Who Let Him Cultivate?!-Chapter 1044 - 1043: Inverted Heavenly Gang Formation

Master Mingyu was stunned by this scene. The requirement for this stage was that the monk had to endure the whipping without shouting in pain to pass the test.

Of course, the secret realm wouldn’t allow the overseer to keep on whipping forever. Eventually, a stone would fall from the statue and kill the overseer. freёnovelkiss.com

The overseer had done much evil, and his death by the falling stone aligned with Buddhism’s principle that good is rewarded with good and evil with evil.

Having presided over thousands of Western Heaven Secret Realms, Master Mingyu had seen countless monks make decisions in the secret realm. The greatest challenge of this stage was to endure the pain. Ninety percent of the monks couldn’t withstand it until the overseer received his retribution and would cry out in pain. Only the ones who struggled and gritted their teeth could hold on.

That’s why he had high hopes for Xin Zhen, who had entered a state of ’forgetting both self and objects.’

Buddhism advocates understanding pain through mindful contemplation, thereby achieving a state beyond suffering.

However, seeing Xin Ding strike first was unprecedented, and judging from the overseer’s screams, Xin Ding was extraordinarily forceful.

"Wait, why are you hitting him?" Master Mingyu couldn’t help but reveal himself. He could control the Western Heaven Secret Realm to an extent, and soon Xin Ding would forget he had appeared.

"He was going to hit me," said Xin Ding calmly; in fact, his expression had remained unchanged even as he struck.

In the Western Heaven Secret Realm, monks naturally display their most instinctual reactions and cannot fake or lie.

"Don’t you know that our Buddhist ways promote observing pain without changing expression?"

"Yes, but if it were my fault, I would have admitted it if I were beaten. But now, it’s these overseers overworking us beyond limits; I grew too weak to carry the stones, and thus they fell. If it’s the overseer’s fault, why should I be beaten?" Xin Ding argued forcefully, insisting on reason even to the abbot.

"Do you know that our Buddhist teachings emphasize that good deeds are rewarded with good and evil with evil, and this overseer who wantonly whipped others will receive his due karma?"

"Isn’t he receiving his karma now, by being beaten by me?"

"I..."

Master Mingyu was at a loss for words, unable to find a rebuttal.

This stage tested "endurance," and since Xin Ding had not cried out in pain throughout, he had successfully passed.

With the help of Fairy’s immortal sense, Lu Yang witnessed the performance of all the monks in the illusionary realm, with Xin Ding standing out the most.

"What a promising young man," Lu Yang praised Xin Ding highly. With such a performance, passing the Seek Dao Sect’s test would not be a problem.

After watching the first stage, Lu Yang voiced a puzzled question to one of the five founders of Buddhism, "But Fairy, does Buddhism advocate getting beaten?"

"Oh, I inadvertently discovered that when the Qilin Immortal was beaten by Xiao Ling and Lianyi, he always pretended to be in great pain but was actually sneaking smiles. I asked him why, and he said it’s a Buddhist cultivation method to experience, perceive, and transcend pain."

"I immediately asked how I didn’t recall that being part of the Buddhist stories we created, and he replied that it is now."

After listening, Lu Yang quickly disassociated himself, "Hey hey hey, I didn’t hear anything."

Why couldn’t he control his curiosity, having just learned another piece of ancient secret lore?

"You didn’t hear? Then this immortal will say it again..."

"No need, no need," Lu Yang dared not hear it a second time, fearing that on a second round, Immortal Fairy might recollect something else, revealing other ancient secrets.

"By the way, does this illusionary realm capture a segment of the Great Qian Period?" Lu Yang changed the topic.

All illusionary realms must be based on reality, as cultivators cannot imagine what they have not seen; this realm must have been constructed by a Buddhist cultivator of the Great Qian.

The entire scene of the illusionary realm was filled with countless slaves carrying stones upwards to build a statue, and if a slave showed the slightest defect, he would be whipped by the overseer, making their suffering indescribable.

The statue was nearly completed, and Lu Yang just happened to recognize the original model of the statue.

The ones who stealthily attacked the Laurel Fairy Palace were two Divine Monarchs skilled in demon-removing.

In the early days of the Great Qian Dynasty, there was significant construction; statues of various Divine Monarchs were built to spread faith and gain incense offerings.

"It should be that the owner of this Buddha Breath is a Buddhist Cultivator from the Great Qian Period, likely many Buddhist Cultivators were purifying and transcending something, and that’s why this Secret Realm has so much Buddha Breath," analyzed Immortal Fairy.

"In the depths of this Secret Realm, how can I feel the presence of Yingtian Immortal and Time Immortal? Could it be that they both crafted the Immortal Artifact together?" Immortal Fairy pondered vaguely, always feeling it was a very familiar Immortal Artifact, yet unable to suddenly recall it.

Like all the tests conducted by Master Mingyu, this time as well, ninety percent of the monks were filtered out, and ten percent passed.

The only exception was Xin Ding’s method of passing.

The monks who were filtered would, under the control of the Buddha Breath, groggily walk out of the Western Heaven Secret Realm, leave the Chaotic Fog Forbidden Land, where monks already arranged outside would be responsible for the follow-up work.

The second test was also an Illusionary Realm.

In front of Xin Chen, who entered the Martial Monk Institute with Xin Ding, was a wide river with two people beside it: his elderly monk master and a beautiful but timid woman.

The woman was afraid to cross the river.

The old monk took the initiative, carrying the woman across the river, with Xin Chen following closely behind.

After crossing the river and parting with the woman, Xin Chen furrowed his brow, extremely puzzled, and after holding in his confusion for a long time, he finally could not help but ask, "Master, wouldn’t this be a violation of the precept of lust?"

The old monk, with loving care, patted Xin Ding’s head, "Xin Ding, I have already let go, but you have not."

Xin Zhen of the Precepts Court witnessed the whole event without speaking. Following the moment the old monk let go of the woman, he too let go, harboring no doubts in his heart.

Xin Chen failed, Xin Zhen passed.

Master Mingyu smiled, quite satisfied with Xin Zhen; he passed two consecutive tests in a manner that pleased him greatly.

The theme of this round was "letting go."

Buddhism advocates that feminine allure is like a pretty skeleton; a true monk should view it as nothing, and being able to do that means no questions would be asked.

Under the influence of Buddha Breath, which makes hiding the truth impossible, and having witnessed the process of carrying the woman across the river, if testers harbored doubts, they would surely ask, and asking meant that they had not let go of the issue, thus failing the test.

"How did Xin Ding do?" Master Mingyu, recalling Xin Ding’s unique performance in the previous round, became somewhat curious about him.

He entered Xin Ding’s Illusionary Realm, and Xin Ding’s choice surprised him yet again.

Xin Ding rushed ahead, carrying the woman across the river before the old monk, and because Xin Ding was still a minor and not quite tall enough, carrying the woman would get her shoes wet, so he simply picked her up, in a quite indecent posture.

Never in thousands of times in the Secret Realm had anyone ever done this!

Master Mingyu was especially puzzled and once Xin Ding crossed the river and appeared again, he wanted to ask for clarification.

"Xin Ding, why did you carry that woman across the river?"

Seeing Master Mingyu appear, Xin Ding was extremely surprised.

"Abbot, how come you have not let go of this matter?"