Chapter 111: Debating the Dharma with Xuan Xin, Chen Changsheng There’s a Little Monk Who Lost to Me for Twenty Years
Chapter 111 – Debating the Dharma with Xuan Xin, Chen Changsheng There’s a Little Monk Who Lost to Me for Twenty Years
Feeling the suffocating weight of Yao Yingying’s strength, Gongsun Huaiyu suddenly recalled the casual words Chen Changsheng had imparted while guiding her cultivation.
His exact words echoed in her mind.
“Little girl, your innate talent is not lacking, but you have yet to forge your own Dao.”
“If you merely mimic your master and me, you will never witness the breathtaking vistas at the absolute summit.”
“With your current foundation, suppressing ordinary prodigies is simple. But should you clash with those who have comprehended their true Great Dao, you will be utterly and miserably crushed.”
Tasting the bitter truth of Chen Changsheng’s warning, a deep flush of shame washed over Gongsun Huaiyu.
When he had spoken those profound words, she had been too intoxicated by her rising cultivation realm to engrave his teachings into her heart.
Looking back, her “Grandmaster” had long foreseen she would inevitably face a wall like today.
No wonder he constantly referred to her as a “little girl”; she truly was an ignorant, unpolished child who had yet to grasp the Vastness of the world.
……
Observing Gongsun Huaiyu’s deeply crestfallen expression, Chen Changsheng offered a faint smile but remained silent.
Mortals only forged their wills in the crucible of harsh experience. As long as one awakened to this truth while still drawing breath, it was never too late.
“Female Benefactor Gongsun has pierced through the veil of illusion. Truly a cause for joyous celebration!”
Xuan Xin had naturally perceived Gongsun Huaiyu’s sudden enlightenment, pressing his palms together as he offered his congratulations to Chen Changsheng.
Seeing this display, Chen Changsheng clicked his tongue. “Stow the hypocritical pleasantries. As a demonic monk, your path is dictated entirely by your own unrestrained desires.”
“Does wearing this mask of absolute courtesy not exhaust your soul?”
Faced with Chen Changsheng’s cynical interrogation, Xuan Xin merely smiled. “The Benefactor is deeply touched by Buddha-nature.”
“When engaging with one bathed in the Dharma, this humble monk must naturally abide by the sacred tenets of our sect.”
“Fine. Today we shall play by your temple’s rules: crossing swords with words alone.”
“Allow me to share a little secret. I once crossed paths with a little monk.”
“In terms of raw, destructive Qi, he might fall short of you. But in genuine Buddha-nature? You are not fit to carry his begging bowl.”
Unbothered, Xuan Xin’s smile remained serene. “If that is the case, the Benefactor must have surely engaged in a Dharma discourse with this eminent monk.”
“We debated. Many, many times. As for how many times he lost to me… it was roughly this amount.”
Speaking with a weary drawl, Chen Changsheng casually raised two fingers.
Xuan Xin pondered for a breath. “Twice?”
Chen Changsheng shook his head.
“Twenty times?”
Chen Changsheng shook his head again.
Having missed the mark twice, Xuan Xin chuckled softly. “Benefactor, please speak plainly. This humble monk is unable to divine the answer.”
“Surely, such an esteemed Master could not have been defeated two hundred times.”
“Not two hundred times. He lost to me for twenty consecutive years.”
Finishing his sentence, Chen Changsheng solemnly withdrew a sandalwood box from his robes, opening the lid with deliberate slowness.
Nine sarira, radiating a profoundly pure Buddha-light, drifted into the air and began to circle his imposing figure.
Bathed in the warm, golden glow, Chen Changsheng slowly pressed his palms together, exuding a Sovereign presence as if a living Buddha had descended to the mortal plane.
Staring at the nine floating relics orbiting Chen Changsheng, Wan Yan Yue felt her heart constrict tightly from afar.
The sight violently exhumed her memories of that infuriatingly blunt, bald monk.
Although her current cultivation could easily shatter ten of Yixiu, Wan Yan Yue would never dare to claim she was truly superior to him.
In that bygone era, the Daqian Dynasty and the Night Moon Country had yet to be unified by blood and steel.
Sweeping one’s gaze across both the Night Moon Country and the Daqian Dynasty, the only souls capable of suppressing the monk Yixiu—excluding the monstrous anomaly that was Chen Changsheng—was the Longevity Fairy of the Linglong Sect.
The nine true disciples of the Shangqing Temple fell short, and she, a royal princess of the Night Moon Country, was equally insufficient.
Yet a thousand agonizing years had flowed by like water. The once-glorious Longevity Fairy had faded into the dust of forgotten history, and the illustrious Zen Master Yixiu had long passed into nirvana.
If not for the relentless tragedies of fate, if they had weathered that Ruinous era just as she had…
What heaven-shaking realms would they have conquered by now?
Perhaps they would be wielding a sovereignty far greater than her own.
……
Gazing upon the solemn, majestic aura radiating from Chen Changsheng, Xuan Xin broke the silence.
“The Benefactor’s karmic roots with Buddhism are Vast indeed. Then this humble monk shall boldly seek your enlightenment. May I ask the Benefactor…”
“Halt!”
Before Xuan Xin could even unsheathe his question, Chen Changsheng mercilessly cut him off.
“Does the Benefactor require something else?”
“A Dao discourse is a Dao discourse, but I will not restrict myself to your Buddhist sutras. I will shatter your arguments using pure Daoist principles.”
Xuan Xin’s eyelid twitched violently, while the surrounding spectators fought to suppress the spasms of disbelief tugging at the corners of their mouths.
Arrogant!
Unfathomably arrogant!
Every single word and action Chen Changsheng had displayed thus far screamed that he was an absolute Expert in the Buddhist path.
Yet now, this maniac intended to wield Daoist laws to suppress Xuan Xin.
This was the equivalent of slapping the monk’s face while boldly proclaiming to the heavens:
“I know you are a supreme master in your field, and I am even greater in it. But I choose to crush you using an entirely different path just to prove a point.”
Subjected to such naked contempt, Xuan Xin maintained his silence, merely pressing his palms together in a deep, respectful Buddhist salute.
Seeing this, Chen Changsheng launched his strike directly. “I ask you: What is a Buddha?”
His opening thrust aimed straight for the primordial throat of Buddhist philosophy, to which Xuan Xin replied with unhurried poise.
“One who delivers the mortal masses from suffering is a Buddha.”
Upon hearing this truth, whether it was the ancient heavyweights or the haughty Heavenly Talents, all nodded in silent reverence.
For Xuan Xin’s response perfectly encapsulated the universal comprehension of the Buddhist Dao.
To distill the faith of billions into a single, flawless sentence proved that Xuan Xin’s mastery of the Dharma was terrifyingly Vast.
However, an answer that satisfied the world failed to pass the old monster’s scrutiny.
Chen Changsheng slowly, pityingly shook his head. “Wrong!”
“Where lies the flaw?”
“The Buddha is inherently formless, taking the myriad forms of all sentient life. Therefore, the endless masses of living beings are all Buddhas.”
“For you to claim that only the one who delivers others is a Buddha proves you have not even touched the hem of the Dharma’s true essence.”
Xuan Xin’s mouth opened to unleash a counter-argument, only to find the words dying in his throat. He was entirely bereft of a retort.
Since stepping out of the harsh Northern Desert, this was the absolute first time anyone had philosophically suffocated him using his own teachings.
Recovering swiftly, Xuan Xin offered a faint smile and launched his own offensive. “Mortal existence is chained by eight sufferings: birth, aging, sickness, death, parting with loved ones, enduring deep resentments, the agony of unfulfilled desires, and the inability to let go.”
“My sect wields supreme sutras that sever these chains, allowing one to transcend this misery and reach The Other Shore.”
“May I ask, what method does the Daoist sect employ to drag mortals from this abyss?”
Hearing this, Chen Changsheng let out a quiet chuckle. “The Dao follows the natural course of all things.”
“And what does ‘following the natural course’ entail?”
“To align flawlessly with one’s primordial heart—that is the natural course.”
“In vibrant youth, devour life with reckless abandon. In frail old age, embrace the twilight with serenity. In sickness, maintain a heart as broad as the Heavens. In death, return to the soil like a falling autumn leaf.”
“When you love, let it burn fiercely enough to scorch the stars. When you resent, let it be the whetstone that sharpens your blade as you march forward.”
“Your Buddhist path seeks to anesthetize the masses, coaxing them to forget the eight sufferings. The Dao is fundamentally different. It demands that mortals intimately taste, dissect, and sear those sufferings into their bones.”
“Birth, aging, sickness, death, love, hate, and tragic partings are the inviolable crucibles of existence. Rather than desperately severing your ties to them, it is far more sovereign to face them with an unyielding spine.”
“Once a mortal truly bleeds through the first six sufferings, the final two—’unfulfilled desires’ and ‘the inability to let go’—naturally evaporate like mist.”
As his final word struck the hall like a physical blow, a gentle, ethereal luminescence erupted from Chen Changsheng’s flesh, twisting flawlessly into the golden Buddha-light.
Simultaneously, within the vast, terrifying abyss of Chen Changsheng’s Sea of Bitterness, his Divine Bridge violently expanded, growing more than ten times wider.
“The Sea of Bitterness is boundless; turn back and you shall find the shore.” Yet Chen Changsheng utterly refused to “turn back.” He chose to wade directly into the heart of the raging Sea of Bitterness.
His intent flared from his very core. Where the mind commanded, the Will struck, and the mortal vessel followed.
With a single philosophical strike, Chen Changsheng carved yet another bloody, triumphant step forward on his own Great Dao.
……