Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The first round of the Buddhist Debate went just as Su Qin expected. Before the fifteen minutes were up, Zhen Yuan was as pale as a sheet of paper as he did not know how to respond.
Even though Zhen Yuan had a profound understanding of the Buddhist scriptures, it was a shame that he underestimated the enlightened one of the Vajra temple. Each word that Ba Tuo uttered was like a curse, each word imprinting itself on Zhen Yuan’s heart. The last word weighted down upon him like a mountain.
“I admit defeat.” Zhen Yuan stood up and the light vanished from his eyes.
The Buddhist Debate among the four Buddhist temple sects may not have been in a martial arts style of Jianghu but the debate was fierce and dangerous. The former must be better than the latter.
In martial arts battles, the worst thing that could have happened was physical injuries. As long as the injuries were not too serious, recovery would not have been too hard. However, Buddhist Debates were a personal battle of concepts and philosophy. Once a disciple lost, even though their physical body was fine, they would have suffered a huge mental defeat. That ran the risk of the disciple falling into self-doubt and despair which could then lead to the development of Internal Demons1.
Once the Internal Demons are formed, the disciple would have been unable to advance to the next stage. At the very worst, the disciple would have to immediately experience a Qu Deviation.
As soon as Zhen Yuan lost the debate, all the excitement among the Shaolin temple disciples died down. They had high hopes for Zhen Yuan. They felt that with Zhen Yuan’s comprehension of the Buddhist scriptures, there was no way that he could have lost against the Ba Tuo. They never expected him to lose that badly.
In the end, before a quarter of an hour passed, Zhen Yuan got up and admitted defeat. What did that mean? It meant that Zhen Yuan’s insights into the Buddhist teachings were far outclassed by Ba Tuo.
“Thank you, worthy opponent.” Ba Tuo’s expression did not change. He pressed his palms together and bowed slightly toward Zhen Yuan.
“Abbot Hui Wen, please send your next candidate,” said the second-rank monk from the Vajra temple.
“Humph!” grunted the Precepts Court head quietly. As he glanced at the pale face of Zhen Yuan, his heart ached in sorrow. Zhen Yuan was his most favored disciple and it was hard to watch him receive such a blow.
“Namo Amitabha…” Abbot Hui Wen looked intensely at Ba Tuo before he called out, “Zhen Ke.”
“Abbot.” The second Shaolin temple disciple stood up and walked to sit at the seat previously occupied by Zhen Yuan.
The second round of the Buddhist Debate then began.
‘How pointless!’ thought Su Qin. He felt extremely bored after observing the debate for a short while and wanted to find an opportunity to sneak out.
The disciples of the Miscellaneous Court were seated at the furthest corner of the hall. That was coupled with the fact that Su Qin looked extremely inconspicuous. He managed to sneak out without anyone noticing.
‘I thought the Buddhist sects didn’t concern themselves with competing or winning, it turns out that’s not true.’ thought Su Qin to himself.
Su Qin headed first to the Scripture Pavilion to use up his opportunity to sign-in for today. After that, he found a place where he would not be disturbed and consumed a Spirit Cultivation Pill.
After a few hours, Su Qin rushed back to the Great Palace Hall. At that time, Su Qin sensed that the atmosphere in the room was tenser.
“They lost, they all lost…” A Miscellaneous Court disciple mumbled to himself with a dazed look in his eyes.
‘They all lost?’ wondered Su Qin as he looked toward the entrance of the Great Palace Hall. He could see that the enlightened one from the Vajra temple sitting across abbot Hui Wen’s disciple Zhen Wu.
Zhen Wu was the most outstanding disciple among the Zhen generation and he was accepted as a personal disciple by abbot Hui Wen as soon as he entered the temple.
Zhen Wu’s performance did not disappoint abbot Hui Wen. Whether it was his understanding of Buddhist scriptures or his development in the Buddhist sect martial arts training. He was always called the best among the younger generation of the Shaolin temple.
Abbot Hui Wen was even preparing to train Zhen Wu as the Shaolin abbot of the next generation. According to the previous Buddhist Debates, a disciple like Zhen Wu would have been the last to compete and would have acted as the last resort, stepping in only to save the situation.
However, Zhen Wu entered the debate. That meant only one thing…All the other eight Shaolin disciples had already lost in the Buddhist Debate.
‘How did it happen so quickly?’ thought Su Qin in amazement. It was a couple of hours. Half a day had not gone by yet that Ba Tuo managed to beat eight of the Shaolin temple disciples already?
That was not right as there had to be nine disciples.
That was because the minute Zhen Qu engaged in the Buddhist Debate with Ba Tuo, he was already in a losing position. He would not have been able to hold on much longer.
After half an hour.
“All laws such as dreams and illusions, such as dew and electricity should be viewed as such.”
Ba Tuo’s words were heavenly and his tone was gentle. His voice sounded like it could have ended all your worries, evil, karmas, and helped one achieve enlightenment.
“Thank you, Brother. You’ve been a worthy opponent.” Ba Tuo slowly got up and pressed his palms together. His expression was solemn and respectful.
Zhen Wu remained seated cross-legged on the ground. His face was pale as a sheet, he lost!
“Namo Amitabha…” The second-rank monk of the Vajra temple looked delighted and chanted a mantra.
Instantly, everyone present, and all the temple court heads looked crestfallen. Everyone except for abbot Hui Wen. They all found it hard to believe. No one could have imagined that the Shaolin temple would have lost the Buddhist Debate at the hands of just a single opponent from the Vajra temple.
All the Shaolin temple disciples united in solidarity with the fact they had just been brutally kicked in the face by the Vajra temple but had no way of retaliating.
That was because the reality of it was that Ba Tuo of the Vajra temple had consecutively won nine rounds and was victorious in the Buddhist Debate.
The second-rank monk of the Vajra temple swept his eyes across the hall and slowly spoke after he found that no one dared to meet his gaze. “Since the Buddhist Debate’s over, we’ll take our leave. We’ve imposed the Shaolin temple for far too long and we’re grateful for your hospitality.”
The complexion of all the temple court heads turned ashen and it looked like a few of them were struggling to keep their aura under control.
After today, once the results of the Buddhist Debate between the Shaolin temple and the Vajra temple were released, the Vajra temple would have taken the first place of the Shaolin temple.
All the Shaolin temple monks including abbot Hui Wen felt like their hearts were ripped out of their chest when they thought about how they lost the title. Especially when the previous generations of Shaolin monks endured much more hardship and suffering to earn the title.
The entire Great Palace Hall was so silent that you could have heard a pin drop until all the people from the Vajra temple had left.
“We’ve let our ancestors down…” sighed the Miscellaneous Court head. His complexion turned bright red and he suddenly spat out a mouthful of fresh blood before he collapsed onto the ground.
“Court head!”
“Court head, what happened to you?”
“Brother, are you alright?”
All the Miscellaneous Court disciples were filled with worry and fear. Abbot Hui Wen took a step forward and appeared beside the Miscellaneous Court head. He stretched out his right hand to check his pulse.
After a moment, abbot Hui Wen shook his head and said, “He’s alright. He’s just too worked up about this and his physical body is weak…”
*****
Somewhere close by, Su Qin stood silently as he looked at how the Miscellaneous Court head collapsed on the ground. For the past ten years, the Miscellaneous Court head treated Su Qin well. He often thought about transferring Su Qin to the Luohan Court or the Martial Arts Court so that he would not always be a temple sweeper.
However, all his thoughtful gestures were declined by Su Qin.
“Is the reputation of the Shaolin temple that important to you?” muttered Su Qin under his breath.
The next moment, Su Qin turned to leave.
*****
Outside the Shaolin temple.
The group of people from the Vajra temple were walking in a certain direction.
“Ba Tuo, when we return, the abbot will be overjoyed. If it weren’t for you, the Shaolin temple wouldn’t have given up its position as the greatest Buddhist sect in the world!” praised the second-rank monk as he looked at Ba Tuo.
The second-rank monk was called Tong Ru. He was the Protective Arts Master of that generation in the Vajra temple. It would have been impossible for Ba Tuo with his identity as the enlightened one of the Vajra temple to have left the temple unguarded. Hence, Tong Ru went along as Ba Tuo’s bodyguard.
“Master, was it right for us to do that?” Ba Tuo could not stop himself from asking.
“Of course what we did was right.” Tong Ru said confidently, “In a battle of principles, there’s only winning or losing. There’s no right or wrong.”
When Ba Tuo heard that, his eyes flashed with understanding.
Out of a sudden, Tong Ru sensed something odd and raised his head to take a look. All he saw was a young monk dressed in a gray robe who stood silently under a withered Bodhi tree.
“Huh?” Tong Ru frowned deeply. “Are you a disciple of the Shaolin temple?” asked Tong Ru loudly.
That place was still on the premise of the Shaolin temple. No one else apart from the Shaolin temple monks and disciples could have been there.
The young monk was naturally Su Qin who rushed over to wait there earlier.
“I’ve heard of the enlightened one who might be the reincarnation of a Luohan from the Vajra temple. I’ve come here now because I wanted to have a Buddhist Debate with him,” said Su Qin in a calm manner.
“Buddhist Debate?” Tong Ru was stunned, “Our temple just defeated your Shaolin temple in the Buddhist Debate. The results are out and even abbot Hui Wen didn’t dispute it. What’s the point of you being here right now?”
“Master, since it’s one of our brothers from the Shaolin temple, let’s undergo one debate,” said Ba Tuo as he took a step forward. He asked in a dignified manner, “How would you like to carry out the debate Brother?”
“Whichever way the debate is meant to be,” smiled Su Qin as he responded indifferently.
Ba Tuo pressed his palms together and asked, “Brother, do you know what is Buddha?”
Earlier in the Shaolin temple, Ba Tuo asked that question and it baffled all nine of the Shaolin temple disciples consecutively.
What was Buddha?
Buddha in Buddhism referred to Siddhārtha Gautama. Yet, who was Siddhārtha Gautama? Was he a person? A God? A Ghost? A Demon? No one knew for sure and that was also the reason why no one dared to make silly guesses.
Tong Ru shook his head. Even the abbot of the Vajra temple was stumped by the question, so how could Su Qin have done any better? Tong Ru could see that Su Qin’s position in the Shaolin temple must have been low. Otherwise, he would not be dressed in a gray robe.
He thought that Su Qin must have blocked them because Su Qin was upset with the result. However, what was the use of being upset? The entire younger generation of the Shaolin temple was completely crushed by Ba Tuo. Was it possible that the Shaolin temple had another disciple that could beat Ba Tuo? How could that be possible?
“What is Buddha?”
At that moment, Su Qin once again repeated the words softly before his voice grew louder and louder until finally, it boomed next to everyone’s ears. “I am Buddha!”
Boom!
As soon as he said those words, everyone from the Vajra temple, including the Protective Arts Master were shocked. They never saw such a brazen, and egotistical person before. Did he call himself Buddha?
“How dare you!” Tong Ru reacted violently to his words and was just about to berate him when he saw a sight that he would have struggled to believe happened for the rest of his life.
All he could see was a large Buddha appear behind Su Qin. One of its fingers pointed to the sky and another finger touched the ground. Within its solemnity, there was unlimited Zen. It said with a magnificent voice, “I am the only one in heaven and on earth.”
Under the Bodhi tree, Su Qin took nine steps and also stretched out a hand to point toward the sky and used the other hand to touch the ground. With a solemn demeanor, he said, “I am the only one in heaven and on earth.”
“This…This…”
Everyone from the Vajra temple was rooted to the spot with shock. Ba Tuo looked like he was struck by lightning. He trembled like a leaf as he looked at Su Qin…As he looked toward that being with its magnificent voice that could have reached the heavens and touched the earth. It was the one and only golden Buddha!