Chapter 9: Guanyin Asks About Chan, Qi Reaches the Treasure

  In the Cave of Tidal Sound on Mount Putuo in the South China Sea, there is a figure sitting cross-legged on a lotus platform, with a dignified and majestic appearance. A seven-colored canopy hangs above his head, with jade pendants hanging from his belt, holding a precious vase with willow branches, and his face reveals a great compassionate color. It is the master of the sacred realm of the South China Sea, Guanyin Bodhisattva.

  At this moment, Guanyin closed her eyes, recited the mantra, and a kind of soaring sacredness and majesty emerged from her body. Although the ancient well was calm, there was a hint of joy between her eyebrows that was not easily detectable, as if this great master had discovered something interesting while observing the three realms.

  "Pffft!" Suddenly, a mouthful of fresh blood spurted out. This Guanyin Bodhisattva with high moral integrity opened her eyes, let out a soft sigh, and her gaze was somewhat complex, as if she was both delighted and regretful.

  "Great Master!" The people outside the cave heard the sound and walked in. They saw that the man was eight feet tall, with a sword-like eyebrow and bright eyes, his face white and beardless, wearing a short green shirt, with a pair of Wu hooks on his back, shining with cold light. It was indeed the Pu Tuo Men's person, Hui An Xing Zhe Mu Ze.

  But as Mu Zha entered, he saw that Guanyin's mouth was bloody and her face was shocked. He quickly stepped forward, bowed and said: "The disciple has sinned, please punish me, Master."

  "What fault is it of yours that I have problems with my own cultivation?" Guanyin heard this, but instead smiled slightly, her mouth curving upwards, which made the terrified Hui'an cultivator's heart skip a beat.

  "Master, you seem pleased. What's the good news?" Mu Zhe snapped back to reality in an instant, but not before breaking out in a cold sweat. He thought to himself that his master's abilities were becoming increasingly profound and quickly changed the subject by asking.

  "It's alright." Guanyin heard this and didn't mind the small thoughts of Hui'an, slightly nodding her head before sighing. After a long while, she spoke again: "I'm about to embark on a distant journey to visit the Buddha in the Western Paradise of Ultimate Bliss, so I'll temporarily leave this Potala to you." Having said that, without waiting for Muzha to come back to his senses, she transformed into a ray of light and disappeared from the lotus seat.

  "This..." Mu Ze heard the words, but was about to speak and then stopped. He raised his head to look towards Lianzuo, where there was no longer a shadow of Guanyin. Instead, he spoke softly: "A few days ago, Dashi had asked about the birth of the treasure of Bichu Country, saying that he would go personally... Now that the treasure is about to be born, he has gone to the Land of Ultimate Bliss instead. I wonder..." As he spoke, he shook his head and walked towards the outside of the cave.

  But it is said that in the far west, there is a pure land, which is a paradise, known as the "Blissful World". The Blissful World is not within the three realms, nor outside of chaos, but resides above the sky of sorrow and on the shores of the sea of affliction, which is often referred to in Buddhist scriptures as the "Other Shore".

  The sea of bitterness is boundless, but turning back is the shore. This extremely joyful world is a paradise, yet it is also illusory and elusive, lingering above the hearts of all beings.

  It is said that in this land of ultimate bliss, there are seven-jeweled pavilions and terraces, covered with pearls and jade, far surpassing the heavenly palace, beautiful and magnificent, large and small as one desires, naturally enjoyable. There is also a pool of eight precious virtues, containing water of eight meritorious virtues, clear, cool and sweet.

  The eight merits are clarity, coolness, sweetness, softness, smoothness, peace, elimination of hunger and thirst, and nourishment of all roots. They possess the supreme wonderful function, and are as precious as the Three Lights Divine Water for cultivators to seek after.

  By the pool of Eight Treasures' Merit, there are two golden lotus platforms, on which countless golden Bodhi trees grow. At this moment, a Buddha is sitting cross-legged on one of the lotus platforms, six zhang tall, holding a seven-treasured scripture banner, with a sorrowful expression. It is none other than the first of the Western Three Saints, the master of the Land of Ultimate Bliss, Dharmakara Bhiksu, Homage to Amitabha Buddha.

  At this moment, Amitabha Buddha's eyes are tightly closed, his hands turn the scripture banner, and he whispers a mantra in his mouth. Endless golden light gathers from the void of heaven and earth, is received and transformed into golden lotus flowers that fall into the pool of merit.

  "A disciple of Guanyin, I have seen the Buddha!" A white figure suddenly appeared, with a seven-colored canopy on his head, and stepped forward to the Buddha, bowing his head in respect. Then, with a devout expression, he began to speak.

  "The Right Dharma Tathagata is not on Spirit Mountain, listening to the orders of Sakyamuni, but has come to the Land of Ultimate Bliss to look for me. What business does he have?" The Buddha who had been reciting scriptures with his eyes closed suddenly stopped and opened his eyes, looking at Guanyin below.

  "The disciple is frightened." Guanyin heard this and said, "The disciple has come here to ask the Buddha a question, please instruct me, Buddha."

  "The Dharma is clear, the Tathagata's heart has moved." Amitabha Buddha looked at Guanyin with eyes that showed no sorrow or joy and spoke.

  "My disciple, you are frightened, but I have already told you that after the Buddha of Infinite Life enters Nirvana, in the second kalpa equal to the number of grains of sand in the Ganges River, this land will be renamed 'The World Made of All Kinds of Jewels', where all kinds of magnificent treasures are boundless and infinite, surpassing even the Blissful World. You will attain enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, achieving Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, and be known as 'The Buddha King of Merit and Virtue, Emitted from All Lights'."

  "Yes." The Buddha heard this and nodded slightly.

  Then the disciple Zeng was in the second Ganges River sand number equal to Asamkhyeya kalpas, under the Bodhi tree to achieve the right enlightenment, known as "Zheng Fa Ming Ru Lai". Guanyin continued.

  "That's right."

  "However, the disciple achieved enlightenment and transformed into 'Mahavairocana Buddha', with boundless spiritual powers, observing all three realms. Yet, he could not emerge from the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. I once said that my disciple's vital energy was insufficient, insufficient to enter Mount Ling as a Tathagata."

  "However."

  "However, my disciple had recently transformed into the Horse Headed Vidyaraja and found someone in Bhiksu country. If he can obtain that person, then my disciple will truly attain Buddhahood." Guanyin said, suddenly becoming somewhat agitated as she gazed at the Buddha before her.

  "Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva still lacks a few more years, that person will be under your guidance in five hundred years to help you achieve enlightenment." Finally, Amitabha Buddha changed his tone and said, "Amitabha's way is boundless, with a single thought, one naturally knows the cause and effect of past and present."

  "Five hundred years..." Guanyin heard the words, and a hint of disappointment flashed in her beautiful eyes. She let out a long sigh, as if she had released a breath. She bowed three times to the tall Buddha, then straightened up and walked away step by step.

  "Ah..."

  In the midst of it, as if there was a sigh, the entire poolside of the temple regained its tranquility. Amitabha Buddha closed his eyes and rotated the scripture wheel again, with golden light filling the sky, Bodhi leaves falling, countless golden lotus flowers blooming, descending...

  But regardless of what Guanyin and Amitabha Buddha said, there were other calculations. At this moment, in a secret room in the Baimiao Temple in the country of Xiniuhezhou, Hong Haier was holding a black jade seal with a complex expression, both happy and regretful. The seal was four inches square, with five dragons intertwined on top, missing one corner, and inlaid with gold. Below it was an inscription: "Received the order from heaven, and forever prosperous."

  "It turned out that this was the national treasure, the jade seal and the He Shi bi. With a light sigh, Hong Haier stared blankly at the jade seal in his hand, seeing that under the faint glow of the candlelight, the ink-black jade seal actually shone with a hint of emerald green light. He suddenly remembered the words spoken by his father, the king, during the day."

  Rumor has it that the He Shi Bi first appeared during the great battle of Fenglin Mountain, when the gods were sealed. At that time, a mysterious spiritual treasure appeared, and the saints calculated that it was a jade pendant, but what it actually was remained unknown. Because the heavenly mechanism was chaotic at the time of the sealing of the gods, all the strong masters of each sect who had not yet cut off their three corpses were in a state of confusion, while those who had cut off their three corpses were restricted by each other and could not make a move, so they could only watch as the treasure flashed by, leaving behind a shadow of a phoenix.

  After the sealing of the gods, the Intercepting Sect was defeated, and all three Holy Ones were imprisoned in the Thirty-Third Heaven. The two from the Western side were busy ferrying and transforming the 3,000 Red Dust guests who had been taken away by force, so they forgot about this matter.

  Until later, Qin Shi Huang unified the six countries and used He Shi Bi as a national seal to pray for the sealing of the gods. The heavenly machine reappeared, and the sealed god that appeared on Mount Qi was actually He Shi Bi. However, at this time, He Shi Bi had become like Xuan Yuan Sword, Kong Tong Seal, and Xia Yu's Nine Tripods, known as the Sacred Vessel of Humanity, representing the fate of humanity. After the loss of the Nine Tripods, it was even regarded as a symbol of the Son of Heaven, and whoever obtained the jade seal would obtain the world, which is not an empty statement.

  He Shi Bi was originally obtained by Liu Han, but during the reign of Wang Mang, it was damaged by Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun and had one corner broken off. Later, Wang Mang repaired it with gold, but it still had a flaw. After Emperor Guangwu of Han restored the Han dynasty, He Shi Bi was recovered, but after passing through several dynasties, its whereabouts became unknown.

  Unexpectedly, after several rounds of circulation, He Shi Bi actually appeared in the country of Bhik?u and happened to save Hong Haier from a critical situation.

  This must be fate, Hong Haier thought to himself, but he couldn't help feeling a little curious. Rumor had it that the He Shi Bi was originally a piece of blue jade from Lantian, so why did the He Shi Bi in his own hands look more like ink jade? If not for his father's high moral standing and mastery of the Supreme Clarity Great Method, he probably wouldn't have been able to discern the true nature of this jade pendant either, and would have thought it was just an ordinary piece of ink jade.

  It's been said that spiritual objects often hide their true nature, and even saints may not be able to detect them until they are close. Even if one is aware of the object's existence, it can still be difficult to obtain without a chance encounter. This explains why, for so many years, the whereabouts of the He Shi Bi have been elusive and hard to track down.

  "Unfortunately, why can't it be refined?" Hong Haier was somewhat depressed, muttering to himself in a low voice, flipping through the jade seal in his palm, trying to infuse a thread of spiritual energy into it, and casting a spell. He felt a warm current flowing back from the jade seal, repeatedly combing through the meridians throughout his body. However, there was not even a hint of that harmonious resonance with the refined treasure.

  He thought again, the Bull Demon King had said that one pre-heavenly spiritual treasure would take even a Mahayana Golden Immortal hundreds or thousands of years to refine, because within the pre-heavenly spiritual treasure were contained pre-heavenly talismans and countless great dao seals. Wanting to refine it to be as easy to use as a post-heavenly treasure was extremely difficult.

  Of course, although it's a hassle, the Xiantian Lingbao has all sorts of wonderful uses and enormous power, yet it is still the ultimate treasure that countless cultivators dream of obtaining. Moreover, there are only a few Xiantian Lingbao in existence, and most of them have been possessed by high-ranking individuals from various sects and powerful families, making those that remain even more precious.

  This is also why the Bhikkhu country's treasure has emerged, attracting various scattered practitioners to flock to it like a swarm of birds, even if they don't care about flying moths rushing into fire to try their luck.

  "Could it be that I'm just not lucky enough?" After a long time, Hong Haier finally gave up, pouting his mouth, but he didn't understand why he didn't have the "privileges of crossing over". His eyes were fixed on He Shi Bi, but in his heart, it was like a monkey's paw scratching.

  In the end, he reluctantly tied the He Shi Bi with a red string and hung it around his neck. He thought of what he had read in his past life, that ancient county officials would wear the official seal wrapped in a cloth around their necks when they were appointed, and now he felt a bit like a local tyrant.

  Thinking to himself, he whispered: "It's still a bit big, too eye-catching, if it were smaller it would be better." After finishing speaking, he ignored it and closed his eyes to start cultivating. Although he knew the situation at home, Hong Haier felt that diligence could make up for clumsiness, and who knows, one day the fire spirit power in his body might suddenly be refined by himself through blind practice, and when that happens, his strength would surely soar rapidly.

  Just as the Red Boy entered meditation, a faint green glow suddenly flashed and then hung on his neck. The jade seal turned into a thumb-sized seal. If there were people with great Luo boundary in this place, they would definitely find that there was a little bit of faint green light slowly flying out from the He Shi Bi and entering the Red Boy's body...