Chapter 190
There was a man.
His crimson robe was worn out as if it had endured many years.
He was barefoot, and his rough feet were full of small wounds and calluses, as if he had walked for a long time without shoes.
The man wandered in a beautiful world.
A dazzling space where there was no suffering, only enlightenment.
In a world without dirt, only the man looked out of place, as if he belonged to another world.
[Stop.]
The man stood in front of a huge gate.
He looked up, but he could not see the end of the gate, which was so high that it pierced the clouds.
The two pillars that supported the gate were towering above the sky.
On both sides of the gate, there were four beings guarding the entrance.
[No one can enter the Land of Infinite Life (無量壽佛土) without permission!]
The four beings exuded tremendous presence.
They were not only the guardians of the Heavenly King Gate, but also the second-generation spirits of the Great Spirit Army, a gathering of giant spirits.
Among them, in terms of combat power alone, they could compete with the tail end of the first generation.
[The Sky that Listens and Supports Everything]
[The Pillar that Holds the Territory]
[The Good Root that Grows Gradually]
[The Wide Root that Observes the World]
Their appearance was so fierce that even demons would be scared, and their stature was so huge that it would hurt to look up at them.
Moreover, they held vicious weapons in their hands.
On the other hand, the man in front of them had nothing and looked pitiful.
He was short and narrow-shouldered, unlike the guardians who were over 500 meters tall.
Compared to them, he was like an ant standing in front of a human.
But his face was peaceful, as if he was dreaming a happy dream, and his voice did not tremble.
“Is He inside?”
[If you want to enter this place, reveal your identity first!!!]
[The Pillar that Holds the Territory], also known as Dhṛtarāṣṭra (持國天王), burst into anger.
He pointed his sword at the tiny man.
The sword was much bigger than a building.
If he had a little bit of malicious intent, the sword would cut the man in half.
Facing death in front of his nose, the man’s voice was still calm.
“Tell Him that I came to see Him.”
[How dare you……!]
[Stop!!!]
It was [The Sky that Listens and Supports Everything], also known as Vaiśravaṇa (多聞天王), who stopped Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s rage.
He had been looking at the tiny man who gave off a strange feeling, trying to remember something.
He knew that the man who remained calm in front of the four heavenly kings’ aura was not an ordinary being.
Then he suddenly remembered one person.
[……Why are you here, Enlightened One?]
[What?]
[Enlightened One?]
The other heavenly kings reacted strongly to Vaiśravaṇa’s words.
The Enlightened One was born as a human, but was called a sage.
He attained nirvana through enlightenment and ascended to the stars.
Even though he reached such a high place, he did not stop his insight and wandered endlessly in the mixed world. He was a spirit who was not like a spirit.
His alias recorded in Genesis Network was [Enlightened One (先覺者)]
Unlike other spirits who decorated themselves as much as possible, he was simple but showed clearly who he was.
Siddhārtha Gautama
That was the name of the man who looked insignificant.
[Cou, could it be that you are……?!]
The heavenly kings who realized his existence late knelt down on one knee at the same time, and the ground shook once.
[We apologize for not recognizing you!]
“It’s alright.”
The Enlightened One did not care about their rudeness.
“I just want to go inside. Is He there?”
[…….]
[…….]
The heavenly kings exchanged confused looks.
The Enlightened One was certainly a very high spirit even in their Pure Land.
They could not refuse his request.
But they had received an order to deny anyone’s access to this place.
That caused a conflict for them.
“Why are you hesitating?”
[Tha, that is…….]
“Never mind. Then let’s do this. You tried to stop me. But I forced my way through you. This way you won’t be blamed.”
[Bu, but……!]
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The Enlightened One moved before Dhṛtarāṣṭra could finish his words.
Swoosh.
The pioneer took a very small step.
It was a movement so slow that it was barely visible to the eye. But the Four Heavenly Kings could only widen their eyes in shock.
That was because the pioneer’s figure disappeared from that spot as soon as he took a step.
[Wh, when did he?!]
“Sorry for the inconvenience.”
His voice came from behind them.
He was standing inside the Heavenly King Gate, the place where no one was allowed to enter, on the Infinite Life Buddha Pagoda.
The Four Heavenly Kings did not stop him.
They could not stop him once he crossed the gate.
The pioneer bowed his head slightly in apology and headed towards the center of the Infinite Life Buddha Pagoda.
A huge hall that was hard to look down from even the sky came into view.
The walls were painted with various pictures, and the roof was densely decorated with carved wooden statues and glittering structures.
Even the wind was afraid to blow here, and the clouds that covered the Heavenly King Gate did not dare to approach.
The pioneer entered the hall without hesitation.
Inside the vast space where no light penetrated, a being sat on a throne of honor.
He shone with a brilliant golden light that hid his true appearance.
The pioneer bowed his head respectfully.
“Your Majesty, I am honored to see you.”
[What brings you here?]
“Do I always need a reason to visit you?”
The pioneer sat down without permission, even though he did not receive it.
The other party did not point out that either.
He knew from many experiences that it was useless to do so.
[So what do you want from me?]
“Your Majesty, I want to tell you a story about my disciple who was too good for me.”
[You have many disciples, who are you talking about?]
The Majesty asked him that.
He could not tell if he really did not know or pretended not to know.
“Juryobandi, Chulapantaka.”
The pioneer did not waver.
His eyes were always calm and steady from the beginning until now.
“Chulapantaka always carried his stupidity like a guilt. Yet his passion for learning was always greater than any other disciple. I should not have ranked them, but I could not help but say that. Even when I left for another pilgrimage, and he went astray in the meantime. I believed that he would someday realize the right teachings again.”
Maybe that was why.
He could speak so calmly while holding the name of his disciple whom he could never see again.
“Chulapantaka’s mistake was also my mistake for not teaching him properly. But I know that his death, his annihilation, was not just because of his misguided faith. Your Majesty, please answer me. Why did you do such a thing?”
The pioneer’s voice was calm.
He did not blame the Majesty.
He really wondered about this fact.
He just hoped that he would tell him why he did it.
[Chulapantaka went down to hell by his own will. Why are you asking me about it?]
“…Is that so.”
With one answer from the Majesty, the pioneer felt his will to never tell him anything.
For the first time, he showed emotion in his voice.
It was unbearable regret.
“How could you change so much?”
[Everything changes. That is true for me as well.]
“All phenomena are impermanent. Chulapantaka once realized this too.”
The Majesty did not answer.
Chulapantaka became a sore finger of Paradise. Because of what he did, other great saints started to point fingers at Paradise.
Paradise did not respond to them.
It just remained silent, as usual.
That behavior provoked other spirits even more.
[It was all his own doing.]
“Were you so afraid of the Heavenly Demon?”
[Do not utter that name!]
The Majesty showed his anger for the first time at the mention of the Heavenly Demon.
In an instant, the inside of the hall was filled with hot heat.
In the high temperature that could easily melt steel, the pioneer’s expression did not change at all.
He did not feel no pain.
He felt pain but accepted it naturally and did not suffer from it.
The pioneer opened his mouth with sweat beads on his forehead.
“What are you so afraid of?”
[We Sukhavati have nothing to fear!]
“So far, yes.”
[Are you trying to have a debate with me?]
“I just want to inform you.”
[Do you think you have overcome your pride alone from that demon king! Then let me ask you this. Why did your cousin Devadatta end up like that! Even though he had a name that meant he realized everything, he did not realize that!]
“…”
The pioneer could not answer anything to the Majesty’s roar.
He realized that he would not hear any answers if he stayed here any longer and got up from his seat.
[Are you running away now!]
“I think you do not like me, a humble guest, very much. I will leave now.”
[You talk like an old sage. But remember this. Your disciple Chulapantaka sacrificed his life for a noble mission to eradicate the evil of this world.]𝘯𝙤ν𝖊𝘭𝐛Ꭵ𝓷.𝔫𝙚ｔ
“There is no such thing as a noble mission in this world.”
The pioneer turned his back and left the scene.
The only thing that lingered in the air was his last words.
“Some people just want to believe.”
[Goyan…]
Guangming tried to say something, but he shut his mouth tightly.
Shouting at the back of the pioneer who had already disappeared would be nothing but admitting his defeat.
Besides, he had more urgent matters to deal with.
The pressure from the other great clans was a problem, but not something he could ignore.
However, the ‘Foundation’ was different.
The Foundation, which established the Genesis Network in the hybrid world and controlled it, was a place that even the great clans could not easily confront.
It was a place where no one knew who created it and who moved it.
Even [Endless Light], one of the few first-generation spirits in Paradise, could not illuminate the darkness of the Foundation.
And the Foundation contacted him.
They asked him to take responsibility for violating the Summer Inviolable Treaty.
‘This is a headache.’
Guangming did not want to think about how much text points he had spent to appease them.
He also did not like the fact that he had given the Foundation some leverage over him.
All this was for a cleaner world.
But the result was heading towards the worst.
Guangming did not like the fact that he had failed, but there was something he took much more seriously.
How much would that ‘evil’ stir up because of this incident?
He couldn’t help but worry about it.
***
“Um. Let me introduce you. This is Seo Sumin, who has just joined White Flower Management.”
“You can just treat me casually.”
Seo Sumin smiled softly and said so in response to Yu-hyun’s introduction. Yu-hyun was not fooled by her appearance. She looked like a slightly mature middle school student, but inside her was a transcendent who could make even spirits tremble.
“By the way, she is also my third collector.”
No one objected to that.
The first Kang Hyerim and the second Kwon Jia also saw Seo Sumin’s skills with their own eyes.
Seo Sumin could take an overwhelming position in White Flower Management if she just let go of her power.
Feeling their gazes, she waved her hand.
“You don’t have to be like that. I can’t do it like before.”
Seo Sumin had used up all her willpower to fight against Chulapantaka.
Whether it was because of the aftermath of using techniques that were impossible with her current body, she was in a weakened state of mind and body.
It was the price of forcing out her power.
Even considering that, she was still much better than any ordinary collector, but compared to her peak power, it was far from enough.
She needed a lot of time to recover.
“Hey, what are you talking about?”
“I don’t know either.”
Baek Seoryeon and Seong Yu-chan, who had not heard the details yet, cautiously asked.
Behind them, Celine was wondering why she was participating in this meeting.
Yu-hyun wondered how to explain Seo Sumin’s identity to them.
He needed to keep her identity as a Heavenly Demon a secret.
“I’m a Heavenly Demon.”
Seo Sumin broke Yu-hyun’s worry with her own mouth.
Yu-hyun looked at Seo Sumin with a shocked expression.
“Sumin?”
“Hey. Why are you like that? You can just call me ‘Sumin~’ casually.”
He looked at her jokingly and wondered if this was the same quiet girl he knew until recently.
She had changed too much.
‘No. Maybe she just regained her original personality?’
Yu-hyun sighed.
“Sigh, yes. As she just said herself, she is a Heavenly Demon. Not a concept or anything like that. And not a mental illness either. A real Heavenly Demon, a real Heavenly Demon. She was born again in this world by chance after coming from the martial world.”
“What?!”
“What?!”
Baek Seoryeon and Seong Yuchan exclaimed in surprise.
One of them was asking out of shock, and the other one was asking out of joy.
