Immortal and Martial Dual Cultivation

Chapter 1490 (Raw 1470): Hell is Not Empty

Supreme Sky Sect, Tianwu Domain:

Xiao Chen, Mo Chen, and Ying Zongtian sat casually in an open-air pavilion on a mountain, analyzing the matters regarding the Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva.

”I know about this Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva. There are ancient legends about him, a bodhisattva hidden in the depths of hell with extremely horrifying strength. However, that bodhisattva never left hell and did not interfere in the matters of the outside world; hence, very few people have heard of him.”

Ying Zongtian put down his teacup and continued, ”Furthermore, the Azure Emperor killed him ten thousand years ago. As a result, people no longer care about the matters of this bodhisattva.”

Mo Chen had read many ancient texts about the Buddhist sect previously. She added, ”During the Immortal Epoch, the Buddhist sects flourished. They were not much weaker than the Immortal Court. In Buddhist Cultivation, a bodhisattva is only one level lower than a Buddha, just one step away from it.”

Xiao Chen asked interestedly, ”What step?”

”A great ambition. If a bodhisattva wants to become a Buddha, they need to recite the Mahayana Scripture and announce a great ambition. After they complete it, they can attain the Dao and become a Buddha.”

When Xiao Chen heard this, he was stunned. He felt confused. ”That simple? Then if a bodhisattva purposely made their great ambition very simple, wouldn’t they be able to become a Buddha easily?”

Mo Chen smiled faintly and replied, ”You can say that, but no one would do that. The difficulty of the great ambition directly affects one’s strength after achieving Buddhahood.

”Ordinary great ambitions were known as minor great ambitions. The more difficult ones were major great ambitions. The bodhisattvas would choose the difficulty of their great ambition using their wisdom and enlightenment.

”Ordinary bodhisattvas would normally choose minor great ambitions. Those further along in wisdom and enlightenment would challenge major great ambitions. The most famous example is the Amitabha Buddha, who made forty-eight major ambitions. He was undoubtedly the strongest person in the ancient Buddhist sect.”

Clearly, this was the first time Ying Zongtian heard this explanation. He asked interestedly, ”How is this connected to the Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva?”

Mo Chen smiled and said seriously, ”It is very relevant. The Buddhist sects explain great ambition as being enlightened and seeing the true nature of things, taking pity on all living things, hence, making a wish to save the masses with a sincere heart without selfish desires.

”However, this is just the Buddhist sect’s explanation. From the viewpoint of us outsiders, it is not that profound. The so-called great ambition should be some kind of power of wishes. By making a wish to the world, the greater the wish, the more they would receive from the world and the stronger they would become.

”If one were not enlightened or wise enough, they would not be able to accomplish the wish. Then, they would stagnate and experience a bottleneck in their cultivation.”

Ying Zongtian laughed loudly and said, ”In a land where Buddhist sects flourish, your explanation would definitely be considered heretical. However, I feel that it makes sense. It is just like the Deity Race’s power of faith. However, the Buddhist sect’s power of wishes is more mysterious.”

Mo Chen smiled and nodded. ”According to ancient texts, the Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva was considerably wise and far along in his enlightenment. Even as a bodhisattva, he could defeat many Buddhas. When he was preparing to become a Buddha, he encountered a great tribulation of the world. The Immortal Epoch was destroyed, and the Buddhist Realm was implicated. Countless Buddhas fell as well.

”The Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva saw the state of the ancient Buddhist sect and immediately changed his major great ambition. He swore not to become a Buddha if hell was not empty!”

He swore not to become a Buddha if hell was not empty. 

Xiao Chen repeated these words in a murmur, entering deep thought. It seemed like he figured something out.

Mo Chen continued analyzing, voicing her opinion.

”The difficulty of this great ambition could rival the forty-eight great ambitions of the Amitabha Buddha back then. Once he succeeded, his strength would be beyond measure, very possibly becoming the Lord Buddha of the new world!”

Given this, it looked like the Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva was very ambitious. His objective was to become the Lord Buddha of the true great world outside the abandoned land.

When the ancient Buddhist sect was destroyed, the Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva entered hell and made such a great ambition, truly decisive.

Mo Chen continued, ”It is actually not difficult to explain why the Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva is after the sins of Big Brother Xiao Chen. It can be explained with the words ’Hell is not empty.’”

A stroke of inspiration flashed in Xiao Chen’s mind, an expression of enlightenment brightening his face. With Mo Chen’s reasoning, some of his questions were cleared up, completely unraveled.

Xiao Chen said, ”I figured it out. The sins on me were left by the Azure Emperor. Back then, the Azure Emperor also had a Cultivation Technique that absorbed and refined sin. He must have gone to hell before and taken some of the sins that were originally there.”

When speaking of the place with the most sins, it would naturally be hell. Since the Azure Emperor cultivated the Good and Evil Beneficence Art, he had to have gone to hell before.

The Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva apparently had some old grudges with the Azure Emperor.

The Azure Emperor was also extremely familiar with hell.

Back then, the Azure Emperor took away a large amount of sin from hell. However, the Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva’s great ambition was that if hell was not empty, he would not become a Buddha.

The Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva needed to purify all the sins of hell before he could become a Buddha. However, a large portion of hell’s sins was with the Azure Emperor.

Even if the Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva finished purifying everything, he still would not become a Buddha. He needed to purify the sins on the Azure Emperor as well.

The bloody Emperor’s Road from back then might have been due to the Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva trying to force out all the sins from Xiao Chen.

Hearing what Xiao Chen said, Mo Chen smiled faintly and stopped speaking.

However, this was a huge eye-opener for Ying Zongtian. He gasped in amazement and praised Mo Chen. ”I have long heard that Miss Mo is very intelligent, skilled in the zither, calligraphy, painting, medicine, astrology, and many other fields. Today, I finally see it for myself.”

Without vast knowledge, another person would not be able to figure out the whole picture of what was going on with the Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva nor state the information in an organized fashion.

Ying Zongtian was truly in awe at what Mo Chen said, not just being polite.

”Many thanks, Senior, for your praise.”

Mo Chen was very happy to obtain the praise of a Prime. She smiled lightly and expressed her appreciation.

However, she was even happier to have helped Xiao Chen solve this puzzle.

Xiao Chen said sullenly, ”We absolutely cannot let him advance to Buddhahood. Otherwise, given his character, it will not end well for us.”

Xiao Chen could not be bothered with the matters of the Buddhist Realm. However, the existence of the Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva was a threat to his own existence, so he had no choice but to care.

Ying Zongtian sighed softly and said, ”Right now, the Kunlun Realm is in the midst of a storm. Before us is the Demonic Calamity, which could arrive at any moment. Behind, there are ambitious people like the Heaven Abandoning Deity Sovereign. Now, there is another Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, who is eyeing us like prey.

”After the Thunder Sovereign left, this world turned chaotic everywhere. It looks like the Kunlun Realm will not be able to avoid this tribulation.”

Xiao Chen’s heart sank. ”Big Brother Ying, is the Demonic Calamity really that severe?”

Ying Zongtian’s expression turned grave. Then, he showed a helpless, bitter smile and replied, ”It is really severe. Just the eighteen Demon Monarchs are already a headache to deal with. The even stronger Dark Church has not appeared yet. It is really hard to be optimistic about the situation.

”Even if we gather all of the Kunlun Realm, our hopes of victory are extremely slim. Furthermore, now, with us all scattered and divided…”

The situation did not look good. No wonder the Myriad-Law Fiend Master spoke so gravely about it three months ago.

”Is there no way to resolve the situation?” Mo Chen asked worriedly.

Ying Zongtian heavily set the teacup down on the table. Then, he eyed Xiao Chen and replied, ”Of course, there is. As long as someone becomes as strong as or surpasses the Thunder Sovereign and unifies the Kunlun Realm, it is possible. That person will have to be like the Azure Emperor back then, fighting hard to save a desperate crisis and able to fight eighteen Demon Monarchs alone!

”Little Brother Xiao Chen, I have faith in you. You have never let me down. This is the last time. I’m sure that you will not disappoint me.”

Xiao Chen showed a rare serious expression. He put down the teacup that he had raised to his lips and said, ”Without Big Brother Ying caring for me in secret, I would have died many times over already. Although I do not share the same deep feelings as Big Brother Ying, I am still a person who knows how to be grateful. I will definitely do everything I can to protect the Kunlun Realm.”

With a heroic feeling burgeoning in his heart, Ying Zongtian laughed, ”You are still the same as before, humble. That’s right. We cultivators only seek to be at peace with ourselves. Even if we die fighting, we just have to do our best!

”At the Dragon’s Gate’s banquet in two days, I’ll send you a big gift!”

”You are very welcome to our banquet,” Xiao Chen replied without much thought. Naturally, it would be for the best if Ying Zongtian could come.

Following that, Ying Zongtian asked about the Dao. Xiao Chen shared everything he knew, moving the Supreme Sky Prime.

Before Xiao Chen left, he asked Ying Zongtian to keep an eye on and protect the sins at the bloody graveyard. In the future, when he was stronger, he would come back and eliminate them.

Ying Zongtian knew how important this matter was and that he was duty-bound to do this, so he did not hesitate to agree.