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Chapter 290 Form Is Emptiness (1)
Fa means destruction, and Zhen means to restrain Fa Zhen. As could be seen from the name, the Heavenly Buddha was a person who restrained his desire for destruction by obeying the Buddha. That was why he must not be in his right mind.
“Even after disciplining and disciplining myself, I couldn’t give up only joy out of the Five Desires. Is this also the Buddha’s strong will?”
The corners of his lips reached to his ears.
“I will personally send you to the Buddha you love so much today, so don’t refuse.”
The corners of Cheon-ma’s lips were also curved up to match.
“Hehehe…”
“Kehehehe…!”
When the Heavenly Buddha laughed like a balloon that had lost its air, Cheon-ma began to laugh with him.
“…”
As Yoon-seok watched the two, a thought suddenly occurred to him. Demon and Buddha. The path they chose was different, but perhaps they both came from the same starting point?
“Oppa, why are you laughing all of a sudden…?”
“…Did I laugh?”
Yoon-seok touched his lips in surprise.
“I was just suddenly nervous.”
It was more excitement than tension. However, Lee Su-yeon sighed silently.
“Seriously, how is it that everyone is so alike…?”
Yoon-seok didn’t deny it.
“Yongyong.”
“Yes, Father!”
“You stay here with Su-yeon.”
“Yes, Father…”
Perhaps he imagined himself going to help Cheon-ma with Yoon-seok? Yongyong bowed his head sullenly, but it couldn’t be helped. Yongyong would only need protection if he fought against the Heavenly Buddha.
Tap.
Yoon-seok, exchanging a glance with Lee Su-yeon, jumped up. But was it only then that they noticed him? Cheon-ma and Heavenly Buddha, ready to battle, were startled.
“I will help you.”
Once he landed next to Cheon-ma, Yoon-seok carefully spoke. He thought it could hurt her pride to say that he would help, but…
“Fufufu. This reminds me of the past.”
Contrary to his worrying, Cheon-ma nodded happily.
“Na-namu Amitabha…”
Suddenly, the Heavenly Buddha opens his fist and starts spinning his beads again. It seemed as if his anger had faded slightly.
“Avalokiteshvara Guan Yin…”
But was it just Yoon-seok’s feeling that his hand holding the beads looked nervous? Yoon-seok smirked. Perhaps the memory of that time when he lost several lives for nothing while fighting remained traumatic.
“Old Maiden, how about deciding it with the two of us, without the third person…?”
“With that vicious curse engraved on him, how could you say that this guy is a third person?”
“Didn’t I say this before? It’s not anything vicious…”
Heavenly Buddha sounded drained. Come to think of it; it was like that in the past. Should he say that this monk was a selective madman? Even then, as soon as the situation became unfavorable, he ran away without looking back.
—I am not afraid to die, but I am afraid to disappear without leaving anything behind.
In that sense, the Heavenly Buddha was different from the King of Steel. What he did was crazier but also smarter and more realistic.
“Never mind. Let’s get started.”
As Yoon-seok cleared the situation with one word, one of the Heavenly Buddha’s beads was holding shattered.
Tsaaah-.
He found this situation annoying.
“The two of you persecute a single old man. Don’t you have pride as a warrior?”
“Not two, but one, so it doesn’t matter.”
“Not two, but one?”
When he looked at her to complain of the injustice, Cheon-ma clicked her tongue and replied.
“Tsk, have you never heard of a married couple being one soul and one body?”
“…W-what? Ma-married couple?”
The space between the Heavenly Buddha’s eyebrows was severely narrowed. Now he looked like a demon from hell, not a monk.
“Married couple? What do you mean?”
Heavenly Buddha asked in a more serious voice. But as Cheon-ma shrugged as if to let him think as he wished, Heavenly Buddha’s gaze shifted to Yoon-seok.
“You! Tell me! Married couple? What does that mean!”
Yoon-seok didn’t say anything. Even if it was a 2:1 situation, the Heavenly Buddha was a strong man against whom they couldn’t be too vigilant. It was beneficial to disturb his peace of mind. Perhaps that’s why Cheon-ma aimed to say such nonsense.
“…”
When even the trusted Yoon-seok didn’t deny it, Heavenly Buddha became embarrassed and began to stutter.
“Y-y-you two, so… I mean, y-y-you tell me that you two have gone that far…?”
“Can’t you see?”
“…D-don’t think I will believe those words! It must be a lie to make fun of me!”
Yoon-seok didn’t know how he knew it was a lie, but… just then, the decisive support fire arrived.
“Father! Mother! Stay strong!”
A child’s cry came from far away. Heavenly Buddha, who looked down and saw Yongyong, lost his mind.
“Y-you two also had sex…?!”
Yoon-seok didn’t know why exactly, but the monk looked completely mentally exhausted now…
There was no better time to attack, in that case. As he glanced to the side, Cheon-ma smiled as if she was proud of him and shook her head. This cowardly fighting style was the best for the demon followers.
Swoosh.
There was no discussion on how to fight. When Cheon-ma placed her hand on her sword, Yoon-seok threw himself forward as if they had promised on it. And that moment-
“You demon! What a lewd demon! H-how could such thing exist between a master and a disciple…”
The Heavenly Buddha returned to his senses. For some reason, his eyes were madder than usual. But again, the nickname of the Heavenly Buddha wasn’t obtained through jokes.
Bang-!
Even in that state, he pushed Yoon-seok’s exquisitely swung sword away with the back of his hand while spouting something incomprehensible.
“How could you? I thought of you as a comrade!”
At the same time as Yoon-seok’s first attack was deflected, Cheon-ma’s sword arrived to take advantage of the opening.
The 6th Technique: Thunder Pole.
Clack-clack-baaaang-!
After a brief flare of light flashed across the world, angry thunder echoed in the cavern behind them. However, even suffering the brunt of that attack, the Heavenly Buddha was intact.
Chieeeeek.
Although hot steam was rising from his body… compared to the mental trauma, any material pain was almost non-existent. Like a broken machine, he began to mumble something under his breath.
“Form is empty. Emptiness is form. Form is empty. Emptiness is form. Form is empty. Emptiness is form…”
Yoon-seok had no idea what that meant, but it caused goosebumps to rise up his arms.
* * *
How long had he been chanting?
The Heavenly Buddha, who had been repeating his bizarre spell for a long time, closed his mouth. Then he laughed pleasantly like an enlightened warrior.
“Hahaha! Hahahaha! Hahahahaha! Any form is non-substantial. All things that have no substance are in their truest form!”
“…Did you go senile after sleeping with the Buddhist scriptures for so many days?”
“Senile, you say? I just realized the truth!”
“…The truth?”
Seeing the Heavenly Buddha so happy, Cheon-ma frowned.
“Old Maiden, please forgive me for doubting you.”
“…What the hell are you talking about?”
“To say that all forms of the world are futile, that is, it would be as if the events that have already occurred in this world also do not exist. Eventually, I realized that you were my comrade.”
“Comrade?”
Cheon-ma looked at Yoon-seok. Her eyes asked if he understood.
Yoon-seok answered briefly.
“…I guess he’s senile.”
“Tsk, I guess so.”
It seemed like he’d been struggling and working, but he had already crossed that river. He used to be an old man who couldn’t communicate well, but now it was clear it was something more.
“Alright, let’s just kill him.”
“Yes.”
Yoon-seok and Cheon-ma, who quickly agreed on the best course of action, breathed mana into their swords again. The Heavenly Buddha just stood relaxed without responding as they approached.
Whoosh-!
Even the moment when Cheon-ma’s sword was swung down-
“You’re doing something meaningless.”
As the Heavenly Buddha murmured something, Cheon-ma’s blade directly hit his stout body. So much mana was condensed inside that some of the buildings around them collapsed. However…
“…?”
The Heavenly Buddha was fine this time too. And, unlike before, there was no hot steam wafting off his body. Not even his clothes were scratched, much less his skin. As if nothing had happened.
“…What trick have you done?”
When Cheon-ma asked, the Heavenly Buddha answered without hesitation.
“Didn’t I tell you? All the forms of the world are void. But how can void cut void?”
“Hah, you must be crazy.”
Unlike Cheon-ma, who smiled as if it wasn’t a big deal, Yoon-seok suddenly had a thought. If the Heavenly Buddha was just crazy, what was that just before? If this were possible from the beginning, there would be no reason to avoid fighting regardless of whether it was 2:1 or not.
No matter how much Yoon-seok looked at him, he didn’t seem to be acting or anything.
“I’ve gained great enlightenment thanks to you, so I’ll leave for today. Let’s decide today’s match where the lies have disappeared.”
The Heavenly Buddha spoke as if he were going easy on them. Of course, Cheon-ma was furious and immediately fired another technique off, but…
Whoosh-!
And it disappeared right in front of the Heavenly Buddha. Without blocking it or issuing a command, just completely, as if it had never existed in the first place.
“…”
Yoon-seok watched with a blank look in his eye.
‘Has he learned something and entered a new realm…?’
It was ridiculous even thinking about it, but that was the only explanation that made sense. If there were a way to run away, he would have run away sooner without wasting time like this.
—Let’s decide today’s match where the lies have disappeared.
The Heavenly Buddha, who may have attained enlightenment, talked about contradictions, emptiness, and lies. Not long ago, Yoon-seok had heard something similar from none other than the Sword Sovereign.
—That’s what I suddenly thought about it. If everything from the Tower is fake, what about the sword that I have devoted my life to!
Real and fake. He shuddered at the futility of this topic and finally came up with an answer, and he accomplished the paradoxical by cutting down an invader. How was that possible?
—Think about what separates the real from the fake.
Yoon-seok believed that the answer was in belief.
—Form is empty. Emptiness is form.
In other words, if real is fake, and fake is real, the essence of everything is determined by belief.
Yoon-seok smiled bitterly.
‘…It’s even more ridiculous after organizing it like this.’
Perhaps the Heavenly Buddha came to believe this sincerely due to their talk about being married and having a kid. All of this is fake and in vain without substance. It was a completely contradictory interpretation to the Sword Sovereign, where he thought everything was real…
But as a result, the Heavenly Buddha reached a new level.
“…”
After coming to that conclusion, Yoon-seok felt a bit annoyed. How come someone could grow stronger by denying reality?