One saw the Guiding Venerable raise his right hand in a Buddhist salute.
His right hand turned into a palm, Buddhist radiance spreading between his fingers, and as he stepped one foot after another, clearly moving very slowly, his speed was actually extremely fast as he struck toward the man.
“Bodhisattva Palm,” one palm descended, transforming into hundreds and thousands of palm prints.
It was clearly an ordinary technique, but when used by him, it seemed to evolve into the pinnacle of mastery, reaching an ultimate state.
But the man opposite remained calm. He waved his hand and said with a faint smile, “Hands are only two, there have never been illusions.”
In that instant, all the palm prints vanished, and there were only two hands before him, moving very slowly.
The Guiding Venerable was not surprised. He pressed his palms together, and the Buddhist radiance under his feet surged.
At this moment, he sat cross-legged upon the ground, yet his figure moved swiftly.
Especially when he attacked the man, his figure disappeared, not from speed so great it vanished, but truly disappeared.
And how could something that vanished be blocked?
“It’s the Nine Diagrams Six Seats Body Technique,” someone shouted excitedly below.
“Sitting meditation can count as a movement technique?” someone asked in doubt.
“You don’t understand. In Bodhisattva Monastery, there are ninety-nine thousand nine hundred postures of seated meditation. That’s ninety-nine thousand nine hundred evolutions. Single evolutions, combined evolutions, calculated this way, they can become infinite,” the person explained. “This seated meditation is the strongest among body techniques.”
“So-called disappearance is nothing more than illusion or perhaps a higher-level use of the Dao. In this world, true disappearance has never existed. All things, from birth to arrival, have their meaning,” the man said. Then he waved his right hand in the air.
Clearly that space had been empty, but there came a muffled groan, and the Guiding Venerable’s figure was thrown flying back.
“Venerable, use your full strength. Between us there is no need for testing,” the man said with a smile.
“In the Mahayana Dharma of Buddhism, there are five eyes and six powers. I wonder, to what level have you cultivated?”
“Heavenly Eye,” the Guiding Venerable closed his eyes, then once again slowly opened them.
One could feel his eyes had undergone some change, but for a moment it was impossible to say what it was.
As though in the unseen, something had become different.
“The so-called Heavenly Eye can see the joys and sorrows of beings in the six paths, can see the destination of life and death.”
The Guiding Venerable murmured to himself.
He looked at the man before him and saw that his whole body was covered with lines of life and death. He frowned slightly.
By common logic, every person should only have one line of life and death, from birth, leading to death.
This is the destiny of beings.
But at this moment…
“Something is wrong, something is wrong,” the Guiding Venerable’s brows furrowed deeper.
A Buddhist practitioner is not one who delights in contesting strength. They persuade through great wisdom, they teach through the great principles.
But now, the Guiding Venerable discovered he could not see through the man before him, how could he persuade, how could he teach?
“Divine Ear, Divine Mind,”
Of the six powers, he had already opened three.
The Divine Ear could hear all beings’ cries of suffering, while the Divine Mind could know the innermost desires of the other.
But at this moment, they were useless, he could sense nothing.
And of the six powers, the remaining Divine Foot was movement, it would not help against this man.
“Destiny... Power...” the Guiding Venerable uttered the fifth power with difficulty, word by word.
One could see how strained he was. From his whole body arose the sound of the Dharma, as though an endless river of fate flowed through his blood, crushing his body.
Destiny Power was immensely powerful. It could see the fate of people, know life and death, know past and future.
The movements of great epochs, the transformations of things, one might say it was akin to foreknowledge.
From seeing an individual’s destiny, to perceiving the fate of an entire age.
“It’s already your limit, then,” the man shook his head in slight disappointment. “If you could comprehend that final power, the sixth, the Power of Exhaustion, perhaps you could still contend. A pity, such a pity.”
“Who are you?” the Guiding Venerable asked word by word.
He raised his head, only to feel that the man before him was at times towering and majestic, at times plain and ordinary, he could not tell which was real.
“If you wish to know my identity, then open your five eyes,” the man said with a light laugh.
The five eyes and six powers.
Aside from the six powers mentioned, the five eyes were the Fleshly Eye, the Heavenly Eye, the Wisdom Eye, the Dharma Eye, and the Buddha Eye.
The Fleshly Eye was the ordinary human eye.
It sees what is before, not behind; sees near, not far; sees day, not night; sees only that which is not obstructed.
The Guiding Venerable had cultivated for countless years, yet now he had opened only the fourth eye, the Dharma Eye.
The Dharma Eye was the eye of the Bodhisattva, able to know all expedient means of beings.
When the Dharma Eye opened, the Guiding Venerable’s expression changed drastically.
His whole body trembled slightly.
“You… you are… the Lord of Light!”
As his words fell, the man’s body burst forth with boundless radiance.
That light was not Buddha’s radiance, not firelight, nor any light cast by objects.
It was the purest, most primordial light.
“Lord of Light, who is that?” someone asked, not understanding.
“The founder of the Little Bright Sacred Ground! Back then it was he who established the Sacred Ground,” someone said excitedly.
Some already knelt down, bathing in the radiance, their whole body comfortable, all worldly ills dispersed.
“It was I who was blind, to have actually competed against the Lord of Light,” the Guiding Venerable said, somewhat ashamed.
He, too, was master of one of the imperial lineages, yet at this moment he admitted defeat so straightforwardly.
“You misunderstand. I never sought to win against you,” the Lord of Light shook his head. “I saw you trapped in confusion, so I wished to deliver you. Of the six powers, you have realized only five. Of the five eyes, you have opened only four. For thousands of years, you have been unable to take another step forward. Do you know why?”
“Please, Lord of Light, enlighten me,” the Guiding Venerable said.
“Then I ask you, is Buddha good or bad?” the Lord of Light asked.
“My Buddha is merciful, naturally good,” the Guiding Venerable answered without hesitation.
“Then are all the Buddhas in the world good?” the Lord of Light asked again.
“This…” the Guiding Venerable hesitated.
Buddha was a broad title. So many had attained Buddhahood. In such a forest, all kinds of birds existed. He did not dare answer so simply.
He had even heard before of evil Buddhas in this world.
“You see, you are confused, because you have not yet seen your own path clearly,” the Lord of Light said with a smile. “You say Buddha is merciful. Then what is it you truly cultivate, Buddha, or mercy? Actually, your direction is mistaken. You are kind at heart, concerned for beings, willing to be their guide. So you cultivate goodness, you cultivate compassion, not Buddha. Or rather, the Buddha in your heart is merely the incarnation of goodness and compassion. I call all of this Light. Whether Buddha or Goodness, all return to my Dao of Light.”