I attained immortality in the real world.

Chapter 81 The Form of the Spirit
Is it difficult to live forever?
It's not difficult; achieving immortality is easy!

Does copying human memories into a mechanical body or creating a virtual character in the real world count as achieving immortality?
From another perspective, the body does not disappear after death; it simply decomposes into other forms. Your breath simply goes with the wind, and your soul simply merges into the world. A drop of water merges into the vast ocean, either freezing into ice or turning into vapor. How can that be considered death?
Therefore, as long as the definition of 'me' is broad enough, then you are inherently long-lived.

Immortality is easy, but to achieve immortality without losing oneself is difficult, as difficult as ascending to heaven.

Let's set aside whether the Yin-Yang magic works in the real world.

Chen Jing did not accept this kind of immortality. He had not even managed to see me, let alone preserve me. At most, he had died uncleanly and become something dirty.

To some extent, the path of "knowledge cultivation" rooted in the belief that "I am the only one who matters in heaven and earth" truly harbors a hope for immortality.

"........."

Why not worship me?

Upon hearing such absurd words, Venerable Wuyuan paused in his work of manipulating the relic, his eyes fixed on Qianye.

His expression was very serious; even if he knelt down and kowtowed at this moment, he would accept it with complete equanimity.

If Chiba could be like a clay or wooden Buddha statue, ignoring everything and saying nothing, and bestow upon him the true teachings, he wouldn't mind paying homage to him.

A clay and wood sculpture of a Buddha?

It's not necessarily true that I'm no better than others!
However, with the rise of Yogacara, Buddhism perished. Leaving aside the loss of the power bestowed by Buddhism, the practice of protecting spirits is intertwined with the honor and disgrace of Buddhism. Without a flourishing incense offering, how can the spirits be sustained?

Compared to the Yogacara school's concept of seeing one's true nature and self, living a longer life and enjoying the pleasures of the world seems more reliable.

Knowing there was no need for further conversation, Venerable Wuyuan revealed a cold smile and said, "Wonderful, truly wonderful! I regard you as an enemy, yet you still think of converting me. This is truly in line with Xuanzang's Mahayana teachings, that there are no beings who cannot be converted."

Venerable Wuyuan stood up and left the pagoda.

Since their desires and wants were different, even the most eloquent words were useless. Chen Jing did not try to stop him, knowing that his attempt to convert him had failed!
Just moments after Venerable Wuyuan left the pagoda, the Golden Cicada of the Lotus Heart in the Inner Realm flapped its wings again, and the prayer beads suddenly began to heat up and become hot.

"Buzz... This is a spirit, like a ghost."

With the enhancement of the Cicada Sense Divine Power, Chen Jing's perception was even more acute than at its peak.

This time, it was no longer a vague sense of the presence of evil spirits. Instead, there were eighteen humanoid phantoms in the void, floating in mid-air like ghosts. Their auras were far stronger than the evil spirits that formed the image of Shakyamuni's relics, and they were attacking him with ferocious expressions.

"Woooo..."

The spirit, three feet away from him, seemed to have struck an invisible wall of energy. Instead of touching Chiba, it was forcibly repelled by the invisible wall of energy.

The spirits seemed to be in pain, but they didn't pause for a second. They gathered again and crashed into the invisible barrier of energy protecting Chen Jing. With each impact, the barrier of energy formed by the prayer beads got closer. From three feet to two and a half feet, from two and a half feet to two feet, until the barrier was less than one foot.

With a loud "bang," the string holding the protective prayer beads suddenly snapped, scattering the sandalwood beads all over the ground.

"Waaaah..."

The eighteen Yin spirits went berserk instantly, simultaneously entering Qianye's body and surging towards his heart.

At this moment, bodily sensations become clear, and the real body and the character partially overlap. The body begins to feel very cold, and it feels as if a hole has appeared in the chest cavity, temporarily taken over by the evil spirit, making it impossible to sense the beating of the heart.

Ouch! In the real world, a sharp pain shot through the heart, while in the character of Chiba, the heart stopped beating.

"Is this the attack method of the Yin spirit? Although this level of attack can affect the real world, it will not be fatal. Dharma form - Fearless Lion Seal."

Chen Jing knew he could leave the cultivation world at any moment, but he chose not to. Instead, he carefully sensed the effects of the Yin Spirit's attack on him. When he was about to collapse, he quickly formed hand seals, and a pale golden lion phantom appeared around his body. In an instant, the Yin Spirit was expelled from Qianye's body, and his heart resumed beating.

The spirit had only been inside Chiba's body for a short while when its illusory form became even more illusory, clearly indicating that it had suffered great losses and become much weaker.

"hold head high!"

Chen Jing made the final handprint.

The pale golden, fearless lion opened its blood-red maw and let out a roar that existed on a spiritual level.

Instead of a group attack, it focused all its power on the nearest Yin spirit. The Yin spirit, being an illusory form, burst like a soap bubble upon hearing the fearless lion's divine roar, leaving no trace behind, like wisps of smoke or thin mist.

"Namo Amitabha Buddha..."

Outside the stupa, the monk Wuyuan chanted scriptures softly, his hands constantly fiddling with a string of relic prayer beads.

Upon seeing a colored stone suddenly lose its luster, he calmly took out another colored stone to replace it. Another evil spirit passed through the wall and entered the pagoda. The eighteen evil spirits, like sharks smelling blood, fearlessly burrowed into Qianye's body, and the familiar throbbing pain returned.

Chen Jingjian had just destroyed one Yin spirit when another Yin spirit at its peak appeared instantly. Although he could still release the Fearless Lion Seal twice, he didn't want to waste his divine power and chose to give up the struggle: "Forget it! As long as we can test that the Lion Seal can damage Yin spirits, that's enough."

If Chiba cannot convert the Utauru, become the Pope, and become the leader, it means that the character of Chiba has reached the end and his value has been exhausted.

The necessary tasks were already completed long before they came into the sight of the Grand Master. The idea of ​​the weak defeating the strong is a fantasy. When the weak can no longer hide themselves or their intentions and are exposed to the gaze of the strong, it means they can no longer accomplish anything.

The pagoda's gates were wide open, and the Grand Preceptor, with his back to Chiba, was completely undefended. Elite guards stood on both sides of the pagoda. A spiritual confrontation would leave no trace, but physical combat would be irrefutable evidence.

If we kill Chiba, we can also pin the crime of assassinating the Imperial Preceptor on him, thus overshadowing his reputation at the Ullambana Festival. It would be perfect.

"Plop!" a sound.

Chiba clutched his chest and collapsed in pain.

The purple-gold pot was also knocked to the ground, and the precious golden magnolia flower was broken by the pot, its leaves damaged and flowers withered.

Chiba was gradually losing his life force. The scene before Chen Jing's eyes began to fade from reality to illusion, and the sounds grew fainter as they receded into the distance. When everything before his eyes became completely blank, his consciousness was completely detached from the world of cultivation.

"........."

The Imperial Study in the New Tang Dynasty Palace.

Li Zhi was waiting for Qianye to preach when a palace servant came to report. He couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "What? Master Qianye has suddenly passed away from a heart ailment!"

He had just met Chiba last night, and Chiba didn't seem to have a heart ailment. He could roughly guess that it was the Grand Preceptor's doing. After all, he had dealt with Buddhism for over a hundred years. Like the phenomenon of Buddha's relics, although he didn't know the specific principles, he already had some understanding of the methods.

For some reason, this method was useless against emperors, but it was indeed an extremely convenient means of assassination.

Chiba was taken to a Buddhist pagoda by a palace servant to discuss the Dharma with the Imperial Preceptor. After the Imperial Preceptor left the pagoda, Master Chiba clutched his chest and collapsed in pain. There are many people who can testify to this.

Even the emperor cannot act arbitrarily; there are rules to restrain him. At most, he can question the Grand Preceptor a few times and suppress him openly or secretly. When Li Zhisheng developed the intention to destroy Buddhism, he had an irreconcilable conflict with Buddhism. Even without the Qianye incident, Buddhism would still face suppression from the emperor.

The only person who could be held accountable was a palace servant. The servant died with the promise of being reborn in the Pure Land of the Black Tortoise, hoping to be a fully healthy nobleman in the next life, and felt no pain whatsoever.

The struggle began with Chiba's death, and everything seemed to be evolving into a certain illusion predicted by Xuanzang.

(End of this chapter)