Like a lotus in bloom

A qualified monk of the Sixth Stage of the Gradual Path underwent a complete set of changes, the most basic of which began with his outward appearance.

This was something others could tell at first glance.

Ordination in the Secret Dharma Region did not involve burning scars into the scalp.

But the clothes they wore, the ritual implements they held, the retainers at their side, the estates, servants, slaves, and so on that they could obtain.

The privileges they could enjoy.

All bore clear distinctions.

A monk who had reached the Sixth Stage of the Gradual Path, mastered the Immovable Mind, and could chant mantras and bestow empowerments on others could be called a high monk. From this level onward, he could accept offerings.

This alone could free them from the predicament of dying of poverty because they were too poor.

There were poor monks too, but under ordinary circumstances, dying of poverty was relatively rare.

A Sutra Student Monk's clothing consisted of a sleeveless vest and a pale yellow robe, and he had only one robe for years. He could not wear a red monastic robe over it. He could add an outer garment, but its color could not be confused with those of the other high monks, so yellow was usually chosen.

But every article of clothing besides the vest and yellow robe cost extra money.

Many poor Sutra Student Monks could not afford that expense.

They could only wash and starch their robes when they went to sleep, hoping they would be dry by morning so that wearing them would not bring on a "sweating sickness."

There was nothing to be done.

Free clothing was already the greatest blessing. Even if they received a little money in alms by doing odd jobs in the temple or going out to work for noble lords, against certain major expenses, that money felt like a cup of water thrown onto a cartload of burning firewood.

Sutra Student Monks had many occasions that required "alms" and "offerings," especially when studying. Their scripture teachers taught only the most basic things, mostly reciting straight from the texts. To obtain a better education, they had to make "offerings," spending heavily to invite "teachers" to give lessons.

Not to mention their other needs for clothing, food, shelter, and travel. Many things cost money.

Sutra Student Monks from small temples, like Lu Feng.

Were still not the most pitiful.

After all, they still had their small temples, which could offer some help from time to time-even though that little help had vanished halfway through. Once a Malevolent Ghost occupied the temple, Lu Feng had become just like those Sutra Student Monks born as slaves, with no one to turn to, forced to rely entirely on the labor of his own hands.

So when many Sutra Student Monks walked past people in fraying, patched, tattered clothing, or even without boots.

Those people knew that they must have come from poor backgrounds, had no backing, and might not amount to much. Naturally, they looked down on them and kept their distance. Worse still, some older Student Monks deliberately bullied them.

These people had gained no Compassionate Mind from chanting the Buddha's name. After ten or twenty years without passing the scripture debates, they had long since abandoned any thought of becoming a "Kalyāṇamitra of the Sixth-Stage Order" and had long since made other plans.

Lu Feng did not like them, but neither did he detest them intensely. Having seen so much of it, he pressed many emotions down into his heart, waiting for the day he could dissolve them with great wisdom.

During his studies, Lu Feng had even seen a Sutra Student Monk whose toes had frozen and died because he could not afford boots, leaving him no choice but to chop them off himself.

He had fallen ill afterward and died of that illness.

Because he was sick, the others who "shared his lodgings" would not even let him into the monks' quarters. He had huddled outside, and in the end, whether from cold, hunger, or an actual infection of his wounds, he had died.

Lu Feng had not been there long at the time. Grieving for one of his own kind, he had even recited scriptures for the dead on his behalf.

The Duoduo Monksoldiers had thought Lu Feng was in the way and pushed him aside.

Later, after seeing more of it, Lu Feng would still recite scriptures for them and pray that they would have a better next life, but he could no longer spare the grief. If he did not work hard, the person dying by the roadside might be him.

So now, Lu Feng could walk along the road without being pushed aside by the Duoduo Monksoldiers.

He could wear red monastic robes, carry ritual implements, take attendant monks to accompany him at all times, and become a monastic official—to become a monastic official, one had to be a monk of the Sixth-Stage Order. He could also study the Yidam Practice, rising from a tiny ant at the very bottom to a tiny flying ant that could take to the air.

It was just that this ordination, registration, and comprehension of the Immovable Mind had all been far too rushed. So rushed that Lu Feng had been driven here before he could even collect his new monastic robes, ritual implements, boots, prayer beads, and other things from the storehouse administration.

More importantly, he still had to perform a "Great Offering," giving a bowl of porridge and some money to every Lama in the Great Sutra Hall and every monk outside before he could reach the point of comprehending the Immovable Mind.

In other words, the normal procedure should have been to finish the scripture debate, perform the "Great Offering," undergo ordination and registration, then master the Immovable Mind and choose an Abhisheka Lama to bestow empowerment. But Lu Feng's sequence was clearly different.

It was entirely for the sake of completing every procedure in the shortest possible time.

At this thought, Lu Feng looked around the hall, then walked inside.

The hall was not large, but it was very, very old. Traces of time covered everything, yet judging by the dust, someone cleaned this place regularly.

Everywhere was very clean.

As for the murals here, they were the murals all around him. Three walls, three murals. Lu Feng looked around for a while, and only after making certain that no one was nearby did he examine them.

By now, the sky had grown somewhat dark.

That Great Sun was gradually sinking, descending onto the snowy mountains yet casting a golden afterglow. Lu Feng took a fire striker from inside his robe, blew on it, and lit a nearby candlestick. This candlestick could more or less count as a treasure, an antique.

It was a strange beast with a bird's body and a human face. Lu Feng did not recognize what it was. He placed it beside him, carefully shielded it, and began examining the murals around him.

The Great Sun Tathagata sat upright in the void, but this was not a mandala, nor the wisdom dharmakaya, nor the principle dharmakaya. Beneath the void lay a vast ocean.

He was supposed to perceive the "Immovable Mind" just by looking at this mural?

Where lay the hidden mystery?

Lu Feng did not know, but only now did he have time to take out the Ancient Scroll he kept close to his body and open it.

Within that image.

There seemed to be a hand up ahead, eager to try, wanting to reach out of the Ancient Scroll and seize the living creatures outside, dragging them to its side!

Lu Feng saw the image on the Ancient Scroll.

He truly had not expected this thing to appear suddenly in the image. He had never visited the rear mountain, but he recognized this place-the Endless White Pagoda Temple was called the Endless White Pagoda Temple precisely because this pagoda burial ground had been painted white, hence the name Endless White Pagodas.

But now.

The pagoda burial platform of the Endless White Pagoda Temple was actually filled with Malevolent Ghosts?

Was he supposed to survive this or not?