No matter how glorious Reimei Temple had been in the past, the past was the past. History was buried and forgotten. Right now, Reimei Temple was reborn as a small temple in Tokyo.
Although its scale was not comparable to the past, at the very least, it had a lot of genuine ancient scriptures and records.
This was all the old abbot’s effort. No matter how tough his life was, he did not put the knowledge, the most precious treasure, up for sale.
As Baishi Shū admired the old abbot, he also realized the reason why the old abbot chose to keep those ancient scriptures and records.
It was a kind of anticipation. After all, a temple, land, or even fame were nothing but worldly possessions. It was only by preserving the scripture and ancient records that the foundation of Reimei Temple could be safeguarded.
There was no need to rush everything. Step by step, he was certain that he would be able to bring Reimei Temple back to its glory one day.
In order to reciprocate the old abbot’s expectation, Baishi Shū spent a lot of time during the weekend perfecting his body cultivation method. Even when he was on his way to meet his client, he did not stop either. Using every scant time he could find, he focused his mind on mastering the method as he fought the evil spirit.
Then, as he wished, his body cultivation method was completed the following afternoon.
The method that was designed in the shape of the Ākāśagarbha Mantra could temporarily enhance cells by adjusting the frequency of spiritual power. In Baishi Shu’s case, since he possessed 20,000 points of spiritual power, the effect was semi-permanent.
Within a week, he successfully figured out the frequency required to enhance 200 types of cells in his body. He did not work on some cells such as those of the brain, eyes, and eardrums to name a few because those kinds of cells were too fragile and complicated to work with, so he reckoned that enhancement was not needed. Besides, he found that other than bones and membranes, other types of cells in the bone could not be enhanced as well.
Even though the body cultivation method was completed, Baishi Shū did not go forward and start to apply it to his entire body. That could wait. Now, it was time for lunch.
After he finished his meal, he chanted scriptures for a while. It was only when the sun came out of the clouds and shone gaily that he moved to the front of the Buddha statue. Activating his Divine Eye, he peered into his appendix and started his final experiment.
As he started to circulate his spiritual power and initiate the body cultivation method, he closed his eyes and began chanting scriptures.
The frequency of the spiritual power that converged on his appendix was ever-changing as he continued to chant the scripture. He got the inspiration to name the method the “body cultivation method” from the cultivation novels he used to read during his previous incarnation. Apparently, the body cultivation method had no relation to any of the cultivation methods he read. It did not involve the abdomen or even the meridian. The only similarity between them was the utilization of spiritual power.
Through different frequencies, he used his spiritual power to enhance the cells in his appendix. Since there were far lesser types of cells in the appendix, the time used was considerably shortened.
After several bouts of scripture chanting, the formation of the strongest appendix was completed.
Using his Divine Eye, he noticed that the composition, density, and size of the cells in the appendix remained the same.
Did that mean that he had failed? Of course, the answer was no.
This was one of the special characteristics of the Ākāśagarbha Mantra. It could enhance the cells without altering their configuration, size, or density. Baishi Shū had no idea how the mantra did it as well.
The Ākāśagarbha Mantra was initially targeted to enhance one’s memory. He recalled that from the record he read, the brain cells of the user remained the same as they were before. In other words, Baishi Shū believed that the Ākāśagarbha Mantra would just strengthen the function of a cell and not the cell itself.
For example, if he used the mantra on his muscles, his physical strength would be improved. If he used it on his dermis cells, his skin would become tougher, and so on.
Then, how about the appendix?
Well, his appendix was still an appendix despite the fact that it had become the strongest appendix in the world. It still would not be able to detach itself from his body and help him exorcise evil spirits.
‘Well then, let’s move on to the next one.’
He had a second plan. A human had ten toes, so he figured that losing one was fine. Of course, amputation would only be considered if the experiment went terribly wrong or his toes were mutated.
He began to circulate his spiritual power and chanted the scripture again to strengthen his toe.
When the process was done, he could clearly feel the difference now. Not only had his toe become more agile, but it had also become stronger. He could do some postures with his toe that he could never have done before!
He took off his sock and tried to stand on his toe. Then, he succeeded!
The effect had far exceeded his expectations. He did not believe that his toe, which he had never trained before, could sustain the entire weight of his body.
It now occurred to him that no matter what skill he used, be it a mantra or a paper talisman, the effect would always be greater or exceed his expectations. He believed that this was the “cheat code” given to him as compensation for bringing him from his original world to this world.
“Shinsei, wh-what are you doing?” The old abbot’s voice swam into his ear and broke through his thoughts. Baishi Shū turned his head around and saw the old abbot staring at him with a surprised look on his face.
He could see the concern on the old abbot’s face, but he did not know what he was thinking about.
‘Has Shinsei gone mad from all the training and studying? Why is he standing on his toes? What kind of martial art is this?’
“Erm, don’t worry, Abbot. This is the body cultivation method that I have been experimenting with recently. It’s finally completed today, so I’m testing it out,” Baishi Shū explained as he stood up on both his feet again.
He was overjoyed, but the experiment had not ended yet. He had just tested the strength and flexibility of his toe. In other words, this was just the reinforcement effect of his muscles and nerve tissues. There were still other tissues such as the epithelial tissue and connective tissue that needed to be tested out.
The test was simple. Ruthlessness was the mark of a great man. Baishi Shū took a pair of scissors, and as the old abbot stared at him in awe, he gritted his teeth and stabbed his toe. However, the pain did not come. The scissors failed to penetrate his skin and damage his toe.
Befuddlement was written all over the old abbot’s face. He could not come around to his senses and he remained frozen on the futon.
Baishi Shū put the scissors away. He could clearly feel that something intangible but very strong was preventing the tip of the scissors from penetrating his toe no matter how hard he tried. Apparently, his experiment was a success. His toe had become the strongest toe in the world.
Now came the second question. Could he apply the method to his body?
Truth to be told, he was a little hesitant. After all, no matter if it was an appendix or toe, he could just amputate them if something wrong happened. However, if he applied the method to every cell in his body, some unexpected problems might happen.
In cultivation novels, it was called the Qi-gong psychotic reaction which was a kind of irreversible reaction.
After a short while of rumination, Baishi Shū closed his eyes and began chanting the scripture.
Buddha said, “There has to be someone to take on the tough stuff.”
As an ordinary monk, Baishi Shū felt he was too weak. Mayhap he was very strong for some minor evil spirits and yokai, those demon kings and yokai lords were totally on a whole different level. With his current strength, there would not be anything he could do other than getting smashed into pulp.
Therefore, he decided to practice the body cultivation method and named it the Baishi Universal Deliverance.
He practiced Baishi Universal Deliverance not to kill or cut off evil karma but to liberate living people from their suffering.