Chapter 115: Tracing the Source

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The staff is the ancestor of all weapons.

In the primordial age, before civilization had yet begun to bloom, humanity’s forebears used long staffs for self-defense, apart from the stones they could throw.

From this foundation, martial techniques gradually emerged.

Since the staff appeared earlier in the history of human civilization than other weapons, it came to be known as the “ancestor.”

Ordinarily, a long staff was measured to the height of one’s eyebrows.

It possessed the power to “sweep across a vast area,” yet remained nimble enough for defensive techniques.

Naturally, there were also those with unusual physiques, whose staffs differed greatly from the common standard in both length and weight.

Hongren’s long staff rose three inches above his head.

“Are you ready?” Su Ye sat cross-legged on the felt mat atop the platform, holding a Demon-Imitation Vessel used by the sect’s disciples to practice combat techniques. “If you are, I’ll release the demon.”

Hongren gripped the staff with both hands and struck a formidable stance.

With a casual wave of his right hand, Su Ye opened the vessel’s bronze lid.

A wisp of gray mist, seemingly solid, drifted out of the spiritual treasure.

The courtyard was protected by a formation. Only the spot where Hongren stood was free from its suppression of demonic power.

A gigantic beast three meters long and nearly ten feet tall, its scales crimson red, roared as it pounced upon Hongren.

Su Ye’s eyes widened as he concentrated on the battle unfolding in the courtyard.

He had already seen the complete sequence of the Dragon-Charging Staff Technique. By working backward from the surviving fragments of the Great Vajra Staff Technique, he had found no moves that accorded with pure yang power.

He had no choice but to seek truth through variation.

…

The demon let out a roar. Its four limbs stamped down as it gathered strength, whipping dust into the air.

In an instant, it shot forward like an arrow loosed from the string, arriving before Hongren in the blink of an eye.

Its millstone-sized foreclaw swept backward, gathering immense force before smashing down upon the small novice monk.

Hongren’s eyes suddenly brightened, and his vitality surged in an instant.

He raised the long staff with both hands and met the demon’s claw head-on with his mortal body.

The claw scraped across the staff, forged from refined iron. Sparks burst forth, accompanied by a grating shriek that set one’s teeth on edge.

Hongren arched his upper body backward and exerted force through both arms, deflecting the beast demon as it sprang into the air.

His right foot stamped down. The paving stones shattered.

Dust billowed through the air.

Hongren abandoned the advantage of solid ground and boldly attempted to take to the air.

His hands slid toward one end of the staff.

His body spun, building up tremendous force.

Like a divine weapon descending from heaven, the staff struck the beast demon’s millstone-sized head in an instant.

Demonic mist seeped from between its scales, rippling outward in waves.

The beast demon roared, dropped onto its forelegs, and fled swiftly backward.

Hongren refused to relent, mercilessly beating the fallen foe.

His staff fell like a rainstorm, cracking against the beast demon’s body.

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Demonic mist continued to seep from between the scales, repairing the damage caused by the heavy blows.

Its aura weakened by the moment.

Watching the childlike Hongren drive the beast demon steadily backward, Su Ye gained an entirely new understanding of the power of the Dragon-Charging Staff.

“Hongren, use a finishing move.” Su Ye’s clear voice echoed throughout the courtyard.

Hongren stepped back on one foot and halted.

The long staff danced through his hands as Buddhist power began to gather.

A colossal golden Buddha appeared, enveloping Hongren, whose brows were drawn together in fierce determination.

The staff burst into golden radiance.

The golden manifestation and Hongren himself raised the staff together, took aim at the beast demon’s massive head, and brought it crashing down with all their strength.

A dull boom resounded.

Though the beast demon hurriedly tried to evade, its spine snapped in two, and its waist collapsed at once.

The golden Buddha’s staff struck the immobilized beast demon.

Golden Buddhist light entered its body and dissolved the evil energy within.

The creature writhed and struggled across the ground, vomiting great mouthfuls of blood.

Su Ye opened the Demon-Imitation Vessel and recalled the spent demon within. He replaced the bronze lid and allowed it to restore itself.

Hongren held the staff in his right hand and pressed his palms together.

“Lay disciple Su, that move just now was one of the three finishing techniques in the Dragon-Charging Staff Technique. Although I have practiced it until it is thoroughly familiar, I could not perform it smoothly without actual combat.”

“Hongren, what is your cultivation level?”

Su Ye had once received the aid of a formation while among the Demon Suppressor ranks. When he had briefly entered the Cloud-Soaring Realm, only the Compassionate Soul-Releasing Crossing had been able to condense a golden Buddha.

The finishing technique Hongren had displayed produced the same effect.

Su Ye could not help but grow curious.

Hongren answered respectfully, “This humble monk awakened his innate wisdom in childhood. The first thing he remembers after gaining awareness was undergoing the Trial of the Heart. After shaving his head and entering the monastic life, he became my master’s disciple and formally began cultivating. To this day, I have reached the Jade Radiance Realm.”

“One level higher than Hong’er,” Su Ye muttered inwardly.

In truth, he had no idea what the Jade Radiance Realm actually entailed.

Hongren seemed to see through his thoughts and chuckled softly.

“The maxim of the Jade Radiance Realm is: golden and jade on the outside, splendid yet hollow within. Cultivators at this stage are much like ordinary people during adolescence and menopause. Their methods of cultivation are clearly no different from before, yet they can somehow unleash increasingly dazzling techniques while wasting excessive Buddhist power. Only upon entering the Azure Summit Realm does this phenomenon disappear on its own.”

“No wonder…” Su Ye murmured. “The path of cultivation truly is full of strange turns.”

“Lay disciple Su, did you discover anything new from that battle just now?”

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“Only something vague… But after hearing your explanation, I have gained a slight understanding of the Jade Radiance Realm.” Since he was within the temple, Su Ye made no attempt to conceal the truth.

“Lay disciple Su, it is a pity that your identity is so unusual that no one dares accept you as a disciple,” Hongren said with a bitter smile. “Otherwise, you would have been taught these common truths from the very first day you began cultivating.”

“To me, the world is like a weighty ancient tome… The feeling of turning its pages slowly is actually rather pleasant.” Su Ye was in no hurry to learn everything.

He knew that he possessed the potential to become invincible beneath the heavens.

He also knew that the difficulty of his cultivation far exceeded that of ordinary people, and that his road was destined to be long and arduous.

For him, that was enough.

Knowing too much too soon might instead become a burden on the road ahead.

It was better to let the horse wander where it pleased, slowly reading through the world’s wonders.

Only then could he continue to encounter surprises.

The thoughts in his heart quietly transformed into a slender stream and poured into his sea of consciousness.

The finishing techniques Hongren had been unable to display in actual combat were like slowly turning pages, unveiling the mysterious veil of the Dragon-Charging Staff Technique.

In the primordial age, Buddhism and Daoism had originally been one.

The principles of heaven and earth, yin and yang, might change in countless ways, yet never depart from their underlying source.

The Dragon-Charging Staff Technique contained eighteen moves, corresponding to the power of pure yang.

Ouyang Ba’s ideas in creating those moves crossed the river of time and quietly aligned perfectly with the insights of later practitioners.

The Thirty-Six Heavenly Spirits and the Seventy-Two Earthly Fiends were eternal numerical principles.

The Dragon-Charging General, who had been born into the Buddhist path, condensed one hundred and eight variations into eighteen moves.

Su Ye rose to his feet and summoned the Primordial Sword.

He walked into the courtyard.

His movements flowed like water and resembled a gentle breeze.

As the sword techniques unfolded, the key points he had been unable to comprehend gradually melted away like ice.

When he completed the final move, Tired Bird Returns to the Forest, enlightenment burst fully open within his heart.

The staff techniques Hongren had displayed flashed through his sea of consciousness. Played backward, they extended into the portions that had been missing.

The complete moves of the Great Vajra Staff Technique were engraved into his sea of consciousness.

In an instant, countless Buddhist chants rang out within his spiritual awareness.

They condensed into a six-syllable mantra.

“Om mani padme hum!”

Hongren stared wide-eyed at Su Ye, whose entire body radiated Buddhist light, and did not dare disturb him.

He hurriedly set off toward the Hall of the Great Hero to find his master, Chan Master Jingyue.

“Master, please hurry and take a look! Is Lay disciple Su about to enter nirvana?” Hongren gasped for breath, his voice distorted by panic.

Chan Master Jingyue opened his eyes and rebuked him.

“Do not speak nonsense. Come with me to welcome the Sage.”

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