"Saints don't enter the cycle of reincarnation?"
Chen Kuang blinked. He really hadn't heard that phrase before.
Judging by Huo Hengxuan's tone, this seemed to be some kind of well-known common sense.
But his original body had spent every day either practicing music or doing menial chores; he had no time to care about cultivator lore or mystic gossip, so naturally he knew very little about this sort of thing.
Still, what he was far more concerned with at the moment was: Why was Huo Hengxuan here?
And was this Huo Hengxuan really the real one?
Huo Hengxuan patted the patch of dirt beside him and smiled.
"Come here. I'll explain it to you in detail. It's of great importance. If you mishear even half a sentence... in the future, you'll face eternal doom."
Chen Kuang didn't move. He stayed where he was, eyes fixed on the man.
"How important?"
You couldn't blame him for being suspicious. The Huo Hengxuan before him was nothing like the one he'd parted ways with.
There were no wounds on his body, no signs of old-age fatigue on his face, he even looked vibrant and commanding.
He wore a full suit of majestic golden armor. Even seated casually, he emanated natural authority, a living pillar of the nation.
He was nothing like the raspy, grizzled rogue Chen Kuang had known in prison. The difference was stark, almost alien.
Huo Hengxuan seemed to sense his wariness. The smile on his face slowly faded.
After a moment, he sighed.
"Sigh... I'm getting old. Can't even trick a kid with eight hundred little schemes in his head."
Chen Kuang gave a tight-lipped smile. "With acting that bad, who would you fool?"
To be honest, he actually thought Huo Hengxuan might've done it on purpose.
Calling him over so suddenly, it screamed "trap."
Given how scheming this old bastard had proven himself to be, there was no reason he'd deliver such a shoddy performance unless he meant for Chen Kuang to see through it.
But... there was always the possibility this wasn't Huo Hengxuan at all.
He didn't hold back with his skepticism, and Huo Hengxuan didn't seem to mind.
The old man looked at him and suddenly spoke in a solemn tone:
"All things under heaven are bound by the cycle of reincarnation. Grass thrives in life and withers in death, but its essence never disappears from this world."
"Some rise to the heavens, others fall into the earth. Once reborn, their souls enter the great cauldron of yin and yang, the grinding wheel of heaven and earth. Only through death can they be born anew, gaining consciousness once more in the myriad creatures."
"Grass is like this. People are no different."
Chen Kuang thought for a moment, narrowed his eyes, and said:
"So the soul doesn't vanish, it just returns to the cycle and becomes part of everything. That's reincarnation?"
That was understandable. Like material and energy conservation.
A human soul wasn't as it was in myths of his past life, complete, judged, and reborn into another life. Instead, it shattered the moment of death, fragmented and scattered.
Chen Kuang couldn't help but think: then what about me?
He came from another world, merged with this body.
What exactly was his situation?
He had a sense this question could only be answered by himself... and it might take a very, very long time to figure that out.
Still, going by this line of logic, then "saints don't enter reincarnation" must mean..
"That's the reincarnation of mortals, the so-called 'boundless sea of suffering.' But saints are those who've crossed that sea."
"Their soul remains whole. Their divine sense does not perish."
Huo Hengxuan said, "Once you become a saint, you're no longer subject to reincarnation. You are free from its pain. You can return to the world with your full self, unchanged, undivided."
Chen Kuang felt a chill down his spine.
He took a deep breath.
"In other words..."
"The Liang Kingdom's Ancestor... and Donghuang... didn't actually die?"
He looked at Huo Hengxuan.
"Just like you?"
Huo Hengxuan shook his head.
"I'm just a half-baked saint. Saying I've escaped reincarnation is flattering myself. What stands before you now is merely a sliver of my remaining divine sense."
He looked up at Chen Kuang and chuckled.
"At most, I can scare you a little."
Chen Kuang twitched his lips.
There it was again, that familiar urge to clench his fist.
So all that performance earlier was just to spook him?
But as he opened his mouth, he found himself unable to mock him.
Even without Huo Hengxuan saying it, Chen Kuang could already sense something strange, the golden armor on the old man's body was starting to show signs of rust.
Of course, divine armor didn't rust.
It was his soul that was deteriorating.
Huo Hengxuan's smile faded.
"If the three of us had all survived, that would've been ideal."
"But unfortunately, both I and that Ancestor Su forcibly elevated our cultivation. The old ancestor fought to the death and willingly scattered his soul, falling with the stars."
"As for me, though I left behind this last shred of divine sense, I will soon return to reincarnation."
"Only that true saint, the Donghuang, has transcended the cycle. A few years from now, he will return to the mortal realm and once again ascend the Daoist Shore."
Chen Kuang tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"A few years? Exactly how long?"
Huo Hengxuan replied, "Sooner rather than later. It depends on how quickly Ji Chengtian finds Donghuang's new incarnation. If the Zhou state dedicates all its resources to nurturing him, it won't take more than five years."
He looked at Chen Kuang with a teasing smile.
"What? Are you scared?"
Chen Kuang was deadpan.
"Yeah. I'm scared he'll come back before I've even dodged the Three Calamities Sect. What if he returns and finds me already dead?"
Huo Hengxuan laughed heartily, his eyes gleaming.
"I thought you were fearless. What, now you don't dare bet on becoming a saint in five years?"
Chen Kuang rolled his eyes.
"Even a bet needs at least a sliver of probability."
This old bastard dreams harder than me, and I'm the one from another world.
Becoming a saint in five years?
Even Xiao Yan wouldn't dare say that!
Huo Hengxuan stared at him for a long time. When it made Chen Kuang squirm, he finally spoke, "But what if... I could give you that probability?"
"Would you bet?"
Chen Kuang paused, eyes narrowing.
"...You're not mentally fading already, are you?"
He didn't know much, but he wasn't stupid.
If that were really possible, it'd be nothing short of defying the heavens.
But Huo Hengxuan's gaze was solemn, utterly serious.
He met Chen Kuang's eyes, voice low and heavy.
"To gamble against the heavens, would you dare bet?"
A beat of silence.
Chen Kuang's expression stiffened.
One minute later, sweat beaded on his forehead. He was barely holding himself together.
His passive skill showed no sign of triggering a lie.
He was silent for a long moment.
"You're serious?"
Huo Hengxuan grinned.
"The Mud-Forged Gold Body Technique I taught you, it's a supreme dharma from the Wugou Pure Land, sealed in their highest vault. If you master all eight phases, you can attain Buddhahood on the spot. It cannot be passed to anyone outside the faith."
Damn it.
This old bastard really had been setting him up from the beginning.
Chen Kuang had sensed it the moment he opened his mouth.
"If it can't be passed to outsiders," then this was clearly a top-secret technique of orthodox Buddhism.
And he'd already learned it, meaning he was now a target for any Buddhist sect that found out.
Huo Hengxuan went on.
"Buddhism's reincarnation differs from the ordinary cycle. Through the use of the Pagoda and the method of entering nirvana, one can seal memories into a relic, to be inherited by a younger disciple in the next life. That is known as Innate Wisdom."
"A person with Innate Wisdom is not the same as the relic's original owner. But in Wugou Pure Land, such a person inherits the relic's rank and status."
"You must be wondering where I got this Mud-Forged Gold Body Technique."
Chen Kuang asked, "You were a Buddhist disciple?"
Huo Hengxuan nodded.
"I was once a formal disciple of Wugou Pure Land's Garan Temple. The name Hengxuan was my dharma name. I was expelled for breaking the precepts."
"But I didn't get this technique from the temple."
"I found it after I became a soldier of Liang. Back then, I met a wandering monk who traveled the lands healing and giving medicine to the poor."
"This nameless monk saw how locals relied on witchcraft and superstition. So he taught them how to identify herbs and heal themselves."
"The villagers, though poor, offered him their grain in gratitude, and he accepted it gladly."
"At first, they worshiped him, showered him with affection. But not long after, some began to say the herbs were worthless, just weeds from the mountains, and that the monk was trading them for food, trying to profit from nothing."
"Then, someone died from using one of his remedies, likely a poisoning. But the villagers, ignorant of symptoms, assumed the monk had evil intent."
Chen Kuang asked softly,
"And then?"
"He died," Huo Hengxuan said flatly.
"They beat him to death with axes and hoes, looted his body and home, yet he had no valuables."
"Not even the grain he'd been given. He hadn't touched a single grain."
....
TL Note: From what I've been able to find, "relics" / "śarīra"are actual sacred remains of Buddhist monks, for those who know more, let me know if the term usage is correct.