Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Zhu Hongwu looked at Liang Pan, “My Dao heart and physical martial arts will are not based on Buddhism as the foundation. I am only using the way of karma to suit my cultivation. Shaking the foundation of the way of karma doesn’t mean that I will be shaken too.”
“Virtuous Zen, Da Ning and Da Kong’s zen minds were damaged, but it doesn’t mean that mine will be damaged too. Your Majesty, please grant me my wish.”
Liang Pan looked worried at this point, “Hongwu, you were not built from Buddhism, I am clearly aware of that. But the Celestial Sect of Wonders did not trash the way of karma.”
Zhu Hongwu creased his brows, “Oh? Then how did he waver the zen minds of Da Kong and the rest?”
Liang Pan stared at him for a while before saying, “The Celestial Sect of Wonders proved that it’s not the case that karma is everything.”
Zhu Hongwu said, “This is not a novel idea.”
Liang Pan spoke slowly, “The key lies in the way that the Celestial Sect of Wonders proved their point.”
Zhu Hongwu clasped his fist and palm together, “Please enlighten me, Your Majesty.”
“In the explanation of the Celestial Sect of Wonders, they posited that there are existences of things that has nothing to do with cause and effect. There’s no prior cause or resultant effect. There’s no way to deduce or trace things back to their source.” Liang Pan finished with, “There’s no way to use karma to understand the past or future for these things.”
As Zhu Hongwu heard this, he creased his brows and his fists beside his body gripped tighter, “What proof do they have?”
Liang Pan unveiled a light projection. Zhu Hongwu focused on the light projections and he turned gloomy. At the very end, he looked entirely dismal, “There’s actually something like this. In this way, there’s no way of using the way of karma to comprehend the fortunes of all life. There are unexpected and unprecedented things that will appear.”
“I can’t believe that something like this actually exists.” Zhu Hongwu shut his eyes, “Can this theory of blasphemy be controlled? How can it be controlled? If both the way of karma and this blasphemous theory is comprehended, can we understand the past, present and future of all matter?”
Liang Pan looked at Zhu Hongwu and sighed. What he was worried about was happening.
To Zhu Hongwu, the way of karma was not the foundation that built him. He wouldn’t believe that the way of karma was the greatest concept either.
But Zhu Hongwu’s physical martial arts did use the way of karma to combine with the Great Heavenly Mantra to form his foundation.
The way of karma explained the reasoning of all matter, while the Great Heavenly Mantra propagated the will of countless mantras. As both of them combined and infused the concept of dominance of the Spell of the Emperor, the wheel of destiny of all life could be controlled.
Zhu Hongwu valued the way of karma because understanding karma could allow him to understand the three lifetimes – the past, present and future. This would allow him to control the destinies of all life.
Zhu Hongwu’s situation was different from Buddhist cultivators, in that his cultivation was developed half with Dao concepts and half with spells. On one hand, he believed that karma could explain all concepts. On another hand, he used this concept as a toll to perfect his physical martial arts will.
But the problem now was that when Zhu Hongwu discovered that there were things that the way of karma was unable to explain, he would only develop more doubts for himself.
How could this way of karma help him complete his physical martial arts and allow him to reach the expected goal that he aimed for?
Before Zhu Hongwu even understood the key behind the way of karma, he was unable to absorb it into his own physical martial arts anymore.
To a certain extent, his physical martial arts pursued perfection. Before he comprehended the relationship between the way of karma and theory of blasphemy, which could also be known as the Acceptance of Fate and the Way of Defiance, it was very difficult for him to continue cultivating his physical martial arts.
It was fine for him to continue cultivating, but this matter would prick him throughout the way and he would be troubled by it.
Under such a condition, even if he was supremely talented, he would still find it difficult to form the way of the virtual entity.
This was similar to the past when he was stuck in the Immortal Soul First Level because of Meng Bingyun.
“If the way of karma is insufficient, then what mantra will allow one to understand all life and matter?” Zhu Hongwu stood at where he was and his aura became more and more brutal. After that, he turned peaceful again. But soon after, he turned violent again. This cycle went on and on.
Liang Pan did not speak and only watched Zhu Hongwu.
Only after a long while did Zhu Hongwu finally calm down completely. He knelt down before Liang Pan, “I am guilty!”
“Although I can’t understand what’s going on in an instant, I have been pointed in a particular direction.”
“I did develop some doubts in my process of cultivating the way of karma. Now that my guess has been verified, it’s just that…”
His eyes did not opened as he shut them tight. As his hands gripped into fists, he seemed like a statue, “To understand the entire concept, it’s not something achievable in the short run. I need more time to think. I don’t think I can form the Immortal Soul Third Level in any time to come soon.”
“I am guilty for messing up your plans, Your Majesty.”
Liang Pan sighed, “It’s okay if you take more time. I hope that this will not affect your Dao heart.”
Zhu Hongwu went silent and did not answer him. He remained kowtowed on the ground. Although he did not speak, Liang Pan knew what he was thinking.
This was not the first time that the both had suffered in the hands of Lin Feng. Especially since Zhu Hongwu ran into a wall on his own this time.
If the wall was broken down, it would be a whole new thing from then on. Not only could Zhu Hongwu reach the Immortal Soul Third Level, his powers could even rise a level.
But time does not wait for man. If Zhu Hongwu could comprehend things quickly, everything would still be fine. But if he dragged it too long and was influenced by external pressure, Zhu Hongwu would be filled with too much pressure apart from developing a tendency of making mistakes. Turning pressure into motivation was good, but if he couldn’t, the barrier in his heart would only become more and more detrimental to his progress.
Now that he ran into the wall on his own, it also meant that he had failed. He did not knock down the wall but injured himself only.
But to Zhu Hongwu, he had to do this. After this, he would still have a chance to start afresh.
He knew that this was a choice that he had to make. Because of Liang Pan, he already had to curb his authority. If his cultivation had to stagnate further because of Lin Feng and the Celestial Sect of Wonder, his powers would be greatly curbed too.
Especially since the first group of people that questioned the way of karma came from the Celestial Sect of Wonders, which also included Zhu Yi.
To Zhu Hongwu, this was a tough decision for him to make. Since he could not retreat, he might as well advance forward decisively.
Even with a wall in front of him, he could just use his strength to knock it down. This would remove any obstacle in front of him. This was another showing of his physical martial arts will.
A physical martial arts cultivator had to try his best to understand his own physical martial arts will. Suppressing oneself would only bring harm. Not only would that impede progress, it could even catalyze a decline.
Liang Pan knew that the situation was not positive, but he still allowed Zhu Hongwu to try. This was the reason why.
After experiencing this sense of helplessness once again, Liang Pan felt extremely humiliated and depressed. But he could only suck it up.
But things never went according to the will of people. The result of facing the obstacle this time caused Liang Pan and Zhu Hongwu to be filled with bitterness.
Zhu Hongwu was confident in himself, but he was very sharp too. After pondering for a moment, he could tell that if he wanted to overcome the doubts that the Celestial Sect of Wonders had on the way of karma, he could not do so in a short period of time.
He might even have to rely on Monk Da Kong to obtain the essence of the understanding of the Virtuous Zen Master.
This was something that Zhu Hongwu could not accept. Because of this barrier in his heart, not only was it non-beneficial, it was even harmful.
At this stage, Zhu Hongwu could choose to forsake the way of karma and restart again. But in this way, it was even more difficult to predict when he could form the Immortal Soul Third Level. This might even affect his Dao heart and self-confidence.
One’s personality decided his fate. This sentence might not always be appropriate, but it was very apt in the case of Zhu Hongwu now.
The both of them then looked at each other. After a short while, they squeezed out four words from in between their tooth, “Celestial! Sect! Of! Wonders!”
After unintentionally digging a hole that sent Zhu Hongwu into the depths of desolation, Lin Feng and his disciples were now seated on bamboo chairs in the Tripitaka Block on Mount Yujing.
Lin Feng smiled at Wang Lin, “Very good, Wang Lin. After analyzing the Two Elements Origins-Returning Scripture, you managed to come up with the Acceptance of Fate and Way of Defiance.”
Wang Lin replied, “It’s all thanks to you, Master. Not only did you advise the Virtuous Zen Master, you also helped me understand many concepts.”
Lin Feng waved him off, “I brought all of you in, but your cultivations depend on your own selves. This is the result of your own hard work. I am very happy for you.”
He looked at Xiao Yan, Zhu Yi and Shi Tianhao, laughing, “The three of you have done well too. You are all finding the directions for yourselves in the future. Continue to work hard and cultivate well.”
Xiao Yan and the other two laughed as they nodded their heads, “I will remember your advice, Master. I will work hard in my cultivation.”
“This matter has been really unexpected, but its influence is indeed far-reaching.” After bidding goodbye to his disciples, Lin Feng entertained a slightly evil thought in his mind, “Hehe, after all, they belong in two different worlds. I wonder if the original knowledge can be used?”
“I wonder if I came up with an unconfirmed principle or if I delayed this experiment, would those who believe the way of karma become more debilitated or will they understand more things? I wonder if these things can be verified in the Grand Celestial World. When I am free, I can try. This is interesting.”
Lin Feng laughed while shaking his head. Very soon, he threw all of this to the back of his head. He turned his attention to his own cultivation again.
And in the future days, Lin Feng received more and more good news. For example, Tang Jun managed to overcome the Void Lightning Tribulations and became the 15th disciple under him that managed to form the Nascent Soul within 50 years.
It wasn’t even 50 years yet, but the percentage of disciples in the Foundation Establishment Stage, Aurous Core Stage and Nascent Soul Stage had already fulfilled the mission target. The only problem for him was that he did not have more than 1000 disciples yet.
If he wanted to complete the mission, Lin Feng could already so.
But he was thinking how he should handle this main mission of his.