I Can See Your Combat Power

Chapter 765: Chapter 59: A Downpour of Enlightenment

The reason why each Longzhou Youth Martial Arts Tournament can attract countless talented offspring from nobility to compete is exactly because of this opportunity to ask for guidance.

For some extraordinarily gifted individuals who have reached their skills limit and are unsure about their future path, the opportunity to ask for advice from the top three in the Martial Arts Tournament is their beacon of hope.

This is also the main reason why elite noble families from Longzhou never absent themselves from these events. After all, no clan would think they have too much of secret techniques or visualization charts, especially those from Martial Saint Mountain.

The reason why the Dragon State’s Seven Great Families dominate the rich provinces of Longzhou, beside their own achievements, is an outcome of several rounds of tournament victories which provided their martial artists with more development possibilities.

After hearing Elder Xu’s words, Tang Luo coldly said, “Feeling satisfied with merely gaining some leftovers from the Martial Sanctuaries, it’s no wonder Longzhou has never seen any powerful families rise.”

“That’s not quite correct,” Elder Xu waved his hand and said, “Granted, in terms of martial arts research and creation, Martial Saint Mountain is indeed preeminent. They are a group of martial crazies who devote themselves to research, and their enormous contributions to the changes in the martial arts of the Human Race cannot be denied. The knowledge they share, to the noble families, are like discoveries of enormous value. Also, Longzhou has also seen rise of prominent families, it’s just that they narrowed their path and exhausted the wealth accumulated by their ancestors.”

“Let’s not talk about that now. Come with me to take a look at Tang Xing,” Tang Luo, noticing the commotion at the entrance of the valley, said to Elder Xu, “After the initiation, the little guy has been in a daze, is there a way to deal with it?”

“Let’s have a look first.” Elder Xu sobered up at the mention of the little boy, “There are different levels of Zen initiation, I can’t say much without seeing him first.”

“Alright!”

The two of them reached the entrance to the medicinal valley. The doctor, Wen Ruolan, was leading Tang Xing, looking anxiously into the valley, while the bald little guy looked naive, as if he was in a daze and deep in thought, his eyes filled with bewilderment.

“Greetings, Traveler Xu, Master Tang,” said Wen Ruolan as she quickly greeted the two approaching figures.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

“Doctor, there’s no need for formalities,” Tang Luo waved his hand before pointing at the dazed Tang Xing. Looking at Elder Xu, he said, “You need to see this.”

Elder Xu stepped forward, activated the Tongming Sword Body, and gently placed his palm on Tang Xing’s head. As soon as his powerful will entered Tang Xing’s Sea of ​​Consciousness, it was scattered by a golden Buddha Son.

The Buddha light rose from Tang Xing’s head, pushing Elder Xu’s palm away. Not until Tang Xing screamed and crouched down clutching his head did the light finally dissipate.

Elder Xu looked at his burnt hand in astonishment. He had never heard of such initiation in any known methods of Zen, even a touch from such a supreme sword body like the one possessed by Yuanzhou Xu Clan resulted in burn.

Tang Xing looked terrified after the Buddha light shone from his head. He squatted down, clutching his head and refused to lift it. Elder Xu, giving a sad smile, put his hand down and told Tang Luo, “Among all the initiation schools I know, none of them leave such powerful Buddha seals after the initiator leaves. What happened should be the result of the mysterious grade initiation method from the Sutra of No Suffering and Extinction!”

“What’s the matter with this initiation?” Tang Luo asked, displeased, “Is there a solution?”

Looking at Tang Luo who still seemed unaware of the seriousness of the matter, Elder Xu had to explain the significance of Zen’s initiation first.

Initiation is a sort of ceremony in Zen Buddhism, which can be broadly divided into three types—the authorization initiation, the fulfillment initiation, and the highest initiation. The so-called authorization initiation ceremony is a type of ceremony for transferring power in Zen, generally carried out in presence of the whole assembly by handing over the objects of power, and depending on the relative importance of the transferring rights, it can be divided into upper and lower mysteries.

The upper mystery consists of the Buddha crown initiation, the dharma instrument initiation, the relic initiation, and so forth, including eleven types across five categories. Subsequently, the lower mystery that includes the vessel initiation and secret initiation, is divided into a total of five categories.

For instance, after Yankong mastered the Path of No Suffering and Extinction, the Buddha’s Country held a grand Buddha Son initiation ceremony, granting Yankong the Bodhisattva’s relic and the Buddha title ‘Incomparable Nobleman’, so Buddha Son Yankong is also known in the Buddha’s Country as ‘The Incomparable Bodhisattva Yankong’.

The fulfillment initiation is a common method of communication for Zen masters, divided into a one-time initiation and a phased initiation. The former refers to the empowerment of ordinary disciples, while the latter is a phased initiation method for students in training based on their progress. In order to achieve special accomplishments, a disciple must receive the latter type of initiation.

The highest initiation is a sort of initiation ceremony that only exists between the master and his chosen successor, and is an important measure to ensure the most important secret techniques of different denominations are not lost.

It is divided into four levels. The first being the ‘Vase Initiation’, followed by the ‘Secret Initiation’, then the ‘Wisdom Initiation’, and the highest being the ‘Secret Transmission Initiation’.

What Tang Xing received is the highest level initiation amongst the ‘Highest Initiation’ category, the ‘Secret Technique Initiation’. The Zen tradition, which emphasizes on karma and comings and goings, generally uses this secret initiation in a critical moment of a sect’s survival or demise.

In other words, Tang Xing, who received the secret initiation of the ‘Path of No Suffering and Extinction’, has already been designated as the successor to Zen master Yankong, even though their sect consists of only two people now, and the location of their sect is unknown.

“It is said that each Zen master can only use this secret initiation once in his life. It seems Yankong really regards the little one as his successor. This is really troublesome!” Elder Xu sighed, “Well, even a secret technique with clear Dao heart, let alone other thoughts, they simply can’t be infused into the Sea of ​​Consciousness of our nephew. This Buddha seal is too domineering. Using external force to remove it in haste will only damage the Sea of ​​Consciousness of the little one. We need to bide our time.”

This is, indeed, the reason why Zen has such a precarious stature across each continent, because a sect that seeks to eradicate human desires in pursuit of Buddha’s teachings is far too extreme. Nobody would willingly send their children to such a sect.

The reason why Buddha Son Yankong was able to leave so easily was because he had full confidence in the secret initiation of the ‘Path of No Suffering and Extinction’. Once the seed of Buddha is implanted in Tang Xing’s Sea of ​​Consciousness, no matter how reluctant his family is, they will eventually let go.

Tang Luo looked indifferent and coldly asked, “If the Buddha Son is killed, will this Buddha seal disappear?”

Perhaps Elder Xu wasn’t expecting Tang Luo’s solution to be so simple and brutal, his face revealed a wry smile as he shook his head and said, “Let’s not talk about our ability to kill. Even if we kill him, this Buddha seal will not disappear.”

“Highest initiation is a secret technique used by Zen denominations to pass on their martial skills during times of crisis. Let me give you an analogy.” Elder Xu extends his hand to reveal a gleaming sword pellet, explaining to Tang Luo, “Yankong’s secret technique can be compared to a seed formed by compressing all of his understanding of the Sutra of No Suffering and Extinction, which is then planted into your nephew’s Sea of ​​Consciousness.”

“This seed will gradually unfold over time and eventually grow into a towering tree. If your nephew gains true understanding of martial arts, the Path of No Suffering and Extinction will be like a gift from the gods to him. But with his current level of understanding, he simply can’t transcend Yankong’s understanding of martial arts. In the end, he will surely be lost on the other side of the Path of No Suffering and Extinction.”