Chapter 381: True Buddhist Country

Li Qi finalized his itinerary.

Meanwhile—

—

In Boundless Outer Domain.

Within the boundless Void Realm, myriad Buddha-lights surged.

A Buddha-form, whose height was unfathomable, sat cross-legged, holding a Buddha-land in his palm, with one hand forming a mudra, a smile gracing his face.

Dozens of world clusters revolved around this colossal Buddha-form.

Each world cluster contained millions of worlds.

Yet, even with the size of these worlds compared to this Buddha-form, it was like the difference between a giant and a speck of dust.

Even at the speed of light, it would take tens of thousands of years to travel from the top of this Buddha's head to his feet.

Such a vast and magnificent Buddha-form was radiating light.

His body emanated immeasurable light, illuminating myriad worlds; in the Void Realm, the roar of lions reverberated, and numerous Bodhisattvas, Arhats, and lay practitioners struck Dharma drums, blew Dharma conchs, wielded Dharma swords, erected Dharma banners, unleashed Dharma thunder, shone Dharma lightning, showered Dharma rain, and expounded Dharma teachings, awakening all beings in the world with their Dharma sounds.

All Buddha-Dharma Divine Abilities had reached hundreds of billions of Nayuta Buddha-lands.

The light illuminated immeasurable Buddha-lands, and all worlds experienced six types of vibrations, rising and surging endlessly; worlds bathed in the Buddha-light became pure, radiant, and beautiful, with wondrous and unique forms, subtle and profound beyond measure.

Looking at the Buddha-land in his palm, the Buddha held an endless land in his hand; from the ground up to the Void Realm, palaces, pavilions, ponds, streams, and flowery trees, all things in the land, were composed of immeasurable mixed treasures and hundreds of thousands of fragrances, adorned with wondrous beauty, surpassing all heavenly beings, and their fragrance permeated the ten directions of the world.

Those dozens of world clusters, billions of worlds, were all bathed in Buddha-light, attaining pure liberation and Samadhi.

In countless worlds, countless beings, under the Buddha-light, did not give rise to thoughts of desire, anger, or harm, were not attached to form, sound, smell, taste, touch, or Dharma, attained the power of forbearance, disregarded all suffering, were content with little, free from defilement, hatred, and ignorance, their Samadhi ever tranquil, without hypocrisy or flattery.

This was a True Buddha.

A genuine True Buddha, possessing the qualities of ‘Immeasurable Light’, ‘Immeasurable Life’, and ‘Immeasurable Wisdom’.

His Buddha name was: Amitabha.

However, this True Buddha's Dharma-form did not look very ‘healthy’.

Indeed, it was so, for infinite darkness dragged at his body, and immeasurable Buddha-light was obstructed, losing its nature of ‘reaching all ten directions of the world, like a single Buddha-land’.

Within this darkness, countless Demonic Overlords sank and emerged.

Amitabha did not destroy these Demonic Overlords, for it was meaningless; no matter how many were killed, they could not be eliminated.

Because the number of Demonic Overlords here was ‘infinite’.

Literally infinite.

However, though infinite, they did not transcend the boundaries of this world, so they could still exist.

It sounds strange, but it’s actually a very simple principle.

How many numbers are there between the two integers, one and two?

Anyone who has studied a little knows the answer: there are an infinite number of digits.

1.1, 1.11, 1.111, can loop infinitely; within a finite size, an infinite quantity can also exist.

The Demonic Overlords here were the same; within the finite existence of Reality, there truly existed an infinite number of Demonic Overlords, so, to ‘slaughter’ them in a Mortal way was merely a meaningless act, a complete waste of time.

But a True Buddha has the ability to deal with ‘infinity’.

Then the Dharma-form recited a gatha: “Encompassing the Demon Realm, shaking the Demon Palaces, all demons terrified, none but submit—”

As the Buddha-sound reverberated, in the boundless Void Realm, Dharma conchs blared!

He manifested his body like lightning, shattered the demonic net, released all entanglements, tore apart the evil net, eliminated all views, transcended the Hearers, attained the Samadhi of emptiness, no-form, and no-wish; skillfully employed expedient means, displayed the three vehicles, and at the end of this transformation, manifested nirvana.

As the Buddha-sound trembled, an indescribably profound fluctuation, at a speed far exceeding the speed of light, affected countless Demonic Overlords, and in an instant, even ‘infinity’ was annihilated.

Actually, it's also a very simple principle.

If the boundless sea of demons before us is an infinity within a finite space, then where is the weakness of this infinity?

It's very simple: if there are infinite numbers between one and two, then what existence is absolutely not found among these infinite numbers?

The answer is also very clear.

It is numbers less than one or greater than two.

If it's a number less than one or greater than two, it means it transcends the infinity within this finite space; if this number is greater than two, then this 'greater than two' number is greater than every individual in this infinity within the finite space.

It's a similar principle: Amitabha performed a ‘subtraction’ using a finite quantity that transcended infinity.

It sounds simple, but all their battles were set against the backdrop of the ‘Universe’.

The Universe encompasses all time and space; there is no such thing as a multiverse for the Universe; as long as spacetime exists, that is the scope of the Universe, and what Mortals commonly know as bubble-like Universes, according to the world’s saying, should be called ‘Worlds’.

Using the Universe as a backdrop, not as a battlefield.

Zhu Fengdan and the others, fighting the infinite Demonic Overlords outside the world, used the Universe as their battlefield.

But the battles between First Grades were completely different.

They looked down upon this Universe from on high, using it as a canvas, freely creating their ‘battles’ upon it.

Such battles relied purely on logic and the ‘Dao’.

This kind of battle was not a ‘fight’ in the usual sense, but a struggle for the ‘interpretation’ of this Universe; whoever had more ‘right to interpret’ could cause greater impact.

However, in the last encounter, Amitabha had a slight edge.

But the next moment, a spherical object appeared before Amitabha.

Not before the Dharma-form, but before Amitabha’s true body, the Buddha-body sitting beneath the Bodhi Tree, dozens of light-years tall, in the center of his Buddha-land in his palm.

“Ah, you won again, and you’ve driven me out of the Reality Universe again, are you happy?” The black sphere, or rather… the Heaven Demon, said to Amitabha in a slightly amused voice.

Amitabha said nothing, ignoring the sphere; all the other Bodhisattvas and Arhats around him sat down, silently chanting mantras, and immediately, Sanskrit sounds filled the air, and invisible pressure and Buddha-light began to gather, pressing down on the Heaven Demon.

They acted directly.

As for arguing… there was no need.

In countless years past, innumerable eloquent Zen masters had debated with the Heaven Demon, but the outcome was simple.

The Heaven Demon had never lost.

Because he always had endless sophistries, and if even sophistry failed, he would resort to trickery.

Arguing with a Demonic Overlord was meaningless.

“Ah, this reaction again, how boring.” The Heaven Demon began to transform from a black sphere, gradually taking on a humanoid form.

He became a strange… humanoid entity.

Hairless, his body covered in sharp spines and angular scales, with bent, double-jointed hind legs, vine-like mist缠绕 around his body, and sharp claws on his hands.

The moment this form appeared, all those Bodhisattvas and Arhats who perceived his existence instantly felt the inherent nature of the world suddenly press into their fragile hearts at an unimaginable speed.

Intensity and sharpness, the Chaos of deep essence, a terrifying expansion!

Merely by revealing a physical form, Amitabha's followers felt immense pressure.

This was not the Heaven Demon's malice, but merely the suppression of his status.

Then, the Heavenly Demon of Enjoying Others’ Emanations said to Amitabha, “How much did you consume this time?”

Faced with this question, Amitabha suddenly spoke.

This True Buddha's Dharma-form was so vast and magnificent, yet his true body was like an ordinary person, nothing special, just an ordinary old monk.

Amitabha said, “In the Buddha-lands of the ten directions, there are countless worlds; for the Buddha-land, the consumption is but a trifle.”

“You say the consumption is trifling for the Buddha-land, but what about those people? Each time you suppress me, quite a few people must die, right? Although it’s nothing to the entire Western Heaven, aren’t their individual lives important? Is this where my Buddha’s compassion lies?” The Heaven Demon asked with a grin.

He was always good at this kind of thing.

Amitabha, however, shook his head and replied, “Their demise is for the sake of all beings.”

“For the sake of all beings? Or for your Buddhism?” The Heaven Demon curiously leaned closer, almost pressing against Amitabha as he asked.

“Is not Buddhism also one of all beings? Moreover, besides Buddhism, countless living beings would suffer your devastation,” Amitabha retorted.

“But I do not like to kill; if I were allowed to come out, countless fewer people would have died over these countless years. Everyone knows that the Heavenly Demon of Enjoying Others’ Emanations is kind and easy to talk to. I only give them choices, and I never kill anyone.” The Heaven Demon’s body shifted, and his voice also changed.

She transformed into the image of a beautiful, delicate young girl, sitting beside the Buddha.

This scene looked very harmonious.

A Bodhi Tree, an old monk, Buddha-light, scriptures, and a beautiful young girl sitting beside him, her legs exposed, her expression shy but full of curiosity.

Unfortunately, those who knew the inside story would only feel a chill down their spines.

“The choices given by the Demonic Overlord ultimately come at a price,” Amitabha said, looking at the young girl.

“I have never taken any price; the so-called price is merely the Mortals’ own internal strife,” the Heaven Demon said, shaking her little legs and pouting in dissatisfaction.

In fact, that was indeed the case.

The Heaven Demon never took any price; she didn't need those meager things. Whether it was the Mortals' reverence, their valuable possessions, or even their lives and Spirit Souls, none of it had any meaning to the Heaven Demon.

Their existence merely served to provide the Heaven Demon with a diversion from boredom; the meaning of this world's existence was also the same.

Those so-called prices, those so-called tragedies, were merely the result of the Mortals' own internal strife; the price was collected by others, and lives were taken by others. The Heaven Demon, for the most part, did not like to kill.

“The source is clear; the sacrifices made to stop you are far better than the Chaos that would ensue throughout the myriad worlds if you were released,” Amitabha said.

“Alas, truly, no matter what I say, you all have a point. So, you are right. By the way, I’m going to eat. Do you want to eat together?” The Heaven Demon yawned, lay down bored, and said.

Amitabha said nothing.

So the Heaven Demon prepared to eat by herself.

With a flick of her finger, a colossal world appeared in the Void Realm, within this Buddha-land.

Amitabha frowned slightly, but took no actual action.

Because it was meaningless.

This world rapidly occupied the current sky, but it was nowhere near enough to cover this Buddha-land in his palm, not even one percent.

But it was already magnificent enough; the edges of the world flickered in the sky, and red stars grew increasingly brilliant on the horizon.

This was a world on the brink of destruction.

Within it, countless lives were gradually fading, silently wailing, brilliant stars exploding, visible and invisible electromagnetic waves scattering in the dim space.

This lament might have begun from eternity, or perhaps it had been brewing and accumulating, waiting for a certain coincidence. In the end, the ripples of energy were smoothed, and as far as the eye could see, there was only a monotonous stack of colors.

This was the beginning and end of a world, and all of this materialized above Amitabha's Buddha-land in his palm, occupying one percent of the entire Buddha-land's sky.

A world, with billions of stars within it heading towards destruction; naturally, the living beings inside were also about to fall into death.

“See, they died on their own; it has nothing to do with me,” the Heaven Demon said easily.

The other Bodhisattvas and Arhats around showed indignant expressions, but no one came forward to stop her.

Because it was already too late; this world could no longer be saved.

This world, suspended in the sky, had long been watched by the Heaven Demon, demonized, corrupted, and set on the path of internal strife and destruction.

A Fourth Grade world, tens of thousands of light-years across, with tens of millions to hundreds of millions of star systems, and countless Mortals within… but without a doubt, all were heading towards destruction.

The Heaven Demon watched the Mortals’ self-development with great interest.

She never killed; the Mortals merely killed each other.

She merely… gave a push, said a few words.

Then, the Heaven Demon’s hand gently closed into a fist.

The small portion of this world that had been displayed rapidly shrank, becoming an existence similar to a ‘star-sphere’, suspended in the Heaven Demon’s hand.

When a world floats in the Void Realm, it is usually slightly smaller than its actual internal size, but not this small.

However, under the Heaven Demon's power, a world tens of thousands of light-years across could also be compressed into a small sphere.

Those seemingly delicate and powerless tender small hands lightly held this world between her fingertips.

Then, like eating a candy bean, she swallowed this world whole, taking a gentle bite.

With a crunch.

The incredibly thick world barrier was chewed up like the sugar coating of a candied haw.

Amitabha watched this scene and said, “What meaning does this have for you?”

“It has no meaning for me,” the Heaven Demon said.

Indeed, it was meaningless; eating ten more would just be a taste.

“However… it has great meaning for him,” the Heaven Demon said, as a figure composed purely of Demonic Qi appeared beside her.

It looked very much like… Li Qi.