PureInsight | February 29, 2024
[PureInsight.org]
(Continued from the previous article)
After receiving guidance from the divine, siblings Mo Le and Mo Cai decided to build a Buddhist pagoda. Little did they know, in the celestial realm, various gods and immortals had gathered to discuss the matter of constructing the pagoda. This was because building a pagoda held great significance and could bring about immeasurable merits for generations to come.
Goddess Shi Po (Stone Granny) spoke up, "I will bring the best stones from the North Sea to the Heavenly Kingdom for Mo Le to use. These stones have undergone multiple trials and tribulations and have been frozen in the ice for generations. They will not crack."
Goddess Feng Po interjected, "In the future, humanity will face numerous catastrophes, and sometimes the winds will be strong and destructive. I fear that the stones may be affected."
A divine being in charge of smelting, named Mighty Refined Vajra, spoke with flames spewing from his mouth as he said, "I know of a type of black stone that contains five kinds of metals. After smelting and applied onto the stone, it can harden the stone several times over. With the addition of my special adhesive stone called 'Jiaoshizhu', which will be personally mixed by Mo Cai, its effects will be even greater."
A divine being chuckled and asked, "Why does Mo Cai have to do the mixing? Mo Le is stronger and more capable. Can't we just have someone else do the work?"
Mighty Refined Vajra replied solemnly, "You all don't understand. Mo Cai is the reincarnation of the Five-Colored Lotus Queen, and she was also gifted an Immortal Pill by the Goddess Charophy. When she mixes it, there will be miraculous effects."
At this point, Hercules and the Great Unmanifested Immortal looked at each other and said, "It seems that our Immortal Pills will also come in handy."
Mighty Refined Vajra then turned to Stone Granny and said, "When the time comes, I will place the black stone next to the stones you bring from the North Sea, and let Mo Cai discover it."
The Dream Realm Fairy, holding a dream bottle, smiled and said, "I should go and enlighten Mo Cai as well."
All the immortals are doing their utmost to help this matter.
The Stone Granny rode on a cloud and rushed to the North Sea to meet the Lingyun Fairy. The Lingyun Fairy said, "I knew Granny was coming and have been waiting for a long time." The Stone Granny asked, "Where is Stone Yuan, my younger sister?" The Lingyun Fairy said sadly, "Stone Yuan has been guarding the Mysterious Stone all along, watching it go through various trials such as wind, sun, sand, and ice. Recently, she was afraid that the Mysterious Stone would face too many future tests, so she infused all of her Stone Yuan essence into the Mysterious Stone. As a result, she has turned into dust."
The Stone Granny was moved and said, "The construction of the Buddha Tower is of great importance. Stone Yuan, my younger sister, was condensed from the essence of the Stone Yuan Holy Mother. Her efforts to guard the Mysterious Stone can be considered wholehearted."
The Lingyun Fairy stretched out her hand, and a seabed terrain appeared in her palm. The fairy pointed out the location of the Mysterious Stone and said, "Granny, go find it. I will lay a cloud cover over the Mysterious Stone in the sky and send you on your way."
The Stone Granny arrived at the bottom of the sea, found the Mysterious Stone, and chanted a spell. Suddenly, the layers of stone rose up and lifted up to the surface of the sea, causing the sea to surge and form a spectacular sight. Upon reaching the sea surface, the Stone Granny waved her stone whip and drove the giant stones towards the Motian Kingdom. Some immortals along the way were amazed by the sight, wondering what such a large stone could be used for. Some of them realized that the stone would have a certain mission to fulfill and followed from a distance, hoping to see what would happen. Some were very interested in the Stone Granny's whip, and they watched with curiosity, thinking, "How can such a small whip be so powerful?"
The power of Stone Granny's whip is immense. It can drive and chop any stone in the world. Since some immortals are very interested in it, let us talk about its origin here.
At the beginning of the creation of the Three Realms, a chess piece fell from the sleeve of an immortal from the Upper Realm, and it fell to the ground, becoming a mountain where no grass grew. One day, the mountain suddenly cracked open, revealing a round, black and shiny giant stone, which had been exposed to wind, sun, and rain for years, but still remained as hard as ever.
One day, Pengmeng Fairy passed by and sat on the giant stone. Pengmeng is a fairy who was in charge of the growth of vegetation on barren mountains. She looked at the barren mountain and thought it was unlikely that anything would grow on it, so she left. However, she did not know that while she was resting, a seed from her pocket quietly slipped out and ran under the giant stone.
Because the mountain here has a unique shape, some immortals rest on this giant stone, and the stone absorbs more spiritual energy as a result. Moreover, this seed often bounces around the giant stone, and benefits from the light of the various immortals: the confused fairy took a nap on the giant stone and exhaled, letting it absorb the breath; the wandering monk's ash played with it; and a drop of saliva from an enlighten being who had no delusion fell on it.
Once, the seed was bouncing and hopping beside the stone when it suddenly heard a voice coming from inside the boulder: "You are so lucky and free, I cannot even get out." The surprised seed asked, "Who are you? Are you talking to me?" The voice from inside the stone replied, "I am a stone spirit, trapped inside. Sometimes I talk to you, but it seems like you cannot hear me. This time, you finally heard me, and from now on, we can talk to each other." The seed was also very happy and said, "It's a pity that I cannot see you." The stone spirit said, "I can see you, but I am not free. You cannot see me, but you are free. If only I could be as free as you."
From then on, these two creatures often talked together.
Once, the stone spirit said, "Tell me about your experiences." The seed said, "It was quite interesting following my owner. He carried us in a transparent bag and scattered some seeds on the mountains or valleys when he reached them. After some time, he came back to see that some trees had grown on the mountains, and beautiful flowers bloomed in the valleys. He decorated the mountains with vibrant life, dazzling our eyes. Once, I saw him put a ginseng seed into a pit and said, 'Stay here and grow for a thousand years.' We all talked excitedly and said that in the future, this ginseng should be called the Thousand-Year-Old Mountain Ginseng. One time, my owner hung the bag on a tree and took a nap. I saw jujube and locust beans slip out, and I looked around. The scenery was nice, and there was a deer in the distance, but I did not leave." The stone spirit asked, "So, why did you leave this time?" The seed said, "There were others who had escaped before, and I gradually became interested. I did not want to see the outside through the bag anymore; I wanted to experience it for real. That's why I left." The stone spirit asked, "How do you feel here?" The seed said, "This place is not very interesting. Apart from occasionally seeing some immortals passing by, there is nothing to see, not even birds." The stone spirit said, "You are lucky. If the birds come, they will eat you."
The stone spirit asked again, "Isn't there anything interesting for you here?" The seed replied, "Last time there was a great immortal who sat down and yawned, and never woke up. While he dozed off, I followed his breath and moved back and forth, and it felt really good. And there was another one who was dressed in rags, covered in dust and with shoes so worn out that his heels and toes were exposed. I've never seen an immortal like that before, and it really puzzled me."
One day, two other immortals passed by and rested on the giant rock. The short and chubby male immortal carried a pot behind his back, while the slim female immortal wore green clothes and carried a basket with branches sticking out. These two immortals were in charge of watering and planting, and were known as the Harmony Pair. While the two immortals were talking, the seed jumped out from beside the giant stone and caught the eye of the female immortal, who exclaimed in surprise, "How did a seed get here?" The male immortal said, "Plant it, I'll water it and see if anything grows." The female immortal put the seed on the giant rock, and the male immortal poured a little water on it, forming a large water droplet. The two immortals then left.
The seed was wrapped in the water droplet and could not move or speak, lying still in the water. Gradually, it felt its body expanding. After a while, a sprout grew out. With the sprout growing, the seed could talk to the stone spirit again. The roots also grew, spreading out on the mountain rocks and growing upwards with the help of sunlight and rain. The sprout slowly grew into a long straight stem, like a vine.
Two lives, still talking to each other as usual. The stone spirit increasingly hoped to come out.
One day, Daoist Kan Zhen passed by and immediately saw that this giant stone and the straight stem would become a magical tool. The Daoist was delighted and thought, "I'll lend you a hand." He took out a wooden sword, recited a spell, and the sword circled the stone three times, forming a sword energy that enveloped the stone. Then he turned and walked away.
The stone slowly began to crack, weathering away as if it had been exposed to the elements for ages. After many years, it turned into a pile of sand, and the stone spirit was able to come out of the giant rock. However, it felt as if there were walls of bronze and iron all around, as it had been surrounded by the sword energy. Eventually, it was absorbed by the roots of the straight stem and became one with it. And so, many more years passed.
One day, the Stone Granny passed by and stopped when she saw this object. When she saw the stone spirit inside the straight stem, she was both surprised and delighted. The stone spirit also bowed to her from inside and hoped that she would take it in. The Stone Granny used her magic to forge it into a whip called the Stone-Driving Whip. The whip could be big or small and could communicate with its owner's heart.
The Stone Granny used the Stone-Driving Whip to send the Mysterious Stone to a spot outside the city of Motian Kingdom. The deity who oversaw the appearance of auspicious signs on the earth, the Earth Omen Duke, appeared to welcome them and said, "Granny, you have worked hard. I have already cleared a piece of land to the southeast of the city for the Mysterious Stone to settle in."
(To be continued)
Chinese version: https://www.zhengjian.org/node/116651
