전생검신 88권 12화

Is that some kind of noise I’m hearing?

I was treated like a bug, and now I’m being treated like one?

I tilted my head for a moment at that cryptic statement, and then it hit me.

“Oh.”

It’s about Ananda and Subori, isn’t it?

As I showed my realization, Subori began to tremble a bit as he spoke.

“…You know I’m an ancient [Mask], right? In fact, I’ve lived far longer than during the Shang Dynasty, and even longer than that Chi You. I was born at least 2000 years before the establishment of the Xia Dynasty. By Ming Dynasty standards, I’m over 5000 years old.”

“I know that.”

Subori was a being who developed sorcery in collaboration with the great sages from the early Celestial Realm. If he were under 5000 years old, that would be stranger. However, he definitely didn’t live to the extent of tens of thousands of years like during the Takrok Era.

“I confidently regarded myself as the freest existence between Heaven and Earth. I searched through all religions and organizations in this world to find my identity. Then rumors spread that someone named Gautama Buddha appeared in Tianzhu, proclaiming the great Dharma. I thought, maybe he could quench the thirst of the being I was desperately searching for, so I went to find him.”

Subori then suddenly chuckled.

“…Gautama Buddha was a nobody. He lacked any innate talent, didn’t inherit the bloodline of great beings, and had no talents as a Demon Sorcerer or Sorcerer. He was training in the martial arts passed down from the Shakya royal family for self-defense, but he wasn’t a martial arts master like you. He was simply a wise human… to me, who had already surpassed the Great Immortal of the Celestial Realm, he seemed insignificant.”

“…!!”

So you’re saying Gautama Buddha was just a slightly clever dude?!

I was a bit taken aback by this unexpected revelation. I thought he must be an incredible figure since he had nurtured outstanding beings like Subori and Ananda.

I hid my surprise and said to Subori,

“Then why did you become a disciple of such an ordinary human as Gautama Buddha?”

“It was because of the logic of the [Cycle].”

“Cycle?”

“Yeah. He had received none of the great ancient knowledge and bloodlines, yet he had already speculated about the [Great Cycle] encompassing this universe solely based on his own wisdom and insight. It was surely closer to the essence than most divine statuses, so I was greatly surprised. Of course, he hadn’t approached actual empirical truth, but a mere human reaching such a conclusion based on theory was something I’d never heard of… So I volunteered to become one of his ten chief disciples to protect him.”

“…….”

I mulled over Subori’s words and muttered,

“You wanted to protect Gautama Buddha and see how far his wisdom would reach in the [Great Cycle].”

“Exactly. Gautama Buddha’s theories possessed profound depth, and even the leaders of Tianzhu at the time were influenced by them. Because of that, there were many who wished to eliminate him for political reasons. I intentionally established a spiritual temple called the Gion Monastery to protect him and prevented countless evil sorcerers from attacking him, even taking out more than a hundred assassins. If it weren’t for me, Gautama Buddha would have been dead in no time.”

“Umm….”

“Of course… I never considered Gautama Buddha my master at all. I followed him, studied the Dharma, and realized my identity was as a mask of the Dharma, but so what? In terms of status, it was like the sky and earth difference… I had plans to reveal my true self to Gautama Buddha one day and take him as my subordinate or disciple.”

As Subori said that, he stared off into the distance and spat,

“…Then, when the time of Gautama Buddha’s life and death approached… that’s when it happened.”

“That incident?”

“Have you ever heard of a being named Mara Papiyas?”

Mara Papiyas?

I pondered for a moment, recalling what I had learned about Buddhism, and replied,

“Isn’t that the evil demon that obstructs enlightenment?”

“Correct. That being suddenly attacked Gautama Buddha.”

“……? Isn’t that just a metaphor? Referring to the distractions that interfere with a Buddhist’s enlightenment….”

“No way. While it may have been used as a metaphor later, at that time, there was a real demon summoned in the holy order led by the three great gods of Tianzhu, who sacrificed humans in the dark to dominate the world. That was Mara Papiyas. The ones leading the assassination of Gautama Buddha were precisely those from the three great gods of Tianzhu.”

“Huh?!”

Wait, what?! So the real Mara Papiyas actually existed?!

While I was startled, Subori calmly continued.

“They summoned Mara Papiyas to use its power to dominate the material world. After they established control, they intended to offer the causality to their true god, the three great gods of Tianzhu.”

“Hmm… Your abilities surpass that of a minor demon king, so if Mara Papiyas is a demon king, shouldn’t you be a decent match against it?”

“What are you talking about? Mara Papiyas was not just a demon king; it was a demon god.”

“Huh?”

“It was a being that made a pact with the three great gods of Tianzhu in the ultra-ancient times, a dark lord residing in the depths of the far universe… literally one of the [Old Rulers], governing one of the dark constellations. In other words, the [Old Ruler] manifested on Earth through causality, so I could never block Mara Papiyas.”

“……!!”

Wh-what… So an [Old Ruler] was summoned in Tianzhu?!

Subori continued speaking.

“The summoned Mara Papiyas went wild and annihilated the leadership of the three gods’ order. Since those in the order were nothing but mere humans, there was no way they could control a being like that. However, whether their wish was granted or not, it immediately attacked Gautama Buddha and his ten disciples who were their rivals.”

“That makes sense.”

“I tried my best to stop it, but it was utterly futile. I managed to evacuate them as far as the underground of Kapilavastu, but there was nowhere to escape in the world… Even the Three Sovereigns didn’t intervene since Mara Papiyas’s summoning was justified by real causality, so there was no way out… I thought everything was over at that point.”

Subori suddenly let out a long sigh.

“…Then Gautama Buddha suddenly attained enlightenment and ascended to a realm transcending the [Great Cycle], while Ananda awakened with the mask of nirvana and struck down Mara Papiyas in a single blow. It was the first time I had ever seen an [Old Ruler] being crushed by pure force and expelled to an outer dimension.”

“……?!”

I-I can’t believe it… Was there actually an [Old Ruler] summoned in Tianzhu?!

Subori continued.

“The summoned Mara Papiyas went on a rampage and annihilated the upper echelons of the three gods’ order. Those guys were simply humans, so they had no ability to control such a being. However, whether their wish was granted or not, it immediately attacked Gautama Buddha and his ten disciples, who were their enemies.”

“That indeed happened.”

“I tried my best to block it, but I stood no chance against it. I somehow got everyone to the underground of Kapilavastu, but there was absolutely nowhere to escape in the world… Even the Three Sovereigns refused to intervene since the summoning of Mara Papiyas was justified by real causality… I thought it was all over.”

Subori suddenly sighed deeply.

“…But then, when things seemed hopeless, Gautama Buddha attained enlightenment unexpectedly and transcended to a level beyond the [Great Cycle], while Ananda awakened with the mask of nirvana and took down Mara Papiyas in a single blow. That was the first time I witnessed an [Old Ruler] get crushed by sheer force and cast out into an outer dimension in my life.”

“……?!”

I can’t believe it… that Mara Papiyas, a real dark demon, was actually defeated and expelled like that?!

Subori looked grim.

“I experienced a tremendous loss of confidence back then. I never expected the beings I underestimated to evolve to a point where they could regard me as nothing more than a bug… So I started wandering, trying to find a way to enhance my own power in Heaven and Earth, which led me to obsession over a being named the Monster King and meeting the Celestial Sage.”

“Umm… just a sec….”

I stammered, trying to pin Subori down.

“So… you didn’t bring up Ananda because of some serious inferiority complex regarding him… Does that sound about right?”

“That’s correct.”

“Alright, I get that. But there’s something strange about your story.”

“What’s strange?”

“Ananda attaining the fusion mask and gaining immense power makes sense, given what we’ve seen. But how did you know Gautama Buddha became a being that transcended the [Great Cycle]?”

“It’s because I wear the mask of the Dharma; I sensed that Ananda was receiving the blessing of Gautama Buddha, who had become the [Great Cycle] itself through the [Overlapping Worlds]. At that moment, I also sacrificed my [Name] to Gautama Buddha, obtaining blessings and freeing myself from the constraints of the mask.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Overlapping Worlds?

As I tilted my head in confusion, Subori held his hands together in prayer and stated.

“You’ve faced Ananda, so you must know he used a technique that fuses two worlds together. Right?”

“Uh, yeah, I think so. The Great Six Heaven World, perhaps?”

“That’s literally a technique for summoning another Great Universe. However, it’s neither a parallel world nor a normal dimensional realm. It’s a manifestation of the moment the [Great Cycle] circulates, which could be termed the Kshanashtra technique.”

“……?”

Summoning the moment the [Great Cycle] circulates?

What does that even mean?

Seeing my perplexed expression, Subori brought his clasped hands closer to me.

“See this? This is a prayer gesture, right? Two boundary surfaces are touching.”

“That’s true.”

“Simply put, the Great Six Heaven World is a tangible realization of Buddha’s prayer gesture. When you summon the moment the [Great Cycle] circulates, the boundary surfaces collide, causing all laws to reach the void. And in that void world, almost all divine powers become ineffective, while Ananda, blessed by the [Great Cycle], can mobilize near-infinite power. Being able to use such nonsensical, absurd techniques depends solely on the power of the [Great Cycle] granting strength to Ananda.”

“……!!”

“The reason you could stand against the Great Six Heaven World was because you fought with your own martial skills without relying on divine powers. It’s absurdly coincidental that you managed to do that, but if you had tried to confront him with weak divine power, you would have been torn apart just like Vishnu.”

So that’s how it was?!

As I began to grasp the principles of the Great Six Heaven World, I was amazed, and Subori continued.

“Mara Papiyas, the demon itself, couldn’t fight back against me like you could, so it got severely torn apart once and just shattered at Ananda’s consecutive blows. From that point on, Ananda could truly be regarded as one of the strongest beings in both Heaven and Earth, including divine status. He simply remained hidden somewhere without showing off his power, which is why no one knew about him.”

“…Seems that way. But then, let me ask you one more thing.”

“What is it?”

“Actually, besides Ananda, I encountered another one of the ten disciples. This guy named Raoun, who is the Jikukcheon among the Four Heavenly Kings of the Parvati sect in Tianzhu and a master of the Absolute Realm.”

Upon hearing my words, Subori lifted the corners of his mouth in a bitter smile.

“Haha, has that brat turned into a servant licking the toes of the deity?”

“…….”

What a familiar way of speaking…

I continued,

“Raoun awakened something called [Recognition] and made me feel pain. I can’t feel pain at all in my mechanical body from the future world, yet oddly enough, beings like Ananda and Raoun, who are both ten disciples of Buddha, had the ability to inflict pain on me. Do you know why that is?”

“Oh? You might just have the ability of a peerless divine power that hadn’t come to mind before… If you’re a mechanical body that lacks any divine force, then that could carry some significance.”

As Subori was making a curious expression, he suddenly extended his palm and placed it against my chest.

Wham!!

Out of nowhere, a striking blow full of internal energy!

As I was hit, I felt my body shudder. Subori’s internal energy was above that of a Dharma Guardian, so it was no joke to deal with. But the problem was that it wasn’t just my body that shook; I was feeling tremendous pain.

“Ugh!”

“Does it hurt?”

“…You’re not telling me you too?”

Subori nodded.

“Right now, you’re still biological, so you probably won’t feel it too much. Just a little pain in your veins? However, if I were to use the power of the Eight Consciousnesses, I could inflict the same pain on inanimate objects as well.”

“Eight Consciousnesses?”

“The Eight Consciousnesses are abilities universally passed down by all of Gautama Buddha’s ten disciples. This doesn’t belong to any innate talent at all because it directly connects to the [Great Cycle]. It’s not power bestowed by any divine being. It can only be used by a disciple of the Buddha.”

“……!!”

“I’ve heard that only a minuscule number of extreme experts who have reached a divine realm can use it, but I don’t know about that. I’ve lived long, but I’ve never seen such beings.”

A power directly tied to the [Great Cycle]!

I realized that it was certainly not a simple matter, and even a dull mind like mine quickly got the picture.

While I was frowning, Subori spoke again.

“Think carefully. This isn’t just about the ability to feel pain. What if it means being able to inflict the same sensations on inanimate objects as with living ones?”

“…….”

“It means the worldview of no one (無一物) has been materialized. Everything in this world is empty, and both life and non-life are essentially hollow beings… This signifies the equality of all things. Life is pain, and pain is proof of existence… However, through various means, existence itself could be denied… Yet the Eight Consciousnesses serves as a reminder that existence has a way to reach reality.”

…

This is complicated…

“Umm… it’s too hard to comprehend…”

“Hmm. It seems you can’t quite grasp it through the method of enlightenment. Let me slightly abandon the transcendental state and explain more directly.”

As Subori’s gaze sharpened, he spoke firmly.

“In this world, there’s truly no distinction between living and non-living things; everything is fictitious! But if you inject intention and recognize it, it could all be the truth…!! The Eight Consciousnesses is merely a technique that proves this realization.”

“…….”

“Remember when I gave you a metaphor about hair before?”

Subori spoke while pulling out a handful of his own hair. He placed it on his palm, staring at it intently.

“Baek Woong, is this hair alive or dead?”

“It’s not really alive, to begin with?”

“That’s the perception from those who possess cognition. However… if one truly enters the realm of the Eight Consciousnesses… even this hair could become alive and possess a [mind].”

“Does that even make sense?”

“If you claim that it doesn’t, then saying the [Mask] possesses a mind would also make no sense. Didn’t I mention that before?”

“…….”

W-Wait, what?

As I began to realize something and hesitated, Subori’s decisive words continued.

“All inanimate things in this world also possess intentions and hearts. There’s a possibility! To prove that fact is the real essence of the world, the Eight Consciousnesses. And that’s why using the Eight Consciousness allows pain to be inflicted on machines, meaning it suggests that machines may also have the possibility of having a heart.”