Chapter 944: Alone on a Boat, One Man Stirs the Waves

Dust returns to dust, earth to earth.

Auspicious clouds gather; the pavilion boat resumes its journey.

Between heaven and earth, the Golden Palm of Non-Abiding Nirvana clasped its hands and slowly vanished without a trace.

A quake that shook the earth and startled heaven—yet the sun rose as usual.

Inside Fulong Temple, startled birds circled several times, folded their wings, and settled upon the eaves.

Splash.

Foam churned; the net flipped; dead fish with pale bellies slid along the ground, their skins peeling off and sticking to the stones.

Monks fished for fish, moved pond stones, and rebuilt Woliang Lake. High disciples of major sects, with nothing else to do, joined in, sweeping clean the cracked bricks and collapsed walls, all in a feverish bustle.

Many small rooms in the temple had low thresholds, now flooded, requiring everything to be taken out and dried.

Merely from appearances, it truly bore the atmosphere of a sacred Buddhist site being stormed and then rebuilt.

Outside Fulong Temple, countless devotees watched the Golden Buddha vanish into the void, filled with sorrow, unwilling to leave despite their deep reluctance; they lined up to enter the temple, waiting to offer a coil of Dragon Incense, to glimpse the true face of the Ninth Buddha, even a corner of the Great Sun Tathagata.

Chirp!

Birds chirped softly.

As Non-Abiding Nirvana disappeared, in a corner scarcely noticed, another great battle also ended.

The river churned with ripples, blood threads mixed in the white foam.

A water rat, bald and patchy, with swollen purple eyes, surfaced from the river; it gasped twice, shook its head, flicked its fur, turned, and reached its paw into the water, groping for a moment before pulling out its "trophy."

It was another water rat, with a long diagonal scar across its face.

The bald rat gripped the scarred rat's foot and dragged it toward the floating steps; its smooth fur bristled like a hedgehog from scraping against the mud, caked with dirt and grass clippings, leaving a trail of water behind.

Before Fulong Temple, the crowd silently gasped, unconsciously shifting their steps apart, showing respect, whispering among themselves.

"How long did it last?"

"From when the Golden Buddha appeared until it ended!"

"Strange—three days and two nights?"

"This battle wore down the primordial chaos, even the Dao itself was ground to dust—"

"You've listened to too many storytelling tales."

These were young men seeking amusement.

"Your daily perseverance in martial training doesn't even match the beasts kept by Lord Baron Xingyi!"

This was an Elder from the sect, furious at their disciples' lack of progress.

Amid the chatter, the weary otter perked up its ears, straightened its back like a victorious general; a few strands of brown fur atop its head dried and swayed in the wind as it boldly stepped onto the thirty thousand floating steps.

Thud!

A muffled thump.

Thud, thud, thud—

Muffled thumps continued without end.

The otter dragged the scarred rat upward; each step up caused the rat's occiput to bang against the stone step, producing a sound.

The crowd marveled.

"No wonder Lord Baron Xingyi—his beasts are fierce, born of a warrior's heart!"

"It's not a rat—it's a river otter," Li Ge corrected.

"Isn't it called Otter Kai?"

"Yes—Otter Kai!"

Two water rats, one horizontal, one vertical, headed toward the floating temple.

Ha-ha-ha—

Incense smoke curled, diffusing in the sunlight.

Plop.

A bloody snot bubble rose from the nose and burst with a puff.

Those who have reached the pinnacle of cultivation require little sleep, yet sleep, when exhausted, is an irreplaceable, inexpensive remedy—a tonic that enhances cultivation efficiency.

On the Luo Han bed, the "Ninth Buddha" slept soundly, occasionally scratching at the healing, itchy flesh, turning over to continue sleeping.

Huai Kong sat cross-legged, his body radiating green light, enveloping Liang Qu; an invisible force corrected and restored his skeletal structure.

The Medicine Buddha heals all illnesses, dispels all calamities.

For an ordinary person, correcting broken bones without deformity would be a nightmare—but with the Medicine Buddha,

everything naturally draws toward its "perfect" state, requiring no extra effort.

Only one thing remains.

The residual Will of the Martial Saint stands like a mountain, blocking healing—yet Liang Qu possesses heartfire, which continuously erodes this rootless wood, this sourceless water, steadily improving; in this process, the heartfire is tempered and grows stronger.

"Truly miraculous."

Huai Kong sighed.

A Master's heartfire can erode the Will of a Martial Saint!

Spiritual matters are never easy.

Let alone a Martial Saint—even the ordinary Will of a Master has no cure; one can only endure, bear through, and if one survives, all is well; if not, all is lost.

With this mysterious heartfire, not even martial arts gains need be mentioned.

In the future, spiritual attacks and ordinary illusions will likely be as nothing to Liang Qu—mere breezes brushing his face.

"The human heart—profound beyond measure—"

"Thank you, young Master Huai Kong," Long Long Binglin said. "I've just emerged from the Six Demons Trial and cannot rest yet."

"It's nothing. With the Medicine Buddha, I too am constantly recovering—I feel no fatigue, only more vigor."

Xu Xu Yue set down the basin of hot water, curiosity rising.

"What do you mean—using the Medicine Buddha doesn't consume essence, energy, and spirit? If so, where does this power come from? It can't appear out of nowhere, can it?"

Huai Kong smiled lightly: "It doesn't appear out of nowhere—it's the advantage of ritual. Have any of you, upon arriving in Datong Prefecture,

visited the surrounding mountains to see our Yungang Great Grottoes?"

"Since arriving in Datong, we've been busy—haven't had time," Yang Yang Dongxiong shook his head.

"What a pity—the grottoes in the mountains are truly beautiful. When Master Liang awakens, I'd be honored to guide you to see the Yungang Great Buddha."

All thanked him.

Huai Kong continued.

"Non-Abiding Nirvana is like a vast mountain range: to invoke a Buddha is to carve a statue into the cliffside.

Ordinary people use iron chisels and stone hammers; we use the boundless vows of countless devotees. As for the Buddha's appearance and function, it depends first on the invoker's skill, second on the nature of the vows.

For instance, devotees see the Medicine Buddha as one who cures illness, dispels calamity, rescues from suffering—so the vows they gather are the same: this force, like a tidal wave, lifts the Buddha-boat toward the sea of salvation.

Among them, the invoker is the boatmaster; the other virtuous ones are helmsmen, oarsmen, bowmen, and turners. To summon a true Medicine Buddha, all must cooperate: a calm invoker, a kind bowman, together riding the vows of all beings.

Though this may sound irreverent—if my ancestor, the Golden Vajra King, were to become the boatmaster, the Medicine Buddha would be utterly unsuitable; even if summoned, its power would be greatly diminished. Conversely, many great protective Dharmapalas would be perfectly suited."

"I see."

All had grown up amid the rivers and marshes of Jianghuai, where boats were common; these metaphors were simple and clear, opening their minds.

"A Buddha is one carved into the grottoes after passing the Six Demons Trial, gaining favor and receiving the ritual's protection.

The rituals of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Arhats are fixed; once favored, we use our innate Buddha by consuming the vows carved into the grottoes.

The vows are like an endless sea—boundless in supply, limited only by whether the user can withstand them."

Xu Xu Yue thought for a moment, then suddenly realized a fact.

A terrifying fact, one he had never perceived because he had previously understood nothing.

"Then Liang Ashui didn't just summon a Buddha—he summoned himself?"

"Master Xiang is the boatmaster of the Warrior-Saint Buddha?" Guan Guan Congjian said matter-of-factly.

The boatmaster Huai Kong's mind flashed with a golden monkey, then recalled the sutras he had read.

A moment of silence.

"Master Liang is unusual—he seems to be one who stirs the waves, and one who rides the boat—"