Then do it for me

"..." Xie Xiyi's voice was clear, like a stream burbling through the woods, with an unexpected purity to it. "You're very noisy."

Chi Yu: "Oh."

Chi Yu kept feeling that his voice sounded a little familiar. It was a lot like the villain's; both had that very clear timbre.

It was precisely that kind of voice that carried a subtle hint of mania when it let out those delighted laughs.

Thinking of the villain, Chi Yu opened the system panel for a look. The villain's coordinates still weren't on the map, but after he had beaten up the system last night, it had dropped another feature: he could mark other people and check their coordinates at any time.

Yet another pretty damn useless feature.

Still, Chi Yu no longer held out much hope for the current system. He reached out and marked the little crown prince beside him, labeling him "His Highness."

Chi Yu continued examining the panel as the Zen master lectured on the scriptures. Rejuvenation remained lit up, but [Backtracking] and [Seizure], which he had picked up from Xie Xiyi, were still grayed out. He poked at the two features and unexpectedly brought up their descriptions again-Follow upstream in pursuit; the way is long and fraught with obstacles. Uses [1/2].

[Seizure] description: One man's poison is another man's honey. Uses [0/1].

Chi Yu couldn't help going, "Huh????"

His voice instantly drew everyone's attention. Realizing what he had done, Chi Yu hurriedly covered his mouth and bowed apologetically to his classmates.

The Zen master was hardly affected and continued lecturing in his languid, lilting voice.

Chi Yu poked at the two features over and over. He really couldn't use them.

When had he used Backtracking?

He understood the literal meaning of backtracking, too. It meant going back into the past-wait, returning to the past?

Chi Yu's mind instantly raced. No wonder Xie Xiyi's coordinates had vanished from the system panel. So he was no longer in the time and space where Xie Xiyi existed?

Chi Yu: "..."

He lost it! Aah!

Xie Xiyi wasn't looking at him, but a Golden Core cultivator's perception was extraordinary. Even without looking, his five senses could still "see" what Chi Yu was doing.

Bizarre behavior. He seemed not quite right in the head.

Xie Xiyi silently stood up and moved to another seat.

Chi Yu noticed and got up to sit beside him again. "Bro, I wanted to ask you something. Have there been any major events anywhere around Zizai Continent, before or after, up, down, or all around?"

He asked because the cultivation world wasn't fond of numbering years. Unlike his country, it didn't use precise dating methods such as such-and-such year BC, such-and-such year AD, or the seventy-fifth anniversary of the founding of the new nation. Instead, it dated things by major events. Even the gossip Ling Hezhou had shared used dates like five hundred years after the Buddha-son defected.

Xie Xiyi's golden eyes were like sharp swords as he glanced at him, carrying a faint warning. "Call me senior brother."

"Oh, right. Senior brother, may I ask whether you know of any major events that have happened around Zizai Continent?" Chi Yu readily corrected himself.

Xie Xiyi: "What would you consider a major event?"

Chi Yu thought for a moment, then said, "Something like the Future Buddha-son defecting."

Xie Xiyi: "The Future Buddha-son?"

Chi Yu racked his brains. He knew little about Zizai Continent beyond the gossip Ling Hezhou had told him. After thinking for a while, he finally remembered. "Something about the Future Buddha-son of the Anuttara Buddhist Sect defecting. Has anything like that happened?"

Xie Xiyi: "Hmm... perhaps it will someday."

Chi Yu: "Huh?"

Xie Xiyi's gaze settled on him. The young boy's eyes were clear, with a faint trace of innocent simplicity. The corners of Xie Xiyi's lips lifted slightly as he said, "If you mean me, perhaps it will someday."

Chi Yu: "Huh? What does it have to do with you?"

Xie Xiyi said, "I'm the Anuttara Buddhist Sect's designated Buddha-son."

Chi Yu: "..."

Chi Yu asked, "Does Anuttara have a lot of Buddha's Chosen?"

Xie Xiyi said, "The position has been vacant for five hundred years. I haven't taken it yet. Why?"

Chi Yu: "..."

Chi Yu: Huh???

Dumbstruck.jpg

Where the hell had this sent him!?

Author's note:

1: You say I'll defect? Good eye.

Little Fish: So you do have that idea?

1: Yes (rebellious streak.jpg

Chapter 23: Then do it for me

Chi Yu asked with difficulty, "You really are the designated Buddha-son?"

Xie Xiyi said nothing and merely smiled faintly. The answer went without saying.

Chi Yu: "..."

Since things had come to this, he might as well settle in and make the best of it.

Pull yourself together.jpg

Chi Yu occasionally felt anxious. After all, he was already in his final year of high school. If he spent a few hundred years in the cultivation world before going back, forgot most of what he had learned, and then flopped on the college entrance exam...

Anything but that!

Chi Yu, who usually slept very well, occasionally woke in a fright from nightmares in which his total college entrance exam score was only two or three hundred.

No, he couldn't think too hard about that. His head hurt whenever he did.

Chi Yu put the matter out of his mind and bounced back to full health.

Just as he opened his mouth to continue talking to this cultivator called Xuanji, a gentle force of spiritual energy lifted him to his feet, and Lecturer Hong's voice sounded beside his ear. "Young friend, if you have any insights, why not share them with everyone?"

Chi Yu: "..."

Oh no, I've been caught slacking off.

He swept his gaze around. There were only a dozen or so cultivators in the Dao Truth Class, mostly ranging from Qi Refining to Golden Core. Everyone looked at him calmly, without any malice.

Chi Yu therefore soon relaxed. Straightening his back, he put his mind to work and began making things up. "I believe that when examining something, we should look beyond appearances to see its essence. If we only look at the surface without seeing what lies within, we can easily fall into the predicament of letting a single leaf block our view of an entire mountain..."

He rattled on at length. "...The Dao De Jing says that being and nonbeing give rise to each other, and difficulty and ease complete each other. This means that opposing sides of a contradiction depend on each other, and we need to view things dialectically. The world isn't simply black or white; things exist in relation to each other. Sometimes, when we see someone do something bad, differing positions and interests may have produced opposing values and outlooks on life..."

"...As for Zen, I believe that studying it requires recognizing that the original mind neither arises nor ceases through conditions, and understanding this clearly at any time, within every thought, at every moment, whenever and wherever we are. All things and phenomena interpenetrate without obstruction. Because the true nature of things is real, all phenomena are real rather than illusory and present themselves as they are. Manifesting the Buddha-nature of suchness, with one's own mind presenting itself as it truly is, is reality. To have such an understanding is the nature of supreme enlightenment..."[1]

Chi Yu concluded, "Finally, I believe cultivation must begin with cultivating the mind. With no concerns weighing on the heart and no attachments binding the will, empty, tranquil, and utterly free of things, the heart unstartled by flowing water, the mind unhurried with the clouds[2]-only by truly achieving these things can one become a qualified enlightened person."

Having finished, Chi Yu stared at Lecturer Hong with clear eyes.

Lecturer Hong hadn't expected him to have so much to say. His expression shifted slightly, and only after a while did he say, "Good. Sit down."

Since everyone's reaction was subdued, Chi Yu didn't dare do anything either. In his own class, he would have applauded himself after answering a question.

But here...

A solemn occasion. No clowning around.jpg

Xie Xiyi gave him another look, a faint gleam appearing in his golden eyes.

Although Lecturer Hong had told him to sit down, he kept glancing his way, seemingly preoccupied for some reason. Just before class ended, Zen Master Hong finally couldn't hold back and asked him, "What scripture is this 'Dao De Jing' you mentioned?"

Chi Yu wanted to laugh but held it in. His grandmother was a Buddhist, and scriptures such as the Diamond Sutra and the Surangama Sutra played at home every day. He had heard them so often that he could recite them backward.

As for the Dao De Jing, he had simply read plenty of extracurricular books on a wide range of subjects, so he really did know quite a lot about this area.

"The Dao De Jing is a scripture from back home. Teacher, if you're interested, shall I copy it out for you?"

Lecturer Hong nodded slightly. "You may."

After class, a cultivator came over to strike up a conversation with Chi Yu. "What you said just now was excellent. Was it passed down in your family?"

Chi Yu answered, "You could say that."

Then he eagerly asked, "I heard that classes starting with 'Dao' hand out lots of cultivation resources. What exactly do they give out?"

Most cultivators who came to study on Zizai Continent were short of funds, and outstanding prodigies were few and far between. No one found anything wrong with Chi Yu's question, so they answered enthusiastically, "Cultivation supplies are distributed once a month. Usually, it's fifteen pieces of Mind-Clearing Enlightenment Tea, twenty middle-grade spirit stones, and one Dao Embryo."

That sounded pretty good. Converting just those middle-grade spirit stones into yuan came to two hundred thousand a month.

Zizai Continent really was rich!

Still, "What's a Dao Embryo?"

"It's mud from beneath where the former Buddha-son sat. It can also help with enlightenment. But apparently, that patch of ground has almost been dug right through. We're probably the last batch of disciples who'll get to use Dao Embryos."

At that, several gazes involuntarily turned toward Xie Xiyi.

Xie Xiyi stood up. Born into royalty, his bearing far surpassed that of the cultivators around him. He stood like a pine and moved like flowing clouds. Without so much as a glance at them, he left the meditation hall on his own.

After a few breaths of silence, someone said, "You know, this Senior Brother Xuanji has already been designated by the Buddhist sect above. He'll be the next Buddha-son."

Chi Yu humbly asked, "If he's the designated Buddha-son, why is he still studying here?"

"That's no secret. Although he's exceptionally gifted, Venerable Shangshan of the Anuttara Buddhist Sect said he has a rebellious streak, a demonic heart, and an Obsessive Heart. He can only enter the Buddhist sect once those three things have been worn away."

Got it. A student with lopsided grades.

Chi Yu remembered Ling Hezhou telling him that this Future Buddha-son had been recommended. If he didn't cultivate Buddhism, he would become a demon. Guiding him to Buddhahood would be an immense meritorious deed, great enough to allow a Zen master to attain enlightenment. In the end, that Zen master had lost his gamble. Not only had he failed, but he had also lost his cultivation and landed himself several hundred years in prison.

It seemed this one hadn't succeeded even in the end.