed palm and the black Trailokyavijaya Wheel.

Bang!

Following the collision of both attacks, the yellow dragon was broken down into numerous yellow light spots and purple thunderlight. Just like an egg that crashed into a rock, it was not stopping the Trailokyavijaya Wheel at all.

In the spiritual world of the Trailokyavijaya, no one seemed to be able to hurt him!

Crack!

The black Trailokyavijaya Wheel smashed the whole planet into pieces. At once, everything on the planet was burned up by the Flame of Anger.

Hotogtu was standing high in the starry sky, looking down at the planet. No emotion was shown in his green glazed eyes. His eyes were like mirrors that could reflect everything in the world, but showing no mercy to anything and anyone.

A Wisdom King was actually the reincarnation of the Five Wisdom Buddhas who portrayed the steadfast decree of Buddhism. What was the steadfast decree of Buddhism? Buddhas had always been working on enlightening people with their teachings so that everyone in the world could attain ultimate happiness. In order to do so, many Buddhas had incarnated themselves in Bodhisattvas to preach their teachings. Nonetheless, some people were stubborn, some were overly greedy and resentful, and some had even fallen into diabolism. These people were hard to be enlightened in the normal way. Therefore, the Five Wisdom Buddhas had incarnated themselves in Wisdom Kings who aimed to defeat evil thoughts such as greed and resentment. In this way, the people would be more likely to obey the steadfast decree of Buddhism. This was why Wisdom Kings were often called the reincarnation of the steadfast decree of Buddhism.

Due to this reason, the Wisdom Kings were often surrounded by the Flame of Anger. Despite doing merciful things, they would always be having a fiery stare. As a result, their appearances would not be as merciful as that of the Buddhas and Bodhisattva. Therefore, after transforming into Trailokyavijaya, Hotogtu was unmoved by the destroyed planet and the disappearance of Meng Qi in the invisible flame. His heart would always be as clear as a mirror and as still as a mountain.

Just then, Hotogtu saw a person coming out from the invisible Flame of Anger. Wearing a green robe, the person's sideburns were all white, and his hands were as fair as a jade. Apart from that, he had an inexplicable charm. It was Meng Qi!

Despite having Mirror-Like Wisdom that could reflect everything in the world, Hotogtu could neither sense emotional changes from his opponent, nor the greedy and resentful thoughts in his mind. His aura was like a black hole that engulfed all things. Not a single thought was revealed!

Meng Qi's hands were hanging down at both sides of his body. He did not attack recklessly. Without finding out the critical point of this spiritual world, none of his attacks would be effective on Hotogtu. Looking at the glazed eyes of Hotogtu that showed no emotions, Meng Qi smiled and said,

"It turns out that you're not omnipotent in the spiritual world."

"If I'm able to clear the greedy and resentful thoughts out of my mind, and restrain all my emotions, even a Living Buddha like you can't hurt me."

"You seem to know something about the Trailokyavijaya Mantra," said Hotogtu with a calm voice. He did not seem to be surprised at all.

The fundamental purpose of the Trailokyavijaya Mantra was to defeat evil forces such as the Demon of Realm of Self, and to defeat the greedy and resentful thoughts throughout one's past life, present life and future life. The spiritual world of Hotogtu was formed based on this principle. If one was unable to retrain his thoughts of greed and resentment, he would be defeated by Hotogtu right away. After experiencing death repeatedly in the spiritual world, one's hidden mark would be wiped out, causing the body in the real world to die.

But if one was able to have a peaceful Bodhi mind, Hotogtu's attacks against greed and resentment would be a futile attempt!

In short, it would be a battle on a spiritual level. The one who had a stronger mind would win!

However, Hotogtu had no fear at all because he was possessing the Mirror-Like Wisdom - one of the Five Wisdoms - that was evolved from Alaya-Vijnana, the Eighth Consciousnesses. Having a mind like a mirror, he could reflect all things in the world, but none of the reflections would stick on the mirror. With this wisdom, he could solve any mystery and see through the enemy's actions. As a result, the enemy would have no secrets in front of him. The Akshobhya Buddha, the Buddha who best represented the Mirror-Like Wisdom, was also known as the Immovable Buddha. After incarnating himself into a Wisdom King, he naturally exhibited the characteristic of being immovable. In fact, his eight arms actually symbolized the Eighth Consciousnesses.

At the moment, Hotogtu was looking at his enemy calmly. After that, he chanted in a loud voice,

"Namo Amitabha!"

In an instant, the spiritual world changed again. As the starry sky faded away, the semi-transparent green glaze solidified into a huge land. On the ground, countless green Bodhi trees were grown, followed by the appearance of the Ponds of Meritorious Virtues that were full of glazed stones, agates and other treasures.

At the center of the land, there was a Bodhi tree that grew the seven treasures. A green Buddha, chanting the Acala Mantra, was sitting under the tree.

He was the Akshobhya Buddha, and this place was the Eastern Pure Land of Abhirati!

Next to the Ponds of Meritorious Virtues and under every other Bodhi tree, a lot of golden Buddhas or Bodhisattvas were sitting in a lotus position.

The green Buddha, sitting as still as a mountain, opened his eyes that reflected the scenes of all heavens and universes. He said solemnly,

"The sea of suffering is endless, but you can always head back to the shore!"

All the other golden Buddhas and Bodhisattvas were also chanting along,

"The sea of suffering is endless, but you can always head back to the shore!"

Their chants were like thunder that came from all directions, drilling into Meng Qi's ears and forming the images of various Buddhas in his mind. It was as though they were trying to preach to him forcibly. In fact, there was not a better place than the spiritual world to preach to a person!

The luster of the green glaze was swirling, and the golden water in the Pond of Meritorious Virtues was rippling. As the voices of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas echoed around, golden lotuses were gushing out from the ground. In an instant, all the greedy and resentful thoughts were eliminated, thereby putting one's mind at ease.

Suddenly, the sound of heartbeat could be heard from the void. It was getting faster and faster, making people feel uneasy.

Thump thump thump! Meng Qi was standing in the crowd of Buddhas, with his hands clasped behind his back. He was listening to the chant of Buddhas with a smile. All of a sudden, the golden Buddhas and Bodhisattvas appeared to be delighted. One after another, they stood up and danced to the rhythm of the heartbeat. Some of them were getting aggressive as they were ripping off the Buddhist prayer beads and tearing off their clothes.

Thump thump thump!

Gradually, their dance moves had become more uncontrollable. Except for the Immovable Buddha, the rest of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas were joining in the dance.

Bang!

Right after an illusory sound, the sound of heartbeat stopped abruptly. The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas disappeared one after another, and the Akshobhya Buddha had also changed back to the Golden Body of Trailokyavijaya.

"Evil being. You're an evil being," Hotogtu said coldly as he spun the Trailokyavijaya Wheel at a rapid speed.

How evil are you to destroy the Eastern Pure Land of Abhirati in this way. You must be an evil being!

But, do you think that's all?

Let me show you the true power of the Trailokyavijaya Wheel!

As the black Trailokyavijaya Wheel spun fast, the green Pure Land was broken. It was as though countless horrible monsters were hiding in the dark. Also, somewhere in the dark was connected to a mysterious place that could not be described by words.

Aside from defeating the greedy and resentful thoughts of one's past life, present life and future life, Trailokyavijaya was able to send the opponents back to the past so that they would be reincarnated again to the present life. In this way, they would re-experience the things that triggered their greedy and resentful thoughts. As a result, a new Primordial Spirit would be born due to the emergence of a new personality after each reincarnation. Without a strong mind, the opponents would have an unrecoverable mental breakdown. They might even forget about their present lives and confused their identities with a past self. Eventually, they would immerse themselves completely into the past life!

Samsara had actually created the Heaven's Strike based on this magic art!

A shade of darkness was floating in the void. Hotogtu was standing in the air and looking at the scenes that showed the enemy's past life. Apart from making him re-experience the past life, Hotogtu was also trying to find out his greedy and resentful thoughts in order to wipe out his existence in the past!

In a small room, there was almost no furniture at all. The room owner was only placing a table in the corner. Otherwise, it would be difficult to get in and out of the room.

The owner's clothes were packed in a box that was placed behind the door. Every time he opened the door, only a small gap was left for him to go through. A computer that was running a game was placed on the table.

At the moment, the room was quiet, with nobody in sight!

This is… Hotogtu had an odd feeling. If this was his past memory, someone should be sitting next to the computer, isn't it?

Why is the person missing?

How could he be missing?

As the Trailokyavijaya Wheel spun again, Hotogtu saw a building in a sea of fire. A lot of people were massacred by Japanese soldiers.

He is still missing! Hotogtu was deeply shocked. In this scene, he should be fighting against the enemies with grief and anger! But the place where he should stand is empty now!

In the next moment, the Trailokyavijaya Wheel spun once again. In the dark, a person was carrying a bamboo cage and was about to throw it into the water. However, the bamboo cage was empty. Where is the person inside the cage?

What's happening now… Hotogtu was utterly confused. Could he be a real spirit that is just born into the world, thereby having no past life?

No, that's not possible. If he doesn't have a past life, where did all these memories come from?

Hotogtu tried to calm himself down. When he looked up, he saw a green-robed young man sitting cross-legged in the dark, looking at himself with a smile!

Well, I'm well-known for my ability to send people back to the past. As I've dealt with Chonghe using this ability before, perhaps this mysterious Dharmakaya has heard of it. He might have prepared some special skills to counteract my ability!

If that's the case, it seems like it's time to show him a magic skill that I created during my forty-year Isolated Practice.

Sending you to your future life!

You will be reincarnated again and again. There will be no way out!

The Trailokyavijaya Wheel was suddenly spinning in the opposite direction, changing the surrounding again. A Pure Land full of celestial beings, Arhats, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas occurred.

"Is he a Buddha in his future life?" Hotogtu was startled. However, when he looked at the white lotus throne in the middle of the Pure Land, he saw no one sitting on it.

He's not there either. He doesn't even have a future life?

Again and again, Hotogtu was sending Meng Qi to his future lives. However, his reincarnation was not found at all - not even once.

He… he has no past life and future life? Hotogtu was so shocked that he could no longer keep his Mirror-Like Wisdom.

Looking back, Hotogtu saw the green-robed man sitting cross-legged in the distance. It seemed that he had always been sitting there. He was neither returning to the past, nor reincarnating to the future life.

Who… who on earth is he? How could it be possible for someone to have neither past nor future life? Hotogtu was confused and terrified.

In the next moment, he saw Meng Qi pointing a finger at the sky and touching the ground with another finger. As the luster of golden glaze soared up, the entire spiritual world was illuminated. Apparently, he was taking control over the world. His body was growing larger and becoming more majestic until it filled the place completely. The Golden Body of Trailokyavijaya was like an ant in front of Meng Qi - it was clearly a twist of fate. Just then, Meng Qi uttered a phrase loudly,

"Regardless of being in the past or in the future, I am the best in the world!"

Regardless of being in the past or in the future, I am the best in the world? As if being struck by lightning, Hotogtu suddenly realized something. He was trembling with cold sweat all over his body. As the Flame of Anger subsided, he was in a peaceful state of mind.

Regardless of being in the past or in the future, I am the best in the world. So it is… so it is…

As the spiritual world collapsed, the Lotus Throne Mountain came into sight again. The refreshing mountain breeze was blowing on Hotogtu's face. In the distance, the chanting voices of Shaolin monks could be heard faintly.

Tears were rolling down Hotogtu's face. He placed the Trailokyavijaya Wheel on the stone steps, and put his hands together in a prayer position. "Thank you for teaching me a lesson. I've finally realized something very important. I should be letting go of the past, and not thinking too much about the future as it hasn't happened yet. I should focus on the present and work on becoming a better person."

"From today on, I'll become a monk in Shaolin to find my true self."

As soon as he finished speaking, he turned and strolled toward the entrance of Shaolin without even waiting for Meng Qi's reply. Both his physical body and mental state were much more relaxed than before.

Looking at Hotogtu's back, Meng Qi was a little startled. Well, I didn't expect it to turn out this way. All of a sudden, he has decided to become a real monk. What's going on?

After a while, Meng Qi kept the Trailokyavijaya Wheel and sighed. "Luckily, I have no past life or future life. Otherwise, it would be difficult to deal with Hotogtu. Trailokyavijaya Mantra is really an incredible magic art."

"He is unlucky to have you as his opponent," Jiang Zhiwei said smilingly.

Meng Qi looked up at the sky, "Although Hotogtu is still in the Dharmakaya Realm, he is already so hard to be beaten. When the mighty people of the Legendary Realm and the Zao Hua Realm return in the future, I wonder how strong they can be?"

"The Great Trial is coming. The only thing we can do right now is to train ourselves as hard as we can. We must strive hard to attain the Legendary Realm before the mighty people return."