Chapter 142
Chapter 142
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 142
Chapter Title: The Arhats’ Arrangement
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-A few days ago. When Mu-heun arrived at Chipyeong Temple.
Mu-heun examined the statues of the Arhats in the underground cavern of Chipyeong Temple. Though countless statues stood outside, this cavern housed statues modeled after a total of ten Arhats.
The depictions of the Arhats were incredibly diverse, their meanings and significance varying vastly depending on interpretation.
Mu-heun thought deeply, trying to find the hidden cavern they had concealed. He pondered what they were trying to convey to him, what their intentions were.
‘Arhats…’
Come to think of it, the Arhats were beings that could not be described in a single word. Even now, just looking at these statues proved that.
To create an image modeled after an Arhat was, typically, to represent the Slayer of Thieves—one who kills people or steals things.
Or the Worthy of Offerings, who receives offerings from all sentient beings, both human and celestial, by severing worldly afflictions.
Or the True Correspondent, who has transcended life and death to a state where there are no more doctrines left to learn.
Here, the Slayer of Thieves meant one who had subdued and killed all worldly afflictions, the enemies of spiritual practice. The Worthy of Offerings meant one who deserved offerings from humans and celestial beings for having severed all afflictions and attained virtue. The True Correspondent meant ‘one who corresponds to the truth.’
However, it was too difficult for the young Mu-heun to understand, and even now, he did not fully comprehend it. He could only surmise that it represented the state the Arhats had reached.
The Arhats Mu-heun had seen in his childhood were monks with a more approachable demeanor, but as he grew older, he heard that they were like immortals.
The Arhats who had saved Mu-heun were supreme saints who had achieved the Three Insights—the Heavenly Eye, Past Lives, and the Extinction of Defilements. It seemed that even they had advanced another step since parting with him.
A different dimension of enlightenment… in other words, they had achieved ascension.
Mu-heun recalled a memory from his past life.
He remembered asking Chang-yeon, who had visited Sichuan, about the whereabouts of the vanished Arhats. Chang-yeon had told him, “They disappeared suddenly,” and spoke of the state of the Arhats.
What he remembered in fragments was…
That the Arhats of Chipyeong Temple had mastered the Six Supernatural Powers—Clairvoyance, Clairaudience, Telepathy, Psychokinesis, Retrocognition, and the Power of Ending Defilements—attaining a state of liberation and completing their preparations for ascension.
He also heard something about how they had mastered all Eight Liberations and had taken on the role of a Field of Merits, swiftly granting the wishes of humans and celestial beings…
“Ahem, let me see… A Field of Merits that grants the wishes of humans and celestial beings…”
“Doesn’t that mean they traveled between heaven and earth?”
“Heaven and earth. Heaven and earth.”
“The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult reveres the heavens, and the Sun and Moon Sword also refers to the heavens with its meaning of the sun and moon, right?”
“In that case, is heaven the Divine Arts of the Heavenly Demon now? No, is it the Sun and Moon Sword left by my master, the Heavenly Demon?”
Mu-heun looked up at the ceiling of the underground cavern. He then discovered a crevice in the center of the ceiling, as if a sword had been embedded there.
“…!?”
He drew the Sun and Moon Sword from his waist.
“It looks like it would fit perfectly there. If so, heaven could refer to the Sun and Moon Sword. Then… what about earth?”
“Earth, earth…”
“If the ceiling is heaven, then of course, the earth must be the floor.”
Mu-heun began to examine the cavern floor. He soon noticed faint indentations on the ground, ten in total.
Moreover, when he connected the small marks, they formed a perfect circle, with a line drawn through the middle like a wave. It resembled the shape of a circle divided into yin and yang.
It seemed something was meant to be placed here…
“It must be the statues of the Arhats. It’s fitting, since there are ten statues in this cavern.”
Mu-heun immediately began to piece together the broken statues of the Arhats. Their heads were mostly severed and had fallen off, but Mu-heun gathered the shattered pieces and reassembled them.
Then, he prepared to arrange the Arhat statues on the floor.
The order of placement was as follows.
Within the circular marks, there was a line that seemed to divide yin and yang. At each end, he placed Śāriputra, foremost in wisdom, and Maudgalyāyana, foremost in supernatural powers.
Then, he began placing the others in a clockwise direction:
Mahākāśyapa, foremost in ascetic practice.
Subhūti, foremost in understanding emptiness.
Pūrṇa, foremost in preaching the Dharma.
Kātyāyana, foremost in explaining the Dharma.
Aniruddha, foremost in divine vision.
Upāli, foremost in observing the precepts.
Ānanda, foremost in hearing the teachings.
And Rāhula, foremost in esoteric practices.
Finally, Mu-heun looked at the slot in the ceiling. It was positioned symmetrically from the center of the circle where he had placed the Arhat statues. He inserted the Sun and Moon Sword into it.
And then…
*Rumble-rumble-rumble*
The underground cavern began to shake.
“Did I get it right…”
At that moment, the Sun and Moon Sword slid out, and Mu-heun caught it immediately. The indentations where the ten Arhat statues stood began to crack. However, the cracks were not irregular but seemed precisely arranged by someone, and soon…
*Crack!*
“It was the right answer.”
A circular hole opened up where the ten Arhat statues were placed, and Mu-heun was sucked inside. The statues fell into the depths, colliding with each other and shattering into pieces, while Mu-heun protected himself from the fragments as he plummeted into the earth.
The hole through which Mu-heun had fallen was soon sealed as the ground repaired itself, closing completely.
*Whoosh!*
*Thud!*
Landing on the floor, Mu-heun found himself in a pitch-black darkness where he couldn't see an inch in front of him.
“How far did I fall…”
He channeled the energy of the Heavenly Demon to his fingertips, creating a violet flame.
*Fwoosh*
As the flame cast its light and the surrounding terrain came into view, Mu-heun couldn't help but marvel.
“Oh-ho.”
His eyes were drawn to the divine weapons and sacred techniques that filled a cavern far larger than he had expected.
Everything here was something that any martial artist would cross a sea of blood to obtain. However, on the wall at the far end of the treasures, these words were inscribed.
[ Take two items that are most necessary for you, and leave the rest for future generations. ]
“…Indeed. Too much is as bad as too little, is that it?”
The words held a certain truth.
As the saying goes, *going too far is as bad as not going far enough*.
Not only could he not use all these divine weapons, but if he were to foolishly take them all, the Central Plains, instead of uniting against their enemies, might well annihilate themselves fighting over the treasures.
In the end, Mu-heun decided to choose two treasures and leave, just as the inscription on the wall instructed.
“But how am I supposed to choose if I don’t know what anything is?”
Just then, Mu-heun’s Sun and Moon Sword began to hum.
*Wuuuuung!*
“This is?!”
The Sun and Moon Sword he had received from the Heavenly Demon had begun to resonate with other divine weapons. Mu-heun followed the vibrations and soon came upon two divine artifacts.
One was a magnificent black robe embroidered with elegant patterns, inscribed with the name Yin-Yang Twin Dragon Robe.
“This looks just like the robe my master, the Heavenly Demon, used to wear.”
The other was a set of prayer beads inscribed with the name Butterfly’s Dream, though its purpose was not described.
Mu-heun immediately realized that these were the two divine weapons he was meant to take.
“Alright, so how do I get out of here?”
The place with the Arhat statues was already underground, and he had fallen even further from there.
Now, he was at a depth he couldn't even guess. If he tried to break through the ceiling, he would most likely be crushed by rocks and buried alive in the earth.
“I have no idea. For now, I’ll just grab these two divine weapons.”
Mu-heun picked up the Yin-Yang Twin Dragon Robe and the Butterfly’s Dream beads.
Suddenly, the two artifacts and the Sun and Moon Sword began to vibrate violently in response to one another!
*Wuuuuuuuuung!*
Then, he heard a familiar yet strange sound from somewhere.
*Swoooosh!*
“Wh-what is that sound…?”
*Swoooosh!*
“N-no way…!”
That’s right. It was the sound of water.
*Gush-gush-gush-gush-gush!*
Suddenly, a tremendous amount of water flooded in from all sides, engulfing Mu-heun. Submerged and unable to breathe, he tried to assess the situation.
He soon realized that a strong current was trying to push him somewhere else. While he and the two divine weapons he had chosen were being swept away, the rest of the treasures remained unmoved by the powerful torrent.
Truly…
The creators of this place were beings worthy of being called immortals. Mu-heun surrendered his body to the current and was carried along for a long time.
A moment later, Mu-heun realized he had merged with some current outside.
“Ptooey! I seem to be falling into rivers a lot these days.”
After emerging from the water, Mu-heun could see the two divine weapons still in his hands.
“Hehehehe. Honored Arhats… I will accept these with gratitude. I’ll come again if I need more.”
Mu-heun bowed deeply in the direction of Chipyeong Temple, then concealed the treasures in his clothes and headed back to the village.
And so, after rejoining Dang So-so, Seol Ha-ryeong, and the heroes of Kunlun, he had traveled by carriage to Yichang.
* * *
“First, I should try on this Yin-Yang Twin Dragon Robe.”
*Flap!*
As Mu-heun donned the black robe, his handsome features shone even brighter, and he could feel the energy emanating from it.
“Shall I test it?”
This robe, in which the energies of yin and yang were harmonized, did not only display its abilities when facing an opponent who used fire or ice energy.
The harmony of yin and yang meant just that—harmony.
In other words, it meant it could harmonize any kind of attack. The two symmetrically placed dragons on each shoulder would help absorb and release impacts, respectively.
Mu-heun immediately generated the fire energy of the Heavenly Demon and shot it at the robe.
The dragon pattern on the shoulder closer to the impact glowed faintly as it absorbed the attack, and the absorbed attack was then released through the dragon on the other shoulder.
‘It’s not perfect, but it certainly lessens the impact!’
That wasn't all. The Yin-Yang Twin Dragon Robe had the power to partially absorb the energy of an attack and circulate it.
Mu-heun naturally learned how to use the power circulated by the Yin-Yang Twin Dragon Robe.
It was truly a divine artifact, a divine weapon.
In a battle against a powerful opponent, reducing the impact of an attack directly affects the outcome of life and death.
Moreover, the robe was so finely crafted, as if woven from dragon scales, that it seemed nearly impossible to cut or tear.
‘Incredible…’
Just then, a sound came from the window.
*Peck, peck, peck, peck!*
*Tap, tap, tap, tap!*
When Mu-heun opened the window, Cheon-hyang swiftly flew inside.
[ Kkyaoo! Master! I’ve heard everything! I think they’re asleep now! I listened to and memorized everything they said before they fell asleep! I did a good job, right?! ]
Mu-heun scratched his head, feeling embarrassed. He had been so engrossed in testing his newly acquired divine weapon that he had momentarily forgotten the mission he had given Cheon-hyang.
But he then realized that it was already past the Hour of the Tiger (3-5 AM) and approaching the Hour of the Rabbit (5-7 AM), and he felt a little sorry for Cheon-hyang.
If Cheon-hyang hadn't knocked on the window just now, he would have started testing the second artifact, the Butterfly’s Dream.
Mu-heun gently stroked Cheon-hyang’s head and said.
“Haha. Well done. Let’s hear what you have.”
[ Sir! ]