Xiuxian: I studied abroad in modern times

Chapter 621 Zheng Fa's Preachings, Mahayana Buddhism

The believers were kowtowing when they suddenly saw a different person on the altar, which naturally left them somewhat bewildered.

Zheng Fa was bathed in radiant light, and the Buddha's aura behind his head was exceptionally pure. Naturally, they dared not doubt him, but their eyes were filled with confusion, unsure of what was about to happen.

Zheng Fa was also confused—how did I, the head of the Nine Mountains Sect, end up sitting on the altar of Leiyin Temple?

He didn't do it on purpose; it was Jinlian, the woman seated beneath him, who was causing the trouble.

Zheng Faneng could feel that the golden lotus beneath him was connected to the Pure Land above his head, and even Lu Yao's golden alms bowl seemed to be controlled and protected by this golden lotus.

He glanced up and saw that Lu Yao seemed to have also noticed something amiss. He looked down, frowned, and looked at Jinlian, asking him:
"What is this?"

Zheng Fa did not answer, nor did he care about the Lei Yin believers. He was focused on finding a way to escape, but he found it difficult—he was surrounded by Golden Immortals and had no one of his own!

Just as he was pondering, a warm sensation emanated from the golden lotus beneath him.

The warmth started from his buttocks and legs and gradually spread throughout his body. Under the influence of this mist, the various spirits in his acupoints and organs actually became clearer, more solid, and more expressive, and their cultivation progressed greatly!

He paused for a moment, then looked up at the Pure Land and saw wisps of smoke and mist flying down from the Pure Land and landing on the golden lotus.

If the Pure Land can nourish the Dharma body, it can even nourish the immortal body?
Zheng Fa's heart skipped a beat.

He had asked the Nine Nether Emperor and others, and learned that ordinary rogue immortals who wanted to become true immortals had to go through the Nine Tribulations of Rogue Immortals. The Nine Tribulations were divided into five before and four after. The first round was the Five Decays of Heaven and Man, which required the cultivator's immortal body to be fully developed. This was not easy. For an ordinary rogue immortal, it would take at least five thousand years to fully develop his immortal body.

Even the Nine Nether Emperor didn't have any particularly good methods.

But the Pure Land can actually nourish an immortal body!
Zheng Fa hesitated for a moment, then probed the golden lotus with his divine sense. He felt as if he had flown up and soared over ten thousand miles of sky.

He felt as if he were floating on a giant, transparent hot air balloon, looking at the Buddhist temples on the Western Continent that shone like stars.

Wisps of smoke rose from the Buddhist temple, floated into the air, and were then sent into Zheng Fa's body by the golden lotus beneath his feet.

"Faith... incense..."

Zheng Fa suddenly realized that the Pure Land was like a transformative filter, using the Dharma assembly to transform the faith of sentient beings into nourishment for the immortal body!

These believers are currently in a state of confusion and doubt, and the power of their faith is very limited.

That being the case...

……

In the various temples of the Western Continent, Zheng Fa's illusory image opened its eyes at the same time, looking at the countless believers.

These believers dared not offend the gods and Buddhas, yet they were filled with confusion, whispering among themselves and secretly stirring up trouble.

Zheng Fa spoke up.

"The two holy men of Buddhism, Jieyin and Zhunti, bestowed upon me a golden lotus and appointed me as the successor of the Buddhist lineage." Zheng Fa paused here, "Speaking of which, Leiyin Temple is considered a junior member of my Buddhist lineage."

"..."

The main hall of Leiyin Temple was as cold as a funeral parlor.

Xuan Chengzi and the others looked left at Lu Yao and the other five Buddhas, and right at the golden lotus under Zheng Fa's seat. A strange thought inevitably came to their minds—could it be that the Thunder Sound Ancestor has arrived?

Of course, Lu Yao would definitely not admit it.

The faces of the Bodhisattvas and Arhats at Leiyin Temple were filled with anger and panic.

The Crystal Buddha said urgently, "Buddha, let us join forces to break this golden bowl..."

“This golden bowl is connected to the Pure Land.”

"If we join forces, we are strong enough!"

"I mean, what if it affects the Pure Land?" Lu Yao asked, frowning.

The Buddha of Lapis Lazuli was immediately speechless. He knew that this Pure Land was the foundation of Leiyin Temple, and if anything went wrong, they would be doomed.

Lu Yao took a deep breath and looked coldly at Zheng Fa: "We'll reclaim the Pure Land first, then he won't be able to escape..."

"Yes!"

The Five Buddhas of Leiyin Temple, along with all the Bodhisattvas and Arhats, began chanting Buddhist scriptures together. As the chanting began, various Dharma images materialized behind them and flew towards the Pure Land.

Zheng Fa on the altar didn't care about the group of people at all. He only felt that after he finished speaking, the warmth coming from the lotus platform became even stronger, and he was overjoyed.

“Today I will explain to you the true teachings of the sages,” Zheng Fa continued. “This teaching is the foundation of Buddhism.”

“If anyone in the future speaks a different Buddhist teaching than I have, he is considered a heretic who slanders the Buddha and destroys the Buddha’s teachings.”

The chanting in the main hall suddenly became chaotic, as if several people couldn't help but shout angrily.

Lu Yao's face was filled with even more anger. After a long while, his expression twisted, he actually sneered: "A mere rogue immortal, what a big mouth you have..."

Xuan Chengzi chuckled inwardly, exchanged a glance with his two fellow disciples, and remained silent, simply watching the show.

The distant underworld.

The Nine Netherworld Emperor stood on Mount Yin, gazing into the distance, and laughed heartily.

"Your Majesty..." Yan Changge asked, somewhat puzzled, "Why is Your Majesty laughing like this?"

The Nine Nether Emperor waved his hand, signaling him not to disturb him watching Lu Yao's humiliation, while he listened to Zheng Fa's sermon with a smile.

……

Zheng Fa sat on the altar, and the believers looked at him with even deeper doubts in their eyes.

He reached out and a plain-looking stone appeared in his palm.

The believers looked at each other in bewilderment, wondering what he was going to do.

Zheng Faxin, when discussing Buddhist teachings, was truly no match for the people at Leiyin Temple, but he could make them see it!

"What I'm about to talk about is the origin of heaven and earth, and where all things come from... This is an ordinary stone, without a trace of spiritual energy."

With a pinch of his hand, Zheng Fa turned the stone into dust. With another wave of his hand, an increasingly microscopic scene appeared before everyone.

Stone powder — molecules — atoms —

The deepest secret and most basic structure of a stone appeared before the eyes of these mortals.

Although Zheng Fa didn't explain much, everything in the picture had already made things very clear—the stone from before was composed of such a tiny particle.

The believers became increasingly agitated, feeling confused yet also experiencing a sense of novelty.

Very few people in the Xuanwei Realm use this way of speaking, and even many people from Leiyin Temple in the Great Hall couldn't help but show expressions of listening intently.

Of course, for some Dao fruits, the existence of atoms is not a secret, but it is simply not valued—almost all Dao methods are based on talismans, and no one cares about this kind of substance without spiritual energy.

Zheng Fa continued speaking:

“I call this kind of thing an atom. Of course, it can be divided further, but it has nothing to do with the method I am talking about today.”

These believers, after all, had not received basic education, and Zheng Fa was not confident that he could really explain those more profound theories clearly, so he simply started with atoms.

He used simplified language as much as possible, aiming only for clarity and easy understanding.

"An atom is actually quite simple." Zheng Fa pointed, and the image of the atom magnified ten thousand times, revealing the atomic nucleus. "An atomic nucleus contains several electrons."

Zheng Fa explained in detail the combination and separation of electrons and protons, and concluded, "Therefore, at the atomic level, almost only one thing happens: the exchange of electrons. You get one more, I get one less, or we share them... It's that simple."

Of course, not all of these believers could understand it; on the contrary, only a minority could. But everyone in the main hall understood it.

“Now, we only have this one rule…” Zheng Fa spread his palms out and said in an almost magical tone, “Then, all things are born.”

In Zheng Fa's palm, rocks, clouds, wind, water... heaven and earth appeared.

"All of this is nothing more than countless simple atoms exchanging their electrons." Zheng Fa's voice seemed to come from ancient times, carrying the deepest secret of this world. "What's important is not the rules, but the countless atoms that freely combine to become all of this."

In the main hall, Xuan Chengzi suddenly stood up, no longer harboring any intention to watch the spectacle, and murmured, "From the three begets all things... From the three begets all things..."

Li Sanxian felt the hairs on his arms growing back and was trembling. He couldn't help but stroke them repeatedly, but his eyes were reluctant to leave Zheng Fa.

Not only him, but every disciple of the Supreme Dao was looking at Zheng Fa at this moment, unwilling to give up on a single word.

“Now, I call the elements that make up most matter molecules,” Zheng Fa continued, speaking slowly and deliberately.

He then briefly explained the interactions between molecules, concluding, "Therefore, molecules do almost only two things: separate or combine."

"It can be understood that these two are the transfer of electrons between atoms."

"These are also the two simplest rules. Through these two rules, one substance can be transformed into another substance."

The main hall fell silent.

Although Lu Yao and the others didn't know what Zheng Fa was going to say, the simplicity and profundity of his words still deeply captivated everyone.

"Now we have countless molecules," Zheng Fa said, his voice rising, as if witnessing a miracle. "Now let's assume the simplest possible change—"

He pointed his finger, and the scene before him changed again.

“Let’s call this molecule A. Let’s say that molecule A can form molecule B. Molecule B reacts with other things to form molecule C. Molecule C then reacts with other things… Now, molecule A has been formed.”

Xuan Chengzi's eyes widened.

“Now, if the final number of A molecules produced is greater than before,” Zheng Fa said with a smile, “we can say that the A molecules are multiplying.”

"Even molecules B and C will increase in number."

The main hall was eerily quiet. Everyone understood the implications of this silence, yet they all felt a sense of disbelief.

Zheng Fa's voice was low, but his words were like thunder, exploding in everyone's ears: "Life has been born."

"This……"

Xuan Chengzi stared blankly at Zheng Fa, his vision suddenly blurring. He felt that Zheng Fa, sitting on the lotus platform, and the portrait in the Supreme Daoist Temple were vaguely similar.

Among the Arhats and Bodhisattvas at Leiyin Temple, several people couldn't help but put their hands together and solemnly bow to Zheng Fa.

Zheng Fa did not finish his story.

“Of course, not all molecules can self-replicate like this,” he explained. “But if we have enough molecules and a sufficiently complex environment, one day this will happen.”

"And once life begins to reproduce, it will grow from a small reaction chain into a larger and more numerous chain."

Xuan Chengzi couldn't help but speak up, replying respectfully like a student: "Sect Leader Zheng is right."

The scene in Zheng Fa's hands changed again.

"When this self-replicating life forms become more numerous and more sophisticated, cells... appear."

Lu Yao's expression changed slightly.

As the founder of the Dharmakaya, he naturally knew about the existence of cells.

Or rather, everyone knows about the Dao Fruit in the Mahavira Hall.

Zheng Fa, however, explained to the believers what cells were.

“Cells can actually do a lot of things,” Zheng Fa added, “but there is one thing they can’t do.”

Li Sanxian couldn't help but ask, "What?"

"think."

"..."

“It’s not just cells,” Zheng Fa explained. “Your nose doesn’t actually know what flower you’re smelling, and your eyes can only see, but can’t identify…”

"No single organ in a person can know this information on its own."

Although his words were somewhat convoluted, the Dao Fruits of Leiyin Temple were no ordinary people, and they naturally understood his subtext.

"Sect Leader Zheng, are you saying that only when countless cells come together can thought be formed?"

Li Sanxian was closest to Zheng Fa, and at this moment he couldn't help but speak up again.

“Exactly. Without these specific combinations of cells, we simply cannot cultivate,” Zheng Fa explained. “My disciple, Gu Chang, has a treatise on the spiritual intelligence system that explains this problem in detail.”

Xuan Chengzi remained silent for a moment, then sighed, "Sect Leader Zheng's lecture has truly broadened my horizons..."

"I've only just begun," Zheng Fa said, shaking his head.

Just beginning?
Xuan Chengzi was stunned.

Even the others in Leiyin Temple looked at each other in bewilderment. Although Zheng Fa had not spoken of any Taoist teachings, the profound and grand demonstration he had just given them a lot to learn and even some insights.

Now Zheng Fa is saying that this is just the appetizer?
Zheng Fa smiled. If his "Origin of Dao Fruit" was only this much, why would it have taken so long?

He glanced at the dozen or so astonished Golden Immortals and stated the most important concept in his "Origin of the Dao Fruit":

"Simple atoms can create all things in the universe."

"It is just molecules of inanimate matter that can form life and reproduce itself."

"Cells with no capacity for thought make up humans, enabling us to think, communicate, cultivate ourselves, transcend life and death, and create the world."

Xuan Chengzi seemed to understand: "Sect Leader Zheng, you mean..."

“Every single, weak individual, atom, molecule, cell, under certain rules, will undergo quantitative changes leading to qualitative changes—creating new miracles, even those completely beyond its own prediction and capabilities.”

“I call this phenomenon…emergence.” Zheng Fa paused, then added, “This is called the many overcoming the few.”

Xuan Chengzi's smile slowly faded; he seemed to know what Zheng Fa was about to say.

Zheng Fa looked at Xuan Chengzi, then at Lu Yao, a mocking expression on his face: "You, me, no matter how high our cultivation level is, are in reality just individuals among the human race, perhaps just larger atoms, larger cells, at most, just organs."

In the underworld, the smile on the face of the Nine Nether Emperor slowly faded, and he closed his eyes.

"Emperor?"

“Tianhe…” Emperor Jiuyou’s voice was very low, as if he was sighing, “You have a good eye.”

(End of this chapter)