One day, two days, three days.
Li Su stopped practicing his punches and spent every day cultivating the Unnamed Technique. The more he practiced, the more he realized how extraordinary it was.
Perhaps that was why it was a super-grade technique, while the Arhat Divine Art was only a first-grade martial art.
After nearly a week of practice, Li Su had discovered that this technique possessed at least three abilities.
First, it generated "force"!
Second, that "force" strengthened the body, especially increasing physical strength at an astonishing rate.
Third, it gave his true qi a dense, cohesive quality.
Li Su knew Arhat True Qi best. It was extremely explosive, like a hedgehog bristling with needles. Even after mastering Cotton Palm, he could only slightly restrain that prickling sensation. But as he began cultivating this technique, his Arhat True Qi remained volatile while becoming much more contained. That didn't mean it no longer pricked. Rather, the prickling had gone from something you could sense at a glance to something you had to touch with your hand to feel.
There was no doubt that the latter was far more dangerous to the touch than the former.
And as that force gradually took shape beneath Li Su's skin, he found that his skin's defenses were growing stronger at a rapid pace.
Feeling the effects of the Unnamed Technique, Li Su began to suspect something.
Could this technique be the Indestructible Diamond Divine Art?
Was that so-called force actually the protective aura unique to the Indestructible Diamond Divine Art?
But speculation was one thing. Li Su didn't stop cultivating. He continued circulating his inner strength, practicing according to the Unnamed Divine Art's method.
The thought made him feel a little exhilarated.
If it really was the Indestructible Diamond Divine Art, then he had to hurry—hurry as much as he could.
Once he mastered it, he wouldn't just be able to protect his life. He could go anywhere under heaven.
The Indestructible Diamond Divine Art! It was said to be indestructible, immune to all poisons, and invincible in its supreme hardness.
Of course, for all his excitement, Li Su only grew steadier.
After all, impatience was a great taboo in Buddhist martial arts. Going mad and losing one's cultivation would be the least of his worries. The real problem was that people could die.
As the days passed, a month drew near. Before long, twenty-five days had gone by.
It was obvious that Xuan Cheng and the others were making no progress in their cultivation.
For several days in a row, their gazes had taken on a strange cast, tinged with an abnormal redness and agitation.
Watching them, Li Su couldn't help frowning.
Those fellows probably wouldn't master the three scrolls of Unnamed Techniques. If they kept going like this, they might even suffer a qi deviation.
Li Su drew a breath, intending to stop and intervene. If that didn't work, he would go find his master.
But as soon as the thought crossed his mind, someone strode over.
It was Monk Tianming.
Looking at Xuan Cheng and the others, whose eyes were bloodshot, Monk Tianming drew a deep breath and roared, "You wretches, wake up!"
His low shout boomed like thunder from a clear sky. Xuan Cheng and the others jolted, and their circulating techniques scattered in an instant.
Pfft!
Xuan Cheng and Xuanci were the worst of them. They opened their mouths and spat out a large mouthful of blood.
Their true qi had clearly slipped beyond their control. If Monk Tianming hadn't jolted them awake with his shout, they might truly have suffered a qi deviation.
Xuanji and the others were less badly affected, but they were hardly well. Their faces had gone unnaturally pale, and their breathing was unsteady.
Looking at them, Tianming's face filled with disappointment. "To cultivate Buddhism, you must cultivate your mind. To practice martial arts, you must cultivate your mind even more. Given your conduct, even if you did master these techniques, I would not take you to fight in the Song-Xia War.
"National hatred and personal grudges stir the emotions. That is only natural.
"Buddhism knows no boundaries, but people do. Besides, Buddhist cultivation is not the way of cold stone. A Buddhist wields the Vajra to kill bandits—outer bandits, and inner bandits too.
"Tell me, why are you going to Western Xia? To resist Western Xia's soldiers as they invade the Song Dynasty? To protect the people of the Song Dynasty from being slaughtered by Western Xia's soldiers? To keep anyone else from suffering the same fate as you, with their families destroyed and loved ones lost? Or are you going to the battlefield simply to vent your anger? Just to kill? If that is all, how are you any different from the soldiers of Western Xia?"
Xuan Cheng and the others shuddered. Their eyes widened, and their whole bodies trembled.
Monk Tianming said, "Tell me: if you become like your enemies in order to take revenge, have you really avenged yourselves?"
The seven of them stared blankly for a moment, mouths opening as if to speak, but not one could utter a word. In the end, all seven squeezed their eyes shut in anguish.
Seeing their expressions, Tianming drew a breath and softened his tone. "Actually, whether or not you master the techniques in those three scrolls, I will take you with me."
Xuan Cheng and the others trembled and looked up in disbelief.
"I am a disciple of the Buddhist Sect, but first and foremost, I am a man of the Song Dynasty. Western Xia has invaded the Central Plains; as men of the Song, we cannot shirk our duty. The reason I insisted that you master the techniques before I took you was to see what you would do."
Monk Tianming sighed. "Those who have never experienced national hatred and personal grudges can never understand the pain they bring. I won't tell you to let go of it. But precisely because you know that pain, you should understand better than anyone how terrible it is to treat human life as worthless, and how much suffering that causes. Tell me, why are you going to Western Xia?"
Xuan Cheng and the others cried out, faces streaming with tears and guilt. With unwavering resolve, they shouted, "Master, we're going to protect the people of the Song Dynasty, so that no one else has to suffer what we did!"
A smile appeared on Tianming's face. "Good! Then from today until we set out, you will each carry a hundred loads of water every day as punishment. Any objections?"
"None!"
"Good. Return the scrolls, then go."
Xuan Cheng and the others nodded at once. They took out the scrolls, walked up to Monk Tianming, returned them without hesitation, then went back to their places.
Hm?
Pleased to see his disciples return the scrolls without any hesitation, Monk Tianming smiled with satisfaction. That lesson had gone well. He had corrected Xuan Cheng and the others' thinking in time.
Once they returned from Western Xia, the hostility in their hearts should be gone, and their temperaments would be set. They would almost certainly become the future pillars of Shaolin.
You said that revenge only bred more revenge? You said that laying down the butcher's knife made one a Buddha?
Hah. Ptooey!
What nonsense.
If that were true, how had the Thirteen Cudgel Monks of Tang come to be? They had been formed to pacify the realm, hadn't they?
Monks held compassion in their hearts. Was there anything more compassionate than letting all the people of the realm live in peace? No!
As Tianming thought this, he suddenly paused, his gaze beginning to wander.
It wasn't just him. Xuan Cheng and the others' gazes began to wander too.
And their target was none other than Li Su.
In perfect unison, Xuan Cheng and the others shot Li Su a look. Brother, what are you doing? We all handed ours in. Why are you just standing there? Hurry up—hand yours over and come carry water with us!
Tianming was a little displeased too. What was wrong with this kid? He'd made himself perfectly clear. Why hadn't Li Su handed it over already?
Don't think that just because you can't speak, your master can't tell you're full of resentment.
Tianming had examined Li Su, of course, and confirmed that there was nothing wrong with his vocal cords. His inability to speak had to be psychological.
And as for the cause, there could only be one: the Western Xia invasion!
Still, seeing the admiration in your eyes, I'll generously overlook your slow reaction. Hand it over already.
That was right. Li Su's gaze was full of admiration.
But that line—Buddhism knows no boundaries, but people do—had shaken him to the core. Even in the modern world he had come from, there were fools who couldn't understand it. And yet a monk in the Song Dynasty had grasped it. How could he not feel admiration?
What was more, from beginning to end, Monk Tianming hadn't said that one must never break the precepts by killing. Instead, he had made Xuan Cheng and the others understand why they were killing.
Even Li Su had gotten goosebumps listening to him.
But admiration was one thing. Returning the technique and carrying water as punishment were quite another. He could do without those.
After thinking for a moment, Li Su took out a charcoal pencil and began to write.
"Kill to protect life; destroy the cause, not the person!"
At those two short lines, Xuan Cheng and the others' eyes widened. Even Tianming's eyes widened, and goosebumps ran all over his body.
Those two lines fit so perfectly—with the Buddha in his heart.
Kill to protect life; destroy the cause, not the person?
Good, good, good!
Now, looking at Li Su, Tianming saw that his gaze was clear and his breath deep and steady—utterly different from Xuan Cheng and the others.
Clearly, he had not been turned into a demon by his obsession with Western Xia.
Wait. That deep, steady breath?
Did Arhat True Qi have that quality?
Suddenly, Monk Tianming thought of something. His eyes narrowed as he stared at Li Su. After a long while, his mouth fell open.
No way?
Couldn't be?
This was impossible, right?
This kid had mastered it?
Tianming strode forward and couldn't help pressing a finger against Li Su. Feeling the faint but unmistakable force push back against his fingertip, the corner of his mouth twitched.
Amitabha! Buddha, you're showing favoritism, aren't you?!