Chapter 185 Second Ascension
The Heavenly Master explained the secret of the Celestial Immortal to Qi Xuansu in detail.
In fact, there is no mystery. The main reason is that Qi Xuansu's realm cultivation is not high enough, and he cannot contact these things for the time being. There is no need to understand them in depth, just like a child in the prime of youth does not need to learn how the elderly should keep healthy.
If the Celestial Immortal still has some unfinished earthly ties, or some obsessions, and still wants to return to the human world, there is only one way, which is to cut out an incarnation and return to the human world.
However, this method has great limitations and four difficulties.
First, the Celestial Immortal itself must have a heart that is persistent enough to break through the restrictions of the two realms, otherwise it will require the realm cultivation of the Supreme Dao Ancestor. If the Celestial Immortal has no heart, it cannot cut out an incarnation and return to the human world.
】
Second, a considerable amount of divine power is needed to open up the two realms and form a temporary passage, but this passage is very fragile. Not only the Celestial Immortal itself cannot pass through, even the innate people cannot pass through. The reason why it is divine power, not true essence, is because divine power is born from people, which is in line with the words of the sages that man will conquer nature.
Third, a container is needed. Generally, a fetus in the womb that has not yet formed a soul will be chosen, so as not to commit sins. However, if it is suitable for the immortal himself and can carry and accommodate the thoughts of the immortal, it needs to be carefully selected by manpower.
Fourth, after the immortal comes, there will be confusion in the womb, that is, it will not remember the original things at all. If there is no enlightenment or other opportunities, it will not remember the cause and effect for the whole life, and spend its life in a muddle, which is equivalent to coming to the world in vain, so it needs special guidance.
These four points correspond to the other four immortals respectively. If you want to solve these four problems, you can't do without the word "Taoism". In other words, the immortals have to rely on the disciples who stay in the world to accumulate incense and vows, find containers, and enlighten and open their minds. This is also the reason why many immortals fight for Taoism when they are alive.
If the four problems are solved, the incarnation of the immortal can walk normally in the world, or break the earthly relationship, or cut off the obsession. However, the incarnation of the immortal does not have a single realm of cultivation, so it needs to start all over again. It just has the experience of the immortals, and its progress is far better than that of ordinary people. When Xuansheng summarized the inheritance of celestial beings in the future, he believed that those who could inherit this inheritance were like celestial beings who had come down to earth and had the experience of celestial beings, which was far beyond ordinary people, so he named them "exiled celestial beings".
However, even if one has achieved success in cultivation, it is not all good. The celestial being incarnates to break off the earthly ties. If this incarnation is tainted with too many causes and conditions, it still cannot return to the original body. For example, the celestial being already has a Taoist partner, but the incarnation has provoked countless emotional debts in the lower world, which is constantly entangled and disturbs the mind. These causes and conditions have already affected the original body. After weighing the pros and cons, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages, so the original body can only kill this incarnation and make it an independent individual.
From this point of view, the incarnation is the original body of the celestial being, but the original body of the celestial being is not the incarnation.
After overcoming all difficulties, the incarnation can ascend for the second time and return to the original body, and the realm of the celestial being can be further improved.
This path of cultivation is more difficult than the other four immortals, so the Taoist classics often use "internal skills are perfect but external skills are lacking" to describe it.
After hearing this, Qi Xuansu was shocked. He also noticed that the Heavenly Master used the term "second ascension" and couldn't help but say, "What does the Heavenly Master mean is... Is Izanami the incarnation of a celestial being?"
This reminded Qi Xuansu of one thing. Suzuka Gozen and Tamamonomae had said that the Yellow Springs Kingdom was left by the first generation of gods, while Izanami and Izanagi were the second generation of gods. The reason why Izanami was able to control the Yellow Springs Kingdom is something that no one can explain clearly. If Izanami is really the incarnation of a certain celestial being, then it can be explained. The owner of the Yellow Springs Kingdom has never changed and has always been this celestial being.
As for the transformation from a god to a celestial being, although it is difficult, it is not impossible. There have even been successful examples, that is, the Heavenly Emperor of Taoism.
More recently, Tan Taiyun has been constantly changing between the inheritance of earthly immortals and the inheritance of human immortals. Therefore, we cannot look at those favored children of heaven with the eyes of ordinary people. It is as difficult as ascending to heaven for ordinary people, but for those geniuses, ascending to heaven is never a difficult task.
The Heavenly Master said: "It seems that this is the case. Since ancient times, there have been many incarnations of immortals, most of whom died in the mystery of the womb. The rest inevitably died midway, and there were very few people who were able to ascend for the second time. The ascension of this Izanran Zun is different from that of Taiyin Zhenjun. Taiyin Zhenjun only gave up the kingdom of God, but took away the golden body. Because Izanran Zun returned to his original body, he also gave up his golden body, just like a cicada escaping from its shell. In other words, the ascension method of the corpse-reincarnation immortal is actually based on the second ascension of the immortal."
Since the Heavenly Master has confirmed that it is a second ascension, Qi Xuansu's previous speculation is wrong. It was not Izanno Zun who killed Izanran Zun, and Izanran Zun did not die of dystocia, but Izanran Zun ascended and left behind his remains.
Qi Xuansu came up with another guess: Izanagi discovered the secret of Izanami's remains. In order to cover up the secret, he made up a lie that Izanami died of dystocia. Relying on his own realm far superior to Sanguizi's, he forcibly entered the Netherworld and began to devour Izanami's golden remains. He was a living god and did not need to be resurrected. Because he devoured the most golden body fragments, he gained immortality. However, he was affected by the Yin energy and the seeds of evil fire were planted in his body.
After that, Izanagi sealed off the Yellow Springs, and spun a story that he went to the Yellow Springs to take his wife home, but the couple broke up. He sealed off the Yellow Springs and prevented others from entering it, saying that he had no choice but to seal off the Yellow Springs and leave his wife there forever because she was being hunted by him.
Izanagi was so painstaking in covering up the truth that even if others had guesses, they would generally only guess the first layer, which was what Qi Xuansu had guessed before, that Izanagi murdered Izanami. They would never have thought that Izanami ascended to heaven and died and left behind the secret of resurrection.
So how did Sanguizi know this?
You must know that Izanagi is a god, and there is no such thing as talking nonsense after drinking or talking in a dream.
Thinking of this, Qi Xuansu suddenly remembered a legend about Fenglinzhou.
It was still the legend about Izanagi looking for his wife. Izanagi chased him all the way to the Yellow Springs, only to see Izanami crawling with maggots all over his body. He was shocked and scared, and turned around and ran away. Izanami was filled with shame and anger, and chased after him in person. Izanami blocked the exit of the Yellow Springs with a thousand stones. They stood face to face across the thousand stones and swore to never be together again.
In the sequel to this legend, after Izanami left the Yellow Springs, he thought that he had been to a very dirty place and had to cleanse his body. When he cleaned his left eye, Himiko appeared, when he cleaned his right eye, Tsukiyami appeared, and when he cleaned his nose, Susanoo appeared.
At this time, Izanami was no longer there. Strictly speaking, the three noble sons were not Izanami's children.
This is very clear, and this legend is actually hinting at the truth.
The Yellow Springs is of course a very dirty place, and even Izanami is inevitably corroded and polluted, so he has to clean his body. This kind of cleaning is certainly not as simple as taking a bath in the ordinary sense, it should be to find a way to expel the yin energy in the body.
If that were the only thing, it would not be enough for Qi Xuansu to perceive the inner truth.
It's just that Qi Xuansu has seen two similar stories before.
The first story is about Xuansheng fighting against the last leader of Confucianism. One is the leader of Taoism and the other is the leader of Confucianism. The victory or defeat of the two also determines the victory or defeat of the Confucian-Taoist struggle. They had two battles in total. Xuansheng lost first and then won. In the first battle, Xuansheng lost and was beaten to the point that the three corpses jumped violently, that is, the three corpses separated from the body, carried part of Xuansheng's cultivation, and transformed into independent individuals with the help of Xuansheng's immortal objects and fled to the world. This story is widely circulated, and all the older Taoists know it.
The second story is about Lin Lingsu, the national teacher of Dajin. This Mr. Tongzhen Daling was originally the incarnation of the three corpses of Qingxu Yuanmiao Zhenjun, and then was completely cut off from the original body and became an independent individual. He changed his name to Lin Lingsu, flattered the emperor, became the national teacher of Dajin, and had his own three corpses. In the end, Lin Lingsu died from the attack of external enemies and the betrayal of the internal three corpses.
Connecting these two stories, Qi Xuansu made a bold guess.
Izanagi may want to emulate Izanami's escape from the trap and get rid of some burdens; or he may be too severely eroded by the Yin Qi, and the three corpse gods jumped. In short, Izanagi gave birth to three noble sons, which just correspond to the number of three corpses. Rather than saying that the three noble sons are the children of Izanagi and Izanami, it is better to say that the three noble sons are the three corpses of Izanagi.
This can explain why the three noble sons know so many secrets, and why the three noble sons want to put Izanagi to death. The three corpses are almost instinctive to murder the original.
From this perspective, all the changes in Fenglinzhou are caused by Izanagi. Because of his greed, he planted the seeds of evil fire, created the three noble sons, and finally attracted Buddhism. Even he himself was not spared and was completely suppressed.
If Qi Xuansu's guess is true, then all the mysteries can be solved.
Izanami-san was a god of the generation, the incarnation of the first master of Huangquan Country after ascending, so she could become the second master of Huangquan Country. Izanami-san finally succeeded in ascending for the second time and left a golden body in Huangquan Country. The second ascension is so rare that it is comparable to the second calamity immortal. This body, which is rarer than the immortal medicine, has the magical effect of immortality and resurrection.
Izanagi-san forced his way into Huangquan Country, gnawed the golden body and gained immortality, but was also polluted and eroded by the yin energy, which gave rise to the evil fire. Because the evil fire is born from the yin energy, Izanagi-san was sealed under the Furong Mountain that leads directly to the netherworld. With the blessing of the continuous yin energy, the power and influence of the evil fire were increased. Ise was also due to the continuous battles, too many deaths, and excessive yin energy, which also led to the outbreak of the evil fire.
The three corpses of Izanagi-san turned into three noble sons. Izanagi-san regarded the three noble sons as his own children, but it laid the groundwork for his own defeat.
The three noble sons secretly joined forces with the Buddhist sect to defeat and seal the immortal Izanagi. Under the protection of the Great Sun Tathagata, they successfully entered the Yellow Springs, gnawed the remains of Izanagi's golden body again, and left the Yellow Springs with some of the remains, so Tamamonomae, Yamata no Orochi, and Shuten-doji were resurrected.
However, this resurrection is not perfect. Not only will it lose the realm of cultivation, but it will also be impossible to leave Fenglinzhou, or more precisely, it will be impossible to leave the scope of influence of the Yellow Springs. So the previous idea that after moving the "Killing Stone" to Yujing, Tamamonomae can also follow to Yujing is likely to be wrong, or incomplete, and the specific details need to be further explored before they can be determined.