Chapter 4

Sparse stars sprinkled their pale light over the undulating mountains. The gentle light filtered through the dense tree canopies, casting a hazy hue over the pre-dawn forest and dotting the clearings with faint, dappled shadows. The entire forest was quiet, with the occasional rustle of leaves in the mountain breeze adding to the serene atmosphere.

Due to a light snowfall in the early part of the night, some scattered patches of snow and ice remained in the forest, making it easy to slip. As a pharmacist who was not skilled in combat, Meixue naturally walked slowly, taking nearly an hour to reach the halfway point of the back mountain.

However, it wasn't just because of this.

What made his steps heavy was the diary in his arms.

He himself didn't understand why, even after deciding to sever all ties with the secular world and enter the Buddhist order, he still couldn't let go of this diary and had brought it with him to meet Master Huiguo.

Indeed, severing one's past attachments is not an easy task.

Perhaps, once he truly entered the Buddhist order, such worries would naturally disappear. With this thought, Meixue quickened his pace, and he could vaguely see the outline of the mountaintop and the figure standing there, unmoving.

Sure enough, the master had been waiting for him. It was unclear how long he had been waiting, perhaps since they parted ways. For a master who had attained true enlightenment to wait in such a remote place for so long, Meixue felt quite apologetic.

"Sorry, Master, I'm late," he said, slightly out of breath, as he climbed to the top of the mountain and apologized to Master Huiguo.

A thin layer of snow had already formed under Master Huiguo's feet, and the temperature at the mountaintop was much lower than at the base. From the fact that the snow had not melted and had even passed his feet, it was clear that he had not moved all night.

Waiting for him all night in the snow, the master's mental discipline alone was enough to prove that his choice was correct. This was a truly virtuous master, not one of those hypocritical monks who preached one thing and did another.

He had not chosen to enter the Buddhist order on a whim but had truly understood his physical limitations and decided to bid farewell to his past and embark on a new path in life.

Perhaps, as Master Huiguo had said, he had a connection with the Buddha.

"Not late at all, not at all," Master Huiguo said, looking into Meixue's clear eyes, feeling that this journey was not in vain.

Even if it took three days, three years, or thirty years, it would be worth it to guide this young man into the Buddhist order.

"Amitabha, in the presence of the Buddha, today I have the good fortune to guide a person with wisdom into our order, which is a great blessing for the Buddhist community."

This young man has a firm spirit and a clear mind, making him the perfect talent to revitalize our order. With the current prosperity of the immortal path, we need such talents to ensure the continuity of our Buddhist tradition.

"Have you decided to join our Ling Shan order?" Despite knowing that a person with wisdom is a rare talent for the Buddhist order, Master Huiguo still asked Meixue according to the rules.

The Buddha guides those with a connection, and even if a person with wisdom refuses the teachings of the Buddhist order, it can only be said that they have no connection with the Buddha in this life.

"Yes, I have made my decision. I will sever all ties with the secular world and enter the Buddhist order to cultivate my mind," Meixue nodded, stating his resolve.

Nine hundred and ninety-nine confessions, nine hundred and ninety-nine heartbreaks—perhaps this was a warning that he should no longer be deluded and that severing these ties and entering the Buddhist order to cultivate his mind was the right path.

"Very good, very good. Then I will begin your initiation ceremony," Master Huiguo's white eyebrows trembled, and the years of cultivation in mental discipline were almost lost.

After a hundred years of cultivation in the Buddhist order, he had long thought he had reached the state of no emotional disturbance, but encountering Meixue, who possessed wisdom, almost rendered his mental discipline ineffective.

Now, he realized that his decision to visit Mount Tiantai on a whim when passing through this small mountain was a hint from the Buddha. A person with wisdom is a rarity that appears only once in a thousand years.

Therefore, even if it was somewhat unconventional, Master Huiguo decided to hold Meixue's initiation ceremony on the spot to avoid any complications.

"Master, I am a pharmacist and have practiced some basic alchemy techniques. Is this a problem?" Meixue was not very familiar with the Buddhist order, and before this, he had practiced the true path of immortals and had become a junior pharmacist.

"No problem, no problem. In our Buddhist order, there is the Eastern Medicine Buddha, who bestows medicine and compassion to all beings. The Buddhist order also has alchemy techniques."

"That's good. I am ready," Meixue took a deep breath, calming his mind as he waited for the initiation ceremony to begin.

However, the diary in his arms seemed to be heating up. Was this just an illusion?

"Listen well. Our Buddhist order has countless scriptures, but only one can be called the fundamental scripture, the Heart Sutra of the Perfection of Wisdom."

"Observing the Bodhisattva practicing the profound Perfection of Wisdom, he saw the five aggregates as empty, thus transcending all suffering. Shariputra, form is not different from emptiness, and emptiness is not different from form. Form is emptiness, and emptiness is form. Sensation, perception, volition, and consciousness are also like this. Shariputra, all phenomena are empty, neither arising nor ceasing, neither defiled nor pure..."

As Master Huiguo recited, strange phenomena began to appear in the sky. Although it was still some time before sunrise, countless crimson clouds appeared on Mount Tiantai, and within these clouds, countless rays of light shone.

"Amitabha! What is happening!" Master Huiguo was very clear about his level of cultivation.

Although he was already a renowned high monk and a master capable of founding a sect in the eyes of others, his cultivation place was the Small Thunderclap Temple of the Western Ling Shan, the main mountain of the Buddhist order. There, his cultivation did not even rank in the top hundred, and he was far from the level where reciting scriptures could cause such phenomena.

This... What is happening? Could it be that the wisdom of this young man is so outstanding that just an initiation ceremony could cause such a disturbance, an unprecedented event in the history of the Buddhist order?

Bathed in countless rays of light, Meixue was even more convinced that Master Huiguo was a virtuous high monk. The ability to cause such a disturbance in the natural elements by reciting the Heart Sutra was a skill of a legendary great cultivator.

This must be the highest level of power in this world, at least Meixue had never heard of such astonishing Buddhist abilities.

No, it's impossible! In Meixue's mind, the revered Master Huiguo was already in a state of panic, his long-cultivated mental discipline completely shattered, as these phenomena were clearly not caused by the scriptures he was reciting.

In other parts of Mount Tiantai, early risers were amazed at the sky, witnessing these wondrous phenomena.

"Clang!" The sound of a wooden bucket falling triggered a series of noises, as poles, fishing nets, hoes, and countless other items fell to the ground, and almost all the common people knelt down.

"May the immortals protect us on our sea voyages and ensure the safe delivery of our wives!" This was from the merchants who often traveled by sea, for whom even multiple lives were not enough, and they could not afford not to pray.

"May the Buddha protect our families and ensure our children's success in exams." This was from the women who stayed at home and raised children, mostly commoners, who were the most supportive of the Buddhist order.

"May the Buddha and the immortals bless me with success and wealth." This was from those who worshipped both immortals and the Buddha, seeking prosperity.

Those who did not kneel were naturally the cultivators of the immortal path, who knew that this was not the manifestation of the Buddha or the immortals but the display of a great cultivator's power.

However, the ability to cover the entire thousand-mile radius of Mount Tiantai and reach the sky with such power was truly an unparalleled skill. Just imagining the amount of spiritual energy required made everyone draw a sharp breath.

Such a great cultivator, whether from the immortal path or the Buddhist path, could easily erase the entire Mount Tiantai from the sea, and it was someone who could not be offended.

At this moment, the "immortals" and "Buddha" in everyone's hearts, Master Huiguo from the Small Thunderclap Temple of the Western Ling Shan, was terrified. His mental discipline shattered, his mind blank, he continued to recite the Heart Sutra of the Perfection of Wisdom out of habit.

"... Therefore, the Perfection of Wisdom is a great mantra, a bright mantra, an unsurpassed mantra, an unequalled mantra, which can remove all suffering, truly and not falsely. Therefore, the Perfection of Wisdom mantra is said, and the mantra is said: 'Gate, gate! Paragate, parasamgate! Bodhi svaha!'"

The Perfection of Wisdom is a great mantra, a bright mantra, an unsurpassed mantra, an unequalled mantra, which can remove all suffering, truly and not falsely... Meixue repeated these supreme Buddhist truths, feeling a mysterious power spreading through his body.

Yes, this must be the connection with the Buddha that Master Huiguo spoke of, the cause and effect of severing ties with the secular world.

"Gate, gate! Paragate, parasamgate! Bodhi svaha!" Meixue softly recited the final truth.

Then, the sky changed, and the diary in his arms began to heat up like a branding iron, bursting into flames.

The fire was not ordinary fire, not the Three Pure Fires, not the Heavenly Spirit Fire, but the Fire of Wisdom.

In the sky, countless golden light swords became more dense, piercing the night sky. Finally, a great sun rose from the horizon, radiating golden light, and countless rays of sunlight joyfully climbed towards the clear blue sky. The golden and red light surged, engulfing the entire world.

The great sun, a symbol of the Buddha, and the highest title in the Buddhist order is the Great Sun Tathagata.

Bathed in the light of the great sun, Meixue found that all his worries and sorrows naturally gathered into a barrier.

This was the barrier of his heart, his past, his sins, his ties to the secular world.

Nine hundred and ninety-nine love affairs, nine hundred and ninety-nine sighs, finally transformed into this final obstacle, the last sin he needed to face before entering the Buddhist order.

"Observing the Bodhisattva..." Reciting the Heart Sutra of the Perfection of Wisdom taught by Master Huiguo, Meixue made his decision.

Silently, the nine hundred and ninety-nine ties to his past were severed by Meixue's sword.

Where did this sword come from, and why did it appear in his hand, Meixue did not know, but he used this sword to sever all the invisible ties, severing his nine hundred and ninety-nine love affairs.

At the moment Meixue severed the nine hundred and ninety-nine ties, a great bell resounded in the heavens, and faintly, countless chants echoed, a sound that even Master Huiguo had never heard, the Great Sun Tathagata's Lapis Lazuli Chant.

"Master, I..." Meixue looked at Master Huiguo, who had taught him the Buddhist scriptures, with a clear mind, feeling lighter than ever after severing his ties.

"Amitabha." Master Huiguo looked at his disciple with joy, about to smile and nod.

Then, in Meixue's stunned gaze, Master Huiguo's body transformed into countless golden lights, dispersing completely in the heavens.

In the main hall of the Small Thunderclap Temple of the Western Ling Shan, many masters suddenly stood up from their meditation, staring in shock at the golden statue that had appeared in the main hall.

This was the golden statue of a Buddhist cultivator who had achieved great merit and reached the highest state of this life, the ultimate goal of all Buddhist disciples. Since the revival of the Buddhist order, only a few thousand years ago, a master known as the innate Buddha body, the Living Buddha Tian Sheng, had reached this state, leaving a golden statue in the main hall.

It was said that this master was born with wisdom, had sensed the light of the Buddha at the age of ten, and entered the Buddhist order, and by the time he achieved the golden statue upon his death, a thousand years had passed.

"Who... which Living Buddha has achieved this state?"

"Amitabha, the Buddha is merciful, this is a sign of the great prosperity of the Buddhist order!"

"This, this golden statue looks so much like our temple's Master Huiguo?"

The face of Master Huiguo, who left the golden statue, was shocked, as if he had experienced an extremely unlikely transformation, unlike the Living Buddha who had left with a mysterious smile.

However, a golden statue is a golden statue, a great merit and great transformation of the Buddhist order, appearing only when the highest level of cultivation is reached.

Thus, Master Huiguo, whose identity was later confirmed, was recognized as a great monk, a reincarnation of a Living Buddha, and his golden statue was worshipped by thousands in the Small Thunderclap Temple.

At this moment, Meixue was looking at the spot where his teacher had disappeared, using the small sword that had suddenly appeared in his hand to dig around, and finally had to admit that his teacher had left him.

"Does... does this mean I have entered the Buddhist order?" Mobile users, please visit http://m.piaotia.net

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