The Ancestor of All Demons

Master You Tan sat in the courtyard of the farmhouse, waiting for the old woman to prepare a vegetarian meal for her.

She knew that the other three had a shallow karmic connection with beings, and this time they would find it difficult to succeed in their spiritual almsgiving. She believed she was the only chance.

She didn't mind staying either. Having cultivated Buddhism to such a level, coming and going were matters of fate—staying when there is a connection, leaving when there is not.

Just like Shakyamuni Buddha did not choose to appear in this world but came naturally because the beings' karma with him reached a point.

Watching the old woman carefully scrub the pots and cut the vegetables, all grown in the field, cooked in the most primitive way, yet with extraordinary seriousness and devotion.

The You Tan Master felt that this connection might succeed, and if it did, she would continue to stay and pass on the Buddhist law in this world.

In fact, it wouldn't be bad. The more connections made, the more teachings spread, the greater the merits.

There are countless Buddhas across the ten directions and three times, all equal in cultivation realm, yet differing in the types and numbers of beings they connect with; some Buddhas specifically save those on the Beast Path, some focus on the Hungry Ghost Path.

Amitabha Buddha, for instance, earned boundless life and can emit boundless light because he traversed worlds, connecting with the most diverse and numerous beings.

Those who can be illuminated by his Buddha Light are those karmically connected to him, and as beings are countless, so is the Buddha Light boundless.

Staying or going to Nirvana is both fine.

Master You Tan didn't have much of an obsession either.

Just as the boiled veggies were finished in two bowls, and the old lady was preparing the third, her son returned, hoe in hand, sweat all over his head.

He ran back, saw Master You Tan, and his face turned unfriendly.

The old lady saw her son and was quite happy: "A master has come to our home. I even asked her about your marriage just now."

The man said with a straight face: "Oh, what did she say? When can I get a wife?"

The old woman said: "The master said your temper is too violent, and three years from now you'll marry a wife. But she has an old flame, and when you find out about their affair, you'll kill them both, resulting in two bodies and three lives. The master said that a house of accumulated virtue will have left-over mercy; a house of accumulated evil will have left-over disaster. She advised me to cultivate almsgiving wide and sow more fields of blessings for our family."

"That's really what she said?" The man said as he snatched the knife from his mother's hand and went back to the courtyard to confront Master You Tan, "You wretched nun, what nonsense have you been spouting to my mother? If you want alms, just ask honestly instead of making things up. What two bodies, three lives—today, I'll chop you with this and take your bald head and your life!"

Saying this, he made a motion to chop.

Seeing him return, Master You Tan felt her heart sink.

She had originally calculated that the man would return only after she finished eating the meal, by which time his mother would request her help in averting impending disaster.

Who would have thought he would come back early? The master, casting secretly, found that it was the Princess of Stone God, pretending to be a wandering Demon Cult princess, who had petitioned the man to take her in.

The Princess of Stone God didn't deceive the man regarding her identity, directly stating she was a member of the Demon Cult, presently down and out, not cared for by her father, and with a husband who still had feelings for someone else.

She requested the man to shelter her, only asking him to first get rid of the old 'wretched nun' at his home, her nemesis.

The man, driven by lust, immediately returned with a kitchen knife to expel Master You Tan.

Seeing his aggressive return, Master You Tan knew today's karmic meeting wouldn't materialize, but there was one last hope—that was for the old lady to seek her help, and she would speak to her about the past lives of the mother and son. As long as the old lady accepted what she said and asked her advice for staying, the fate would be consummated.

However, the old lady merely held back her son, loudly urging Master You Tan to leave quickly.

Master You Tan sat there, enveloping the man with a Buddha Light, and smiled, "I have Buddhist protective skills, he cannot harm me."

The old lady, seeing her son immobilized within the Buddha Light, akin to an insect encased in amber, raising one foot but unable to move, with wide eyes and even eyeballs stilled, felt a pang and embarrassment for her son, "Hurry and have Master You Tan release my son."

Master You Tan said, "Your son's temperament is violent; unless he practices Buddhist teachings, he'll have a hard time escaping disaster in the future."

The old woman then asked how to avoid the calamity.

Master You Tan explained the karmic cause and effect, saying that those two people harmed her son in their past life, so in this life, they deserved to be killed by him in a fit of rage. Then in their next life, they would come to kill her son, and the cycle would repeat.

To break this cycle, her son must attain enlightenment. In his previous life, he had an affair with that woman, betraying her childhood sweetheart; only if all three practiced Buddhist teachings, abstaining from killing, stealing, adultery, greed, anger, and ignorance, could the knot of fate be unraveled.

The old lady became furious as she finished listening: "They harmed my son in his past life, so in this life, my son should kill them! You old nun, you're so unjust! Why should my son see through and let go? You should have them see through and let go first, not engage in clandestine relations, or else they deserve to be killed by my son!"

After she finished speaking, she angrily scolded Master You Tan, demanding that she release her son and leave quickly. As she spoke, she grabbed a rake from a side room, intending to bash it down on Master You Tan's head.

Master You Tan sighed deeply, withdrew the Buddha Light, and before the mother and son could strike, turned into a beam of Buddha Light and flew away.

In the sky, she encountered the Princess of Stone God.

The Princess of Stone God smiled warmly: "Master, you should have aimed for rebirth long ago, not gotten too entangled."

Master You Tan reprimanded: "By breaking their opportunity to hear the Buddhist Righteous Skills today, you doom them to disaster and mutual slaughter, simultaneously falling into hell. You'll also be implicated!"

The Princess of Stone God smiled tenderly: "The fact that they couldn't hear what you call the Buddhist Righteous Skills proves they have no connection with you. If they truly had a connection, how could I stop them? If they fall into hell, it's because they are connected to it, not because I pushed them there. Master, don't presumptuously speak of cause and effect."

Master You Tan laughed too: "You witch! In the thousand years I've practiced Buddhism, it's the first time someone accused me of presumptuously speaking about cause and effect. Enough, enough!"

She no longer involved herself with the Princess of Stone God and returned to the Yitian Cliff Dragon Elephant Temple by the Buddha Light.

The four great Buddhist leaders gathered once more, sighing in unison: "The fate of spreading union in this world is near its end, not much is left, we indeed should leave!"

Thus, after Master Fen Tuo and Master You Tan arranged their affairs with their disciples, they, along with Zen Master Kong Tuo and Zen Master Wu Ming, smiled and rebirthed, led by Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, heading together toward the Western Heavenly Bliss World.

In front of them were Yang Jin, Hua Wuxie, Qi Xia'er, Su Yin, Master Can Xia, and Ye Bin.

All four, upon rebirth, left relics for their disciples.

Master Can Xia, although a disciple of Master You Tan, engaged in Buddhist and Daoist Dual Cultivation, always dressed as a Daoist: "Before Enshi ascended, she said that after she left, the witch would soon come. I must return to Emei Mountain, and you, dear junior sisters, can as Enshi said, hold the relics, close the mountain gate tightly, accumulate Buddha Light, so the witch finds no opportunity to exploit; in time, she will naturally leave." With that, she left.

The remaining four, with Ye Bin still somewhat dissatisfied, thought to themselves that if they couldn't contend with those old demons, surely, they could handle a witch. So they suggested: "We've all mastered the Demon-suppressing Great Technique, why not set up an arrangement here in advance? When the witch arrives, we can capture and subdue her..."

Yang Jin listened eagerly, having been given Master Fen Tuo's Mountain Guardian Treasure Dharma Flower Vajra Wheel and the Great Thunder Sound Divine Banner.

Su Yin, being dull and slow to react, while Hua Wuxie, being just a named disciple, said nothing.

Only Qi Xia'er, having experienced the might of top-notch masters from the Buddhist, Daoist, and Demon Sects, felt uneasy: "We should still close our doors tightly as Shifu said, avoiding unnecessary complications."

In the past, she had Shifu to fall back on if something went wrong. Now that Shifu was gone, and the Emei Sect remained under the shadow of Blood Demon Deng Yin, unable to fully flourish, she felt deeply insecure.

Speaking of the Princess of Stone God, knowing that the Buddhist experts were collectively aiming for rebirth, now only a group of juniors and twelve relics remained; catching them and bringing them back to the Star Constellations Sea would be of great use.

Originally, she intended to follow Master You Tan directly to Dragon Elephant Temple to seize the opportunity. However, the Heavenly Demon Immortal Slaying Sword had fled too quickly, and with many divine transformations, if it wasn't captured soon, it might truly escape her grasp, forcing her to first find and forcibly retrieve the Heavenly Demon Immortal Slaying Sword before going to Dragon Elephant Temple, thus giving Master Can Xia time to leave and Ye Bin's group time to set up.

With irritation, she questioned the Heavenly Demon Immortal Slaying Sword: "Why did you leave me? You once followed Zen Master Yichen to cultivate the Buddhist Law; what's wrong with now cultivating the Demonic Destruction Treasure Record with me?"

The Heavenly Demon Immortal Slaying Sword replied: "When I cultivated with Zen Master Yichen, it was the Buddhist Righteous Skills, compassionate and harmonious, unlike the Demonic Destruction Great Technique in your Treasure Record."

As she traveled, the Princess of Stone God asked: "Do you feel we're losing power and bound to fail, so you want to leave me and go to Master Yuan Yang?"

The Heavenly Demon Immortal Slaying Sword remained silent for a long time without answering.

The Princess of Stone God snorted: "Success depends on effort! Even if Master Yuan Yang is strong... hmpf, he couldn't possibly contend against the Heavenly Gods in the Spiritual Space Immortal Realm. If he tries to ascend with the Outer Heaven Divine Mountain along with the billions of beings on it, he's acting against the heavens. We still have a slim chance of success."

The Heavenly Demon Immortal Slaying Sword still made no move.

The Princess of Stone God continued: "I've already agreed with Ayin to only deal with the Giant Wood child on Taishan, not to provoke Master Yuan Yang. Once we've eliminated the Giant Wood child, when he leads his people to ascend, we'll strike again. You know this, so why don't you feel optimistic?"

"Ah..." The Heavenly Demon Immortal Slaying Sword sighed deeply, "The Giant Wood God is the son of the Green Emperor."

"So what? Even the Green Emperor himself can't descend to this world unless he's reincarnated through calamity. As for his avatars, even if ten came, we would not fear!"

For a long while, the Heavenly Demon Immortal Slaying Sword was silent, then finally spoke: "Single cultivation in the Demon Path has this flaw, easy to overlook others. Dual Cultivation in Buddha and Demon is better. Look at me, always cautious, able to do ten with the skill of eight and boast of six, only then able to survive among various masters until now. I even Severed twice, with Chi You's sword being destroyed, yet I'm still alive and escaped from Master Yuan Yang... You should practice more Buddhist Law."

The Princess of Stone God chuckled: "Aren't I practicing the Demonic Destruction Treasure Record now?"

"That's not the Buddhist Righteous Skills," said the Heavenly Demon Immortal Slaying Sword, "The fiendish energy in it is as intense as the Blood God Scripture, with no compassion at all. How can that be considered Buddhist Law? If you want to practice Buddhist Law, learn from me. My Buddhist Law comes from Zen Master Yichen, a great high monk. Today, all the high monks of the Buddhist Path in the world have already ascended to Nirvana. The remaining disciples can't truly understand Buddhist Law and have practiced it wrongly. Only my Buddhist Law is the most orthodox. The Tathagata's legacy in the future world can only be carried by me!"