Da Xuan Martial Saint

Chapter 1077: Chapter 532: Gaining the True Essence of Reincarnation

Temple’s backyard.

In the small temple house, waves of chanting resounded.

“Thus said the Buddha, there is no fixed law termed Anuttara Samyak Sambodhi, nor is there a fixed law that the Tathagata can proclaim. Why? Because what the Tathagata teaches cannot be grasped, cannot be spoken, is neither a law nor not a law.”

As time passed, the abandoned infant left outside the temple, Chen Mu, had grown into a seven or eight-year-old novice monk, wearing a worn-out cassock, kneeling on a meditation cushion, reciting the Buddha Sutra.

“What view should one hold regarding all worldly laws, True Determination?”

Suddenly, an old monk in a cassock walked in from outside the hall, chanting the Buddha’s name, and asked towards Chen Mu.

Chen Mu responded: “All worldly laws arising from conditions are like shadows in bubbles, elusive and ever-changing. Hence, all conditioned dharmas are like a dream, a fantasy, a bubble, a shadow, like dew or lightning, and should be viewed as such.”

The old monk, hearing this, smiled slightly and walked away.

The old monk was the superviser of Fatan Temple, the very Jing Nian who had brought Chen Mu back to the temple. Over the seven years of Chen Mu’s growing up, he had become the superviser of Fatan Temple, and for what the former Abbott said, that Chen Mu had ties with the Buddha, he now was deeply convinced, as Chen Mu seemed to have been born with knowledge, and from the moment he could speak, his first words were always the Buddha Sutra.

Afterwards, he never displayed the usual restlessness and mischief of ordinary toddlers, only liking to listen to the chanting in the Buddha hall. As he grew older, he began reading the sutras by himself every day. Despite being only seven or eight years old, his understanding of the sutras surpassed even some monks who had been chanting for years in the temple.

Thus.

Among the monks in the temple, there were even rumors that Chen Mu is the reincarnation of an Arhat, here at Fatan Temple to ferry all beings.

Therefore, though Chen Mu was just a young novice monk, his status in Fatan Temple was quite high, and even had already been groomed by the Abbott as the successor. Jing Nian’s ascension to superviser was also due to bringing back and nurturing Chen Mu.

“All conditioned dharmas should be viewed as such…”

And just after Jing Nian walked away, Chen Mu mumbled the scripture, raising his head to look at the small Buddha statue above.

Thus, such view, such law, such the Tathagata.

During his second life as an official, after retiring and returning home, he once visited many Buddhist temples and Daoist monasteries, yet he never realized one issue until now: it seemed that no matter which world, there are Buddhas, there are Dao Venerables.

Faiths are bizarre and varied. For the Human Race, born amidst calamities, developing faith as a spiritual support is quite normal, but to allow all worlds, including the past before he arrived here in Da Xuan, to be the same, is unusual.

Furthermore, regardless of which world’s Buddhist teachings or Dao scriptures, they all have hints of meaning pointing towards the Great Dao.

Previously, Chen Mu had no direct feelings about it.

Because since he took up martial arts, great power rested within himself, even now he was about to become transcendent, achieve the God Realm, naturally dismissing the concept of gods and Buddhas as mere fantasies of ordinary people. But now he felt that things might not be so simple.

Just like his comprehension of the Void Dao, the comprehension of the Time Dao.

If someone completely comprehends the Time Dao and masters the complete Power of Time, shall their name run through the long river of time, flowing eternally, never to be extinguished?

And if someone fully comprehends the Void Dao, mastering the complete Void Force, shall their form reflect across the heavens, projected in countless worlds, infinite, neither born nor destroyed?

If only one world had Buddhas and Dao Venerables, it wouldn’t be strange, but both worlds he experienced had them, and the world under the cycle of Reincarnation as well. Given that he has now entered the Void, understanding the Time Dao, he has a vague premonition that Buddhas and Dao Venerables might indeed exist.

Perhaps they are figures who have reached the end of the Great Dao, and so their names and forms can reflect across the heavens, existing in any world, evolving into various situations and passed down.

Of course.

All this is now merely Chen Mu’s guess.

After all, to this day, the world he resides in is entirely different from where he truly came from, which was a vast and boundless cosmic Universe. Here, it is the Endless Void, housing countless worlds.

To him right now, he is not qualified to explore the connection between the two, nor does he have the slightest clue about the path he took upon coming to this world. Perhaps only when he truly grasps the complete Void Dao or the Time Dao will he know all the answers, leaving no doubt in his sight.

“Tathagata…”

Chen Mu whispered in his heart, recalling ancient memories of past conversations about ‘Suchness’, he couldn’t help but smile. But after smiling for a while, he fell into silent contemplation, because the more he thought about it, the more mysterious it seemed.

Like how he came to this world, having experienced three lifetimes in Reincarnation, becoming a hunter, an official, an emperor… yet throughout the flow of time, all traces left by his first three lives have disappeared into the dust of history.

So, did he ever really visit this world?

Tathagata.

Not ‘Come what may, but rather ‘Thus Come’.

The Origin Dao is indeed indescribable, elusive, and profound.

Vaguely.

Chen Mu seemed to catch a glimpse of the Time Dao’s threads, but as he tried to grasp them, they slipped through his fingers once more.

“Time.”

He murmured, but felt no disappointment, instead a slight joy.