CH 65

Chapter 65 – Dawn Creek Metropolis

TL: This chapter was probably the most challenging one for me by far given the amount of mythology in it and world-building being done all at once. Some of the events and settings described here are related to or were briefly alluded to in the prologue. Starting from this chapter, I changed the term ‘Buddhist Sun Realm’, which was used a few times in the prologue, to ‘Great Buddhist Sun World’, to reflect the implication that there can be multiple realms within a ‘world’. Please enjoy!

The gloomy, black water of the river flowed noiselessly past. The water was so dark that it looked like it absorbed all of the light that reflected upon it. It seemed like with just a single fleeting glance, it would suck you in and trap you forever within.

The river seemed to have no beginning and no end as it ebbed in from an unknown location, and flowed onwards into the void. The waters of the river glided past the supreme domains of the Eight Grandmasters off into the boundless infinity of the world, all the way down to the venerated Fengdu City in the underworld, traversing the entirety of the Nine Serenities Realm.

The river water could turn the dead into the living, attaching flesh to bones, and possessed the heavenly power of creation. It was just like the three massive suns and moons in the sky, existing since times immemorial. This river was known as the Forgotten River, which was spoken of only in legends.

(TL: This part is describing the Forgotten River, which is a location in Chinese mythology. It is one of the rivers in the Chinese version of the underworld, which is known as Diyu. It separates the Yellow Springs (similar to the River Styx in Greek Mythology) and the Chinese version of the Underworld. In order to reincarnate, parted souls must cross this river, but the only way to cross is through the Bridge of Helplessness (Naihe Bridge). There’s a legend of an old woman on this bridge named Meng Po, who feeds the recently passed souls a soup which erases the memories of their past life. Ironically enough, there’s no English version of the Wikipedia page for the Forgotten River. If you want to read more about the Chinese version of the underworld: link)

Ghosts avoided the Forgotten River like the plague. As soon as they touched even a little bit of the river water, all of the ghostly qi in their body would be completely rinsed out, giving rise to Yang energy and replenishing longevity. If it was in the Human Realm, this was naturally an extremely beneficial outcome, but in the Nine Serenities Realm, it was a straight path to oblivion for the ghosts.

Dawn Creek Metropolis was located along the Forgotten River. The Forgotten River stretched onward for untold lengths, and the number of ghost cities that existed along its banks were as innumerable as the grains of sand in a desert. Although Dawn Creek Metropolis was just one amongst many, there was something special about it.

The Six Paths of Reincarnation and Rebirth had existed in the Nine Serenities Realm since the ancient days of yore.

Within the Three Heavens and Nine Realms, at the very top, there were the Brahmic Heaven, the Three Realms of the Golden Crow, and the Heavenly Court. Below that, there were the Three Realms of the Yin Wheel, the Human Realm, and the Heavenly Ocean Realm. No matter which heaven or realm they came from, and regardless of whether they were bodhisattvas, deities, ghosts, demons, humans, or monsters, every being had to be reincarnated. This required passing through the Six Paths of Reincarnation, which was located in the Nine Serenities Realm.

The location of the Human Path of the Six Paths of Reincarnation was in Dawn Creek Metropolis, and it was guarded by Divine General Tianrui.

Divine General Tianrui was a direct descendant of one of the Eight Grandmasters of the Nine Serenities Realm. By relying on this noble blood relation, he was appointed the Divine General rank by the Heavenly Court. He was washed of his identity as a ghost, cleansed of all his innate ghostly qi, and was reconstructed into a divine body. He was in charge of ghost generals and three million ghost soldiers, who were tasked with defending the Human Path of the Six Paths of Reincarnation.

“Almighty Lord Tianrui, Master Chu has arrived outside Radiant Hall,” a ghost general in golden armor reported respectfully, bowing deeply before the throne seated on high within the hall.

Tianrui lifted his gaze, and commanded from the throne in a clear tone, “Welcome him in.”

“Yes, Almighty Lord.”

“Tianrui, you haven’t left this damned hellhole for several hundred years already. We’ve been bored without you.”

The gate of Radiant Hall opened and a rich playboy-looking noble in red clothes strided in. His countenance was handsome and refined, and his frivolous nature was apparent through his speech alone.

Tianrui motioned with his eyes and the ghost general silently withdrew, closing the giant gate and reactivating the protective array on his way out.

After the ghost general left, Divine General Tianrui’s expression immediately softened. He smiled wryly and said, “You think I wanted to be like this? I don’t even know how the Grandmaster of Rotation chose me out of the several tens of thousands of direct descendents to come and defend this damned place. Well, just like that, several hundred years went by.”

He lifted his gaze and looked around at the spacious, brightly lit hall and the mirror of water in the center of it. Roughly calculating a number on his fingers, he said, “I guess it’s not too bad. After another 1,300 years, it’ll be time for someone else to take over with defending this place. The life of a Divine General is really way too rigid and ascetic for me.”

The red-clothed rich playboy, whose name was Chu Wuyu, walked straight up to the upper hall where Tianrui was and laughed heartily. He jested, “Being a Divine General isn’t good? At least your position is formally ordained by the Heavenly Court, so you’ll be immortal and be forever immortal.”

Tianrui gave him a sideways glance and replied, “Don’t make fun of me. As descendents of the Grandmasters, we were already born with an eternal lifespan. Why would I need an official post appointed by the Heavenly Court for that?”

Chu Wuyu seemed to bear veiled criticism against the Heavenly Court. “The Heavenly Court? Heh, it’s only us and a few other lower realms who actually pay them any respect. Just look at the lofty Brahmic Heaven and the Three Realms of the Golden Crow. Does the Heavenly Court even dare to control them one bit?”

Tianrui frowned and said, “Watch your tongue.”

Chu Wuyu snorted coldly and said, “In the Nine Serenities Realm, we have the Eight Grandmasters and the Supreme Emperor of Fengdu City, who have existed for countless ages. In my opinion, there isn’t much difference in power between them and the Heavenly Court. Why should we bother to suffer under their control?”

Tianrui shook his head. “Wuyu, you’re wrong. Although the Heavenly Court rules over the three heavens and nine realms in name, it isn’t as simple as you think. Otherwise, with the almighty power that the Grandmasters possess, do you think they would really be willing to be subservient to others?” He paused for a bit, then said, “You haven’t received divinity yet, so there are some things you don’t know. Just how powerful and overbearing are the Three Realms of the Golden Crow? Not to mention the three Bodhisattvas of the three realms, the ten Arhats beneath each of them all have cultivations on par with the likes of the Grandmaster of Rotation. And then there’s the Brahmic Heaven, at the core of the Great Buddhist Sun World.”

Tianrui continued, “The Great Buddhist Sun World alone occupies one heaven and three realms out of all three heavens and nine realms. There’s the Brahmic Heaven and the Three Realms of the Golden Crow, both with power comparable to the Heavenly Court. Just how terrifying is that? Even though our Nine Serenities Realm is a big realm, how can we compare with the Three Realms of the Golden Crow? So for countless ages, the Nine Serenities Realm continued to withstand the Heavenly Court’s control. In the future, don’t carelessly say what you said just now in front of other people, otherwise they will laugh at you and call you ignorant!”

Chu Wuyu still seemed unwilling to concede, but he frowned and didn’t speak further. He glanced at the vast water mirror in the center of the hall, where the view of the Human Path on the backdrop of Dawn Creek Metropolis outside was reflecting upon the surface.

Even though Chu Wuyu had seen this unfathomable black and white vortex countless times, he still often found himself engrossed by the sight of it. He muttered to himself, “The Six Paths of Reincarnation are really too mysterious. Even just the Human Path of Reincarnation has so much power of creation within.”

Divine General Tianrui looked at his childhood friend and shook his head. He suddenly thought of something and said, “Speaking of the Human Path, I actually just remembered that there was something interesting that happened one time.”

Chu Wuyu tore his gaze away and looked at Tianrui with a curious expression. “What happened? You’ve been protecting this place for several hundred years, like being trapped in a cage. What interesting thing could have possibly happened?”

Tianrui’s expression became more mild, and the lecturing tone he had earlier disappeared. He smiled and said, “When I first came here to guard this place, a Bodhisattva once came to visit. I had seen portraits of the Bodhisattvas of the Three Realms, so I knew that this Bodhisattva wasn’t from the Three Realms of the Golden Crow. This Bodhisattva must have been from the Brahmic Heaven.”

Chu Wuyu was astonished. “Why would a respected Bodhisattva go out of their way to come to a place like this? And a Bodhisattva from the Brahmic Heaven, no less?”

Tianrui shook his head and replied, “I also didn’t know what eponym of Buddha this Bodhisattva had, but when they entered the Nine Serenities Realm, they ended up alarming the Supreme Emperor of Fengdu City and the several nearby Grandmasters. At the time, the Grandmaster of Rotation and the Grandmaster of Song Temple both sent clones over here.”

Chu Wuyu hated being left on a cliffhanger the most. He pressed him anxiously, “Tianrui, hurry up and continue. What happened next?”

Divine General Tianrui chuckled and said, “And then, you see, this unnamed Bodhisattva, …”

Seeing that Tianrui was still trying to stall and string him along with his antics, Chu Wuyu let out an annoyed snort. He flipped his palm, causing a glimmering golden rope to appear out of nowhere, and posed as if to threaten to attack Tianrui with it.

Tianrui laughed and lightheartedly begged for his mercy. “Put that rope away already! I’ll keep talking.”

Chu Wuyu didn’t immediately put it away. Instead, he kept the God Binding Rope in his hand and glared coldly at Tianrui.

Divine General Tianrui laughed, nudging him with his finger before continuing, “And then, a revolving cyan light appeared in that honorable Bodhisattva’s hand, and he directly threw it into the Human Path.”

Chu Wuyu found it inconceivable. “When the people of the Great Buddhist Sun World reincarnate, don’t they all directly go through the Sun Path of Reincarnation? Why did he throw that light into the Human Realm? And why did the clone of a Bodhisattva come here personally to do that?”

The Six Paths of Reincarnation were divided into the Sun Path, the Moon Path, the Human Path, the Ghost Path, and the Sky Path. However, the final Path had been a taboo existence for countless years, and no being dared to utter its name.

If one entered the Sun Path, one would be reincarnated into the Buddhist Lands of the Three Realms of the Golden Crow. If it was the Moon Path, one would be reincarnated into the Three Realms of the Yin Wheel. For the Human Path, it was the Human Realm. For the Ghost Path, it was the Nine Serenities Realm.

And if one entered the Sky Path, one would be reincarnated into the Heavenly Court of one of the three heavens.

Tianrui watched as the God Sealing Rope in Chu Wuyu’s hands disappeared. He laughed and said, “How am I supposed to know what that lofty, high-minded Bodhisattva was thinking? After the clone of that Bodhisattva threw the cyan light into the Human Path, he transformed into golden light and dissipated, returning back to the Brahmic Heaven.”

In Dawn Creek City, the black and white vortex towered over the bank of the Forgotten River, guarded by several hundred thousand ghost soldiers. Countless true souls twinkled with light as they flowed incessantly along the Forgotten River, straight into the Human Path of Reincarnation, where they would inevitably be reincarnated into the Human Realm.