Abbot

White Pagoda Temple, Abbot's meditation room.

Master Guanghui had just finished reciting the Diamond Sutra and was sitting cross-legged on a straw mat, on the verge of entering a state of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, when the door to the meditation room was suddenly pushed open.

"Zhongcheng, you have returned. Has that person been settled?" A moment later, Guanghui emerged from his meditation and asked immediately.

"He has been settled in the home of a clean family," Monk Zhongcheng replied with palms pressed together. "I must thank the Abbot for facilitating this."

"To provide convenience to others is to provide convenience to oneself," Guanghui said. "We who have left the secular life and receive offerings from the ten directions must cultivate broad karmic connections."

"Thank you for your teachings, Abbot," Monk Zhongcheng said, bowing. "If there is nothing else, I shall take my leave."

"Zhongcheng," Master Guanghui called out to stop him. "Your talent in martial arts goes without saying. To be within reach of the Concentrated Spirit Realm at such a young age—this talent is among the best in our Central Plains Buddhism."

"However, for us monks, our foundation must be the Dharma. Do not become obsessed with martial arts, lest you be blinded by the obstacle of martial cultivation and unable to make further progress."

Hearing this, Monk Zhongcheng could not help but compose his expression: "Since the Abbot says so, I have a question."

"Speak!"

"I have been staying at this temple for half a year. In these six months, through my interactions with you, I have gained much insight. I know well that you are a man of profound learning and deep Dharma, not some ignorant monk who follows blindly. Yet, knowing the causes and consequences of the precept against touching gold and silver, why must you insist on keeping it?"

"These precepts are but a boat; once one has crossed to the other shore, one should not be obsessed with the size of the boat!"

"Excellent! That you can say this shows you have attained the Samadhi!" Master Guanghui pressed his palms together. "I keep this precept precisely because I am not attached to it."

Seeing the confusion on Zhongcheng's face, Guanghui continued to explain: "Do I not understand that times change? It is just that in this world, if one wishes to reform, one must return to the ancients. If one wishes to advance, one must retreat."

"Nowadays, merchant ships travel back and forth, connecting the world, and I have read some historical records sent from Europe. Do you know the difference between the new and old churches in Europe?"

"I have only heard a little," Monk Zhongcheng said.

"The so-called new church in Europe wishes to reform the rules of the old, yet they do not claim the old church is merely outdated; rather, they claim the old church is not conservative or 'ancient' enough. They seek to reform the old church by restoring the original, ancient ways. The doctrine of this new church is, in fact, more extreme and archaic than the old. Yet, what the new church actually does is overthrow the old rules and establish a brand-new situation."

Monk Zhongcheng suddenly realized: "Isn't this the same as what the Confucian scholars call 'reforming through the authority of the ancients'? To establish a new order, they must loudly sing the praises of the Duke of Zhou and Confucius."

"Exactly!" Seeing Zhongcheng's realization, Guanghui nodded. "It is the same for us in Buddhism. If you wish to establish a new order, you need someone like me, who loudly sings of returning to the ancients, to hold the line so that we are not attacked for destroying the Buddha and abandoning the Way."

"Only by strictly adhering to the ancient path, establishing a firm foundation, and upholding the facade of Buddhism can we break and build in this age of great change, and fight for the future and destiny of our faith."

"I am already old, and this is all I can do. You are still young; you must remember that whether it is martial arts or precepts, they are all boats to cross the river, not the wisdom of the other shore." The more Guanghui spoke, the more earnest he became.

"Thank you for your teachings, Abbot." Zhongcheng bowed deeply, feeling he had benefited greatly.

Chen Wu also felt he had benefited greatly, though he was even more shocked.

The preface of this secret manual was written entirely in plain language, yet it left Chen Wu stunned.

"The world says that the only Grandmaster in hundreds of years, Emperor Taizong, broke through to the Grandmaster realm before the Battle of Jingzhou. Amidst the battlefield, clad in heavy armor and wielding a sharp blade, he personally killed Lekedehun, thereby turning the tide of the war."

"But if you ask me, that is all nonsense. Emperor Taizong only achieved the Grandmaster realm after killing Lekedehun, not the other way around."

Next to these words were a few small characters, clearly written by Old Jin: "Inconceivable. I have never heard this theory."

Chen Wu also found it strange.

The Battle of Jingzhou was the battle where the Great Shun Dynasty reversed its decline, and it was the most brilliant battle in the life of the suspected transmigrator Li Guo. Thus, the Great Shun court tirelessly promoted this battle, mythologizing Li Guo and calling him the only true Taizong since Li Shimin.

Although Chen Wu had only been here for a few days, he was already intimately familiar with this history.

Historians generally agreed that before the Battle of Jingzhou, the Great Shun had suffered defeat after defeat, while the Manchu Qing had won victory after victory. At that time, the gap in combat power between the Shun army and the Qing army was immense.

Even though Li Guo had seemingly "cheated" by predicting the Southern Ming's incompetent allies and Lekedehun's ambush route, preparing his own traps, the battle itself was still fraught with peril, and he had nearly failed.

At the critical moment, Li Guo, with the power of a Grandmaster, pierced through three layers of iron armor, led his personal guards to charge Lekedehun's command banner, and slew Lekedehun on the spot, only then winning that battle by a hair's breadth.

This was completely different from what the manual said.

Continuing to read, however, Chen Wu could not help but nod repeatedly.

"The nine realms of martial arts: the first three—Copper Skin, Iron Sinew, and Jade Bone—are for refining the body. The middle three—Channel Opening, Micro-Perception, and Celestial Cycle—are for refining Qi. The upper three—Concentrated Spirit, Profound Connection, and Grandmaster—are for refining the Spirit. This corresponds exactly to the three treasures of man: Essence, Qi, and Spirit."

This made perfect sense, and Old Jin had noted in the margin: "This is sound logic."

"To reach the realm of Grandmaster, one cannot rely on the bitter cultivation of Essence, Qi, and Spirit alone. That is why, for hundreds of years, only Emperor Taizong has become a Grandmaster. The world does not know this secret and insists on bitter cultivation; how is that any different from climbing a tree to catch a fish?"

"I accidentally obtained secret records of Taizong and learned that he had not yet achieved the Grandmaster realm before the Battle of Jingzhou. Thus, I had a sudden thought: perhaps the Battle of Jingzhou itself was the key to achieving the Grandmaster realm."

"If Emperor Taizong had not exerted himself in the Battle of Jingzhou, by all logic, the False Qing would have unified the world, and the Divine Land would have suffered a second sinking. Emperor Taizong raised his blade and stood his horse, cutting off the momentum of the False Qing, changing the heavens and the earth, stealing a sliver of heavenly destiny to add to his own body, and only then could he break through the common logic of the nine realms and enter the realm of Grandmaster."

"The path of the Grandmaster can be called the path of intercepting the heavens to use for oneself."

Old Jin had noted: "Though these are shocking words, it overestimates the False Qing." But Chen Wu felt a chill run down his spine.

Chen Wu knew that because of the existence of the suspected transmigrator Li Guo, the history experienced by the people of Great Shun was different from his own; their "lessons from history" were different, and their attitude toward the Manchu Qing was completely opposite.

In the eyes of the Great Shun, the Manchu Qing rose while the former Ming was weak, and they "picked the peaches" when the Shun army and Wu Sangui were exhausted from the Battle of Shanhai Pass, taking advantage of the situation to enter the Central Plains. They were never truly powerful to begin with.

Although they once occupied the entire North, established a regime, and broke the Southern Ming's Hongguang regime—even getting carried away enough to issue the queue-cutting order—they had only been inside the pass for two years before Li Guo reversed the situation at Jingzhou. In the following years, they suffered defeat after defeat until they were completely wiped out.

To a normal Great Shun citizen, the Manchu Qing was just an ordinary, small separatist regime that happened to have a bit of luck. Among similar frontier separatist regimes, they were far inferior to the Western Xia, which had lasted nearly two hundred years; at most, they were a successful version of Bo Bai of Ningxia.

With such a reputation, even though the Manchu Qing had once been invincible, few Shun people truly believed they would have caused a "second sinking of the Divine Land." They would only think that under the queue-cutting order, resistance would rise like a tide, and sooner or later, a hero would emerge to overthrow them.

As the saying goes, an overly successful revolution can lead later generations to doubt the significance of the revolution itself. Li Guo's resistance against the Qing was so successful that people greatly underestimated the Manchu Qing.

History determines the present, but more often than not, the present also determines how one views history.

Thus, in the eyes of the Great Shun, the Manchu Qing were merely lucky and arrogant clowns, often relegated to the role of background props in various tawdry novels.

The propaganda surrounding Li Guo's Battle of Jingzhou primarily highlighted his brilliance and martial prowess, his ability to foresee the future, and his feats of slaying generals and capturing flags; Lekedehun, serving as a mere backdrop, fared no better in reputation than Yan Liang or Wen Chou.

Yet Chen Wu knew that had Li Guo not risen to the challenge, the Manchu Qing could truly have unified the world and reigned for generations. Lekedehun had become an Iron-Cap Prince of the Manchu Qing, and his princely estate had endured right up until the time before Chen Wu had transmigrated.

The author of this preface had unexpectedly pierced through this truth in a single sentence, forcing Chen Wu to take his words seriously.

Could it be that the so-called realm of Grandmaster was truly related to the Battle of Jingzhou?

To achieve the status of a Grandmaster, did one need to alter the timeline of history to the extent that Li Guo had?

"Emperor Taizong severed the momentum of the Manchu Qing and attained the realm of Grandmaster. I am shallow in learning and talent, and have only devised a method to intercept the Concentrated Spirit cultivation of others. My thoughts are superficial and lack thoroughness; I know not if this is feasible, and hope later generations will carefully examine, amend, and perfect it."

Seeing this, Chen Wu could not help but be speechless. So, this so-called secret manual, with such an intimidating name, was actually just a half-finished hypothesis. His predecessor was truly bold; even the author didn't know if it could be practiced, yet he had dared to start training immediately.

Old Jin couldn't help but chime in from the side, "Chen Gawa is truly thick-skulled."

Old Jin's whimsical assessment was not wrong; had the author not pointed out Li Guo's severing of the Manchu Qing's momentum, Chen Wu would have felt that Old Jin was being rather restrained.

Reading to this point, Chen Wu found himself in a dilemma. The manual was clearly a trap, yet he had inexplicably succeeded in practicing it. Chen Wu didn't even know if he should continue practicing this ghostly manual.

After hesitating for less than a breath, Chen Wu decided to stop overthinking and finish reading it first.

The next morning.

As the sky began to brighten, Monk Zhongcheng saw the bleary-eyed Chen Wu.

"Did the benefactor not rest well last night? Is it because you are worried about Old Master Ma?"

"Mm-hmm." Chen Wu echoed vaguely.

It was all because he had stayed up too late reading the manual. The manual was indeed unorthodox, and Old Jin's annotations were as sharp and sarcastic as a barrage of comments, yet they also revealed the martial arts experience of a profound master, sparking insights from time to time. Chen Wu couldn't help but finish it in one sitting, only then remembering the letters he needed to write for Old Ma and General Shui.

"Benefactor, do not worry. Old Master Ma has accumulated virtue and performed good deeds throughout his life, and he is quick-witted; he will surely be safe and sound," Monk Zhongcheng said. "If you have letters to send, you may hand them to this humble monk now."

Chen Wu nodded and took out the two letters he had stayed up all night writing: "I leave it to you! One for Old Ma, and one for General Shui."

"I shall certainly not fail this commission!"