Chapter 41: CH 40

This was the first time He Ku visited the dungeons. As a demonic sect, there was no way that the Palace of Bliss was clean. He looked at the torture equipment hung on the walls and the bones in the cells and knew that countless terrible things must have happened here. It was no wonder he felt the atmosphere of this place so eerie when he first entered.

When He Ku was first created, He Huan had already been enlightened from his heavenly tribulation, so he never saw how He Huan was when he first fell into the demonic faction. That was until he inherited all of He Huan’s memories, every single one of his battles contained endless amounts of plotting and violence. He now knew why He Huan could no longer trust anyone but himself.

The Palace of Bliss’ dungeons was constructed very large, He Ku had to walk for a while before arriving at the deepest water prison. Amidst the green-tinted poisonous water, there was only a small platform that could be stood on. At this moment, a monk in a plain robe sat there in the lotus position, he had a youthful countenance, and other than his bald head being a bit of a surprise to He Ku, there was nothing particularly special about him.

The monk’s eyes remained closed, so He Ku could only take the initiative to ask him, “So, you are ‘Miracle Hand’ Kong Kong?”

“Not necessarily.”

When the man opened his mouth, He Ku immediately knew the situation would go bad. It was just two words, but these two words shook his spirit as if someone had struck the bell on a mountain top. He had only seen people with such cultivation in He Huan’s memory, and that was the late-stage Calamity Crossing stage cultivator, Qing XuZi. Sure enough, the monk slowly opened his eyes, smiled kindly at him, put his palms together, and said, “This poor monk is Kongkong, Dharma name Kasyapa Bodhi1I don’t know if this is accurate, in chinese it says jia ye pu ti.”

You Jiang, who the hell did you capture!? Just hearing this monk’s name, you can tell this isn’t someone you shouldn’t mess with, ok?

There are a total of three cultivators at the Calamity Crossing stage in the Jianghu and He Ku was fairly familiar with two of them. Now, looking at this monk’s aura, he can see that his cultivation level was on another level. He Ku couldn’t help but guess, “Does this master come from the Grand Western LeiYin Temple?”

“Deceived by Buddha’s mistaken love, I temporarily served as a presiding officer.”

When the monk replied, his face was still peaceful and his eyes were kind, fully embodying the charitable temperament of a monk, but He Ku was surprised. If the Head of the Xuanmen Righteous Sect is the pinnacle of cultivators of the Dao, then the Grand Monk of the Grand Wester LeiYing Temple is the pinnacle of Buddhist cultivation. And since ancient times, the concepts of Buddhism and Daoism have been different. After the first Xuanmen Sect Leader scattered daoist cultivation techniques to the world, daoism naturally became the mainstream cultivation practice in the world. Because of this, the Grand Western LeiYin Temple has seldom appeared in the world for centuries, leading many people to doubt whether this temple even exists. Who would have known that today, he would meet this Grand Monk, who was as famous as Qing XuZi, in the dungeon of the Palace of Bliss.

A monk at the Calamity Crossing Stage… there was no way he could have been caught by You Jiang. Kasyapa Bodhi actually stayed here for more than a month, clearly, he must have his reasons, and the only thing the Palace of Bliss had that related to Buddhism is He Huan’s cultivation technique, the Technique of Bliss. It was likely…

Thinking up to here, He Ku only asked, “What has brought this master to this place?”

Sure enough, the grand monk raised a palm after hearing this and smiled. “He Huan’s Technique of Bliss comes from this poor monk’s temple, so naturally, this poor monk ought to receive him and leave for the Western Paradise2Sukhavati is a pure land in Mahayana Buddhism, associated with the Buddha Amitābha. It is commonly called the Western Pure Land or the Western Paradise, and is the most well-known of Buddhist pure lands, due to the popularity of Pure Land Buddhism in East Asia..”

This was basically, after corrupting someone’s technique, the rightful owner has come knocking on their door! But listening more closely to the meaning of what he said, this grand monk actually wanted to accept He Huan into the temple?

The Technique of Bliss was originally a Buddhist technique, and even though much of it had been altered by demonic cultivators, it was still someone else’s technique. If Kasyapa Bodhi says that He Huan inherited from him, it wouldn’t be an unreasonable claim.

Just thinking how the moment He Huan came to this world he immediately met the most powerful Daoist cultivator, Qing XuZi, and got accepted as his disciple, and now, there was a monk at the same level who came to receive him. The world’s two most powerful people were fighting to become his shifu, this kind of luck really was at a protagonist’s level. However, as the other He Huan in the world, He Ku didn’t want to shave his head and live an enlightened life. He believed that He Huan also wasn’t interested.

And so, since the people of the world see him and He Huan as one person, then he would gracefully decline on his behalf. “Thank you, master, for your kind intentions, however, I’ve already accepted the Heavenly Dao’s inheritance and have no intentions to pursue the Buddhist path.”

He didn’t expect that this grand monk saw through his and He Huan’s relationship and said, “Although benefactor’s dao heart is quite different from others’, in the end, you are still a daoist cultivator. Naturally, you cannot also enter into the Buddhist school of cultivation. The only one this poor monk came for is He Huan.”

The Soul Splitting Technique is the secret technique of the spirit clan. It is extremely mysterious when it is used, to the point where even Qing XuZi had been deceived. So why was this grand monk so sure that they are different? He suddenly remembered that the debut of the ‘Miracle Hand’ was in the Palace of Bliss. And no matter how blind You Jiang was, it was impossible for him to not see this person’s bald head. If that thief really was the monk in front of him, wouldn’t he have been secretly beside He Huan since long ago and had observed him for many years? If he had personally witnessed He Huan’s tribulation then the Soul Splitting Technique really wouldn’t be able to trick him.

The fact that this grand monk stayed in the Palace of Bliss must be because he found He Huan very satisfactory while observing him. While He Ku knew in his heart that rejecting the monk might not do anything, he could only try his last struggles. “But he’s a demonic cultivator…”

And sure enough, the smile on the grand monk’s face deepened some more, he said, “His body was in hell, but his heart was like a bodhi. With his own sufferings, he brought joy to countless lives. A cause for celebration.”

Seeing him unmoved, there was nothing He Ku could do. He could only divert the topic and asked, “Excuse me, master, but what must I do to rescue He Huan from the Xuanmen Righteous Sect?”

Fine, thinking optimistically, this grand monk wanted to help He Huan in becoming a Buddha, so naturally he wouldn’t let him die in Xuanmen. At the very least, he wouldn’t have to worry about not being able to get He Huan out. As for whether he wanted to become a monk, He Ku could only hope that He Huan’s desire in lust and sex was enough to refuse purifying the six senses. If worse comes to worst, he can just do as Bai Chen said and kiss him in front of this monk!

Yet, He Ku still underestimated the degree of euphemism Buddhists use in their speech. These monks just love using allegories and letting others find their own conclusions from them. Right now it was no different, towards his question, the grand monk just slightly smiled and replied, “A single flower contains an entire world, and a floating life in a tree. To find heaven in a blade of grass, and Buddha in a single leaf. To bear bliss from a grain of sand, every square a purified land, and calmness from any thought3I don’t know if this is entirely correct, I searched online and this is the understanding I got from it. But apparently, this is from the Avatamsaka Sutra, so if anyone happens to know, feel free to correct me or say something in the comments..”

The top Buddhist cultivators can calm the minds of others by using only a few words, and right now, He Ku’s mind really did feel much clearer and freed from distracting thought. However, this did not affect the fact that he understood none of what the monk had said. Thus, he wore a bitter face and could only ask again, “Master, since you want to accept He Huan as your disciple, can we first go rescue him then discuss Buddhism?”

But the grand monk was still not moved. Rather his smile became more gratified. “When the heart is bound, then even if you roam throughout the heavens and earth, you are still bound. When the heart is free, then regardless of the number of chains and locks around your body, you are still free. My disciple’s heart has long been detached, so what need is there for this poor monk to act?”

Clearly realizing that the idealistic cultivation thinking of Buddhism was completely incomprehensible to himself. This was the first time He Ku truly understood the straightforwardness of the Divine Sword Intent, which, once established, will improve as long as he continues to practice and diligently cultivate. He vowed to seriously practice the sword after this was over!

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He Ku knew that if he discussed philosophy, Buddhism, and whatnot with this monk, he’d end up vomiting blood from getting his mind tangled into knots. He could only continue his straightforward and direct approach. “In any case, since you are here to accept him as a disciple, you should meet with his previous Shifu and let him know. One’s affiliation can’t just be changed willy nilly.”

“As it should be.”

Fortunately, this grand monk didn’t completely disregard the affairs of this world. At least towards this point, he agreed to it. The monk put his palms together and recited his buddhist alias before smiling and saying, “This poor monk will go and pay Sect Leader Qing XuZi a visit. As for whether you can grab onto this opportunity, that will be up to you. Remember, do not forget your original purpose as you walk within the world.”

The Buddhist alias of the Grand Western Leiyin Temple’s grand monk was deafening. He Ku only felt a thunderous sound in his spiritual consciousness, and when he regained his focus, the grand monk had disappeared from in front of him, leaving only a pond of white lotuses floating in the clear water. Under the water, there were still poisonous undercurrents and white bones, but the surface of the water was full of lotus flowers in full bloom, exactly what the grand monk had said about He Huan—body in hell, but heart like a bodhi.

He Ku didn’t expect that there was such an opportunity in this dungeon. In his daze, he saw Yun Ce and QianRen both had a face of confusion as they walked over. “What happened? Little Palace Master, how come you suddenly disappeared just now?”

It was also at this time that He Ku felt fearful. He was lucky that this grand monk had a good opinion of He Huan, if it was one of those whose only purpose was to vanquish demons, then he was afraid that today he would have been done for. However, he didn’t say any of that and only complained, “The person that You Jiang caught was the Grand Western Leiyin Temple’s head monk!”

Even spirit cultivators knew the name of the Grand Western Leiyin Temple and Yun Ce’s eyes immediately widened into saucers. “The Second Enforcer is actually this powerful?”

QianRen knew You Jiang’s abilities the best, so naturally he didn’t believe that he could subdue a Calamity Crossing Stage monk. He just asked, “What did that monk say to you?”

With his question, He Ku began to think again. Although these monks like to be all mysterious when they speak, there were also useful things within what he said and the way to resolve his current predicament was definitely contained within those words.

He Ku’s personality was straightforward and blunt, he doesn’t like Buddhism’s roundabout way of talking. Even now that he was carefully thinking over what the monk had said, he still couldn’t make any heads or tails of it. In his confusion, he suddenly remembered his old test teacher’s classical analysis. “One flower, one world; one leaf, one Bodhi… this sentence tells us that we must be able to see the great within the small and that all things begin in the details.”

Details? Right, the grand monk kept staring at him as he said this, and the place he was looking at was…

Following his memory, He Ku lowered his head and was met with the cloud patterned CaiYun Sword on his waist.

Then he continued to think, originally he wanted to go to QingYun Hall to check on how He Huan’s two precious cabinets were doing, but he had forgotten after meeting with QianRen. The grand monk said not to forget his original purpose, perhaps…

He vaguely had an understanding and didn’t hesitate any longer. He stood up and flew directly towards QingYun Hall.

What He Huan said at the beginning was right. Xuanmen disciples have always been pure-hearted, and naturally did not dare to look closely at He Huan’s collections. He Ku flipped open every book to check, before finally feeling something unusual in the bottom corner of the cabinet. Picking it up, he found that it was the mutton fat jade that he had found that day along with the CaiYun Sword.

The second he grasped the jade in his palm, He Ku knew. What Qing XuZi said was right, in all things you do, there is no need to hurry to fight to the death, as long as you work on it meticulously and with care, you will be able to push open the clouds to see the moon. This time, He Huan could be saved.

Seeing him rush to QingYun Hall without saying a word to them, Yun Ce and QianRen both thought something had happened and quickly followed. Now, seeing his excited expression as he held the jade, Yun Ce couldn’t help but ask, “Little Palace Master, what’s with this jade?”

“This is the QianTian Temple Master’s jade pass.”

Every Xuanmen successor would receive the QianTian Temple’s Temple Master position. The QianTian Temple was responsible for Xuanmen’s defensive arrangement, so naturally it also had methods to control the necessary arrays. This QianTian jade pass that only the Temple Master could possess was one of those methods. This jade has a built-in spell from the Divine Sword Intent, which can only be activated by the Xuanmen successor; in the hands of others, it is just an ordinary piece of jade.

That year when Bu QingYun was expelled from the sect, he also brought away the jade that was on his body. After He Huan joined the demonic faction, he never used a sword again, even when he was teaching He Ku he would only describe the Heavenly Dao Sword Technique, rarely would he actually use the jade. When He Ku memorized all of the techniques, this piece of jade was also just offhandedly thrown into the cabinet. And it was also because it was hidden within a pile of porn, that it hadn’t been recovered by the Xuanmen disciples.

As long as he could successfully enter the Fallen Immortal Lake and absorb He Huan back into his body, then if the strongest demonic cultivator and a Nascent Soul Stage Bu QingYun worked together, then they shouldn’t have any problem escaping from Xuanmen. He Ku believed that none of this was a coincidence, everything has its providence. Since the Heavenly Dao believed that He Huan’s life should not end, then naturally he cannot die.

Eighty years later, the former Bu Qingyun, now the current He Ku, hangs the Qiantian jade on his waist once again. He walked out of the Qingyun Palace with his head held high and said, “Mingmen Righteous Sect disciples, listen up! Head immediately to Yuncheng. We are going to bring our Palace Master home! ”

End of Chapter 40

THISBRO: Super sorry for not updating! I’m almost in finals season so a lot of projects, papers, and exams are all coming up. Had to do hella research for this chapter, so even I’m not sure if I got everything (feel free to correct me if you see anything wrong or even just typos). I had half of this chapter already translated and just sitting in my drive for the longest time, so I found some time today (3am ;-;) to finish the rest. I’ll be extremely busy the coming few weeks!

I don’t know if this is accurate, in chinese it says jia ye pu ti

Sukhavati is a pure land in Mahayana Buddhism, associated with the Buddha Amitābha. It is commonly called the Western Pure Land or the Western Paradise, and is the most well-known of Buddhist pure lands, due to the popularity of Pure Land Buddhism in East Asia.

I don’t know if this is entirely correct, I searched online and this is the understanding I got from it. But apparently, this is from the Avatamsaka Sutra, so if anyone happens to know, feel free to correct me or say something in the comments.

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