The Ancestor of All Demons

Xin Ruyu, having resumed the appearance from over a thousand years ago under the guise of a Daoist, walked slowly into Baihua Cave.

Master You Tan saw her come in, smiled slightly while seated on the couch, and said, "Fellow Daoist Xin, please sit. Xia'er will serve tea."

Xin Ruyu sat down on a chair, glanced at the tea Qi Xia'er brought, but did not drink it, instead, she looked Master You Tan up and down.

Master You Tan asked with a smile, "Fellow Daoist, your visit to Baihua Mountain this time has caused such a great stir, what is your intention?"

Xin Ruyu said, "Why does the Master bother asking knowingly? I am here, naturally, to invite the Master to enter nirvana."

"I still have some worldly ties that are unfinished, so I cannot enter nirvana yet."

"But since I'm here today, Master must immediately enter nirvana. Whatever unfulfilled wishes you have, you can tell me, and I will fulfill them for you."

Master You Tan maintained a smile, "My first wish is to kill you, the Buddha-attached heretic. If you are willing to commit suicide today, I will enter nirvana tomorrow."

Xin Ruyu was not angry, "I am not a heretic, I am an orthodox member of the Buddhist tradition."

Master You Tan asked, "Since you claim to be orthodox in Buddhism, why are you in Daoist attire at this moment?"

Xin Ruyu chuckled lightly, "Am I dressed in Daoist garb now? With the Dharma Eye, when viewing the world and each person and creature in it, aren't all wearing Buddhist attire? They all inherently possess Buddha nature, and their exteriors are all Buddha-like. This outfit of mine is no different from the hundred-patch kasaya and garbage clothing."

Master You Tan asked again, "By that reasoning, what you practice is not heretical?"

"Of course! With the Buddha Eye, what is there in the world that can be called orthodox or heretical? It's all Buddhist! The Four Books and Five Classics read by Confucians, the Five Thunder True Method cultivated by Daoists, are all Buddhist Law! Why, does it appear otherwise in the Master's eyes?"

Master You Tan nodded, "Fellow Daoist possesses such a broad mind and vision, indeed worthy of being a master of a generation. However, the Buddha said the Buddhist Law is merely named as such, there is no actual Buddhist Law, it is merely a name. Fellow Daoist, you perceive all beings' appearances as Buddha appearances, and all worldly laws as Buddha laws, which is profound but also falls into the trap of names and appearances."

"The Buddha said the Buddhist Law is merely a name, and I too am just naming it as such because the Master is caught up in names and appearances, distinguishing between Buddhist and Daoist attire, thus I referred to it as such. If the Master were not attached to these, I wouldn't speak of them either."

This person is indeed quite formidable!

Master You Tan pursued further, "Given that all beings inherently have Buddha nature, you perceive their forms as Buddha forms, with both nature and form as Buddha, why do you still wish to 'universally save all beings'? Isn't it rather 'universal salvation of all Buddhas'?"

Xin Ruyu laughed heartily but did not answer directly.

These words could be answered within the Buddhist orthodox: it is not I who save beings, but the many Buddhas who save me.

However, a Buddha-attached heretic cannot say this, as they are prideful and must maintain the master's stance; once they demean themselves, the cult cannot be upheld.

Xin Ruyu was aware of this, yet she could not go against her conviction to say "the many Buddhas save me," otherwise, given her level of divine power, her words would evoke a subtle response, and any wrong statement could give the opponent a chance to exploit.

In the end, she gave this response: "Buddha and Buddha have the same nature, but in merit and cultivation, there are distinctions. An Arhat is a Buddha, a Pratyeka-buddha is a Buddha, the Buddhas of separate teachings are Buddhas, and the Round Teaching Buddha is also Buddha! I am at the highest level, the Round Teaching Miao Jue Bodhisattva Buddha! There are differences in levels of practice and cultivation among sentient beings; although they possess Buddha nature, they have not achieved Buddha fruit."

This is another typical cult-like response.

Master You Tan immediately seized the opportunity, "Fellow Daoist, your act is merely replacing beings with names of Buddhas, and in your heart, there are still all sorts of distinctions. Ordinary people perceive personal forms, human forms, and the forms of sentient beings. Fellow Daoist perceives personal Buddha forms, human Buddha forms, and all Buddha forms. In essence, you are still an ordinary person, caught in distinctions, incapable of perceiving the true Dharma Realm!"

The two engaged in a debate full of questions and riddles.

In truth, given Xin Ru Nun's level of Buddhist philosophy, she is not inferior to Master You Tan; if the original Xin Ru Nun engaged with her in a riddle contest, she might even surpass Master You Tan.

The key is her Buddhist understanding has reached the ultimate realm, but her actions in Buddhist practices do not reflect that understanding.

Xie Shan could also reach the "unobstructed reasoning" realm, but he fails at "unobstructed practice."

Buddhism emphasizes "faith, understanding, practice, and realization"; all three reached the highest level of "understanding," yet pursued three different paths in "practice."

Master You Tan used Xin Ruyu's current deeds against her, because her actions were not consistent with Buddhist principles, no matter her cunning arguments, Master You Tan hit the mark repeatedly, reaching her very core.

The two debated for half a day, Master You Tan remained composed and unshaken, while Xin Ruyu faced continuous setbacks, finally realizing that she could not defeat this old nun in debate today nor compel her to voluntarily enter nirvana and hand over the Shariputra.

Xin Ruyu said, "I originally thought the Master yearned for the Western Paradise but was delayed by some entangling worldly ties, and came specifically to see you off. Unexpectedly, Master changed her mind, clinging to this Five Turbid Evil World, unwilling to head to the West. Since that's the case, Master might as well not leave; let's create a Great Ru Pure Land together right here!"

As she spoke, the tea in front of her suddenly flew out of the cup. A cup of hot tea instantly transformed into a boiling long river waterfall, sweeping towards the seated Divine Nun You Tan on the couch.

This seemingly simple move actually embodied her life's effort; within the waterfall of tea appeared countless Buddha images, including Shakyamuni Buddha, Amitabha Buddha, Medicine Buddha, Achura Buddha... finally, Xin Ru Buddha, all with golden body treasure light, sitting on the lotus platforms, striking together, each strike equivalent to a Vajra Giant Spirit God Palm!

With just this attack, Master You Tan was absolutely unable to resist!

At the same time, she cast a spell, sealing the entire surrounding space with Buddha Light to prevent Master You Tan from escaping.

She came today with two prepared plans: if she could force Master You Tan to attain Nirvana and reveal the Shariputra, so be it; if not, she would kill her and stuff her into seven jars to create Physical Body Relics!

That "Master You Tan," seeing her powerful methods, was also slightly surprised, pointed upwards with a finger, and three flowers of Douluo Divine Flames appeared above her head, blooming with Purple and Blue Light, forming an auspicious cloud to protect her head.

The couch beneath then transformed into a multicolored Twelve Grade Lotus Platform.

Xin Ruyu was greatly astonished: "You are not Master You Tan!"

The "Master You Tan" quickly changed appearance, no longer an old nun, but instead a young Taoist, precisely Shi Feiyang!

Shi Feiyang used three Purple And Blue Divine Flames to block the Golden Buddha Palms bombarding from above, causing the Purple and Blue Light to spray wildly and clouds to scatter.

The multicolored lotus platform beneath him was an ancient treasure used by Yu the Great to subdue the West Pole Sect's Mystics Yin True Water. He refined it again by adding a large amount of Five Elements Essence, Magnetic True Qi, Heavenly Star Dust, True Water, etc. Though not formed from celestial lotus, its nature belongs to earth, possessing Five Elements Attribute. It was directly refined into a Twelve Grade Lotus Platform by him, serving as a "planter" for two other lotus flowers to provide nourishment.

At this time, the lotus platform was manifested, a thousand petals in bloom, brilliant multicolored light, merging with the Purple and Blue Light above, protecting Shi Feiyang tightly inside, blocking the dense bombardment of Buddha Palms from all directions.

Shi Feiyang laughed heartily: "I have been waiting here for you in place of Master You Tan for a long time!" With a point of his finger, ten fireball-like objects, only Purple and Blue in color, appeared around Xin Ruyu's body, initially only the size of a teacup, rotating around Xin Ruyu, faster and faster, getting larger and larger, in a flash forming ten sun wheels, spewing Purple and Blue Divine Fire inward!

Xin Ruyu initially used the grand move of Universal Salvation of All Buddhas; in response, he displayed his self-created Ten Days Heavenly Punishment.

Furious, Xin Ruyu shouted, rapidly changed seal signs with two hands, a flash of golden light on her body, and vanished into thin air.

Originally, as she entered, the "Xin Ru Buddha" on the Dharma seat outside was already gone. At this moment, she disappeared in the cave, and the "Xin Ru Buddha" with a hundred feet Golden Body reappeared on the Dharma seat outside.

However, Shi Feiyang's spell was extraordinary. She returned to her original seat, and the ten Purple and Blue suns also followed out, still circling around her body.

As she expanded to a hundred feet Golden Body, the diameter of the ten sun wheels also became huge, rotating around her, fiercely bursting with Purple and Blue Divine Flames.

The Purple and Blue Divine Flames were unbearable even for her, let alone anyone else.

Fortunately, she split her hands at the first opportunity, releasing a massive amount of Buddha Light Golden Cloud, pushing away all the nearby people far away, those with lower Dao Level directly pushed a thousand miles away.

Otherwise, there would soon be many people burned to ash, compromising the omnipotent "Buddha" image of "Xin Ru Buddha," failing to protect her believers from being killed right under her eyes.

Seeing this Purple and Blue True Fire, some thought it was special effects deliberately cast by "Our Buddha" using Divine Skills, joining palms to praise: "Our Buddha's power is boundless..."

Knowledgeable ones like Zhu Youmu, E Shengfan, Xie Shan were all shocked: "This is Purple and Blue Douluo Fire! That Evil Dragon is nearby..."

These people simultaneously attacked the sun wheels!

For a moment, various Buddha Palms, Buddha's Fingers, Buddha Seals, Dharma Wheels, Zen Staffs, Bowls, Vajra Pestles, etc., were all thrown, fiercely bombarding into the sun wheels.

But Shi Feiyang's Ten Days Heavenly Punishment was unleashed using Purple and Blue Douluo Fire, which was Void Spirit Flame, Purple Mansion True Fire, the highest-tier flame in the Cosmic Void, nurtured in Taixu Heaven for millions of years.

When they hit these things, all was like clay oxen entering the sea, burning up one after another.

Xin Ru Nun was extremely angry; she used the Buddhist Heart Light Escape Technique, where the heart arrives, the person arrives, theoretically, even to the end of the Cosmic Void it could reach with a single thought,

but now, although she came over, she could not avoid the enemy's spell attacks, and the ten sun wheels followed along,

She loudly commanded: "No one panic!"

Then with a gesture, the Seven Treasures Golden Banner in the sky radiated a bright light, dense and sticky, like honey, layer upon layer of Buddha Light pressed down forcefully like the weight of mountains, compressing the ten sun wheels smaller and smaller until, with a decisive shout, finally extinguished all the sun wheels.