Back to reality.
Zhizheng Year Four, autumn, the Imperial Awakening Temple.
It was still the same shabby stable, but outside the window, the roving monk carrying a lantern had already gone on his way.
Zhu Yuanzhang sat up on the haystack.
He began taking stock of what he had gained this time.
The complete Fixed-Light Demon-Subduing True Technique and Mountain-Shrinking Fist, as well as the Great Wisdom Zen Technique.
After Mingde lost control, the White Bone Dharma Image he transformed into had displayed unimaginable power.
From just one glance, Zhu Yuanzhang could tell that he was no match for it.
To stand a chance against it, he would at the very least have to cultivate the Fixed-Light Demon-Subduing Art until he had perfected all four true flames, just like Mingguang.
"I have to increase my combat strength... Only then might I survive the opening slaughter of the second act."
Zhu Yuanzhang's expression turned grave.
"Fix the Great Wisdom Zen Technique."
Yes, Zhu Yuanzhang chose the Great Wisdom Zen Technique.
Not only because it was currently the safest technique.
It was also because, if he wanted to increase his combat strength in the Secret History, this was currently the fastest Pathway available to him.
"In the Secret History, Minghe's techniques clashed, and he started cultivating too late. It'll probably be extremely difficult for him to survive the second act."
Thinking of how Minghe's organs had been crushed in an instant at the start of the second act, Zhu Yuanzhang sighed.
Only by mastering the Great Wisdom Zen Technique would Zhu Yuanzhang have a chance of enduring the first crisis after Monk Mingde lost control, using the Fixed-Light Demon-Subduing True Technique and Mountain-Shrinking Fist.
[All of Minghe's cultivation in the Great Wisdom Zen Technique has been fixed]
In a daze, Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to see a great hand reaching for him out of the void.
Amid a dense white mist, it gripped the top of Zhu Yuanzhang's head.
[Empowerment]
Boundless white qi surged toward Zhu Yuanzhang from every direction.
In an instant, Zhu Yuanzhang gained all of Minghe's cultivation and insights from twenty years of practicing the Great Wisdom Zen Technique.
A voice rang faintly in Zhu Yuanzhang's ear.
"Only with discipline and concentration can one attain wisdom."
Only then could one attain [Wish-Fulfillment Insight].
Eyes and ears, nose and tongue, body and mind.
[Nengdao] [Transformation] [Holy Wish-Fulfillment]
Each of these three wondrous arts could lead to the attainment of [Wish-Fulfillment Insight].
Master all three, and [Wish-Fulfillment Insight] would be perfected, allowing one to attempt the fruit of "emptiness."
A wealth of information poured into Zhu Yuanzhang's mind with the white qi.
His spiritual platform grew ever clearer.
[Nengdao] was an art of escape, while [Transformation] was an art of refinement. Practiced to a high level, it could turn stone into gold.
Only [Holy Wish-Fulfillment] could purify one's senses and negate the side effects of any technique.
Of course, that was not entirely true.
The purifying effect of [Holy Wish-Fulfillment] varied depending on the technique.
For instance, it worked better at counteracting the effects of Mountain-Shrinking Fist than those of the Fixed-Light Demon-Subduing True Technique.
Through the white mist, Zhu Yuanzhang "saw" the Pure Land Lotus Throne deep within it.
The Buddha seated upon the Lotus Throne still had a serene, peaceful expression, and radiated a gentle white Buddha-light.
But below the waist, only bones remained, with countless tiny Snow-White Worms crawling over them and gnawing away.
In an instant, Zhu Yuanzhang understood.
This was why the Great Wisdom Zen Technique could counteract the side effects of the true technique!
If the Fixed-Light Demon-Subduing True Technique showed people how a human became Dingguang Buddha,
then the Great Wisdom Zen Technique showed them how an ancient Buddha became human.
And the moment Zhu Yuanzhang saw those countless worms,
the worms noticed him too.
The Snow-White Worms, with their thirteen glistening segments and crystal-clear limbs, immediately transformed into a mass of white light and rushed at him.
"Ah!"
Sitting cross-legged on the haystack and making the Fearless Mudra, Zhu Yuanzhang let out a low cry of pain.
The moment the worm entered his mind, it felt as though someone had first slit open his scalp with a knife, then stitched it back together. Pain, numbness, and itching took turns tormenting him, causing Zhu Yuanzhang to lose focus several times.
Yet, through the system's power, each time he lost control, Zhu Yuanzhang was pulled back from the worm's jaws and forced to continue the process of taming it by "feeding it with his nature."
"The odds of success are one hundred percent!"
"For ordinary people, losing control just once means death!"
"But I have countless chances!"
With hope before him, Zhu Yuanzhang clenched his teeth. After who knew how many attempts, he finally subdued the Snow-White Worm.
The night passed.
[Holy Wish-Fulfillment]! He had done it!
Zhu Yuanzhang let out a cry of pain and opened his eyes, but they were filled with joy.
"Minghe's twenty years of contemplation actually took my Great Wisdom Zen Technique straight to mastery... I can now contain two techniques and negate the side effects of one."
"But there's nothing strange about that, really."
"It was no coincidence that Minghe was chosen as material to replenish Crown Prince Zhenjin's life. He was a natural genius at cultivating the Great Wisdom Zen Technique."
"And the fact that his Great Wisdom Zen Technique reached mastery was also the result of Minghui's secret meddling."
"If even a genius like him couldn't achieve mastery after twenty years of arduous cultivation, that would be the real wonder."
"That just goes to show how sinister the Great Wisdom Zen Technique is."
Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang glanced beyond the stable at the Imperial Awakening Temple.
The sky was already growing faintly bright.
It was not yet time for the temple's novice monks to rise and sweep the courtyards, but it was nearly time.
Under the influence of the mastered Great Wisdom Zen Technique,
the once stately, splendid Imperial Awakening Temple seemed to emanate a chilling gloom in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes.
The gloom shrouded everything, making the world seem dark and indistinct.
Zhu Yuanzhang was no stranger to this.
He had seen a similar sight in the Mahavira Hall.
"Is it Minghui... or another meditation master who cultivated Minghui's teachings?"
A chill ran through Zhu Yuanzhang.
It was now Zhizheng Year Four, or 1344.
Although the last emperor of the Yuan dynasty, Emperor Huizong of Yuan, had only just wrested power back from the chancellor Bayan and was eager to advance, reform the administration, and revitalize the Great Yuan,
the signs of chaos had already emerged.
First, Fan Mengduan, a minor official in Henan, rebelled, plotting to kill all the civil and military officials north of the Yangtze in a single day.
Then, in the first month, the sorcerer Peng Yingyu led the White Lotus Sect in an uprising from Yuan Prefecture, repeatedly defeating government troops.
In the fifth month, the Yellow River burst its banks, and of the more than a million households in Henan and Shandong, fewer than one in ten survived.
The court was left scrambling, beset on all sides.
But in reality, only seventy-three years had passed since Kublai Khan, the Great Yuan's founding emperor, established the dynasty.
If any of the noteworthy figures from the early Yuan in the Secret History had a way to prolong their lives,
then it was entirely possible they had managed to survive until now.
How sinister!
"I can't wait any longer!"
Zhu Yuanzhang, who had originally wanted to play it safe, made up his mind.
"I'll take this opportunity to use [Holy Wish-Fulfillment] as my foundation and master the Mountain-Shrinking Fist. Once I've perfected it, I'll test cultivating the Fixed-Light Demon-Subduing True Technique alongside it in the Secret History."
"This is the best plan for now."
Drawing on his experience in the Secret History, Zhu Yuanzhang found a level patch of ground in the stable.
After familiarizing his body with the moves of the Mountain-Shrinking Fist, he began visualizing Dagon's (Great Ocean Water) Dharma Image in the empty air.
The world spun!
The familiar reef appeared once more.
This time, Zhu Yuanzhang remained quite calm as he waited for Dagon to emerge.
He simply sat cross-legged on the reef, made the Fearless Mudra, and calmly faced the towering waves crashing toward him.
Boom!
Thunder cracked!
A flash of lightning streaked across the gloomy sky, revealing a huge shadow in the sea, swimming toward the reef.
However, to Zhu Yuanzhang's surprise,
the sea monster seemed to be swimming toward a spot slightly off from where he stood.
"Roar!"
As the giant beast roared from beneath the sea, an enormous black arm, dozens of meters tall, stretched into the sky.
Zhu Yuanzhang's vision went black again.
He was thrown out of that stretch of sea.
If not for the Great Wisdom Zen Technique strengthening his mind, Dagon's image would have driven him mad long ago.
Sitting on the haystack, Zhu Yuanzhang steadied his somewhat ragged breathing, then began reviewing what had happened.
"It's different from the Sutra of Subduing Demons with Fixed Light."
"I have to use the original Mountain-Shrinking Fist to arrive at a specific location, so I can capture Dagon's complete image the instant he emerges."
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