The Ancestor of All Demons

Xie Ying and Xie Lin were found by Xie Shan in the icy and snowy land, though they were adopted daughters, he doted on them more than his own.

Since he was a man, not suited for raising and caring for two baby girls, he took them to Fairy Immortal Biwu, Cui Wu, for help, who then became the nurturing mother to the two girls.

When the two girls made mistakes, Cui Wu would harshly reprimand them, and Xie Shan would always help to plead for them. If the mistakes were too grave, they would sneak away from Immortal Mountain to Wuyi Mountain to ask their father for leniency.

No matter how big their mistakes were, as long as they rolled into Xie Shan's arms and acted spoiled, Xie Shan's heart as a loving father would melt, and he would immediately protect them.

These two daughters were a bond accumulated from Xie Shan's past life, a natural extension of his character, knowing only to indulge excessively.

Now, this daughter whom he lovingly raised has suddenly refused to recognize him, causing Xie Shan to feel a sharp pain in his heart, as if he was hit by a violent strike.

He turned to Xin Ru Nun, loudly questioning her, "Why did you do this?"

Xin Ru Nun frowned and exhibited Vajra Angry Eyes: "Fool! You apprenticed to cultivate Buddhism over a thousand years ago, entering the orthodox Buddhist sect, and after all this time, why haven't you achieved enlightenment? Tian Meng Zen Master has repeatedly tried to guide you, wasting countless years and effort, why have you yet to complete the Buddha Path? The calamity of today's world is caused by these two debt-collecting spirits! Ordinary people understand reincarnation, that parents of the past life are cooked in pots, and cows and sheep of the past life sit on beds in the present life; as a disciple of Buddhism, what are you attached to?"

Xie Shan was indeed awakened by her powerful reprimands. Loving and clinging to father-daughter bonds in such a manner is truly mundane.

Xin Ru Nun's words also referenced a Buddhist parable, mentioning a family marriage, where a Zen Master entered and everyone congratulated each other. The Zen Master said, your parents of past lives are now beasts cooked in pots, and your cattle, sheep, pigs, and dogs have become your elders sitting on the bed, what's there to celebrate?

She now used this example to awaken Xie Shan, enlightening him that parents, spouses, children, and distant relatives change with reincarnation, encouraging detachment from excessive attachment.

"You ask why I do this? It's to enlighten you! Tian Meng Zen Master delayed hundreds of years for you, yet still could not complete it. From my perspective, he is not the destined person for your conversion; his methods are not suitable for you. Only by administering drastic measures like I have done can you awaken!" Xin Ru Nun said, "She has now been reborn human and is no longer your daughter. Nonetheless, as a distant debt-collector, she will return the debt someday…"

"Amitabha Buddha!" A Ying pressed her hands together in prayer, bowed her head, and recited the Buddha, no longer showing any past daughterly attachment and reliance on her father, Xie Shan.

Xie Shan has practiced Buddhist cultivation for many years and has already achieved a "barrierless understanding." He understood these Buddhist doctrines clearly, realizing that although he understood, he could not achieve it, and knowing is not the same as achieving.

He knows that Xin Ru Nun's actions were right and for his benefit, but the method was too severe, not only destroying Xie Ying's connection to her past life but also severing their father-daughter bond.

Xie Shan felt a burning pain in his chest and couldn't hold back, spitting out a mouthful of blood and staggering backward.

Xin Ru Nun, however, laughed and said, "Good! Good! Expel this blood clotted with resentful thoughts; afterward, your thoughts will be clear!"

Xie Shan, with a pale face, expressed his distress to A Ying: "It's fine! Xin Ru Nun's Dharma Body is boundless and her wisdom lofty. It's your fortune to become her disciple and cultivate Buddhism beneath her."

He has always admired and praised Xin Ru Nun, even though Master Fen Tuo and Master You Tan have said many unfavorable things about her, he still sensed there might be misunderstandings.

Now the matter with Xie Ying is resolved, he believes Xin Ru Nun did nothing wrong and that he was wrong in the past. Xin Ru Nun, with great Wisdom, has enlightened him with a powerful reminder…

Regarding Xin Ru Nun taking away the Conch Leaf Talisman and Seven Treasures Golden Banner, that's nothing, since they are Buddhist treasures. If Xin Ru Nun wants to use them, taking them is perfectly reasonable.

Just one thing he has to clarify: "Why did Xin Ru Nun place the Red Flower Witch within Ying'er's body and let it harm me these years…"

"Fool! You still cannot awaken!" Xin Ru Nun's justified scolding was filled with the powerful presence of a wise old Zen Master, giving direct criticism to awaken realization: "Isn't that to convert you! Your two daughters, differing in nature, although you generally indulged them, there were subtle differences that required different methods of conversion! Xie Ying possesses better innate potential and insight, so there's no need to entangle her with you anymore. I took her Primordial Spirit and allowed her reincarnation, introducing her directly into the teachings of Buddhism in this life. As for Xie Lin, we deliberately used the backlash of the Conch Leaf Talisman's power to trap her in the Illusion Realm. It seems she is in the Illusion Realm, but you are also within it now, and the main purpose is to let her awaken you!

Regarding the Red Flower Witch, hmph, these two debt-collecting spirits have been with you since you found them, always collecting debts from you. What you owed them in past lives has long been repaid. Unfortunately, you didn't awaken and remained foolish; thus I placed the Red Flower Witch in Xie Ying's body. Now, reflect and consider, over these years, the beloved daughter you cherished, was she Xie Ying or the Witch? If she was Xie Ying, why did you cherish the Witch over the years, enduring the loss of spiritual energy and not minding giving everything for her? If you say you were deceived, can you not differentiate who your daughter is, blindly offering fatherly love, does this not prove that there's no difference whether the person is your own daughter or the Witch? Let me ask you, Witch, own daughter, is there any difference at all?"

The final interrogation was accompanied by Xin Ru Nun's Buddhist Vajra Zen Lion Roar, directly shouting into Xie Shan's soul.

Xie Shan's body and spirit trembled violently: indeed, what difference is there between the Witch and the own daughter? If there is a difference, why haven't I discerned it over these years? If there's no difference, what am I still entangled with and resenting?

He felt that Xin Ru Nun's words were very logical, but for a while, he couldn't reconcile them, stumbling and feeling lost as he walked out.

Just as he was about to step over the threshold of the meditation hall, Xin Ru Nun's voice followed him: "You are already experiencing a flash of enlightenment, on the verge of awakening from delusion. Do you still wish to return to the mundane world now?"

At this moment, Xie Ying came to the entrance of the great hall and knelt down.

Xie Shan said mournfully, "You finally acknowledge me as your father?"

Xie Ying shook her head, then nodded, "Zen Master was my adoptive father in a previous life, this is undeniable. In this life, I am without father or mother, only indebted greatly to the Zen Master from past lives. Since Zen Master has already had a flash of enlightenment, returning to the mundane world would inevitably lead to repeated ignorance. It is truly a pity. Instead, how about staying here to study under our Master's guidance? When our Master manifests in the human realm as Buddha in the future, Zen Master can follow the Master in guiding all beings. By then, achieving the perfection of Six Perfections and gaining thorough enlightenment, you can ascend to the Western Paradise, see the Buddha in full bloom, and attain the irreversible stage of a Bodhisattva. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

Xie Shan glanced back at Xin Ru Nun, who was seated, and sighed deeply, "I have two daughters. One has been illuminated by the Nun and now belongs to the Divine Nuns Sect, and has no more worries. But I still have another at home, Lin'er, who is impulsive by nature and currently deeply trapped in an illusion realm. I must return to take care of her."

Finally, Xie Shan, eyes filled with tears, took a few more looks at Xie Ying, steeled his heart, tore away the father-daughter bond, and turned to stride away into the sky.

"Master!" As Xie Ying saw him leaving, she called Xin Ru Nun upon entering.

The Nun gently shook her head: "The time has not come, it cannot be forced. You should step back for now."

She let Xie Ying step back first and said to Guang Ming and Guang Hui, "Let's continue to find a way to deal with that Wei Fengniang. That demon woman's true form is now hiding within a demonic scripture in the hands of the Evil Dragon. The two of you are currently heart demons and have little to do with her true form. But to truly uproot it and end this harmful affair, you must work hard..."

Xie Shan left Jiuhua Mountain, wandering back to Wuyi Mountain, and saw You Tan Master and Xie Lin again.

You Tan Master asked how things went, knowing that Xie Shan had failed this time and was unable to retrieve Xie Ying's primordial spirit, but she was unaware of the specifics and needed his detailed account.

Xie Shan then recounted the events in detail, and You Tan Master was silent for a while after listening.

You Tan Master, being a top divine nun in the Buddhist community, along with Fen Tuo Master, both determined that Xin Ruyu already had signs of becoming demonized.

If one starts as an outsider or heretic, daring to do things under the guise of Buddhism, that in itself is not terrifying.

Just like the Eastern Demon Cult, whose Sect Hierarch claims the title of Formless Venerable, Five Ghosts Heavenly King. The Western Demon Cult, whose Sect Hierarch is called Shili Old Buddha, One Light Master, Poison Dragon Venerable.

Venerable, Heavenly King, Dharma King, Master — all these are Buddhist titles.

They often preach in the human world under the guise of Buddhist transmission. The so-called Eastern and Western Demon Cults are merely names given by cultivators, while the orthodox Buddhist community directly denounces them as Demon Cults.

However, in the human world, they declare themselves to be the orthodox Buddhist sect, and claim to be the most powerful branch within Buddhism, even more formidable than Zen Pure Land, capable of quickly satisfying human desires.

Genuine Buddhism is a transcendent doctrine, intended to make people realize and relinquish; during this process of realization and relinquishment, although there is also joy in Dharma, there is much more of severance, stripping away everything one is attached to.

The goal of practicing Buddhism is to break the self-attachment, the notion of an existing self. However, ordinary people cannot break this stubborn attachment, so they start by relinquishing everything "I own," giving away my possessions one by one.

The so-called almsgiving, giving things away, benevolence brings rewards, and in the future, people reciprocate, which is called merit, accruing blessings, also referred to as leaking merit.

Why is it called leaking? It's because this thing can be consumed, like a hole that continuously leaks until it's gone.

And during the process of almsgiving, experiencing the severance of "what I own," thereby shaking the fixation on self, this is the cultivation of true effort. Only such almsgiving holds merit.

Thus, the cultivation process is usually quite austere.

However, the Buddha-attached heretics differ, as they make people very satisfied, especially the Buddha-attached Demon Path, immediately fulfilling all desires!

Currently, Xin Ruyu is precisely walking down this path, under the guise of Buddhist law, satisfying human desires, making people more greedy, more angry, and more foolish!