Chapter 371: Chapter 390: The Eight Sufferings

The trials ended, with the hawk demon and the pigeon both picked up by the Fragrant Elephant Bodhisattva. Among them, two hawk demons were crying especially sorrowfully, accusing humanity of cunning to the Fragrant Elephant Bodhisattva and warning her that they ought not to be trusted.

The Fragrant Elephant Bodhisattva had no choice but to console the two hawk demons, telling them that they simply encountered an extreme case. The thought patterns of those two people were different from those of ordinary people, thus they shouldn’t generalize based on a few special cases.

Jiang Li felt confident that he had proven his wisdom in the first two trials and was certain that he would be favored by Manjushri Bodhisattva’s inheritance.

Bai Hongtu felt that he had proven his talent for understanding human hearts in the first two trials, and was sure that he would be favored by the Heart-Understanding Lineage.

“Mere quibbles over inheritance. We will obtain it as easily as reaching out to grasp it,” both men were full of complacency.

“Now let the third trial begin. There are eight sufferings in life: birth, age, illness, death, parting from loved ones, resentment for the past, inability to obtain desired, and the inability to let go.”

“Following this trial, all of you will forget everything and experience these eight sufferings in a dream.”

A cultivator asked: “Then how should we judge right from wrong?”

The Fragrant Elephant Bodhisattva held the Buddha beads in her hand, with folded hands and closed eyes, revealing a serene smile: “In the face of the eight sufferings of life, there is no right or wrong. This trial only wants to see how you respond to the eight sufferings in life.”

She looked up at the sky and pronounced: “Please call on the Arhat of Sleep to perform the ritual.”

As the Sentient Beings’ Secret Realm responded to the Fragrant Elephant Bodhisattva’s invocation, a gracile image of the Arhat appeared in the sky, who was bare-chested, lying on his side, and his face was indistinct.

As the image of the Sleeping Arhat’s chest rose and fell, the cultivators gradually became tired and fell into a dreamland.

Yuan Wuxing slowly woke up, with his thoughts in a fog, and he had a feeling that he had forgotten something crucial.

“Where am I?”

Yuan Wuxing realized that he couldn’t stretch his arms and legs, as if he was trapped in a cocoon.

However, the cocoon was very comfortable, and there was a warm aura around him, nurturing his body.

“Primordial Qi?” An unfamiliar term bobbed up in Yuan Wuxing’s mind, one which he didn’t even understand.

“From what I remember, Primordial Qi is produced when a woman conceives a life…”

Thinking about this made Yuan Wuxing tired, and he drifted off to sleep, then woke up again after an unknown period of time.

“Waaa–”

Yuan Wuxing broke into a loud cry. After his birth, the Primordial Qi dissipated and disappeared. He stretched out his hand but could not grasp it no matter how hard he tried.

The murky Postnatal Qi enveloped Yuan Wuxing, making him uncomfortable and causing him to wail.

As he gradually grew up, he got used to the Postnatal Qi and forgot the wonderful experience of when he was still in the womb.

In this world, mortals and immortals were split into two distinct realms. Immortal clans were high above and was an existence that mortals could only look up to.

He was born into a rich and prestigious family, never having to worry about food or clothing. However, he was not satisfied with this alone.

“I’ve heard there are cultivators in this world who transcend the mundane. I want to cultivate.”

For some inexplicable reason, Yuan Wuxing yearned to cultivate. Perhaps it was because a life without material worries gave him other aspirations, or maybe he simply craved the feeling of becoming stronger, or maybe for some other obscure reason.

An immortal clans’ disciple tested Yuan Wuxing’s Spiritual Root, and ruthlessly rejected him: “Five Elements Spiritual Root, trash among the spiritual roots. Allowing you to cultivate is merely a waste of Spiritual Energy. Get lost.”

The disciple from the immortal clan kicked Yuan Wuxing down the mountain and closed the door, refusing to see any visitors.

Yuan Wuxing didn’t give up and went to other immortal clans, but the answers were always the same:

Those with a Five Elements Spiritual Root are not qualified to cultivate.

Even cultivators were gossiping from behind his back: “No wonder your parents named you Yuan Wuxing. They probably knew from the moment you were born that you’re nothing but trash with a Five Elements Spiritual Root.”

Yuan Wuxing was so furious that he started a fight with this cultivator. The cultivator made a casual move and severely injured Yuan Wuxing, leaving him to his fate.

When Yuan Wuxing’s parents learned about this, they braved the rain and climbed the mountain to bring Yuan Wuxing down. They hired the best doctor to treat his wounds, barely saving Yuan Wuxing’s life.

Yuan Wuxing’s parents were already old, and they caught a severe cold from the night rain. They died, and Yuan Wuxing cried bitterly, regretting that he was so obsessed with cultivation and had spent too little time with his parents.

Yuan Wuxing inherited the vast family business. He had an exceptional talent in business. Over the next decade, the family’s fortune multiplied, and he became a famous wealthy man in the country.

When one of the immortal clans learned of this, they descended from the mountain to tell Yuan Wuxing that if he was willing to distribute his wealth, accumulating merit, they guaranteed that he would be able to introduce Qi into his body and become a cultivator.

“Considering my talent, how far could I go on the path to immortality?”

“Your Five Elements Spiritual Root is a bottom-tier spiritual root; even if you manage to introduce Qi into your body, I fear you will only advance to the Qi Cultivation three-layer stage in your lifetime. To move any further will be difficult.”

Yuan Wuxing was in a dilemma. He was unwilling to give up his family business, yet he didn’t want to become a bottom-tier cultivator.

Eventually, he gave up on cultivating and kept his vast family business.

He couldn’t let go of a life of wealth.

Several decades passed and Yuan Wuxing fell seriously ill and was incurable, even the immortal clan was helpless.

Yuan Wuxing was tormented by the disease for ten years, physically and mentally exhausted, but he managed to survive, albeit in a state worse than death, without his five senses.

Much older now, he wanted to continue running his family business but was powerless to do so. His thinking was fragmented, and he made many wrong decisions and suffered heavy losses.

Yuan Wuxing knew that it was because he had become old and muddled, and could not compare with his younger self.

The Yuan family’s current situation was mostly due to the wise decisions that Yuan Wuxing had made when he was young.

However, he was old now and had lost the deterrent power he once had.

An aged and decrepit Yuan Wuxing couldn’t suppress those who were eying the Yuan family’s assets.

Fearing that the Yuan family assets would be divided by outsiders, the family members sidelined Yuan Wuxing and divided the family property amongst themselves first.

In the end, Yuan Wuxing didn’t even retain a single copper coin.

Yuan Wuxing, penniless and blind, wandered the streets and eked out a miserable existence, waiting for death to come.

“I was born with nothing, and I’m dying with nothing. It’s fine, it’s fine…” Yuan Wuxing said mockingly to himself.

As his life was drawing to an end, Yuan Wuxing’s consciousness gradually faded.

Having nothing, loss of senses, a hazy mind, Yuan Wuxing curled up into a ball, his current state gradually overlapping with the way he was when he was in the womb.

Five Elements Spiritual Root, gold, wood, water, fire, earth, cultivating… Words that troubled him his whole life circled his mind and he started to reflect and enlighten himself.

Five elements, five colors, five elements, five colors…

A nascent form of Five-colored Divine Light appeared on Yuan Wuxing’s fingers. He lightly waved, and all the matter in the vicinity disappeared.

This thought of the Five-colored Divine Light seemed to have depleted all of Yuan Wuxing’s life energy, and he eventually died.

Passers-by were surprised to see this down-and-out old man. His body had transformed into a rainbow of five colors and disappeared.

Seeing this, the people around started to kneel and bow down.

The Fragrant Elephant Bodhisattva looked up, the will of the Peacock Ming King lineage stirred, seemingly favoring a certain candidate.

Looking at Yuan Wuxing following the flow of Peacock Ming King’s will, the Fragrant Elephant Bodhisattva showed a surprised expression, “In the eight sufferings of life, Yuan Wuxing’s performance in the first seven was mediocre. However, when it came to death, instead of feeling pain, he achieved enlightenment. He even gained an understanding of the nascent form of the Five-colored Divine Light. Well done, well done.”