The Lord of Void and Real
Chapter 696

Chapter 696: Chapter 692: Fame Spreads Far and Wide Chapter 696: Chapter 692: Fame Spreads Far and Wide A muffled “thud” came!

Shen Luo hesitated for an instant, but Zhan Guo had already brought down the incense burner on Chan'er's head.

However, his body was trembling, his hands unsteady. This blow did not hit Chan'er's skull squarely but grazed his eyebrow corner and struck the floor behind, bouncing up violently, and fell aside.

Chan'er's eyebrow corner was split open, fresh blood mixed with incense ashes smeared half of his cheek.

Shen Luo's heart tightened, but seeing that Chan'er didn't frown throughout the process, let alone somewhat reassured, he suppressed the impulse to push the door open.

After throwing the incense burner, Zhan Guo started to smash things in the room crazily, knocking over all the furniture in the room. He also tore down the canopy over the bed and shredded it into pieces.

After messing up the room, he rushed back and punched and kicked at Chan'er, until he was utterly exhausted, then he finally sat limply facing Chan'er on the straw cushion, gradually calming down.

By this time, Chan'er's face and body were covered with bruises. Half of his cheek was covered with bloodstains, half of his face clean, half dirty, half pale, and half black, looking like a hermaphrodite.

Not until Zhan Guo finally calmed down did he slowly open his eyes. A pair of eyes were slightly shining, serene, without a trace of blame or anger.

After nodding to Shen Luo, indicating that he was okay, he slowly closed his eyes again and continued chanting scriptures.

Shen Luo watched for a while and seeing that Zhan Guo did not continue to be violent, he slightly felt relieved and slowly shifted his gaze away.

But this time, he didn't continue meditating. Instead, he leaned gently against the door panel, quietly listening to Chan'er's chanting of scriptures.

To his surprise, he waited for three days and three nights.

Not until the evening of the third day did the sound of the wooden fish, which had lasted for three days inside the room, finally stop. Chan'er's chanting also stopped. Suddenly, a warm white light radiated from the room through the crack of the door.

Shen Luo and Bai Xiaotian immediately approached the crack of the door and carefully looked inside.

In the room, they saw Chan'er looking pale as paper, but a white light shone from within his robe, forming a blurry halo around him and illuminating him like a Buddha.

“This is… Buddha's Light!” Bai Xiaotian said slightly surprised.

Shen Luo, however, noticed that Zhan Guo, who had been hanging his head low opposite, suddenly raised his head. He slicked his messy hair behind his ears. His facial expression was calm, and his eyes were no longer lifeless as before.

He kneeled on the straw cushion, bowed three times to Chan'er.

“Master, I am no longer obsessed with the debate between good and evil, but there are still doubts in my heart. Please enlighten me.” Zhan Guo's voice was hoarse as he spoke.

“Putting down the butcher knife makes you a Buddha on the spot. The 'butcher knife' here refers not only to the weapon of killing but also to the obsession with the three thousand afflictions. Everything is emptiness, what is emptiness? Not that things do not exist, but that the heart does not exist. Only by truly giving up obsession can one truly cultivate Zen.” Chan'er slowly explained in response.

“So, Master, you mean that if a wicked person abandons killing, he can become a Buddha? However, good people do not kill, what has to be let go of then?” Zhan Guo asked again.

“You only see the evil person dropping the butcher knife in his hand, but you never see him relinquishing the butcher knife in his heart, eliminating his evil thoughts, and giving rise to good thoughts – this is only the beginning of becoming a Buddha. Carrying the burdens of his past evils and practicing Buddhism is just the beginning of rigorous cultivation. For a good person, it is the opposite. Without evils, they are attached to their consequences. Once they have a sudden enlightenment, they have already become a Buddha.” Chan'er continued.

Upon hearing this, Zhan Guo was silent for a long time before finally prostrating himself in admiration once again.

Afterwards, he was radiant, stood up from his original spot, and left the house with a smile on his face.

In the house, Buddha's Light gradually receded from Chan'er's body, but he suddenly spat out a mouthful of fresh blood and fell to the ground weakly.

Shen Luo was greatly alarmed and rushed into the house. He picked up Chan'er and after a careful examination, his expression finally eased.

“How is he?” Bai Xiaotian hurriedly asked.

“After all, he is a mortal body. Three days and three nights without food and drink, coupled with excessive thinking, he has suffered considerable internal injuries. Fortunately, there's no danger. But he needs a good rest and recuperation for a while,” Shen Luo sighed and said.

A day later, the news that Chan'er from Eastern Great Tang had converted Zhan Guo spread quickly throughout Red Valley City, causing a sensation.

After all, Zhan Guo had a notorious reputation, and the controversies surrounding his actions that year were hard to resolve. Even a high monk like Master Lin Da admitted that he couldn't convert him.

Upon hearing that Chan'er had suffered a severe injury because of this, Master Lin Da immediately came to visit. However, because Chan'er was still in a coma, he did not get to see him, and only left a bottle of healing pills before leaving.

Over the next few days, many great and virtuous monks from the thirty-six monasteries of the Western Regions came one after another from all over the place. The citizens of the surrounding cities also disregarded the long journey and came to gather in Red Valley City.

The already bustling Red Valley City became so crowded that it was congested everywhere.

Left with no choice, King Jiao Lianmi had to issue a royal decree, urging the citizens who had come from outside the city or even from foreign countries to camp outside the city-state and not continue to flood into the city.

At the same time, Master Lin Da personally went outside the city and told everyone that, due to the limited space in the city, the venue for the Mahayana Dharma Assembly had been moved to a relatively open area outside the west city gate.

So, not only the foreign citizens, but even those who originally lived in the city started setting up tents outside the city early. They were waiting for the day of the assembly, wanting to see the true face of the high monk from Eastern Great Tang and listen to his teachings.

However, it was not until half a month later that the king issued a proclamation. Because of the crowd from every country had come to observe the ceremony, making the area outside the west city gate extremely congested, he suddenly moved the location of the Dharma Assembly westward and fully relocated it into the middle of the desert.

In just over half a month's time, the king had people build a wooden platform in the desert with a circumference of a hundred feet. On it, there were 72 lecturing platforms each ten feet high for monks from the thirty-six nations to preach.

On the day the proclamation was issued, tens of thousands of citizens from all nations moved their tents around the Dharma Platform overnight. At night, the bonfires lit in the desert stretched out for several miles, reflecting the stars in the night sky.

By the early morning of the second day, the west gate of Red Valley City was opened. King Jiao Lianmi, along with the queen and several princes, gradually ascended from the gate in a cloud chariot, led by two red-robed monks, and flew in the direction of the meeting location.

Monks from the thirty-six nations, those with magic powers flew up into the air, following right behind the king's cloud chariot. The mortals were led by cultivators, traveling in flying boats or magical treasures.

From below, a large number of citizens followed, yet they could only ride horses and camels or go on foot.

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