The chanting of Buddhist scriptures gradually expelled the chilling aura of the Yellow Springs from this dark land. Simultaneously, a surging flame appeared on Ji Xiang's body. The power of the Samadhi Fire Wheel, hearing the Buddhist chants, began to circulate autonomously. The Mani Blazing Fire and the Yellow Springs' chilling aura intertwined, aiming to transform this world of filth into a pure land.
"Thus have I heard: At one time, the Blessed One, traveling through various countries, arrived at Vaishali and stayed beneath the Music-Tree, accompanied by a great assembly of eight thousand Bhikshus, and thirty-six thousand Bodhisattvas, Mahasattvas..."
The merit sutra of the Medicine Master Buddha was recited in a very short time. At this moment, a vast Buddhist power emerged from the dim Yellow Springs, crossing the barriers between Dharma realms and manifesting in this land of death.
The power of responding to the world's changes allowed those who cultivated its Dharma to sense the sacred essence of the fundamental teachings. This was true not only for Buddhism but also for Taoism and Confucianism. By reciting the titles of many deities and studying the scriptures and classics they left behind, one could establish a connection with the immortal Buddhas and divine beings. In times of crisis, sincerely reciting their scriptures would serve as an intermediary, crossing the obstacles between Dharma realms to bring their power down upon the reciter.
This method of sensing was akin to the reverse application of incense and faith.
The power of incense and faith was derived from worshipping divine statues. Incense and faith would then attach themselves to the statues, with a portion ascending to the Great Floating Lily Heaven. This also crossed the barriers between Dharma realms and the mortal world. As for wishes, they were even more profound; even the Floating Lily Azure Heaven could perceive the thoughts of all people.
Empowered by the Medicine Buddha, the corrupted wilderness began to be purified, and the defiled land transformed into a pure realm. With this transformation, it seemed as though some monsters had discovered the situation.
Rumble! In the Yellow Springs of the Underworld, something was emerging, moving towards the Root Country, the origin of the Yellow Springs!
It was the sound of thunder!
At this moment, the Vajra of Great Compassion sensed the appearance of the thunderous sounds and immediately began to circulate his Buddhist power.
The Eight Thunder Gods, the divine beings formed by the eight bolts of lightning from the Great God of the Yellow Springs, maintained the order of the Yin world within the Yellow Springs. They unleashed thunder amidst the chilling aura of the Yellow Springs, tormenting the wandering, lost souls.
Lightning appeared, but there were no longer any souls to torment in this place. The Eight Thunder Gods moved forward from the Yellow Springs, their lightning filling the entire Dharma realm. They were the sole brilliance of this world, allowing nothing that defied the will of the Yellow Springs Dharma realm to exist!
"Take the power of blessing I have bestowed upon you! Go and find the source of the disturbance! It is within the Root Country!"
A woman's voice emanated from the Yellow Springs. The Eight Thunder Gods obeyed her command, receiving her blessing, which allowed them to enter the territory of the Root Country. They roamed the Eastern Yellow Springs and reached the border of the Root Country to investigate.
They wished to enter the border of the Root Country but were blocked by the power of the Vajra of Great Compassion. Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva held immense faith in Japan, known in the Yellow Springs as the God of Liberation. Therefore, in the Yellow Springs, the Vajra of Great Compassion, as an avatar of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, could wield power no less than the Eight Thunder Gods.
The strength of Buddhism lay in its ability to perfectly integrate its existence into another mythological Dharma realm and, following the faith of the people and the passage of time, become deeply rooted within that realm, eventually achieving a position of supreme importance.
A rumbling sound echoed, and many small stone Buddhas appeared on the border of the Root Country.
These small Buddha statues represented Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva in Japan. Because Shinto, the state religion of Japan, tabooed anything related to death, such Buddha statues could not appear in orthodox, large shrines. However, Buddhism also possessed immense influence in Japan. Although Shinto did not recognize Ksitigarbha's existence, they were powerless to prevent the faith in Ksitigarbha.
In Japan, each Ksitigarbha statue belonged to a child who had died prematurely. Whether the child had passed away due to an accident, illness, or miscarriage, these stone Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva statues carried the parents' immeasurable grief for their child's early demise.
They believed that Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva was the guardian of children who died young, comforting their souls as they crossed the Sanzu River to the other world. Furthermore, Japanese parents viewed the early death of a child as insufficient accumulation of good deeds before continuing the lineage.
Therefore, children with insufficient accumulated good deeds would be punished by being eternally forced to stack stones on the banks of the Sanzu River.
Stones, stone Buddhas.
The wishes of countless children gathered on these stone Buddha statues, and Ksitigarbha's obstruction enraged the divine tablets of the Eight Thunder Gods.
Amidst the flashing lightning, the eight divine tablets revealed their true forms, manifesting as eight divine tablets. However, a change occurred in the next moment.
The divine tablets, which were supposed to act solely according to rules, began to transform into bodies. As the leaked lightning condensed, they gradually formed into eight ferocious ghost-gods. Their eyes rolled, their bodies were made of lightning, and they possessed self-awareness.
Great Thunder God, God of Power; Fire Thunder God, God of Explosion; Dark Thunder God, God of Gloom; Splitting Thunder God, God of Cleavage; Blazing Thunder God, God of Brilliance; Earth Thunder God, God of Tremor; Roaring Thunder God, God of Thunder; Hidden Thunder God, God of Thunderclouds.
"Who has dissolved the chilling aura of the Yellow Springs and shaken its foundations!"
"Who seeks to extinguish the path of ghost-gods and release the millions of souls trapped here!"
"In the Root Country, who has infiltrated? They must be eliminated!"
"He has obtained the divine position of Ksitigarbha. Who exactly is he?"
"The source of power for the ghost-god path has been deciphered. This was done intentionally!"
The eight Thunder Gods manifested their ghost-god bodies. Ksitigarbha's Buddhist power began to be gradually disintegrated. They combined their strength to corrode the Buddhist power with the more potent冥道气 (Ming Dao Qi - Underworld Path Qi) of the Yellow Springs. The small stone Buddhas collapsed and were destroyed, turning into dust.
They entered the wilderness of the Root Country and, from a great distance, sensed a strong Buddhist magical power!
Medicine Master Buddha!
"How can there be the power of both Ksitigarbha and Medicine Buddha simultaneously in the depths of the Yellow Springs?"
"Go, go forward!"
...
The Swastika mark of the Vajra of Great Compassion dimmed. Ji Xiang recited Buddhist scriptures, having completed one reverse recitation of the Diamond Sutra and beginning the final and most extensive "Abhidharma-Mahavibhasha-Shastra."
"The Eight Thunder Gods have arrived, subordinates of the Great God of the Yellow Springs. I am not sure if they are being controlled, but in any case, their presence in the Yellow Springs represents the rules of the Yellow Springs."
In the distance, the sound of thunder grew closer.
Ji Xiang did not even lift an eyelid, continuing to recite scriptures as if nothing were happening.
...
Until the lightning appeared in the sky above Ji Xiang's head!
The dim sky was illuminated by eight bolts of lightning. The Eight Thunder Gods appeared in this Buddhist land in the form of ghost-gods. They bared their teeth, filled with rage, witnessing the rules of the Yellow Springs being violated, Buddhism transforming the corrupted death realm into a pure land of bliss, and those Buddhist disciples still remaining in place, reciting those damnable Buddhist scriptures!
"Buddha's children and grandchildren, daring to enter the origin of the Eastern Yellow Springs, are truly courting death!"
The Yellow Springs is a grand concept. For all lands bordering the Central Plains of China since ancient times, the concept of the Yellow Springs existed. Ancient people digging into the earth and seeing yellow spring water believed that the underground realm where the dead went was filled with this turbid water. And all lives, like soil, came from soil and returned to soil.
As the oldest world, the Yellow Springs Dharma realm generously opened its gates to them.
It was not uncommon to sever a part of a Dharma realm and make it one's own foundational Dharma realm. At least within the Great Ming, the Biyou Palace was doing just that, transforming a part of the Yin Mountain Dharma realm into its own.
Therefore, the Yellow Springs Country did not represent the entire Yellow Springs but merely the "Eastern Yellow Springs."
The Great Thunder God unleashed a bolt of powerful lightning, a massive bolt carrying immense and boundless might, tearing through the dark heavens and earth of the Yin world!
A rumble!
Clang!
A cold light shot up into the sky!
In the eyes of the Great Thunder God, that strike came from the heavens. In the next instant, had he not dodged in time, it would have split his ghost-god body in two!
Lightning, strike!
Ji Xiang moved his fingers, his external appearance transforming into the White-Faced True Martial, with the phantom images of tortoise and snake rising from the ground!
The White-Faced True Martial had previously devoured the divine position of Myoken Ten. Now, as a substitute for the real, it occupied the nest. Using the power of Myoken Ten, it transformed one beam of white light into two, two into four, and four into countless beams!
Emperor Zhenwu, who once held the title of the Ancestor of Sword Immortals!
The art of controlling flying objects was merely a type of sword immortal art. The White-Faced True Martial did not possess a divine position; it was merely a spiritual form guarding a mountain. Although it possessed the terrifying power to kill and transform demonic outsiders into purple dust, it did not greatly enhance its swordsmanship itself.
But now, having devoured the divine position of Myoken Ten, that empty slot was filled, and coupled with...!
The spiritual form of the White-Faced True Martial was undergoing visible changes!
The name on the Myoken Ten divine tablet was no longer a substitute but was about to be completely rebranded!
The past names were gradually being erased.
Older names were gradually being imprinted upon it.
The image of the Heavenly Venerable of Broad Descent was merging ever deeper with the image of the White-Faced True Martial!
That beam of slashing light, transformed into myriad white lights, that divine weapon which, with a slight miss, could have decapitated a god, was the treasured sword Raijin, obtained from Tachibana Muneshige!
The mind remained still.
The divine malevolence arose!
The Raijin sword flew up into the sky, and ten thousand strikes became a sky-covering white radiance!
The Eight Thunder Gods were greatly shocked. They unleashed various lightning techniques, also covering the sky with beams of light and dark clouds, accompanied by heavy and surging battle drums, rising to meet the heavens!
"You Buddhist thieves and fools! To face our eight Great Thunder Gods with merely a single blade! Do you think you can kill and sever the guardian gods of the Eastern Yellow Springs as you please?"
The Fire Thunder God, with his violent temper, was enraged to see that the Buddhist disciples were not fighting themselves but were sending forth only a human blade!
What is this blade that dares to be arrogant before the gods!
"This blade is not bad! It can actually extinguish lightning. Today, I shall subdue it and make it mine! You are not allowed to fight me for it!"
The Great Thunder God stepped forward, his eyes blazing with anger. He waved his hand, conjuring the Great Majestic Thunder Sword, and the surging, vast sword light, like an ocean, filled the sky, following Ji Xiang's will, destroying all directions!
The Great Majestic Thunder Sword was severed in one blow!
The treasured sword Raijin attacked autonomously, slashing forward with swiftness and ferocity, flashing through the world like lightning! On its second strike, it almost severed the Great Thunder God's eyes!
Since Ji Xiang took this sword from Tachibana Muneshige, he had been using it with increasing proficiency, as if it were about to change allegiance and recognize a new master. Although controlled by sword immortal arts, Ji Xiang could still sense waves of joy from this treasured sword.
A good bird chooses its tree to perch on; a loyal minister chooses his lord to serve. With the old master dead, the treasured sword should have been left to gather dust, but wielded by Ji Xiang, the slashes it unleashed were even more powerful than before. The new master far surpassed the old, and by constantly feeding it with lightning, even the blade itself had become more robust, unleashing a power that the former Tachibana Muneshige could not compare to.
The choice of a new master was entirely expected, and serving him would not disgrace the name of Raijin.
A thought flashed through Ji Xiang's mind.
Upon returning to Joseon this time, this sword would cease to exist in this world. It would be reforged, given a body of the Central Plains, and as for its new name...
It could be "Heaven-Severing White Rainbow"!
As the thought arose, the sea of sword light in the sky regenerated, as if rejoicing and leaping with joy for its new name!
With this thought, Ji Xiang immediately returned to reciting Buddhist scriptures, concentrating his mind and not allowing any further distractions.
The lightning unleashed by the Eight Thunder Gods was all destroyed by this treasured sword specifically designed to slay lightning. They were shocked and enraged. The Great Thunder God looked down and saw Ji Xiang slightly tilt his head, standing among the Buddhist disciples (shadow soldiers). A look of arrogance filled his peripheral vision as he glanced at them.
He completely disregarded the ghost-gods of the Eastern Yellow Springs!
The Buddhist sect's arrogance must be extinguished! They must be extinguished! They must be extinguished!
They had disrupted the great plan of the Yellow Springs, the path of ghost-gods, and the grand strategy of divine martial arts. They were not treated as equals but as lowly and useless beings!
This filled him with such rage that he almost burned with fury. He immediately, disregarding everything, unleashed lightning towards Ji Xiang's position!
The Raijin sword's edge turned, destroying the lightning. The Great Thunder God suddenly grabbed his brother, the Roaring Thunder God, who was captured by him. The ghost-god was greatly terrified. In the next moment, his beloved elder brother directly threw him towards the Raijin!
A flash of cold light! The lightning was split into two segments, and the Roaring Thunder God, who possessed the intense power of the Eight Thunder Gods, was also cut in half at the waist!
The Great Thunder God, using this opening, forcefully broke through the sea of sword light. It was too late for Raijin to stop him. The other six Thunder Gods, seeing this, understood and launched a fierce assault on Raijin, preventing it from descending and striking lightning.
At the same time, their hearts surged with anger!
"We are the ancestors of ghost-gods, created from the souls of all people!"
"We absorb the resentment of the Yellow Springs, the deathly energy of the underworld, and are formed by the collective wishes of the living!"
"How can we be slain by a mere broken blade! This is truly outrageous!"
"You inanimate object, still wanting to protect your master, how can you succeed? What about our dignity!"
"Let you watch as your master is struck by lightning and turned into charcoal!"
The Thunder Gods glared, laughing wildly!
The Great Thunder God condensed a vast thunderous power in his hand, forming a pillar of heaven, descending from the sky!
The lightning destroyed the death realm, and the glazed pure land was also annihilated. The Great Thunder God laughed wildly, but it stopped after only three laughs!
"What is this!"
The Great Thunder God looked down. Ji Xiang's aura still existed, and compared to before, it was even more refined!
The dust of lightning dispersed, and streams of cool wind suddenly arose.
Ji Xiang's image had transformed into a Heavenly Venerable that no one had ever seen before. However, outside the Heavenly Venerable's form, streams of cool wind formed into a disc, sweeping away all the filth here. Even the falling lightning bolts were brushed away by these cool winds as if dusting away fine particles.
The three poisons of greed, hatred, and delusion were extinguished, and all deluded minds ceased to arise.
The Śīla form of Buddhism manifested, along with the Eastern Pure Glazed Art!
The Śīla form refers to the Śīla-pāramitā among the Six Pāramitās, meaning "to help all beings cross to the other shore, the pure land!"
"Śīla-pāramitā is the Dharma, surpassing all difficulties of the evil paths."
"This child's Buddha-nature is extremely high. What the秽迹金刚 (Huiji Vajra - Vajra of Filth-Clearing) values may be precisely this!"
The Swastika mark of the Vajra of Great Compassion flickered slightly, and its tone was filled with emotion.
Astonishing talent, profound Buddha-nature. It was a pity that he had severed his connection to Buddhism, but it could not be forced. Indeed, the methods of the Huiji Vajra had caused revulsion. The Vajra of Great Compassion thought, since you don't even know him, how could you give him a second-turn immortal elixir as a generous gift right from the start, and even tamper with it? Wasn't this just making people hate you?
To be a Buddha, one must have a grand vision. To convert others, one must first befriend them...
The Vajra of Great Compassion mused to itself.
Countless phantom images began to appear around Ji Xiang!
The sound of Buddhist scriptures recitation grew more numerous, eventually transforming into a vast ocean. The glazed pure land that had been destroyed earlier was reassembled, and the power of the Medicine Buddha grew even greater!
As the Buddhist chants resounded mightily!
While the Great Thunder God was reeling from the Buddhist chants!
From Ji Xiang's body, a Vajra form broke through the death realm and ascended to the heavens!
That Vajra form was the trace of the Huiji Vajra, soaring into the sky and dispersing into the Yellow Springs, causing the Root Country to shake violently!
The Huiji Vajra was a powerful Vajra that converted impure demons, and the Yellow Springs were filled with impurities!
The trace broke through the Root Country and entered the Yellow Springs Country, heading towards the divine position of impurity throughout the Eastern Yellow Springs!
In the Yellow Springs Country, a woman's voice, extremely tragic and filled with intense resentment, echoed throughout the Eastern Yellow Springs!
The Great Thunder God heard this cry, which even broke through the barrier between the Root Country and the Yellow Springs Country, reaching this land in the depths of the Yellow Springs. His face could not help but show immense shock! He did not know what that Vajra form that emerged from the Buddhist disciple below was, but now...
"Great God of the Yellow Springs! Emperor Suizei! The powerful Lord of Ghost-Gods, the Yin Emperor blessed by Emperor Jinmu! How could such a tragic voice be uttered!"
That voice was from the Great God of the Yellow Springs, and his words revealed astonishing information: that some past souls had not dissipated and, by the blessing of Xu Fu, had remained and obtained a divine position exceeding the limits of the Yang world over a long period.
Emperor Suizei was from the Sui and Tang dynasties, the mother of Prince Shōtoku.
As the Great Thunder God was at a loss and filled with trepidation, the endless Buddhist chants around them suddenly stopped.
He turned his head sharply!
The myriad phantom forms returned to one, and the Buddhist disciples also transformed into shadows, merging into the strangely dressed Buddha Lord in the center.
The Yin cultivation returned, the Sun refining the form!
The surrounding myriad Yin and cold energies also suddenly transformed into a storm, rushing into his body in an instant!
Buddha?
No!
It was at this moment that the Great Thunder God finally saw clearly that it was not a Buddha's image at all, but an unseen form, similar to an Onmyoji, yet significantly different!
He once again conjured lightning in his hand, forming and wielding the Great Majestic Thunder Sword!
This strike...!
The Thunder Sword swept towards the person before him, and then... the Great Thunder God's entire existence instantly dissolved into nothingness!
Just as ice and snow melt when encountering the sun; just as cold water boils when encountering a raging fire.
The treasured sword Raijin in the sky returned autonomously. The other six Great Thunder Gods, seeing the Great Thunder God vanish into nothingness in a single encounter, their divine powers scattered, their faces changed greatly, filled with both rage and utter terror!
Before they could speak, Ji Xiang raised a finger upwards, pointing towards the sky. A crimson divine banner was now held in his hand, but this time, vast immortal power surged and boiled upon the banner!
As soon as it appeared, the sound of eighty thousand heavenly demons revolved around the Yellow Springs world!
The remaining six Thunder Gods were terrified and fearful. They extinguished their desire for revenge and turned to flee. However, the divine banner stretched towards the sky, and with the enhancement of immortal power, it transformed into a Demon-Suppressing Kingdom!
The flag fluttered, forming its own world! The six Thunder Gods' faces turned ashen. The Dark Thunder God exclaimed, "Wait, spare my life..."
In the sky, the sound of eighty thousand heavenly demons spoke in unison:
"Qi extinguished, spirit departed, the nine orifices and hundred bones turn to dust."
"Why cling to the forms of ghost-gods, retaining such residual states, cherishing this world so much?"
After speaking, the voice of Broad Descent sounded, forty thousand benevolent and forty thousand indifferent. The ghost-god forms of the six Thunder Gods instantly perished. Only then did Ji Xiang form strange hand seals, which then dissipated into nothingness, leaving behind only the falling divine positions.
Thank the Heavenly Emperor, for eliminating the demonic qi.
Jade Purity Hidden Scripture, Lesson Thirteen.
Chapter of Annihilation!