I began to understand the myriad things by chopping wood

Chapter 89 Origin
When Huoda came back from the study, he was holding the exquisite book with gold edges in his hand.

Monk Liu raised his chin slightly to indicate, and Huo Da handed the booklet directly to Xie Yuan.

Xie Yuan took it and looked at it. It had a white background with gold edges and was of excellent paper quality. The cover had a picture of the Eighteen Arhats. It was the same martial arts book that he had seen before.

Monk Liu lay on the bed and said slowly:

"In fact, all my skills come from this book."

He seemed to recall something from the distant past, closed his eyes slightly, and said slowly:

“Back then I was just a little beggar, begging for food and barely surviving.

“I thought if I continued like this, I might starve to death one day, but then…something changed.

"That day, I got some food and hid in a dilapidated temple. But before I could eat, a few people rushed in and started a fight to the death. It turned out that they had stumbled into a gang fight.

"It was five evil followers, against a big monk. I thought two fists could not defeat four hands, but the big monk fought one against five, and sent all five evil followers to see the Buddha.

“But he himself was also seriously injured. Seeing this, I plucked up the courage to go and see, and found that he was only breathing his last breath.

“I hesitated for a moment, then remembered the stories of those who saved the masters and passed on their magical skills. I immediately came up with an idea, helped him stop the bleeding, and fed him my meal.

"The monk was very skilled in martial arts, so he managed to survive. After he recovered a little, he took me back to his temple."

Xie Yuan asked in a low voice:

"But the Prajna Temple?"

Monk Liu was stunned for a moment, then he laughed hoarsely, twitched his wound, and bared his teeth again:
"Don't listen to Cao Shan's nonsense... Well, it's not him who's talking nonsense, I taught him to say that.

"That's the Jinhe Temple in Yanbei, a medium-sized sect. But all Zen Buddhism in the world originates from Prajna, so there's no problem with what I said."

Xie Yuan was stunned for a moment, feeling a little amused and helpless.

He lowered his head to look at the booklet and shook his head slightly:

"It turns out not to be the case."

After being curious for so long, I finally got to hear the final word from the real owner.

Monk Liu continued:

"I thought he wanted to take me in as his disciple, and I was full of expectations, even if it meant becoming a monk. In fact, I was eager to become a monk. Those monks were all fat and big-eared, and being able to have enough food was a great thing for me at that time.

"In the end, the monk said that he saw that I was quite scheming and was not suitable for joining the Buddhist sect, so he asked me to be a handyman... Damn it, I was so angry."

Monk Liu smiled faintly. Even though he was angry, when he talked about it now, he was just expressing his nostalgia.

As direct disciples, Huo Da and Lu Hong had naturally heard these stories before, but the details were not as rich as this time, so they pricked up their ears and listened quietly.

Perhaps because Monk Liu had experienced life and death, he wanted to review his life and continued to ramble:
"I worked as a handyman in Jinhe Temple for three years. At least I didn't starve. But I always felt resentful. I saved the monk's life, but he made me do odd jobs every day.

“Three years later, the great monk called me over again and said that he had observed me for three years and found that I really had no wisdom and no affinity with Buddhism, so he asked me to leave the mountain.

"So he wanted to test me after all. Unfortunately, I was neither stupid nor smart enough. Even if I made a mistake, I still had the chance to become a great monk. Haha. Later, I thought about it and felt quite regretful. So I often called myself a monk who had returned to secular life. Gradually, my name became Monk Liu."

He paused for a long time before continuing:
"But before he left the mountain, he said he owed me a life anyway, so he taught me a set of iron shirt that was popular in the martial arts world, and improved it a little bit - this is the one we have in the Iron Armor Sect.

"I practiced in the mountains for another five years. During this time, the great monk gave me careful guidance, and I was also provided with good food, drink and medicine. Finally, I achieved some results." Then, the great monk gave me this booklet, saying that it completely resolved our karma. He said that this iron shirt has some Buddhist meaning. After practicing it, if you want to advance, you have to visualize this booklet. If you have the ability to understand, you may be able to gain supernatural powers.

"But how can I have any comprehension? After leaving Jinshan Temple, my skills have progressed slowly for decades, and I have never been able to break through to the third level. I have read this booklet so many times, but I still can't understand what it means. Since Xie Yuan wants it, take it and read it. Maybe this thing is more suitable for you..."

Xie Yuan took the booklet, stroked it slowly, and nodded slightly.

It turns out that the Tieyi Sect's Kung Fu has such an origin, no wonder they say "the Buddha's rhythm is hidden within".

I finally figured out what I had been curious about. Although it's not as famous as the Prajna Temple, this booklet might be of some use.

He cupped his hands:
"I'll go back and take a look at it. I'll keep it safe and return it after a while."

Monk Liu didn't care:
"Don't worry. Huoda and the others are stupid. They have seen it many times and still can't understand it."

Xie Yuan thought of something else and asked:

"Master Liu, I had a friend who helped me a lot before. I was wondering if I could pay him some money so that he could learn the Iron Shirt..."

Monk Liu waved his hands repeatedly and said:
"Xie Yuan, what you said is meaningless. Why do you need to pay money? With your kindness to our Iron Armor Sect, you can teach anyone you want. Well, let's do this. From now on, you will be the martial arts master of the martial arts school. Come and teach us martial arts when you have nothing to do, and help us expand our business outside. Of course, you don't have to pay when you are busy. Your own business is more important."

After he finished speaking, he was already very tired. Seeing this, the others asked Lu Hong to take care of him and let him rest, and then left the bedroom.

Xie Yuan suddenly became the master of Tieyi Sect. Although it was just a sinecure, his seniority seemed a bit strange.

Seeing that Huo Da and the others were looking at him with strange eyes, he coughed lightly and said:
"Brother Huo, let's talk about our own things... Well, I'm afraid I won't be back here often in the future. If you have anything to say, send a message to Yunzhao and let me know."

Xie Yuan politely declined the invitation to the banquet, as this kind of occasion was not particularly suitable for him. Instead of wasting time, he would rather go back and study the booklet.

Before leaving Panlong Town, Xie Yuan suddenly had an idea and made a special trip to the entrances of the Black Tiger Boxing Gym and the Divine Weapon Gym. He saw disciples coming in and out, looking worried and sad. The smell of medicine wafted out of the doors. It turned out that they were treating the injuries of the two gym masters.

The disciples at the door were all shocked and frightened when they saw Xie Yuan:
"Xie Yuan, what...what else do you want to do?"

"It's okay, I'll take a walk."

Seeing this, Xie Yuan smiled slightly, knowing that the situation in Panlong Town had been settled and he didn't need to worry about it anymore. With the incense of him and the Iron Cloth Sect, it was enough to do this, so he rode back to Yunzhao.

Inside the escort agency, in his own spacious room.

"Why are there only pictures and not a single word..."

Xie Yuan read the booklet and felt puzzled.

This booklet is filled with images of arhats in various postures, which seem to suggest the routes for exerting force and practicing qigong.

However, without any textual annotations and a teacher to guide you, what can you understand just by looking at the pictures?
I'm afraid that what the monk gave you back then was not the complete secret manual, but just some images to test your comprehension.

It would be impossible for Liu Heshang, who has ordinary qualifications, to understand this.

"The monk is not sincere in saying that he wants to end karma. He is just trying to make himself feel at ease. He is a bit hypocritical."

However, it is appropriate that this incomplete cause and effect finally fell on him.

Xie Yuan didn't understand but was not in a hurry. He followed the first posture, standing on one leg, with the other leg crossed, putting his hands together, squatting slightly, and doing the cross-legged arhat posture.

Gradually, he seemed to have some feelings, looked up and smiled.

(End of this chapter)