Chapter 252: Emergence of the Divine Dragon

There are many ways to accumulate merit in Buddhism, but among them, the easiest is chanting, the act of reading sutras aloud.

According to the Mahayana teachings, the merit gained from reciting any sutra, filling the space with its sound and thus preaching it to others, is boundless—infinitely good.

Moreover, sutras are also called the "light of wisdom," meaning they are great beacons (light) guiding one towards enlightenment (wisdom).

Therefore, the act of chanting sutras aloud becomes an act of seeking direction by gazing upon that singular light shining in the pitch-black secular world, where delusions obscure even the path right before one's eyes.

Thus, if one chants with true understanding of the meaning, there is no greater merit.

However, even without understanding the meaning, who could see the sun and not know brightness?

Therefore, simply reciting the sutras properly according to the Dharma naturally accumulates the merit leading towards Nirvana.

In other words, it's practically free training!

Muhak had no intention of fully teaching Qing martial arts.

He already had a disciple. Comparing Qing and Wolbong, even if Qing seemed lacking in many ways, he wouldn't lament the connection, nor would he covet her brilliance.

Besides, forcing something upon someone who explicitly states they don't need it would also be excessive desire.

So, his intention was simply to have her memorize bright passages, hoping it would add even a finger's worth of help in suppressing the Heavenly Slaughter dwelling within her chest.

Thus, a very peculiar language emerged from Venerable Monk Muhak's lips. The pronunciation, exhaled with breath, contained subtle differences that could completely alter the characters and meanings—an incomprehensible tongue.

This was Sanskrit, the language originally used in the land where Buddhism originated.

However, Muhak was unaware that Qing was equipped with a universal translator.

As soon as she heard the entire sutra, the Martial Arts Window shimmered brightly. Qing checked it and—ta-da!—one martial art was registered in a preparatory state.

And it even had a purple border.

Dragon Elephant Prajna Heart Protection Art?

Hmm. It's purple, so it must be good, right?

"Alright. That was one recitation," Muhak said. "It's a bit long, but if you slowly recite it inwardly during your Qi Breathing Technique, good things will surely happen. Now, I'll recite it again. Ouhm-"

"Ah, Venerable Monk?" Qing interrupted. "Are you perhaps going to repeat that until I memorize it all?"

"Of course," Muhak replied. "Chanting itself is merit. This is wisdom I received directly from a high monk of India, a miraculous scripture where merely reciting it during Qi Breathing Technique imbues one with the profound spirituality of Buddhism. And as I said, you should memorize it while you are still young and your mind is malleable."

Originally, Sanskrit is quite lengthy.

To be precise, the Chinese characters used in the Central Plains are incredibly concise. This is because Chinese characters are the most primitive and foolish picture-memorization system in all the universes, past and future.

It does have the advantage of brevity, though.

However, because it's brief, annotations must be added to the passages, and because the annotations are also brief, annotations for the annotations must be added, doubling and tripling the work.

Trying to actually learn all that by heart would take more than listening all day long, again and again.

Qing lowered her head deeply, shut her eyes tightly, and clenched her teeth as she raised the martial art pending registration in the Martial Arts Window to the First Star.

If she were alone, she could let loose, roll her eyes back like an idiot, tremble, drool, and fully express the horror of her brain being violated. But she couldn't show such a sight in front of the monk, so this was a measure to hide it as much as possible.

Since he told her to memorize it immediately, wasn't the first step to hit the First Star and imprint it in her mind?

"Hmm? What is wrong?" Muhak asked.

"Uhm, I, uh, memowized it aww," Qing mumbled, the aftermath of the brain-kneading slurring her pronunciation.

"What?" Muhak exclaimed. "You memorized it all after hearing it twice? Does that even make sense? It took me half a day of meditation while being struck by a discipline stick to barely memorize it."

"Well, I'll recite it once, so please tell me if there are any mistakes," Qing offered.

Qing then smoothly recited the sutra she had crammed into her brain via shortcut.

The Sanskrit flowed from the woman's beautiful voice, creating a truly strange and mysterious feeling.

That aside... she really had memorized it all!

"This can't be right," Muhak insisted. "Again, do it again."

"Yes. So..." Qing began.

"Again."

"Again."

"Again."

Only after she had completed it a full ten times did Muhak mutter, seemingly crestfallen.

"If you had pursued scholarship instead of martial arts, the world's greatest sage might have been born. Alas, born into a woman's body, the heavens' will falls short."

It was a blasphemous remark that would have earned him a nuclear noogie carpet bombing had Ximen Surin heard it.

However, since women's scholarship wasn't recognized in the primitive Central Plains, it wasn't entirely incorrect either.

After all, the ruling principle of the Central Plains could be summed up in eight characters: 공귀주상 죄귀부하 - All merit belongs to the Son of Heaven, all blame belongs to women.

If the nation fell, it was all because women sinned. That was why figures like Daji and Yang Guifei were blamed for everything and called kingdom-toppling beauties.

"Alright," Muhak conceded. "You have memorized it. Recite it ten times upon waking, recite it inwardly during each Qi Breathing Technique session, and recite it ten times before sleep, and good things will surely happen. This is especially valuable study for you, who carries the ominous starlight of the Heavenly Slaughtering Star."

"Yes, I underst— Wait, you knew?" Qing asked back, startled.

How could he just drop that so suddenly?

Muhak let out a snort through his nose.

"Someone who's the Greatest Under Heaven just knows by looking. It will be a great help in suppressing the Heavenly Slaughter, so don't take my words lightly and recite it morning, noon, and night. Understood?"

"Yes. Thank you," Qing replied.

"Well, you should be thankful."

"Oing?" Qing reacted.

Is this usually where one says, "Please be thankful"?

Venerable Monk Muhak laughed heartily and spoke again.

"Gratitude is the heart moved by grace. Did I not also feel gratitude when you readily offered to return the divine art? Just because we exchanged virtues doesn't mean it didn't happen. Rather, by being grateful to each other, we cultivate merit. This is what's called dependent origination."

Qing looked at Muhak with that expression.

What is he talking about? Why bring up acting? Does he mean I should act grateful?

Muhak burst into boisterous laughter again and rose from his seat.

"Keuheu. Yes. When the secret manual is complete, bring it to Mumyeong Temple. Must an old monk come looking for it? You should travel around a bit while you're young."

That night, Cheon Yuhak presented a pair of shoes.

"Here," he said. "These are shoes for your training. Wear these from now on."

"Eh? What kind of shoes are these?" Qing asked.

"They're called 'Half-shoe'," Cheon Yuhak replied.

It was questionable whether the object Cheon Yuhak offered could even be defined as shoes.

The sole only covered the front part of the foot. Behind that was merely silk that wrapped around the heel and drooped downwards.

Furthermore, the arch and heel were completely open, so standing normally meant the bare skin touched the ground.

"This means I have to walk only on the balls of my feet," Qing observed.

"That's what they're made for," Cheon Yuhak confirmed.

"If I don't lift my heels, this fluttery part will drag on the ground and get dirty."

"Then you have to walk with your heels lifted so they don't drag," Cheon Yuhak instructed.

"And what are these bells here?" Qing asked, shaking the Half-shoe. "Am I some kind of child? Should I jingle around announcing my presence?"

Fortunately, the bells had heavy clappers, so they didn't produce a loud, frivolous tinkle-tinkle sound, but rather a clinking noise like a pouch of silver sycee being shaken.

"So, when you step, use only the ball of your foot," Cheon Yuhak explained. "Ah, the sole is also double-layered, so if you step hard, it makes a tak-tak sound like wood hitting wood, you see? Therefore, step lightly so neither the sole nor the bells make noise, and walk with softness in each and every step."

Once accustomed to this, one could walk without making any sound at all.

This was the secret to how Cheon Yuhak's footsteps produced absolutely no sound.

"Can't I just walk around comfortably...?" Qing lamented.

"Think of it differently," Cheon Yuhak suggested. "Just by walking around carefully in those shoes without making noise, you're training. Isn't that almost free training?"

"Oing?" Qing's eyes widened at the unexpected shift in perspective.

Come to think of it, hmm? Is that right?

"That's stage one," Cheon Yuhak continued. "Once you get used to it, we'll change to heels that make sound more easily and switch the bells to lighter ones. If you can manage to walk silently through stage three, you'll eventually be able to walk across fallen leaves without making a sound."

"Ooh," Qing breathed, completely won over.

And the result...

"Aish..." Qing sighed.

Where in the world was there such a thing as free training?

Training is inherently arduous and difficult.

Saying that just walking around constituted training meant that the act of just walking around was itself arduous and difficult.

The front sole of the Half-shoe was like the metal tap plates used in a strange dance called tap dance from Qing's homeland; even the slightest step produced a very crisp Clack! sound.

The clinking sound, like silver sycee colliding, came from the bells hidden inside the silk draped over the heel.

So, take one step: Clack, Clink.

Take another step: Clack, Clink.

Moreover, since there was no sole on the heel, she had to walk on tiptoe constantly. To prevent the draped silk from dragging on the ground, she had to lift her heels much higher than expected, practically prancing around.

Still, Cheon Yuhak's words offered some comfort.

"Hiyah. They say even a dung beetle has rolling talent. You're quite skillful right from the start. You'll move on to stage two soon."

Since Qing's body was extraordinary, walking on her tiptoes didn't hurt or tire her. It was merely uncomfortable, so she walked quite well.

Then, Thwack!

A surprise nuclear strike landed, and Qing crumpled to the ground, rubbing her head furiously.

She rubbed with the intensity of a primitive man trying to start a fire; it looked like sparks might fly from her head if she kept it up.

"Ow!" she yelped.

"How dare you walk around so frivolously, swaying your backside like that, girl?" Ximen Surin demanded. "Carrying around those already basin-sized things, where did you pick up such a bad habit?"

When the heels are lifted, the angle of the pelvis naturally tilts backward, causing the buttocks to stick out.

Simultaneously, the center of gravity shifts upward, causing the pelvis to sway widely from side to side to maintain balance.

Thanks to this, a posture completely different from the modest gait emphasized by the Ximen Surin-style beauty walking emerged—the seductive allure of a bewitching temptress captivating men.

"It's not like that, actually, it's— Aack!!!"

Thwaack!!!!

Qing took off one shoe to show it but couldn't withstand the second nuclear explosion and ended up rolling on the ground.

It was a rule that a single nuclear strike wasn't enough to knock sense into someone; a second one was always necessary.

"You insolent wench!" Ximen Surin scolded. "How dare you expose your bare foot in broad daylight! Cover it up this instant!"

"Agh, Master, it hurts, it hurts so much. My head, I think my head is splitting..." Qing cried.

"Hmph. Perhaps your head needs to be split a little for you to come to your senses," Ximen Surin retorted. "Stop that and stand up! Cover your foot immediately!"

Feigning pain didn't work, so Qing quickly put her shoe back on.

After she explained the situation, Ximen Surin clicked her tongue disapprovingly, quite forcefully, and said, "Since it's training, I suppose it can't be helped. Though embarrassing to hear, it seems like a rather excellent method. Therefore, disciple, quickly master it and stop that embarrassing walk."

"Yes..." Qing answered, crestfallen.

Then she remembered something she wanted to ask her master—

"Ah. Master," Qing began. "Do you happen to know something called Dragon Elephant Prajna Heart Protection Art?"

"Hm? You mean the Dragon Elephant Prajna Art?" Ximen Surin replied. "Isn't that the divine art of those Lama monks? It's originally said to be from the Great Thunderclap Monastery in India. Why do you ask? Oh. Did you pick it up somewhere again? You've picked up quite an excellent divine art this time."

Ximen Surin didn't even pretend not to know anymore.

"It's not like that, Venerable Monk Muhak taught it to me," Qing explained.

"That bald monk?" Ximen Surin questioned. "That can't be right. You already possess the cultivation of the Zhu Xiang Heart Cleanse Mirror, why would he impart another study? Unless he knew about your peculiar constitution."

"I offered to return the Buddha Palm, and he recited the sutra for me," Qing said. "He only had me memorize the sutra, so I don't think he intended to teach me the martial art itself."

"Hah. If he was going to teach you, he should have done it properly," Ximen Surin scoffed. "True, simply reciting the scripture can suppress the Heavenly Slaughter, but wait—that monk recognized the Heavenly Slaughter? Did you let him read your pulse?"

"He just said he knew by looking..." Qing replied.

Ximen Surin keenly felt the difference in their realms.

In truth, as one's realm increased, each step forward was like reaching the edge of the world's cliff.

The distance represented by the mere three or four steps Muhak was said to have advanced was, in terms of height, a dizzying difference.

"Sigh. This master has been negligent."

Meanwhile, the Dragon Elephant Prajna Heart Protection Art meant cultivating the protection of body and mind with the wisdom of the dragon and elephant.

Here, 'Hosim' (Heart Protection) referred not just to the mind (心), but the physical heart (心臟), a characteristic unique to Absolute Studies of Divine Arts that linked body and mind as one.

In ordinary martial arts, a 'Heart Formula' (護心訣 Hosim-gyeol) would refer to internal energy cultivation, and a 'Body Protection Formula' (護身訣 Hosin-gyeol) to external arts training. Only these peerless divine arts combined the internal and external.

But what was the wisdom of the dragon and elephant?

When faced with adversity, dragons and elephants break through and push forward. The cultivation also included protecting the mind with such steadfast willpower.

However, more than that, it was about immense power!

Weren't the dragon and elephant synonymous with strength?

Learning and mastering it granted divine strength comparable to that of dragons and elephants, making its name renowned.

It was said that reaching Great Completion allowed one to wield the power of Ten Dragons and Ten Elephants.

Of course, martial art sutras were often grand exaggerations, ninety percent bluster. But they certainly conveyed the core function accurately.