Chapter 1048

Brother Qian Chen lifted the seven-treasure Kapala made of white bone, and the six types of Paramitas radiating brilliant light within the bowl did not dim.

Instead, they became even more clear and thorough.

He was dressed in the attire of a white-robed scholar, but his appearance had reverted to that of Li Er from the past, only more mature; he could now be considered a handsome young man.

Originally, Brother Qian Chen had restored his "original" appearance in order to return to being himself.

But after experiencing the Xuanzhen Taiyi cycle, he realized that his past memories were all manifestations of illusory Dao fruits; that original face had no meaning, and perhaps Li Er was closer to his original "self."

It could be considered that he had let go of his mental knots and could calmly appear in his old form!

Without even glancing at the Snow Mountain Great Dharma Master, Brother Qian Chen first turned his head and saw Cui Dan staring at him in a daze.

The vaguely recognizable features, the increasingly refined and ethereal temperament, and that spirited, vibrant air—deep in his bones—which was distinct from the natives of the Earth Immortal Realm, all made Cui Dan hesitate.

It was Brother Qian Chen who spoke first: "What, can't you recognize me?"

Cui Dan hurriedly cupped his hands, bowed, and stumbled through a salute: "Brother Qian... Li... Senior Brother Qian Chen!"

"As you wish..." Brother Qian Chen laughed: "Call me Brother Qian Chen, or Li Er! Both are me!"

When he first met Brother Qian Chen, he was roughly a youth of thirteen or fourteen, but because his pill arts were superb and his cultivation base unfathomable, Cui Dan had assumed he was a senior of the Daoist Sect.

Among the high experts of the Daoist Sect, there was no lack of those who cultivated in the bodies of Nascent Soul infants, and Cui Dan assumed Brother Qian Chen was one of them.

But at the meeting in Jiankang, Brother Qian Chen had grown a little, and now he had fully matured.

This confirmed Cui Dan's guess—Senior Brother Qian Chen and the legendary Li Er were one and the same person; it was likely the path of a high Daoist expert reincarnating to cultivate again!

"Li Er!"

Cui Zhuo's heart was in turmoil, though his face remained as calm as a still lake; in reality, huge waves were crashing within him.

He had heard of both names, Brother Qian Chen and Li Er, and they were both illustrious.

Li Er was thought to be the only true successor after the destruction of the Supreme Louguan Sect, a noble son of the Longxi Li clan, who had been abducted by villains in his youth, an event that had once stirred Chang'an.

Later, it was heard that he had appeared in Jiankang, Southern Jin, and was personally identified by his clan uncle, Li Chong.

And the Supreme Louguan Sect's protector, Brother Qian Chen, was even more famous.

The Battle of the Hong Hong Sihai, spearing the Long Wang, subduing the Hong Hong Sihai, and the trip to the Gui Xu had all spread many shadowy, unsubstantiated rumors.

These two people's tracks seemed to overlap, but because the gap in their cultivation was too great...

... he had always assumed Brother Qian Chen was the protector of the Supreme Louguan Sect's Li Er.

But now, they were actually one person!

Brother Qian Chen had been able to battle the Primordial Spirit Long Wang decades ago; how old was Li Er back then?

Suppressing the shock in his heart, Cui Zhuo did not show anything on his face, merely retreating behind Bukong.

Bukong stood with his palms pressed together before his chest, only offering a bitter smile.

"This is not my true body..." Brother Qian Chen said casually, using his hand to tease the angry Master Jiao Yan: "It was this little fellow who painted my future shadow here. When I enter Chang'an, I will have to follow this painted body in to pay off its debt."

Cui Dan asked excitedly: "Senior, can you subdue a great Primordial Spirit cultivator of the Fomen with just a painted body?"

"The credit all belongs to it!"

Brother Qian Chen continued to poke the little belly of Master Jiao Yan, poking until it turned its head in anger: "It cast a spell to force the Snow Mountain Great Dharma Master to seal it, and the Golden and Silver Boys it rescued restrained the Fomen's spiritual treasure. Even the Blood Demon Old Ghost who came to finish us off, haha, is an old acquaintance of it. Subdued by the shores of its Blood Sea, one pole defeated a great demonic figure, so he chose to follow it... As for me! I'm just here for the score, 3.0, a free-ride match!"

Cui Dan laughed: "But Senior suppressed the most important spiritual treasure!"

"It was already an ownerless object, what trouble could there be?"

Brother Qian Chen said modestly.

Nearby, the Snow Mountain Great Dharma Master, pinned to the ground by the magic blade, struggled upon hearing this. Brother Qian Chen gave the Blood Demon Old Ghost a look, and the demon elephant stepped on him with its four hooves—ten layers of hell, four great Asuras, and five great Ghost Emperors suppressed him together...

Instantly, the man stopped moving!

The Blood Demon Old Ghost and the Prison-Suppressing Demon Dragon Elephant were also fierce and illustrious in the demonic path, possessing a physical body comparable to the true form of ancient gods and demons.

Now, like a bullied young wife, it kept its four hooves together, carefully shrinking its body, lowering its head, and stealing glances, trying its best to hide its presence.

But how could something with such demonic might hide itself?

It was merely revealing its fear of Brother Qian Chen to the fullest!

Cui Dan asked curiously: "By the way! Senior, what is the origin of the mantra you used to subdue that bone bowl? Why did it become quiet and motionless after you chanted just one sentence?"

Bukong, standing nearby, felt a stir in his heart and suddenly spoke: "That sentence is a great mantra, and also a great vow. 'Gate'... is the Sanskrit word for 'go', 'Para' means to cross to the other shore, 'Sam' means the multitude, everyone. Put together, the meaning of this mantra is—let us go together, let us go together! Let us go together to the other shore, let us lead all sentient beings to the other shore!"

"'Bodhi' is great wisdom, correct enlightenment, correct fruit; 'Svaha' means to quickly achieve."

He looked at Brother Qian Chen and said: "The last sentence is a vow for all sentient beings to quickly achieve the correct fruit!"

"This mantra is a great vow, a great vow to save all sentient beings and lead them to the other shore. The Venerable One reached out to touch the Kapala holy bowl and pointed to the earth, which is using the Earth-Touching Seal to let Bodhisattva Long Shu and the Mother of Earth's Secret Treasury witness his great vow."

"Bodhisattva Long Shu witnessed the Venerable One's great vow, so naturally, he withdrew his divine powers and lowered that Kapala holy bowl."

Cui Dan suddenly understood, but he did not understand how Brother Qian Chen, a high Daoist expert, came to have a great Buddhist vow.

Brother Qian Chen shook his head: "That was not my great vow, but a resonance of the Fomen to the great vow of another great existence."

He thought for a moment and said: "According to my... no, according to his thoughts, this vow should be: Gate Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi Svaha, Upaya Parasamgate!"

Bukong's expression shifted slightly, and he said: "'Bodhi' is sentient beings, 'Bodhisattva' is the awakened one among sentient beings, which is also a Bodhisattva! And 'Upaya' means skillful means!"

"The meaning of this sentence is—"

"Let us go together, let us go together! Let us go together to the other shore, I vow to lead all people to the other shore, I vow to lead all sentient beings to the other shore, I vow to lead all sentient beings to be able to go to the other shore."

Bukong frowned: "There is no mention of enlightenment in it. If sentient beings are not enlightened, how can they go to the other shore? If they are not enlightened, even if they reach the other shore, their hearts are still on this shore!"

Brother Qian Chen shook his head: "Just take them to the other shore, we can talk about whether they are enlightened later!"

Xuanzhen Taiyi wanted to destroy the world.

The other shore was the unbearable compassion in his heart, promising the sentient beings of the world a peaceful and harmonious world, just as they wished.

It was precisely when Tai Shang was twisting the beads in the past that the Buddha saw Tai Shang's spiritual light, and a small portion of people saw the infinite destruction within the spiritual light—Xuanzhen Taiyi's desire to destroy the world—but only the Buddha, because his heart was cold and his great vows were lost, saw the compassion in Xuanzhen Taiyi's heart, saw the "other shore" he promised to sentient beings!

That was why the Buddha began to ponder what the other shore was.

What kind of world did sentient beings want!

Therefore, the two ancestors of the Fomen opened up the Pure Land and Mount Sumeru, or rather, it was precisely because the two ancestors of the Fomen pushed for it that the great Buddhist Dharma was opened up, and the originally illusory other shore promised by Xuanzhen Taiyi vaguely took shape, turning into a Dao fruit that would fall in the future to save all sentient beings.

It must be said that Brother Qian Chen still respected the two ancestors of the Fomen very much.

Of course, that did not hinder him from smashing the bald donkeys' dog heads...

Bukong's expression was slightly agitated, and he shook his head: "That is absolutely not the case. Without correct enlightenment, one cannot see the other shore; if there is correct enlightenment, everywhere is the other shore..."

Brother Qian Chen glanced impatiently at the Snow Mountain Great Dharma Master over there, and Bukong swallowed the rest of his words.

Turning the Kapala bowl over, the gold and silver beans inside rolled out, instantly transforming into two chubby little boys, the height of a calf, who hurriedly wiped their faces, ran up to hug Brother Qian Chen's calves, and hid behind him.

Patting the two boys' heads, Brother Qian Chen said: "You haven't lost weight after being refined by others for so long; how much did you eat back then?"

Brother Qian Chen was both disgusted and somewhat concerned as he lifted them to weigh them.

The Golden and Silver Boys instantly shrank their heads under Brother Qian Chen's white robes, leaving only their two round buttocks exposed.

Master Jiao Yan flew over in anger, pointing at the sky and drawing on the ground, babbling in a chaotic, meaningless way, exposing Brother Qian's black heart.

It reminded the Golden and Silver Boys not to forget that in the Gui Xu, it was because the two of them were greedy that they ate a lot of the Sun Gold Essence and Moon Silver Soul in the Burial Mystery Cave, wanting to transform their essence.

As a result, they were kicked out by Brother Qian Chen in disgust and driven out of the Western Kunlun Ruins.

Brother Qian Chen was also in a difficult position!

What can you do if the dog you raised eats shit? You can only drive it out of the house to rinse its mouth...

Master Jiao Yan was especially indignant when it came to this. It stood up for them, followed the Golden and Silver Boys to Chang'an, and even after being suppressed, it still loyally brought the Blood Demon Old Ghost to prepare to rescue them. But what about Brother Qian Chen?

It had long since painted the Qinglong Temple, which could outline Brother Qian Chen's future shadow.

But even when the Golden and Silver Boys were bullied, Brother Qian Chen was still slow, walking for a whole night from the mountain gate to the pagoda forest, fearing only that he would have to refine the two boys thoroughly once more.

He is disgusted by you!

Master Jiao Yan wished it could grab those two little things by the ears and shout.

Brother Qian Chen pretended not to know, looking left and right, casually throwing the Snow Mountain Great Dharma Master under the nine-story golden pagoda, then pointing a finger, and the Blood Demon Old Ghost laughed strangely as it sat on the pagoda. Brother Qian Chen personally wrote the nine-character mantra—Bing, Lin, Dou, Zhe, Zhen... on the pagoda.

Instantly, the Blood Demon Old Ghost was able to refine that pagoda, turning the tables to suppress the Snow Mountain Great Dharma Master within it, refining him with the ten layers of hell.

It was one thing that he was disgusted that his own boys ate shit.

It was another thing entirely if you really dared to lay a hand on them! Who said Brother Qian Chen didn't hold a grudge?

Taking everyone, he found a few cushions under the Thousand-Hand Guanyin on the rear hall's screen wall and sat down, sitting cross-legged under the gaze of various murals on the east, west, and north walls, especially the Three-Body Buddha on the west wall.

Bukong retreated, went to the main hall to brew tea, and brought it over, respectfully offering it to Brother Qian Chen's side.

Now their Qinglong Temple could be considered to have the surname Li. Four elders of the temple had died, one had been suppressed, and even the temple's treasure that suppressed the Mi Sect had been pressed down by someone with a single finger!

They, these monks, really could not afford to be presumptuous.

It was better to restrain their thoughts and serve these few masters with tact.

Bukong was still clear about whether they would be collected into the gourd by the Golden and Silver Boys or refined into puppets by Master Jiao Yan...

The heartless Golden and Silver Boys turned their heads and forgot everything that had happened before, chasing and fighting in the rear hall.

Cui Dan was savoring the good tea offered by Qinglong Temple.

This was an ancient tea tree that Qinglong Temple had put great effort into cultivating within the temple to win over the nobles of Northern Wei.

It was said that for this mother plant, the Snow Mountain Great Dharma Master had forcibly broken into Wuyi Mountain.

Now it was all cheap for the Li surname...

Swallowing a mouthful of the Lengyan Samadhi leaf tea soup, the rich fragrance carried a hint of sandalwood, yet it was extremely subtle, present yet absent, not excessive, having already reached the realm of the Sumeru fragrance mentioned in the Buddhist scriptures.

Cui Dan only felt a basin of warm water slowly clearing and moisturizing his soul.

The tension and fatigue of these days were swept away, and his spiritual platform suddenly became clear...

Bukong laughed on the side: "This Lengyan Samadhi leaf is something my master chanted the 'Lengyan Sutra' to the mother tree for sixty years, blessed with the 'Great Fangguang Wonderful Lotus King Ten Directions Buddha Mother Dharani Mantra', with the ashes of the senior brothers' Buddha bones entering extinction cultivated under the tree, and watered with the Eight Treasures Merit Pool water. Only after a long time did the tender buds turn slightly yellow, curled like a meat-bun dharma conch, and only then was the cultivation successful."

"Drinking it can clear the heart and calm the spirit, open wisdom and realize nature. Even my master loves this tea very much!"

Cui Dan was stunned halfway through hearing this, the tea in his mouth could neither be swallowed nor spat out...

No, the Central Lands is not your Great Snow Mountain Buddhist Kingdom, where all human bones and human intestines are treated as treasures.

Once he thought that the tea he was drinking was watered with bone ashes.

Cui Dan's face turned panicked, looking left and right, sitting uneasily, holding a mouthful of tea not knowing what to do.

"What are you afraid of?"

Brother Qian Chen couldn't stand him: "Didn't the Northern Wei Crown Prince grind up sarira to use for his cultivation in order to practice divine powers?"

"Come, Master Jiao Yan, give him a sarira to soak in tea!"

Master Jiao Yan still wanted to be angry with Brother Qian Chen at other times, but when it came to making trouble, it didn't need Brother Qian Chen's reminder. It mischievously threw a sarira into Cui Dan's teacup, dyeing it with a piece of Buddha light.

Brother Qian Chen listened to Bukong's words, but he didn't have as many fastidious requirements as Cui Dan. People die, who doesn't fertilize the fields?

Are you really not going to eat vegetables anymore?

Instead, it was after the Snow Mountain Great Dharma Master came to the Central Lands.

From spending effort cultivating tea trees to increase the attraction to Northern Wei nobles, to his own indulgence in the subtleties of the tea ceremony, Brother Qian Chen was somewhat interested.

This generation still uses Sanskrit for their dharma names, not showing them to others, which is why they have nicknames like Snow Mountain Great Dharma Master.

On one hand, extremely conservative, on the other hand, Sinicized very quickly.

This person's thoughts are indeed hard to fathom!

Above Brother Qian Chen's head was the Thousand-Hand Thousand-Eye Guanyin. He glanced at Master Jiao Yan, who was slandering and leaking heavenly secrets without permission, and said leisurely to Cui Dan: "You only achieved a second-rank pill, which is disappointing to me!"

Cui Dan sighed and shook his head: "Time and fate! I was young and frivolous, and in the end, I woke up too late. One wrong step, and it's hard to achieve anything."

"If you were to undergo a tempering to make up for this shortcoming, only this tempering would not be as smooth as your family's, would you be willing?"

"Ah!"

Cui Dan reached out and almost knocked over the teacup, hurriedly steadying it, pointing at his own nose: "Me?"

Brother Qian Chen suddenly laughed brilliantly: "Let's not mention this for now, wait until I enter Chang'an..."

"By the way! What are you doing at Qinglong Temple? Do you need my help?"

Cui Dan opened his mouth, remaining silent for a long time.

The purpose was to take your Golden and Silver Boys back... Can you help?

He turned his head to look at his clan brother.

Cui Zhuo hurriedly turned his head, pretending not to see.

Just kidding!

Taking them back is not a merit, but inviting two ancestors for the Cao family!

For the sake of His Majesty's safety, for the sake of the Great Wei's mountains and rivers, can this thing be provoked?

Cui Zhuo counted silently in his heart: "One Primordial Spirit, two Primordial Spirits, three Primordial Spirits... Hmm! Those two boys have infinite strength, although they don't have much magic power, but relying on this golden body that even a Buddhist Primordial Spirit cannot refine, they should count as one Primordial Spirit together!"

A small Qinglong Temple actually invited back four Primordial Spirits.

If you don't have bad luck, who does?

It's also blocking a disaster for the Cao family of Great Wei...

(End of chapter)