"After all that talk, how much did you actually take in?" The old teacher stood before Simon.
He was old, thin, his robes fluttering and rolling, and the great qi filled his bones, making him a full and tall figure as he stood before Simon.
Simon knelt on the ground. He didn't know why he was kneeling; it seemed he had always faced his teacher this way. But, since it was so, he would kneel like this and listen to what the teacher had to say.
An old man, a young boy.
"The Master seeks benevolence. What is benevolence?"
Simon remained silent.
"A tyrant is not benevolent. Benevolence is the heart of Heaven, and also the heart of man. Observing the mountains and seas, traversing the human world, how do you find benevolence? You must grasp the proper measure."
"What measure?"
"The measure of maintaining the Middle Way," the old teacher mumbled. "The Doctrine of the Mean is the principle of Heaven; all things maintain the Middle Way, the pivot of yin and yang transformations. Leaning to either side will lead to regression; only by maintaining the Middle Way can one advance."
Simon lowered his head, staring at the dimly visible boots beneath the old teacher's robe. "Although that is true…"
"You don't agree? Then tell me, what is your Tao?" The teacher leaned down, his white-haired head level with Simon's dark-haired one.
"This world is a world of the strong. The weak maintain the Middle Way, the strong wield the Middle Way."
"Strength and weakness are merely disputes of common men," the teacher scoffed.
"In a struggle with men, the strongest is but a hegemon. In a struggle with earth, the strongest is but a king. In a struggle with Heaven, the strongest is but a Saint," Simon murmured. "I am a Saint in Heaven, how can I be banished to the mortal world?"
Before the teacher could retort, Simon suddenly stood up.
His body grew taller, deer antlers sprouted from his head, his simple white robe fluttered like an immortal's, his face was dignified and benevolent, and his eyes, like paintings, reflected the human world.
Lu Yuan Bodhisattva, epiphyllum Da Shi.
The old teacher looked up at the Buddha Child.
"Are you truly ready?"
"Yes."
"Good." The teacher paused for a moment. "You are different from him. You are more like a great roc, while he has always been obsessed with the Northern Darkness and unwilling to leave."
"So you chose me, and not him."
"Heh, if one could choose not to choose, there wouldn't be so many distracting thoughts."
"Isn't the Doctrine of the Mean a series of choices? The Heavenly Dao is also like this, a series of choices, the old making way for the new, the wrong making way for the right."
"Making way? Making way. That's very well put…" The teacher savored the words, a faint smile mesmerizing his lips. This was a tenderness that the young Simon had never experienced, but the teacher had actually left long ago. The teacher before him also slowly stepped out of the small boat, waded away, and gradually disappeared into the subtle mist.
…
Simon returned to the island with several crew members who had fallen into illusions.
His image was so deeply ingrained in people's hearts that when he stood before the crowd, ordinary mortals, like straw blown by the wind, bowed their bodies in devout reverence.
No one doubted whether the one before them was a Bodhisattva, because the tremor of the Epiphyllum Seal was not false.
In the great human world, the Buddha Child returned.
Simon beckoned to them, and so people, like birds, flew into his palm, where there was also an epiphyllum.
They all entered the true Pure Land.
At this moment, all those with the Epiphyllum Seal felt their minds tremble, and they all gazed eastward.
A magnificent manifestation appeared high in the sky, like a blazing sun patrolling the heavens, its Buddha light illuminating the earth.
Mortals knelt in prayer, warriors bowed their heads submissively, and cultivators praised in unison.
The manifestation did not open its golden mouth, yet its message spread throughout the universe.
"The calamity of Xiangxu is approaching; at that time, heaven and earth will overturn, and the world will be destroyed. All sentient beings in the mortal realm may enter the Pure Land to find shelter."
The manifestation dissipated, and the human world was in an uproar.
Countless people knew that the Buddha Child had returned!
…
The real Pure Land world could not create things out of thin air, but people were still ecstatic.
Because objects could now be transported through the Pure Land.
Each epiphyllum was a teleportation point.
This represented the establishment of a global, instantaneous logistics network.
This incredible power was all due to the Bodhisattva!
The seven major merchant associations of Shenzhou, each with their own divisions and responsibilities, now, taking advantage of this opportunity, merged overnight into one massive commercial conglomerate.
Wenshan Shuhai Pavilion, responsible for text-based products; Gongshu Workshop, responsible for construction; Wuhu Merchant Association, responsible for materials and sundries; Da Wukui Merchant House, responsible for weapons; Huichuntang, responsible for medicine and poisons; Funu Gang, responsible for agricultural and livestock products; Qihuo Zhai, responsible for rare and unusual treasures.
Now, the unified epiphyllum Merchant Association was truly a colossal entity, covering all aspects.
The real Pure Land was boundless, also divided according to the Virtuous Path, Evil Taoist, and Saint Path. Except for the Saint Path, which no one could know, the other two paths had the influence of the merchant association.
In the empty real Pure Land, countless constructions began, as people wanted to build new homes here.
Resources in the Virtuous Path Pure Land were free, distributed equally to individuals. As long as one participated in the construction of the Pure Land home, they could receive a supply of resources. These were the blessings the epiphyllum Merchant Association bestowed upon the populace.
The Bodhisattva's faith had been brewing for one hundred and eighteen years, finally coming to fruition.
People of the Virtuous Path could unite as a collective, and many from the Evil Taoist also reformed.
Everything would return to virtue, return to purity.
Mortal desires were suppressed, simply because people had a pillar in their hearts—a Sumeru.
One day, the Buddha Child sat on a high platform in the center of the Pure Land. His figure illuminated the three paths. Around him, the three paths connected, and people of different temperaments who normally could not see each other could now perceive one another, though they were mere phantoms, not truly tangible entities.
Everyone recognized each other for a while, the murmurs like a tide, then they fell silent, sat cross-legged on the ground, and looked up at the Buddha Child on the high platform.
The leaders of various martial arts sects and aristocratic families, the authorities of towns, villages, and mountain strongholds, surrounded the innermost circle, closest to the Buddha Child. The rest of the populace sat in concentric circles, and the vast world was utterly silent.
Not everyone had come, and Simon knew it was normal. It was just a brief notification; afterwards, the public could spread the word themselves.
Fortunately, at least, the decision-makers were all present.
The Buddha Child looked down at the various martial arts leaders in the inner circle. Li Piguang and his wife were prominently among them.
He spoke softly, "The fourteen top martial arts sects of the pugilistic world, each with their specialties, and their own grievances. Here, are you willing to pledge eternal allegiance?"
"We are willing to follow the Buddha Child for all eternity," they said in unison, with no one objecting.
Simon looked at the authorities.
"Secular cities, myriad settlements, dwellings of all beings, here, are you willing to believe eternally?"
"We, the common people, are willing to lead our subjects to support the Bodhisattva for generations upon generations."
Besides the Buddha, all are outside the Tao!
Yes, the Buddha Child could say this; he could make the world submit!
This was his authority now, controlling the world, controlling people's hearts.
Simon continued, but began to tell a story.
Beyond the world, before history, there was once a vast universe.
In that universe, immortals and Buddhas existed. Their power was limitless. Life and civilization flourished under the protection of these great powerful beings, these great divine beings.
But all things have their cycles of growth and decline.
The stars in this universe extinguished one by one, and the beings of the old era could not adapt to the new era, constantly perishing.
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