Deep within the Pure Land, more than a dozen monks gathered in an old hall, exchanging glances in silence.
Peacock was also among them, seated upon a prayer mat at the outermost edge. His eyes were downcast, his mouth swollen high, and the split across his lip was plainly visible. In the entire hall of monks, he was the only one bearing visible wounds.
Seated at the head of the assembly, an elder monk sighed. "It appears our Pure Land harbors those of ill intent as well. Otherwise, when I did everything to invite Wei Yuan to tour Spirit Mountain, why was he utterly unmoved and insisted on remaining at the mountain gate? Guanxin, what do you think?"
The old monk Guanxin said slowly, "There is truth in this. Most likely someone's Chan mind was not steadfast, leaking the news that several Great Bodhisattvas are away or undergoing reincarnation. Otherwise, how could he have chosen this exact moment to arrive?"
In the Pure Land at present, the foremost four generational characters in Dharma names were Jing, Guan, Shi, and Kong. The old monk Guanxin possessed immense seniority, and his words carried extraordinary weight.
Another elder monk of the Guan generation, Guanyun, said, "The Pure Land is secluded from the outside world, naturally dwelling in purity. The disciples who cultivate quietly within usually possess steadfast Chan minds, and they would have had no opportunity to pass along word even if they wished to. Thinking on it, only those disciples who frequently travel outside and do not belong to our lineage of the Great Sun Tathagata would fall under suspicion."
Peacock finally spoke. "Why doesn't Grandmaster simply call me by my Dharma name? Beating around the bush like this is hardly the conduct of a pure, eminent monk."
Guanyun seemed not to have expected Peacock to dare talk back. Taken aback for a moment, he said, "You are naturally under suspicion, but you are not the only one. So long as your heart toward the Buddha is steadfast, why be so defensive?"
Peacock sighed softly. "Grandmasters, please spare us the retroactive rationalizations. When Wei Yuan blocked our mountain gate, none of you stepped forward to issue a challenge. Now that he has left, you begin looking for someone to blame. If I may speak plainly, with the clumsy goading you Grandmasters attempted, unless Wei Yuan was an utter fool, why on earth would he obediently walk into the Pure Land?"
Guanxin frowned. "Wei Yuan himself claimed he wished to view Spirit Mountain. What was wrong with us inviting him to do so?"
Sounding weary, Peacock replied, "He was playing you for fools."
The monks' expressions altered in unison. The elder monk at the head spoke in a deep voice, "Peacock, you grow increasingly insolent. If you persist like this, we will have no choice but to send you to the back mountain to face the wall and reflect upon your faults."
Peacock showed no fear. "In all these years since the King Buddha's departure, you Grandmasters have dismissed or expelled disciple after disciple of our lineage, leaving barely a handful of temple halls standing. Send me to face the wall? Fine! A hundred years, a thousand years—say whatever you like! But when the King Buddha returns, I will certainly have a long talk with you Grandmasters about all of this. In any case, you will all be reincarnating sooner or later; I won't have to worry about failing to find you.
"Do not forget, everyone—the King Buddha simply hasn't returned yet. He isn't dead!"
With that, Peacock rose to his feet and strode straight out.
The old monk Guanxin was so enraged his beard quivered. "Such conduct—where is the slightest hint of monastic purity in him? Should we not—"
The presiding elder monk cut him off, speaking slowly, "He is the core disciple of that lineage; it is not fitting for us to interfere too heavily. Whether demotion or expulsion, either would be going too far."
The monks raised no objection, all praising the abbot's compassion. Yet in the entire hall, Peacock was the only one who had actually fought Wei Yuan. The other elder monks had never taken the field. With Peacock gone, the assembly was left at a loss for words.
Peacock had only recently stepped into Scenery Command. Though he was beginning to display the majesty of the Great Peacock Wisdom King, he was still no match for Wei Yuan; the moment he took the field, Wei Yuan had struck him across the face with a single fist, sending him crashing out.
Peacock was not even the most miserable. There had been another monk bearing the dharma idol of a Demon-Subduing Arhat. When he took the field, he had muttered something provocative under his breath, only for Wei Yuan to swat him into the earth with a single palm strike, flattening him into part of the arena floor.
When subsequent challengers took the stage to debate and duel, several failed to control their footing and stepped right over that monk's body. With every footprint left behind, an impression was stamped into that monk's Chan mind as well.
Wei Yuan's punches and kicks appeared ordinary, yet the injuries they inflicted inexplicably refused to heal. Even after leaving the range of Wei Yuan's domain and returning within the Pure Land, the wounds showed no sign of improvement. It seemed that until Wei Yuan's residual Dao power dissipated completely, these injuries would not mend at all.
What sent chills through the monks was that despite the Pure Land's hundred thousand years of accumulation, its domain power could not suppress the injuries either.
Under the full suppression of the Pure Land, Wei Yuan's lingering magic power was consumed only at a crawl, and the rate of its consumption matched the expenditure of the Pure Land's domain power. This meant that the grade of Wei Yuan's Dao power was at least equal to the domain power of the Pure Land itself.
Thus came the meeting where Peacock attended with a swollen face, only for everything to end in discord.
***
At that moment, Wei Yuan stood atop a snow-capped peak, gazing across the endless, majestic mountain range. He sighed. "This Xuantian Mountain Range spans a full thirty thousand li, crouching across the north as a natural barrier. South of the mountains lies nothing but fertile soil, a veritable land of abundance. From this single range alone, Northern Qi derives boundless bounty."
Baoxing stood beside him. She had put away her solemn, sacred visage, manifesting as a mortal maiden. Plain garments wrapped her lithe waist; her voice was clear and melodious, her dimples shallow, and her glances flowed like drifting rosy clouds. Though unadorned by rouge or powder, she carried a natural grace, romantic and innocent.
She too looked out over the snowy mountains, and upon hearing his words, remarked, "These mountains have stood here since ancient times. Why does the Realm Lord feel such sorrow? What wondrous spectacle under heaven has the Realm Lord not seen?"
Wei Yuan said, "No matter how magnificent the land, if the people ruling it are incompetent, it is all for naught. As I see it, the ten thousand li south of these mountains alone could sustain the entire population of Northern Qi. Yet what does Northern Qi look like today? Backward production, backward population, lax military preparedness, and bloated, idle officials."
Baoxing said earnestly, "The Realm Lord is mistaken. The people of Northern Qi are devout in their Buddhist faith. In the Realm Lord's eyes, they are impoverished, yet their hearts are filled with joy and their spirits are rich—far superior to those in Qingming who are wealthy yet hollow."
Wei Yuan chuckled. "Who told you the people of Qingming aren't happy? Are all the wealthy under heaven unhappy, then?"
Baoxing said, "What Qingming calls happiness is merely drowning in a sea of desires."
Wei Yuan said, "Only those who have walked the mortal world can say the mortal world is flawed. The people of Northern Qi have never even seen the sea of desires, yet they preach that indulging in it is evil—how laughable is that? If I may speak plainly, given Northern Qi's present virtue and conduct, even if they begged to plunge into that sea of desires, they could never attain it."
The two fell into silence. Eventually, Baoxing broke it, asking, "I have one curiosity. Why did the Realm Lord suddenly raid the Pure Land, yet refuse to enter Spirit Mountain to view it?"
Wei Yuan smiled. "If I don't wish to enter, I don't enter. It's as simple as that."
Wei Yuan naturally would not admit that once inside Spirit Mountain, he had no certainty of unleashing the art that altered heaven and earth. Stripped of that divine art, would he not be stepping straight onto the opponent's home ground? Wei Yuan would never recklessly enter such a perilous place. Moreover, no matter how spectacular a fight he put up within the Pure Land, nobody outside would be there to witness it.
Baoxing asked again, "How did the Realm Lord know that the Buddhas and Great Bodhisattvas were all absent?"
Wei Yuan merely smiled without answering.
Failing to glean an answer, Baoxing said, "Then I shall see the Realm Lord off here. I expect that before long, a Bodhisattva will seek out the Realm Lord to debate the Dao. Be careful, Realm Lord."
"Will it be Limitless Bright Light?"
"Whichever of them is free will come."
Wei Yuan nodded and said indifferently, "I blocked your mountain gate for three days precisely to experience the merit and Buddhist Dharma of the Bodhisattvas. Alas, I only met with one, which was deeply regrettable. Should the Bodhisattvas be willing to come, I welcome them wholeheartedly."
Baoxing bowed in farewell and turned back.
Wei Yuan remained on the peak for a while longer. Seeing that no one had truly come to hunt him down, he prepared to leave. Just then, a figure stepped out from the clouds. His hair was cropped short, barely an inch long, and his brow was etched with sorrow, resembling an old farmer who had spent a lifetime toiling in the fields.
Upon seeing the newcomer's face clearly, Wei Yuan was genuinely startled. "Tuoba Dafeng? How did you end up like this?"
The newcomer pressed his palms together and said sluggishly, "There is no longer a Tuoba Dafeng in this world, only the monk Zhizhan."
Wei Yuan looked him up and down, frowning. "You were converted? What kind of Dharma name is that? It carries not a shred of lineage transmission, completely wild Chan. Furthermore, you can be considered an immortal now, but the way you ascended is truly..."
Wei Yuan possessed sharp discernment, and Tuoba Dafeng made no attempt to conceal it. Wei Yuan could naturally see that he had inherited an Arhat's dharma body and fruition. The problem was that an Arhat was merely an immortal, with no further path of advancement whatsoever.
Had this fruition been cultivated by Tuoba Dafeng himself, a sliver of possibility for progress would still remain. But now that he had taken up a fruition forged by another, Tuoba Dafeng would forever fall short of the original master. His path in this life ended here.
"Cultivation is merely an external thing. Subduing demons and upholding the Dao is our bounden duty. So long as demons can be subdued, whether cultivation is a little higher or lower matters not."
Wei Yuan said, "You don't intend to tell me about accumulating merit in this life to receive blessings in the next, do you?"
"It is precisely so."
Wei Yuan sighed softly. "When I blocked the Pure Land's gate just now, why didn't you step forward? Why seek me out now—do you wish to fight another round? If I may speak plainly, though you have ascended to immortalhood, ascending into this sort of immortal means you are no longer my match."
The monk fell silent for a moment before speaking. "The benefactor overthinks. This poor monk came merely to ask... how is Hong'er?"
Wei Yuan tapped his finger forward, and the image of a youth appeared before them. The youth sat alone in a side hall, engrossed in studying scriptures by lamplight, so absorbed that he was entirely oblivious to the world outside.
Watching the youth's rapt concentration, the monk's eyes grew slightly moist. He chanted a Buddha's name, saying nothing, yet seeming to say everything.
Wei Yuan said, "He works very hard and possesses great comprehension. Like you, he holds an Arhat seat now. But his fruition is merely an embryo; he needs to refine it step by step himself so that the fruition he achieves will truly belong to him. He has not yet reached Scenery Command, while you are already at the immortal tier. Yet when he reaches the immortal tier, you will still be at the immortal tier. His innate talent was far inferior to yours, but in time, his achievements may not be beneath yours."
The monk chanted the Buddha's name once more, his tone imbued with light and joy. Then he said, "This poor monk's wish is fulfilled. If fate allows, we shall meet again."
Wei Yuan stood with his hands behind his back. "The master spoke of karmic affinity just now. I happen to have a few questions for you, Master."
"The benefactor may ask freely."
Wei Yuan asked slowly, "The master speaks of karmic affinity. What I wish to ask is: what is karmic affinity?"
The monk said, "Every cause and every effect is karmic affinity. Just as this poor monk's state today is predestined by past affinity."
Wei Yuan asked again, "Then why must myriad past affinities be predestined? Who decreed that they be predestined?"
The monk was silent for a moment. "This poor monk's Buddhist Dharma is not deep; I cannot answer this."
Wei Yuan continued, "Then I have one final question. If one dislikes this past affinity, can it be changed?"
The monk replied, "Past affinity is predestined. How could it be changed?"
Wei Yuan smiled. "A past affinity decreed by someone else, unchangeable whether one likes it or not. How is such affinity any different from a puppet on strings? Regardless of whether you like it, your past and present lives are arranged altogether. If I acted like this in the mortal world, it would be called dynastic tyranny and autocratic rule. Yet when done in the heavens, it is called karmic affinity."
The monk shook his head. "Past affinity is not decreed by others. Sowing one's own cause to reap one's own fruit—this is past affinity."
"Is it truly a cause you sowed yourself?"
Wei Yuan asked this single question and said no more. The monk bowed and stepped back into the sea of clouds.
When Wei Yuan had battled Tuoba Dafeng in the past, it had been a narrow victory. This time, in debating the Dao, Wei Yuan had won an overwhelming victory; Monk Zhizhan possessed little profound comprehension of Buddhist scriptures and was utterly outmatched by Wei Yuan. Yet Wei Yuan felt dispirited, and a lingering displeasure clung to his heart.
Back then, in pursuit of an unblemished path, Tuoba Dafeng had severed his own retreat to temper himself in the mortal world, where the slightest misstep would have seen him drown in the sea of desires and perish along with his Dao. Yet he had walked in resolutely and emerged intact. In both disposition and will, he had stood at the pinnacle of his generation.
Such a man, Wei Yuan had felt, was qualified to sit across from him, debate the Dao, and become a Dao companion.
Alas, that was the Tuoba Dafeng of the past. Today, Wei Yuan had lost a Dao companion.
His blockade of the Great Baohua Pure Land's gate had been a spur-of-the-moment decision. Wei Yuan had not expected that not a single Buddha would appear, and only one Great Bodhisattva would show herself—and even then, only to sit and debate the Dao without coming to blows.
The Pure Land had been caught off guard by Wei Yuan, its prestige plummeting in an instant. They certainly would not let the matter rest. However, Wei Yuan had not revealed his Non-Retrogression Ground either; that was reserved specifically for dealing with Buddhas, waiting for the Pure Land to come knocking.
Wei Yuan lingered no longer, traveling slowly westward. As he crossed the border of Northern Qi, he suddenly stopped and looked up at the sky. At this moment, karmic ties in the void were tangled like a mess of hemp, forming the eye of a storm. Surrounding karmic currents were whipped by the tempest into ever-shifting chaos, impossible to decipher.
Wei Yuan examined it closely and discovered that the core of the storm's eye was none other than the karmic tie between himself and the Great Baohua Pure Land! For a moment, Wei Yuan found it incredible. Raiding the Pure Land's gate had merely been an urge to slap those bald heads and vent his anger; how could it produce such an enormous impact, throwing even the heavenly secrets into chaos?
It felt as if a child had snapped his fingers, and an entire mountain range in the distance had collapsed as a result.
Yet the crux of the matter now was not the connection between the snap and the landslide, but why he had snapped his fingers in the first place.
Wei Yuan scrutinized the causes and effects of his raid on the Pure Land's gate and found nothing amiss. If there had to be a problem, it was that at the very end of a series of weightier reasons lay one tiny motive: after this feat, Wei Yuan had felt that his brilliance was grand enough to fill an entire history book. Confused karma and obscured heavenly secrets were ultimately a good thing for Wei Yuan. Splendor of the Many Realms combined with human luck was fully capable of rivaling top-tier divination arts. Moreover, Wei Yuan had always adhered to the strategy of meeting all changes with stillness; so long as Qingming and he were strong enough, there was no need for elaborate schemes.
Just as he returned to the immortal city, a servant came to report that a Liao civilian dressed as one of the Mountain Folk sought an audience, calling himself Hule Gao'en.
Wei Yuan paused, then said hastily, "Where is he? Bring him up."
The attendant hesitated, saying cautiously that the man had brought many Mountain Folk with him, but the moment they stepped into Qingming, they had all been seized and were now locked in the dungeons.
Chapter 1329