Palace in the Clouds

After Confucius died, his soul detached itself from his physical body and reverted to the appearance of Princess Ziwei. Princess Ziwei flew to the sky and stopped in a cloud to rest. The Green Dragon and the White Tiger also came through the clouds and broke through the mist to Princess Ziwei's side.

"This life seems to have passed in the blink of an eye, and you didn't even recognise us, Ziwei?" The White Tiger pouted, a little unhappy, as if in the life when she was reincarnated as Confucius, Ziwei had completely ignored the Green Dragon and White Tiger.

"Why do you say I didn't recognise you all? In Confucius's classroom, there were two students who were particularly fond of exchanging small talk, who were they?" Ziwei smiled and looked at Qinglong and Baihu.

"Then why didn't you tell us the fact that we were the reincarnation of Green Dragon and White Tiger?" Qinglong asked suspiciously.

"Do you guys still remember? Once, when the other students were all seriously comprehending and thinking about what I had just taught them, you two were asleep in class, and I walked up to you and woke you up with the words I said: the left Green Dragon and the right White Tiger will never wake up once they sleep!" Ziwei said as she recalled the past lessons.

"Oh! So, you had warned us long ago! But at that time I really didn't know what you were talking about Green Dragon and White Tiger!" White Tiger said, scratching his head in embarrassment.

"Could it be that Princess Ziwei already knew about our passing when she was Confucius? Could it be that you were already enlightened then? Every time we reincarnated we drank the soup of oblivion, so why do you remember our past lives?" Qinglong looked at Princess Ziwei curiously and said.

"It has to do with the refinement of cultivation after reincarnation or not. After your reincarnation, the things you like most are money, jewels, food, beautiful women and sleep, so that of course you are confused like sleep all your life!" Ziwei said with a smile.

"Who said that! We like your lessons in archery, horse riding and driving best!" Green Dragon reminded Violet of that.

"Right! Don't you forget, we're pretty good at archery, horse riding and driving!" The White Tiger wasn't shy about it either.

"A famous teacher makes a good student! Don't forget it was all taught by Confucius!" Green Dragon reminded White Tiger that.

"By the way, and this is what intrigues me the most, why was Princess Ziwei, originally a gentle girl's soul, so tall and powerful after being reincarnated as a male body, Confucius, who was so strong that he could lift the closing gate on the city gate? And you were even braver than the famous warrior Meng Bi? And why do you run so fast that you can catch up with a rabbit?" The white tiger crackled with a series of questions.

"What's amazing to me is this: whenever Confucius took part in martial arts, archery and horse-riding competitions, there were so many onlookers, and many times I was sweating for you, afraid you'd lose to someone else! But, fortunately, each time you won the competition like a godsend, and when you led your troops in physical combat during the war and personally commanded the battle against the villains attacking the state of Lu, we were afraid you would die on the battlefield, but you survived unharmed and personally punished the villains with your sword and protected the safety of the ruler of Lu! Confucius was clearly a man of both letters and arms! This is not at all like Princess Ziwei's style!" The Green Dragon also voiced his doubts in one fell swoop.

"That's for sure, I'm very confident in my combat skills! If you fight, you can overcome, and if you sacrifice, you will be blessed! Why have I survived death in war? Because I adhere to the combat principle of punishing evil and maintaining justice! This is the way of heaven! Those who obey Heaven will prosper, those who go against it will perish! Those who act in accordance with Heaven's ways will naturally be blessed by Heaven! As for my reincarnation as the soul of the seemingly weak Princess Ziwei as the tall and majestic Confucius, there is no contradiction at all! A male body or a female body is just a physical body, and a physical body is like the clothes a soul wears, playing a male if it wears a male version, or a female if it wears a female version! The soul's strength, wisdom, ability, spirituality, and latitude level, on the other hand, need to be cultivated continuously over many lifetimes in order to grow and improve. My spiritual power comes from the original positive energy of light and love from the Mother of the Universe, so this power allows me to adapt and perform well whether I am reincarnated as a man or a woman! Life is like a play, when it is my turn to be a man, I play my masculine heroism, and when it is my turn to be a woman, I become softer and more natural! It's just an experience for the soul to adapt to life's arrangements!" Princess Ziwei explained in detail.

"Alright! So when can we reincarnate again? I'm so looking forward to it!" The White Tiger said with a smile.

"I've only just jumped out of my flesh and I want to rest a bit. Let's talk about reincarnation slowly!" Princess Ziwei rested her head in the soft clouds and looked leisurely at the blue sky and white clouds in the distance in a daze.

Green Dragon and White Tiger also rested beside Princess Ziyiwei, while they kept a close eye on the lives of the people on Earth.

I don't know how long it took, but the real Ziyi came and used her divine power and colourful light to build the cloud where Princess Ziyi was resting into a beautiful palace in the clouds, and put the pets she had brought with her, as well as all kinds of food, fruit and drinks into the palace she had built. The pets that Ziyi now had with her were: Phoenix, Peacock, Qilin, Unicorn, Pixie, Vermilion Bird, Xuanwu, Green Dragon and White Tiger.

"I've brought all your favourite pets, maybe you can take them with you when you reincarnate next time!" The real Ziyi said with a smile as she sat down beside Princess Ziyi.

"What! You want me to take these pets with me to reincarnate on Earth? They can't take that pain! The Phoenix was once reincarnated as Confucius' wife and eventually found life on Earth too bitter! If you ask me to take such a large number of pets with me to reincarnate, I'll have to die of living exhaustion!" Princess Ziwei spoke her innermost thoughts.

"They've had such a good time in heaven, they haven't suffered, they've been pampered in heaven and are starting to get lazy and stop practising! Therefore, we have to create opportunities for them to go to earth to suffer and experience perseverance! Only after they have suffered on earth will they cherish the good life in heaven and intensify their cultivation and jump out of the cycle of reincarnation!" The real body, Ziwei, said seriously.

At this moment, the pets' voices rang out in Ziwei's ears.

"Princess Ziwei, we haven't seen you back at Ziwei Palace for a long time! We miss you so much!"

"It must be fun on earth, right? Princess Ziwei, when are you going to take us for a spin around the earth with you?"

"I wish to go and eat all those dazzling snacks!"

"I wish to try the wild fruits in the mountains and forests on earth!"

"I wish to bathe in a crystal clear river!"

"I want to go swimming in the sea!"

"I want to see other animals on earth!"

These pets happily gathered around Princess Violet and talked about it.

...

"Quiet, everyone! Going to earth for reincarnation is not as good as you think, going there you may endure hunger and freezing, you may be wounded and killed by evil people, or you may be addicted to the abyss of power struggle, love and hate and keep reincarnating ... Add to this the fact that this is the end of the age of Dharma, where demons, devils, ghosts, monsters, gods, immortals, humans, animals and aliens are all reincarnated on Earth, and you may fall into the abyss of desire-chasing at any moment because you cannot see the status quo! If you become obsessed, you may even be pulled into hell by the evil Satan and lose your chance to return to heaven to enjoy your bliss forever! You have to think clearly!" Princess Violet reminded them.

"We're not afraid, Princess Ziwei, haven't you reincarnated for so many lifetimes and are you still alive and well?" One of the pets said.

"I'm not like you guys, I've cultivated into an eternal god whose soul never falls, I've reincarnated on earth to save all beings from suffering!" Ziwei was still reluctant to take her pets to earth for reincarnation.

"Then you can protect us!" One of the pets said.

Ziwei thought for a moment and said, "If you are sure you want to reincarnate on earth, then you must first complete the cultivation homework I have set for you."

"What cultivation homework?" One of the pets asked curiously.

"Practice the Buddhist sutra incantations so that the seeds of Buddhism are implanted deep in your souls, and if you accidentally fall during your reincarnation, you will eventually be saved because the seeds of Buddhism deep in your souls mature and begin to practice!" Ziwei said to all the pets.

"Really? What incantation is so magical?" A pet asked curiously.

"Choose any one of the following cultivation tasks, if you can successfully complete them before my next reincarnation, I will take you to earthly reincarnation, otherwise you will be disqualified from going to earthly reincarnation! Task 1: Read and recite the Vajrayana Paramita Sutra 10,000 times. Task 2: Read and recite the Myriad Lotus Sutra Guan Shi Yin Pu Men Pin 10,000 times. Task 3: Read and recite 100,000 times from the "The Great Compassion of the Thousand-Handed, Thousand-Eyed Goddess of Mercy". Task 4: Read and recite the Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra 100,000 times. Task 5: Read and recite the Six Character Mantra: Om Mani Padme Hum 1,000,000 times. Task 6: Read and recite the Paramita Mantra 1,000,000 times: 南无飒哆喃 (nā mó sà duō na 一), 三藐三菩陀 (sān miǎo sān pú tuó),俱胝喃 (jù zhī na 一), 怛侄塔 (dá zhí tuō), Om 折戾主戾 (ōng, zhé lì zhǔ lì), 准提娑婆诃 (zhǔn tí suō pó h ē). Task 7: Recite the Medicine Buddha Mantra 1,000,000 times:Nam mu bhagavadhi, scabbardas rusticulu, scythra, bhagavatam, drinkaraja also, tantra jadhaa, aloo bhagavadhi, trivium trambhataa. Tantras: Om! Scabdha, Scabdha, Scabdha, Sambodhi, Saha! Task 8: Recite the Manjushri Mantra for Enlightened Wisdom and the Manjushri Heart Mantra 1,000,000 times:嗡阿RA巴匝那德. Task 9: Read and recite the Eight Character Mantra of Manjushri Bodhisattva 1,000,000 times:ong Om, a A, Wei Wei, ra Lo, hong Un, qia Khar, zha Zuo, lao Lo. Task 10: Read and recite the Lanyan Mantra 10,000 times. Remember to recite the return prayer after each practice: All the merits and fruits of my practice of the sutra and mantra are returned to all sentient beings in the universe including myself, praying for: world peace, people's peace and happiness. May the righteousness of the Dharma abide and the Wheel of Dharma always turn. That calamities and disasters will be eliminated and no misfortune will arise. All sentient beings in the Dharma world will be born together in bliss. Only in this way can we practise for immense merit and self-benefit!" After Princess Ziwei had given her mission, the real Ziwei used her divine power to call out the Buddhist sutras and mantras needed for practice in the void and put them in the palace in the clouds. Ziwei also used the Great Compassion Mantra to form a boundary around the palace in the clouds where her pets were, and then said, "In order for you to practise in peace and safety, I have used the Great Compassion Mantra to form a boundary around the palace. You may not leave at will, and you may take as much food and drink as you like from the palace. If you wish to be reincarnated on earth, you must do your best, for we will return to check your practice at any time."

In a dazzling purple light, Princess Ziwei and her real body, Ziwei, merged into one, and then, flying through the universe in the clouds, they flew and played freely.