CH 120
Chapter 120 – Causality
TL: Sponsored chapter (3/4)
“Senior Martial Brother Xu,” Li Dan said, standing at Xu Disheng’s side as he looked back at Yuan Qi, who was chasing after them. “Junior Martial Brother Yuan Qi has been calling for you this whole time.”
The Yin Yang Diagram stopped, hovering in mid air. Xu Disheng turned his head and asked, “What is it?”
Yuan Qi initially had a cheerful expression, but after seeing the indifferent look on Xu Disheng’s face, he faltered for a moment. Forcing a smile to his face, he said, “I’ve been in seclusion in my courtyard for a while, and haven’t seen you all this time. I missed you and wanted to see you again, Senior Martial Brother Xu.”
Xu Disheng raised a brow and said, “Seclusion? How come I heard that you used the spirit stones I gave you for cultivation to buy a Cleansed Meridians stage concubine?”
His expression changed slightly, and he opened his mouth to explain, but he was interrupted by Xu Disheng.
“It’s fine, the seven emotions and six desires can’t be avoided, I suppose,” Xu Disheng said.
Before Yuan Qi could respond, Xu Disheng activated the Yin Yang Diagram and flew off. Only these indifferent words were left ringing in his ears. “I gave you those spirit stones to cultivate, but seeing as you weren’t capable of even that, don’t let me hear you say that you and I are acquainted in the future.”
After Xu Disheng’s soul evolved in the Mirage Sea Realm, a scripture called the Theory of Causality appeared in the cyan jade flute. It wasn’t a cultivation method, but an ancient scripture, which recounted the importance of cause and effect and karmic ties to profound cultivators.
At that moment, as Xu Disheng flew on the Yin Yang Diagram towards Morning Dew Peak, he could sense that extremely thin link of causality between him and Yuan Qi thoroughly break. They would never meet or speak again.
As for Li Dan…
“Li Dan, what you said earlier was quite good. Take these things and go cultivate. You can leave now,” Xu Disheng said, taking out a storage pouch. There were 100 or so spirit stones and several Spirit Tools within, which he handed over to Li Dan.
Zuo Yanran and Zhao Yueban’s interspatial rings, which Xu Disheng had obtained in the Mirage Sea Realm, were now on his hand. However, he hadn’t had a chance to open them yet and see what was inside. Some kind of sealing array had been applied to them, which meant they couldn’t be opened without some special means.
Zhao Yueban also had several other storage pouches on the side, which had some scattered spirit stones and Spirit Tools. Xu Disheng had taken one of these and handed it to Li Dan.
However, Li Dan didn’t take it. He gazed fixedly at Xu Disheng and said, “I don’t want any spirit stones or cultivation resources. It’s enough if you’ll just let me continue to follow you, Senior Martial Brother Xu.”
Xu Disheng shook his head and said, “There’d be no point in that.”
After landing on Morning Dew Peak, he tossed the storage pouch at Li Dan’s feet and left without even looking back.
Li Dan watched Xu Disheng’s back as he walked away, his expression complex. After hesitating for a long while, he still decided to pick up the storage pouch in the end.
Xu Disheng once again perceived his mind clear up a bit as the cyan jade flute in his sea of consciousness grew slightly brighter with a lustrous radiance, clad with inexhaustible profound light.
“Could it be that every time a link of causality breaks, the cultivation of my mind increases by a bit?” Xu Disheng muttered contemplatively to himself.
Yuan Qi and Li Dan had gone with him to Jade Water Lake before in the past, so there were indeed some karmic ties associated with them.
Especially Li Dan, who had been acquainted with him since they were still in the Outer Region. Now that their link of causality had been thoroughly settled, Xu Disheng could now perceive it even clearer in his mind.
As he gazed off in the direction of Cangyun Peak, Xu Disheng once again thought of the Seventh Mortal Secret Realm and the various old ties within.
After returning to his courtyard and entering his room, Xu Disheng sat down on the couch, feeling an extremely rare sense of belonging and enervation in his heart.
He took all of his items out of the Yin Yang Diagram and his interspatial ring. The first things that entered his vision were the several dozen glowing jade slips.
These jade slips were the message jade slips that other disciples had given him to keep contact. Even the worst of them belonged to peak Sea of Qi stage elite disciples.
Among the jade slips were even ones that belonged to people like He Junyu, Yan Cheng, Li Cangyun, and other Sea of Qi stage geniuses.
The one at the very top, emitting the brightest glow, was the one that he had received from Killing Heart Spirit Master on the chariot atop the giant turtle, and was a special reward given only to the top 10 Sea of Qi stage disciples.
The Eight Mountains Grand Tournament was in one year. The Spirit Masters in power had said that if he had any needs within the next year, to directly reach out to Killing Heart Spirit Master, and the Mountain would do its best to satisfy those needs.
Of course, directly asking for something like a Psychic Magic Treasure wasn’t possible. There weren’t that many Magic Treasures of that rank even in the entire Mingxin Mountain Range. Even the Spirit Masters didn’t have enough of them as it was.
The aid only entailed things like cultivation resources or the fulfillment of daily needs.
Moreover, as soon as he left the Mirage Sea Realm, Celestial Tide Spirit Master had given him that Secret Realms intermediary disciple token from Affairs Hall. It had clearly been prepared long in advance, and there even seemed to be some deeper meaning within.
From He Junyu’s attitude towards him, Xu Disheng could tell that they were treating him like one of their own after they found out that he was Qingxin’s disciple. On Lightning Cloud Stone Island, he had helped Xu Disheng out quite a bit.
And now that he had a post as a Secret Realms intermediary disciple, Ghost Controlling Peak’s Zhao Clan wouldn’t be able to find trouble with him as easily as before.
In a way, this was Celestial Tide Spirit Master’s way of throwing him a lifeline. He could even act at his own discretion within the Secret Realms, which would allow him to bring Daoist Lord Qingxin out from the Chu Territory.
Celestial Tide Spirit Master was one of the six Spirit Masters in authority in Mingxin Mountain. By just sitting there atop his chariot, he had cast a profound, far-sighted arrangement, managing to kill two birds with one stone.
The way things stood, it seemed that the Zhao Clan of Ghost Controlling Peak could only temporarily swallow their pent up grievances.
“Little Sky, do you know where that river in the sky is, where all of the water within is made up of Pure Oblivion Water?” Xu Disheng asked, suddenly remembering that Little Sky had already existed for countless years, and might know from his own memories where exactly that river in the sky was located.
“River in the sky made up of Pure Oblivion Water?” Little Sky echoed, his low voice resounding from within the Soul Suppressing Vestment. “The image of it is extremely clear in my memories, and there’s only one place where the Oblivion Sky River could be located. But there’s this indescribable power blocking me from completely recalling it, just like the one that once blocked you from hearing my name.”
Xu Disheng nodded. This was within his expectations.
The past was covered with a dense, layered fog. In the Theory of Causality scripture that had appeared in the cyan jade flute in his sea of consciousness, it seemed as if there was a person in there, pointing the way to himself.
That unknown person in there, what exactly did he want him to do?
Cut off all links of causality? But that was impossible to accomplish. Even something as simple as flying by a mountain peak or stepping on a blade of grass could be enough to create an infinitesimally small link of causality. Although the karmic ties from that would be extremely weak, it still wasn’t realistic to think of trying to break off all links of causality.
As he was distracted, wrapped up in his thoughts, he heard the voice of man in the purple and gold-hemmed robe from that important memory reverberate in his mind once more.
“If you insist on this, even I will have no choice but to be your enemy.”
A loud sound rumbled out in Xu Disheng’s mind, as if his soul had once again broken free of some kind of small restriction. At that moment, ancient, vague memories began to appear in his mind.
In Sahā Heaven…
A man in a white Buddhist robe placed down an exquisite twelve-petaled lotus seat and turned around to speak. “What are you trying to do? After assiduously cultivating for several million years and becoming a Bodhisattva, are you really going to just give everything up now?”
“The three heavens and nine realms aren’t complete. The Six Paths of Reincarnation are missing one Path!” a youth said flatly, fiddling around with a profound yellow light in his hands, which seemed to flit and flutter around unceasingly. “Although we are already beings that are inextinguishable even through nigh on ten thousand calamities, the rules of this heaven and earth are really far too unjust.”
“Does your idea of ‘just’ constitute all living beings returning their lives to the heavens?!” the man in the white Buddhist robe fumed, a rare display of anger in his tone. “These rules of heaven and earth were jointly demarcated by the Great Sun Buddha and the Heavenly Court, and their purpose was to safeguard all living beings in the boundless three heavens and nine realms! How can you be deserving of the position of Bodhisattva with how radically extreme you are?!”
The youth simply laughed. “In the untold years past, this is the first time I’ve seen you, the Bodhisattva of Prajñā, second only to the Bodhisattva of Three Realms, actually be moved to anger.”
(TL: Prajñā – A Buddhist term often translated as ‘wisdom’. However, I didn’t want to use the word ‘wisdom’ here, since there are more nuances to this word than can be sufficiently described as purely ‘wisdom’.)
The expression of the white-robed Bodhisattva of Prajñā gradually restored to its usual state of calm. “Lord Buddha is dormant at the moment and we are both Bodhisattvas, so I cannot control you. But doing this is no different from becoming the enemy of every living being. You are on your own with this.”
Radiance gleamed from his white Buddhist robe, and a golden halo of sanctity appeared behind the Bodhisattva of Prajñā’s head, causing peals of Sanskrit sounds to ring out. He closed his eyes, and his figure gradually faded away.
The youth looked at the twelve-petaled lotus seat floating there, then casually picked it up. After lowering his gaze to look at the three great suns off in the far reaches of Sahā Heaven, his figure turned into golden motes of light, and he, too, disappeared.
If you appreciate the translation or want to sponsor a chapter, please consider supporting me on Ko-Fi!
TL: Sponsored chapter (3/4)
“Senior Martial Brother Xu,” Li Dan said, standing at Xu Disheng’s side as he looked back at Yuan Qi, who was chasing after them. “Junior Martial Brother Yuan Qi has been calling for you this whole time.”
The Yin Yang Diagram stopped, hovering in mid air. Xu Disheng turned his head and asked, “What is it?”
Yuan Qi initially had a cheerful expression, but after seeing the indifferent look on Xu Disheng’s face, he faltered for a moment. Forcing a smile to his face, he said, “I’ve been in seclusion in my courtyard for a while, and haven’t seen you all this time. I missed you and wanted to see you again, Senior Martial Brother Xu.”
Xu Disheng raised a brow and said, “Seclusion? How come I heard that you used the spirit stones I gave you for cultivation to buy a Cleansed Meridians stage concubine?”
His expression changed slightly, and he opened his mouth to explain, but he was interrupted by Xu Disheng.
“It’s fine, the seven emotions and six desires can’t be avoided, I suppose,” Xu Disheng said.
Before Yuan Qi could respond, Xu Disheng activated the Yin Yang Diagram and flew off. Only these indifferent words were left ringing in his ears. “I gave you those spirit stones to cultivate, but seeing as you weren’t capable of even that, don’t let me hear you say that you and I are acquainted in the future.”
After Xu Disheng’s soul evolved in the Mirage Sea Realm, a scripture called the Theory of Causality appeared in the cyan jade flute. It wasn’t a cultivation method, but an ancient scripture, which recounted the importance of cause and effect and karmic ties to profound cultivators.
At that moment, as Xu Disheng flew on the Yin Yang Diagram towards Morning Dew Peak, he could sense that extremely thin link of causality between him and Yuan Qi thoroughly break. They would never meet or speak again.
As for Li Dan…
“Li Dan, what you said earlier was quite good. Take these things and go cultivate. You can leave now,” Xu Disheng said, taking out a storage pouch. There were 100 or so spirit stones and several Spirit Tools within, which he handed over to Li Dan.
Zuo Yanran and Zhao Yueban’s interspatial rings, which Xu Disheng had obtained in the Mirage Sea Realm, were now on his hand. However, he hadn’t had a chance to open them yet and see what was inside. Some kind of sealing array had been applied to them, which meant they couldn’t be opened without some special means.
Zhao Yueban also had several other storage pouches on the side, which had some scattered spirit stones and Spirit Tools. Xu Disheng had taken one of these and handed it to Li Dan.
However, Li Dan didn’t take it. He gazed fixedly at Xu Disheng and said, “I don’t want any spirit stones or cultivation resources. It’s enough if you’ll just let me continue to follow you, Senior Martial Brother Xu.”
Xu Disheng shook his head and said, “There’d be no point in that.”
After landing on Morning Dew Peak, he tossed the storage pouch at Li Dan’s feet and left without even looking back.
Li Dan watched Xu Disheng’s back as he walked away, his expression complex. After hesitating for a long while, he still decided to pick up the storage pouch in the end.
Xu Disheng once again perceived his mind clear up a bit as the cyan jade flute in his sea of consciousness grew slightly brighter with a lustrous radiance, clad with inexhaustible profound light.
“Could it be that every time a link of causality breaks, the cultivation of my mind increases by a bit?” Xu Disheng muttered contemplatively to himself.
Yuan Qi and Li Dan had gone with him to Jade Water Lake before in the past, so there were indeed some karmic ties associated with them.
Especially Li Dan, who had been acquainted with him since they were still in the Outer Region. Now that their link of causality had been thoroughly settled, Xu Disheng could now perceive it even clearer in his mind.
As he gazed off in the direction of Cangyun Peak, Xu Disheng once again thought of the Seventh Mortal Secret Realm and the various old ties within.
After returning to his courtyard and entering his room, Xu Disheng sat down on the couch, feeling an extremely rare sense of belonging and enervation in his heart.
He took all of his items out of the Yin Yang Diagram and his interspatial ring. The first things that entered his vision were the several dozen glowing jade slips.
These jade slips were the message jade slips that other disciples had given him to keep contact. Even the worst of them belonged to peak Sea of Qi stage elite disciples.
Among the jade slips were even ones that belonged to people like He Junyu, Yan Cheng, Li Cangyun, and other Sea of Qi stage geniuses.
The one at the very top, emitting the brightest glow, was the one that he had received from Killing Heart Spirit Master on the chariot atop the giant turtle, and was a special reward given only to the top 10 Sea of Qi stage disciples.
The Eight Mountains Grand Tournament was in one year. The Spirit Masters in power had said that if he had any needs within the next year, to directly reach out to Killing Heart Spirit Master, and the Mountain would do its best to satisfy those needs.
Of course, directly asking for something like a Psychic Magic Treasure wasn’t possible. There weren’t that many Magic Treasures of that rank even in the entire Mingxin Mountain Range. Even the Spirit Masters didn’t have enough of them as it was.
The aid only entailed things like cultivation resources or the fulfillment of daily needs.
Moreover, as soon as he left the Mirage Sea Realm, Celestial Tide Spirit Master had given him that Secret Realms intermediary disciple token from Affairs Hall. It had clearly been prepared long in advance, and there even seemed to be some deeper meaning within.
From He Junyu’s attitude towards him, Xu Disheng could tell that they were treating him like one of their own after they found out that he was Qingxin’s disciple. On Lightning Cloud Stone Island, he had helped Xu Disheng out quite a bit.
And now that he had a post as a Secret Realms intermediary disciple, Ghost Controlling Peak’s Zhao Clan wouldn’t be able to find trouble with him as easily as before.
In a way, this was Celestial Tide Spirit Master’s way of throwing him a lifeline. He could even act at his own discretion within the Secret Realms, which would allow him to bring Daoist Lord Qingxin out from the Chu Territory.
Celestial Tide Spirit Master was one of the six Spirit Masters in authority in Mingxin Mountain. By just sitting there atop his chariot, he had cast a profound, far-sighted arrangement, managing to kill two birds with one stone.
The way things stood, it seemed that the Zhao Clan of Ghost Controlling Peak could only temporarily swallow their pent up grievances.
“Little Sky, do you know where that river in the sky is, where all of the water within is made up of Pure Oblivion Water?” Xu Disheng asked, suddenly remembering that Little Sky had already existed for countless years, and might know from his own memories where exactly that river in the sky was located.
“River in the sky made up of Pure Oblivion Water?” Little Sky echoed, his low voice resounding from within the Soul Suppressing Vestment. “The image of it is extremely clear in my memories, and there’s only one place where the Oblivion Sky River could be located. But there’s this indescribable power blocking me from completely recalling it, just like the one that once blocked you from hearing my name.”
Xu Disheng nodded. This was within his expectations.
The past was covered with a dense, layered fog. In the Theory of Causality scripture that had appeared in the cyan jade flute in his sea of consciousness, it seemed as if there was a person in there, pointing the way to himself.
That unknown person in there, what exactly did he want him to do?
Cut off all links of causality? But that was impossible to accomplish. Even something as simple as flying by a mountain peak or stepping on a blade of grass could be enough to create an infinitesimally small link of causality. Although the karmic ties from that would be extremely weak, it still wasn’t realistic to think of trying to break off all links of causality.
As he was distracted, wrapped up in his thoughts, he heard the voice of man in the purple and gold-hemmed robe from that important memory reverberate in his mind once more.
“If you insist on this, even I will have no choice but to be your enemy.”
A loud sound rumbled out in Xu Disheng’s mind, as if his soul had once again broken free of some kind of small restriction. At that moment, ancient, vague memories began to appear in his mind.
In Sahā Heaven…
A man in a white Buddhist robe placed down an exquisite twelve-petaled lotus seat and turned around to speak. “What are you trying to do? After assiduously cultivating for several million years and becoming a Bodhisattva, are you really going to just give everything up now?”
“The three heavens and nine realms aren’t complete. The Six Paths of Reincarnation are missing one Path!” a youth said flatly, fiddling around with a profound yellow light in his hands, which seemed to flit and flutter around unceasingly. “Although we are already beings that are inextinguishable even through nigh on ten thousand calamities, the rules of this heaven and earth are really far too unjust.”
“Does your idea of ‘just’ constitute all living beings returning their lives to the heavens?!” the man in the white Buddhist robe fumed, a rare display of anger in his tone. “These rules of heaven and earth were jointly demarcated by the Great Sun Buddha and the Heavenly Court, and their purpose was to safeguard all living beings in the boundless three heavens and nine realms! How can you be deserving of the position of Bodhisattva with how radically extreme you are?!”
The youth simply laughed. “In the untold years past, this is the first time I’ve seen you, the Bodhisattva of Prajñā, second only to the Bodhisattva of Three Realms, actually be moved to anger.”
(TL: Prajñā – A Buddhist term often translated as ‘wisdom’. However, I didn’t want to use the word ‘wisdom’ here, since there are more nuances to this word than can be sufficiently described as purely ‘wisdom’.)
The expression of the white-robed Bodhisattva of Prajñā gradually restored to its usual state of calm. “Lord Buddha is dormant at the moment and we are both Bodhisattvas, so I cannot control you. But doing this is no different from becoming the enemy of every living being. You are on your own with this.”
Radiance gleamed from his white Buddhist robe, and a golden halo of sanctity appeared behind the Bodhisattva of Prajñā’s head, causing peals of Sanskrit sounds to ring out. He closed his eyes, and his figure gradually faded away.
The youth looked at the twelve-petaled lotus seat floating there, then casually picked it up. After lowering his gaze to look at the three great suns off in the far reaches of Sahā Heaven, his figure turned into golden motes of light, and he, too, disappeared.
If you appreciate the translation or want to sponsor a chapter, please consider supporting me on Ko-Fi!
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