The Demon Prince did not possess Great One. Instead, he alone achieved "half of the first rank."
As perhaps the only practitioner of the demonic path in this world capable of standing shoulder to shoulder with the Heavenly Demon, he had personally rejected the demonic path.
He let go.
He no longer used his own heart to interpret this world, returning the world to freedom.
He acknowledged the Buddha Dharma.
Thus, in this world without Buddha, Shang Fan became a Pratyekabuddha.
The Demon Prince, a demon of obsession, had ultimately walked the path expounded by the World Honored One, the Tathagata.
Almost immediately, the Pratyekabuddha and Vajra Light Buddha joined the ranks resisting the Heavenly Demon.
This obvious deviation from the Heavenly Demon's plans filled him with delight.
That was right—delight.
"Changes are wonderful! Come, bring me more changes! Everything you do will become a part of me—your hearts, the myriad things you set in motion! All of it!" the Heavenly Demon howled.
He was not anxious, because... it was merely a Pratyekabuddha.
It was no obstacle.
To the Heavenly Demon, who wished to guide the age of Dharma's decline, none of it mattered.
Because...
To the Heavenly Demon, all this was merely difficulty he had added for himself. After all, the world itself was his illusionary dream; his heart was the force driving everything.
Perhaps some would think him mad.
But to the Heavenly Demon, this world existed because of him in the first place.
Everything ought to be so. That was all.
The Heavenly Demon's power still swept through all things.
Together with the connections and conflicts between them, it unfurled among the remaining possibilities. Within it lay not only dialectical coordination rich in thought, but also the synthesis and reconciliation of the various opposing Four Symbols.
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