The Third Talent

The Gap-Toothed Old Man laughed. "The cultivation methods of Mìdì are countless, divided into many branches.

"This Anuttarayoga Tantra cultivates the fleshly body.

"What it cultivates is Buddhahood in this very body, transforming a mortal body into a Buddha's body... Those fellows in the Warrior Monk Academy practice this branch.

"Cultivate Anuttarayoga Tantra deeply enough, and you develop a Radiant Body: wearing a single layer in bitter winter, a body light as a feather, flesh that shines... all manner of supernatural powers...

"The method this boy comprehended from the Sunlight Yidam is quite good. Stretch your sinews and strengthen your bones with it from now on, building up your bodies. It will only benefit you, never harm you."

Buddhahood in this very body, transforming a mortal body into a Buddha's body, all manner of supernatural powers. Qu Zan's heart stirred at what he heard.

Compared with Doje's hearsay, this old man's account was much more detailed.

Qu Zan was somewhat curious about the old man's background. After all, the fellow clearly had not been present then, yet seemed to have noticed Doje's unusual state at the time.

Yet judging by his down-and-out appearance, he was no eminent monk of the monastery.

The Gap-Toothed Old Man looked at the two of them, then pointed at Doje. "You, boy, have a strong body and powerful desires. You could go to the Warrior Monk Academy in the future..."

Then he pointed at Qu Zan. "As for you, you think carefully and have a nimble mind. You'll go to the Sutra Academy and become a Scholar Monk."

"Me, a warrior monk?" Doje pointed at himself in disbelief.

While Qu Zan and Doje exchanged bewildered looks, the old man poured the dregs from all the wine flasks together.

Qu Zan was just about to ask him more.

He waved a hand and left the great hall.

Doje said, "Who exactly is that fellow? He seems so mysterious!"

"No idea!" Qu Zan shook his head.

Early the next morning, after breakfast, Qu Zan and Doje were assigned to sweep the courtyard.

With no one else around, Doje performed the Six Forms he had learned from the Thangka. The movements were very basic, but although he remembered them, his execution had clearly gone awry.

Qu Zan pointed out Doje's mistakes.

Doje said in surprise, "You saw them in there too! I thought I was uniquely gifted."

"Yes, if you saw them, of course I saw them too. You really are uniquely gifted!"

"My memory is a little better, so I remember more than you."

Doje laughed. "That's great! You remember more than I do, so whenever there's something I don't know, I can just ask you!"

[Sun Salutation Twelve Forms]

The Sunlight Yidam on that Thangka symbolized the sun. The twelve celestial maidens surrounding the Sunlight Yidam represented facing east at sunrise and paying homage to the great sun for bestowing life energy and dispelling the darkness of ignorance.

"First form: palms together. Second form: arms extended..."

There were twelve movements on the Thangka, which depicted only the movements, without even giving them names.

Qu Zan had come up with the names himself to make them easier to remember.

After completing the twelve forms, his body felt pleasantly warm, and he was full of energy.

Qu Zan practiced them once and felt warmth spreading throughout his body. Then Doje began practicing by copying Qu Zan's movements.

Once Doje began practicing, Qu Zan started sweeping.

They worked together to practice, taking turns doing the chores, which let them squeeze out some time.

Otherwise, if both of them focused solely on practicing and left all their work undone, they could just wait for the supervising monk's whip.

After Doje finished practicing according to Qu Zan's movements.

A notification appeared on Qu Zan's panel:

"Because you have bestowed benefit and joy upon living beings, proclaiming what you have learned to the world and turning delusion into understanding, you have comprehended the talent [Giving]."

[Giving: By giving to others, you gain their goodwill. Their harm and hostility toward you will be reduced.]

The third talent?

When this talent appeared, Qu Zan was astonished. Along with that came tremendous delight.

To think I'd unwittingly unlocked another talent.

And this talent's ability seems to have a pretty good effect.

Lately, Qu Zan had been cramming a great deal of Buddhist knowledge.

He knew that Buddhism recognized three kinds of giving: material giving, giving fearlessness, and giving the Dharma. All three were giving.

Material giving means giving money and goods to others. Giving fearlessness means offering comfort to others, while giving the Dharma means teaching others what you have learned.

I wonder if I can give to Vengeful Ghosts? A thought surfaced in Qu Zan's mind.

If he could give to Vengeful Ghosts, that could reduce their harm and hostility toward him.

When I really encounter a Vengeful Ghost, this will be an extremely useful talent.

Reducing harm and hostility seemed insignificant. But when an entire group encountered a Vengeful Ghost, reducing its hostility toward you just a little could turn danger into safety.

It was like the old fable: when a bear attacked, you did not need to outrun the bear, only your companions.

On the third day of practice, Qu Zan discovered that his body stat on the panel had increased by 0.2.

"This means it's working!" Qu Zan was delighted by what he saw. Having learned new knowledge, he had advanced his progress in Extensive Learning. The panel had also undergone new changes.

[Name: Qu Zan]

[Body: 2.4]

[Consciousness: 1.9]

[Available points: 1.5]

[Talents:

Extensive Learning lv2 progress 8%

Patience lv1 progress 56%

Giving lv1 progress 1%]

[Methods:

Lion's Roar Heart Mantra lv1 progress 5%

Sun Salutation lv1 progress 2%]

Now that I have these 1.5 available points, where would it be best to put them? Qu Zan considered.

With Sun Salutation, my body can improve slowly. Put them into consciousness? That would certainly give me an improvement. If I put them into a talent, could there be a different change?

Qu Zan still chose to take a more balanced approach and raise his weakest area.

Although [Giving] was effective, it was not that powerful. In any case, by giving more and helping others in the future, he could improve this talent.

He chose to increase the [Patience] talent. The benefits the [Extensive Learning] talent had brought him were too numerous to recount. Trying an upgrade to [Patience] should produce a different effect.

After confirming, he selected [Patience] for the increase.

Once the 1.5 points were added, [Patience]'s progress instantly filled up.

[Patience lv2]

Then a new notification appeared on the panel.

[Detected a shared cultivation attribute between the Patience talent and a method. At lv3, a new effect can evolve:

Patience · Unmoving Radiance: Through patience, remaining unmoving, you can end evil and cultivate goodness. With your feet upon the earth, bathed in light, you can heal injuries and expel possessing evil entities.]

It even has an effect like this! The Patience talent can intersect with other methods to develop branching abilities!

This unexpected gain filled him with delight.

It seems learning more methods really does bring untold benefits. There are even derivative methods!

But I'll have to wait until the Patience talent reaches lv3. It looks like that will still take some time. This talent can heal injuries. It looks very useful.

When trapped in hardship and calamity, as long as there was light, he could recover from his injuries. This was practically a life-saving move.

In Mìdì, where Vengeful Ghosts were everywhere, a talent and method like this would work wonders.