Chapter 304: Chapter 245: This Damned Dharma Name! Truly a Profound Buddhist Affinity

He immediately let out a sigh of relief.

’It’s another Rite of Great Cause and Effect!’

’In that case, I have nothing to fear.’

Ever since that day at Yan’an Temple, he had used his Purification Ability to eliminate the cost of this rite’s Secret Seal. He had gone from an ordinary person to a "fated one," and then from a fated one to the Buddha’s Son of Great Virtue Temple. He had undergone the Rite of Great Cause and Effect a total of three times and passed the test every time. Now, even the most blatant lies carried no consequences for him.

This meant that even now, during the tonsure ceremony, he could bluff his way through any solemn oath required, all thanks to the Rite of Great Cause and Effect.

’Excellent! Just excellent!’

Beside them, Zen Master Qing Cheng opened the box he was holding and respectfully presented it to Hai Shu Bodhisattva.

Inside the box lay a foot-long Willow Leaf Blade, its edge radiating a cold, sharp glint.

An instrument used for the tonsure ceremony at Great Virtue Temple could not possibly be a mundane object. This was a Magical Artifact.

Hai Shu Bodhisattva gently took the blade. He placed one hand on Yang An’s head and, with a kind expression, asked three questions:

"You have resolved to renounce worldly life. Do you have regrets?"

"Your hair is to be shorn. Do you consent?"

"You must diligently cultivate the Buddhist path. Can you persevere?"

Yang An verbally agreed to each question, lowering his head with a pious expression.

’Of course I’ll regret it! Of course I don’t consent! And of course I won’t persevere!’

He made his true feelings clear in his heart. ’The Rite of Great Cause and Effect has no hold on me, and neither does the Buddha.’

"The first cut, to sever all your evil!"

Hai Shu Bodhisattva held the blade and made a light pass over the crown of Yang An’s head.

Yang An instantly felt an icy sensation on his head, as cold as frost. His heart ached as he watched his soft, black hair fall away in clumps.

"The second cut, for you to cultivate all good!"

Another pass of the blade followed.

"The third cut, for you to deliver all beings!"

This was the final stroke. The tonsure required only three passes of the blade, and with the Magical Artifact, the "three thousand strands of worldly affliction" were effortlessly shorn away.

And so, the world gained one more brand-new... bald guy!

"Now that your head has been shorn, you must revere the Three Jewels, always follow the Buddha’s teachings, and delve deep into the sutras.

Diligently cultivate discipline, meditation, and wisdom; extinguish greed, anger, and ignorance.

Amitabha!"

Hai Shu Bodhisattva performed a single-handed Buddhist salute and returned the blade to the box held by Qing Cheng.

Then, chanting a secret mantra, he reached out and lightly tapped a finger on Yang An’s smooth scalp.

A black Secret Seal instantly appeared, spreading like a spiderweb over the crown of Yang An’s head before quickly seeping through his pores and vanishing from sight.

Yang An’s head felt even cooler, and a tingling, itchy sensation spread across his scalp, as if tiny insects had crawled over it before quickly flying away.

At the same time, an information box popped up before his eyes.

「[Cloud Net Barrier]: An item created by Sea River Bodhisattva of Great Virtue Temple with the Blood of the Undead Demon. It enters the flesh of a living being to enforce their vows, keeping their meditative resolve as true as it was at the beginning.

Cost of Use: The host’s hair will no longer grow. Violators of the vow will suffer a Heart Demon tribulation, rendering them unable to use any of their fundamental abilities.

Status: Can be purified!」

’Purify!’

Without a moment’s hesitation, right under Hai Shu Bodhisattva’s nose, Yang An used his Purification Ability on the thing that had just seeped into his body.

’He had tested it countless times, after all. No matter how high someone’s Cultivation Level was, they would never notice a thing.’

’He’d been afraid that if he was a step too late, his hair would never grow back, and he’d be stuck with a bald head for the rest of his life.’

’He had been worried about this very problem. To think that a dignified Bodhisattva from the great Great Virtue Temple would resort to such a malevolent artifact. Truly vicious.’

’Good thing I can always stay one step ahead. You have your plots, and I have my counters.’

’As for why they used an external object instead of the Power of Rules to bind him? He could guess the reason just by thinking about it.’

Every new disciple would continue to grow, and no one could predict how powerful they might become. Naturally, no one shackled by the Power of Rules would be willing to serve Great Virtue Temple wholeheartedly.

After all, the results achieved through coercion are completely different from those achieved through appropriate restraint.

Everyone present had already passed through rigorous tests and screening. If a disciple truly managed to reach the level of a Great Power, the restriction from a mere external object would become negligible and, therefore, irrelevant.

"From this day forward, you have renounced the world. I bestow upon you the dharma name—Yuan Ji!"

As expected, Hai Shu Bodhisattva hadn’t noticed a thing. In a grave and solemn tone, he bestowed the dharma name upon Yang An.

Dharma names at Great Virtue Temple were not fixed; they were determined by the bearer’s Cultivation Level.

Under his Concealment Seal, Yang An’s Cultivation Level was only at the Late Stage of Fake Food, so he was given a name from the "Yuan" generation. This was also chosen to be compatible with his secular name, Zhang Wuji.

When Yang An’s Cultivation Level increased in the future, his dharma name would change accordingly.

The generation character for the next realm is "Guang," so upon reaching it, his name would become "Guang Ji."

The Visceral Stone realm has its own generation character, as does the Corpse Transformation realm. For the Zombie God realm, the character is "Qing," and upon reaching the Bodhisattva realm, it’s "Hai"...

However, when Yang An heard his new dharma name, his heart skipped a beat, and he nearly coughed up a mouthful of blood.

’Yuan Ji... It sounded exactly like the term for a monk’s passing.’ 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

’So they were basically cursing me to die, weren’t they?’

’On second thought, that wasn’t right. The dharma name was chosen to be compatible with his secular one. He never should have said his name was Zhang Wuji in the first place.’

’What if he’d called himself Linghu Chong instead? Maybe that would have sounded a little better.’

’Luckily, the dharma name was only temporary. Once he removed the Concealment Seal and revealed his stronger Cultivation Level, the name would change along with it.’

"Thank you, Bodhisattva!"

Yang An immediately accepted it with a show of delight, bowing piously.

"I bestow upon you this Dharma Robe..."

...

By the time Yang An returned to his Zen Room in Mingxin Zen Courtyard, he looked like a completely different person. His entire bearing had changed dramatically.