Night fell, and Changlan City grew lively once more.
Several consecutive nights of disappearances had sent the prefectural magistrate into a towering rage, leaving every clerk and office under his command as if standing at the edge of an abyss.
As the pressure cascaded downward, it reached the operational level and directly turned into fireworks blazing across the whole city.
In vast Changlan City, there was a guard every three steps and a sentry every five.
Patrolling soldiers filled the streets and alleyways.
Amid this clamor, Mo Chuan sat at a table with Abbot Tianbao in a small residential courtyard in the western part of the city.
Also with them was a wandering Daoist priest whose religious name was Yi Qian.
The man was around fifty, with a broad face, large ears, and a thick beard. He constantly held a Jade Tablet in his hands, projecting an imposing presence even without anger.
According to Abbot Tianbao, Daoist priest Yi Qian enjoyed considerable renown around Jin Province. His secret art of worshipping the stars and paying homage to the True Lord had slain countless demons and expelled innumerable fiends.
He had come to Changlan City intending to establish a temple and found his own school, so he was particularly concerned about the strange creatures causing trouble in the city.
After all, if he could win the prefectural magistrate's favor, he would achieve twice the result with half the effort!
At this moment, the noise outside the courtyard was unceasing, while the three men inside remained as calm as old gods, sipping tea and discussing the Dao.
Abbot Tianbao was clearly very interested in the Patriarch of Fu Luan Temple.
His words were full of probing questions.
Mo Chuan could not very well know nothing when asked, so he could only answer selectively.
Even so, Abbot Tianbao was left marveling again and again.
Especially regarding the scene of Summoning Sword from the Void, he repeatedly pressed for details, analyzing every last hair and thread.
After a long while, he said with a sigh, "This old monk has heard a saying from the Daoist tradition: Obtain one method within the Dao, obtain one technique within that method, and never change it for a lifetime! It seems the Patriarch of Fu Luan Temple is no ordinary ghost immortal!"
Mo Chuan's heart stirred, and he hurriedly asked, "May I ask, Master, is there some deeper meaning behind this?"
"This old monk is not of the Daoist tradition. My knowledge of Daoist matters goes no further than what I have heard. How would I dare flaunt an axe before a master carpenter?"
Abbot Tianbao looked toward Daoist priest Yi Qian.
Seeing this, Mo Chuan immediately cupped his hands toward Daoist priest Yi Qian. "Could Fellow Daoist enlighten me?"
Daoist priest Yi Qian clearly already knew Mo Chuan's background.
He also knew that Mo Chuan had originated as a Daoist acolyte of Yunji Temple. Though he looked rather old, his knowledge and experience were in truth inferior even to those of rustic village Daoists.
Thinking that the night was long, he simply began to chat.
In any case, it was only some basic Daoist knowledge. It would not matter even if everyone knew it.
As the Dao De Jing said:
The Dao gave birth to One; One gave birth to Two; Two gave birth to Three; Three gave birth to all things.
The myriad arts of the Daoist tradition were all derived from the Dao.
It could be said: Ever-changing in ten thousand ways, yet all methods returned to one.
What Daoists pursued was precisely this Dao to which all methods returned.
It was also called the Dao Fruit.
In other words, the Dao was the foundation, methods were the branches, and techniques were the twigs at the very end.
Among the many Daoist arts, the Seventy-two Earthly Fiend Techniques were the most famous:
Among them was one technique called:
Gourd Heaven
—able to contain Mount Sumeru within a mustard seed.
It was said that upon reaching the Greater Vehicle realm, one could hide heaven and earth within one's sleeve and preserve the sun and moon in one's palm.
Since the Patriarch of Fu Luan could draw a sword from thin air, he presumably had mastered this Daoist art.
This meant that the Patriarch of Fu Luan had very likely obtained an inheritance of Daoist methods.
This was the true meaning behind Abbot Tianbao's words: "Obtain one method within the Dao, obtain one technique within that method."
Of course, this was merely Abbot Tianbao's speculation.
Yet even so, Mo Chuan felt guilty to the extreme after hearing it!
This time, I've taken the act way too far!
For a moment, he even began to worry about Fu Luan Temple's future.
As the saying went: When virtue did not match one's position, disaster was sure to follow.
He only hoped Fu Luan's old Daoist priest would proceed with utmost caution and not stir up trouble.
After discussing Daoist arts, Mo Chuan asked about cultivation methods.
One had to know that even the same Daoist art would naturally display vastly different power in the hands of cultivators at different realms.
Take the Gourd Heaven technique, for example. In the hands of a lowly cultivator, it could at most store a few personal belongings;
but if cultivated by a mighty expert, it could open a cave abode and create a universe.
Faced with Mo Chuan's inquiries, Daoist priest Yi Qian merely shook his head.
"The True Classic of Virtue says: The Great Dao is benevolent and gives life, guiding people and bestowing methods. A thousand gates temper one's nature, ten thousand practices cultivate one's heart. Heaven's principles are thirty thousand; choose one and walk it. The Daoist methods of cultivation are as vast as the stars. Hard to say, hard to say."
Mo Chuan wanted to ask further about the secret art of worshipping the stars and paying homage to the True Lord that Daoist priest Yi Qian cultivated, but after thinking it over carefully, he decided against it.
The Daoist tradition valued inheritance. How could one casually impart methods to another?
Unless he took someone as his master!
He did not particularly mind that, but he feared Daoist priest Yi Qian would not accept him.
As his thoughts turned, he simply began asking Abbot Tianbao about Buddhist teachings instead.
"What? Does Fellow Daoist wish to switch to Buddhist cultivation?"
"Could I not?"
"Hahaha, they are all forms of cultivation. Why not? The Chan Sect can lead Buddha into the Dao. Fellow Daoist, leading the Dao into Buddha is not impossible either. Perhaps that too is one of the Three Thousand Great Daos within Heaven's principles."
Abbot Tianbao wore a deeply meaningful expression.
Mo Chuan's heart stirred. He vaguely guessed what Abbot Tianbao meant—perhaps the abbot harbored some desire for Yunji Temple's Daoist methods.
"How are these Buddhist teachings cultivated?" Mo Chuan asked, unwilling to release an eagle before seeing a hare.
"That depends on what disposition Fellow Daoist possesses."
"Disposition?" Mo Chuan immediately thought of his third brother.
"The Buddhist teachings are boundless, but they ferry only those with affinity."
Under Abbot Tianbao's explanation, Mo Chuan finally sorted out a rough outline of Buddhist cultivation.
Unlike the Daoist tradition, which offered Three Thousand Great Daos to choose from,
Buddhism cultivated the Dharma Body, and the Dharma Body had five dispositions:
the disposition of ordinary people, the disposition of Hearers and Yuan Jue, the disposition of Bodhisattvas, the disposition of Tathagatas, and the Outer Path Disposition.
One's disposition determined one's future fruition!
For instance, those with the disposition of Bodhisattvas could attain no higher fruition than Bodhisattvahood.
However, Abbot Tianbao also said that one's disposition could transform as one advanced in Buddhist teachings.
Mo Chuan asked Abbot Tianbao what disposition he possessed.
Abbot Tianbao answered: the disposition of ordinary people.
Well then, this claim that dispositions could transform was probably nothing more than comforting words! Even if it was not, it was likely as difficult as climbing to heaven.
Returning to the main subject.
After determining one's disposition, one could enter the First Fruit Direction.
Here, there were two paths: Lesser Vehicle Samadhi and Greater Vehicle Samadhi.
The Lesser Vehicle stopped at the fruition of an arhat.
The Greater Vehicle was something else entirely—it allowed one to cultivate Buddhahood.
However, the Greater Vehicle was not so easy to cultivate either.
Limitations of disposition were one factor. Upon reaching the Ten Faiths stage, one also had to turn from the Lesser Vehicle to the Greater Vehicle, then cultivate the Lesser Vehicle again. It was truly incomparably complicated.
The more Mo Chuan heard, the more his head ached. I should just cultivate the Dao instead!
Still, he asked, "May I ask, Master, what disposition does this poor Daoist possess?"
"Outer Path Disposition!"
Mo Chuan was stunned upon hearing this.
The Shurangama Sutra said: "Turning away from perfect penetration and turning one's back on Nirvana City, one gives rise to the seed of the Outer Dao."
In other words, one was moved by the inverted causes of the world into an immortal-path disposition, thus being born among the dispositions of the Outer Dao and losing one's way on the path to Bodhi.
That was to say, this was a disposition completely severed from Buddhist teachings.
"So this poor Daoist can never cultivate Buddhism?" Mo Chuan asked unwillingly.
"Fellow Daoist is cultivating the Dao, so naturally you possess the Outer Path Disposition." Abbot Tianbao's words carried a hidden meaning.
Mo Chuan nodded and fell into thought.
There was a trap in those words, wasn't there?
At first hearing, it sounded as though he possessed the Outer Path Disposition because he was cultivating the Dao.
It seemed to imply that if he stopped cultivating the Dao, he could shed the Outer Path Disposition!
But was that truly the case?
Could it be that the abbot did not dare violate the precepts or lie outright, so he used truths to speak falsehoods?
"I have a Visualization Diagram that can prolong life. Fellow Daoist may contemplate it diligently."
Abbot Tianbao changed the subject and handed over a Visualization Diagram.
Mo Chuan accepted it and was about to open it when Abbot Tianbao raised a hand in a stopping gesture.
"The matter at hand is more urgent!"
Mo Chuan nodded, suppressing his curiosity. He put away the Visualization Diagram and tucked it into his robes.
The moonlight flowed like water, and the starlight glittered.
While Mo Chuan and the other two drank tea and discussed the Dao, Luo Feibai, who waited some distance away, grew increasingly restless.
After waiting for half the night, he saw that the three men's conversation had paused slightly. He hurried over and asked, "Daoist masters, there has been no movement all night. Should Luo go out and investigate?"
The unspoken meaning was: Why has that strange creature not come yet?
Mo Chuan was just about to reassure him when Abbot Tianbao suddenly stroked his beard and said, "It's here!"
Luo Feibai abruptly raised his head, his right hand instinctively clenching the hilt of his Zhanmadao!
Before you continue