Chapter 1 The Origin

In a vast expanse, in a state of primordial chaos, the innate was born.

Suddenly, Hu Di seemed to see a tall, middle-aged man, realizing that the latter was none other than his friend, Hundun, looking lost in thought, seemingly pondering something. Then, the gray-robed man raised his eyes and reached out to Hu Di.

'My friend, you've come.'

'I'll take you away…'

Take me away?

Wait… Am I going to die?

Hu Di froze, his hand already outstretched. Suddenly, he began to resist fiercely. In the midst of his violent struggle, the old man delivered a powerful kick to Hundun's face, distorting and deforming it, causing his body to arch backward.

"You, you, you… Die, you bastard!!"

Then, the dream shattered with a crash.

Hu Di abruptly opened his eyes and sat up.

"Whew… I'm okay…"

"Okay, okay, that's great."

The old man mumbled a few times, then flopped back down, his face pale. He looked around, realizing he was in a mountain cave of some kind. He could faintly smell a peculiar odor, suggesting it was once the lair of a fierce mountain beast. Now, it was covered with dry grass, making it relatively comfortable.

It seemed to be raining heavily, the downpour incessant. Then, he noticed the person who had saved him, a tall man wearing tattered gray monk robes, with a bamboo hat placed beside him. A massive Buddhist staff was stuck upside down to one side. The monk sat on a blue stone, next to a huge lion.

The lion seemed to be the master of this place.

It radiated a ferocious aura.

But the monk held its head down with one hand, preventing it from unleashing its violence.

Finally, its resistance proving futile, it slowly calmed down. The rain pattered. The monk raised one hand before his chest, chanting sutras, while his right hand stroked the massive, monstrous beast. His body exuded extreme strength, yet his aura was peaceful and gentle. He said, "Old man, you're awake?"

Hu Di had read Wei Yuan's surface consciousness and understood the language.

"Awake…"

The old man patted his belly and sighed,

"If it weren't for you, I'm afraid I would have been lying outside, waiting to die."

Yuanjue shook his head and said, "This humble monk only brought you here. The Qi within your body is too powerful, boundless. With my cultivation, I can only guide it slightly. In truth, it was your own strength that suppressed these energies."

"Old man, how did you… gather such boundless power?"

The old man's lips twitched.

He'd have to ask a certain museum curator about that.

He looked up and said, "This, I also…"

He was just about to find a random excuse when the violent changes started again. He didn't know what Wei Yuan had done, but Hu Di was completely unprepared. Breaking through realms required a foundation; it couldn't be forced. Forcibly breaking through was like pouring too much water into a tank all at once.

It would only burst.

Hu Di suddenly felt his scalp tingle.

Damn it, that kid…

Why, why did the name of [Jade Void] with its power to make illusions real

Suddenly begin to connect with the other Ten?

[Houtu]?

Wait, something's not right. There's more?

[Lord of Disaster, Huai River]?! Is that Wu Zhiqi?!

Where did [Jade Emperor] come from?

[Great Emperor, True Martial Subduer of Demons, Northern Pole]?!

Crap, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die!

What did that kid do?!

An un-breakthrough Hu Di was receiving the connection that the Realization of Illusion would bring, with one of the peak Ten in power, plus a large number of other existences, and the thousands of years of foundation of the talisman array itself. It wasn't just the last straw that broke the camel's back; it was the last camel that broke the straw.

Hu Di screamed. Yuanjue was shocked and immediately appeared next to the old man.

His right hand pressed down, landing directly on the old man's shoulder. His own pure Buddhist cultivation was slowly transferred, but even with the accumulation of his past life, he was still far from Hu Di, who had interacted with Hundun. It was like a drop in the bucket.

Just when Hu Di felt like he was about to be burst, and he thought he was going to see Hundun again, a flash of inspiration struck him—since the feedback was too strong, forcing his cultivation to increase, then he should just find a way to expend that power.

Since the water in the tank was full,

He could only try to let the water out.

He looked at the monk next to him, reached out and grabbed the monk's sleeve tightly, and shouted, "Young man, do you know anything that's particularly good for bragging? Quick, tell me!"

Yuanjue was about to answer—a monk does not lie—when he saw the old man in great pain.

His thoughts turned, and he paused, pondering, "If that's the case, there might still be…"

The monk pondered for a moment, recalling the scriptures of the Pure Land sect that proclaimed the Western Paradise, and slowly said, "The Buddha told the elder Shariputra, 'From here, to the west, past hundreds of thousands of millions of Buddha lands, there is a world called Sukhavati, where there is a Buddha named Amitabha, who is now preaching the Dharma. Shariputra, why is that land called Sukhavati?'"

"'Because the beings in that land have no suffering, but only enjoy bliss, therefore it is called Sukhavati.'"

"'Moreover, Shariputra, the land of Sukhavati is surrounded by seven layers of railings, seven layers of nets, and seven rows of trees, all made of the four treasures, hence that land is called Sukhavati.'"

The monk's voice was mellow and gentle. Hu Di didn't have time to think. The mythical concept of [Realization of Illusion] moved accordingly, and he felt his own power being rapidly drawn away, quickly making him feel much more comfortable. Yuanjue's expression slowly solidified as he saw a palace surrounded by golden Buddha light, vaguely appearing in his perception.

There was even a faint possibility that this palace would become connected to the human world.

!!!

The monk's voice stopped abruptly.

The Buddhist staff in his palm slammed down, and a deafening Buddhist bell rang out.

He was actually using his own strength to sever and suppress the connection between this nascent world of bliss and the human world, not allowing this deviated creation, which only required chanting Buddha's name to gain merit, or even proclaimed that buying consecrated objects from monks could bring great merit, to truly appear in the human world. He stiffly looked at the old man.

"…Old man, you…"

Hu Di suddenly couldn't hear the chanting and subconsciously said,

"Ah, don't stop, don't stop!"

"Keep chanting!"

The monk, seeing that the world of bliss had not been truly created, had not been completely stabilized, breathed a slight sigh of relief and slowly said, "Old man, please tell me the truth… Who exactly are you, and why would you allow something that shouldn't exist in this world to appear in this world?"

Hu Di scratched his head and, seeing the monk's incredibly serious expression, had no choice but to honestly tell a portion of the truth. Even this portion shocked Yuanjue to the core, and he murmured,

"Realization of Illusion? This, what… incredible, what supreme divine power."

Hu Di urged, "You're also a Buddhist disciple, right?"

"Hurry, hurry, keep chanting, keep chanting."

"I think if I create this thing, at least I won't be burst to death. I'll give you a Buddha position to sit on at that time." The old man was extremely happy, finally finding the source of his current problem and a solution. He breathed a sigh of relief and was very generous.

"That's not fake, you know. It can really give you power."

Unexpectedly, the monk was slightly tempted, somewhat moved, but then shook his head and said,

"No, I can't."

"This humble monk must not allow the so-called Western Paradise and Buddha Bodhisattvas to appear in the world."

"If so, I would be a sinner!"

Hu Di was stunned, "Wait, a sinner? Aren't you a Buddhist disciple?"

"I want you to become a Buddha!"

Yuanjue replied, "This humble monk is a Buddhist disciple, but not a Buddhist follower."

"Huh? What's the difference?" Hu Di asked, bewildered.

The monk sat cross-legged and said, "A great difference. A school is a door. Open the door, understand the Buddha Dharma, and practice true knowledge to cultivate oneself; that is a Buddhist disciple. But the doctrine of a sect is merely a vast human organization formed with the Buddha Dharma as its core and selfish desires as its nourishment."

"Since they are people, they have good and evil. It is difficult to have a unified mind from top to bottom, so the individual will be swept away. The Buddha Dharma transcends the world and enters the world, wishing all beings liberation, enlightenment, self-help, and self-salvation; while sects have a hierarchical structure, wishing all beings to kowtow, submit, and offer, offer."

"This humble monk is a monk who cultivates his heart and spreads the Dharma, a traveler, not the leader of a sect."

"Shakyamuni and Xuanzang all took the heart as the Dharma and never said there was a world of bliss. They all believed that cultivating oneself was the only way to enlightenment. The highest state is that of an enlightened one. Buddha is a person of the future, meaning that any being can reach the state of enlightenment. But can enlightenment be obtained through kneeling and chanting?"

"Or rather, can you, old man, give me the wisdom of an [Enlightened One]?"

The old man opened his mouth.

This…

The monk said, "And if you can give it to me, then you can also take it away. That has no value to me."

"Creating a world of bliss will only destroy the future of humanity."

"If everyone hopes to fast and chant Buddha's name to enjoy pleasure after death, who will have the heart to fight? Who will have the ambition to be immortal? Who will support the spine of the Yanhuang? When death is no longer feared, then survival will lose its dignity. If life and death lose their order, the human world will lose its normalcy, and Buddhism will flourish."

"This is a calamity! A calamity!"

Hu Di opened his mouth, seeing that the monk finally picked up his staff. His expression, which was originally peaceful, now revealed his original angry look. Seeing the monk looking at the world of bliss before him, his eyes naturally had some hesitation and obsession, but finally he murmured to himself, "Buddha, Buddha…"

Finally, his obsession dissipated, and he raised his hand and slapped his forehead, shouting, "Monk!"

With a flick of his hand, "Come out!"

Then he laughed loudly, "Shatter this Buddha!"

"Break this world!"

With a flick of his wrist, the staff, which had become heavier as his cultivation increased, already weighed more than eight hundred pounds. It slammed down, smashing the plaque of the Mahavira Hall. Then, he swung it horizontally. The Buddhist disciple strode forward, step by step.

He forcibly smashed the embryonic form of this Buddha's world of bliss with his staff. The gray-robed monk, step by step, horizontally pushed through bliss. Then, buildings fell, palaces shattered. The illusory images of countless Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, pious men, and women reached out, seeming to want him to step onto the lotus throne and hold the blue lotus lamp.

Jade purification bottles, demon-subduing swords, vajras, and many other magical treasures shone with dazzling light, priceless and invaluable.

But the monk wore tattered, patched-up robes and straw sandals. The staff in his hand fell heavily. The monk's face was pale. He sat cross-legged on the dirty, muddy ground, lowered his eyes, and sweat soaked his clothes, dirty and ugly, but his hands came together, and he murmured gently:

"All conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows, like dew and lightning; thus should you contemplate them."

"Amitabha."

"This humble monk will today, deliver the world of bliss."

His hands clasped together.

Finally, three mournful Buddhist bells sounded, crashing down behind the monk.

Bliss collapsed.

The scene was extremely shocking. Even Hu Di, who had created this world of bliss, was shaken. In the human world, there was actually someone with such a firm mind…

………………

"Despicable! Despicable!"

"Why would I say such things!"

"Let me die! Let me die!"

Wei Yuan hugged a utility pole, his forehead hitting the already abandoned utility pole. Even without force, he knocked out cracks and large patches of powder. After coming down the mountain, the sense of shame appeared. Curator Wei now recalled the words he had said earlier, "This Daoist, Yuanshi," "Fellow Daoist Zhang, I didn't lie…"

Thinking of the so-called inscrutable, "faint smile" on his face,

He just wanted to dig out a three-bedroom apartment with his toes

And bury himself in it.

Shame, so shameful!

So ashamed that he wanted to strangle himself.

Fortunately, fortunately no one recorded it, no one saw it.

If Nujiao was here, she would have made at least a few hundred backups and sent them to his phone. Wei Yuan would have jumped into the river on the spot.

Wei Yuan sighed, and after finally recovering, he had arrived at the Huai River. Among his own forces, the one with enough strength to bear the circulation of one sea's worth of Qi was Wu Zhiqi. He looked at the surging Huai River, preparing to think about how to get the water monkey to jump into the pit.

If he asked him to preside over the East Sea or West Sea array eyes, he would definitely not want to work overtime.

The white-haired Daoist pondered.

Pensive.

Enlightenment.

He took out his phone and typed frantically—

"Water Monkey…"

*Tap tap tap*, deleting the words and retyping.

"No, Lord Water, are you interested in a traditional role-playing RPG game?!"

ps: First update today…………