Only intelligent life pondered the meaning of existence, and only after its intelligence had developed to a certain stage.
The Ascension Ones of the Chaotian Continent, whether Immortals, gods, or Buddhas, were all people of great wisdom. While they were still in that world, not long after first setting foot on the path of cultivation, they would inevitably begin to ponder this question and find their own answers.
Over the long journey along the Great Dao that followed, as their knowledge and experience grew, they might make some revisions to that answer, but its foundations would never change much. Only in the final moments of their existence would they take that answer out and reflect on it briefly, thereby attaining true peace and joy.
In the Beyond the Mist Star System, the Monk of Joy had seen Jing Jiu's sword strike, Xilai's wings of death, and General Li's departure. He had already confirmed his own thinking and attained true peace, which was why he had changed his name from Great Compassion to Joy.
Now, on this planet named Moonwatch, dark clouds obscured all the starlight. He clearly sensed that certain things might happen next, and that he might even witness the final moments of his existence. But he no longer needed to think about it. He only needed to act calmly and wait for those things to happen.
The Great Nirvana floated in the night sky as he scattered Buddha light across the heavens, condensing it into a tall pagoda that suppressed the Spatial Fissure.
Formless, insubstantial dark energy surged out of the Spatial Fissure, ceaselessly battering the formation and his Chan Heart.
It was the will of a universe vaster and grander than the one he inhabited.
For the Buddhist formation and his Chan Heart to hold it back