Chapter 306: Chapter 245: This Damned Dharma Name! Truly a Profound Affinity with Buddhism

It seemed he could only continue to wait.

Two days passed in the blink of an eye.

On this day, Yang An followed Hai Shu Bodhisattva’s previous instructions. He found a Gami and had the monk lead him to the Heart Buddha Hall, arriving just as promised.

When he arrived at the Heart Buddha Hall, there were no Monks on guard. Yang An had no choice but to find his own way to the entrance.

The heavy doors opened slowly on their own, untouched by any wind. Light from the outside streamed through the doorway, illuminating a figure seated upon a Lotus Platform.

That was Hai Shu Bodhisattva.

Aside from Hai Shu Bodhisattva, there was no one else inside the Heart Buddha Hall.

As Yang An stepped inside, the sound of chanting, clear and bright, reached his ears.

"Bodhisattva!"

Yang An entered the Heart Buddha Hall and bowed respectfully to the figure whose back was turned to him.

The great doors closed slowly behind him without a sound, plunging the Heart Buddha Hall into darkness once more.

Hai Shu Bodhisattva gave no response, continuing to chant the scriptures as before.

In the direction Hai Shu Bodhisattva faced was an immense statue of a Buddha, its eyes closed, also seated upon a Lotus Platform. Flanking the Buddha statue were two much smaller statues of Arhats, one to the left and one to the right.

Incense and candles burned before the Buddha statue, where various vegetarian offerings were laid out. A pair of Buddhist verses was inscribed on the round pillars to either side.

The first verse read: The nature of the mind, unstained, is inherently complete.

The second read: But leave illusory attachments, and you are as the Buddha is.

Beyond this, the hall was vast and empty, containing nothing else.

Unlike the Ten Thousand Buddha Hall or the Bright Buddha Hall, the Heart Buddha Hall was furnished quite simply. If not for its name, Yang An would have mistaken it for a simple Zen Room.

Seeing that Elder Monk Hai Shu was ignoring him, Yang An spotted a meditation cushion ahead. He walked over, sat down cross-legged, and waited quietly.

’Monks in the secular world love to talk in circles, while the Monks of Great Virtue Temple love to be cryptic.’

’When you get down to it, they’re all just people. They can’t escape worldly habits; they’re all the same.’

After waiting for over an hour, he saw Elder Monk Hai Shu’s chanting seemed to be nearing its end. The old monk piously bowed to the Buddha statue before him, chanting the name of Amitabha Buddha.

Yang An, for his part, was patient. He showed no sign of impatience despite the long wait.

’But who asked me to be a spy? This is the kind of self-discipline a spy needs.’

Hai Shu Bodhisattva slowly turned to face Yang An, his expression amiable, his eyes filled with approval.

"Yuan Ji, your temperament is quite good. Now that you have entered the righteous path, what are your thoughts?"

The elder Monk had already started using his religious name, and Yang An almost failed to react.

’This damn religious name!’

"Reporting to the Bodhisattva, Yuan... Yuan Ji feels that since entering the temple, my mind has become clear and bright, as if I’ve been made new. The dust of my past has been cleansed by our Buddha, and I have been completely transformed. To enter the Land of Goodness is truly a blessing of ten lifetimes for me."

’Flattery. Who doesn’t know how to do it? And who doesn’t like to hear it?’

’Anyway, once I start talking, I might as well lay it on thick. No one hits a man with a smiling face.’

Just as he expected, Hai Shu Bodhisattva burst out laughing at Yang An’s reply. His laughter echoed through the Heart Buddha Hall, as if a field of ephemeral night-blooming cereus had blossomed all at once.

"Wonderful! Wonderful!"

After praising Yang An, Hai Shu Bodhisattva got down to business.

"When you first entered the Land of Goodness, I heard from Qing Nan that you once practiced a Cultivation Technique called the Nine Yang Divine Technique. I am unfamiliar with this method; what is it?"

Hearing Elder Monk Hai Shu’s question, a thousand thoughts raced through Yang An’s mind.

’In this world, once a Cultivator begins practicing a Cultivation Technique, they can never switch to another. If that rule didn’t exist, I’d genuinely be afraid they would force me to abandon my current technique and start a new one.’

’Not even the Insect Dao could force a change like that.’

He didn’t know the reason for this rule, but it meant Yang An wasn’t worried. He had already prepared an explanation.

"Reporting to the Bodhisattva, I received this technique back in the secular world when I first began to cultivate. It was a gift from an unknown Cultivator. I don’t know much about it myself. I only heard from that Cultivator that this method needs to be paired with Techniques or Body Refining Methods of ultimate yang and purity. Doing so allows one to make swift progress on the path of cultivation."

’Of course, I have no idea what kind of Cultivation Method the Nine Yang Divine Technique actually is; I just made it up on the spot. But thinking about all my Light Magic, I figured I could use this chance to connect the two.’

’By not mentioning Light Magic specifically and just saying ’ultimate yang and purity,’ I’ve broadened the scope considerably.’

’If I can use this opportunity to get my hands on more Light Magic from Great Virtue Temple, I’ll be grinning from ear to ear.’

"Ultimate yang and purity?"

Hearing Yang An’s words, Hai Shu Bodhisattva paused for a moment, then gave a gentle smile.

"Wonderful! Wonderful!"

"Our Land of Goodness is a Buddhist Holy Land. When it comes to methods of ultimate yang and purity, I dare say nothing in this world can compare. Yuan Ji, your affinity with the Buddha is truly profound."