Chapter 138 - The Five Realms of Buddhism
“The God of Prosperity?” This was the first time Li Huowang had heard of it. “Is there any difference between it and the God of Happiness?”
“How should I say this? If we were to compare them, the God of Happiness’s power would be equivalent to just a single fingernail of the God of Prosperity.”
“Yikes.” Li Huowang recalled the terrible figure of the God of Happiness. It was hard to believe that the God of Happiness was barely strong enough to match one of the God of Prosperity’s fingernails.
“Hold up, I feel like my brain is on the verge of exploding now.” All this information caught him off guard. “So the God of Happiness is not some major evil being?”
“How can the God of Happiness be an evil being? Those are two different things altogether.”
Li Huowang took a deep breath. “In that case, what are they? What is the God of Happiness or the God of Prosperity?”
“What else can they be? They are Gods.”
“Uh... Which God?”
Abbess Jingxin’s face contorted in confusion. “You don’t even know that? How did you even survive up until now? I thought you already knew.”
Li Huowang sighed and explained, “As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not from this world and I was transmigrated here. I have no idea how I ended up in this place.”
“Sigh... here it comes again.” Abbess Jingxin stared at him with pity.
“Abbess, I really did transmigrate here!” Li Huowang shouted, his anxiety increasing; he wanted to believe that it really was the truth.
“Fine, fine. I believe you. Let’s continue talking then. Have you heard of the Five Realms in Buddhism?”
“Five Realms of Buddhism?” Li Huowang recalled the five large Buddha statues he had seen within the Righteous Monastery. “I’ve heard of it. The Abbot of the Righteous Monastery briefly explained to me that there are five different Buddhas in Five Different Realms.”
“The one in the middle is Vaicorana from Vajradhatu, the Diamond Realm. The one on the East is Akshobhya from Abhirati, the Eastern Pure Land. The one on the South is Ratnasambhava from ?rimat, the Southern Pure Land. The one on the West is Amitābha from Sukhavati, the Western Pure Land, and the one on the North is Amoghasiddhi from Prakuta, the Northern Pure Land,” explained Abbess Jingxin. These were the exact same words that the Abbot had told Li Huowang. “The God of Happiness and the God of Prosperity are both Gods belonging to the Southern Pure Land; however, they are not the only Gods there. There are still many other Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Arhats.”
Hearing all this, Li Huowang felt kind of lost; it was the first time he had heard most of it. He knew that this world had many strange things, but it was a lot more than he had anticipated.
To think that there exist five different realms, and each of them contained such unimaginable horrors.
“So the realm of the Immortals that you mentioned before are the Five Realms of Buddhism?” asked Li Huowang as he unconsciously turned to Dan Yangzi who was standing near the wall.
“Hmph! There’s no such thing as the Five Realms of Buddhism. What do a bunch of stupid bald donkeys know?” said Dan Yangzi, his six eyes filled with contempt. This was the first time Li Huowang’s illusion had reacted to his words. “What do they know? They trust just about anything that’s written in the book! They haven’t even seen the Southern Heavenly Gates!”
Li Huowang ignored the barrage of insults from Dan Yangzi and continued to ask Abbess Jingxin. “Can you tell me where the Five Realms are?”
“How would I know? If I knew that, then I would already have become a Buddha; I wouldn’t be here,” said Jingxin as she dug her before flicking the snot onto the folds of her own skin.
“Become a Buddha? Do you want to become a Buddha?” asked Li Huowang.
“Nah I’m too lazy. My son may be crazy, but he’s still alive. If I were to become a Buddha, who would take care of him?”
Slowly, Li Huowang was starting to piece everything together; he was finally starting to get a vague understanding of this world.
“Which world does Ba-Hui come from?” asked Li Huowang. He recalled that Ba-Hui also came from an extremely mysterious place.
“No clue; after all, I’m not from the Ao Jing Sect.”
At that moment, Dan Yangzi’s horrifying three-headed self phased out from within Abbess Jingxin’s stomach. “She’s lying! She knows nothing! You will only know how beautiful the Immortal Realm is once you see it with your own eyes. Once you have laid eyes on it, you will know that nothing else matters!”
Li Huowang's lips twitched as he feigned calmness. “Abbess Jingxin, about the Five Realms of Buddhism, do the other sects have some other explanations about the Immortal Realm?”
“Of course. Some of them are adamant that there’s no Five Realms of Buddhism and instead it's a big piece of land called Peng Lai. Some of them also say that no such place exists in the world. Anyway, no one side can persuade the other and I’m too lazy to debate with any of them either.”
At that moment, the Abbess fished out a mung bean cake from the folds of her skin. She was just about to eat it but stopped when she brought it near her mouth. She withheld her desires and forced it back into the folds.
“I think that’s enough explanation for today. There’s no need for you to trust my words completely. Whether the supernatural stuff is true or not, it doesn’t matter to you. If there’s nothing else, then you can leave. It’s already late and I haven’t even taken my nap. Remember to avoid the people of the Sitting Oblivion Dao as much as you can. If you do meet one of them, then you can unravel their scheme by thinking just like them and working your way backward,” said Abbess Jingxin.
After saying all that, she rolled her head backward and let out a thunderous snore.
Li Huowang stared at Abbess Jingxin with a complicated look on his face. After a while, he performed the Taoist salute he had learned back at the Zephyr Temple before leaving with the sword in his hand.
This time around, he had gained a lot and would need some time to sort things through.
——————————————
Yang Xiaohai sat on a rock as he admired Xiaoman who was practicing with the sword.
With the sound of metal screeching, Chun Xiaoman unsheathed her green sword. The edge of the sword glinted with a cold light and an invisible pressure forced Yang Xiaohai to sit slightly further back.
The sword danced in the air like a swimming dragon, flashing a silvery sheen from time to time.
While Yang Xiaohai didn’t understand the intricacies of the sword dance being performed, he knew that Senior Xiaoman was amazing.
It was only natural, since Xiaoman practiced with the sword anytime she even had a single moment of free time. She practiced day and night, and even read the manual while having her meal.
“If I was as strong as her, then no one would be able to bully me anymore.” Yang Xiaohai yearned for the day he would be able to get stronger.
“Hmph. This is nothing. If you want to become strong, then you need to learn from Senior Li.”
Hearing those words, Yang Xiaohai turned around and saw Puppy leaning against the wall with his arms folded on his chest.
Thinking about how scary Senior Li looked, Yang Xiaohai felt chills running down his spine; instantly, he shook his head vigorously. “No, I don’t want to learn that. It’s far too painful.”
Just then, Yang Xiaohai saw Chun Xiaoman stop her practice and walk toward the outside.
“Senior Xiaoman, where are you going?” asked Yang Xiaohai as he followed her.
“I’m going to the escort service. I’ve trained for so long but there’s no one here that I can spar with. I can’t improve like this,” said Xiaoman.
“Xiaoman, why do you need to find outsiders to spar with you? You can just spar with me, no need to waste your time. After all, I’ve also trained with my blade.” Puppy patted the blade on his waist.
“That doesn’t count. You’ve only learned how to perform a single slash,” refuted Xiaoman.
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