Legend of the Great Sage

ietly and deeply like hiding secrets.”

King Pingdeng bowed and asked, “Bodhisattva, why did you not stop that person?”

He did not believe “adjudicator Lu” had actually suffered from cultivation deviation and coincidentally broken into the eighteenth layer of hell.

He glanced at the large, white hound that resembled a lion beneath him.
The Hell realm was boundless, but with this divine beast Diting around, it was impossible for him to have not sensed that person.

TL: The Diting is the mythical creature that serves as the mount of the bodhisattva of deceased souls and the underworld, Kṣitigarbha.
You can read more about it here.

In the past, when that Intelligent Stone Monkey wreaked havoc in the underworld, he had still been stopped by Kṣitigarbha.
How was he incapable of stopping a mere Ghost Immortal?

Kṣitigarbha opened his eyes slowly.
He formed a slight smile on his face that bore a green tinge.
His expression was mystifying.
“No birth nor death, no defilement nor purity, no increase nor decrease.”

King Pingdeng was taken aback before immediately understanding.
“He’s a mere Ghost Immortal, yet he’s still bold enough to enter the Formless realm? He’s basically sending himself to his doom.
I’ve been overthinking.”

If a regular monk were here, they would definitely be dumbfounded.

Buddhism called the trichiliocosm the Form realm, which included the Desire realm.
At the very top was the Formless realm.
This was called the Trailokya or the three realms.

The Form realm and the Desire realm were not names of geographical regions.

As the name suggested, the Desire realm was where all the desires gathered, which were possessed by various life forms with humans in particular.

The Form realm was where all tangible objects with appearances gathered, while the Formless realm was obviously a higher realm that surpassed everything else.

As a result, most monks believed that the Formless realm did not actually exist and was just a description of a cultivation realm.
Even if they entered the western paradise, Sukhāvatī, they had to undertake tireless cultivation for the opportunity to reach that realm.

However, no one ever thought that not only did the Formless realm exist, but it was even the true name of the eighteenth layer of hell.

A great burden was lifted from king Pingdeng’s shoulders.
He bade farewell with satisfaction.

The wicked fiends that entered the Formless realm would experience true endless hell, Avīci.
Even if they thought they flew across an entire world, they would only be running around on the same spot.
Even if he remained in there for a hundred million years, he could forget about meeting with that Six-eared Macaque.

With his life and death out of his own hands, there was endless space and endless time, thus it was the endless hell, Avīci.

As for the deaths of the four judges, he was completely unfazed.
There were plenty of Corpse Liberated Immortals throughout the six realms of saṃsāra.
Becoming a judge meant an endless lifespan, so who didn’t want a job like that? The Ghost Immortals in the Hungry Ghost realm were common like stray dogs too.
In short, they just had to recruit new judges.

The only thing that could threaten True Immortals like them were “crises of death from the world”.

After king Pingdeng had left, Diting raised his head and asked, “Bodhisattva, will ‘that person’ be trapped in the Formless realm forever?”

Kṣitigarbha only said three words, “Comprehend emptiness.”

Diting shivered as if he had recalled a very horrible memory.
“Sigh, everything about you is great, apart from the fact that you like to keep others guessing! Of course, I know.
As long as he achieves the Four Dhyāna and Eight Samāpatti and sees the truth that emptiness is no other than form, then he can move through the Formless realm unhindered.
However, he’s just a Ghost Immortal.
He hasn’t even come close to Forging his Soul back into the Void yet! How is he supposed to comprehend emptiness?”

By the Four Dhyāna and Eight Samāpatti, that was also known as the Dhyāna and Samāpatti or meditation.
It was the most important method of cultivation for buddhism.

The four was a subset of the eight, corresponding to the Form realm and the Formless realm.
The Form realm was Dhyāna and the Formless realm was Arūpa-jhānas.
They were also known as the four Rūpa-dhyāna and the four Ārūpyasamāpatti.

The four Rūpa-dhyāna were about comprehending form, while the four Ārūpyasamāpatti were about comprehending emptiness.

As mentioned by the Heart Sutra, “Form itself is emptiness, and emptiness itself is form.
Form is no other than emptiness, and emptiness is no other than form.” It described four different realms of comprehension, as well as four stages to progress through, before reaching the highest realm.

On the great ice mountain, Li Qingshan comprehended that “reality arose from the heart”, seeing through the various forms and appearances of reality and reaching the realm of “form is no other than emptiness”, so he was no longer tormented by the various tortures.
He achieved great liberty.
That was “comprehending form”.

For many eminent monks of great wisdom and willpower, as long as they continued with their cultivation, they could all reach this realm.

However, even if they underwent the seventh heavenly tribulation and achieved the fruit of Arhat, they would not necessarily be able to take it one step further and comprehend “emptiness is no other than form”.

That was how difficult it was to comprehend emptiness.

Kṣitigarbha smiled silently.

……

“My name is Li Qingshan.
I’ve already noticed that I’m actually a character from a comic…”

On the endless white land, Li Qingshan hugged his knees and muttered to himself like a broken robot.

Suddenly, he became furious.
“But where’s the background? And the speech bubbles!?” This damned place is even worse than a comic!”

His anger came quickly and left quickly.
His fury vanished the moment it was set alight.
Who knew where it had gone.

He had once tried flying around randomly in search of that “fifth brother”, but even he himself was aware that there was no difference from remaining exactly where he was.
The notion of distance only bore meaning when there was something else to refer to.

This process lasted for around three years.
He did not take a single break in between.
It was not like he could feel exhaustion.
He just became more and more weary.

Time possessed no meaning either.
Perhaps only an instant had passed since entering the mountains till now.

He missed the harsh tortures of hell very much.
Over a short time frame, those tortures were unbearable, but once time was stretched indefinitely, it would become the most terrifying torment.

He even began to doubt himself.
“Can I leave this place?”