Cultivation: Being Immortal

Blue Star Xia calendar, 9,500 years, Lingqing Star

More than a hundred years ago, Xuan Fa gathered the high-ranking members of Lingqing Star’s Buddhist community to discuss how to spread the teachings of Buddhism. Some suggested that Buddhist principles should change with the times.

This idea was met with much opposition, but also with support; the opponents raised the banner of Buddha Master, declaring that Buddha Master must not be disrespectfully treated and that his words and actions should be strictly followed as the ultimate truth.

The supporters also had strong arguments, providing various examples to show that Buddhism is not unchanging. Great monks throughout history have interpreted Buddhist teachings and added their own thoughts, resulting in different versions of Buddhist scriptures with completely different meanings. Moreover, there are also true Buddhas with profound skills who have passed down scriptures, becoming part of Buddhist theory.

The supporters and opponents argued continuously, almost coming to blows, until Xuan Fa and others intervened, resulting in an unhappy conclusion to the debate.

However, this meeting left a deep impact; those high monks who supported reforming Buddhist theory were greatly disappointed in Xuan Fa and others. They felt that the situation of Buddhism on Lingqing Star was dire, with enemies watching closely, and that if the Buddhist community could not even organize itself internally, how could they resist a major enemy attack? Would they have to seek help from other Star Domains?

Disappointed in Xuan Fa and others, these individuals ultimately decided to take action themselves.

Disguised as ordinary people, they entered the lower levels of society to conduct research on Lingqing Star’s community.

After conducting thorough research, they became very familiar with the situation of ordinary people, low-level cultivators, and mid-level cultivators. At this moment, Lingqing Star was no longer the same as when they first occupied it. Most cultivators who received blessings from Blue Star either died in battle or became enlightened. The new generation of cultivators no longer had a strong impression of Blue Star, and it even became more of a legend.

The social class on Lingqing Star is now very practical. They only think about living a good life and do not care about who is above them. As a result, the initial resistance when they occupied Lingqing Star has mostly disappeared in recent years.

Based on many findings from the investigation, these high-ranking monks took various measures. They introduced a new group called the lay disciples, showing great tolerance towards this group. They do not need to sincerely follow Buddha; they just must not oppose the Buddha and can chant Buddha’s name verbally.

At the same time, they started to reform the local governments. They strongly supported officials who were willing to accept the idea of lay disciples, while those opposed were dismissed or dealt with secretly.

This was their first step. Once they dealt with the upper-level government, they required the government to remove any negative information about Buddhism from cultural promotions and textbooks and to add content that promoted Buddhism.

They also encouraged their disciples to actively participate in charitable activities, like building bridges and roads or helping the elderly and weak, all in the name of Buddhism. They updated Buddhist teachings, keeping up with the times, saying what the public liked to hear.

The most important thing is that they prohibited Buddhist disciples from interfering in worldly affairs, respecting professionalism and expertise. They had a good understanding of the secular world and knew that managing society was a specialized task, not something just anyone could do.

After completing this series of reforms, Buddhism became separate from the secular world. Without directly managing ordinary people, negative news naturally decreased. It’s like urban management; it is often hated because they are frontline managers and can easily be seen in a negative light.

As time went on, the positive image of Buddhism surpassed the negative image. Their efforts to spread teachings became much easier, especially with strong support from the government. Although they could not return to the previous situation on Lingqing Star where everyone believed in Buddha, around seventy to eighty percent still did, and very few genuinely resisted.

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The changes made by the open-minded Buddhist cultivators achieved great success, but they made the conservative Buddhist cultivators very angry, especially with the revisions to Buddhist teachings, which they found completely unacceptable.

No matter the outcome, they would not accept it. In their view, the Buddhist community must never compromise with the secular world. If it were Heavenly Court, that would be different, as Heavenly Court is a major power, and the Heavenly Emperor is as strong as a Buddha Master, so they respect the powerful, but for mere mortals and low-level cultivators, they are meaningless.

The conservative Buddhist cultivators also took their own measures. Lingqing Star was not short of cultivators who joined the Buddhist community for survival and wealth. The conservative Buddhist cultivators promoted these people and replaced the original officials. Those who did not obey faced countless injuries and deaths.

They even stopped debating with mortals and low-level cultivators, directly removing these individuals, and forcibly issued many decrees. For example, mortals had to visit nearby temples regularly to worship, took money from the government to build many temples, and required schools for mortals to add classes on Buddhism while banning all other teachings.

After a series of policies, the mortals and low-level cultivators within the conservative Buddhist influence felt great resentment. Wherever there is oppression, there will be resistance.

When Liang Long left, he took nearly a million people from Lingqing Star, all of whom were elite, yet the remaining industries and technologies should not be underestimated. Those mortals began to militarize industrial skills and launched attacks against the Buddhist community, reviving a long-silent struggle.

Their resistance was met with a strong crackdown from the Buddhist community. After all, the remaining technology was extremely outdated compared to Blue Star; they could not build Space Battleships or robots like Gundams, leading to the failure of their resistance.

However, the Buddhist community also suffered a bitter victory. The losses of low-level Buddhist cultivators were immense, but more importantly, the image of the Buddhist community shattered. Many mortals and cultivators within their ranks fled; they could not escape Lingqing Star but could seek refuge in the territories of the open-minded Buddhist cultivators.

This action sparked the conflict between open-minded Buddhist cultivators and conservative Buddhist cultivators. The Buddhist community is not a solid one. Although they all follow the Buddha Master, their different understandings of Buddhism have led to many factions. The Buddha Master does not intervene in these issues, as long as they all respect him.

Now there is another conflict. The true Buddha who has taken control of Lingqing Star also does not interfere because it does not touch the bottom line of Buddhism. Even the true Buddha mostly supports the open-minded Buddhist cultivators at this time because their reforms are genuinely useful, and their followers are indeed increasing rapidly.

However, the conservative Buddhist cultivators do not care about all that. First, they criticized the open-minded Buddhist cultivators, and then they sent people into the territory of the open-minded cultivators to capture some fugitives. Their conflicts continue to escalate.

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Blue Star, Huaxia

News from Lingqing Star kept coming back, and Lin Jiang found it interesting.

"The intelligence line people have worked hard."

Lin Jiang said, "There are still many spies I left in Lingqing Star, and even the reforms of the open-minded Buddhist cultivators have my hidden support, aiming to ignite the conflict within Buddhism."

"Are you planning to take action against Lingqing Star?"

"Yes, I am prepared to give Lingqing Star to Lin Ying. She has gone through many years since her breakthrough."

Lin Jiang said that Lin Ying’s talent is not remarkable, and he has used countless treasures to elevate her to Transmigration Stage, and it has already been many years.

"Lin Ying, what about yourself?"

"I am not in a hurry; there are plenty of life planets."

Lin Jiang said calmly that he could live longer than immortals, so whether or not he undergoes tribulations does not mean much. In future battles, he may not need to step in; Cao Ying can handle it too. He is also willing to enjoy the benefits.

"When do we take action?"

"Not yet; we will observe slowly. We must wait until the Buddhist teachings reach a high level before deciding, and it’s best to take these things to other worlds of Buddhist cultivators. I haven’t worked out the details yet."

Lin Jiang said that solving the Lingqing Star issue is very simple. With their current strength, Xuan Fa and the others can’t stop them. Even against true Buddha-level opponents, they can find help. Lin Jiang’s goal is to expand this problem to involve the entire Buddhist cultivator world.

Lin Jiang hasn’t figured out how to operate this yet; schemes and plots can be very exhausting.