Meeting an Old Acquaintance

"This old monk never expected that we would be able to kill the Purple-Pupiled Spirit King ahead of schedule. Originally, I thought that only with the Tathagata's Indestructible Body could we fight against the immortal body of the King of Monsters. I never thought that a Heavenly Martial Alliance would descend from the sky, born with an extraordinary body, and even more so, a descendant of the Spirit King who would sacrifice his own family for the greater good... Now, thinking about it, I have to be grateful for our luck."

"It's clear that the master of eighteen years ago was always frowning, his shoulders slumped as if bearing a thousand pounds of weight. Now, however, he is free from all constraints, has regained his freedom, and the knots in his heart are gone. It seems that he has severed his ignorance and afflictions, his six senses are purified, and he is not far from transcending birth and death and attaining Nirvana."

Fahong humbly said that the path of cultivation is still very long and that he is far from perfect, etc.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Duanmu Die asked, "I wonder what the outcome was when we entrusted your temple with the task of investigating the descendants of our sect's elders?"

As she spoke, she handed over the complete forging method to the other party. Although it was no longer needed, this accident had nothing to do with her; all she had to do was fulfill the terms of the transaction.

"I apologize, although my disciples have investigated the three major martial arts worlds of the east, west, and south, we have yet to find any sects or Aristocratic Clan that meet the criteria," Fahong said apologetically. "Among the three major martial arts worlds, there is indeed a powerful martial arts family surnamed Si, but they specialize in fire-attribute sword techniques, their moves are fierce and ruthless, and they do not show any signs of Yin dominating Yang, which is far from the situation you described."

"Oh, there aren't any other possible candidates?"

"There are some possibilities, but they are extremely slim. I speculate that perhaps the family has fallen on hard times, or perhaps they have changed their surname."

"It's not impossible... How strange! My father clearly divined that I would definitely encounter this on this trip. The seniors of the Ying Immortal Sect even asked me to bring something. Could it be that the chaos of the Great Dao has disrupted the divination, and even my father miscalculated?"

Duanmu Die was puzzled and tried to divine the outcome by counting on her fingers, but naturally, she got nothing.

"Well, things will work themselves out. Anyway, they didn't say I had to bring him. We'll meet again if fate allows. Right now, the priority is to hunt down the Son of the Dragon Devil."

Chapter 585 Meeting an Old Friend

With Si Ming as their guarantor, Ying Zhou and Nie Wanzhi were granted the status of lay disciples by the Glazed Temple and formally began receiving official instruction, although ordinary lay disciples would never have the opportunity to be taught the sect's ultimate techniques.

Moreover, since the two were not from the Barbarian Continent and would return in two months, the conservatives had no objections and simply regarded it as spreading culture. After all, patent law could not govern another world, which was why those plagiarists dared to act with impunity.

Of course, there may also be considerations of befriending distant states while attacking nearby ones.

"I never imagined that the monks here could not only eat meat, but also get married, tsk tsk."

After visiting Glazed Temple, Hao Shuai and his group couldn't help but express their feelings.

However, their surprise was not strong. After all, Buddhism was not popular in the Sea Continent, and even if the Su State were religious, they believed in Mohist Religion. Their understanding of Buddhism was limited to popular science knowledge in textbooks. For example, many people had only heard of Christianity but did not know that Christianity is divided into Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Protestantism.

Modern people on Earth might be quite surprised. Eating meat is one thing, but many people, through online science popularization, know to some extent that the original vegetarian diet in Buddhism referred to vegetables with distinctive aromas such as onions, garlic, leeks, scallions, and coriander, not meat. However, the idea that becoming a monk means being forbidden from marrying and having children is almost a fixed concept. Gautama even gave up his wife and children to attain Buddhahood. In various movies and TV dramas, abstaining from women is practically a mantra for monks.

The Japan might find this normal, thinking their monks are unrestrained, eating meat and drinking alcohol, and marrying wives. However, this is a misunderstanding. The unrestrained Japan monks are simply a profession called "monk." True Buddhism, called "practitioners," also adhere to precepts, but they are few in number and have little presence in the public eye.

The Glazed Temple undoubtedly belongs to fundamentalist Buddhism, which prohibits both eating meat and marriage. Of course, even if they had such precepts initially, they would have abolished them. Otherwise, without eating meat, they would lack the strength to practice martial arts, and prohibiting marriage would mean a lack of male offspring. The Purple-Pupiled Spirit King could have worn them down through attrition warfare.

As the group passed by the martial arts arena, they saw thousands of monks practicing their boxing in the square. Their boxing practice was not like doing calisthenics, where they followed a rhythmic posture. While the neat and orderly movements had a strong visual impact, they did not help with martial arts training. At most, it was considered a form of exercise. The real boxing practice involved a few people forming a small circle, either sparring with each other or asking elders for guidance. The effect would decrease if there were too many people.

Even so, the sight of thousands of people practicing martial arts was still spectacular. The monks, with their bare bronze-colored upper bodies, smooth heads reflecting the sunlight, and glistening sweat, exuded a strong masculine aura. Just by looking at them, one could feel the intense masculine energy emanating from them, like a furnace of pure yang. Even ancient ghosts would flee for their lives if they saw them, and daring to approach would result in their souls being scattered.

Hu Jixian exclaimed, "As expected of the number one Southern Martial World, even in the Sea Continent, such a sight can only be seen in the military, and only in major powers. I'm afraid even the Nation of Beauty and Russia cannot muster such elite troops."

"So shameless! So utterly shameless!"

Nie Wanzhi blushed, feeling dizzy from the intense male hormones. After all, all she could see were muscular men wearing only a pair of shorts, exuding a philosophical aura. They were all lean and strong, with no room for any young or pretty boys.

"They're just practicing martial arts properly, there's no shame in it. But it is indeed a bit too stimulating for a child."

Ke Chajing, being a woman herself, didn't seem to care at all. Without any hesitation, she laughed and grabbed a skilled monk to exchange tips on boxing techniques.

"I'm not a child!"

Nie Wanzhi mustered her courage and tried to approach him to start a conversation, but as soon as she got close, she was scared away by the strong smell of male sweat.

Hao Shuai asked Yuezheng Yao, "Seeing this scene, doesn't the teacher have any creative inspiration?"

"I'm no longer a teacher," Yuezheng Yao sighed. "Besides, Painting School are more likely to draw inspiration from visual impact, while the Music School leans more towards auditory stimulation, and the bold and unrestrained style isn't my style either."

On the other side, Fadeng of the Arhat Hall Si Ming, "Alliance Leader Sima, that young friend named Ying Zhou has an affinity with Buddhism, don't you think...?"

Si Ming glanced sideways and said, "I won't hide anything. He has Asura Bloodline in his veins, which makes cultivating the 'Brahma Sea Asura Art' twice as effective. But what does that have to do with you monks? If we really want to get to the bottom of this, it's related to the Asura Race, who are actually your Buddhism enemies."

Fadeng hurriedly said, "Asura belong to the six realms of sentient beings, believe in Buddhism, and are by no means enemies of Buddhism. Moreover, the Asura Path is one of the three good realms. If we really want to talk about relationships, they are friends, not enemies."

"Then it can't be said that we're destined to be together."

"Asura are easily angered and belligerent. Although they belong to the virtuous path, they are prone to falling into demonic possession. This characteristic is also evident in this child. His nature is not evil, but he harbors a violent spirit and is easily misled by others onto the Evil Dao. After cultivating the 'Brahma Sea Asura Art,' his bloodline is intensified, and his violent spirit is even stronger. If he does not learn Buddhist teachings in time to resolve his violent spirit, he may be in danger of becoming a demon in the future. In fact, the 'Brahma Sea Asura Art' has always been listed as a taboo in this temple. Only those with profound Buddhist cultivation can practice it. Forcing it will easily lead to backlash."

"Then why have I never been affected?"

"The Alliance Leader has long since reached a state of returning to simplicity and being unattached to external things. A mere bit of hostility will naturally not affect you, but it might not affect others."

Fadeng quickly flattered him, but in his heart he felt that it was more likely that the inner demons generated by the "Brahma Sea Asura Art" had been suppressed by other, more powerful forces.

Si Ming, feeling quite pleased with the flattery, said, "If he's willing to learn, I won't stop him. It's your skill to persuade him to become Buddhist School disciple, but you can't force him, nor can you use deceptive or fraudulent methods."

Si Ming had no ill will towards Buddhist scriptures. The essence of Buddhism is a philosophy and a way of life. If you really learn it, it will be of great help to your life. Those who only know how to cheat people out of incense money are usually ignorant and know nothing about Buddhism except chanting Amitābha Buddha.

Of course, most importantly, since it's not me who's going to be imitating it, the thought of Ying Zhou having his head shaved is quite amusing.

Having received permission, Fadeng eagerly took his leave, presumably eager to use his eloquence to persuade Ying Zhou to convert to Buddhism.

Si Ming shook his head, not caring much, and walked towards the confessional hall.

The Repentance Hall is a temple hall where Buddhist School disciples receive the Threefold Ordination and are granted the robe and bowl. It is named after the fact that when receiving the ordination, one must thoroughly repent for all the evil deeds committed in the past.

The three large rings represent the novice nun's vows, the full vows, and the Bodhisattva vows, which can be roughly considered as the outer disciple, inner disciple, and personal disciple settings commonly found in cultivation novels.

Normally, no one comes to this place. Only the novice monks who are responsible for cleaning come here once a day. It is deserted. Disciples who have violated the precepts but whose circumstances are not too serious are usually sent here as punishment.

As Si Ming stepped into the courtyard, he saw a Shani with her hair still intact, sweeping up fallen leaves and dust from the ground. Her movements were careless and she often missed the dust in the details.

"Hey, this outfit suits you quite well; it doesn't look as ill-fitting as I thought."