Chapter 190: Mahayana

Hearing this, Chan Zhi the Monk nodded, then asked again, “So you are a highly accomplished Disciple from Shaman God Mountain? No wonder you are so outstanding. Which lineage of Shaman God Mountain do you belong to, Benefactor?”

“Invoker, Di Qi lineage,” Li Qi replied.

Clearly, Chan Zhi was testing Li Qi.

Although he didn’t act like others who hadn’t seen the world, freezing in their tracks upon hearing the words Shaman God Mountain, it was evident that he still approached those three words with caution, not speaking disrespectfully, nor presumptuously accusing Li Qi of lying.

Facing a force on par with the Western Paradise Buddhist Kingdom, Chan Zhi also needed to maintain respect.

Upon hearing Li Qi reply with Invoker, Di Qi, Chan Zhi nodded: “I see. My origins are similar to yours. I come from under Mahakala, and my cultivation method originates from Dakini Heaven, which is roughly equivalent in status to the Di Qi lineage.”

It was Li Qi, however, who broke out in a cold sweat after hearing this.

Damn it, no wonder this demonic Monk was so ruthless, not even hesitating to use blood sacrifice!

Mahakala, even he had heard of him!

A notoriously Demonic Overlord, adorned with human bones, even his Buddha statue held a skull-made Kapala bowl filled with human blood, wore a necklace of skulls, and was bloodthirsty, terrifying, and delighted in subduing the strong.

Moreover, this backer was no weaker than his own.

As if noticing Li Qi’s face turn pale and a cold sweat break out, Chan Zhi smiled gently.

Then, with that benevolent smile, he said to Li Qi, “It seems Benefactor has heard of him, but the world misunderstands Mahakala. They think he is cruel and inhumane, but that is not the case.”

“These statements all come from the ‘Mahamayuri Vidyarajnĩ Sutra,’ which says that Mahakala resides in the ‘Cemetery,’ but in reality, he lives in Śmaśāna. ‘Cemetery’ is a derogatory term. The Mahamayuri Vidyarajnĩ Sutra says Mahakala likes human flesh and often roams at night with countless ghosts and spirits, secretly eating human blood and flesh, but this is merely a superficial appearance.”

Li Qi only felt a shiver down his spine listening.

Great Master Chan Zhi, you only said it was an appearance, but you didn’t say those things were false…

In fact, as a Invoker, Li Qi possessed the sacrificial methods for various top-tier Great Gods.

That’s why he broke out in a cold sweat upon hearing the name of Mahakala.

Because, according to the records in the book of ‘Zhu,’ sacrificing to Mahakala requires a cake made of black flour and human blood as the main offering. It must contain a mixture of five kinds of meat, including human flesh, and a skull of a child born from incest, filled with blood and mustard seeds. Additionally, a small boy’s skin is taken, human blood and human brains are placed in a bowl, human oil lamps with wicks made of hair are lit around it, and finally, the ritual concludes with a dough made of human bile, brains, blood, and internal organs.

This kind of great evil god was merely subdued by Vairocana Buddha, who is also Mahavairocana, and became a Dharma Protector god of Buddhism…

But this fellow was never a benevolent sort.

However, Chan Zhi the Monk seemed oblivious to Li Qi’s pale face and continued to explain: “Mahakala is the god of protection and combat. If he were not fierce, how could he deter evil Devils?”

Damn it, you are the biggest evil Devil! A Demonic Overlord that Mahavairocana himself had to subdue, and you have the nerve to talk about deterring others!?

Regardless of Li Qi’s internal complaints, Chan Zhi continued: “The bowl of blood in his hand is the blood of the four evil Devils: the five aggregates, afflictions, death, and heavenly demons. Wearing skulls signifies spiritual wisdom. The head is where spiritual wisdom resides, and the five skulls on his body represent the ‘Five Wisdoms.’ ”

“The reason he is fierce and cruel is to subdue and save the gradually worsening sentient beings in the Dharma-ending Age. When sentient beings have evil, a Dharma Protector god is naturally needed to deliver them.”

“Benefactor, do you know that besides Mahakala and Dakini Heaven, there is also the venerable Śrīdevī, whose saddle is also made of human skin—the skin of her own son? Because the Śrīdevī’s son refused to submit to the Monk 6th Grade Lama and was about to fall into the evil path, the Śrīdevī righteously sacrificed her kin, flaying his skin to make her seat, to show her Buddhist heart. Mahakala is merely similar.”

“It’s just that Mahakala’s scope of protection is wider. Evil sentient beings need to be punished, but good men and women, as long as they constantly serve and recite his mantra, Mahakala will protect them. Evil spirits, malevolent ghosts, mountain demons, and invisible beings cannot harm them. If evil sentient beings in the Dharma-ending Age can awaken early, they can also receive forgiveness and do not need to be punished by Mahakala.”

Li Qi’s eye twitched after listening.

Damn it, collecting protection fees!?

However, Li Qi immediately put his palms together: “So that’s how it is. Mahakala truly has a painstaking heart for sentient beings. It was my narrow-mindedness before. But who is Dakini Heaven?”

Chan Zhi immediately replied: “Under Mahakala, there are seven Mother Sky Goddesses, and also Dakini Heaven.”

“Dakini Heaven, also known as the Wisdom Sky-goer, has hundreds of millions of faces. She is the manifestation of the essence of all Buddhas, encompassing all good and evil, righteous and perverse, good and bad, and the aspects of greed, delusion, and hatred.”

“Dakini Heaven was originally a Yaksha demon. She enjoyed eating human hearts. Later, she was subdued by Mahakala through the method of subduing the three realms, causing them all to surrender to the Buddha. This is the venerable Dakini Heaven, whose original abode is the Akasagarbha Bodhisattva. She manifests as a Sky Goddess to perfect the Buddha’s Karma and universally deliver sentient beings.”

“She enjoys eating human hearts and is skilled at it, so she can observe the good and bad in the hearts of sentient beings.”

“The myriad sentient beings have hundreds of millions of forms: beauty and ugliness, good and evil, intelligence and foolishness, righteousness and perversity, good and bad, and even various wrong views and inverted minds. This mind manifests as Heaven, Hell, and the six paths of Reincarnation, yet it is also the most elusive. After Dakini Heaven returned to the Buddha, with a compassionate heart, she used this method to help sentient beings observe their inner afflictions, beauty, ugliness, good and bad, and reality and illusion. By facing the myriad forms of sentient beings with her own body, she becomes the Great Luminous Mirror, helping sentient beings to see their true self and the Tathagata within their hearts.”

“This is the origin of my predicament.”

After Chan Zhi said all this, Li Qi immediately realized that the other party was starting to get to the main point.

So he wiped away his cold sweat, sat up straight, and listened carefully to Chan Zhi’s words.

Because Li Qi had already realized that his previous guesses about the situation might have been somewhat mistaken.

He had previously thought that Chan Zhi had gone astray in his cultivation method and thus fallen into the Demonic Dao.

Now, upon seeing him, this demonic Monk was purely a person of the Demonic Dao; it was just that his demonic thoughts was currently out of balance!

If he wasn’t careful, he would end up as a Kapala bowl in his hands.

“The method of my cultivation is the Dakini Heaven method, which can observe the hearts of sentient beings. But observing the heart requires cultivating the heart first. I subdued One Hundred and Eight Demons, ate their hearts, and incorporated the demonic thoughts of the Demonic Overlord into the Buddha’s heart. This is how you see the first tier of the Five-Tiered Pagoda, the Arhat Subduing a Hundred Demons statue.”

Li Qi shrank his head.

Oh no, from his explanation, this person also has a mind-reading method…

He hoped the curses he just thought weren’t heard, right?

However, Chan Zhi seemed to pay no mind to Li Qi’s startled mental activity and continued to calmly elaborate on his predicament: “The Dakini Heaven method, by eating a person’s heart, gains all their spiritual wisdom and memories.”

Oh, he was relieved; he couldn’t read minds, he could only… wait, after eating a human heart, gain all their spiritual wisdom and memories?!

Li Qi almost fell over, but he immediately took a deep breath, forcing himself to sit steadily.

If the other party had this Divine Ability, then why would he need himself!?

Just dig out his heart and eat it, wouldn’t that be a happy ending for everyone? No need to even ask, he would immediately gain the orthodox Shaman Dao Legacy.

No, Li Qi frowned.

If that were truly the case, then this demonic Monk wouldn’t waste so much breath on him.

He would just keep listening to what he had to say for now.

Li Qi continued to listen.

Chan Zhi the Monk seemed oblivious to Li Qi’s startled mental fluctuations and continued to speak gently: “Dakini Heaven was originally a malevolent ghost Yaksha who enjoyed eating human hearts. The venerable Dakini Heaven herself is a manifestation of this great evil ghost.”

“The ‘Mahavairocana Sutra Commentary’ Volume 10 records: ‘Tujini is a retinue of Mahakala, one of the Yaksha ghosts; she possesses self-mastering Divine Ability, capable of knowing a person’s death six months in advance, then preemptively taking and eating their heart, replacing it with another substance, until the person’s destined time of death, when it finally decays; for those who cultivate this method can achieve Divine Ability and Major Achievement; Vairocana Buddha, to eliminate these beings, transformed into Mahakala through the method of subduing the three realms and subdued them, causing them all to surrender to the Buddha.’ ”

“With this origin, cultivating the Dakini Heaven method requires first entering the Demonic Dao, then achieving Buddhahood, just as Dakini Heaven was once a Yaksha demon and then subdued by Mahakala.”

“I have subdued One Hundred and Eight Demons and eaten their hearts. Now, demonic thoughts is deeply rooted, but this is the foundation of my cultivation method and cannot be discarded, only suppressed.”

“Originally, as I told you, I used the heart-hunting Divine Ability from the Dakini Heaven method to hunt the hearts of Guangyang Situ and Guangyang Sima, then ate their hearts and filled them with other substances, making them my Puppets. Through this method, I could comprehend the natural method of Shaman Dao, thus balancing Buddha and demon, and breaking through from demonic thoughts.”

As Li Qi listened to Chan Zhi the Monk recount these things, he was also calculating his own situation.

The heart-hunting Divine Ability must be what the other party just mentioned, the self-mastering Divine Ability.

In the book of spells given by Grand Invoker Teacher, there was a corresponding explanation. He flipped through it and found the relevant record.

The heart-hunting Divine Ability is a Divine Ability that can foresee another person’s death and replace their heart with a substitute for consumption.

Dakini Heaven, who likes to eat human hearts, would, after eating a heart, put in a decaying substance to replace the other person’s beating heart. The recipient usually would not notice any abnormality at all and could even live normally.

But in reality, the moment Dakini Heaven consumed their heart, that person was already no different from dead. At most, six months, or with a single thought from Dakini Heaven, that person would die immediately.

Later, this Divine Ability even evolved into other versions, just like the version Chan Zhi the Monk is using now, which should involve changing the filling substance to create one’s own Puppets.

Chan Zhi the Monk used this trick to bring Guangyang City under his demonic control.

The real Guangyang Situ and Guangyang Sima had already died long ago. Their hearts, spiritual wisdom, and memories had all been eaten by Chan Zhi the Monk.

What was currently walking in the world were merely their empty shells.

Looking at it this way, most of his conjectures were correct, except for misjudging the extent of Chan Zhi the Monk’s madness; everything else was basically spot on.

So, Chan Zhi the Monk’s ultimate goal was to shed the influence of demonic thoughts.

He himself must also achieve this to escape from here.

While Li Qi was thinking, Chan Zhi the Monk continued to speak, describing the foundation of his cultivation method and what he needed to resolve.

Clearly, he was truly prepared to let Li Qi help him with this.

Although Li Qi didn’t know why the other party didn’t choose to directly eat him but insisted on going through so much trouble, it didn’t matter.

It was a good thing he wasn’t eating him; why bother thinking so much about it? Pondering for half a day wouldn’t yield any results, so it was better to calmly accept this outcome and then make decisions based on it.

Perhaps it was because of the background of Shaman God Mountain.

Two quarters of an hour passed, and Chan Zhi the Monk finally finished explaining the foundation of his cultivation method, truly leaving nothing out.

At first, he only spoke of very ordinary things, such as his origins.

At this point, Li Qi could still remain composed.

A quarter of an hour later, he began to delve into specific cultivation methods, even including details like what kind of Qi to use and how to improve it.

By this point, Li Qi began to feel uneasy.

In two quarters of an hour, he had explained his cultivation method so thoroughly and honestly that Li Qi felt he could now find a seventh-grade expert to cooperate with, immediately devise a strategy against him, and kill this person right here.

As he spoke, Li Qi felt a chill down his spine.

This demonic Monk…

Explaining his origins so clearly.

He wouldn’t kill the donkey after it had done its job, would he?

“These are the specifics. It’s your turn, Benefactor. How do you plan to resolve my predicament? You promised me earlier on the battlefield.” Chan Zhi the Monk looked at Li Qi with a smile.

Li Qi immediately replied, “Great Master, don’t worry. I certainly had confidence when I said that. Please listen to me.”

His speaking speed was very fast, fearing that if he replied too slowly, Chan Zhi the Monk would take his head and make it into a Kapala bowl.

“This Pagoda is the manifestation of Great Master Chan Zhi’s Dao Resonance and cultivation, personally bestowed by the venerable Dakini Heaven, right?” Li Qi asked.

Chan Zhi nodded and replied, “Precisely. Master once said that when the Pagoda reaches seven tiers, it will be the time for me to enter the sixth grade. To this day, four tiers have been completed. I have used the Qi and Karma of countless households to build the framework of the fifth tier, preparing to balance Buddha and demon here. However, this fifth tier is still seventy percent empty.”

“I want to go down to the first tier to see the demonic thoughts of the hundred demons. Will it hinder the Great Master?” Li Qi asked again.

“No, Benefactor, please proceed. However, Benefactor has not yet said how you plan to do it.” Chan Zhi kindly reminded him.

“To harmonize all things, one must first understand all things. To resolve demonic thoughts, I must first see what demonic thoughts looks like,” Li Qi said.

“Then please go. I will wait for Benefactor here.” Chan Zhi nodded, put his palms together, closed his eyes, and allowed Li Qi to leave, seemingly not at all worried about him running away.

Of course, Li Qi certainly wouldn’t run away anyway.

The other party was a seventh-grade Great Master. Li Qi would be crazy to run away. Where could he run? He couldn’t escape to the ends of the earth.

He hurried downstairs to the first tier of the Five-Tiered Pagoda.

It was empty, with only One Hundred and Eight Arhats, each with a small, withered Demonic Overlord beside it, suppressed by the Arhat statue.

Li Qi took a deep breath and activated his own Dao Resonance.

The ‘True Knowledge’ Dao Resonance, whose ability could analyze all things.

This demonic thoughts was a part of Chan Zhi the Monk’s inner self.

Therefore, it was equivalent to him now touching Chan Zhi’s most vulnerable spot.

Li Qi was never one to sit idly by, even when facing a seventh-grade being like a living Buddha.