Obsession

In Qingming, one of Wei Yuan's garrisoned dharma idols hurried up to the Hall of Merits sub-hall. He glanced at the figures displayed on the stone stele by the doors, plugged them into the known orbital formula, and in moments calculated the movement trajectory. Taking a stride forward, his figure blurred for an instant before he materialized right at the doorway of the Hall of Merits and stepped inside. Just then, a shadow emerged from the void. It glanced at the numbers on the stele, baffled. Looking closer, it saw a jumbled mess of symbols beneath them, resembling a child's scribbles. The shadow knew there had to be some profound mystery behind it. Though it couldn't decipher the writing, it had already memorized every step of the predecessor's path, including the route through the void. Unafraid, it took a stride forward as well. A blood-curdling shriek rang out, and the shadow vanished into thin air, gone without a trace. Inside the Hall of Merits, Wei Yuan's dharma idol warrior deftly conducted a search, ultimately selecting a complete set of the scriptures from the Great Treasure Radiance Pure Land. He charged the transaction with domain power, then paid with heavenly merits. Moments later, sheets of jade paper drifted down like snowflakes, carpeting the floor in a thick layer. The Hall of Merits sub-hall no longer required sacrificial offerings; powering it with domain power alone was enough now. In the Hall of Merits at the Palace of Grand Beginning, several elderly caretakers finished laboriously hauling the tomes and watched them vanish into the formation. Exchanging glances, one of them said, "Why would someone redeem an entire set of Pure Land Buddhist sutras?" "Judging by the orientation, it should be from Qingming." "Could another Buddha Child have been born into the world?" "That's only natural. Great Tang's karmic luck has waned, and the realm has fallen into troubled times. In chaotic ages, Buddha Children are most likely to incarnate." The old man spoke as if discussing events in an entirely separate world, his tone utterly flat. Their reward for standing vigil in the Hall of Merits was a prolonged lifespan. Even the youngest among them had served here for over three hundred years, long accustomed to the mortal realm's rise and fall, waxing and waning. *** In a dilapidated little temple in the wilderness, an old monk and a youth sat facing each other. The youth appeared only fourteen or fifteen, yet his eyes held a precocious maturity. The youth looked thrilled. "Am I truly a Buddha Child?" The old monk smiled. "You possess past-life wisdom, born in response to the great calamity of Heaven and Earth, endowed with great opportunity and profound karma. Now that the great calamity is upon us, the Buddhist path is destined to flourish, and the time has come for you to rise to the occasion. This old monk traveled the whole world and was fortunate enough to find you." With an expectant look, the youth asked, "Then can I... achieve a dharma idol?" The old monk gave a hearty laugh. "Never mind a dharma idol—even Scenery Command is merely a waystation on your journey! Since you are a Buddha Child, you are bound to ascend to Unity and attain the karmic attainment in the future." With the grand path suddenly thrust upon him, the youth was so overjoyed he nearly fainted, for a moment unable to tell whether this was real or an illusion. The old monk raised a wooden fish striker and struck the top of the youth's head three times—*thump, thump, thump*. The youth's hair fell away completely, and his mind cleared at once. The old monk said, "A Buddha Child is exceptional, yet you have not reached the pinnacle. If you do not apply yourself, you may only ever attain Arhatship in this life. Your master has divined that the supreme karmic attainment currently stands vacant. Born in response to destiny, you must diligently cultivate to achieve the true fruition." The bald youth asked, "If I am a Buddha Child and the supreme karmic attainment is vacant, shouldn't it rightfully be mine?" The old monk replied, "With the great calamity looming, you are not the only Buddha Child. By my calculations, there are likely already three or four Buddha Children born into this world. What they contend for is bound to be that very same vacant supreme karmic attainment." A thought occurred to the youth, and he asked, "Why did the supreme karmic attainment become vacant? Has some Buddha fallen?" The old monk sighed. "Perhaps by answering a calamity, or perhaps through reincarnation. That realm is veiled in thick layers of obscuration; even your master cannot see clearly." The young monk said again, "With Master's profound cultivation in the Buddhist Dharma, why do you not enjoy honor in an immortal sect or great faction, but instead walk through such remote and impoverished lands?" The old monk replied, "I was on the verge of attaining the true fruition, but before taking that final step, I realized that an obsession still lingered in my heart. Thus, I came specifically for you." Moved, the young monk pressed his palms together in a respectful bow. "Thank you, Master." The old monk said, "Your master braved countless tribulations, broke through numerous blockades, and saw through the moves of immortals and the schemes of great figures before I finally found you. You must not disappoint me." The young monk declared, "Rest assured, Master! I will advance with fierce determination!" Very pleased, the old monk said, "Born in response to the calamity, your talent is not in doubt; you need only apply yourself diligently. Do you have any lingering obsessions? If not, I shall first impart to you the *Six Paths Reincarnation Sutra*. It is a portion of the Tripitaka. Once you master this sutra, you will understand where you came from and where you are bound." The young monk spaced out for a moment, then asked, "Master, if I have such talent, why was my former teacher entirely unwilling to take me as his disciple?" "To meet without recognizing is to have no affinity. Many in this world suffer from cognitive obstructions; there is no need to dwell on it." Still begrudging, the young monk asked again, "When my cultivation reaches fruition in the future, may I seek out that teacher? I only wish to ask a single question, to hear him answer with his own lips why he cast me aside back then." The old monk sighed. "Foolish child. Very well. Once you form a dharma idol and receive the first resonance from your karmic attainment, you may go see him." Only then did the young monk nod. Taking the sutra, he opened it, only to freeze in surprise. "Why are there so many blanks?" Hearing this, the old monk was also startled. "This sutra is no physical object—it was manifested from the knowledge held in my mind. Three thousand Buddhist sutras reside within my heart; how could there be any blanks?" He took the scripture, opened it, and saw that the very first page was indeed missing two large passages, leaving only half the content! Flipping further, blanks appeared throughout, varying only in size. Searching his memory, the old monk discovered to his horror that vast swathes of this sutra had vanished from his own recollection as well. A sudden, overwhelming terror seized the old monk. "It truly is a great calamity of Heaven and Earth—the Dao is destroyed, the Dharma obliterated!" *** Atop the city walls of Guantun County, Wei Yuan stood beneath a grand banner, gazing into the distance at the rebel battle line. The rebel army was a dense, dark mass, its military qi chaotic and pitch-black, yet remarkably dense. When two armies confronted each other, the first contest was between the battle standards of the commanding generals. In the rebels' center army stood two great banners, towering above the sea of flags like cranes amid chickens. One banner was inscribed with four large characters: "Crush the Rebels, Purge the Traitors." The other displayed a flamboyant, sweeping character: "Liu." Yet on the county wall stood a flagpole ten zhang tall, flying a massive brocade banner larger than both enemy command banners combined. Upon this genuinely "great" banner was only a single character, dignified and upright, unadorned yet profoundly solid, its brushstrokes restrained and full of latent power: "Tang"! Liu Heihu narrowed his eyes, glaring from afar at the fluttering banner. The fury in his chest could not be suppressed. In this contest, he had lost without a shadow of a doubt. His own slogan was "Executing Heaven's Punishment on the Wicked," where "Heaven" referred to the Tang Son of Heaven. Yet the other side had brazenly raised the Great Tang banner itself—utterly shameless. Liu Heihu rose into the air, flying between the two armies, and bellowed, "Which one of you is Wei Yuan? Step forward!" His roar boomed like thunder, carrying across dozens of li. With that shout, Heaven and Earth seemed to dim by a shade, and a bone-chilling cold swept through the wind, setting many rebel soldiers shivering. Wei Yuan took to the air as well, though he did not leave the perimeter of the county walls. Normally, the proper exchange would be for Wei Yuan to reply, after which Liu Heihu would sneer and pour scorn upon him. But Wei Yuan was experienced and had anticipated the subsequent steps long ago; how could he let the man have his way? Wei Yuan said nonchalantly, "A mere rabble. You came to throw away your lives with so few troops? If you've never led soldiers, have you never even read a military treatise?" Liu Heihu was incandescent with rage. He snarled, "You have a measly five hundred men, yet you dare wag your tongue here! When you fall into my hands today, I will tear out your soul and refine your spirit, making you wail for nine times nine—eighty-one days—before granting you reincarnation!!" Wei Yuan replied flatly, "Save the nonsense. Bring it on!" Fury surging, Liu Heihu took a step forward and slashed out with a blade! A gleam of blade-light swept forward, bearing thousands of gusts of frost and snow across a thousand zhang straight toward Wei Yuan! Wei Yuan mobilized the power of the Central Wutu Grotto-Heaven, sending billowing yellow light cascading down to shield the county walls. Meeting an icy blade with an earthen shield offered a massive advantage, but Liu Heihu was at Scenery Command; this full-power slash focused all its force into a single point, still shattering the grotto-heaven power. A sliver of blade intent penetrated the defense, instantly freezing several defenders on the wall into sculptures of ice. Liu Heihu suddenly felt a faint heaviness throughout his body, as if coated in a layer of grease. Turning his divine sense inward, a sweep revealed that certain places in his mindscape world were eerily glowing with a dark red light—an unmistakable sign of karmic debt latching onto him! Shock and fury seized Liu Heihu. His strike had merely killed seven or eight ordinary soldiers, so how could the karmic debt be far greater than butchering an entire county seat? Although karmic debt could be cleansed by an immortal afterward, doing so was troublesome, agonizing, and often left complications behind. Furthermore, Liu Heihu dared not complain; after all, not every immortal could deal with karmic debt. The true master behind the scenes could not. Having suffered a hidden loss, Liu Heihu focused his gaze. At that moment, Wei Yuan waved a hand, dispersing an invisible barrier that had cloaked the city walls to reveal what lay concealed. The row of soldiers standing on the walls, though sallow and emaciated to the bone, glared at the rebel army outside with blazing eyes, itching to charge out and fight with their lives. Liu Heihu could not care less about the hatred of mere mortals. To him, the bitter curses of hundreds of thousands or even millions were nothing more than impotent rage, like the buzz of insects or the barking of dogs. Since launching the rebellion, the mortals slaughtered by his own hands and troops were nearly a million. Yet these soldiers on the wall were all suffused with clear, translucent azure light—pure Humanity Azure Qi! Slaughtering those favored by such karmic luck incurred ten times, perhaps even a hundred times more karmic debt than normal. Wei Yuan had reached an agreement with the defending soldiers beforehand. Originally, they were merely militiamen, or even just robust commoners. Having long harbored bone-deep hatred toward both the rebels and the imperial forces, they had willingly stood on the front line to serve as bait, dragging the rebel general into the quagmire. Wei Yuan had bestowed all the azure qi he gained from Guantun County upon these soldiers, which perfectly aligned with his Dao of taking from the people and using it for the people. If Liu Heihu dared kill all several dozen soldiers, it would be equivalent to personally butchering a dozen Guantun Counties. Even with an immortal backing him, such a monstrous karmic debt could not be resolved. Wei Yuan laughed aloud three times and called out to Liu Heihu, "Why stop there?" Liu Heihu's face turned black as the bottom of a pot. With a thunderous roar, ten thousand troops charged forth from his left army, surging toward the small county seat spanning merely a few li!