Chapter 796: Chapter 492: The "Heavenly Hunting and Destruction of Buddha" Six Hundred Years Ago (Part 2)
"This still involves the dispute between the Western Regions Buddhism and the Central Plains Taoist Sect six hundred years ago... Well, if you calculate it, the reason Xuan Yin could take on the identity of a ’Magic God’ and also cultivate the ’Heavenly Dao’, deceiving everyone in the world... it is directly related to this."
Zhao Douan’s expression changed slightly, becoming serious.
He had always been puzzled about how Xuan Yin managed to create the "Magic God" substitute; even Zhenbao couldn’t be sure. Surprisingly, Xu seemed to understand the underlying cause.
"Please, tell me in detail!" Zhao Douan pressed.
Zhang Yan Yi glanced at him, speaking leisurely, "Do you know how one ascends from a Heavenly Human to enter the Human Immortal Realm?"
You’re getting more off-topic, leaving one hanging... Zhao Douan honestly shook his head, "I don’t know."
Zhang Yan Yi sighed, "I don’t know either."
"..." Zhao Douan’s face was expressionless, feeling an urge to flip the table.
Zhang Yan Yi chuckled warmly:
"Don’t be in a hurry. How to step into being a Human Immortal is something that strong figures have struggled to explore through the ages, largely because the last legendary Human Immortal is far from the present, leaving no replicable path.
Therefore, many families have proposed various advancement concepts, and a few years ago, two such conjectures prevailed in the Western Regions Buddhism."
"Two possible ways to enter the Human Immortal Realm?"
Zhao Douan was curious: "What are they?"
Although he had just stepped into the world, it didn’t hinder his interest.
Zhang Yan Yi spoke slowly:
"The first is to replace the concept of divine. You should know why gods exist in this world? It is because the people have a vast belief system; when enough beings believe in a certain god’s existence, this wish force becomes responsible for the birth of a god.
And the ’Human Immortal Realm’, its power is comparable to that of a god. In other words, perhaps the truth of a Human Immortal is how a human becomes a god."
A human becoming a god? That’s a Human Immortal? Zhao Douan suddenly thought of the royal inheritance of Yu Country and the "Martial God" inheritance established by the Grand Ancestor Emperor, isn’t this a representation of humans becoming gods?
However, Xu’s "Martial God" inheritance doesn’t seem to need the belief and wish force of the masses.
No... the Martial God inheritance itself doesn’t have it, but the identity of an emperor does... When Zhenbao was a Half-step Celestial, his combat power was comparable to that of a full Celestial due to being crowned emperor... The Sealing ceremony also relied on the imperial position to forcibly impact the realm...
And the concept of "emperor" is a kind of universal acknowledgment by countless people under heaven, right?
In some way, an "emperor" itself is a kind of "god", so by being crowned as a king, one can obtain some enhancement in cultivation...
For example, after Zhenbao’s promotion, he seemed to have a certain degree of control over something similar to a king’s decree, "words become laws" effect...
"Have you thought of it?" Zhang Yan Yi saw Zhao Douan suddenly dazing and couldn’t help but smile:
"It seems you have realized why an emperor possesses great power."
Zhao Douan took a deep breath:
"So, the emperor is, in a sense, a god. However, the concept of an emperor can be inherited by different people. The method conceived by Buddhism is something similar, allowing a cultivator to replace the concept of a god?"
Zhang Yan Yi nodded with a smile, showing a look of "young ones can be taught":
"Yes. However, this idea is not originally from Buddhism. Earlier, the Central Plains Taoist Sect already had this concept."
Zhao Douan frowned, "But how can this be achieved? Gods are not like the ’imperial position’ that anyone can just take on..."
Zhang Yan Yi smiled and said:
"Is it difficult? Indeed it is difficult. But it is not entirely impossible; it’s conceivable if enough time is given for enough beings to regard a living cultivator as a god, it might work."
To make people throughout the world regard a living person as a god?
Zhao Douan was stunned for a moment, inwardly mocking:
What kind of incense burning leads to becoming a god?
Then suddenly, a flash of insight hit his mind:
"The Dharma King of the Western Regions... I remember, that region in the earliest times kept proclaiming the Dharma King as the reincarnation of a god..."
Zhang Yan nodded with a sigh:
"Indeed, that was an attempt, and it truly had an effect. Today’s current Dharma King in the Western Regions does not have cultivation that has stepped into the Celestial but relies on a method similar to the imperial position like the emperor, possessing the ability to contend with Xuan Yin. However... There are limitations; when the Dharma King leaves the Western Regions, his cultivation plummets.
Especially, over the centuries, the Divine Dragon Temple has altered the sayings in the Buddhist canon, changing the Dharma King’s origin from divine incarnation to the earliest disciples of Worldly Venerate in the mortal world...
Thus, even maintaining the current state is not easy, without further breakthroughs, and no one knows if this method really leads to being a Human Immortal."
So it is... No wonder East and West Buddhism have always wanted to merge... Could there be this layer of reason too? Zhao Douan suddenly realized.
Then frowned and said, "So, the first approach eventually failed, because the conditions are too harsh. What about the second one?"
Zhang Yan Yi said calmly:
"The second method, then, is ’Unity of Heaven and Man’, meaning, the true divine is just a concept, with no ’personality’, and if the divine were to be granted personality, it might allow the exalted divine to become secularized, thus controlled by cultivators. As long as one can completely control a god, merging it with oneself, one could become a Human Immortal."
Ah, this... This idea is simply the opposite of the previous one.
One is to shape a human into a god, stealing the ’divine position’, the other is to degrade a god to being human... human controlling god... Well, exactly the realm below Human Immortal is called ’Heavenly Human’, which does make some sense...
Zhao Douan was curious: "Then how to personify a god? Secularize it?"