Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
“Living Buddha”, Shi Shan?
Lou Cheng who was leaning on the pillow was shocked for a second. After which, he sat upright and his eyes started to brighten up. He had the feeling of being in a dream once again.
Different from the “mummy”, “Dark Night Bat”, Xin Xiaoyue, Wang Que and other physical invulnerability experts, he had long heard of the name “Living Buddha”. In fact, it was even longer than the time he had practiced martial arts. The current generation Shi Shan had made the great leap when he was still in the third year of his high school. He was known as the youngest physical invulnerability expert and was often left out of the conversation of Heavenly Son of the era!
He had long heard of his name and he would finally have the opportunity to go up against him now. How could he not be agitated?
For Lou Cheng, at this very moment and place, he started to be more aware of his identity as a physical invulnerability expert. He was currently taking step by step to fulfill things that he could only dream about while cooped up in his bed during his teenage years.
These experiences were so wonderful!
As these thoughts flooded his mind, Lou Cheng lowered his head and told Yan Zheke about the results of the draw.
“Living Buddha!”
Following which, he added, “[Headband with “All The Best” expression] Looking forward to it!”
He was looking forward to witnessing the extraordinary skills of this “Great Monk” and to fight with his idol!
Yan Zheke happened to be having a short in-class break. Just when she was about to go into Lou Cheng’s fans forum, she saw two messages from her husband.
Living Buddha? Her eyes brightened up and had similar emotions that Lou Cheng had.
Before she could sort out her emotions, she saw the words “Looking forward to it”. Subconsciously, a smile appeared on her and she replied sarcastically on purpose,
“What are you looking forward to? The big monk is truly a first-pin expert!”
After making the great leap, the speed of improvements of each generational “Living Buddha” would indeed slow down. However with “Generational Wisdom” and unique techniques, it was still easy for him. Now that five years had passed, with his “accumulated” experiences, first-pin was definitely reasonable!
Lou Cheng laughed nonchalantly and said, “Victories and defeats are common for a soldier!”
This was an experiential experience!
“Eh, what a positive attitude you have. [Covering smile while smiling expression]” replied Yan Zheke. “Who’s the one who is always gloomy after losing a match!”
Lou Cheng broke into silent laughter and replied in a self-deprecating manner, “This is for creating opportunities to be consoled be you.”
When she saw the reply, Yan Zheke instantly covered her mouth and looked around her. She clearly found it hilarious.
At this moment, she saw her tutor walking slowly into the room and immediately replied, “It’s time for class. When I get home tonight, let’s discuss the techniques of the Living Buddha again~”
“I’ll be waiting for Coach Yan! [Laughing secretly expression] ” replied Lou Cheng.
After putting away his phone, he sat with legs crossed for several seconds. He didn’t even pay attention to the results of Peng Leyun’s and Ren Li’s draw and didn’t go into the forum to discuss. Instead, he carefully pondered the various rumours about Living Buddha.
The Daxing Temple was initially formed with the Golden Light Sutra as its basis. Subsequently, they integrated several branches of secret sects and gained the framework for the “Womb Realm” and “Vajrapani” unique techniques.
Over two hundred years ago, the world was in chaos. With the decline of the Living Buddha’s branch, the Daxing Temple annexed the largest secret sect at that time. Through this process, they were able to supplement and perfect the two unique schools of techniques from the “Womb Realm” and “Vajrapani”. In addition, they were also able to make up for the deficiency in the contents of the “Golden Light Sutra” regarding the “Forbidden Area”. At the same time, they were able to make the leap to the forefront of the top-tier groups of powers.
After some time, those physical invulnerability level experts, who were over a hundred years old, could still remember the incident clearly. Therefore the Daxing Temple couldn’t possibly advertise that they were graced with the reincarnated Living Buddha and claimed it to be taking him in.
The Living Buddha of each generation could materialize the image of Vairocana and possessed “Thoughtsteal” from birth. They could also master the “Six-syllabled Sanskrit mantra” in just a month. Besides that, the Womb Realm’s “Bodhi Curse” was truly a unique skill for the Living Buddha. Even the “Wisdom King”, Zhi Hai couldn’t gain complete mastery over it and could at most master the surface of it.
During a battle, Living Buddha was known for his mental strength. When he fought, it would be hard to discern between real attacks or illusory attacks.
Jiu Qu City, Taining Road, Barbeque store by the roadside.
The burly and fat Living Buddha, Shi Shan, was sitting on the small stool and looking at the boss flipping the meat and adding seasonings. He wore a grey wool hat and a black t-shirt. All the traits of a monk were concealed perfectly.
“Alright, here are is your barbeque food.” The boss served the metal plate with a large amount of food on it.
Pork ribs, fatty intestines, chicken skin, beef, mutton... Shi Shan looked at it for a while before saying definitively, “I believe you got it wrong?”
“Got it wrong?” mumbled the boss softly. He returned to the side of the barbeque rack and picked up the ordering book. As he walked towards the Shi Shan, he flipped through it to find his order.
“24 sticks of green beans, 20 sticks of small potatoes, 20 sticks of eggplants, twenty sticks of bread slices...” read out the boss. After which, he looked at Shi Shan and asked with astonishment, “You are a vegetarian?”
“Is it strange?” Shi Shan smiled faintly and returned the question.
“Your stature...” The boss paused for a moment before continuing, “I really couldn’t tell!”
Shi Shan heaved a sigh, smiled and said, “When I saw those fat abbots in the past, I had always suspected that they had broken the rules in private and weren’t good monks. When I grew up, I noticed that being a vegetarian could make you fat too!”
The boss was speechless for the moment. Therefore, he had chosen to bring over a bowl of soup instead.
“Hey brother, let’s not think about that. Come and try my white pepper soup. I’ll be officially selling it in just a few days time.”
Shi Shan could smell the fragrance. After he took the bowl over, he gobbled it down.
“It’s hot...”
“Drink it slowly!” The boss had a scare from the way Shi Shan drank the soup.
After finishing the soup in just a few mouthfuls, Shi Shan wiped his mouth and commented, “The aroma of the pepper is very strong. Great, great...”
This seemed to have stimulated his appetite. He picked up his barbeque sticks and started to devour them eagerly. When he was enjoying himself, he suddenly heard people from the table behind him discussing the “Master” competition excitedly.
“Lou Cheng was drawn against the Living Buddha!”
“That will be interesting. A past Heavenly Son of the era vs a current Heavenly son of the era!”
“It’s common knowledge that there were five of them. What do you mean that he is out of the discussion?”
“The Living Buddha is a first-pin expert. Lou Cheng is probably going to lose.”
...
Shi Shan slowed down his pace of eating and asked with interests, “Lou Cheng?”
He sank into deep thoughts for a few seconds before continuing his rapid speed of eating.
I couldn’t let the match in two days affect my supper tonight!
...
When the Living Buddha snuck out to experience the barbeque of Jiu Qu City, the online forum had already gone crazy. Headlines of “Battles of the Heavenly sons of the era”, “Beginning of an Era” and other titles could be seen everywhere.
The “Poison Milk Hierarch” He Xiaowei was looking at these joyously and felt deeply contented.
He was the one who started with the saying of the “Four Heavenly Sons of the Era”. Currently, the saying was getting popularized, receiving recognition and becoming the buzzword online.
“Cough. Can you all still remember how I have appraised the Heavenly sons of the era? Who would have expected that in just a few years Lou Cheng will be going against the Living Buddha!” He Xiaowei thought for a few minutes before sending the Weibo message.
He had expected himself to be praised. However, the replies he saw were not related to it at all.
“I’m disappointed. You aren’t making any predictions!”
“Is it because the Poison Milk Hierarch has gone soft?”
“If you have the guts, predict Lou Cheng will win!”
“To the one above, you must be a fan of Lou Cheng, right?”
...
He Xiaowei’s eyelid twitched from reading these comments. He picked up the teacup and sipped on it.
Trying to incite me to make a prediction on Lou Cheng’s match? No way!
I still treasure my eyebrows and hair!
...
“Living Buddha!”
“Brahman” who had her symbolic two ponytails, was instantly excited. She sat up and placed her laptop on her thighs while going through the forum frantically. She discussed with the others, read predictions and had a busy time.
At this moment, her phone rang. It was a message from her “boyfriend”.
“Tong, your skirt today looked really good on you!”
Brahman picked up the phone, glanced at it and replied quickly.
“I’m busy now. Let’s talk later.”
After clicking on the “Send” button, she returned to the front of her computer screen and read attentively.
...
Within the dormitory of Songcheng University, Yan Xiaoling was complaining to He Zi with a worried look.
“... To sum it up, my uncle is definitely strange! There’s also my father. Now that he has gotten a new house, he can’t wait for me to go back!”
Who would have expected that behind that blur and fun surface were so many bitter past experiences... He Zi was rather shocked and couldn’t help but feel empathetic. She was about to console her close friend.
At this moment, Yan Xiaoling casually glanced at her phone. She jumped up instantly and shouted,
“Living Buddha!”
She turned around abruptly and rushed to the computer table. While switching on her laptop, she scrolled through the forum on her phone. She feelt nervous, excited, and agitated all at the same time.
He Zi looked at her and gradually swallowed back the words she wanted to say previously.
...
After a day, the fourth round Double-Elimination Round of the “Master” Competition would begin soon. The match between Lou Cheng and the Living Buddha, Shi Shan, had been arranged as the last match in the afternoon. It would start around five or five-thirty depending on the length of the previous match.
It was still that familiar Jiangxin Island, those carriers and countless drones. Yan Zheke, who had woken up to watch the match, covered her mouth as she yawned. She dragged the pillow beside her closer and stuffed it behind her waist.
This isn’t as comfortable as Lou Cheng’s body... Yan Zheke suddenly recalled the times they had while going through various battle videos and TV programms. She relaxed her right hand and heaved a sigh.
At this moment, she saw Lou Cheng and Shi Shan taking separate small ships towards Jiangxin Island. She quickly collected her thoughts and covered her mouth.
They were standing at the head of the small shop respectively. Although the waves were undulating, their bodies weren’t swaying at all. It felt just like an arranged battle between martial artists in the past.
Stepping onto the island, Lou Cheng walked to the vicinity of the referee and saw Shi Shan, who was wearing a yellow monk’s robe, standing opposite of him.
The Living Buddha had a huge head, a thick neck and looked like a singer. If he wore a wig and tied it into a ponytail, the audience would definitely feel that he would be singing “The great river flows to the East”!
Shi Shan revealed a smile, placed his palm together and greeted.
When Lou Cheng returned the greetings, the referee looked at the time and the countless drones in the air. After which, he raised his right arm up and said, “The conversation time starts now!”
Lou Cheng was about to form the “Five Flames” when the scenery in front of him changed suddenly. All he could see was trees and grass growing rapidly on the dilapidated Jiangxin Island. Among which, a Bodhi tree rose up with crystals, gold and agate mixed within it. It was emanating Buddha light that was solemn and sacred.
Golden rays enveloped the fat monk opposite of him and the Living Buddha was sitting on a lotus platform with his legs crossed. He was surrounded by figures of Wisdom King, Vajrapani, Buddhas, Sky Dragons and other sacred races. It was as though Buddha had descended to the mortal world.
His smile vanished from his naturally smiling face and his gaze gradually turned vicissitude and indifference. It was as though he had seen the changes in life and every day was just the same since.
At this moment, Lou Cheng wasn’t able to tell if this was just a fantasy or reality.