Legend of the Great Sage

“What are Li Qingshan’s sins?” The voice answered with a question.

Li Fengyuan was speechless.
He never felt like Li Qingshan had committed any sins.

“Go! If you’re only thinking for your father, you are not a disciple of mine.”

Like a thunderclap, Li Fengyuan suddenly realised something.
“I’ve come to shoulder the sins of the living creatures, to face the suffering of the living creatures.”

“What is benevolence? What is compassion? Who are you to the living creatures?”

However, Li Fengyuan was unable to answer again.
The difference between the phoenix and the numerous living creatures was like the clouds to mud, but before this, he did not even know what “death” was.
What did the living creatures have to do with him?

“If you treat yourself as a god, then the living creatures are ants.
If you treat yourself as a master, then the living creatures are servants.
Even if you take pleasure in the welfare of the living creatures, even if you have a heart of benevolence, you are not one of us.”

“All living creatures are equal,” Li Fengyuan suddenly said, “Is this why you chose first father? Giving him the laws of Sukhāvatī and making him become the lord of the Demon domain.”

“It was Li Qingshan who chose to become Li Qingshan.
It was Li Qingshan who chose to become the lord of the Demon domain.”

Li Fengyuan smiled.
“Yeah, who can make a choice in Li Qingshan’s place? Even if you’re the one honoured by the world.
If you really did possess great benevolence and compassion, possessing omnipotence like how they all describe you, why would the trichiliocosm be a sea of suffering?” Then he said firmly, “If you have benevolence, then you have no power.
If you have power, then you have no benevolence.”

He had converted to buddhism, but when he faced the sovereign of buddhism, a supreme existence among the gods and buddhas, he still talked and laughed freely, without any particular reverence or respect.

The voice fell silent for a moment before letting out a sigh.
“Abilities, no matter how limitless, are unable to defy karma.”

Li Fengyuan asked, “What is karma?” He had come for the flames of karma, but he still was not clear on what exactly “karma” was.
The buddhist scriptures had many sayings about it too, unable to completely agree on what it was.

“Actions and consequences.”

“Will actions always result in consequences?”

“Actions will always result in consequences.”

“I see.
So possessing abilities is karma!”

Li Fengyuan immediately understood and came to a realisation.

The endless laws, the countless techniques, were all a result of karma, a result of actions and consequences.

From gathering spiritual qi to circulating power, and then to casting techniques in the path of cultivation, they were only a small portion of actions and consequences.
Without any power to circulate, there were no techniques to be cast.
Without any spiritual qi to gather, there was no power to circulate.

The people in the world respected the great might of abilities and techniques, able to shift entire mountains and oceans, but their very nature was no different from the kicks and punches of a mortal, except mortals did not gather spiritual qi but ate food instead.

Many years ago, the first lesson that Li Qingshan had learnt on the path of cultivation was eating meat.

That was why abilities, no matter how limitless, were unable to defy karma, as abilities in itself were karma.
That was why even the world honoured one could not shoulder all of the karma, unable to become so-called “omnipotent”.

Li Fengyuan had already understood the answers to everything regarding this.
“I have not come this time for Li Qingshan or the living creatures, but to shoulder my own actions and consequences.
If there was no Li Qingshan, there would not be Li Fengyuan, so Li Qingshan is my action, so I have to shoulder his consequences.”

“Phoenixes are able to transcend life and death, but they cannot transcend this action and consequence, this karma.
When it comes to this, a phoenix is no different from a mortal, and a mortal is no different from an ant.
All living creatures are equal.
I… am a living creature.”

Li Fengyuan only felt enlightened.
He no longer had any worries.
Even his fear of “death” had dissipated.
He only found karma to be natural, to follow a logic of its own.
The cycling between life and death had always been cycling through the same thing.

That was why while phoenixes possessed an endless lifespan, he had never heard of a phoenix surviving from the ancient times.
They possessed eternal life, but they had to die.
Instead, the number of phoenixes diminished.
They must have all shouldered their own karma.

The voice smiled.
“Exactly! Come up to me.”

Li Fengyuan relaxed inside.
He knew he had passed the test and could continue seeking death, so he made his way into the depths of the grove.

However, because of the revelation just then, his mind whirled away rapidly.
His thoughts ran amok as his emotions soared, unable to calm down.
Vaguely, he could sense that this was not that simple.
Apart from Li Qingshan, there seemed to be even greater karma regarding himself, except it was as if a gate separated it from him, unable to realise what it was for the time being.

By the time he had reached the depths of the grove, he finally witnessed the buddha’s true appearance.
He did not glisten or possess a round face like the statues in the temples.
Instead, his face was sunken, and his nose was curved.
He seemed like a regular old monk, just like Jetavana itself, nothing special in appearance.

And, his drooping lips and curved nose made him seem very unfriendly.
If mortals ran into him, they would not even necessarily be willing to give him alms.

However, Li Fengyuan felt a strange feeling of closeness instead, like they were connected by blood.
There was a flash of inspiration through his head, and the gate swung open, immediately understanding everything involved.

He said in disbelief, “You’re… the primordial phoenix!?” b.f488a7