Chapter 260

"Hahaha! Hahaha!"

His divine power exhausted, his supernatural abilities dissipated, and his body gradually destroying itself, the blast from the [Fusion Fist] propelled his broken remains into the dark universe, yet Bo Xun could not help but laugh out loud.

After a brief sensation of floating, his body was captured by Earth's gravity—beginning its descent.

Like a meteor, he fell toward Earth.

Resolutely resisting the weak behavior of a life-flashing-before-his-eyes moment appearing in his mind, Bo Xun closed his eyes as gravity relentlessly pulled him toward the ground. He breathed in, breathed out, and tried to summon all the power and supernatural abilities he had once possessed.

But he received no response.

Even so, Bo Xun did not despair.

Even as he crashed down from the sky, passing through the atmosphere, burning in flames, and piercing through dark clouds—Bo Xun did not give up.

With a thunderous boom, he crashed onto a lush grassy field, though he had no idea where he was.

The surrounding flowers and grass were lush, and there was a large tree behind him. Bo Xun leaned his broken body against the tree, breathing desperately and repeatedly, filling every corner of his lungs with the fresh air around him.

There was a large, gaping hole in his chest, his lower body had been blown away, and he was covered in wounds, gradually approaching death.

Even so, Bo Xun still did not give up.

"The harvest was great, next time…"

He gasped while smiling bitterly, whispering, "Next time, I will definitely be able to destroy this world…"

Despite saying this, no sooner had the words left his mouth than Bo Xun felt a familiar aura approaching him.

Thus, everything he had just whispered became meaningless empty talk. Bo Xun sighed: "You are really slow, Shinji."

Someone had already walked across the lawn and was approaching him.

His hair was like gold, resembling a lion's mane; his eyes were as bright as the scorching sun, emitting a burning golden light. He wore blue-black armor, a fur cloak draped over his shoulders, and held a heavy, massive spear in his hand.

He was the Son of God, so he was named Shinji.

His true name was the King of Warriors. The King of Kings, the Lord of Lords.

"Shall I send you on your final journey, Hei Bai?"

Rarely without a smile, Shinji asked indifferently. He called Bo Xun "Hei Bai."

Bo Xun was certainly not the Buddha-child's true name. What was his true name?

When the monks created him, they naturally only called him Maitreya. Because he was the Maitreya Bodhisattva in everyone's hearts, the Buddha of the future, the Savior.

But just like the Son of God gave himself the pseudonym "Shinji," the Buddha-child also thought of a name for himself, called "Hei Bai"…

An old name he had already discarded when he started calling himself Bo Xun.

"Unexpectedly, I ended up in your hands in the end."

At this point, "breaker of the inner world" is causing a reading frenzy in the UU library; you haven't read it yet? There was certainly no room to struggle; the Buddha-child gave up resisting and simply sighed.

After sighing, he asked a question he had wanted to ask twenty years ago but never had the chance to:

"Shinji, are you the Son of God because you have power?"

"Or do you have power because you are the Son of God?"

"If I were you, would my goal be achievable?"

Regardless, he was indeed troubled by his lack of power. If he were also a true Son of God, if he weren't a knock-off Maitreya Buddha created by an idiotic creator, could he have achieved his goal?

"A foolish question, Hei Bai."

Shinji answered indifferently, "My power does not exist to deliver all living beings, but is an object to flaunt my own ambition. Even if it were handed to you, it would only be a waste of a precious thing."

Even if he obtained the divine power of the King of Warriors—the Messiah who conquered the world with a sword—used for killing and judgment, could the Buddha-child use it to preach and propagate the Dharma, allowing all living beings to achieve enlightenment and liberation?

Obviously, this cannot be rigidly applied.

After all, the worldview of Christianity does not have the concept of "saving all living beings," nor is it possible to engage in "not becoming a Buddha until hell is empty."

There must be selection, there must be judgment, there must be those who cannot enter Paradise, and there must be those who deserve to go to hell.

If everyone could enter Paradise, then there would be no fairness or justice.

And this, obviously, was a principle that Maitreya could not accept.

"Even if you say that, I truly lack the power to realize my ideal."

So the Buddha-child shook his head, "You who possess power, how could you possibly understand what I lack…"

"Why not?"

Shinji raised an eyebrow, "Power is merely something that can be accumulated and plundered. Since you were able to plunder so much power for evil karma, searching for [silver coin]s, and infiltrating the moon—could you not do the same for good karma?"

"…Shinji, that is too unfair of you to say."

The Buddha-child was speechless for a moment, "I know that by using the accumulated desires of all living beings and the [Destruction] [silver coin], one can connect to the Dream of All Living Beings at the Lunar Sanctuary and destroy the world. But could I really use this power to deliver the people of the world?"

"Isn't this the same logic you just mentioned: can power used for killing not be used for propagating the Dharma?"

"Are you trying to make me use the power of the Lunar Sanctuary to brainwash all of humanity, causing all of humanity to fall into an endless illusion?"

It's not like it's Infinite Tsukuyomi; the Buddha-child isn't surnamed Uchiha.

"Why not?"

However, Shinji asked again, "The present world is but a dream of impermanence; isn't this what the scriptures you have always believed in taught you?"

"Or is it, Hei Bai, that you only selected a few parts you liked as your creed?"

Now the Buddha-child was finally completely speechless.

You, you bunch of [Descender]s, are you all mentally ill?!

Are you going to suggest next that I should have locked all of humanity into an Infinite Tsukuyomi to dream for hundreds of lifetimes? Reincarnating endlessly, putting all of humanity through a hundred generations, ten thousand generations—until everyone is thoroughly enlightened, naturally achieving Buddhahood?

Absurd!

Despite saying this, the Buddha-child could not refute Shinji's words. After all, from the perspective of Buddhism, the present world is indeed nothing but a dream of impermanence.

If the Buddha-child was unwilling to continue letting the idiot Sasa dream for everyone, why didn't he try hard to kick Sasa off the throne and personally guide all living beings into a new dream leading to enlightenment and liberation?

Why did he only think about just blowing everyone up?

"When it comes down to it, Hei Bai? Since you lack the power yourself, why not seek it from others? You could establish a sect to destroy the world, but you couldn't recruit disciples to deliver the people of the world?"

So, Shinji continued calmly, "Or is it that in your eyes, you are the only one in this world who is awake, the only one capable of enlightenment?"

"You have many complaints about me establishing the Lionheart Society; isn't it because you don't trust these common people from the bottom of your heart?"

"I will select the poor from the ashes, and I will lift up the weak from the dung heap, enabling them to sit with princes."

"So you are the saint who transcends the world, and I am the king of the dusty world, that is all."

The Buddha-child was speechless.

"Screw you… bringing up these grand principles that are only easy to say…"

But this kind of argument did indeed make him recall some nostalgic feelings of the years when they would bicker and argue, unable to agree with each other, yet still able to remain friends.

"Would you like a drink, Hei Bai? After saying so much, don't you feel thirsty?"

From somewhere, Shinji pulled out a heavy golden cup and bent down. The cup was filled with fine wine that shimmered with golden radiance, like liquid gold.

"How many times have I said it, I am a monk… I… cannot drink alcohol."

"Then just consider it fermented honey water."

"Really… I give up on you…"

Just like when they first met, Hei Bai sighed and reached out to take the cup.

But before his hand could touch the cup, this body, which was already on the verge of death and unable to hold on, finally burst and disintegrated.

Before Hei Bai's hand could catch the golden cup, he had already been burned to ashes by the fusion fire.

Shinji stood up and poured the fine wine from the cup onto the grass where Hei Bai had disappeared. The cup itself also turned to ash in the golden firelight.

"Farewell, my friend."

The wind blew all the ashes away.

Just as the Buddha-child's soul crossed to the other shore of the river, never to return.

Volume 6: Thunder █ Hero · Lunar Expedition: 239: Era of the Dharma-Ending Apocalypse

From that day on, the world changed.

When the moon shattered, leaving only half a ruin;

When billions of tons of meteorites poured down, raining onto the Earth;

Although Jingo Rin and Xue Ning, and even masters and powerhouses from all over the world appeared and tried their best to block them,

although a huge golden spear rose from the ground out of thin air, sweeping across the sky, sweeping away almost all the remaining meteorite fragments, and preventing humanity from suffering direct destruction…

but since this scene had been witnessed by the whole world, the world could never return to its original state.

The order of the past was destined never to return.

Just as Qi Xing expected, even if Bo Xun was defeated and the [Lunar Sanctuary] shattered, the magical knowledge scattered to the world would not disappear with it. On the contrary, more mysterious knowledge and power flowed into the [Dream of All Living Beings].

The more people craved power, the more the [Dream of All Living Beings] would respond to them, granting power according to the depth of their desires.

Therefore, the shackles in people's hearts were indeed unlocked.

People possessing power appeared in increasing numbers, walking onto the world's stage, just like a contagious disease.

Although those with overwhelming power were ultimately a very small minority, they had already begun to use their power to change society, redrawing the new map of power on Earth.

Chaos broke the original social order and once again shrouded the world.

People whose power was not too great and whose desires were relatively shallow mostly just began to act recklessly, ruthlessly killing mortals and seizing property and bodies.

But this shallow desire brought power that was relatively weak after all. Those heroes who insisted on their own principles and beliefs could basically still stop them.

The real threat was another group of people—those who possessed true beliefs and ideologies, who, after obtaining stronger power, wanted to change the world.

Whether to make their own nation rise powerfully, or to practice their own ideologies and isms—because their desires were deep-rooted and firm, the power they obtained from the dream was also more formidable and difficult for those maintaining order to suppress.

Thus, a new torrent capable of swaying the world began to surge.

The meteorite rain crashed down, but was mostly intercepted by the strong, and although the surface was scarred, it was not yet destroyed.

The moon was incomplete, tides were unbalanced, and the climate changed suddenly, but humanity could still find ways to adapt to all of this.

The real horror, however, did not come from outside the sky, but grew from the depths of the human heart.

People with shallow desires, after obtaining the weak power granted by the dream, immediately squandered it on bloodshed and selfish desires. They turned into thugs, committing arson, slaughter, and looting, wantonly raping, like wild dogs tearing at prey.

Although their destruction was cruel, it was limited after all: burning down a block, slaughtering a corner of a town, taking away innocent lives and dignity—heroes could still stop them, and although society bled, there was still room for mending.

But those who harbored ideologies and beliefs were different.

The flames of war were no longer confined to streets and alleys, but extended to nations and peoples.

Some wanted to unify humanity with their own beliefs, and thus ignited the flames of war; some attempted to promote their own ideologies, and slaughtered millions of dissenters; some launched massive slaughters for race, for territory, for power, pushing mortals into hell.

The real disaster was brought by them.

Meteorites can be intercepted, but the human heart can destroy civilization.

The moon only changes the tides, but the human heart can rewrite history.