A tone laced with undisguised contempt.

The Medicine Bodhisattva suddenly opened her eyes, unable to believe what she had just heard. The Third Rank state that so many sought in vain, he had attained through her intervention and enlightenment. Yet, at this moment, he made such a declaration?!

While her thoughts surged, she met Chen Yi's teasing gaze.

He was like the Monkey King, ignorant of fear or reverence, hammering against the Golden Body Dharma with a casual hand, making it rattle incessantly.

The nun glared at him coldly and said:

"You, having already come to enlightenment, why must you act so irreverently?"

"Because I do not believe in what I've come to understand," Chen Yi replied with a mocking smile. "Life is impermanent?"

The nun's voice turned colder: "Is it not? Others will die, and so will you. Is this not impermanence?"

She could clearly sense the flood of thoughts that crossed Chen Yi's mind in the moment before collapse: the laughing pelican will die, the eagle of impermanence will die, the crow heralding death will die, even he, himself, will eventually die. This was his so-called epiphany!

"But I told you,"

Chen Yi enunciated each word deliberately:

"I do not believe in the things I've understood. I don't want to die, so I won't die."

The nun's Heart Lake began to ripple with turmoil, and she cried out in alarm:

"What are you saying? In the human world, there is no such thing as eternity!"

He seemed to recall the five words written on a small paper boat and, with five words of his own, he responded:

"But what if there is?"

"Why do you spout such arrogant words?"

Chen Yi casually tossed out a reply:

"Because I saw her say she liked me, so I don't want to die anymore."

That's the reason?

For a moment, the nun thought she must have misheard him.

How majestic the Golden Body Dharma was.

In the midst of darkness, that man clenched his fist and drove it into the Dharma form with all his might.

Amidst the shattering sound of the Dharma form, that man asked:

"I've always wanted to ask you immortals and Buddhas this—why must one awaken?"

"Why?"

"Why is awakening a good thing? Why is emptiness of mind a good thing?

Why is the opening of heavenly gates a good thing? Why is the ascension of countless immortals and Buddhas a good thing?"

In an instant, the nun's formerly serene smile vanished, her complexion changed drastically, and waves of an unidentifiable emotion spread through her Heart Lake.

It was an emotion she hadn't felt for a long time since attaining the Bodhisattva fruit.

It was fear!

The Dharma form shattered in an instant, Chen Yi's hand sinking deep into its remains. He turned his head and locked eyes with the nun.

The nun's pupils trembled as she saw the sword in his hand.

This sword, once drawn, annihilated the heart and destroyed the foe.

A killing sword.

"I want no nirvana, no Buddhahood, nor do I want to retreat into some great void."

Chen Yi began to speak, announcing without room for dispute, words filled with unrestrained defiance:

"My name is Chen Yi. Yi means 'change,' the Dao itself.

I will not awaken, not seek nirvana, not ascend, not become a Buddha, not become an immortal. I will only be a human being."

His brows relaxed, and he seemingly smiled carelessly.

"This is my Dao!"

As he spoke, the Golden Body Dharma collapsed with a resounding crash. The Third Rank state that the nun had so carefully fostered to fruition dissolved in that instant, transforming into the sharp sword in his hand.

In that moment, the Medicine Bodhisattva's face froze in horror. She had never imagined that this man before her could be so fixated on his ego, so impossibly arrogant!

"You wish to become... eternity?" Her voice sounded almost like a murmur.

Chen Yi did not confirm nor deny, but raised his sword.

"I won't debate Sutras with you.

I only wish to destroy you. If you die, then I am right.

Don't you understand?"

......

In the inn, Yin Tingxue climbed lightly out of a window and gently picked up the emaciated yellow dog.

The yellow dog whimpered hoarsely, as if crying, perhaps because no one had ever brushed so gently against its wounds before.

Master Zhihui's face turned pale. She had personally witnessed how Yin Tingxue had intertwined her fate with that of the yellow dog. She should have intervened, should have clarified the Buddhist teachings, but for some reason, she found herself unable to move.

After a long time, Master Zhihui choked out in a hoarse voice:

"A paper flower will never be a real flower."

The young girl merely smiled faintly, still holding onto the paper flower:

"But if emptiness is not empty, and form is not form, then a paper flower is no flower,

This is Zen.

You are a Bodhisattva, so don't you understand?"

......

"Don't you understand?"

The moment those words fell.

The sword pierced straight through.

With a sound like a soft "pfft," the Medicine Bodhisattva's body was abruptly impaled by the sword's edge.

Destruction Zen Sword!

The nun was already beyond terrified. She hurriedly chanted Buddhist incantations aloud, and golden light radiated around her in a brilliant display. The towering Dharma form of the Medicine Bodhisattva rose mightily into the air at that moment.

The Dharma form was even more majestic than Chen Yi's earlier Golden Body and even more divinely serene.

Countless Buddhist chants surged from the darkness, as if thousands of monks had raised their voices in unison, joined by the sounds of endless wooden staves and prayer beads clicking together.

Medicine Bodhisattva began to speak, shouting:

"You insolent fool, how dare you! When I gained the pure power of Bodhi, I vowed that though I have yet to become a Buddha, any living being who hears my name shall be freed from three kinds of mortal suffering."

Her voice shook the heavens and earth, like the wrathful roar of a vajra deity.

Yet Chen Yi remained laughing wildly, and as he withdrew his sword, he raised it before him. The blade radiated a three-foot Sword Gang!

The Medicine Bodhisattva erupted in fury—how dare this mortal be so audacious! Even now, he remained deeply attached to his delusions!

His smile gradually disappeared, and he enunciated each word:

"I will give up the Third Rank state if I must, but today, I will kill you!"

As his words fell, his sword struck.

Between heaven and earth, an eruption of blinding light illuminated the darkness in blazing white, instantly consuming the towering Golden Dharma form.

Chen Yi and Yin Tingxue, one using words, the other wielding a sword, together destroyed the two manifestations of the Medicine Bodhisattva.

......…

Throughout the 1,679 Buddhist temples dedicated to the Medicine Buddha,

the statues of the Medicine Bodhisattva, holding treasures beside the Buddha,

shattered.

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