I Can See Your Combat Power
Chapter 1580 - Chapter 1580 Chapter Fifty Southern Mountain Sect_2

Chapter 1580: Chapter Fifty: Southern Mountain Sect_2 Chapter 1580: Chapter Fifty: Southern Mountain Sect_2 “Nanshan Legal Realm.”

Yun Xiu squinted at the distant city walls and saw the enormous plaque hanging above the gate. She turned and asked Tang Luo, “Husband, is there something mysterious about this city?”

“This is the leading city of the ‘Vinaya’ faction in Buddha’s Country, the Nanshan sect, although it may not appear distinguished from the outside. The reason for its discretion is that the monks of this sect emphasize the study and strict adherence to the precepts. Buddha’s Country boasts of eighty-four thousand volumes of authentic scriptures, but at least sixty percent of the core content is revised and rectified by the Vinaya School.”

Tang Luo went on and on explaining to Yun Xiu about the origin of the Vinaya School: “Without the Nanshan sect, half of the eighty-four thousand volumes of Buddha’s Country’s true Dharma would be lost, and the current flourish of Zen practice would not be possible.”

“Moreover, today’s Nanshan Legal Realm has become the center of exchange for all sects in Buddha’s Country. Monks with doubts about their own Buddhist or mantra practices make long journeys to seek knowledge from the Nanshan sect.”

“Look at those monks on the fortress paths and wooden bridges, bowing three times and kowtowing nine times; they are all seekers heading to the Nanshan sect.”

Meaning is imparted by people, and through Tang Luo’s endorsement, Yun Xiu’s view of the Nanshan Legal Realm seemed to be suddenly wrapped in a golden light. Those buildings within the city that appeared ordinary now carried an indescribable sense of weight and importance.

Besides this weight, Yun Xiu also felt slightly nervous, and thus she asked Tang Luo, “Husband, do you intend to enter the city?”

“Of course!”

Tang Luo nodded and chuckled, “To fully explore the eighty-four thousand volumes of Buddha’s Country’s scriptures, aside from traveling across all the Pure Lands in Buddha’s realm, one would only ask the Nanshan sect. And now, here we stand just outside Nanshan!”

He spoke with fiery enthusiasm, his eyes full of sincere yearning for seeking knowledge, yet he failed to notice his wife rolling her eyes.

“So, there’s no Jianmu, no spontaneous journey, just an excuse to use a disguise to sneak into the city, right!?”

Yun Xiu sighed, holding her forehead, “I should have realized, such a blockhead as you, what would you know about romance!”

“Uh…”

Tang Luo scratched his head, uneasily explaining, “It’s just being efficient by combining the honeymoon with handling business, right?”

“Don’t explain anymore.”

Yun Xiu spoke with a sense of melancholy and a resigned attitude, listlessly saying, “How would you like to enter the city then, disguised as a novice monk or a grand monk?”

“Uh, no rush!”

Tang Luo grinned, saying, “Let’s just hide on the roadside first and see if there’s any partner with appropriate cultivation level and yet is traveling in pairs.”

“Husband, you mean to…”

“You’re thinking right!”

Tang Luo nodded and said, “Look at all those entering and leaving Nanshan Legal Realm; there isn’t a monk without an impressive robe or low cultivation. If we borrow an identity to enter the city, peruse the scriptures, and then leave, wouldn’t that be splendid!”

“The method is good.”

Yun Xiu hesitated slightly, saying, “But Zen Buddhism has the Five Eyes and Six Supernatural Powers, among which the heavenly eye and wisdom eye can see through illusions. Just like the Great Zen Master Yanshan of Fuyun Temple, my disguising techniques are useless in front of him. With so many experts in Nanshan sect, won’t there be a chance…”

“Madam need not worry.”

Tang Luo waved his hand and said, “Don’t be alarmed by the example of Great Zen Master Yanshan; such an astonishing Buddha Son is hard to find a second of in the entire Zen Buddhism. Besides, that ‘Five Eyes of Zen Buddhism’ is less a supernatural power and more like a gift. You either have it from the start or you never do. This so-called heavenly eye practice merely helps you see further, but it falls far short of seeing through illusions.”

“However, your point is not without merit, as this is after all the Nanshan Sect. Who can guarantee there won’t be a few extraordinarily talented disciples? If our disguises get exposed, we’ll be caught blind. So, let’s do this: I’ll change my appearance and enter the city alone while you wait outside for me!”

Thinking he had come up with a good idea, Tang Luo clenched his fist with excitement and smiled at Yun Xiu, “How about that?”

“The idea isn’t bad, but there’s a slight problem.”

Yun Xiu extended her slender hand, rubbing her index finger and thumb together, and speaking to Tang Luo, “I wonder, Husband, can you understand Sanskrit or read Buddhist text?”

“Hmm?”

“The scriptures compiled in Buddha’s Country are all written in Buddhist script, and when recited, they are chanted in Sanskrit sounds.”

Yun Xiu’s curvaceous eyes gleamed with mirth as she asked Tang Luo, “My lord, how do you plan to distinguish the sacred scriptures once you enter the city alone?”

…

Only when the book is needed does one regret not having enough, and in desperation, the illiterate can only curse.

It was as if, at this moment, Tang Luo was utterly clueless from head to toe.

Perhaps it was because his memories of Zhongzhou included it being the first place where the standard of literacy was universal, and he had fluently communicated with Great Zen Master Jingcheng in Mandarin.

This left Tang Luo completely oblivious to the real problem of his journey, which was how to study the scriptures.

His prior assumptions had suddenly crumbled, and the Void Grandmaster could hardly bear to look straight at the giant city before him now!

Squatting on the mountaintop for a good while and still undecided about whether to descend and pave his way by force, Tang Luo didn’t rush to a decision. Yun Xiu, unbothered, hummed a tune while gathering herbs in the mountains and even brewed a pot of soup with some ingredients he had never seen before.

…

Southern Sky Stronghold Path

An old monk in a worn-out kasaya and a high-pointed bamboo hat was walking forward shakily, leaning on a meditation staff, his eyes fixated inward and his feeble feet shuffling “cua, cua, cua” with pitifully small steps.

Following beside the old monk, a young monk looked despondently at the abyss beside the path, lamenting, “Master, at this pace, by the time we reach Nanshan Sect, the Jifeng Zen Assembly will have ended, and our Jianmu Zen Temple’s plaque might have already been reclaimed!”

“Evil disciple, what are you talking about!”

The angry old monk turned to scold his disciple but, upon catching sight of the cliff outside the path, yelped and turned his head back, letting go of his staff as it clattered to the ground, grabbing onto the inner side wall and shaking like a drowning person.

The young monk covered his face with one hand and with the other caught the staff that nearly rolled off the path, helplessly saying, “Master, calm down, let’s move faster, or we really won’t catch the Jifeng Zen Assembly!”

“Don’t… don’t touch your teacher!”

The old monk, not yet recovered from the shock, closed his eyes and shook off the young monk’s hand, speaking with a fearsome front but inner trepidation, “Your teacher isn’t merely part of the crowd; how could the Jifeng Zen Assembly dare to start without me? You do not understand…”

“Disciple understands that if it weren’t for the personal invitation from the Sect Head of the Vinaya School, you would not deign to join this assembly!”

“Humph humph, good that you, evil disciple, understand.”

The old monk, not daring to open his eyes, muttered: “Speaking of the past, when your teacher debated with Fachuan in the Nanshan Sect, contending fiercely in a spiritual debate, it was truly a situation where only the strongest survived, and all my contemporaries were the elite of their respective temples. In terms of talent and comprehension, your teacher was outstanding, surpassing all others. But regrettably, that year the Vinaya School only chose thirty disciples, and seeing the pitiful young monk Fachuan, I bequeathed my spot to him, and thus we now have the ever-present golden-bodied Arhat, Fachuan, the Sect Head of Nanshan Sect!”

“Yes, yes, yes, disciple knows that without Master, there would be no Fachuan Sect Head today.”

The young monk reiterated the well-worn story he had heard too often and earnestly addressed the old monk, “But Master, times have changed. Nowadays, around Jianmu City, there are more and more poisonous insects and less and less food. If we don’t find a solution soon, soon there will be no living people left in the city, and then Jianmu Zen Temple will no longer exist.”

“So, our purpose at the Jifeng Zen Assembly this time is not only to discuss the Buddhist teachings but more importantly, to seek help from the Sect Head, to find a solution to the hidden dangers lurking around Jianmu City. Master, your attitude must be better this time; after all, times have changed!”

The young monk walked beside the old monk, chattering on and on with his advice.

The irritable old monk, who was sick of listening, wanted to scold his disciple, but as soon as his hands left the cliffside, a tremor struck his heart.

He quickly clung back to it, with his face to the side and eyes closed, he berated loudly, “Without me, there would be no Fachuan of today; he owes me this debt, and there’s no need for courtesies. Once we enter the city and after the assembly concludes, all it would take is one word from me, and Fachuan will have to scurry over to Jianmu City to resolve the problems. Do you believe your teacher, you evil disciple?!”

“I believe, I believe, disciple believes!”

The young monk, walking beside the old monk, kept saying this, while softly advising, “But Master, you really must hurry, otherwise, we’ll miss the Jifeng Zen Assembly. Shall your disciple carry you instead?”

“You evil disciple, do you think your Master is so old that he can’t walk anymore?!”

The enraged old monk, hands gripping the cliff wall, “cua, cua, cua,” inched forward, his pace… touching.