CHAPTER 703: 580 MASTER ZUN SHENG

The tiger-headed monk knew that his life was entirely in Shi Feiyang’s hands, and with a casual flick of his finger, the opponent could have destroyed him, body and soul.

Now that there was a glimmer of hope, how could he not wish for it? He quickly kowtowed in agreement, "This monk is willing to lay down his life and shatter his bones for the senior... I only ask that after this, the senior gives me a chance at reincarnation."

"Don’t bargain with me, everything depends on your performance. If you do well, anything can be discussed. But if not, then there’s no need to talk about anything!"

Shi Feiyang took out an Immortal Pill to give to the tiger-headed monk to swallow, then placed a Purple and Blue Divine Talisman on his chest. He instructed him to sit cross-legged with his feet pressed together and concentrate his mind inwardly.

Then, he pulled a silkworm cocoon and a red pellet from the Nine Suspicions Tripod.

To defend against attacks from the Dongxuan Immortal, Bai Guanhong had spun a cocoon within the Nine Suspicions Tripod, enclosing himself within.

Shi Feiyang handed the cocoon and red pellet to the tiger-headed monk to swallow. The monk, oblivious to the details but daring not delay, took them and swallowed them down.

"Now leave this place and head west. No matter who greets you, do not respond; just keep going until you can no longer."

The tiger-headed monk didn’t dare to disobey. He felt afraid and also wished to leave this place quickly, so he conjured a light to flee straight towards the west.

He flew for half a day in one breath. When he looked back, Shi Feiyang’s figure was no longer visible. Deeming Shi Feiyang unfathomable, he didn’t dare to stop and continued flying westward.

Soon, he arrived in Central Earth and quickly reached Song Mountain, until he was above the Shaolin Temple.

Inside Shaolin Temple, a gaunt old monk was giving a sermon, and the courtyard was filled with monks—more than two hundred of them at least.

Apart from the monks, there were also several laypeople and Daoist-dressed individuals.

The most conspicuous was a woman with undeveloped arms and legs, holding a green bamboo staff, her face full of resentful expression—it was Yu Xiangzhu, the destitute girl from the Three Xiang.

Wei Yaozhi was sitting next to her.

The Yin Yang Elder, whom they had been relentlessly pursuing, was also seated not far away.

Besides these three, there were two beautiful twin brothers about fifteen or sixteen years old, looking identical, dressed alike, but each had a lotus flower of different colors on their heads—one with a Green Lotus and the other with a White Lotus.

The old monk on the main seat continued tirelessly, "Buddha said to Subhūti: ’All phenomena are illusory. If you see all phenomena as no-phenomenon, you see the Tathagata.’ These words are easy to understand, but those with shallow thoughts cannot break through the phenomenon, while those with deep thoughts can easily fall into obstinate emptiness. Truly realizing ’seeing all phenomena as no-phenomenon’ is very difficult! Very difficult!"

He was discussing the commonly seen Diamond Sutra in Buddhism, which many great monks had lectured on. It was a rather commonplace subject and the tiger-headed monk wasn’t interested in listening.

He continued flying west, but as soon as he reached the air above Shaolin Temple, he found that his fleeing light suddenly stopped, as if some invisible prohibition had blocked him.

The tiger-headed monk was shocked and made frantic efforts to cast spells, but the light remained unable to rise and instead fell downwards until he reached the courtyard center.

None of the monks looked at him; they were all earnestly listening to the sermon. The tiger-headed monk thought that Shi Feiyang had told him to "walk until he could walk no further," so now wasn’t he unable to continue?

Thus, he sat down in a corner as well, listening to the monk’s sermon while pondering what he should do in the future, whether he could preserve his life safely.

The Diamond Sutra was not very long, nor did it contain much content, but the monk made extensive references, explaining it word by word, until noon the next day before he finally finished.

Master Fang Zheng of Shaolin Temple got up, went in front of the old monk, made three circuits around him, and prostrated at his feet, offering the great worship used for Buddha to the old monk: "We are grateful to Master Zun Sheng for his merciful universal salvation and for enlightening us with his preaching..."

It turned out this emaciated old monk was none other than Master Zun Sheng, high up in the ranks of the "Three Monks and Two Nuns" within Buddhism!

Master Fang Zheng led the worship, and all the other monks rose to do the same.

After they finished their salutations, Master Zun Sheng suddenly said, "There are several guests passing by, not by my coercion. In truth, several of you bear the aura of death, seeking your own end; your lives will not last long! Ending up here, your imminent death has been interrupted, suppressing the evil karma, preventing it from taking effect for the time being. Please do not take offense."

Others might have not minded, since they’d never heard of Master Zun Sheng’s reputation—he truly was an old monk who seldom made an appearance.

Only the Yin Yang Elder had heard of him, aware that he was a remarkable monk, and considering his own past deeds and the Soldier Disintegration before reincarnation, after all his calculated plans, he still ended up in this plight, having lost his virginity, and now had offended Yu Wa and her disciple.

Yu Wa was narrow-minded and arrogant, notorious for her ruthless actions. In the days to come, it might be difficult for her to find peace.

She spent an entire night listening to the Diamond Sutra, which opened her eyes to many things. Feeling blessed at that moment, she rose to her knees and crawled to Master Zun Sheng, pleading to be accepted as a disciple.

Master Zun Sheng looked at her in silence for a while before finally sighing deeply, "You are not originally from the Buddhist fold, and you might renounce your vows and leave tomorrow. But it’s alright, at least for a time you’ll get to hear the Buddhist teachings and practice Buddhism. This shows you have some seeds of Wisdom and affinity with Buddhism. In future cycles of calamity and transmigration, having planted the seeds of the Vajra today, there will come a day when they can blossom and bear fruit. Amitabha Buddha!"

Hearing this Buddhist name, filled with compassion, Yin Yang Elder was moved and suddenly found his eyes brimming with tears, continuously kowtowing, "For the teacher to take pity on me and accept me into the fold, I will follow Master and diligently study Buddhism, never to betray."

Master Zun Sheng glanced at the others and sighed again, "All of you are at death’s door. The only chance you have to live is to follow his example, set aside all worldly attachments, and join the Buddhist order."

Yu Xiangzhu sneered, "Old bald thief! You just take advantage of your superior spells to forcibly keep us here, babbling ghost chants all night long. Now you try to scare us into taking you as our master. That’s out of the question. Do you think we are as cowardly as that androgynous Demon Human? That we would bow our heads to you just because you scare us? That we would shave our heads to become a baldy like you? Just wait. My master will arrive soon. With the Ruyi Golden Hook, we will cut off your bald head and refine every thieving baldy in this monastery, letting none escape!"

She was blocked by Master Zun Sheng’s Formless Buddha Light and forced to stay in the monastery, compelled to listen to the sutras, and was seething with pent-up anger!

Born with a disability, Yu Xiangzhu was accustomed to the cold eyes and bullying from others since childhood, developing a vindictive nature. After mastering spells, she went back to her hometown and killed nearly half the people there, as they had all bullied her. Later, if anyone looked at her with a hint of surprise, she would gouge out their eyes!

Relying on the influence of Fairy Yu Wa, she roamed the seas, fearing and submitting to no one. At the slightest disagreement, she was ready to draw her sword.

This time, with her disciple Wei Yaozhi, they were chasing after Yin Yang Elder. Passing by this place, they were suddenly blocked, floating down and unable to fly up again!

She cast Sword Control, but all her spells failed, and her Flying Sword lost its Light Energy, falling to the ground, nearly reduced to ordinary iron.

She realized it was the old monk’s doing and cast over ten vicious and terrifying spells at him, all to no effect. Clearly, she was using the spells, but there was no response.

She released her Magical Treasure to attack and kill the old monk, even ready to slaughter all the monks around him, but regardless of the treasure, the moment it left her hand, it fell to the ground and would not respond to her command, only to be picked up by hand.

Last night, she even thought of escaping with her Primordial Spirit and drawing up the waters of the Yellow River to flood Shaolin Temple and submerge Song Mountain.

However, she couldn’t even release her Primordial Spirit, let alone speak. She couldn’t run, only able to sit in place.

The more she was restricted, the angrier she became, her lungs nearly bursting with fury!

Now that she could finally speak, she cursed Master Zun Sheng with all the dirty words she had kept pent up over the night.

Master Zun Sheng was not angered but only shook his head and sighed. He then turned to the tiger-headed Zen Master and gestured, "Come over here."

The tiger-headed Zen Master, familiar with Yu Xiangzhu and her disciple, knew of their prowess. Now that they were restrained here and unable to use any techniques, he quickly got up and knelt before Master Zun Sheng.

Master Zun Sheng stretched out a thin hand, "Spit it out for me to see."

The tiger-headed Monk was stunned for a moment, then realized what he meant. He opened his mouth and strained, finally spitting out a red pill.

Master Zun Sheng took the red pill in his hand, inspecting it closely, then he looked back at the tiger-headed Monk and sighed deeply again.

The tiger-headed Monk, hearing the sigh, sensed something was amiss and hastily kowtowed to ask, "Master, what... what has become of me? That person also made me swallow a silkworm cocoon, which I cannot spit out."

Master Zun Sheng said, "That silkworm cocoon has already spun a web among your viscera, ensnaring your heart, liver, spleen, lungs altogether. It’s natural you cannot spit it out. To save you, I would need to use my current physical body. However, I still have unfinished matters for which this body is required. You will have to endure for some time, but this object is troublesome..."

The red pill was the transformation of the "Blood God Scripture," an Evil Book brought directly to the old monk by Shi Feiyang.

Master Zun Sheng had one important endeavor to complete before he could achieve his Rebirth to the realm of Nirvana. However, the Red Flower Princess inside the Evil Book of the "Blood God Scripture" was deeply rooted in evil; difficult to enlighten... If he chose to save this Witch, he might need to stay for several hundred more years, even a thousand, and still success was not guaranteed!

If he chose not to enlighten her, he couldn’t just abandon her either. Whether it was the "Blood God Scripture" or the Red Flower Princess within, once released into the world, they could instantly cause chaos, bringing calamities upon countless lives.

Having just finished reciting the Diamond Sutra, Master Zun Sheng recalled Shakyamuni telling Xu Puti that he led all beings towards the Nirvana of no remainder, yet in reality, not a single being achieved Nirvana through him. Why? Because there is no such thing as a self, a person, a being, or a lifespan. A Bodhisattva must be free of all these things...

Holding the red pill, the old monk was indeed troubled...