Chapter 842 - Five Worlds of Buddhism

“The five worlds of Buddhism.” Li Huowang remembered having heard the term before. It wasn’t just the monks of the Righteous Monastery who had mentioned it—even Abbess Jingxin had told him about it before.

Back then, he didn’t couldn’t even deal with Dan Yangzi. His life had been in danger, so he hadn’t given any thought to it.

He had also interacted with the other sects and realized that each sect’s worldview contradicted the others, so he completely ignored the concept of the five worlds of Buddhism.

“No, wait, you are wrong!” Li Huowang’s words made Chan Du speechless. He wasn't sure about how to continue the conversation, as it was something supposed to be common knowledge. Chan Du hadn’t expected such an intense reaction from Li Huowang.

“No... you’re wrong...” Li Huowang’s pupils trembled as he paced around the area.

Li Huowang combined his experience to figure out what the five worlds were.

“It’s not five worlds—it’s five different histories! They all lead down to a different future!” Li Huowang revealed what he thought.

The Liang Kingdom had been formed after the Qi Kingdom fell a thousand years ago, while the Qi Kingdom maintained itself as if it didn’t fall a thousand years ago!

Li Huowang followed the same thought process to determine the three remaining histories and what had gone wrong in the past.

The people were still the same, but the world had split into five different possibilities, and all five histories existed simultaneously. This was only possible in this crazy world.

“Wait, Benefactor Li, you have to listen to me.” Chan Du naturally disagreed with what Li Huowang said. He had to correct him, or all the years he dedicated to memorizing the scriptures would be meaningless.

“Benefactor Li, the five worlds of Buddhism existed since ancient times, not as you said. According to the Yiqiejing Yinyi, Vairocana Buddha, the Tathagata of the world, is described as 'Vairocana,' where 'Vai' means 'pervade' and 'rocana' means 'illuminating.' This means that the Buddha, through his body and wisdom, is unobstructed in his radiant light, illuminating and pervading the entire Dharma realm without obstruction.

“The term 'pervade' refers to the universal coverage of the Dharma realm, while 'light' indicates the unobstructed nature of dependent origination, shining away the darkness of ignorance...”

Li Huowang abruptly grabbed Chan Du’s collar. “Shut up! I’m not here to listen to you preach. This isn’t important right now. What’s more important is to figure out which history is trying to kill us and why!”

He let go of Chan Du’s robes and scratched his scalp anxiously. Li Huowang paced around before laughing. “Hahaha! Gao Zhijian was not the culprit! He didn’t want to kill me!”

Li Huowang’s heart sank.

Gao Zhijian might’ve changed, but perhaps I didn’t change much.

He was still the same Gao Zhijian who had previously traveled with him!

Once Li Huowang knew that Gao Zhijian was not the culprit, he felt like everything had suddenly become uncertain.

Since there were five histories, his suspicions of Gao Zhijian were naturally the lowest.

Sui Sui is still watching him. She would've let me know if he were trying to do anything.

However, Li Huowang was still confused.

Who’s trying to kill me, then?

If there were three other histories, who would be the culprit? Li Huowang had only just learned about the other three, so he couldn’t have offended anyone from there.

Who’s trying to harm me for no reason? Did I accidentally make them my enemy while escaping the Zephyr Temple?

Li Huowang didn’t have the answers and looked at Chan Du. “Abbot, why do you think they are attacking us?”

Chan Du frowned and turned the prayer beads in his hands before shaking his head. “I do not know. In Buddhist teachings, the Five Dhyani Buddhas are considered the Primordial Buddha of Dharma Nature. The term 'Primordial Buddha' refers to the essence of the mind. Aksobhya, Vajrapani, and Vajrasattva represent the three manifestations of the Tathagata Garbha, which are essentially the mind manifested as three bodies...”

Li Huowang sighed. “And who’s asking you about that?”

Li Huowang had to figure it out himself since the Abbot didn’t know either. He suspected Bei Feng’s superior.

𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Shai Zi had once said that to defeat Doulao, he had cleaned up all of the Sitting Oblivion Dao in the Liang Kingdom. In a sense, he was correct. The Sitting Oblivion Dao of the Liang Kingdom had been destroyed, but Bei Feng survived. She escaped to another history to avoid Shai Zi.

Is she tricking people from other countries to kill me?

Li Huowang considered the possibility, although it seemed a bit unrealistic.

He had never heard of masterminds who risked their lives by running to the front lines.

The members of the Sitting Oblivion Dao weren’t idiots—they would trick others into making risky moves instead. The Sitting Oblivion Dao also didn’t usually go to the front lines.

They might do so if it was to trick others, but they would never do it just for the sake of fighting.

There must be someone else behind Bei Feng. Whether they are forcing or collaborating with her, they are ultimately using Bei Feng’s unique powers.

“Benefactor Li, have you fought with other Twisted Ones?” Chan Du tentatively asked.

“Hm?” Li Huowang frowned. “What do you mean?”

Chan Du looked at the spine sword on Li Huowang’s back. “The five worlds have always been independent, without intertwining connections. Aside from the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, the only ones who can travel freely are the Twisted Ones. The Twisted Ones are beyond the five worlds. They each hold the karma, merits, cause, and effects of the Bodhisattvas and Buddhas, placing them between two worlds. They can travel freely between the two worlds.”

“What are you talking about? I’m a Twisted One too. Why can’t I travel between two worlds? Also, I never fought any of them before. The only Twisted One I know of is Zhuge Yuan, which you are also familiar with. He was stuck between the Liang Kingdom and the Qi Kingdom. He didn’t have any connections with the other three histories.”

Chan Du nodded silently and said nothing. It appeared that it wasn’t as he had thought. After eliminating all other factors, Li Huowang finally thought of a final possibility.

“Am I obstructing them by saving the Qi Kingdom?” Li Huowang muttered.

He recalled what Gao Zhijian had said. What if it wasn’t just the Qi Kingdom that the Liang Kingdom had to contest against? What if it's a competition between all five histories? What if they sent someone to stop Li Huowang from saving the Qi Kingdom?

Li Huowang thought it was a bit far-fetched but realized it was possible.

Chan Du shook his head when Li Huowang told him about his theory. “No, Benefactor Li, the five worlds of Buddhism exist in harmony. They help each other and do not compete. The Five Dhyani Buddhas protect the five worlds. They would never let one of the worlds disappear without a trace.”

Li Huowang chuckled. “Oh? Then what happened to the Qi Kingdom when you had no food? Did one of the Five Dhyani Buddhas come down and help you?”