The Sword Awakens the Five Elements Chapter 117: All Forms, All Laws
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On another Buddhist mountain, a Gate of Cause and Effect stood atop Mount Jilian.
Clear spring water passed beneath the Bridge to the Other Shore and flowed quietly down toward the foot of the mountain.
While warning the faithful to remain vigilant, it also nourished all living things.
The summit of Mount Putuo was flatter than that of Mount Jilian.
Apart from the vegetation that appeared somewhat withered in winter, there was not the slightest trace of human activity.
Su Ye had traveled through several cities of the Great Qian, experienced the rises and falls of fortune, and tasted both the warmth and coldness of human hearts. He was no longer the boy who hid beneath his grandfather’s protection.
Looking over the summit, he immediately considered how he might locate the concealed meditation chamber.
He sat cross-legged where he stood, emptied the distracting thoughts from his sea of consciousness, and silently recited the Heart Sutra of Prajna Paramita, taught to him by Master Kongguan and inherited through a thousand years of Buddhist tradition.
Golden Buddhist power, like drifting dust, slowly spiraled outward from Su Ye across the vast mountaintop.
Before long, it gathered into a mist of Buddhist light resembling clouds.
A spatial gate condensed into existence through the Buddhist power.
Su Ye walked to the gate and stepped inside.
The sensation of warm water soaking through him spread from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet.
The space sealed by immense Buddhist power slowly unfolded like a scroll.
He found himself inside a mountain cavern. The walls seemed to be covered with thousands upon thousands of fireflies, emitting a soft and lustrous radiance.
There appeared to be only a few murals on the cavern walls, yet with every step he took, they seemed to come alive and change their forms.
Suppressing his astonishment, Su Ye moved slowly through the meditation cavern, studying the murals around him.
They were not the work of Qian Daoqing, the Sage of Painting, nor were they authentic pieces by court painters.
Then who had created them?
The question arose in his heart and slowly spread through his sea of consciousness.
Ripples stirred, yet the answer resembled a moon hidden beneath the water, impossible to reach no matter how far one stretched a hand.
The eminent monks in the murals wore many expressions: some frowned sternly, some glared in anger, some radiated compassion, and some embodied wisdom...
The words of the Diamond Sutra drifted through his sea of consciousness in the form of chanting monks.
They intertwined with the thoughts arising in Su Ye’s heart, transforming within the infinite space into exceedingly indistinct images.
Alone in the secluded cavern, he had no one to resolve his doubts.
Ever since he had embarked upon the path to immortality, aside from the techniques he had shamelessly learned from others, every other ability he possessed had arisen through insight and growth upon an existing foundation.
His obsession with souls had given rise to Compassionate Soul Guidance and Crossing, as well as the Ten Directions Dream Realm.
Based on the records of weather and geography contained in the Arts of Wonder and Escape, he had extended his understanding into the natural world and created the Divine Kingdom Refinement, through which the forces of nature could be harnessed at his command.
The secret Buddhist methods taught by Master Jingyue, together with his own insights, were slowly converging into form.
Yet they remained like the moon reflected in water.
Visible, but impossible to touch.
Su Ye sat cross-legged and attempted to break through the final barrier by entering deep meditation.
But the waves surging within his sea of consciousness, together with the echoing recitation of the Diamond Sutra in his ears, prevented his mind from becoming still.
He could only rise and pace slowly through the cavern once more.
The eminent monks within the murals seemed to have many things they wished to tell him.
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Was it merely an illusion caused by shifting light?
Su Ye walked to the cavern wall and reached out to touch the “glowworms” clinging to its surface, thinking he might feel something tangible.
The Buddhist radiance, like smoke, drifted slowly in every direction beneath the caress of a gentle breeze.
Where his fingers touched, a brief darkness appeared.
What his eyes saw overturned the notion that tiny insects were crawling across the wall.
Buddhist power...
The question of who had created these murals, whose origins were impossible to explain, now seemed to have an answer.
Su Ye retreated to the center of the cavern and looked up at the murals surrounding him. He discovered that not one of the eminent monks was repeated.
Continuing around the cavern, he saw even more monks he had never encountered before.
The instant the Great Buddha of Jilian appeared, it filled the entire cavern.
It sat cross-legged upon a lotus throne, its right hand pressed palm to palm and its left hand forming a lotus seal.
Its eyes were wide open, yet revealed neither joy nor anger, sorrow nor delight.
Su Ye continued forward, but the image of the Great Buddha of Jilian did not disappear.
He raised his head toward its eyes and saw compassion for all living beings.
After taking two more steps, he looked again and perceived sorrow mingled with joy.
He moved onward.
The Great Buddha of Jilian now gazed at Su Ye with delight in its eyes.
“Formlessness... the forms of all beings...”
At that moment, the Great Buddha of Jilian in the mural possessed the forms of all beings.
From different angles, it revealed entirely different emotions.
The moon in the water seemed to have risen several feet closer to the surface.
Just a little more...
What was still missing?
Su Ye continued forward, seeing only more of the Great Buddha of Jilian’s emotions.
No new mural appeared.
When Su Ye had once been on Mount Jilian, he had silently prayed to the Great Buddha of Jilian, whose majesty towered like a mountain, asking it to protect his grandfather in the afterlife.
It was from that moment onward that he had gradually awakened his talent for soul-binding.
“Forefather Jilian, if You show compassion for all living beings, I beg You to offer this disciple a little guidance... Grant me greater strength, so that I may face the crises unfolding now and those that will come in the future.”
Su Ye’s voice echoed through the silent cavern.
It was like a chant from beyond the mortal world, carrying an immense force of Buddhism.
That power did not come from within him.
Su Ye felt the Great Buddha of Jilian’s favor.
At the same time, he found the answer to the question of who had created the murals in the meditation cavern.
Every mural had been formed from the Buddhist power left behind by eminent monks who had once meditated here.
Having heard Su Ye’s devout summons, they answered his words in the form of echoes.
After completing his circuit, he returned to the center of the cavern and sat down.
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A voice from the distant reaches of the river of time slowly echoed through his sea of consciousness.
The Buddhist chants were majestic, yet differed from the voices of mortals.
Some were clear and pure, some deep and resonant, and some carried an undertone of compassion.
The scriptures being recited included the Diamond Sutra, the Guanyin Sutra, and the Profound Dharma Sutra of Jilian.
Buddhist classics from ancient times to the present resounded through his sea of consciousness in rapid succession.
Some had arisen in the primordial age and been passed down to this day.
Others had been created by later generations, gathering the wisdom of ancient sages while incorporating the enlightenment gained through the trials of their own era.
Ancient methods could be applied in the present, while the methods of the present could lead toward the future.
The seasons changed and alternated; throughout the ages, no single law had remained eternal.
The six-syllable mantra appeared one character at a time in ancient seal script, lighting up within his sea of consciousness before twisting and transforming into Sanskrit forms.
In an instant, a blazing sun seemed to rise within his mind.
Brilliant golden light illuminated everything, making it impossible to see either the world before his eyes or the depths of his heart.
When he finally recovered his senses, the magnificent scene before him left him speechless with shock.
A Dharma body formed from gathered golden light sat cross-legged above the clouds.
Farther away, in the vast heights of heaven, countless gods and Buddhas surrounded it, watching the successor who had called out to them with emotions of every kind.
The dazzling radiance came from the Buddhist halos behind their heads and necks.
“Gods and Buddhas filling the heavens, saints of every age—are you willing to bestow boundless power and protect all living beings beneath the sky?”
With the blessing of the six-syllable mantra, Su Ye’s voice easily resounded across the heavens.
The gods and Buddhas filling the sky did not respond.
“This junior, Su Ye, earnestly beseeches all of you ancient sages to protect all living beings with supreme divine powers.”
Su Ye raised his head and shouted toward the heavens.
Still, no one answered.
Su Ye rose to his feet. His gaze suddenly grew resolute, and he declared in a ringing voice:
“This junior, Su Ye, is willing to devote the strength of his entire life to protecting all living beings.
Gods and Buddhas filling the heavens, ancient saints and sages! Hear my command—reveal your sacred might!”
His magnificent words reverberated through the cavern.
The response of the gods and Buddhas was more majestic than mountains and more tranquil than an abyss.
The Buddhist light clinging to the cavern walls and the murals engraved upon the stone transformed into immense Buddhist power, surging into Su Ye’s sea of consciousness like countless rivers pouring into the sea.
He did not need to trouble himself searching for the name of a technique.
Four ancient seal-script characters containing boundless power drifted through his sea of consciousness.
All Forms, Myriad Dharmas.
Infinite Power.
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