Fried Salted Fish
Chapter 75 Good Comes From Evil
His blood pressure spiked, his fists clenched.
Some might hear a sentence and not care; others might hear ten sentences and smile; still others might hear a hundred sentences and remain unmoved. But this final demonic trial was to last a century!
These last hundred years might be longer than a thousand. These voices were constant, even if he closed his ears and locked his heart, they would still manifest from within!
The evil of the human heart surpassed even demons!
Taoism believes that "everything is created by the mind, where the mind arises, desires arise, where the mind is still, desires cease," while also emphasizing that "human hearts are often scattered, a single thought can be pure." That is to say, humans are both the embodiment of morality and the creators of all evil.
Such sayings have existed since the Zhou Dynasty, epitomized by the phrase "human words are fearsome!"
However, Ji Xiang's eyes were already red, and his fists were clenched. If he heard hundreds or thousands of sentences in an instant, wouldn't he be hearing tens of thousands of words in a single day!
"Even Zhang Tianshi might not be able to pass this exam! Can anyone truly hear ten thousand evil words a day and remain indifferent?"
"That would have to be made of metal and stone, certainly not flesh and blood! I can't do it!"
Ji Xiang was already at his limit; after only about a quarter of an hour, it felt like his brain was about to explode.
At this moment, words appeared on the blank divine tablet within his inner vision!
[Establish the Dao of Heaven to serve humanity. Kindness is born from harm, harm is born from kindness. The transformation of good and evil is but a single thought!]
[A commoner's wrath spills blood five steps away; an emperor's wrath results in a million corpses. An immortal or demon's wrath overturns the heavens and earth! A mortal's wrath always ends in slaughter! Those who wish to become immortals must use anger with caution, or disaster will surely follow! Whether burdened by deep karmic debt, entangled in tribulations, possessed by external paths, or fallen into evil, none of these will attain the Great Dao!]
[One person speaks evil, kill one person; a hundred people speak evil, kill a hundred people; if thousands upon thousands of people all speak evil, wouldn't that be killing everyone under heaven?]
[Even if you kill all the people of the present age, how can you kill all those who come after?]
Demon kings provoke the weakest parts of people's hearts, causing them to lose their minds, so they are indeed the most qualified examiners.
The blank divine tablet offered a way to cope, but only cautioned Ji Xiang to think clearly, understand thoroughly, and not make a big mistake because of momentary impulse.
After all, this was not an exam for minor cultivators, but for celestial masters, perfected beings, and gods of heaven and earth. Given Ji Xiang's current mental state, he had to be extremely cautious to pass the exam!
The trial of the human heart allowed no trickery; either endure what ordinary people cannot endure, or completely overturn the exam table and be deemed a failure!
"This isn't even an exam for me, so what am I even taking it for! Since I've already come to the human world from the Dafu Li Earth, even if I fail the exam, they can't send me to hell, can they!"
At this moment, Ji Xiang was already feeling somewhat self-destructive, with an impulse to abandon the exam altogether. So, after a long time, Ji Xiang frantically recited the *Qingjing Jing* (Classic of Purity and Tranquility), not daring to stop for even a moment.
As time continued to pass, seemingly a year or two in the blink of an eye, the demonic sounds of curses and malicious words poured into his ears, and Ji Xiang's method of reciting the *Qingjing Jing* had changed from silent recitation to loud recitation.
Silent recitation was no longer enough to suppress them; he had to shout them out, yet he dared not get angry, so he could only recite faster and faster, as if any pause would cause the demonic sounds to flood over him like a tide!
Strangely enough, reciting the scriptures so frequently didn't make his mouth dry, and his body barely felt fatigued; of course, the mental fatigue was another matter.
Ji Xiang thought that this might be a perk of the exam.
Thus, the fifth year passed.
The sound of him reciting the *Qingjing Jing* grew louder and louder!
Only by letting his own voice drown out those demonic sounds in his ears could he calm his mind!
Relatively, due to five years of painful tempering, Ji Xiang's spirit had become somewhat numb. He had gradually grown accustomed to those basic malicious words, and his emotions began to remain unexpressed.
But this was just the calm before the ultimate suppression.
Just like the sea, there was always a period of calm before a storm.
Ji Xiang was actually beginning to lose his grip.
Finally, in the tenth year, Ji Xiang, who was reciting the *Qingjing Jing*, paused.
Instantly, the enormous demonic sounds once again filled his ears. The malicious curses, absent for ten years, were now even more potent than before, changing from simple insults to sarcastic remarks.
Sometimes, listening to simple bad breath was a blessing?
It was better than listening to sarcastic tones!
Ji Xiang finally couldn't bear it anymore. This was only the first decade, and he had already exhausted all his strength. For these ten years, every minute, every second, he had been subjected to a barrage of insults!
"I can't hold on anymore, I'm not taking the exam!"
"If your thoughts can't be clear, can you pass the exam just by enduring it?"
Ji Xiang completely abandoned his mental defenses, gave up on himself, and stopped reciting the scriptures, allowing those indescribable demonic sounds to murmur in his ears!
Why was becoming an immortal such a frustrating thing?
If that was the case, why not become a heretic or a demon!
At least you could do whatever you wanted, without having to look at other people's faces! After all, he was already an extraterrestrial demon!
Ji Xiang was about to reach out and smash the divine tablet of the Qing Tian (Azure Heaven) Demon King, withdraw from the exam, and then curse heaven and earth, giving vent to his feelings, when the blank divine tablet in his inner vision suddenly flashed with words:
[The heart is the sovereign of the body and the master of the spirit.]
[When the heart listens to the sounds of external things, its choices are unrestricted.]
Ji Xiang's fist was about to smash onto the divine tablet of the Qing Tian Demon King, but he abruptly stopped.
The demonic realm surrounding the Qing Tian Demon King began to fluctuate, as if it was about to confirm Ji Xiang's disqualification for abandoning the exam.
Ji Xiang slowly withdrew his hand.
Was it really necessary for every celestial immortal and divine general to be "detached and without emotion," abandoning the "seven emotions and six desires," discarding the human heart and transforming into a passionless, selfless, emotionless, and thoughtless heavenly heart?
As this thought arose in Ji Xiang's mind, he couldn't help but ponder it carefully. As his contemplation deepened, the faces of those who sought gods and Buddhas gradually appeared in his eyes.
They appeared devout, but in fact, many of them were seeking solace for their hearts, and some had even done bad things. These people sought gods and Buddhas with even greater reverence.
But Ji Xiang knew that the true heavenly gods and superior immortals were all divine tablets. The gods themselves did not exist, but due to people's fear of evil thoughts and evil deeds, wishes for good deeds were born, and they made offerings with incense, thus condensing the divine tablets.
The gods themselves had no heart, so they were all shaped by the human heart, and good came from evil.
"Good actually comes from evil!"
This wasn't a particularly profound discovery, but Ji Xiang suddenly felt as if he had realized something.
Unbeknownst to him, many of the malicious words in his ears gradually disappeared.