Chapter XIII: The boundary of desire, refining energy and vitality
Jiang Liu’er was recalling the Great Vehicle True Scripture of Killing and Sin. To his surprise, he indeed remembered a qi-transfer method recorded within the scripture.
He immediately straightened Hu Yuyu, took a deep breath, and began circulating his energy as described in the technique.
Placing his palms firmly against Hu Yuyu’s lower abdomen, he pressed down slightly.
At that moment, Jiang Liu’er felt the refining power of the Buddha-Tormenting Lotus Seed flowing through his limbs and converging toward his palms.
The energy then seeped through his palms into Hu Yuyu’s body.
Jiang Liu’er noticed that her deathly pale complexion...
...had regained a faint rosiness.
“Seems like... her life is saved?” he muttered.
Once again, he marveled at the scripture’s mystical power.
Come to think of it... I broke another precept tonight. Should I take this chance to practice the Great Vehicle True Scripture of Killing and Sin?
Once the first barrier had been breached...
...his resistance toward Huang Mei’s techniques had significantly diminished.
Sitting cross-legged, he silently recited the incantation.
Instantly!
The refining power of the Buddha-Tormenting Lotus Seed surged severalfold within him. Rivers of energy raced through what he assumed were the meridians mentioned in the scripture.
Strangely, Jiang Liu’er found himself hyper-focused, his scattered thoughts funneled into singular clarity. Neither wind nor rustling grass could disturb his tranquility.
He recalled Elder Faming’s words: the first step in Hinayana practice was “coarse concentration”—the ability to chant sutras with undivided attention.
Elder Faming had admitted spending a decade to reach this stage.
Yet Jiang Liu’er seemed to achieve it in a single day.
Unaware how long this “coarse concentration” lasted, or how many times he’d recited the scripture’s verses... his focus finally shattered.
The Buddha-Tormenting Lotus Seed was behaving abnormally!
It was visibly melting!
[Jiang Liu’er]: “@Muscle Monk Tang Sanzang, Senior! The Buddha-Tormenting Lotus Seed is melting! It’s already half gone, and... it’s still dissolving!”
He urgently reported the anomaly.
[Muscle Monk Tang Sanzang]: “Normal. Refining the seed consumes its energy. Melting means the process is nearing completion.”
[Muscle Monk Tang Sanzang]: “Tsk. Much faster than I expected. Thought it’d take five or six days.”
[Jiang Liu’er]: “So... once it fully melts, the refinement is done?”
[Muscle Monk Tang Sanzang]: “Yes. At that moment, your mortal flesh will ascend to the first stage of cultivation. Buddhists call it ‘Kāmāvacara Concentration.’ Daoists term it ‘Refining Essence into Qi.’”
[Jiang Liu’er]: “I’m... a cultivator now?”
He was stunned. This easy? I just broke some rules and recited an incantation... and that’s it?
[Purity Altar Attendant]: “Little Master, for ordinary folk, cultivation is a lifelong struggle. But we’re no mortals—we’re deities and bodhisattvas!”
[Purity Altar Attendant]: “I’m the Purity Altar Attendant. Our master is Golden Cicada’s reincarnation. Huang Mei’s Maitreya’s disciple. Brother Monkey’s the Heaven-Defying Great Sage.”
[Purity Altar Attendant]: “And you’re Golden Cicada’s rebirth too—once a disciple of Tathāgata!”
The explanation from Elder Bajie enlightened Jiang Liu’er.
Of course. The Journey to the West group chat was filled with luminaries.
Even his past self had been extraordinary.
So my talent isn’t strange? I’m... supposed to be a genius?
This realization dawned on him.
Soon...
The lotus seed fully dissolved. Jiang Liu’er’s body underwent metamorphosis—a dantian space opened, meridians unblocked, and soul fused tighter with flesh.
Tiny streams of “magical power” began flowing through his meridians.
His strength multiplied.
His vision sharpened dramatically, piercing the night’s darkness.
If I meet Snake Third and Snake Fourth again... I might not need illusions. I could fight them head-on!
He’d reached minor demon-tier strength!
Elated, Jiang Liu’er transferred a wisp of his newfound energy to the still-unconscious Hu Yuyu, hoping to speed her recovery.
......
The next day.
Hu Yuyu awoke to the scent of burning wood. A campfire flickered nearby.
Alive... thanks to my benefactor.
“Some strength’s returned,” she whispered, struggling upright.
Though bearing a fox’s innate allure, her delicate features still carried traces of youthful innocence.
“Oh! You’re awake?”
Jiang Liu’er approached with armfuls of fruit—his dawn harvest.
“I don’t know if foxes eat plants... If not, I’ll try catching a pheasant. But you’d have to kill it...”
The “no killing” rule still bound him.
That monk ‘Hui Shan’... if I did crush him, it was accidental. I never meant to kill.
“Foxes eat anything. Even greens.” Hu Yuyu gazed at the boy with tearful gratitude. “Thank you, Benefactor.”
She devoured the tart, unripe fruits ravenously.
Seeing her recover, Jiang Liu’er felt his broken precepts justified. Saving a life outweighs minor rules.
After bidding farewell, he headed toward Golden Light Temple’s remembered location.
Yet...
“Why are you following me?” He turned after half an incense stick’s time.
Hu Yuyu blushed, twirling her sleeves. “My clan’s ancestral rule: If saved from peril... the rescued must repay with their body.”
......
