The Battle in Journey to the West
Chapter 310 - 271: Yet With My Heart, I Seal the Heart of Heaven

Chapter 310: Chapter 271: Yet With My Heart, I Seal the Heart of Heaven

Wukong returned to his own Daoist training ground, which was located near Mount Meru.

The training grounds of All Buddhas were spread across West Cow He State, and beneath most of their training grounds, there would typically be some scattered small countries. The people of these small countries were protected by them and provided them with Incense Power and Wishes.

If one kept something constantly in mind, they would inevitably contemplate it. Every day they prayed to Divinities and Buddhas, and naturally, the divinities would resonate. Just like in ancient times, when immortals were abundant, no one prayed to Divinities and Buddhas. Instead, they prayed to the Heavenly Dao and communicated with heaven. It was due to Chi Songzi’s frequent sacrifices to the heavens in ancient times that he had the ability to cast the Divine Skill "Nine Heavens Thunder Movement."

Victorious Fighting Buddha was a newly risen Buddha with few followers. Near his training ground, there was a small country named Qingyu Kingdom with just a few city walls, and a population of no more than a million. However, due to its favorable geographical environment, it was considered prosperous.

The destinies of West Cow He State were chaotic with countless small countries waging constant wars against each other, creating extreme instability. In contrast, the destinies of Southern Toad Continent were stable with unified dynasties. Even if there were temporary disturbances, they would always eventually converge again.

Wukong returned to his training ground, where the little novice monk came out to greet him with palms pressed together, bowing and saying, "Victorious Fighting Buddha."

Wukong said, "There’s no need for such formalities! In the coming days, I will be in seclusion in the quiet room, contemplating the Heavenly Dao and declining visitors."

The little novice monk replied, "Understood."

As Wukong sat down in the quiet room, suddenly a flash of light swept through, and a figure appeared—it was the Leader of Heaven-Penetrating.

Wukong hurriedly bowed and said, "I apologize for not greeting my teacher from afar."

The Leader of Heaven-Penetrating said, "Lately, you have been contemplating the Heavenly Dao Laws; I have a Mixed Yuan Meditation Mat here, a Primordial Magical Treasure, which I lend to you."

The Buddha Ancestor has a Lotus Platform which, when seated upon, brings him closer to the Great Dao, and Saints have Meditation Cushions that similarly possess unique yet analogous wonders for better communication with the Heavenly Dao. The Leader of Heaven-Penetrating had a Mixed Yuan Meditation Mat, which he used for his meditative practice. Now that Wukong was contemplating the Heavenly Dao Laws, having this Mixed Yuan Meditation Mat would naturally be of great help!

"Good, good! I thank my teacher greatly!" Wukong received the meditation mat and bowed again.

"The ’Heart Sutra’ passed on to you by Donghuang Taiyi has its own wondrous uses! Tathagata is extremely skilled in brainwashing. You may hold my ’Sutra for Crossing Sentient Beings’ and Donghuang Taiyi’s ’Heart Sutra,’ and you will be able to guard your own mind," laughed the Leader of Heaven-Penetrating.

Wukong then realized that Donghuang Taiyi had long foreseen this, knowing that he would go to the Western Heaven to become a Buddha and an Ancestor. That’s why he transformed into Wu Chao Zen Master on Mount Futu to impart the ’Heart Sutra’ to him, enabling him to see into his own nature and cultivate his spirit, unfettered by Tathagata’s conversion.

Wukong inquired, "When I was listening to Tathagata’s sutras on Mount Meru, I was in a confused haze, but I was startled awake by the ’Sutra for Crossing Sentient Beings.’ Was that person Kong Xuan?"

The Leader of Heaven-Penetrating nodded and said, "That’s right. When I met him on Yingzhou Island, I used the ’Sutra for Crossing Sentient Beings’ to awake his senses. Now it seems he has regained his clarity and is no longer under the control of Tathagata. However, he must continue to feign compliance outwardly. If a major issue arises, you may seek out Kong Xuan for assistance. Additionally, while in the Western Heaven, you should also carefully investigate news about The Two Saints of the West and take any opportunity to rescue them."

"Understood!" Wukong replied.

Kong Xuan, while subduing the Yamata no Orochi which had transformed into the Nine-Headed Insect on Yingzhou Island, was intercepted and engaged in combat before escaping, which was evidently the work of the Leader of Heaven-Penetrating. No wonder Kong Xuan made little effort during the battle at Flame Mountain, unable to subdue even Princess Iron Fan. Had he not transmitted divine thoughts from within Da Xiong Palace, startling Wukong awake with the ’Sutra for Crossing Sentient Beings,’ the consequences would have been unthinkable.

After the Leader of Heaven-Penetrating delivered the Mixed Yuan Meditation Mat, he left on his own. Wukong sat cross-legged on the meditation mat and began to sense the Heavenly Dao.

The Heavenly Dao is vast, great, infinite, and unfathomable, acting as the foundation for the operation of this world. Without the Heavenly Dao, the elemental forces of earth, water, wind, and fire would dissipate, and the world would revert to chaos.

Chaos is "nothingness," and the world is built upon the foundational elements of earth, water, wind, and fire.

"The Heavenly Dao is infinite, its changes are unpredictable. As the saying goes, the Heart of Heaven is hard to fathom, and it’s extremely difficult to use the Dao Heart to prove the Heart of Heaven. No wonder numerous great beings spend hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands of years in seclusion. To understand the Heavenly Dao is indeed difficult. Even Guanyin and others are stuck at the Mixed Yuan Golden Immortal First Layer, unable to ascend, which shows the immense difficulty of proving the Heavenly Dao," Wukong understood in his heart. To grasp the Heavenly Dao, one must be meticulous; otherwise deviation into madness can occur, with evil fire rising from the Bubbling Spring acupoint at the sole, burning through the seven channels and eight meridians, turning one to ashes.

Wukong was deeply connected to the Heavenly Dao, having a great destiny and causality with it, which made it somewhat easier for him to comprehend than others, though it remained an immensely challenging process.

"The Heart of Heaven is my heart, how difficult is it?" For the Mixed Yuan Golden Immortal Second Layer’s Law Realm, one must "hold a flower" as Kasyapa did, stamping heart with heart. However, what is to be stamped is the Heart of Heaven, not the heart of the Buddha Ancestor, which is even more difficult.

By using the heart to stamp the heart, one comprehends the Heavenly Dao and the Law, allowing for the use of Heavenly Dao Laws to display divine skills with a hundredfold increase in power. One may even accomplish that where each word and action is the Dao, the Buddha, the Law, the benevolence. Tathagata has achieved such a realm, which is why the simple act of holding a flower before All Buddhas is a display of Buddhist Law—it is "Tathagata"!

"Chaos gave birth to the Dao, represented as Tai Chi. From Tai Chi came the Two Instruments, and their union, the integration of Yin and Yang, led to all things! Therefore, the Dao is Heaven!"

"Buddhist Law discards the physical body to cultivate the spirit, achieving transcendence from everything, yet still exists under the Heavenly Dao, hence it is Earth!"

"Confucianism emphasizes benevolence and righteousness, heaven and earth, sovereign and kin, teacher and respect for the Heavenly Dao, as well as the Human Path, hence it is Benevolence, that is Man."

There were heaven, earth, and human beings; only then was the world complete. At this moment, Wukong realized an even deeper truth.

"The Taoist Teachings are heaven, the Buddhist Law is the earth, and Confucianism is humanity!"

At this moment, Daoist Equal to Heaven brought his palms together, reciting the "Sutra of the Other Shore," with the glorious appearance of a world-saving Buddha Ancestor; Enlightenment Dao inked a magnificent essay on Yingzhou Island, chronicling from the reign of the Ancient Heavenly Emperor to the prosperous age of Zhenguan today; Wukong, on the other hand, chanted the "Tao Te Ching," contemplating the natural flow of the Great Way.

The so-called profound sound is rare, the Great Dao is formless; everything between heaven and earth makes sense.

"Who would have thought that Daoist Equal to Heaven actually has the deepest Buddhist root, cultivating the ’Sutra of the Other Shore’ and achieving Buddhahood as an Ancestor! The Unity of the Three Teachings, the Primordial Dao Fruit!"

Wukong sighed, his hands forming a spell, reaching a state of "Unity of Heaven and Man," feeling the natural order of all things, the cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death.

This was an expression of the Heavenly Dao!

Wukong laughed heartily, with his mind imprinting upon the Heart of Heaven, feeling the vastness of the Heavenly Dao and realizing the regular patterns in which the Laws operate.

Inside the Buddha Kingdom within Daoist Equal to Heaven’s body, a million Heavenly Demons prayed to the Heavenly Dao, performing sacrifices, burning their own souls, returning to the Heavenly Dao.

Incense Power and Wishes are important, but sensing the Heavenly Dao and being closely connected to it is even more crucial! This choice, after all, is worthwhile.

The sacrifice of a million Heavenly Demons to the Heavenly Dao naturally evokes resonance with the Heavenly Dao, myriad Laws descending, purifying the hearts of the three, making their souls clearer and more in harmony with the Heavenly Dao.

"Excellent! The Law Realm has been achieved!"

Wukong roared, shaping the spells, with strands of Law Divine Chains spinning between his fingers, still slightly weak but much stronger than those who had just advanced to the Mixed Yuan Golden Immortal Second Layer of Heaven.

Such is the benefit of unique advantages!

Embedded within the Primordial Dao Fruit were the marks of the Heavenly Dao, floating within his dantian, where black and white intertwined, with orders of Laws entwined around, ready to mobilize the Laws with divine skills, enhancing their power! A Mixed Yuan Golden Immortal ascends one layer with each step; although now in the Law Realm, the difficulty of cultivating to the Creation Boundary is unfathomable. Creating from the void, this is a means to perceive the source of the world, to directly evolve the Laws into the source, to create life, to construct Secret Realms.

Wukong’s swift advancement to the Law Realm was undoubtedly due to a series of opportunities, as well as the teachings from the Saint.

Another period of seclusion passed, lasting years.

Meanwhile, Tang Sanzang was translating the True Mahayana Sutras in the Great Tang of the Eastern Land. These scriptures, written in the Sanskrit of the Tianzhu nation, were arcane and difficult to understand. Translating them into Chinese was extremely challenging, but his Great Wisdom and Fortitude, coupled with having achieved Buddhahood as an Ancestor, his Buddhist title being Sandalwood Buddha, made interpreting the scriptures somewhat easier.

The spread of Buddhist scriptures began within the Tang Dynasty, especially around Chang’an. Although the Louguan Sect was also thriving, and the Guanlong Nobility largely followed it, the charm of Buddhist philosophy nevertheless fascinated countless scholars. The rise of Buddhism within the Tang Dynasty was inevitable.

Buddhist Temples sprouted like bamboo after rain within the Tang Dynasty, the incense dedicated to various Bodhisatts and Buddhas increased, gradually diminishing the incense power of the Taoist Sect.

"How dare Sandalwood Buddha modify my scriptures without authorization?!" Tathagata, after receiving a translated scripture and reading its content, was enraged; the parts of wisdom from the Great Wisdom text were not missing, but gone were the brainwashing segments that indoctrinated people into devout Buddhism.

The Buddhist scriptures indeed contain Great Wisdom, but these are the legacy of Amitabha Buddha, Zhunti, Siddhartha Gautama Buddha, and the true Buddhas. Tathagata took these scriptures simply to make minor modifications, inserting brainwashing language to make people wholeheartedly believe in Buddhism.

Belief is free, but to restrain people’s faith is cult-like and intolerable by heaven and earth! Tathagata’s ambition intended to destabilize the Tang Dynasty’s destiny, having everyone believe in Buddhism, become monks, drag down the economy of the Tang Dynasty, and plunge it into chaos, continuously eroding the national destiny of the Southern Toad Continent.

Medicine Buddha glanced at the scripture and said, "Sandalwood Buddha receives admiration from all corners of the Southern Toad Continent, and the people’s hearts are inclined towards him; it is not appropriate to move against him for the time being."

Sandalwood Buddha held a respected status, and being the Royal Brother and beloved by the common people of the Tang Dynasty, his virtue and prestige were high. If he were to be brought back to Mount Meru, it could cause turmoil within Buddhism, which could enable the Daoist Sect to seize the opportunity, destroying the foundation that Buddhism had established in the Tang Dynasty.

All Buddhas, seeing their incense thriving in the Southern Toad Continent, naturally did not wish for Tathagata to stir up trouble again, lest the Daoist Sect reclaimed what was lost, and they advised Tathagata against it.

"Now that Victorious Fighting Buddha has emerged from seclusion, we cannot omit the grand ceremony of his achievement of Buddhahood. I invite all esteemed beings to Mount Meru for a gathering!" Tathagata decided to put aside the issue with the scripture for now. As Wukong emerged from seclusion, achieving the Law Realm, it was time to revisit his grand ceremony of Buddhahood.

It seems Tathagata was gearing up for another showdown with the Daoist Sect! Nursing the grudge from the Louguan defeat, and still irked by the substantial losses along the Journey to the West.

To find out what happens next, please stay tuned for the next Chapter. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to cast your recommendation votes and Monthly Tickets on Starting Point (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)