Chapter 777: Dharma Assembly

Chapter 777: The Dharma Assembly

"Master Li, you are not a follower of the Buddha. Allow me to explain the proceedings now. Later, you shall join me and the disciples in the Hall of a Thousand Buddhas for the Dharma Assembly. Brother Xin Hui will lead the other Arhat disciples in holding an Unobstructed Great Feast in the other four halls."

The abbot Chan Du, clad in his saffron robes, walked forward with Li Huowang by his side. Unlike yesterday, he now bore a purple-golden bowl in his hands—a vessel that clearly did not belong to the mortal realm.

"The Unobstructed Great Feast?" Li Huowang recalled something and frowned slightly. "As expected, one's family determines one's company. They're even planning such a feast to draw the attention of the Buddha himself."

"Master Li, the Unobstructed Great Feast means no obstruction or hindrance—everyone, regardless of status, sect, wisdom, folly, good or evil, is treated equally in this grand almsgiving."

"So that's what it means? I overthought it. You needn't explain further; just help me see the Buddha." Li Huowang suddenly felt he had judged these monks too harshly. He'd thought it was some kind of Unobstructed Great Feast.

But when they stepped outside the hall, he saw rows of monks leaning against the walls, palms pressed together, their only adornment being the rosary around their necks, all sitting there tapping wooden fish in unison. Only then did Li Huowang realize that the old monk's words hadn't been dismissive of his intentions.

As they drew closer, the overlapping chanting voices reached Li Huowang’s ears:

"Deeply practicing Prajna Paramita, seeing clearly that the five aggregates are empty... Bodhisattva, relying on Prajna Paramita, go, go, across, across, to the other shore... Enlightenment, thus..."

Led by Abbot Chan Du and his monks, Li Huowang, freshly attired in clean clothes, entered the Hall of a Thousand Buddhas surrounded by monks.

The entire hall was filled with incense smoke so thick that Li Huowang could barely make out the bodies of the main Buddha statue, let alone its head.

Besides the central Buddha, the surrounding platforms were densely packed with various seated or reclining statues of different Buddhas.

Whether or not there were actually a thousand Buddha statues in this so-called Hall of a Thousand Buddhas, Li Huowang wasn’t sure. But he could clearly sense that these statues were more sacred than others—because each one was gilded from head to toe.

Li Huowang sat cross-legged on a cushion, slowly closing his eyes.

Just as he took a deep breath and opened them suddenly, looking at the transformed Buddha statues before him, the solemn sounds of drums, bells, gongs, and cymbals rang out from outside the hall, playing Buddhist melodies.

These "Buddhas," large or small, still resembled the revolting ones he had seen before—the same grotesque, repulsive figures.

Even though they were now gold-plated, they didn’t improve in the slightest—they gained an added strangeness instead.

A massive, twisted, malformed flesh mountain lay like a pile of rotting mud upon a lotus throne, its skin resembling a toad’s back covered in thick blood plasma.

Various bizarre reproductive organs wrapped in blood surged out from that nauseating skin, writhing continuously as the body moved.

Such grotesque and repulsive things were now crawling with naked monks who writhed alongside them. Between the monks and the organs, long incense sticks, each a meter long, were stuck into the flesh.

These monks, lost in ecstasy, inhaled the white smoke rising from the incense with frenzied expressions and rapid breathing, filling every gap in the "Buddha" with their own flesh and blood, their bodies moving rhythmically with the creature's motion.

Li Huowang exhaled slowly and closed his eyes again. "It was right to leave Li Sui outside."

When the distant, deep tolling of a great bell echoed throughout Zhengde Temple, Abbot Chan Du led all the disciples to sit in a circle around Li Huowang.

"Master Li, if you wish to meet the Buddha, you must have sincere faith and eliminate doubt. Only then will the Buddha develop Bodhi mind. To believe in the Buddha, one must be sincere; without sincerity, one cannot see the Buddha."

"I understand. Let’s begin."

Chan Du picked up a long incense stick and gently tapped it against the side of his purple-golden bowl. *Ting.*

All the monks around Li Huowang rose to their feet, while the "Buddhas" on the platforms looked down upon the scene with eyes that seemed to pity what they witnessed.

As the monks began chanting with devout faces, the prayer beads around them spat out indecipherable, obscene phrases, defiling the sacred sutras.

The sound of wooden fish, chanting, flesh striking flesh—all these noises pierced through Li Huowang’s senses, causing his body to tremble involuntarily. Some sensations were beginning to merge with him.

Li Huowang struggled to steady his mind and body, casting away all distractions, praying and bowing sincerely to the Buddha within his heart.

To worship the Buddha, one must be sincere, with no trace of distraction. Perhaps this posed a challenge for others, but for Li Huowang, it was the same in cultivation. If one cultivated with distractions, the results would carry those distractions along.

Li Huowang didn’t know how long he had been praying sincerely until suddenly everything grew impossibly quiet—so quiet that even the fall of a needle would be heard.

His eyelids trembled slightly as he opened his eyes. Floating there, suspended in midair, he beheld an utterly bizarre and shocking sight—he saw the Buddha! He saw the Buddha! He saw the Five Wisdom Buddhas stacked upon one another, forming five worlds.

The five Buddhas, half male and half female, had their organs interlocked and nested, mutually attacking and receiving, each bearing the consequences of their own karma.

But this vision vanished in an instant. Before he could see more details, Li Huowang let out a pained groan as both his eyes exploded outward. A mortal body simply couldn’t endure the sight of the Five Wisdom Buddhas.

Though he had no eyes, Li Huowang could still sense the Five Wisdom Buddhas through touch, smell, and hearing.

The existence of the Lord of Fate was extremely special. Even without eyes, Li Huowang could perceive His presence through his other senses.

But this state didn’t last long. Not only were his other sensory organs rapidly collapsing, but his mind was swelling uncontrollably.

"I!" Li Huowang shouted with all his might toward that direction: "I’m here to help you! Whatever you’re fighting, if Xuan Pin can do it, I can do it too!"

"Tell me! What must I do to help you?!" His voice carried across, yet received no reply.

Li Huowang endured the collapse of his entire sensory system, shouting and pressing forward.

Yet as he drew closer, he sensed something was wrong—his body was being assimilated! Being absorbed by the Dao of the Five Wisdom Buddhas!

His body changed like clay, transforming rapidly. Facing this, Li Huowang could do little but grit his teeth and forcefully reshape his body.

(End of Chapter)