Tianlong: Starting with Mantuo Manor as fertilizer

Xie Ruo dipped his brush in water and scribbled on several pages.

After being stained by water, each page features an image of a naked monk.

Their postures were all different, and each one was incredibly bizarre.

Some are upside down and suspended in mid-air.

Some people cross their legs behind their necks.

Some bodies were twisted like pretzels.

Others sit cross-legged with their hands hooked behind their backs.

Each human figure is adorned with winding, intricate red lines that swirl and intertwine, connecting every part of the body in a dazzling display.

This Yi Jin Jing was created by Bodhidharma and is known as the Shaolin Temple's most powerful martial art.

Since it was passed down from the patriarch, the monks in the temple naturally valued this sutra highly.

When reading the scriptures, one must wear plain silk gloves, for fear of soiling the precious scriptures.

How could I dare to do what Xie Buruo did, openly smearing water on the pages of scriptures?

This is why, for over a hundred years, no one in the entire temple knew that the book contained illustrations.

The postures and movement routes shown in the diagram are explained in Sanskrit.

The eminent monks of the previous generation of Shaolin knew Sanskrit. Although they did not know the secrets of the symbols, they were still able to master the Yi Jin Jing skill by following the instructions in the text.

"I don't understand any Sanskrit. Now that I have these graphic annotations, it's much more convenient."

Although the Yi Jin Jing is a superior internal skill, it is complex and profound.

But with this diagram, it becomes clear at a glance.

It saves you the trouble of learning Sanskrit and the hassle of imagining the postures for the exercise.

In the original story, even someone with mediocre martial arts skills like You Tanzhi was able to cultivate according to the diagram.

Xie Buruo was naturally no exception.

However, the difficulty in cultivating this divine skill does not lie in the diagrams or the path of practice.

Only by seeing through the illusions of others and self, and reaching a state of mind free from attachment, can one make progress.

Those who have achieved this skill throughout history.

Either they are enlightened monks who have profound knowledge of Buddhism and have seen through the illusions of the world.

Either they are completely unaware of the techniques, but unintentionally align with the essence of having no attachment in their mind.

For example, the mad monks of the previous generation of Shaolin, and You Tanzhi in the original work.

Xie Buruo's expression darkened slightly upon realizing this.

He was a time traveler and knew all along the immense value of this scripture.

At first glance, I recognized this as Shaolin's number one divine skill.

Once an obsession has taken root in one's heart, the desire to be free from all attachments is nothing but a pipe dream.

"Perhaps I belong to that one-in-a-million genius?"

Xie, with the mindset that "if you don't practice, you might as well practice," decided to start practicing first.

Even if one cannot master the skill, at most one will only improve one's health, like Ah Zi.

In the original novel, the sycophant You Tanzhi taught Azi some techniques of the Yi Jin Jing (Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic).

However, after practicing, Azi's internal strength did not increase much; she only felt light and healthy.

Xie Bu Ruo made up his mind and immediately began practicing according to the diagram on the first page.

The image depicts a gaunt, naked monk with one finger pointing to the sky and the other to the ground. His posture appears ordinary, but his practice is quite complex.

Xie should follow the red arrows on the diagram, visualize them, and guide the flow of vital energy.

After a while.

A wisp of true energy within the dantian, like a spring bud breaking through the soil, travels along winding lines through the meridians, bringing a subtle, indescribable comfort to the muscles and bones throughout the body.

That wisp of true energy moved sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly, flowing back and forth through the limbs and bones, rising and falling, endlessly.

Xie Buruo dared not make a hasty conclusion at this moment about whether he could truly master the Yi Jin Jing.

But the feeling of comfort and ease after practicing is something I can genuinely experience.

It must at least have the effect of strengthening the body.

Given his temperament, he was almost certainly greedy, angry, and deluded.

If one's mind has nowhere to dwell, then perhaps we can only wait until reincarnation.

The irony is that he was indeed reincarnated.

In Buddhist practice, to see through the illusions of self and others and transcend worldly attachments, one must overcome numerous obstacles.

And the most difficult thing to understand and overcome among all of these is life and death.

Life and death are the origins of fame and fortune, love and hate, anger and loss.

All the worldly attachments and desires arise from this.

Xie Buruo was completely oblivious to fame, fortune, gain, loss, and all other attachments.

But they had truly passed through the threshold of life and death.

Since the Yi Jin Jing was written, there has been no one like him who, despite being afflicted with all five poisons, was still able to cultivate this skill.

In the whole world, there is only one like him.

Xie himself was completely unaware of this.

He was so focused on practicing according to the diagrams that he didn't realize it was already dawn.

I could hear roosters crowing and dogs barking; it was already bright outside the window.

Xie should quickly put the Yi Jin Jing back into the box.

After getting ready, he got up to wash and groom himself.

A moment later, there was a knock on the door.

When he opened the door, he saw the young monk who had brought him to the guest room the night before.

He came to lead Xie Buruo to the Shaolin Temple's dining hall for a vegetarian meal.

Last night, Xie Bu Ruo stole the scripture and was in a great mood. In addition, it was already dark, so he did not observe Xie Bu Ruo's appearance carefully and forgot to ask for the correct method number.

The sky was bright and clear, and he looked up to examine it closely.

The monk appeared to be around twenty years old.

With thick eyebrows, large eyes, protruding ears, and a large, flat, drooping nose, his appearance was quite ugly.

Seeing his dignified appearance, Xie Buruo's heart stirred, and she asked, "May I ask how you are addressed, Master?"

The monk clasped his hands together and replied respectfully, "This humble monk is Xuzhu."

Xie Buruo gasped, "May I ask what kind of bamboo you mean?"

Xu Zhu smiled and said, "Bamboo."

Xie Bu Ruo nodded slowly.

So it's the young master who is blessed with great fortune! My apologies for not recognizing you!

Xu Zhu led the way, and Xie Bu Ruo followed behind.

He remembered that Xu Zhu had nine incense scars on his back and buttocks, which were burned by his mother, Ye Erniang, as a mark.

"That woman is truly ruthless!"

"Not only does he abduct other people's children, but he can also be ruthless to his own flesh and blood."

But Xie thought again that the Khitan people next door had tattooed a little wolf on Qiao Feng's chest when he was not even a year old.

Comparing the two, they are truly evenly matched.

"No wonder the Song and Liao dynasties were brotherly nations!"

Xie Bu Ruo walked behind Xu Zhu, his gaze falling on his buttocks, thinking about the secret of those twenty-seven incense scars.

The Shaolin monks who came and went were all shocked and bewildered when they saw him scrutinizing Xuzhu like that.

Because he was a friend of Doctor Xue, they dared not approach him and could only step aside and keep their distance.

Xu Zhu did not notice anything unusual about the monks.

When he encountered familiar fellow disciples along the way, he would put his palms together in greeting.

Xie Ruo wanted to see what the incense scar on Xu Zhu's body looked like.

However, such an action would inevitably alert Xiao Yuanshan, who was hiding in the temple.

That old man would kill anyone except his son, Qiao Feng.

He has been mentally unstable ever since he fell off a cliff and damaged his head thirty years ago.

The first thing Xiao Yuanshan did after narrowly escaping death was neither to seek revenge nor to find his son Qiao Feng.

Instead, he stayed in the Shaolin Temple every day, either secretly reading scriptures or spying on the Shaolin monks having secret rendezvous in the Ziyun Cave.

Later, he killed Xuan Ku, and Qiao Sanhuai and his wife, causing his own son Qiao Feng to be hunted down by the martial arts world of the Central Plains, almost to the point of no return.

As a result, Xie Buruo used to suspect that he had stolen the role that belonged to Murong Bo.

In short, Xiao Yuanshan is a man who acts erratically and cannot be judged by common sense.

Xie knew his martial arts skills were weak, so it was best not to attract his attention.

Fortunately, he is now just an unknown nobody and is not taken seriously by Xiao Yuanshan.

Of course, besides Xiao Yuanshan, his good friend Murong Bo was also hiding in Shaolin Temple.

Murong Bo's appetite was clearly much greater than Xiao Yuanshan's.

He not only read the book himself, but also copied it and brought it home.

They practically treated the Shaolin Temple's Sutra Repository like a public library.

Of course, the librarian might also be too lazy to care about him because the pay at Shaolin Temple is too low.

The thought of Murong Bo made Xie Bushu's heart skip a beat, and he became secretly on guard.

"We'd better hide the swallow flag over there well, lest that old bastard accidentally spot it."

Murong Bo is cunning and shrewd, unlike Bao Butong and Feng Bu'e who are easily fooled.

Xie Buruo didn't think he could fool him.

More importantly, he still doesn't know what identity Murong Bo is playing in the Shaolin Temple.

I only know this from the original work.

He sometimes used the alias Yan Longyuan to operate in the Dengfeng area.

Sometimes he appears as a lay Buddhist, and sometimes he disguises himself as a farmer.

Lost in thought, the two arrived at the Shaolin Dining Hall.