Chapter 968: Using Buddhism to Evaluate the Way
There are green mountains far away beyond the mountains, and people’s hearts are like fairylands.
If you seek the place of worldly affairs, the world will come naturally when your heart is open.
When the stone monkey left Cangwu Mountain, he went to Lingtai Fangcun Mountain thousands of miles away to seek the truth despite the hardships of life.
Something happened in heaven.
After Xuan Chi became an immortal, he has been overseeing the endless ocean between the four divine continents and has been chasing those behind the scenes who are preventing the four divine continents from restoring contact.
He had seen that era, where spiritual science benefited all living things, and the gods and immortals provided benevolent guidance. The people lived a higher quality of life, and they were happy and prosperous.
Xuan Chi had a fiery temper and could not stand to see these bad guys making trouble behind the scenes, so after taking on the important task, he led a thousand heavenly soldiers to patrol the distant sea and hunt down those behind the scenes.
During this period, some immortals from various departments of the Heavenly Court visited him, hoping to get closer to him and at the same time hinted at some things.
It seems that they want Xuan Chi to relax the arrest efforts and give those guys a chance to live, saying that they have already regretted their actions and will never do it again.
Among these figures, there are veteran immortals and gods who survived the catastrophe, as well as some new immortals and gods who were helplessly swept up in it.
In response, Xuan Chi sneered and ignored it, just activating the golden fire ring under his feet (the alien version of Hot Wheels).
Evil is evil. When the situation gets bad, can you just shrug and pretend it never happened?
If you have anything to say, go and tell Yuan Zun!
It would have been fine if those guys didn't try to get close to him, but once they started to persuade him, Xuan Chi became even more excited.
After being annoyed by the noise, many immortals and gods visited his cave in the third heaven. He was so angry that he flew out and cursed at the immortals and gods.
"You are a bunch of shady people who only know how to complain here. If you have the guts, kill me or kill Yuan Zun!"
"I have investigated this matter. With the power granted by His Majesty the Emperor of Heaven himself, who dares to stop me?!"
"I'm trying to persuade you, I'm trying to persuade you!"
Xuan Chi got furious and pointed his spear at all the immortals, knocking them all away one by one.
After defeating a group of immortals and gods, he led his thousand heavenly soldiers out for patrol, not taking these guys seriously at all.
Later, Li Xiaoan from the Ministry of Justice heard about this and rushed over. Seeing that many immortals were injured and there was a huge commotion, he frowned deeply.
So, according to the rules of Heaven, Xuan Chi was put in solitary confinement.
Even Li Yuan made a special trip to heaven after hearing about it to inquire about the cause and effect of the matter.
Seeing Yuan Zun coming in person, the group of immortals and gods who were still pulling Li Xiaoan to complain and seek justice all fell silent, and came forward with bruised faces to pay their respects.
Li Yuan's eyes swept across, and all the immortals bowed their heads, and the gods trembled. For a moment, even the entire third heaven seemed to freeze.
But he did not deal with the matter impulsively, but said calmly:
"This matter involves a group of immortals, and also involves the younger generation that I brought with me. For the sake of fairness, I suggest... ascend to Lingxiao, open the treasure hall, and ask His Majesty the Emperor of Heaven to make the judgment!"
The expressions of all the immortals and gods suddenly changed.
Some things, when kept in private, are neither light nor heavy, like a feather; but once they are put on the table, they weigh more than a thousand pounds!
But when Yuan Zun spoke, how dare they refute him? They hurriedly said some insignificant polite words, hinting that they were actually fine and not seriously injured, so they might as well make a big deal out of a small matter...
However, Li Yuan just smiled and still reported the matter to the Lingxiao Palace.
After the meeting in the palace, the Emperor of Heaven was also very "surprised" and summoned all the immortals for a serious discussion.
The immortals and gods who were beaten did not dare to talk about the reasons behind it. They could only insist that they were simply visiting and had no ill intentions, but were beaten by the furious Xuan Chi.
He also expressed the injustice of this matter and asked His Majesty the Emperor of Heaven to severely punish Xuan Chi...
They looked so passionate and aggrieved, perhaps they even believed it themselves.
That day, the smile on the Emperor's face seemed to fade a lot. He stared at the group of immortals for a long time, so long that their hearts trembled and their legs shook.
But in the end, the Emperor of Heaven was silent for a long time, and still punished Xuan Chi, ordering him to go to the Punishment Hall to be beaten with thirty thunder whips and to accept the punishment of the divine water and devil fire.
When the meeting in Lingxiao Palace was over, the immortals and gods walked out of the palace in fear, and were still being watched from behind by several Dao Masters...
"Queen Mother, what do you think about this matter?"
After all the gods had left, the Emperor of Heaven picked up the fairy jade wine jar and took a sip alone, with no emotion visible on his face.
The Queen Mother sat on the other side, peeled a grape with her own hands and placed it on the Emperor of Heaven's plate, with a dignified manner and a thoughtful expression.
"Heaven is just like this grape."
The Emperor of Heaven and key figures including Li Yuan, Laojun, and Taibai all turned their heads to look.
"Oh, what does this mean?"
The Emperor of Heaven seemed to sense something, and there was a thoughtful look in his eyes, sometimes fierce, sometimes hesitant.
The Queen Mother gently placed the peeled grape skins on the jade plate and continued:
“Whether the skin is peeled or not, the taste is naturally different.”
“The skin is tough and astringent, but it helps the grapes last longer. If you eat the grapes without the skin, they are sweet and delicious, but the process of peeling the skin destroys the integrity of the grapes.”
"If the grape is able to heal itself, it will also regenerate a layer of skin to better protect the flesh inside."
After listening to it, everyone felt a little emotional, but also felt helpless.
The Heaven is like that grape. The flesh is made up of both those high-ranking people who enjoy power and those ignorant new gods who are protected; the immortal gods with ulterior motives are the tough skin.
When enjoying the fruit, you will naturally feel that the skin is a bit astringent; but if you want to ensure the perfect growth of the grapes, you have to have this layer of skin.
Perhaps their perspective is more grand, and they will consider the safety of all beings in the three realms and weigh the long-term development of the world.
But everything those immortals and gods do is to protect their own interests from being infringed. To put it bluntly, they represent the vast majority of the immortals and gods.
When their original interests are satisfied, they will look higher and hope for more resources and power.
These immortals and gods with ulterior motives created the corrupt situation, but they are also the roots that support the Heavenly Court!
As long as there are struggles over beliefs, allocation of resources, and the perspective of class rule in the world, such things will not cease. Even if a group of people are exterminated, new ones will stand up again after a period of time.
The immortals and gods stand at the highest level, looking down on everything, and naturally do not allow anything to shake their position.
Back then, when Li Yuan touched their cake, they suppressed Li Yuan; later, when Lingke threatened the meaning of the existence of immortals and gods, they let Lingke be forgotten or even disappear.
This phenomenon will never end, especially in the millions of years from ancient times to the present, it has become more and more serious.
Even if the Emperor of Heaven is determined to kill all the existing corrupt immortals and gods, more corrupt immortals will still appear after several years.
Even more, the corrupt immortals and gods at that time would become more cautious and cunning, and would gradually split and confront each other, from originally regarding their own interests as one. By then, even if the Emperor of Heaven still sat firmly in the sky, the immortals and gods under his command would have long been disunited.
Unless something appears to completely distract the gods in heaven, so that they will have no time to pay attention to the competition for resources and promotion of power in their eternal boredom.
But... try your best to maintain your original position?
There was a moment of silence in the Lingxiao Palace. Everyone looked at each other, and each of them had an idea in their mind.
"Measure the Dao with the Buddha!"
The Emperor of Heaven finally spoke out.