Yue Yun stood on the Cloud Platform, watching the duels below and longing to join the battle, but he felt that with his current strength, he could only make things worse.
He did have a few Magical Treasures, but under these circumstances, they weren’t impressive at all. Not long ago, so unknown person had cast a spell to bind him, using Golden Needles to seal his acupoints, severely draining his Primordial Qi.
He sighed, hoping that the Righteous Path would achieve a swift victory.
Yet, contrary to his wishes, several disciples of the Ei Sect were captured one after another and refined by the Sky Lusting Sect Leader into the chilling Mystics Yin Beast-Gathering Banner.
Several tis, he rushed to the edge of the Cloud Platform, but recalling the recent captures, he stopped himself. It wasn’t that he feared death, but he worried that in trying to save others, he might end up needing rescue himself and adding to the chaos.
Now, he placed all his hope in Bai i Zen Master and Jile Perfected.
Shi Feiyang saw the mixture of tension and relaxation on Yue Yun’s face and asked him, "Why do you think Tian ng Zen Master and Yan Yingmu are not willing to give their all in this battle?"
Yue Yun turned around, gently shook his head and replied, "I am truly ignorant; please enlighten , benefactor."
Shi Feiyang was pleased with his humble and respectful deanor and kindly explained to him, "The boundaries of the Liangyi Dust Formation are not only in ti and space but also in the fate and fortune of individuals. Tian ng Zen Master, having been delayed by Xie Shan for so many years without achieving Ascension to Pure Land, now genuinely wishes to lead his fellow brother into the Righteous Path and then ascend."
Yue Yun had so acquaintance with Zen Master Zhi, who erged from seclusion in Great Snow Mountain every sixty years, and each ti, he would stay for a few days.
Zen Master Zhi was a Great Arhat from the presence of Shakyamuni Buddha.
The hierarchy of Buddhist Law according to the Tiantai school is divided into Tibetan, Interconnected, Separate, and Complete forms. The highest achievent in Tibetan Buddhism is the Arhat, which here refers to the Tripitaka Sect, not the esoteric practices from the high plateau but the more simplistic form of Hinayana Buddhism.
The Complete School is about absolute integration and the highest form of Buddhism, where the ultimate achievent is Buddha.
The initial stage Bodhisattva of the Complete School corresponds to the First Stage Bodhisattva of the Separate School and is higher than the Buddha of the Interconnected School and the Arhat of the Tibetan School.
However, the Great Arhats present with Buddha were not the Hinayana Arhats of Tibetan Buddhism but were Bodhisattvas of the seventh stage, known as Great Bodhisattvas with the ’Maha’ suffix, but they had to manifest as Arhats.
According to the form necessary for sentient beings to be guided, they manifest in that form.
Zen Master Zhi was such a person; in forr tis when the West needed an Arhat to spread doctrines, he manifested as the Venerable Arhat. When the conditions for Mahayana Buddhism ripened in the East, he ca to the East and presented himself as a Zen Master preaching doctrines.
Zen Master Zhi had once expounded so Buddhist doctrines to him, so he could understand the aning behind Shi Feiyang’s words, yet he could not accept them.
As a fellow brother of Zen Master Zhi in this lifeti journey of coming to Central Earth, Tian ng Zen Master was supposed to be highly enlightened, filled with great wisdom, great action, great compassion. "How could he worry about being tainted by the mundane world and delaying his ascension, rely watching the demons wreak havoc on the Human World without caring? Would that not be losing compassion for the delights of Pure Land?"
Shi Feiyang glanced at him and continued to ddle with the Cold Light Witch in the tripod: "If he were to consider exterminating demons, his thoughts would turn to killing. If he voluntarily engages with the mundane, he would be abandoning his original intention from his tis of practicing Buddhism. According to your interpretation, that is clinging to compassion and losing wisdom."
Yue Yun stayed there, feeling that Shi Feiyang made so sense, yet it seed like sophistry. For a mont, he pondered deeply but could not fully understand.
Shi Feiyang told him, "Bai i Zen Master has entered this situation, getting involved with it, not only him but his senior disciple is also likely to tread back into the mundane, thus facing calamity."
"Are you talking about Zhu the fellow Daoist? He is destined for calamity? How could Bai i Zen Master not see it?"
"What good does seeing do? When you see too much, who should die and who should live, all is fixed. Those who can truly seek good fortune and avoid disaster are few and far between."
Yue Yun watched helplessly as several disciples from the Ei Sect were beaten into pulp, their Primordial Spirits captured and refined into the Mystics Yin Beast-Gathering Banner, his heart aching as if sliced by knives.
He then asked Shi Feiyang, "Benefactor, you possess such high Mana; I’ve heard of your deeds. You hold the ancient treasure left by Emperor Xuanyuan, claim to inherit the Three Emperors Dao, and serve as the State Preceptor of the Great Ming Dynasty. Are you just going to watch these Demon Humans run rampant, causing chaos in the Human World?"
"What chaos in the Human World? In this entire arena, except for Jile Perfected, everyone else is my enemy. These Demon Humans aren’t good creatures, but they’re wreaking havoc on my enemies, which suits well!"
Yue Yun felt choked by his response, indeed, whether it was the Ei Sect or the Xie Family, all had irreconcilable vendettas with him; he had no reason to intervene and rescue them.
On the contrary, he unexpectedly saved Yue Yun himself, which was sowhat puzzling since Yue Yun could be considered half a mber of the Ei Sect. There was no reason for him to save him!
It was precisely because he had saved him that Yue Yun harbored the illusion that he was "one of us," forgetting that he was a great enemy of the Ei Sect!
As he grappled with his thoughts, Shi Feiyang added, "To be honest, I was the one who released that demon."
"What?" Yue Yun couldn’t believe it, "you... you... was all this your cunning sche? Then why save ? What do you plan to do with us, master and disciple?"
"Don’t be nervous, I’m not going to kill you; otherwise, I wouldn’t have saved you just now." Shi Feiyang told him, "If I hadn’t released them ahead of ti, then those Ei Sect kids would have done it instead. You were there at that ti.
When the ti ca, the Sky Lusting Sect Leader would have revived fully at first opportunity. None of your people would survive; within the duration of a al, they would all be refined into the Mystics Yin Beast-Gathering Banner, then co out and kill indiscriminately. It wouldn’t be the situation we have now."
His explanation made Yue Yun feel a bit better, "So, are you saying that you’ve actually saved us once before?"
"Not exactly," Shi Feiyang continued, "Actually, I was the one who led these people from the Ei Sect here."
"What??" Yue Yun’s just-cald heart surged again, "Then why did you do this?"
"Because I have a grudge with the Ei Sect."
Shi Feiyang replied, as if it were only natural.
Yue Yun looked at him, feeling that this seemingly graceful, harmless person was exuding evil from his bones.
He stepped back and said loudly, "So you ticulously planned, lured them all here, then released that demon to ensure both sides, righteous and evil, suffered losses, and you were going to sweep us all away at the end, weren’t you?"
"Not really," Shi Feiyang laughed, "What you said is a good plan... but I scorn such actions. My main goal is to eliminate a great demon threat for the world; it’s just that man’s planning is inferior to heaven’s.
That person didn’t show up, and instead, I stumbled upon another matter. If I hadn’t drawn you here today and released this demon ahead of ti, once he had completely refined himself, he would have taken Grandmaster Ha Ha’s body and devoured his thousand years of Mana. By the ti he reerged to create havoc, everyone present, including myself, working together likely wouldn’t have been able to handle him. It would’ve been the biggest catastrophe under heaven, now we might avoid that."
Yue Yun didn’t quite understand what he was talking about with ’if this, then that’—too many unrealized causal lines, all hypotheticals, beyond Yue Yun’s Dao Level to discern their truth.
He was half-confident, half-doubting as he watched the fight below intensify, and couldn’t help but say urgently, "Then what do you plan to do now?
Continue watching from the sidelines? Watching the right gain while the evil grows? No matter how high your Mana, can you really fight against those four Evil Demon incarnations?"
"Of course not, I have my plans." After finishing his statent, Shi Feiyang took out a palm-sized snow doll from the Nine Suspicions Tripod and asked Yue Yun, "Do you want to go help them fight those four evils?"
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