Chapter 860: Listen! Listen!

Jing Wuzhen alone blocked the Patrolling Envoys.

Below, Maudgalyāyana suppressed all demonic thoughtss with his Divine Ability.

Maudgalyāyana was heard chanting loudly:

"Within the Saha Great Chiliocosm, may the eighty-four thousand Vajra Dharma Protectors of all heavens gather, and spread my name!"

"Those who recite my name! Shall go forth to break enmity and subdue demonic harm."

"Those who recite my name! Shall dispel demonic obstacles and be granted peace."

"Those who recite my name! Shall, by the power of the Buddha's mantra, be rid of all poisons."

"May the power of my Divine Ability universally protect all sentient beings!"

"All chief Vajras, eliminate all evils."

"All water gods, relieve water poison."

"All Void Realm gods, relieve seasonal illnesses."

"All earth gods, relieve great earth damage illnesses."

"All fire gods, relieve fire poison."

"All wind gods, relieve paralysis."

"All Vajras of the Lotus division, attain liberation from all great Dharma gates."

"All sky-traveling Yakshas and earth-traveling Rakshasas shall break enmity, remove difficulties, and overcome all suffering and distress."

"Remove royal calamities, remove bandit calamities, remove fire calamities, remove wind calamities, remove poison calamities, remove sword and staff calamities, remove all weapon calamities, remove famine calamities, remove lightning calamities, remove all major and minor unexpected calamities, remove dangerous and difficult calamities, remove unnatural death calamities; by the power of the Buddha's mantra, remove all gold and silver poisons."

"Subdue, avert disaster, summon, and increase."

"Break all darkness, break all karmic enmity, break all disasters, break all grievances, break all unnatural deaths!"

"Subdue all great difficulties, subdue all distress, subdue all evil paths, subdue all bitter fortunes!"

"With body prostrating, mouth repenting, and heart remorseful, I confess my three Karmas, seeking the Buddha's endorsement, that all my actions may be accomplished and Bodhi attained to Perfection."

"This is the Buddha's decree, relying on the Tathagata's power, listen carefully, all of you, those who recite my name shall receive my protection!"

As Maudgalyāyana chanted, countless Vajras, spirits, powerful Vajra God Kings of various divisions, divine generals, their retinues, and celestial beings from the Great Chiliocosm, sky-traveling Yakshas, earth-traveling Rakshasas, and even Asura, each wielding weapons, descended from the heavens.

The Great Brahma Kings, the Immeasurable Light Heavens, the Five Non-Returning Heavens, the Mahesvara Heavens, and the Good View Heavens.

Billions of sentient beings from the six realms descended, obeying Maudgalyāyana's words, spreading them everywhere.

In City of Dreams, on every level, there was a celestial being shrouded in radiant light, some were sky-traveling Yakshas, some were powerful Vajras, some were Asura, some were celestial beings from the Great Brahma Heavens; they constantly moved, constantly shouted, constantly spread the name 'Maudgalyāyana'.

This was the meaning of the Buddha's mantra that had just been recited.

"Within the Saha Great Chiliocosm, may the eighty-four thousand Vajra Dharma Protectors of all heavens gather, and spread my name!"

He summoned the eighty-four thousand Vajras from all heavens, and then had these Vajras find others to spread the name 'Maudgalyāyana'.

Then, in this area—"Listen carefully, all of you, those who recite my name shall receive my protection."

Anyone who heard this passage, as long as they continuously recited the name 'Maudgalyāyana', would receive protection!

The Vajras continuously spread the name.

More and more people heard it.

Perhaps it was a desperate measure, or perhaps treating a dead horse as if it were alive, but in any case, more and more people began to loudly chant "Maudgalyāyana" repeatedly.

Consequently, Maudgalyāyana's illusory image began to appear everywhere.

Crimson light swirled, purple light clustered, white light rotated, and flames illuminated thousands.

Originally, under the intrusion of demonic thoughtss, countless sentient beings sought life and death, but found neither, either wandering dangerous paths or suffering from nightmares, as days, months, and years passed, they became emaciated and sickly, crying out in pain in their sleep, miserable and unhappy.

All sentient beings, whether in dreams or in sleep, saw demonic thoughtss and various forms, some grieving, some weeping, some sorrowful, some sighing, some fearful, some terrified, none could die peacefully.

This was truly... a great torment.

The exhaustion of overtime, the pain of being reprimanded by a superior.

Everywhere was inhuman indifference and stony-hearted self-interest.

No consideration was given to the health and convenience of residents; everyone's sole thought was to earn as much money as possible, to outcompete others, for no matter how bad a shack, there would always be poor people who couldn't afford a better house to rent.

It was still a dog-eat-dog world, still that cruel competition.

It seemed that from a certain day, these people's pressure wasn't that great; they could generally survive, and if they persevered, they could still obtain new cultivation methods, which would then benefit others, and perhaps they could even succeed, leave this place, and achieve great things in the Void Realm.

However, they were abnormally numb and tired, doing uncreative, purely mechanical labor, repeating their day-to-day work; their bodies might not have any major problems, but their steps were bound by poverty, and they stagnated in ignorance and numbness.

Various 'systems' dominated administration, medical care, education, and even religion; they would continue to be 'numb' until both their bodies and minds collapsed.

Or... give up.

Stop chasing dreams, just have fun. Live for today, one day at a time. If you can work one day and play three, you won't play two. Live in a muddled, ignorant, and unaware state, feeling no confusion or sorrow about the future, and not worrying about any future problems.

In this City of Dreams, "life is short, enjoy it while you can"; they lived a "carefree and happy" life every day, getting drunk today if there's wine, and worrying about tomorrow's troubles tomorrow.

It was precisely because of this that there were so many incidents and tragedies.

Everyone in the city was equally numb and indifferent, equally enveloped in deep suffering.

The demonic thoughtss here were so heavy; in such an environment, how could demonic thoughtss not be heavy?

Behind this, the Demonic Dao was in control; they used various methods, competition, and everything they could use to turn the southernmost part of the world into this state.

And now, after all of this erupted—

"Although it might sound arrogant to say this, but... I am late, from now on, leave it to me." Maudgalyāyana, who was continuously reciting the Buddha's mantra, said so.

Maudgalyāyana had actually wanted to come much earlier.

However, he eventually realized that his ability was insufficient to solve the problems of the entire City of Dreams, so he had put it off until today.

However, he had actually been doing other work. Maudgalyāyana, with his Divine Ability, had been continuously fighting the Demonic Dao in the Void Realm, transforming many such cities in the Universe.

His next target happened to be City of Dreams in this world.

It was precisely because of this that when he heard Li Qi had a solution, and with Sariputra's introduction, he unhesitatingly joined Li Qi, wanting to at least change this city; even if it couldn't be destroyed, at least the outcome would be good.

Although he hadn't come before, he was here now.

In City of Dreams, more and more Mortals began to recite the name 'Maudgalyāyana'.

Maudgalyāyana's Divine Ability also spread to them, dispelling their demonic thoughtss, protecting them from Demonic Qi, calming their minds, and alleviating their suffering.

And he did not slacken in the slightest due to the Mortals' illusions.

Although to him, Mortals were also illusory, the Buddhist perspective on illusion was somewhat different.

Form is emptiness, emptiness is form. In the eyes of Buddhism, let alone these Mortals who possess substantiality, even they themselves, these so-called 'Great Powers' who possess substantiality, are actually emptiness.

When Buddhism speaks of emptiness, it means that this world is inherently illusory.

The Universe 'arises from Destiny' and will naturally 'perish when Destiny ends'; the 'formation, dwelling, decay, and emptiness' of the Universe are inherently active.

Under objective Laws, even Buddhas will die, and worlds will perish; this is all natural.

There is no doomsday judgment; what you receive is the retribution for what you have done.

Even the Buddha himself cannot change any rules of Karma or dependent origination—he merely discovered these rules and did his best to educate others with the wisdom and rules he had realized.

The essence of the world is countless dust particles or strings interacting and intertwining, forming a great net of Karma, which then gives rise to various visible phenomena, whether external matter or internal true mind, their essence is the same.

Furthermore, are these dust particles and strings eternally existent? They merely follow certain Laws, are born from the Void Realm, and will eventually dissipate into the Void Realm.

As the Universe approaches its end, even the Laws themselves will be destroyed, then replaced by a new Universe and new Laws. "All conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows" refers to this point. The various joys and sorrows, partings and reunions in this world, at their root, are they not merely the instantaneous gathering and scattering of Laws?

The so-called 'dependent origination and emptiness of nature', 'boundless space', 'dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows' inherently reveal the illusory nature of this world, but no matter how illusory this world is, the 'Law' is real.

Such is the 'Buddha-Dharma'.

So, are these Mortals the embodiment of the Buddha-Dharma?

Undoubtedly, yes.

Therefore, they are real.

Then, he should save them; this would be a new 'Destiny'.

Maudgalyāyana's Dharmakaya began to dim; his originally resplendent, jewel-like Dharmakaya was gradually being corroded by demonic thoughtss.

Bearing the demonic thoughtss of sentient beings was still too much for him.

There are two most famous Buddhist Great Powers who convert people with Divine Ability: one is Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, and the other is Amitabha.

Reciting Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva's name can liberate one from all suffering in Hell.

Reciting Amitabha's name allows one to instantly be born from a Lotus and be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss after death, free from the torment of Reincarnation.

But the prerequisite for both is 'sincerity'.

Given their Divine Abilities, they still needed to set thresholds, which shows how immense the pressure was.

Maudgalyāyana's current assistance, without any threshold, was truly overestimating himself. One must know that those two, one is Second Grade, and one is First Grade; their Great Power is far beyond what Maudgalyāyana, a Buddha's disciple, can compare to.

Of course, the areas they are responsible for are also different. Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva saves the entire 'Underworld', which is as vast as the Human Realm.

And Amitabha transcends past and present; at any time, any place, any region, as long as you recite the Buddha's name, you can receive guidance. It can be said to be endless, doing infinite things with infinite Divine Ability.

Maudgalyāyana only had to deal with the area of City of Dreams, including its associated grotto-heavens and worlds, which probably amounted to tens of millions of billions of worlds.

He could grit his teeth and endure it.

His limit of death was still far from being reached.

Jing Wuzhen and Maudgalyāyana each defended one side.

Sariputra, meanwhile, looked around.

"Ah, so that's how it is." Sariputra looked around and saw that six Demonic Lords had already appeared there.

"Four Demonic Lords, each controlling a node, guiding the demonic thoughtss below, and then the six of you come to deal with me. Aren't you afraid of the Patrolling Envoys now?" Sariputra looked at the six Demonic Lords around him.

"No, Buddha's Disciple, you're mistaken." At this moment, one of the Demonic Lords said.

Then, the next Demonic Lord continued, "We're not planning to fight you, because there's no need."

After that, yet another Demonic Lord said, "We only need to maintain a state just before battle."

Another Demonic Lord then continued, "Then, that Martial Artist must block the Patrolling Envoys, because your weakness makes you unable to accept the complete annihilation of Mortals."

The next Demonic Lord continued, "The side with hostages is at too much of a disadvantage."

Sariputra just watched them.

To be honest, their way of speaking was very peculiar; each person only said one sentence, and then the next person continued, with many people connecting their sentences to form a complete statement.

Sariputra knew this was because these Demonic Lords had already merged into one; their minds were now completely interconnected. Though they appeared as six, they were effectively just one.

"But if that's the case, you will lose terribly. With me here, the battle will never be lost. Jing Wuzhen can block the Patrolling Envoys, and Maudgalyāyana can suppress all demonic thoughtss. When Li Qi finishes suppressing the demonic thoughtss and awakens, that will be your demise." Sariputra said calmly.

"Through our early arrangements, we have already closed the gap with you. Originally, if it were a direct frontal assault, the four of you working together... no, not even four, just you and Li Qi, or you and Maudgalyāyana, two people would be enough to guarantee victory." The Demonic Lords spoke again, one sentence per person, this sentence was divided into nine segments, and it took nine turns to finish reading.

However, what was strange was that they spoke quite fluently; even with different voices, the tone and continuity still sounded as if only the timbre had changed.

"Yes, by utilizing our concern for Mortals and the special geographical location of this world, you have closed the gap, but it doesn't seem to be entirely even yet. What will you do after Li Qi awakens?" Sariputra asked.

"Li Qi awakens? It's also possible he won't wake up." The Demonic Lords said.

"How confident you are. In that case, this humble monk can also say with certainty." Sariputra changed his self-address and stepped out: "You Demonic Overlords! Regardless of victory or defeat, you will not leave this place!"

"The Patrolling Envoys have already been stopped by Benefactor Jing, so if you don't make a move, this humble monk will!"

With that, Sariputra's Dharmakaya erupted!

His Dharmakaya was solemn, radiating immense light from its entire body, illuminating hundreds of thousands of billions of Buddha Worlds as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, emitting a great sound, and from its face, various lights shone forth. Its light was dazzling, like hundreds of thousands of suns, shaking the dust-like lands in the ten directions, instantly revealing the Buddha's majestic power!

The great voice of the Dharmakaya declared: "Listen, listen carefully! All sentient beings, from beginningless time, have experienced various inversions, and their karmic seeds naturally accumulate, like a cluster of poisonous thorns. Practitioners are unable to attain unsurpassed Bodhi, or instead become Sravakas, Pratyekabuddhas, or even heretics, heavenly Demonic Kings, and their retinues!"

"All shall receive the Buddha's might, and endure the Arhat's wrathful fire!"

His Dharmakaya suddenly transformed into a wrathful Vajra, fiercely igniting a Fourth Grade great battle! (End of Chapter)