Judging a Gentleman by a Petty Man's Heart

"The mortal world is a sea of suffering, and all living beings are fish in its waters. The three poisons of greed, anger, and delusion in this sea of suffering inevitably poison their hearts. I have already guessed why Your Lordship came to Shaolin Temple. You not only wanted to defeat me and trample on the glory of the reincarnated Buddha's son to make a name for yourself, but you also dreamed of branding me a fraud. By claiming to help Shaolin Temple expose the deception, you hoped to earn the gratitude of its monks. Your plan truly would have killed two birds with one stone. Unfortunately, Your Lordship guessed wrong about one thing: I really am the Buddha reincarnated!"

As Mo Wenjian spoke, he claimed the Early Huajin Dao Fruit.

Surging Qi and Blood poured out of Mo Wenjian's body.

Mo Wenjian's strength continued to grow at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Early Ming Jin, Middle Ming Jin, Late Ming Jin, Ming Jin Perfection.

Early An Jin, Middle Stage of Dark Force, Late An Jin, An Jin Perfection.

Only when it reached Early Huajin did it finally stop.

The Shaolin monks and the Manchu Qing generals were all martial artists.

They clearly saw the changes in Mo Wenjian's strength, and every one of them was utterly shocked.

Martial training was a gradual process, an iron rule acknowledged by all.

Yet Mo Wenjian's display had gone far beyond anything they could imagine.

"Greetings, Buddha's son!"

The generals accompanying the beile all fell to their knees as one.

It was no secret that the Great Qing Dynasty revered Buddhism.

The honorific for the Great Qing Dynasty's empress dowager was "Old Buddha," and that was the best proof.

With Mo Wenjian's identity as the Buddha reincarnated confirmed, the generals could no longer harbor the slightest thought of offending him.

When the beile saw this, he was so furious that he coughed up blood and fainted.

He had originally intended to trample on Mo Wenjian's reputation to build his own prestige.

Instead, things had turned out exactly the opposite. The beile had sacrificed his own prestige and given Mo Wenjian an opportunity to cement his identity as the Buddha reincarnated.

Mo Wenjian could not help smiling.

In his previous life, when Mo Wenjian read webnovels, he had found the trope of showing off and slapping faces terribly tacky.

But only when he showed off and slapped faces himself did Mo Wenjian understand how good it felt.

Had he not been mindful of his image as the Buddha's son, Mo Wenjian would surely have thrown back his head and laughed by now.

"Those who have left the secular world do not tell lies. This is the most basic precept of Buddhism. Why must you judge a gentleman's heart by the measure of a petty man's?"

As soon as Mo Wenjian finished speaking, he turned and left.

Show off and run, leaving the rest to the imagination.

The feeling was simply wonderful.

After returning to his meditation room, Mo Wenjian began familiarizing himself with his greatly increased strength.

As the ancients said, knowledge gained from paper always feels shallow; to truly understand something, one must experience it firsthand.

Mo Wenjian had to admit that the wisdom of the ancestors was boundless.

Although his knowledge of national martial arts theory had reached the pinnacle and described martial cultivation in great detail,

only now that he had gained Early Huajin strength did Mo Wenjian finally have firsthand experience of it.

The flaw of the Ming Jin realm lay in its being overt.

Every move and every stance was bound by the laws of human movement, holding no secrets at all in the eyes of a master.

The moment your shoulder moved, a master would guess the angle of your punch. The moment you twisted your waist and legs, a master would guess where your foot would land.

Training at the Ming Jin stage came down to one thing: brute force.

There was no need to think about flashy routines. A master's eyes would see through them anyway, so it was enough to focus purely on overwhelming power.

The advantage of the An Jin realm lay in its being hidden.

Mo Wenjian was almost certain that Bruce Lee had been a legendary martial genius who shook heaven and made ghosts weep. In an earthly environment unsuited to cultivation, he had nevertheless reached the An Jin realm through talent beyond that of ordinary people.

People often said that a fist had to be drawn back before it could strike again with full force.

But at the An Jin realm, one could unleash full force within inches, having largely escaped the constraints of the laws of human movement.

Training at the An Jin realm was about catching the enemy off guard.

Every move and every stance could change in countless ways, shifting at any moment according to the circumstances of battle and leaving the enemy caught unawares and unable to defend.

The key to the Transforming Jin realm lay in transformation.

If you threw a punch at me, I could dissipate nine-tenths of its force and suffer only one-tenth of the damage.

If I threw a punch at you, I could first dissolve nine-tenths of your defenses, then kill you with a single blow.

Those at the Transforming Jin realm had little to fear from being surrounded. Even encircled by thousands of soldiers and horses, they could carve a bloody path out.

Ordinary arrows could only inflict superficial wounds, and primitive flintlock guns could not penetrate their muscles, bones, skin, and membranes.

Only siege crossbows with enhanced power and the cannons used to besiege cities and conquer territory could inflict fatal wounds.

As Mo Wenjian adjusted to his greatly increased strength, midnight arrived before he knew it: 00:00:00.

The cooldown had reset, and Mo Wenjian opened the All-Heavens Dao Fruit Simulator without a second thought.

[Age 16: The Emperor Jiaqing hears of your deeds and invites you to the capital to serve as imperial preceptor. You give the Emperor Jiaqing a copy of the Diamond Sutra, stating that you will devote this life to meditating on Zen and comprehending the Dao and do not wish to involve yourself in the mortal world. The Emperor Jiaqing believes your mastery of Buddhist teachings is profound and gifts you an imperial plaque!]

[Age 18: You feel the importance of aptitude more and more keenly and cannot help recalling the Muscle Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing Yoga you once missed. Thus, you once again begin studying the mystery of combining the three into one!]

[Age 20: You discover the connection between the Muscle-Tendon Changing Classic and the Marrow Cleansing Classic. The two supreme arts complement each other's strengths!]

[Age 22: You discover three combinations: the Muscle-Tendon Changing Classic + the Marrow Cleansing Classic, the Muscle-Tendon Changing Classic + yoga, and the Marrow Cleansing Classic + yoga. You attempt to combine all three!]

[Age 24: You begin studying High Antiquity daoyin techniques. You are only one step away from combining the three into one!]

[Age 26: You gather information on every expert throughout history who reached Shatter the Void and See the Indestructible Spirit. You discover that all these experts were super geniuses who created their own cultivation methods and excelled at preserving their health. You increasingly understand what it means for the method that suits you best to be the best one!]

[Age 28: You finally combine the three into the Muscle Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing Yoga and successfully break through to Middle Huajin!]

[Age 30: You discover that the Muscle Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing Yoga is only a patchwork monster. In essence, it is not a cultivation method you created yourself, and its compatibility with you can never reach one hundred percent. You begin to think of creating your own cultivation method!]

[Age 36: You discover that your Qi and Blood are declining very slowly. You know this is an effect of the Muscle Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing Yoga!]

[Age 38: You suddenly realize that your strength is too low and that you should not aim so high. You should start from zero and create a basic cultivation method!]

[Age 40: The First Opium War breaks out. The Great Qing Dynasty dispatches three Gang Force national martial arts grandmasters, who easily drive back Britain's ocean-going fleet!]

[Age 42: Progress on your self-created cultivation method is extremely slow, and you begin to think about your knowledge of Earth's martial arts. Earth's martial arts are divided into three levels: the performance method is purely the performance of flashy movements, the training method is purely the improvement of physical fitness, and the fighting method is purely the pursuit of technique. You gain some insight!]

[Age 48: From countless moves, you select thirty-six movements suited to your own circumstances and develop them into a basic fist art that flows like clouds and water. The moment you create the fist art, you break through to Late Huajin!]

[Age 51: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom rises in rebellion. Thirteen Gang Force national martial arts grandmasters loyal to the Manchu Qing court and eight Gang Force national martial arts grandmasters hostile to the Manchu Qing erupt into an earth-shaking battle. Because both sides have reservations, they ultimately choose to stop fighting and make peace!]

[Age 56: The Second Opium War breaks out. The Great Qing Dynasty dispatches six Gang Force national martial arts grandmasters, who easily drive back the ocean-going fleet of the British and French allied forces!]

[Age 58: Your basic fist art achieves a major breakthrough, advancing from the performance method to the training method and from a basic fist art to a Ming Jin fist art. You decide to name this fist art the Heavenly Gang Thirty-Six Fists!]