Volume 3: Can You Hold On Now? Chapter 6: Wisdom Heart

  Light pours through the paper-pasted window into the scripture storage room, and dust floats in the sunlight.

  Xu Xian sat on the wooden floor of the attic, surrounded by piles of scattered scriptures.

  The smell of ink and wood, the musty smell from the wooden pavilion surrounded him, but he just kept walking. As if he had forgotten Fahai's test for himself.

  It's not impossible to memorize so many scriptures in three days. If it were Pan Yu, he probably wouldn't need three days because he not only has a photographic memory but also has read extensively. He may have already flipped through these scriptures before, and at most, he just needs to confirm them once.

  But Xu Xian couldn't do that, his photographic memory was the result of later practice, not a kind of understanding memory, but a full-screen memorization. The stored information is not infinite. He can easily recite a Buddhist scripture, but if it's ten scriptures, he'll be struggling, and if it's fifty scriptures, it's almost impossible.

  He spent a whole day's time, but only memorized these twenty books. If he wanted to go further, the things he had memorized before would quickly be forgotten. Now he was at his wit's end.

  Fa Hai looked at Xu Xian's appearance from the purple golden alms bowl, frowned and smiled slightly. For such an unyielding little boy, he had to be given a warning shot, and when he admitted defeat and begged for mercy from himself, this master would have a sense of accomplishment.

  Suddenly, Xu Xian in the purple gold basin made a strange pose, like a big movement, curling up his feet and drawing back and forth with both hands on his head.

  Five hearts facing upwards? Doesn't seem like it.

  Seven Postures of Sitting? Not either.

  Chapter Five

  With his thousand years of experience, he didn't know what kind of sitting method this was, but it turned out that the creator of this sitting method was also a high-ranking monk who passed it down, named Ikkyu. It is said to be able to instantly increase intelligence by several hundred points.

  Xu Xian's legs went numb from sitting for too long, and he estimated that even if an episode of "The Clever Jiraiya" had finished playing, he still wouldn't have thought of a solution. He stretched out his limbs and fell to the ground with a thud, bumping into the pile of books beside him. With a rustling sound, he tumbled into the stack.

  A finely bound Diamond Sutra slammed into his chest, making him grunt in surprise. He quickly got up and rubbed it gently. Suddenly, he felt a hard object, took it out to look at it, and found that it was the small merit amulet. Since getting it, he had only used it once, and then many things happened, so he put this little thing behind his mind.

  Today, he took it out and saw that there were tens of thousands of merits on it. Xu Xian was overjoyed in his heart, how could he forget this thing? This is the Aladdin's lamp personally made by the founder of Taoism!

  Xu Xian casually picked up the "Ah Jing" from the pile of books, holding a scripture in one hand and a plaque in the other. He silently recited: "Taishang Laojun, please help me, let me memorize this book."

  The jade tablet does not reflect anything.

  Xu Xian thought to himself, could it be that Master Ancestor saw me wanting to join the Buddhist sect and was displeased in his heart, refusing to help me.

  Then he lectured and explained to Yu Pai for a whole hour, emphasizing how he was "in the Buddhist camp but his heart was in Taoism", and his hatred for being a monk. But Yu Pai still didn't have any reaction.

  Xu Xian was puzzled in his heart, because Yu Xuanji didn't want him to use the merit plate casually, so he only roughly explained it and didn't introduce the usage of the merit plate in detail, which led to Xu Xian's current predicament.

  Xu Xian couldn't help but sigh: Alas, others get their hands on some kind of treasure and use it with ease, without even needing an instruction manual. But when it comes to himself, no matter how hard he racks his brains, he can't figure out how to use this legendary super-treasure that was supposedly created by the founder of Taoism. It's just like when he was a kid and first started using computers - all he knew how to do was turn them on.

  Right, computer, program.

  Xu Xian's mind flashed with insight, feeling like he had grasped something. He stood up and spun around in a circle, yes, it was the program. It was just like having a powerful body but no way to use it, the merit in this Merit Card was also a kind of power, only he hadn't found a way to use it yet.

  In the Zen room, Fangzhang walked up to the purple gold bowl and took a few glances, praising Fahai: "Master Fahai is indeed skilled, if he can persuade this great poet to become a monk in our Lingyin Temple, it will surely cause a sensation in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and at that time, the pilgrims

  Fa Hai said discontentedly: "Elder Yuan Kong, we are all monks, how can our minds be so preoccupied with fame and wealth? Is the Buddhist Dharma not more important than incense offerings?"

  The abbot smiled, and his smile was a few points less worldly, a few points more solemn. He clasped his hands together and asked: "Master, what is the use of Buddhist law?" This high-ranking monk who understood the meaning of the sutra suddenly asked this sentence, and Fa Hai was taken aback.

  "Mahabodhi, ferrying sentient beings."

  The abbot laughed and said: "The Dharma Master's Buddhism is all about the correct enlightenment, while my Buddhism is to ferry all living beings."

  Fa Hai furrowed his brow, "What a tone!"

  The abbot said: "When I took over as the abbot of Lingyin Temple,

  "There are only about twenty people here. The previous dynasty was in chaos and the place was ruined. It has taken several decades to build towers and pavilions to create the present atmosphere."

  Fa Hai was surprised at how this monk had suddenly shown his true abilities.

  The abbot continued: "Although I don't have the unmatched magical powers of a Dharma Master, I often think about how to help others. It wasn't until I took over as the abbot of this Lingyin Temple that I understood that helping all sentient beings is not something that can be accomplished by one person's power alone, which is why the Buddha had to incarnate in countless forms. These countless forms refer to you and me, as well as many ordinary monks. Where there are monks, there must be temples, and the more magnificent the temple's Buddha hall, the larger the Buddha statue, the more numerous the believers. Only then can the Buddha's teachings be spread! It is not that the Buddha loves gold statues, but rather people love gold statues; it is not that monks love money, but rather people love money.

  "The Dharma is bright and great, how can it be bent for foolish people?"

  The abbot smiled and said, "Xu Xian, the ferryman, is a man with a wise root. Perhaps one day he can become a Buddha. But among the countless sentient beings, how many Xu Xians are there? What about those without wisdom roots? Should we just ignore them? We can only bend down to guide them, and even if we cannot make them enlightened, we can at least make them incline towards goodness."

  Fa Hai bowed his head and said, "The will of Master Yuan Kong is beyond me." He had always followed the path of quiet cultivation in the mountains, where one would help others if possible, but not if it was not possible. Seeing Master Yuan Kong, an ordinary monk, he felt a sense of superiority, and seeing his greedy appearance, he looked down on him even more. Now he finally understood that he himself was "small-minded", while the other was "great-minded". He finally understood why Master Yuan Kong had seen through his tricks without being surprised - it turned out that the other also had something to be proud of.

  Buddhism originated in a foreign land, but it developed in China. At its lowest point, the disciples of Buddhism suffered greatly. One of the biggest turning points was the emergence of Mahayana Buddhism, which surpassed the so-called "Hinayana" that emphasized self-enlightenment. The Mahayana Buddhism that aimed to save all living beings was undoubtedly more suitable for spreading teachings, and its development was extremely rapid.

  But what plays a role in it is that countless yuan empty elders are really loving money or pretending to love money, this point will not change.

  The abbot hastily returned the courtesy, saying: "It's just that if one can't use such a powerful method to subdue demons and protect the Buddhist Dharma, even if there are many more old monks like me, it would be in vain. If this time we can accept Mr. Xu as a disciple, for the development of our Lingyin Temple and for the glory of our Buddhist Dharma, it would truly be extremely beneficial."

  Fa Hai frowned and said: "I hope so!"

  In the purple golden alms bowl, Xu Xian was delighted to see that he had found an effective way.

  Xu Xian, however, understood the usage of the merit plate. Although there was indeed power within it, it couldn't respond to overly complex requests. It was like a computer program that required correct input commands to execute; if the commands were unrecognizable, no matter how many times they were entered, it would be in vain.

  Xu Xian wants to achieve that wish "to recite these books by heart." The information contained in it is too complicated. Reciting a book is an active thing itself.

  That's something that only intelligent life can understand. Even with a computer, it still requires human operation to copy and paste. And this world obviously doesn't have such magical things as spirits of appliances.

  Xu Xian tried another way, holding a Buddhist scripture and silently wishing: "Make this book float up." Indeed, a beam of light was emitted from the merit plate, and then the book floated in mid-air. Apparently, this was a wish that the merit plate could understand. Xu Xian thought to himself "stop". The Buddhist scripture fell down.

  That's right, a simple and clear wish can be fulfilled. Looking at the merit card again, it indeed has one less merit, which is probably the minimum deduction limit.

  Xu Xian was overjoyed in his heart, and once again silently made a wish to enlighten himself. Another beam of clear light appeared and flowed into Xu Xian's body. Xu Xian suddenly felt a cool breeze on his forehead, and everything around him became clearer than ever before. He glanced at the bookshelf with his big eyes, just for an instant, and immediately came up with a number in his mind - 458. It was exactly the number of Buddhist scriptures.

  Looking at the numbers on the merit plate changing little by little, although very slow, but very firm. With a clear head, he immediately understood that this should be a state, in which his brain seemed to have become much more agile. After all, it's not impossible to turn an ordinary person into a genius overnight, but apparently, the information contained inside is too complicated to check. The merit plate is difficult to understand, but it's better to use the power of merit for a short time to clear the mind.

  Xu Xian knew that it was time to wait, so he hastily picked up a metal book and started reading. As expected, there was no feeling of difficulty at all. With just a slight thought, the contents were clearly printed in his mind.

  Fa Hai frowned deeply, but he had no choice. Xian Yu used his merits to cheat. No cultivator would say that he cheated because cultivating merits to reduce calamities and tribulations was a concept that was perfectly legitimate. Merits were an integral part of a cultivator's being, just like their eyes or arms. Who could say that using one's eyes was wrong?

  Fa Hai sighed: "The Taoist ancestor is mysterious and wonderful, and he has such a means. With a wave of his hand, the influence on the purple gold bowl disappeared, and it transformed into its original appearance."

  It wasn't long before Xu Xian had memorized all the scriptures, stopped consuming merit points, and suddenly felt a darkness in the room. Although he knew it was just an illusion, he couldn't help but sigh. The feeling of being a genius was truly wonderful. Looking again at the merit points that had only consumed a few dozen points, this method was called "Wisdom Heart". If he could enter this state when learning combat skills in the future, it would be a great advantage.

  Recollecting the scripture, although it's not as clear as before, I can still recite it word for word.

  Haha, laughed three times, just pushed the door and left, turned back to see the books all over the floor, and then turned back to put the books back in their original place. Lowered his head to pick them up, but saw a pale blue long skirt, looked up and saw Xiao Qian looking at him with a happy face. (End of chapter)