The Eastern Emperor of all Heavens did not wish to become a Buddha.

Chapter 46 Entering Mount Ling to Sever Karmic Ties
I don’t know the true face of Mount Lu, just because I am in this mountain!
Standing at the foot of the mountain, Zhong Xu and the others could only see an endless range of mountains, majestic and imposing, yet subtly beautiful, clearly a sacred Buddhist site.

This place is one of the most famous holy sites of Buddhism in ancient times, one of the three perfect Sambhogakaya Pure Lands along with Amitabha Buddha's Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss and Bodhi Buddha's Pure Land of Bodhi, the Buddha's Saha Pure Land, and also the legendary Vulture Peak Pure Land.

The dilapidated Buddhist temples outside are merely secular sacred sites.

With the inheritance of both Buddha and Ananda, two great figures, and the presence of the Little Jade Buddha, Zhong Xu easily opened the gate to this sacred mountain after some exploration.

However, he did not choose to enter this sacred mountain directly at first. Instead, he wanted to see what would happen if he waited outside until the time for the reincarnation mission ended.

The final result was not unexpected for Zhong Xu. The first few days were fine, perhaps because the few monsters he had killed were the only outdoor monsters around, and no new outdoor monsters appeared.

Not long ago, Zhong Xu's Heavenly Eye actually saw a group of Outer Realm level demons rushing towards Mount Ling. The entire sky was directly occupied by demonic clouds, and the leader was a powerful Outer Realm demon who might have reached the Grandmaster level.

Seeing this, Zhong Xu silently cursed his cheap teacher in his heart, and hurriedly led Meng Qi and the others through the gate opened by the small jade Buddha and the plaque of the Great Thunder Temple, entering this sacred mountain.

Recalling the situation of this Buddhist sanctuary in his mind, Zhong Xu looked up at the mountaintop.

Further up the mountainside, even with his divine eye, he could no longer see anything, as if it were obscured by something.

Zhong Xu was not surprised by this.

He knew very well that Ananda, who had not yet reached the other shore, had secretly reversed the Ten Thousand Buddhas Formation when the demons attacked Mount Ling, turning life into death. This not only severely damaged Buddhism and the demons, but also turned this sacred Buddhist site into a dead land.

The mountaintop was the very place where all the Buddhas had fallen, and it also sealed away his cheap master, the Demon Buddha Ananda. Naturally, he couldn't see it with his current divine eye.

As Zhong Xu gazed at the mountaintop, pondering his next move, he felt a sudden jolt of relief, as if some shackle within him had been broken.

'The karma of Benboerba has dissipated!'

In the darkness, a thread of cause and effect broke, and Zhong Xu felt invigorated, his body relaxed, and he experienced an indescribable sense of freedom.

'Is this what it feels like to sever ties with cause and effect?'

Various insights surfaced in his mind, and he vaguely gained a new understanding and experience of the law of cause and effect, and his grasp of the true meaning of "Ananda's Breaking the Precepts Knife" became more and more profound.

At the same time, his mind and body became more and more harmonious, his brow felt slightly warm, and his senses of heaven and earth and nature underwent some changes.

In a daze, Zhong Xu seemed to be observing the world with a new sense, seeing the wind, the clouds, the sunlight, the mountains and rivers, and even a speck of dust.
They live in harmony with each other, both rejecting and conforming to each other in some way, depending entirely on their own spiritual changes.

'Community between Heaven and Man.'

The scriptures of the Demon Buddha's Profound Art circulated in Zhong Xu's mind, making him understand his current state.

Once a practitioner of the One Lifetime Method has opened the nine innate apertures and achieved great success in their inner world, they generally do not choose to directly open the ancestral aperture between their eyebrows and advance to the half-step outer realm.

Because at this time, the cultivator has not yet adjusted his own inner world according to the laws of the external world. Once the ancestral aperture between the eyebrows is opened, the inner and outer worlds begin to resonate, and the inner world is fixed, it will be basically impossible to make adjustments according to the laws of the external world.

This means that if a cultivator doesn't have a heaven-defying opportunity in their lifetime, they will basically be stuck at the half-step outer realm forever, unable to integrate inner and outer realms and advance to the outer realm, which is tantamount to destroying their own foundation.

This is the first important hurdle in this world, the Gate of No Regrets!

Under normal circumstances, after a cultivator opens all nine orifices, they will take a period of reflection, cultivate the ancestral orifice between their eyebrows, and begin to contemplate their future path, adjusting their inner world according to the laws of the external world.

This process is divided into three levels: communion with heaven and man, unity with heaven and man, and the final return to simplicity. Opening the ancestral aperture at the third eye level through communion with heaven and man is the normal half-step external realm.

After a long period of refinement and development, if a breakthrough opportunity arises, it can also integrate internal and external elements to advance to the external realm.

This is also the normal advancement path for many cultivators in the real world. Their upper limit is basically around the top experts of the sixth level of the Outer Realm. It is generally difficult for them to cross the second level of the ladder and become a grandmaster.

The unity of heaven and man is a higher level, requiring the cultivator to have a very deep understanding of heaven and earth, and to have an extremely strong martial will. They have already begun to think about their future path, and their inner world has also been adjusted according to the laws of heaven and earth that they have comprehended. Their body and mind are in harmony with heaven and earth, and their inner and outer worlds have almost reached a state of harmony.

In this situation, once one advances, it becomes a perfect half-step, not only far stronger than a normal half-step outer realm, but also because the inner realm has already aligned with the laws of heaven and earth. After a period of settling, the inner and outer realms converge, and advancing to the outer realm is simply a matter of course.

Most of the top sects in the real world have advanced to the perfect half-step through the unity of heaven and man, and eventually become grandmasters, great grandmasters, and even realize the Dharma body.

As for the higher level of returning to simplicity, it requires the practitioner to thoroughly determine their own path, adjust their inner world to a perfect state, or even surpass the perfect half-step of inner and outer convergence, achieve the state before the outer world, and be in harmony with heaven and earth at all times, so that they can draw upon the power of heaven and earth with every move.

At this stage, cultivators no longer need to advance even half a step. After obtaining the opportunity, they can directly ascend to the heavens in one step, merging the inner and outer realms, and entering the realm of external scenery directly from the nine orifices.

Moreover, because such cultivators have already perfected their inner world, they will not encounter major bottlenecks after achieving the outer world, and can advance all the way to the ninth level of the outer world.

This is also the way the most outstanding geniuses in the real world advance; under normal circumstances, only one or two people in an era might be able to achieve this.

For example, Jiang Zhiwei's master is Su Wuming, the Grandmaster who is currently ranked number one on the Earthly Ranking in the Real World.

He ascended to the realm of the Outer Realm in one step through a closed-door retreat.

After that, he progressed through each new realm every year, only stopping when he encountered the difficulty of attaining the Dharma Body. His advancement speed was nothing short of miraculous.

Now, although Zhong Xu's cultivation level in this lifetime is only at the minor completion stage of the Seven Apertures Inner Heaven and Earth, because he has severed the karmic ties with Benboerba, his body and mind are lively, and he vaguely feels that his spiritual cultivation has already reached the level of communication between heaven and man.

Once he reaches the nine orifices, he will be able to directly achieve the state of communion between heaven and man.

"Is this still possible?"

Reflecting on his own state, Zhong Xu had a sudden realization:
'It seems that the "karma-infused" sword in *Ananda's Breaking the Precepts Sword* is not merely a weapon for killing, but also a supreme method of cultivation through the understanding of karma!'
As thoughts raced through his mind, Zhong Xu gained a strange understanding of the "Ananda Breaking the Precepts Sword" sword technique.

"what"

The changes that Zhong Xu underwent naturally did not escape the notice of Jiang Zhiwei and the others beside him.

As core disciples of top sects, although they have not yet achieved the realm of communion between heaven and man, they are not unfamiliar with this realm.

In their eyes, although the white-robed monk beside them only displayed the cultivation of the Seven Apertures Inner Heaven and Earth Minor Completion, he suddenly had a feeling of being integrated with the surrounding world, causing the surrounding celestial phenomena to ripple with his spiritual fluctuations.

This is a true communion between humanity and nature!

A hint of admiration appeared in their eyes, but no one said anything more.

If this happened to an ordinary seven-aperture martial artist, everyone would probably be very surprised. But for this extraordinary being who killed a great demon of the outer realm with his seven-aperture body, having reached the realm of communion with heaven and man ahead of time is nothing.

(End of this chapter)