CHAPTER 186: CHAPTER 156: OBSERVING THE UNIVERSE

The history of the Academic Palace’s Book Collection transcended even that of the Yu Dynasty. Strolling through the corridors formed by towering bookshelves, one could distinctly smell the aroma of ancient wood and old books.

*A Detailed Study of the Transmission of Middle Ages Zen and the Existing Mutated Objects* was right here.

Li Ang pushed a ladder with wheels up to the bookshelf and ascended the steps.

The Book Collection Pavilion housed books from all over the world. These books spanned vast time periods and diverse categories, covering everything: from investigations of local dialects to the habits of certain insects, from fairy tales told to children in the Extreme West to cultivation techniques penned by a dying Cultivator of the Candle Cloud Realm.

The Academic Palace had specially trained several teams with different functions. Some were tasked with regularly refurbishing ancient books. Others traveled the world to collect books and bring them back to the Pavilion. A dedicated team was responsible for appraising and managing books, determining which ones were outdated and too erroneous to be of value, which ones were valuable for students to read, and which ones, though very valuable, were too dangerous and had to be permanently sealed.

And those books deemed high-risk, straddling the line between "Forbidden Book" and "Non-Forbidden Book," were locked by the Pavilion with iron locks and chains, requiring a key to be opened.

Li Ang took a heavy brass key from his pocket, unlocked the iron lock, and amidst the low clatter of sliding chains, he retrieved the ancient tome and descended the long ladder.

Thanks to the effect of the Dust Removal Talismans placed on each bookshelf, the ancient book was largely free of dust, inside or out.

Li Ang, holding several books including *Middle Ages Zen*, sat at a desk by the window and began to turn the pages.

"The Buddha is not a deity; all Buddhas are human."

The opening lines of the book, *Middle Ages Zen*, made Li Ang raise his eyebrows. Its author was Lin Liangce, an ancient sage of Yu Chu’s Academic Palace. He had traveled throughout Tianzhu, gathering a wealth of local myths, legends, and fables. Combining these with interviews from all strata of Tianzhu society, as well as historical Zen artifacts, he had reached a conclusion: all Buddhas are human.

"Siddhartha of the Shakya clan was born in Kapilavastu. His father, named Shou Tuo Tuo Na, meaning ’pure rice,’ claimed to be the Jingfan King, a descendant of Immortals. His mother was Mahamaya, the eldest daughter of King Shan Jue of the neighboring Tianbi City. Mahamaya passed away seven days after giving birth to Siddhartha, who was then raised by his aunt, Qu Tanmi..."

The book described in detail the life of the Buddha—from his birth, through his search for the path and his ascetic practices, to his enlightenment—asserting that Siddhartha and other so-called Saints and sages were ordinary humans. It was through a combination of circumstances that they embarked on the path of Cultivation, gaining Disciples who spread their teachings, leading to the emergence of Buddhism in Tianzhu and its subsequent spread to the Central Plains.

Li Ang continued to turn the pages noncommittally. The idea that all Saints were human had its proponents in the Academic Palace, where some Doctors believed that those who were deified were essentially powerful Cultivators.

This included Laozi, considered an ancestor by the Li Yu Royal Family; the first Head of the Haotian Taoist Sect (said to be the first Envoy sent by the Haotian Sect to the Human World); and Yanhuang, regarded as the forefather of Huaxia.

Since everyone is a traveler on the path of Cultivation, there was no need for absolute worship; respect for predecessors was deemed sufficient.

Of course, while the Doctors might think this way, when the time came for the Academic Palace to hold the Haotian worship ceremony, they would still dress in formal attire and attend.

"If the great monks at the White Horse Temple saw the content of this book, they might be so angry they’d burst a blood vessel," Li Ang muttered, shaking his head and continuing to read.

"...After Siddhartha’s death, his Disciples spread his teachings throughout Tianzhu. However, their understanding of the ’Four Truths,’ ’Eightfold Path,’ and ’Twelve Links of Dependent Origination’ of the Original Zen Sect differed from one another, eventually evolving into various sects. Even to this day, the differences between these sects are so vast that it is difficult to definitively declare which one represents the true orthodoxy. However, the sect that is considered relatively orthodox, and has purportedly inherited most of Siddhartha’s philosophical essence, is still the one that emerged when, after Siddhartha’s death, five hundred arahants compiled the Buddha’s teachings in the Saptaparni Cave at Rajagriha. This became the *Agama Sutra*."

Li Ang knew what the *Agama Sutra* was—it was the fundamental scripture and doctrine recognized by both the Original Zen Sect and sectarian Zen, consisting of many smaller texts.

"The *Agama Sutra* is vast and lengthy. Some parts have become unreliable due to wars, translational discrepancies, and distortions by later writers, making it impossible to reconstruct the complete picture. Among the most intriguing for me is a now-lost scripture called the *Observing the Universe Scripture*. Its name appears in the frescoes of various Tianzhu Zen caverns, where the arahants are depicted with a strange, unsettling expression I had never before witnessed, compiling this legendary book that supposedly contains Siddhartha’s late-life insights on the universe."

"Was it reverence on their faces? Or... fear?"

"This piqued my curiosity. After the Buddha entered nirvana, his leading Disciple Mahākāśyapa heard of the Buddha’s demise in Yebu Country and returned. Since the Buddha hadn’t left behind any writings, three months later, with the support of King Adu Shih of Magadha, Mahākāśyapa selected five hundred learned monks, or arahants, to jointly compile the Buddha’s teachings."

"What had the Buddha thought of, or perhaps seen, in his final years that would make these learned monks so uneasy? Could it be related to the prophesied Devil who would destroy Buddhism?"

"I don’t think so. From the cave paintings, those learned monks seemed compelled by their respect for the Buddha to record things he had said before his death that they couldn’t understand. Later, out of fear, they burned the heretical *Observing the Universe Scripture*."

"To figure out what the *Observing the Universe Scripture* actually said, I visited more relics of the Original Zen Sect, but to no avail. It wasn’t until I heard a fable in a remote village: one of the five hundred gathered monks couldn’t bear to see a precious scripture lost. After the assembly, he secretly wrote a version from memory and ordered his Disciple to smuggle the text out of Tianzhu to prevent its destruction by other monks."

"What happened to that suspected *Observing the Universe Scripture* afterward remains a mystery. It might have been intercepted and destroyed by other monks, collected by the Haotian Taoist Sect, or perhaps even made its way to the Central Plains to be secretly preserved by a Zen sect."

"Maybe I should look into the ruins of the Pure Thought Sect? Their sudden demise was extremely suspicious. I suspect that during their dissolution, other Central Earth Zen Sects also intervened, all to obtain the original Sanskrit *Observing the Universe Scripture*."

Pure Thought Sect!

Li Ang’s heart skipped a beat as he immediately thought of something.

The Zhao Ming Organization was always secretive. Ya Jiu also seemed uninterested in the Resurrection Secret Technique, which the Pure Thought Sect prided itself on.

Could they also be after this book?