Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
“Uncle is laughing so strangely…” the young lady and the little boy looked a bit scared and retreated continuously. Then, they were embraced by a purple-dressed young woman who had been watching silently by their side. They returned to the cabin with alert looks. Some of the passengers looked over at him. They were dumbfounded, wondering why he turned mad all of a sudden without rhyme or reason.
After laughing for a while, Meng Qi eventually calmed down. The common people could not see the True Dharma and will judge a book by its cover. They were beclouded by their own experiences, reliances, and limitation of knowledge. They chose to distrust it when they should have believed it, and they were deeply caught in it when they should not. I was telling a true story whereas Xuan Xin was hiding his identity of being a spy for the demon race by telling a fish story. Both of us did give the game away even though our stories were different. For instance, if my story was posted on the forum of Myriad World Access, perhaps my old acquaintances would be able to recognize that I’m Meng Qi. For instance, Xuan Xin was always subtly showing his slip and it made people feel that he was unusual. If I paid attention to it earlier and observed secretly, the Shaolin incident would not have happened.
Unfortunately, a fair face may be a foul bargain.
The common people were just the same, the Dharmakaya was unable to see Da Dao and Buddha. What was blocking their way? Their outer appearances?
Meng Qi shook his head and heaved a sigh. He walked into the cabin, ignoring all the glances. It had been such a long time since he had the feeling of starvation.
A good deal of acknowledgments and ideologies that he had gathered from his years of martial arts strength training were broken and reconstructed one by one.
The ship was sailing on the sea and nothing big had happened. Meng Qi had the ability to make friends with people as ever, and soon, he got along well with Huang Chang and the others. They bluffed and drank together, looking as lively as a grig. He would tell stories to the twins in his spare time. The stories were all about his encounters in the Samsara world and what all his identities had been through, other than his identity as Frenzied Blade Primitive Emperor.
Although the twins always muttered to their mother that Meng Qi was bluffing, they were so attracted to his stories as those stories were indeed interesting. They would go to Meng Qi on time every day, look up at him and listen to the stories with rapt attention.
“So the story continues. I revisited the capital city of that country and ran into the Demon Queen in a temple. She threw out the Golden Holy Robe and incarnated into Queen of Blades…” as he was telling the story, he slipped into his habit of teasing and spoofing and started talking nonsense. The people around him felt that the story was abrupt and frowned their brows. However, the young lady and the little boy listened to it with keen interest. They felt deeply fascinated as it was more amusing than the book of The Great Battle between the Primitive Emperor and Transformers.
They threw out questions from time to time, such as, “What’s the Golden Holy Robe?” and “Who’s the Queen of Blades?” Their interaction was joyous and harmonious, so the worried purple-dressed young woman was getting more and more relaxed.
This day, the moon was beaming up in the sky and the machine-operated ship with several decks was shrouded in the silvery moonlight. Meng Qi no longer had an indefatigable body, he was sleeping on the narrow bed. The ship moved up and down along with the waves.
In one of the cabin rooms, a man in a black robe who had been keeping his eyes closed for a long time opened his eyes suddenly. His dark eyes were beaming with silvery light, looking rather sacred and indifferent. They were like the clearest mirror reflecting everything around him in the eyes, including the illusion that could hardly be seen with eyes. For instance, the misty Yin aura and the spirit embedded in the wall who was only showing his face.
“Finally, I have initial success in Wu Wang Eyes,” the black-robed man muttered to himself happily and stood up slowly.
He was the Strongman of Heresy. He had been suppressing all of the desires for years in order to cultivate this direct knowledge. Now that he had virtuous achievement in it, he had to vent out his desires to celebrate it.
Judging from his sensing observation, there was no one on this ship could block his blow.
The black-robed man opened the cabin door, looked at the quiet aisle and the faint light by his side. He recalled everything that he had known before and advanced slowly. He felt satisfied as if he was the master of all the living beings on the ship.
“It’s difficult to shield the Myriad World Talisman, I have to be careful or someone will seek help from the others,” he thought about the details, passed by the two cabin rooms where the family of the purple-dressed woman stayed in and headed forward.
Although the big talker had no martial arts, he could sense an indistinct feeling from the big talker. He would start with the big talker for his earnest purpose.
He stopped in front of the cabin room and opened the door slowly without making any noise. He glanced toward the bed with bloodthirsty and ruthless eyes. Meng Qi who was sleeping soundly on the bed came into his view. He lifted his right palm and was about to hit.
Right at the moment, a scene reflected in his Wu Wang eyes and it was totally different from what he saw with his bare eyes. The silhouette who was sleeping soundly on the bed was escorted by layers and layers of Golden Body Luohans and Mercy Bodhisattvas. They were either making the Lion Seal, the Treasure Bottle Seal, or holding Gada Vajra or Purification Lotus. They were beaming with clear azure stone lights. It seemed like there was a Buddha standing on the top like a moon and the sky flowers kept falling down.
He retreated instinctively, sweat running down his face. The black-robed man bumped into the door and said in a panic, “Blessing of Heavenly Gods and Buddhas?”
This big talker is actually guarded by Heavenly Luohans and Bodhisattvas from every realm?
What’s his background?
The reincarnation of Buddha or the Savior?
Meng Qi was woken up by the sound of him bumping into the door. He turned over and sat up in an instant due to years of habit. He struck the most suitable pose, slightly squinted his eyes and sized the black-robed man up. The words of ‘Blessing of Heavenly Gods and Buddhas’ echoed in his ears.
He could tell a brief account of the whole course of the incident within seconds. He looked at the panic-stricken black-robed man and smiled faintly, “Is it good manners for a guest to enter without asking the owner?”
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The black-robed man looked terrified and shook his head instinctively.
“You, you don’t even have martial arts, how did you get the blessing from the Heavenly Gods and Buddhas?”
He wanted to get an answer before he died.
Meng Qi changed his sitting posture and said with a smile, “You won’t believe it even if I tell you. I used to be supreme. Owing to the fact that I could hardly break through a pass that I was facing, I asked my friend for advice. Finally, I understood that cutting off my greatest reliance, which was my martial arts, was the only shortcut of Dharma practice to see my true self. As for the Heavenly Gods and Buddhas, it was gratitude from the Buddha and Maha Bodhisattva as I had helped them before.”
The black-robed man stunned for a while and laughed soon after. He lost control and laughed out loud, resulting in plenty of people waking up because of him. After a long time, he finally caught his breath and said, “Do you think I’m an idiot? Who would destroy their own martial arts simply because of what people said? Haha, this joke made my day!”
I’m that idiot… Meng Qi murmured silently.
“Self-destroying martial arts to see your true self? Haha, you will bring about your own destruction if you destroy your martial arts…” the black-robed man continued laughing. “Everyone who learns martial arts would have known that the most real reliance is the strength that is built up bits by bits. Why would you have to give up on it to see your true self?”
Meng Qi said after some thoughts, “Taoism used to categorize Heavenly Tribulation into different parts. There are different Trials of Thunder, Trials of Hell Wind and Ground Fire, Trials of Humans that are involved with karma, Trials of Three Lives that are related to the past and future, and the Void Trials where you will lose all your direct knowledge and power all of a sudden. By then, can you still rely on your martial arts? Will you just be waiting for death if you encounter the Void Trial?”
“That’s different. If it’s Heavenly Tribulation, you can prepare all sorts of treasure, invite your best friends to guard you and plan thoroughly. You will naturally recover as long as you endure through that period. It cannot be compared to finding the illusory true self by self-destroying martial arts,” the black-robed man shook his head and mocked. He was still thinking that the master, who was guarded by the Heavenly Gods and Buddhas, was making fun of him.
There are masters who are omnipotent enough that I can’t sense their martial arts at all. But how can there be a master who would do such a stupid thing of destroying his own martial arts?
Meng Qi said firmly, “What if the Void Trial lasts for a year, five years, or even ten years?”
“No, Heavenly Tribulation will not last that long,” the black-robed man did not buy it.
Meng Qi did not argue with him. He smiled and said, “I’m exactly the same as what you’ve said, aren’t I? I can get the blessing from Heavenly Gods and Buddhas and I have treasures that will protect their master automatically. If I were to ask for a favor, there are not many people who will help me voluntarily, but there are still quite a lot of people in the world who will do so. They will not abandon me simply because I lost all my power. I just have to get to know myself, the Heaven and Earth again and regulate my habits from years of practicing the martial arts. What is the difference between this and the Void Trial?”
“But the others will recover after the Heavenly Tribulation is over, while the chances of recovering are minimal if you destroy your martial arts. It is more like abandoning yourself to despair,” the black-robed still could not accept this option.
For a martial arts cultivator, his strength is his life, and his strength is all he has!
Meng Qi did not answer directly. He looked out the window and pointed at the bright moon, “I could enter Qingming and arrive at the Moon Palace with no difficulty when I had martial arts. Now, if I want to go to the place, I will have to ask for a favor from someone else, or go through the Palace of Mohism and travel using their mystical machinery.”
Then, he pointed at the dark shadows of the island.
“Look at the islands and steep mountains over there, they were only a step away from me when I had martial arts. Today if I want to visit the place, I will have to make preparation, travel over land and water and go through all the hardships and obstacles to reach the place.”
“Back then, I could just do it by myself when I wanted to do something. I could use my power through the advent of air even when I was in a different realm. Now I have to beat about the bush and ask people to return the favor.”
“All my former experiences, habits, and acknowledgments crumbled apart in front of me as I lost my martial arts. I had to reconstruct them in accordance with my current situation. Hence, I understood the meaning of mode and outer appearance. I knew how to trust them but not to rely on, be limited and blinded by them.”
His voice was low and his tone was normal, describing all sorts of changes that seemed to be inevitable. The black-robed man did not believe it at first, but eventually, he mused over and seemed to think that it made sense.
He would respond from time to time and Meng Qi would take the opportunity to continue. It started to dawn unknowingly.
The black-robed man suddenly frowned his brows and said, “Are you telling me all these to convince me to destroy my martial arts?”
“No, I’m just consoling myself,” Meng Qi laughed at himself and waved his hand. “The Wu Wang Eyes are the direct knowledge of Taoism. It is particular that the body and mind must act like one and you must not be blinded by desires. Even though you have succeeded, it will degenerate if you indulge yourself. It’s at your own discretion.”
The black-robed man dared not disobey him and left the room. All kinds of desires in his mind had disappeared after being puzzled by the long night of lectures.
There were many people who woke up early in front of him, they were smiling and chit-chatting. The black-robed man seemed to finally come back to his senses and murmured, “What have I done? Where am I?”
“Have I been listening to the madman’s nonsense for the whole night?”
“And I think he does make sense…”