Chapter 372 Inverted Cause

Within the Mountains and Rivers of the Underworld, the main body of the Great Sun Tathagata suffered a backlash. The magnificent Buddha form opened its eyes, a blazing sun rising behind him, transforming into a wheel of fire, illuminating the four great continents.

He dispatched a portion of his spirit, transforming it into a spiritual body to venture into the Mountains and Rivers of the Outer World. It was almost a true descent, after all, the divine anomaly of the Celestial Heart was not restricted by the Mountains and Rivers of the Outer and Under Worlds; all that was lacking was a powerful body.

The vacant shell of the Buddha-Ghost, as an existence at the level of immortals and Buddhas, could unleash extremely powerful strength after being occupied by him. In fact, that was precisely the case...

It was only a little bit away from success.

The Great Sun Tathagata did not speak, the halo behind him expanding even larger, a rumbling, hollow sound echoing through the heavens.

His failure, the root of his downfall, lay not with the Demon Celestial Master, nor with Guanyin, nor with Dizang, nor with Christ, nor with the Arctic.

It lay solely with the Filth-Eliminating Vajra.

Whether it was the Demon Celestial Master or Christ, one could not show his face, the other could not come in true form. Compared to himself, the disparity was vast. Although the Arctic True Man suddenly took out a divine diagram, briefly stepping into the state of the Celestial Heart, the fundamental reason was that the Filth-Eliminating Vajra did not want him to obtain the Original Beginning.

He was willing to be used, just as the Demon Celestial Master had said. And the final outcome was also as he had predicted.

In the final moment, he should have been able to withstand the divine powers of the Arctic and the others.

However, the connection between his spiritual body and this main body was severed. Those capable of such great means were only the four Celestial Hearts of the human world. Not only the Filth-Eliminating Vajra, but also the Purple-Clad God and the Six Heavens Emissary of Justice, they all participated.

The Buddhas also abandoned him, not standing on his side. The Buddha Lands chose the return of the Thousand-Light King Tathagata, so what they wanted must be the "Voice-Surpassing King Buddha," representing the true nature of the Buddha, rather than the "Original Beginning Buddha," representing the source of the Buddha.

This was also a contention of doctrines, a contention of Buddhist teachings. Some rejoiced, some opposed. Some wanted to replace him. But the Great Sun Tathagata did not give up. If one battle failed, there was a second battle, and if the second battle failed, there was a third battle.

Until the Primordial Lord collapsed, or he himself perished.

And at this moment, this battle was not yet over.

If one were to speak of the Jade Purity cultivators who had once grasped the Primordial Lord's divine position, due to the different flow of time in the Mountains and Rivers of the Outer and Under Worlds, many years had passed for the Great Sun Tathagata, and the news he had gathered was astonishing.

They, more or less, after leaving the Primordial Lord's divine position, had all obtained unique forms and spirits representing the power of the Primordial Beginning. The appearance of the Primordial Lord Heavenly Venerate represented the fundamental source of the world, an existence like the Voice-Surpassing King, like the Original Beginning. Or rather, their power was essentially the same thing, only manifesting in different states within different sects.

However, the Primordial Lord Heavenly Venerate existed perpetually in the Great Floating Li Heaven, never disappearing, while the Voice-Surpassing King and the Original Beginning Buddha were merely realms in Buddhist legends. This made the Great Sun Tathagata feel that there must be secrets within, but his age of attaining enlightenment was still shallow in the Mountains and Rivers of the Underworld, so some secrets of the pre-Han era could not be heard, nor would anyone tell him, because the Esoteric School was disliked by the cultivators of the Qin and Han dynasties.

Now, besides the Arctic Dharma Master, there was another person who grasped the Primordial Beginning's divinity, and that was the Primordial Emperor, whom the immortals and Buddhas of the Mountains and Rivers of the Underworld had previously besieged. He was a divine sovereign of the Dao of Gods, one of the thirteen Jade Purity cultivators, and his title was the Primordial Beginning divine position he grasped, leading a separate line of Chaotic Gods, not entering the ranks of the myriad gods.

"However, with my ability, I cannot capture him."

The Primordial Emperor was not someone he could capture. The other party was also at the Celestial Heart realm, possessing the divine anomaly of inverting cause and effect. No matter how he changed the future, he could not seize him. After all, among those who had besieged him in the past, there were no lack of top figures at the Celestial Heart level.

Buzz, the solar wheel turned. The place where the Great Sun Tathagata was located was a magnificent Grand Hero Hall. The Great Sun Tathagata sat upon the Vajra Radiant King's Throne, with four vacant seats beside him. As the solar wheel turned, its light shone, and Buddha shadows appeared on the other four thrones. They were the Five Dhyani Buddhas of the Esoteric School.

The Treasure Appearance Buddha of the Southern Joy World, the Akshobhya Buddha of the Eastern Wonderful Joy World, the Amitabha Buddha (Amitayus) of the Western Pure Land World, and the Amoghasiddhi Buddha of the Northern Lotus World.

"Summoning the Diamond Realm to descend, borrowing the forms of our Five Dhyani Buddhas, and still could not take him down?"

"Originally, we Five Dhyani Buddhas are not each other, you are in me, and I am in you. If you attain the Original Beginning, we too will become the Original Beginning, the Five Buddhas returning to oneness and uniting as one body."

The Treasure Appearance Buddha looked at the Great Sun Tathagata, shaking his head repeatedly. The Great Sun Tathagata said, "Now the Buddhas are willing to welcome back the Thousand-Light King Tathagata. This child should attain the fruit of the Tathagata, and I cannot stop him. The future is already set."

"But that Primordial Beginning position, I must take it. Next time, I will only discuss it with the Buddhas, not harming his Thousand-Light King body, only taking the Primordial Beginning position."

"We have seen it; it is not that simple." The Western Amitabha Buddha, called Amitayus in Esoteric Buddhism, and Amitabha in Pure Land Buddhism. The four characters Amitabha appear in many Buddhist schools because Amitabha himself has immeasurable power, so he has many differentiated bodies in the various schools of Buddhism.

"An All-Supreme Venerable has chosen him. If there is a second battle, many preparations need to be made. Otherwise, the matter cannot succeed, and there will be greater troubles for the Esoteric School."

The Great Sun Tathagata thought of that suddenly appearing, strange Heavenly Venerate, and nodded solemnly. However, there were other matters at hand, so he said, "I have summoned the four of you here for another matter."

"The Filth-Eliminating Vajra..."

The Amoghasiddhi Buddha said, "His desires are quite large, his calculations are very deep, he widely spreads imprints, opens up worldly merit, and blocks the doors of hell. Speaking of which, in Buddhism, the Filth-Eliminating Vajra originally appeared after the Nirvana of the Sakyamuni Buddha, in order to protect the Dharma in a world without Buddhas, and possesses the power to subdue demons and heretics and protect the orthodox Buddha."

"He himself is the greatest heretic; if he is evil, he is no less than Mara. The Esoteric School is a great sect of Buddhism, of course, it cannot be played by him. Since he wants to borrow your karma to bless the Arctic, it is better to make a big Buddhist chapter on this matter."

The Five Dhyani Buddhas looked at each other, the wheels of fire behind them turning, all nodding.

"Destroying and killing the Celestial Heart, annihilating and transforming the Buddha Dharma, should receive karmic retribution, but if the Arctic receives the retribution, after Nirvana, he will reincarnate as the Thousand-Light King Tathagata. Since this is the case, then plant another retribution for him."

"At this time, one can use the inversion of cause and effect. If the karmic retribution is not formed, then create a 'cause retribution'!"

"Destroying and killing the Celestial Heart is the result, there will inevitably be a calamity in the future."

The Five Dhyani Buddhas simultaneously reversed this karmic retribution. If the original order was that destroying and killing the Celestial Heart was the cause of this matter, and suffering a calamity was the karmic retribution to be received in the future, then at this moment, destroying and killing the Celestial Heart became the result of the matter, and suffering a calamity instead became the cause of the event.

If the result is set and cannot be changed, but the cause has not yet occurred, this will lead to the corruption of cause and effect.

And the "cause retribution" that Ji Xiang will suffer in the future is that the Five Dhyani Buddhas are destined to appear before him again, and at the moment of meeting, time will be reversed to the moment before the next thing to be done.

Infinite regression! As long as he moves forward, he will infinitely cycle! He cannot reach the "cause" of the event occurring, nor can he change the "result" that has already happened!

And the person who casts the cause retribution can infinitely cycle the cause of this matter, until he guides out the "result" he wants!

"This cause retribution will not occur as long as the Arctic Dharma Master does not attain the position of Original Beginning."

"The Filth-Eliminating Vajra wants the position of Original Beginning, he still underestimates us. At the moment the Filth-Eliminating Vajra attains the position, he will be pulled back to the cause of the event, and doing the thing that caused this will incur retribution."

"If he does not kill me, there is no way to lift the cause retribution, but if he wants to kill me, he must walk out of the infinite cycle of cause retribution. He can always see me, but he can never kill me."

"Because the Buddha-nature on the Arctic Dharma Master will cause the Filth-Eliminating Vajra to be forever trapped in the moment before attaining the Original Beginning, and the cause retribution will infinitely stack on him."

The Great Sun Tathagata felt that since the Filth-Eliminating Vajra tormented him so much, he would also torment him.

This cause retribution was stored in the dark, waiting only for the Celestial Heart power on Ji Xiang to fade, and then it would immediately descend into the past.