Reinforcements Arrive, But Are They Enough?

As long as life exists, there will be pain. An old man said this to me one day, in a village where I was passing through. I had just lost my family, so I could not help but agree with his thoughts. To live is to suffer. For me, this was an immutable fact. As the years went by, this faith that to live was to suffer, only increased.

One day, however, after winning a bloody war against an entire sect, a monk passed by the battlefield to say a prayer for those who were gone. Unlike the Monk of the Three Suns, who died by my hand, this monk, despite knowing that I was responsible for that massacre, seeing me weakened and with no chance to fight back, still did not attack me or judge my actions.

Intrigued by the monk, I leaned on my sword, and approached him. Observing the monk, I noticed that there was nothing different about him. He was bald, with wrinkles all over his face and hands. Long eyebrows, brown eyes, and a beard that was beginning to grow. He looked to be in his forties, but appearance doesn't reflect age in the Immortal World. His rakusu was worn, and sure enough, of the 16 strips of cloth used to make it, less than 12 were left. His appearance and aura were mediocre at best.

"Monk, I don't know if you know, but those, whom you sail, were demonic cultivators. They raped women and used them in their rituals. They plundered mortal villages and cities and killed innocent people. Tell me, monk, why bother wasting your lifetime with such filthy creatures?" I asked after observing the monk for a while.

The monk did not seem bothered by my presence or question. On the contrary, he interrupted what he was doing, opening his eyes with a smile.

"Let me ask you a question first, cultivator. If they are so unimportant like this, why did you shed your blood and sweat to exterminate this sect? If they're not worth my time, they're not worth yours either, are they?" He answered with a serene voice, as if nothing could take away the peace in his heart.

I was surprised by the monk's question. I thought for a few seconds, and soon had an answer.

"I didn't like the smell of them, so I washed away the odor they had with blood."

The monk laughed a little, and we talked for a while. When night fell and the sun shone again the next day, I asked the question I had kept with me for many years.

"Monk, do you think that to live, is to suffer?"

The monk gave a small smile, looked up seeing the dawn, as he seemed to think.

"Yes, cultivator. To live is to suffer."

"If living is suffering, why go on living? To die and go into the sea of oblivion that death brings, wouldn't that be better? Wouldn't it be more... liberating?"

"Buddha, in his first teaching, said that life is dukkha, or life is suffering. We will always be unhappy about something. If we don't have something, we will be unhappy that we don't have it. If we have it, we will be unhappy that it is not enough. The meaning of life for each person differs, but certainly, every living being suffers. A wolf suffers because it is hungry and has no prey, a tree suffers because its leaves are eaten by insects, a camel suffers because it is thirsty and knows where there is water, but there is a long journey to reach the well. The difference between my suffering and yours does not mean that you suffer more than I do. Dying is not a solution to end suffering, it's just giving up your most valuable asset in exchange for something trivial like 'not suffering'." The monk paused, and looked me in the eye.

That look looked like that of someone who had lived countless lives, seen much cruelty, and yet managed to maintain his kindness. I felt envy and respect for that monk.

"To live is to suffer, but that doesn't mean that life has only suffering. I don't know what you lost, but you are more focused on the loss, than when you had it. Remember grower, the middle way is the way of truth. Has this massacre brought peace to your heart? Or do you think you would be happier and more fulfilled by letting these demonic cultivators continue their atrocities? Neither extreme satisfaction nor extreme dissatisfaction is the way."

I didn't understand what he meant then, but now I do. The Life Lesson the monk gave me took me millennia, but I finally learned it.

I clearly should be stronger, and have many trusted subordinates to defend those I am close to.

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What? You dare doubt my interpretation?! It's obvious that the monk meant it!

Coming out of my thoughts, I saw that Lu Bao Shi was still resting in my head. She was safe, that's good. Jorge is sleeping on my head, wounded, but safe. Hellen is hugging my body, watching the figure of the eternal one cutting across the sky with apprehensive eyes. She is exhausted, but refuses to pull back and rest.

"Hellen, you must call your father, now. Don't say no, you know it will be necessary for your own safety."

Hellen was clearly dissatisfied, but there is nothing to be done. She took a violet stone from her storage ring, and began to whisper to it. I looked up at the sky again, without moving much.

I have to conserve my spiritual energy as much as possible. The eternal has caught up with us, and if my mother's plan succeeds, this place will become a living hell.

*******************

Amanda looked up at the Eternal that was tearing through the sky at high speed, staring at her with murderous eyes. She observed the place quickly, to see how things were going. The Spectre was dead, only its magical core remained. Her cub did not let her down and killed all the Rank 3 magical beasts, with Jorge and Hellen. All that was left was the Underworld Beetle, which was already almost dead, and now the Eternal.

Looking into the distant forest, she saw smoke rising into the air. She knew that the matriarch had grown tired of waiting and sent her personal army. She had no doubt that the matriarch herself would come. While she was distracted, The Eternal arrived in front of Amanda, but stood a good distance away from her. He looked at her as if she were an animal ready for slaughter. He looked at her like a butcher looks at a pig when he is about to cut its body into pieces.

"Guhuhuhuhu... you stink like those beasts of the past, ridiculous thing. I will erase you from existence, so that I will no longer have to smell such odor." The eternal one spoke. His voice was like the wails and laments of the souls in hell. Just hearing his voice caused goose bumps.

Amanda felt disgusted to know that such a creature breathed the same air as her. She said nothing and just circulated her spiritual energy, ready for combat. She knew that she could not win against the Eternal. That's why she killed the Spectre, to protect her cub in case it dies, and for her magic core.

The Eternal was so focused on killing her, that he didn't realize that below where they were, there were several Wood Golems, collecting all the magic cores. All she needed now was a breach, and she would try to force her way into Rank 10, so that she would have a chance to survive this battle.

But to do that, those old bags of bones would have to move, and she didn't know if what she promised would be enough to get them to get those old asses out of their caves. Setting out to do battle, a one mile (1.61 km) long white snake crashed into the Eternal with its humanoid figure.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

The sound of the impact reverberated across the entire plain. Amanda's gigantic body flew through the sky. The Eternal perceived her, and with his hands wrapped in a strange gray power, he punched her.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

With another huge explosion, Amanda hit the ground, creating a huge crater and rising smoke and dirt in all directions. Just as the Eternal was getting ready to follow her into the ground and get it over with, a 340 foot (0.1 km) wide beam of green light appeared from the crater where Amanda was, targeting the Eternal who was flying rapidly towards the ground.

The Eternal swerved awkwardly, flying quickly through the sky as the beam of green light pursued him. While flying, he didn't notice that a wooden Golem that looked like a 65-foot (19.81 m) bird arrived where he was, and also used Nature's Judgment, but much weaker than the one used by Amanda.

In the distance, in a barren desert filled only with sand, a large army of magical beasts was approaching. They numbered in the hundreds of thousands, and all emanated a strong killing intent. This was one of Amanda's two backup plans. Ally with the matriarch's enemies!

The question is: would this be enough to deal with an eternal, natural enemy of the magical beasts? Only the end of this battle would answer this question...