Chapter 31: Teasing Kumājīva and Asking for Recommendations

  Just by looking at this step, Chen Xiao was shocked and secretly thought: "No wonder the Sunflower God Technique makes people want to practice it as soon as they see it. The first step is to squeeze all the internal energy in the dantian into the Tinggong hole, and then after the internal energy is reborn, squeeze the Tinggong hole into the temple hole behind it. This is just the first stage of the starting segment, and once mastered, it's equivalent to a nineteen-fold increase in human internal energy. Although the actual data may not be so exaggerated, at least a three-to-five fold increase is definitely possible."

  He first saw this "Sunflower Manual", but roughly flipped through it. Now, truly reading it carefully, he felt the scariness of the Sunflower Manual even more.

  However, he himself had no internal strength at all, and it was absolutely impossible to practice the Kuihua Divine Art. At this time, looking at this divine art manual was similar to reading a textbook when studying.

  Just as he was about to turn back, Ji Mo Zhi walked back with a wild rabbit in his hand. Seeing Chen Xiao reading a book, he felt quite puzzled. When he saw the title of the book, his heart skipped a beat and he immediately said: "What book are you reading? Let me take a look, may I?"

  Hehe, I've been waiting for you to say that!

  Chen Xiao didn't say a word and handed over the "Kui Hua Bao Dian" in his hand, smiling: "Since Guoshi wants to see it, can I not lend it? Want to see it? Take it away, remember to return it after you finish reading."

  Just you wait and see, when you become a eunuch, don't forget to thank me, hehe.

  Chen Xiao secretly smiled and said, "Wait until you cut off your little finger. At that time, with your internal strength, it won't take much. Just the first step of forcing all your internal energy into Tinggong Daxue will make you go crazy!"

  He was secretly pleased with himself, but unexpectedly, Ji Dian only looked at the first page and then handed the "Kui Hua Bao Dian" back to Chen Xiao, saying: "It turns out that this is the 'Kui Hua Bao Dian' of Dong Fang Shu Zhu. Although it's a good thing, I don't want to cultivate it, so I'll return it to you, young master."

  What the...! What's going on here?!

  Chen Xiao carefully asked, "Doesn't Guoshi have any interest in the Huixiang Treasure? Doesn't he want to learn it?"

  But all he saw was Ji Dian's palms joined together, a smile on his face, as he slowly said: "Martial arts may be formidable, but the body and skin are gifts from one's parents, I absolutely dare not lightly harm myself."

  He was also quite curious about the "Hua Hua Bao Dian", but after flipping through it briefly, he was scared off by the sentence on the first page: "To practice divine power, one must first castrate oneself". Although he may not use this skill in his lifetime, just cutting it off like that is a bit unbearable. Moreover, even if he really practiced it, at most he would become like Dongfang Bubai - from the few glimpses he had seen earlier, he could already confirm that the path of the "Hua Hua Bao Dian" was too conflicting with his own fire-attribute swordsmanship.

  Thinking of Kumarajiva's extraordinary skills, he wanted to force all his internal energy into one meridian, which was impossible without going crazy.

  After some thought, the intangible sword energy of Liu Mai Shen Jian's inner skill is more suitable for oneself. If one forcibly takes the Huai Hua Bao Dian, it will lead to Chen Xiao's resistance and failure to obtain the true Liu Mai Shen Jian, which would be a loss.

  Jiumo Zhi then returned the "Kuihua Baodian" without saying a word, his purpose was just to win Chen Xiao's favor.

  Anyway, with one's own martial arts skills, when Chen Xiao wrote out the sword manual of "Six Pulses Divine Sword", wouldn't this "Sunflower Treasure" be easily obtained?

  Jiumozhi's mind was racing with thoughts, but Chen Xiao didn't understand and was left speechless by his words.

  "Could it be... just because of this?"

  "Guo Shi, why did you shave your head?" Chen Xiao asked curiously.

  "Cutting off one's hair is because a young monk wholeheartedly follows the Buddha, and self-mutilation of the body are two different things, they cannot be mentioned in the same breath."

  Although Ji Mo didn't plan on practicing the Peony Goddess Technique, at least he had spoken up.

  Little guy, with such a good opportunity, I won't tease you properly, how can this tone come out? Chen Xiao put away the "Kuihua Baodian" and asked with a smile: "Guoshi, little one has something about Buddhism that he hasn't been able to figure out, please teach me."

  If Chen Xiao said something else, Ji Mo Zhi could answer or not, but since it was about Buddhist teachings, he couldn't avoid it and immediately said: "Oh? I didn't expect the young donor to have such a heart. What questions do you have? Please speak. The little monk will certainly tell all that he knows."

  I knew he would say that.

  This guy is a complete hypocrite, wanting to be a bandit while still wearing the mask of a gentleman. It's like he wants to be a prostitute and put up a signboard at the same time.

  Chen Xiao smiled and asked: "In your opinion as a national teacher, what is this Buddha?"

  How could such a question stump Kumārajīva? Kumārajīva joined his palms together and steadily said: "Buddha, means 'the awakened one', 'the knowing one', 'awakening'. Awakening has three meanings: self-awakening, awakening of sentient beings, and perfecting the practice of awakening. This is the highest fruit of Buddhist cultivation. Ordinary people lack these three items, ?rāvakas and Pratyekabuddhas lack the last two items, Bodhisattvas lack the last item, only Buddhas have all three items complete. The 'Buddha' referred to in Hinayana teachings generally refers to a respectful title for Siddhartha Gautama. Mahayana not only refers to Siddhartha Gautama but also broadly refers to all those who have perfected their awakening practice. Is the young monk's answer correct or not?"

  "This is fine, but since Chen Xiao wants to tease him, he can't just ask such a simple question. Smiling, he asks: 'Then why does the monk want to shave his head? The national teacher also said that the body and skin are given by one's parents, right?'"

  "Buddha is the mind, emptiness is also the mind, the true nature of the mind is also the mind. It is the fundamental substance that awakens all things, the source of all phenomena. Without extremes, without characteristics, without forms, without birth and death, this is called Buddha-nature, Dharma-body, Suchness, Mani-jewel, Tathagata-garbha. This Buddha-body is not a physical body, not a conditioned body, not a body with outflows."

  "The Buddha said in the Surangama Sutra: The Tathagata's true and wondrous nature of the storehouse consciousness is bright and clear, and its true mind is not born from causes and conditions, nor is it a natural phenomenon. It has no birth, therefore it does not perish. I am not empty or non-existent. This mind is not something that can be obtained; there is nowhere to obtain it from, so it is not lost. It originally exists as it is. What exists should exist, what does not exist should not exist. What initially exists will always exist, what initially does not exist will never exist. The arising of existence from non-existence and the perishing of existence into non-existence are all just false conceptions, and are the laws of movement and stillness."

  He answered in detail, but Chen Xiao listened to it vaguely and didn't understand what he meant. However, she couldn't say that out loud, so she asked again: "Why do monks shave their heads? The national teacher hasn't said yet."

  "The world is originally an illusion, and human life is also suffering. Only by cutting off all troubles and cultivating Buddhahood can one attain eternal happiness. When the Buddha Sakyamuni first preached to Kasyapa and the other five people, he personally shaved their heads, indicating that he accepted them as his own disciples."

  "The shaving of a monk's head represents the removal of troubles and bad habits, the elimination of pride and laziness, and the letting go of all attachments. One's heart is focused solely on cultivation. What does the young donor think about this?"

  Chen Xiao nodded secretly, this Qiu Mo Zhi's stele was indeed grand and powerful enough, no wonder he could become the national teacher. He then asked: "What are the precepts of Buddhist disciples?"

  It's even simpler, it's just a matter of opening one's mouth, and Julumo Zhi replied: "Do not kill, do not steal, do not commit adultery, do not lie, and do not drink."

  Chen Xiao asked again: "As for this precept of not killing living beings, does the National Master plan to abolish it?"

  Jiumo Zhi smiled and replied: "As long as the young master writes down the diagram of the Six Pulses Divine Sword, I naturally won't take life."

  Chen Xiao asked again: "Not stealing, the national teacher did not steal, but he caught a little boy and demanded the sword spectrum, which is no different from open robbery. What does the national teacher think?"

  Jiumo Zhi replied: "This is a loan, and I absolutely will not watch it, and there is no connection with robbery at all."

  Damn it, does this count as "a monk's business, how can you call it robbery?"

  But these are just appetizers, since we want to tease him, the main course is: "How does Guoshi view the non-evil lust? Ah, isn't this exactly what Buddhism calls 'precepts of lust'?"

  "Indeed. I have devoted my life to Buddhism, and view all women in the world as nothing but red-powdered skulls. In my whole life, I have never had any contact with any woman."

  Of course, we know that, but what we care about is not who you have a relationship with, but the following question: "Does Guoshi think that Buddhism hopes for more monks chanting Buddha's name in the world, or fewer?"

  Does this still need to be asked? Ji Mo thought for a moment: "Of course, the more the better."

  "Then did all those monks abstain from lust?"

  "All quit lust."

  This time, Chen Xiao's sinister plan succeeded, and he laughed loudly in his heart. On the surface, however, he asked with utmost seriousness: "But then a problem arises. If all the men in this world become monks and renounce lust, how can women give birth to children? If women cannot give birth to children, won't this world be devoid of people after a hundred years?"

  "This..."

  This question has hit the weak point of Kumarajiva. The Buddha naturally hopes that there will be more and more disciples in this world, but if one day all the people in the world become devout Buddhists, shave their heads and become monks, how can human beings multiply?

  So if we reverse the reasoning, then this rule of abstaining from lust, is it right or wrong?

  Chen Xiao laughed in his heart, let alone this Jiumo Zhi, even if the Buddha himself came, he would not be able to answer. This is simply a dead end, completely unsolvable. It's worth noting that Buddhism has always emphasized the purity of the six senses, but this question happens to touch on the fundamental aspect of human reproduction and development.

  Even if Buddhism has developed for thousands of years on earth, this question still has no answer, let alone when Buddhism had just begun to flourish?

  Jiumozhi was really at a loss for words, and finally had no choice but to put his palms together, and chant: "Amitabha."

  Just as Kumārajīva was at a loss, Chen Xiao finally felt satisfied and laughed: "The young man has not understood this question all along, so he asked the national teacher. Alas, it seems that the national teacher cannot answer either. Forget it, forget it, don't think about it anymore, let's eat first. Does the national teacher have a knife? I need to skin this rabbit first."

  Jiumozhi always uses fist and footwork, where is the knife?

  But how can you eat a rabbit without peeling its skin? He has always boasted that his Buddhist teachings are profound, but he cannot answer Chen Xiao's question. He keeps muttering to himself: "If all men in the world become monks, how can they reproduce and carry on their lineage? If all men in the world become monks, how can they reproduce and carry on their lineage?" As he is muttering, his hands unconsciously tear open the skin of the rabbit in his hand.

  Chen Xiao looked at him with a gloomy expression, "Hmph, no matter how powerful you are, you'll still have to drink the water I used to wash my feet!"

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  There's a surprise in the next chapter, please recommend and collect!