The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

#193 - Sneak Attack

The young monk Zhaoming reached out and carefully took the Zen staff.

He first closed his eyes to feel the weight, then carefully examined the natural lotus patterns on it, gently stroked it, and finally turned his gaze to the small words at the end of the Zen staff—'All phenomena arise from conditions'.

After seeing these six words, he was stunned, and then murmured, "This... is it really his thing?"

"Whose thing?" Lu Jing asked.

"A senior." The young monk Zhaoming's tone was unprecedentedly respectful.

"Could it be a senior monk from Xuankong Temple?"

"No, if I'm not mistaken, this Zen staff should be the weapon of Grandmaster Honglian. Grandmaster Honglian was a remarkable figure in our Buddhist sect. His secular name was Liu Mi. He was born with an eye disease and could not see, but he was very intelligent and had the talent of never forgetting anything he heard.

"He usually listened to the monks in the neighboring temple doing morning prayers and chanting Buddhist scriptures, and he actually understood the true meaning without a teacher. When Master Huide of the Western Hall of Xuankong Temple passed by his door and discussed Dharma with him, he was evenly matched with Liu Mi, who was only fourteen years old at the time.

"Master Huide thus developed a desire to cherish his talent and wanted to bring Liu Mi back to the temple, but the latter flatly refused, saying that no monk in Xuankong Temple could be his master.

"Master Huide was angry at his arrogance and left with a flick of his sleeve. However, after returning to the temple, he often thought of Liu Mi's intelligence and felt quite regretful. Three years later, when he passed by his house again, he heard that Liu Mi had also left home soon after, and went alone into the nearby mountains.

"He found a cave and sat quietly, contemplating the Dharma. It has been three years now. Master Huide heard that there were many wild beasts in the mountains, and Liu Mi was blind, so he couldn't help but worry.

"After a while, Liu Mi walked out from inside, smiling and putting his palms together to salute Master Huide. Master Huide was shocked and asked Liu Mi, 'Your eye disease is cured?'

"Liu Mi nodded, 'I was injured by a wild beast not long after entering the mountain. In order to collect medicine to treat the injury, I accidentally found something that cured my eye disease.'

"Master Huide was also very happy for Liu Mi when he heard this, and sighed, 'Fortunately, you didn't come back to Xuankong Temple with me, otherwise your eyes would not have been able to recover.'

"But unexpectedly, Liu Mi said, 'If it weren't for the master debating the Dharma with me, I wouldn't have had the idea of entering the mountain, so my eyes were healed because of the master's缘 (yuan - fate/karmic connection). This is the meaning of 'All phenomena arise from conditions'.

"The two then smiled at each other, and their grudges disappeared. Liu Mi asked Master Huide to shave his head for him, and he named himself Honglian, and from then on he converted to Buddhism.

"And this Zen staff in Brother Lu's hand was also made from a piece of meteorite iron that Grandmaster Honglian found in the mountains earlier. It naturally has lotus-shaped patterns, which Grandmaster Honglian liked very much."

After a pause, the young monk Zhaoming continued, "Grandmaster Honglian was born into a martial arts family, and he was very skilled. He hated evil as if it were his enemy, so in his early years, he acted like an angry Vajra, often sacrificing himself for righteousness.

"And by his later years, his understanding of Buddhism became more profound, and he became more humble and peaceful. He traveled around, lecturing on scriptures and explaining the Dharma. My master said that Grandmaster Honglian had come to Xuankong Temple to lecture three times. The first time, he was just a young novice, and he was deeply inspired.

"The second time, my master was already a hall master, and he still gained a lot. And the third time, my master personally invited him after he became the abbot, originally to lecture to the monks in the temple, but unexpectedly, my master himself gained the most.

"Therefore, my master often lamented to us that Grandmaster Honglian was the number one master in our Buddhist sect. Unfortunately, I was born late and didn't get to see the master's demeanor.

"Grandmaster Honglian was a free and easy person. He never took a disciple in his life. Before his death, he compiled his insights on Buddhism into a book and gave it to Abbess Miaozhen. However, after the temple sent people to sort out his belongings, they found that the Zen staff he had always carried with him was missing.

"I didn't expect it to be taken away by a strange object." The young monk Zhaoming couldn't help but sigh when he said this, "Thanks to Brother Lu, this staff can now see the light of day again, and this Zen staff falling into your hands is another example of 'All phenomena arise from conditions'."

Lu Jing heard that the young monk Zhaoming seemed to have another meaning in his last sentence, so he said, "Little Master Zhaoming, what do you mean by this?"

"According to the Heavenly Mystery Ranking, the martial art that Brother Lu cultivates is a staff technique called Mad Demon One Hundred and Eight Staffs, right?"

"That's right." Lu Jing nodded.

"The Mad Demon One Hundred and Eight Staffs was a martial art created by Grandmaster Honglian in his early years. I mentioned earlier that Grandmaster Honglian came from a martial arts family. Not only was he proficient in Buddhism, but his martial arts were also excellent.

"This martial art is based on the principles taught in the Buddhist scriptures and combined with his own family's martial arts. He once relied on this skill to fight several first-class experts of the Demonic Path without falling behind."

"Huh?" Lu Jing was a little puzzled when he heard this, and couldn't help but say, "This martial art isn't that powerful, is it?"

The Mad Demon One Hundred and Eight Staffs had already been cultivated to the Great Accomplishment realm by him, so Lu Jing felt that he still had some say in this regard.

This martial art is indeed very suitable for people like him who don't need to conserve their internal energy, but it is still very reasonable for Duobaoge to classify it as a fifth-grade martial art.

In addition to the shortcomings of excessive internal energy consumption and long charging time, the moves are not particularly exquisite.

Lu Jing's previous battles were mostly about overwhelming people with force.

And the top-level unique skills of top sects such as Xuankong Temple, Xijian Pavilion, and Yunshui Jingci Pavilion can basically achieve defeating strength with skill and winning with weakness.

This is also the reason why unique skills are called unique skills.

According to the young monk Zhaoming, when the Mad Demon One Hundred and Eight Staffs was in Grandmaster Honglian's hands, even if it wasn't a unique skill, it was almost at the level of a near-unique skill, otherwise how could he have fought against so many Demonic Path experts alone.

Lu Jing couldn't understand, and asked the young monk Zhaoming, who also looked blank and scratched his head.

"I just came to admire the relics of the senior monk. I really don't understand the matter of staff techniques, and besides, the Mad Demon One Hundred and Eight Staffs is not a martial art of Xuankong Temple, so I can't give Brother Lu any guidance."

Lu Jing knew that this child was telling the truth, so he didn't bother Zhaoming anymore.

The latter, having settled a matter of concern, saw that the night was already late, and did not plan to stay with Lu Jing for a long time. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly saw something rushing towards his face from the roof.

As the most outstanding disciple of the younger generation of Xuankong Temple, the young monk Zhaoming was naturally very skilled. He subconsciously threw a punch to meet the thing.

However, after seeing what the thing looked like, he quickly changed his fist to a palm, restrained his strength, and wanted to catch the opponent.

However, Lu Jing on the side was even faster, directly grabbing the black cat by the neck.