Longevity, starting from being a chicken raising servant Chapter 2374 - 193: Soul Search (2)
Previously on Longevity, starting from being a chicken raising servant...
Wang Ba positioned himself before the monk, gradually drawing back his hand, a faint crease forming between his brows.
The combined application of Yin God Power and the Soul Searching Technique merely extracted a scant portion of details from this monk.
Much of it involved vivid recollections etched deeply in the monk's mind, like his initial steps into Cultivation, talks with his father, and achieving the height of his Domain.
Details tied to the Supreme True Buddha were exceedingly sparse.
Not a single hint emerged about the Tianshang Buddha's appearance or his areas of mastery.
The bulk of the disclosures aligned closely with what he had already uncovered.
Yet, a few fresh insights did surface, including the fact that the Supreme True Buddha commanded three mighty Dharma realms.
Apart from the Seated Buddha clashing with the Cloud Sky Realm and the Reclining Buddha overseeing the Sea of Chaos Realm's gateway, another existed: the Standing Buddha.
These three Buddhas embodied the three grand Dharma realms, each overseen by a formidable Great Bodhisattva.
That Standing Buddha, though, lingered in a far-off location and had yet to make its way here.
Beyond those points, nothing more came to light.
"Could it be due to his rather modest rank?"
A pensive glint flickered in Wang Ba's gaze.
Arhats rank alongside Rogue Cultivators, and while their standing isn't trivial, when it comes to the inner workings of the Supreme True Buddha, they grasp only surface-level secrets.
Such scraps prove barely useful for Wang Ba's quest to grasp the intricacies of the Supreme True Buddha.
The sole surprise turned out to be an fragmented Buddhist doctrine plucked from this monk's mind.
It bore the name "Great Blissful Heart Sutra."
Alas, its teachings were far from whole, and it appeared suited merely to basic levels of Cultivation.
"This is truly a case of 'deliberate efforts at flowers fail to make them grow, yet casual tosses of willows sprout shade without intent.'"
Wang Ba pondered briefly before acting once more, deploying Yin God Power alongside the Soul Searching Technique anew, sending the monk before him into fresh agonies of torment.
That enigmatic golden pattern proved oddly resilient, apparently adapting from the prior assault; this round, though Wang Ba triumphed again, the duration of the monk's subjugation under Yin God Power shrank markedly.
As a result, the extracted revelations dwindled in both volume and depth.
Insights on the Supreme True Buddha stayed thin, yet a handful of extra fragments concerning the "Great Blissful Heart Sutra" emerged, along with a partial Buddhist Divine Skill known as the 'Divine Footwork' method.
This Divine Footwork diverged sharply from the version Wang Ba had faced in the Little Cang World, drawing on rules that strayed from the standard Cultivation paths known to Cultivators; instead, it merged the sixfold essence of earth, fire, water, wind, space, and consciousness.
In that instant, enlightenment struck Wang Ba like lightning!
"I get it now!"
"The foundational rules grasped by Cultivators revolve around Yin and Yang plus the Five Elements, embodying the 'Dao' as 'existence,' where all stems from void to spawn the boundless, following 'one begets two, two begets three, three births myriad things'... Yet the Supreme True Buddha's rules center on the 'six great,' signifying 'emptiness' and 'non-existence,' echoing the 'suffering, origination, cessation, path' and 'all phenomena are void!'"
"These paths are utterly distinct at their core!"
Thus, his early brush with the Wisdom Magic Arhat left him baffled by the notion of a 'causality' rule.
While Cultivators accept causality's role, they trust in the Heavenly Dao's judgments of retribution and karma, yet their grasped rules omit any direct nod to causality.
For Heaven and Earth show no favoritism, viewing all as mere dogs of straw, remaining neutral and even-handed, with rules flowing ceaselessly and the Dao enduring forever.
In contrast, Buddhism views all as void, so the Dharma realms built on the four greats become mere 'consciousness' creations, born from the human psyche, thereby weaving in causality.
"My initial hunch was spot on—these represent two entirely separate Cultivation systems."
"The divide runs so deep, it surpasses even the chasm between the Dao of True Martial and ordinary Cultivators."
"Should I... master this 'six great rules' of the Supreme True Buddha, might I then pierce the veil of those cryptic golden patterns adorning these monks?"
A subtle luminescence kindled in Wang Ba's eyes.
He sensed instinctively that these baffling golden patterns likely tied into the 'six great rules' as well.
From there, his thoughts cascaded onward.
"Immortal Pass!"
"Those elusive rules I couldn't fathom at the Immortal Pass—might they too derive from the six great rules?"
"Grasping the six great rules, could I shatter the Immortal Pass?"
"And... Tibo’s Six Candle Stick of Tongyou, aligning perfectly with earth, fire, water, wind, space, and consciousness—does that hold hidden meaning?"
"Still, if Tibo embodied the Supreme True Buddha, why do none of his Six Candle Stick of Tongyou rest with the Supreme True Buddha's followers?"
The elements of earth, fire, water, and wind all reside within the Sea of Chaos Realm.
Meanwhile, space dwells in the Eastern Luli Buddha Realm, and consciousness in the Canlong Realm.
The forces presumed to stem from Tibo as the Supreme True Buddha's legacy lack even one Treasure Staff.
"Coincidence, or something more deliberate...?"
Wang Ba's thoughts swirled wildly, unearthing deeper and broader speculations.
Yet he quickly cast aside these stray notions.
Such matters could wait; his priority lay in squeezing every last drop of worth from these monks.
Right then, he unleashed Yin God Power and the Soul Searching Technique a third time, then a fourth, fifth...
From the Arhat standing before him, the gleaned intelligence grew ever scarcer and more fragmented until Yin God Power could no longer hold sway; only then did he halt, withdrawing from the man's Sea of Consciousness before freeing the remaining monks.
Not one of the ten Arhats escaped his probe, and next came the Bodhisattvas...
Barring Wisdom Truth Bodhisattva, whose Primordial Spirit blazed with unyielding strength and resisted the hampered Yin God Power, every other monk—even the Bodhisattvas—fell under Wang Ba's exhaustive soul scrutiny, one after another.