The True Buddha, the Origin of the Buddha!

Within the territory of the Turbid Kingdom.

"From beginningless time, all sentient beings have been deluded in various ways..."

A small figure walked from the west, softly chanting scriptures, walking barefoot through the marketplace. His feet were already worn raw and the soles were bloody, but he seemed to feel no pain and was completely unaware. With each step, he left a faint bloody footprint in the world.

The Buddha said that birth, old age, sickness, and death are suffering; separation from loved ones is suffering; encountering those you hate is suffering; and not getting what you want is suffering. But the people here don't seem to feel that these are sufferings.

Is that really the case?

Dingguang disagreed.

He passed by a shabby alley where the male head of the household lay ill in bed, his life hanging by a thread. His wife stayed by his bedside every day, preparing medicine, feeding him, bathing him, and changing his clothes. She would rather go hungry herself than let her husband go hungry. She would cook the only rice she had left for him.

When neighbors pass by, they always lean over the wall and point and whisper, their words sharp and sarcastic.

Even the woman's brothers came to her door, scolding her for "disgracing the family" and forcing her to leave her husband, saying they had already found her a new husband.

When Dingguang passed by, the woman was sitting on the doorstep, secretly wiping away tears. Seeing that it was getting late, she forced a smile and went back into the house to brew medicine for her husband.

She wasn't unaware that leaving her husband would make her life easier, but how could she let go of the feelings she had for him?

Dingguang stood outside the courtyard and softly recited a Buddhist chant.

Separation from loved ones is painful, but for two hearts that are clearly pledged to each other, to live a life of sin in this upside-down world, to be kind to someone and be branded as "foolish" and receive no blessing—this is the torment of lovers' purgatory.

Under an old locust tree stood a fortune-telling stall. The stall owner was a blind old Daoist priest who used to calculate auspicious times for the neighbors. He never cheated anyone and just made a living.

But today, he sat dejectedly under the tree, his face bruised and swollen, and even his stall had been smashed.

Meanwhile, his prized disciple set up a stall across the street, and business boomed, making him very proud of himself.

Dingguang paused and listened for a moment before he understood that after learning all the skills, the apprentice had run off with his master's life savings and spread rumors that he had deceived the neighbors, and even had his master's stall smashed.

Instead of criticizing the apprentice, the people who should have been upholding justice praised him for surpassing his master, saying, "How dare a fortune teller who can't even predict his own fate come out to swindle money?"

This apprentice was able to fool even his master, so there must be someone very capable behind him!

Dingguang stepped forward and asked the blind Daoist priest if he was angry.

The old man gave a bitter smile, "If I were to scold him, others would say I'm disrespectful for my age and blocking the way for the young. In this world, being kind is considered foolish, and being loyal is considered naive. They blame me for not holding back at all, treating him like half a nephew... Sigh..."

Dingguang silent.

When master and disciple turn against each other, and the collapse of trust becomes the norm, there is no longer any trust Mortal Realm. Everyone is insecure, everyone is wary, and everyone treats those around them as adversaries...

Isn't this daily companionship of suspicion and indifference a bone-deep suffering?

On this day, Dingguang was passing by a long street when he came across a funeral procession from a wealthy family.

The funeral procession stretched for half a street, with paper figures and horses, and piles of gold and silver. The music and drums were lively and bustling. The filial sons and grandsons walked at the front of the procession, but not a single tear appeared on their faces. Instead, they would occasionally tidy their appearance.

The onlookers were full of admiration, saying, "The old man is so lucky to die so gloriously."

Ke Dingguang overheard the neighbors gossiping that the old man had been bedridden for three years, and his children had all refused to take care of him, leaving him emaciated and alone when he passed away.

The elaborate funerals these days are just for show, to gain a reputation as a "filial son," and incidentally, to fight for the family fortune.

Dingguang, one could see the coffin slowly making its way down the long street, accompanied by the deafening sounds of gongs and drums, laughter and cheerful conversation—it was even more lively than a wedding.

He sighed inwardly.

Heartless and ungrateful in life, extravagant in death.

The pain of separation by death is already unbearable, but when funerals become a spectacle of ostentation and competition, even the last vestige of reverence for life is crushed by vanity. This is the illusory suffering that even death cannot bring peace to.

As he walked, he stopped rushing and instead strolled slowly along the streets and alleys, witnessing the suffering caused by the inversion of Ignorance, and the compassion in his eyes grew deeper and deeper.

At first, he only felt suffering. All living beings were trapped in Ignorance, mistaking evil for good, distorting right and wrong, wallowing in the mire yet believing they were in paradise. How tragic and bitter this was!

But as he walked and looked around, he gradually discovered another layer of meaning.

For example, the girl who rescued the sparrows, even in hell, still had a faint, irrepressible light of truth in her eyes.

Or perhaps it was a private school he happened to pass by.

During the day, the old teacher leads the students in reciting "If a man doesn't look out for himself, he'll be punished by heaven and earth," teaching them how to compete and how to scheme.

Whoever learns quickly and works hard will earn the teacher's praise.

But in the evening, the old man would always keep the most timid child, the one least likely to learn to "do evil," and take out an old, worn-out book from his sleeve, teaching him word by word, "Respect the elderly as you would your own parents, care for the young as you would your own children."

He was also told that the True Intention of "If a person doesn't look out for themselves, they'll be doomed" is that one should cultivate oneself and improve oneself, rather than being selfish and self-serving...

"Just keep it in mind, and don't argue with others." The old man stroked the child's head, his voice heavy. "The world may be crooked, but people's hearts cannot be completely crooked. You may follow others down the wrong path, but you must always understand what is right."

The child nodded as if he understood, and the old man sighed deeply, hiding the old book back inside his clothes as if concealing a grave sin.

He traveled all the way from the west, witnessing too much depravity and evil, and seeing many figures chasing after a glimmer of light in the darkness.

Even when surrounded by darkness, some people relentlessly search for light, striving with all their might to find that sliver of sunshine, clinging to that unyielding glimmer of light.

They may be cowardly, timid, or only able to sneak around and hide, but the kindness in their hearts, their true nature, and their obsession with "light" have never truly disappeared.

Like grass growing in the cracks of rocks, no matter how heavy the bricks and stones are, it still bends over, grits its teeth, and tries to squeeze into the light-filled cracks.

At that moment, Dingguang stopped at the entrance of an alley, staring blankly at the half-grown weed peeking out from a crack in the wall.

He hadn't read many Buddhist scriptures, but after that day, countless classic texts surged into his mind.

For example, "Ignorance conditions volitional formations, and volitional formations condition consciousness."

The cycle of the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination begins with Ignorance.

The reason why sentient beings suffer is that they are blinded by Ignorance, unable to see their true nature, unable to distinguish between good and evil, stumbling and falling in the darkness, getting hurt and bleeding, yet still believing that this is the true nature of the world.

The scriptures only say that the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination Ignorance, and that sentient beings suffer because of Ignorance, but they don't say who should light the first lamp in this long night of Ignorance.

Dingguang raised his head and looked at the dim, seemingly lightless world.

In this world, there are indeed those with superior innate abilities who, without the guidance of others, can see their true selves, ignite the lamp of their hearts, and dispel all Ignorance on their own.

But such people are ultimately just a grain of millet among the sands of the Ganges, extremely rare.

More often than not, they are confused ordinary people, drifting with the tide, struggling in the mire, unable to see their way.

Should we simply allow them to drift aimlessly in the long night of Ignorance just because they are dull-witted, ordinary, and create their own karma?

Must we simply wait for the endless passage of time, allowing them to await that "self-realization" that may never come?

Ignorance is darkness, and wisdom is a lamp, then when sentient beings lack sufficient wisdom to light the lamp that illuminates their path, who will wipe the dust from the lamp and ignite the lamp within their hearts?

All the questions, all the compassion, converged into the answer in the instant Dingguang turned around:

--I'll do it.

When this thought arises...

It was as if the Buddha on the lotus throne rose and stepped into the Mortal Realm.

Dingguang a step forward barefoot.

Amidst the bloody, mangled footprints beneath his feet, a golden lotus suddenly bloomed, its soft glow untouched by worldly dust.

He stood on a lotus flower.

Lotus Blossoms at Every Step

Every step is a path to enlightenment.

He returned to the Mortal Realm from Thunderclap.

A faint golden light shimmered on his monk's robes, and the remaining traces of Buddha-nature in the world flowed like fireflies returning to the sea, settling on his shoulders and between his brows.

When Dingguang closed his eyes and opened them again, his eyes no longer held the innocence of a child, but a clarity that transcended age and had been refined over countless years.

He spoke softly, and as his voice fell, the entire world fell silent for a moment, as if all things were listening intently:

"May all Buddhas be above."

"Disciple Dingguang, today in this Buddha-land, makes a great vow—"

"May I light the first lamp of light in this world for Ignorance, to illuminate the long night of Ignorance."

"One lamp ignites a hundred lamps, a hundred lamps ignite ten thousand lamps, lamp after lamp, until Ignorance is completely extinguished, the true nature of mind is illuminated, and all beings are freed from suffering!"

In that instant.

A wisp of fire shot into the sky, transforming into an ancient glass lamp, suspended between heaven and earth.

The lamp was small, and the flame was as small as a bean, but its light pierced through eternity, spanned countless Buddha lands, reached the highest heavens and the deepest Yellow Springs, and illuminated the Three Realms paths, and ten directions of the world!

The madness in the eyes of countless citizens of this Turbid Kingdom faded, replaced by alternating periods of bewilderment and clarity. Some knelt and wept, some muttered to themselves in a daze, and some gazed at the firelight in the sky, murmuring Buddhist chants they had long forgotten.

Deep in the alley, the wife, who was keeping vigil by her sickbed, looked at the golden light filtering through the window and suddenly burst into tears.

She was finally certain that staying by her husband's side was not foolishness, but a genuine affection between them, the purest thought in this turbid world.

She wiped her face, got up, picked up the brewed medicine, and tiptoed into the inner room.

The man on the couch was sleeping soundly, but his brow was more relaxed than usual.

She sat on the edge of the bed, scooped up a spoonful of medicine, and gently blew on it to cool it down, her movements gentle and calm.

Under the old locust tree, someone hesitated for a moment, then whispered, "Deceiving one's master and ancestors is ultimately wrong. Besides, when has Old Zhang ever lied to the neighbors all these years?"

More and more people are starting to frown.

The blind old Daoist priest trembled, his eyes filled with tears, and the grievances in his heart were gradually smoothed out.

He could not see where the true Buddha was, nor could he see the increasingly fearful face of that wicked disciple, but he could hear the sound of flowers blooming in everyone's hearts.

In the private school, the old teacher stared blankly out the window. In front of all the students, he tremblingly took out the forbidden book with its worn edges.

The children below looked up, the fierceness and scheming in their eyes fading, replaced by their original innocent curiosity, as if they were seeing a different world altogether.

In the dilapidated Land God Temple, the little girl carried the healed sparrow into the sunlight, watching it flap its wings and fly into the sky.

The wind lifted the patched corner of her dress.

She tilted her head back, twirled around, and smiled, her eyes crinkling.

When one lamp is lit, a hundred lamps follow.

A little light gives birth, and a thousand points of light follow.

At the end of the long street.

Dingguang stood atop the lotus, and the lotus flowers beneath his feet bloomed one by one, only to fade away one by one.

He was still that barefoot, dusty little novice monk who came from the west, but he was no longer just himself.

The one who Dipankara is the one Dingguang.

In the capital of the Turbid Kingdom.

Those who had fallen into the Buddha's hands were finally freed from their bonds.

The sound of Buddhist chanting came from a very, very far place; it was tender, clear, and a little hoarse.

"With all Buddhas above, your disciple Dingguang makes this great vow today in this Buddha-land:"

May I light the first lamp of light in this world for all sentient beings who are lost in Ignorance and suffering, illuminating the long night of Ignorance...

"This is..."

Someone gasped in disbelief, their voice filled with astonishment.

Everyone looked up at the sky through the gaps in their palms.

Above the Turbid Kingdom, which had been shrouded in darkness for countless years, a simple, ancient Ancient Glazed Lamp hung silently in the Void, its flame flickering gently, its golden light cascading down like a waterfall, gradually permeating the entire world.

Wherever the light reaches, Ignorance recedes, evil dissolves, and the net of Ignorance formed by the Incense and Fire Prayer Power vanishes at this moment, no longer subject to the control of Miesheng.

Jingchen stared blankly at the ancient lamp, almost unable to believe his eyes. He murmured:

"That is... Ancient Glazed Lamp... an item that accompanied the Ancient Buddha Dipankara..."

"In this world, an ancient Buddha has actually descended to earth...!"

His words caused a stir throughout the room.

They entered the Turbid Kingdom with the intention of dying, to eliminate the Demonic Monk and save the world, never daring to imagine that they would receive the appearance of an ancient Buddha.

As everyone gazed at the lights in the sky, they momentarily forgot the perilous situation they were in, their hearts filled with turbulent emotions.

However, the outsiders, including Daoist Qingzhi and Chen Dingxin, were all shaken, because they had all heard the name "Dingguang"!

That was the Future Buddha of Vajra Chan Temple, and also the Future Buddha recognized by Buddhist School, yet on this day he appeared as if an ancient Buddha had descended to earth!

Daoist Qingzhi naturally remembered that little monk who followed Yu Tunzhou around all day, never speaking recklessly and never reciting Buddhist scriptures...

She subconsciously looked in the direction of the Bao Household, only to see Bao Ruyin already kneeling on the ground, her expression devout, tears welling up in her eyes, because she had witnessed the Buddha's teachings shining brightly and the long night being illuminated!

This place is actually the land where the Future Buddha will attain enlightenment!

At that moment, Fu Tingxue noticed that the Buddha Dharma Aspect standing between heaven and earth revealed a wild joy that had been suppressed to the extreme and then suddenly erupted.

His heart sank suddenly.

This fiend... has far surpassed their level, reaching the level of Immortals and Gods!

Can this ancient Buddha, who has descended to earth, deal with this Demonic Monk?

"The Dipankara... it's actually the Dipankara..."

Mietian looked at Deng Canglan ahead and laughed.

"This is the kind of disciple I wanted to see. I mistakenly took your foolish disciple for a disciple before, and your answers were truly disappointing."

"Alright."

"If you were merely an ordinary Buddhist disciple, what I would have swallowed would have been nothing more than the Buddhist School fortune, and I might not have been able to find the Great Dao of Cause and Effect. But since you are the Ancient Buddha Dipankara... what I have swallowed today is the beginning of all lamps!"

"I have long heard of the name of the Past Buddha, who was not only the beginning of all lights, but also the source of the Buddha's lineage and the starting point of all Buddhist teachings."

Mietian didn't look at Deng Canglan again. All his attention was focused on the sky, on that small figure stepping on lotus flowers, each step radiant.

"Ancient Buddha, do you think that severing the karmic connection between the people of this Turbid Kingdom and me will cut off their offerings and leave me adrift like a rootless duckweed?"

He grinned maliciously, took a step forward, his robe sleeves suddenly swung, his five fingers clenched, and the Buddha's body in the capital rose up, causing the entire world to tremble violently!

The net of Ignorance had been torn apart by the light, coalesced again, seemingly threatening to engulf the lights of the world once more.

"I have already seized the source of the Great Dao in this world. Even if you were truly the Ancient Buddha Dipankara reborn, how could you possibly oppose me here!"

Before the words were finished, Mietian's palm covered the heavens and earth. Although the palm technique Tathagata Divine Palm, its divine intent at that moment was to Mietian and exterminate all living beings!

"You are the one Dipankara; today, I will be the one who blows it out!"

With a single palm strike, the world sank into darkness.

The immense demonic power poured down like a mountain collapsing and a tsunami crashing down, shattering the Void and extinguishing the sun and moon wherever it passed.

The people of the Turbid Kingdom were immersed in the bewilderment and clarity of the first light of enlightenment, but they soon sensed a suffocating sense of oppression sweeping in from all directions, as if the heavens and earth were collapsing, about to crush the last remaining glimmer of light in the world.

Under this palm strike, not only the common people of the Turbid Kingdom, but even among the many supreme experts in the capital, such as Jingchen, none of them were able to make a move. They were all unable to move due to the overwhelming pressure!

Daoist Qingzhi gritted her teeth. Even when facing her senior brother, she hadn't reached the point where she wouldn't draw her sword. This Demonic Monk of Mietian... seemed to have completely become the master of this world!

now.

Standing beneath the demonic figure, Mietian's face was devoid of its previous warm smile, replaced only by naked greed and deep demonic intent.

He made a grasping motion with his five fingers, and the towering Buddha Dharma Aspect behind him also pressed down with a palm, carrying the fundamental principles of heaven and earth and all kinds of laws. The Void shattered layer by layer in front of this palm, as if it were made of paper, and the entire world groaned and trembled.

This palm strike not only aimed at Dingguang, but also attempted to grasp the solitary glass lamp suspended in the sky as well!

"If I devour you today, I too can become a Buddha and an ancestor!"

The Mietian roar descended, carrying an almost frenzied certainty.

So what if Ancient Buddha Dipankara?

He has refined the root of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth; now he is this world, and this world is him.

With a single palm strike, the heavens will kill you, the earth will perish, and all living beings will bow down!

If the true Buddha descended to earth and fell into this world, it would be like a dragon trapped in shallow waters or a tiger fallen into the plains. Why shouldn't he be able to devour it?

The divine palm drew ever closer, and the light from the glass lamp began to flicker precariously.

On the lotus flower at the end of the long street, Dingguang raised his head, but did not look at the world-destroying palm that blotted out the sky.

His eyes reflected the image of a blue robe.

"Senior brother..."

Just as this world-destroying palm strike was a hundred feet away from the glass lamp, it suddenly stopped and silently dissolved.

Like Qingfeng passing through a hall, leaving no trace.

Not a wisp of wind was disturbed, as if the earth-shattering power just now was nothing but an illusion.

The world suddenly fell silent.

Just because he stood between heaven and earth in a blue robe.

For the first time, surprise and apprehension surged in Mietian's eyes.

Even Deng Canglan's comeback just now hadn't moved him this much, making him feel somewhat...

Out of control!

At this moment, he could not sense the depth of the other party's cultivation, nor could he even explore the cause and effect of the other party's existence.

He swept his Primordial Spirit across the area, but it was completely empty, as if the person standing there was not a living person at all, and did not exist in this world.

"Who are you?"

The next moment.

The man in the blue robe took a small step.

Mietian's expression changed drastically. He felt an irresistible sharpness pressing down on him, and he involuntarily retreated!

Ten zhang, a hundred zhang, a thousand zhang...

The Buddha Dharma Aspect behind him stepped forward, its fierce expression meeting the enemy's attack. With a thunderous palm strike, it slammed down on the tiny figure in the blue robe!

However, the man in the blue robe merely lifted his foot.

His green robe billowed out, and the soles of his shoes sank in.

The towering Buddha statue, resembling a demon, collapsed like a clay sculpture!

Smoke and dust billowed into the sky, and the earth shook violently.

"You want to become a Buddha or an ancestor?"

The newcomer placed one foot on the chest of the fallen Dharma Aspect, lowered his eyes to look down at this "Lord of Heaven and Earth," and smiled.

"Then I will grant you what you cannot have."