The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 568 The First Ancestor of Heaven and Man
"Only by cultivating both body and mind can one become a celestial being."

"If one only cultivates one aspect, or if the difference in their spiritual and physical realms is too great, they will fall into the predicament of the five signs of decay in the heavens and man. Since Bodhidharma, countless heroes who should have been able to reach the pinnacle have been forced to waste their lives at their current level simply because they lacked the secret manuals for each realm."

Jianzhen looked at Li Miao and smiled.

"But in my humble opinion, you first cultivated the three paths of life and then achieved the profound understanding. I wonder if your method of avoiding the five signs of decay of gods and men was self-enlightened or has another origin?"

Li Miao did not answer.

He stood there, squinting at Jianzhen, neither affirming nor objecting.

Seeing that Li Miao was unwilling to speak, Jianzhen was not annoyed and continued to speak with a smile.

“If you are unwilling to speak, then this humble monk will speak for you.”

“You should know about Master Zhang Sanfeng.”

Li Miao frowned.

“Master Sanfeng was born five hundred years after your death. How did you know about him?”

Jianzhen smiled and pointed to his heart.

“This humble monk’s essence was gathered from the monks of Enryaku-ji Temple. What they know, I naturally know as well as they know—in short, I am very familiar with the current situation and need no further explanation from you.”

"Getting back to the main topic, do you know where the martial arts of Master Zhang Sanfeng began?"

Li Miao replied.

Shaolin.

Jianzhen nodded.

"That's right. When he was young, Master Sanfeng was a lay disciple of Shaolin. At the age of fourteen, he betrayed Shaolin for some reason, went into seclusion on Wudang Mountain, and attained enlightenment and founded the Wudang Sect here."

“There’s a saying that he wasn’t highly regarded at Shaolin Temple back then because he was dull-witted and had very poor comprehension. I wonder if you’ve heard of that?”

Li Miao nodded.

"I've heard of it, it's not a rumor?"

Jianzhen laughed.

"No."

"Although I am not very familiar with the situation at that time, I am certain that this is not a rumor, and Shaolin would never allow a disciple with talent comparable to Bodhidharma to betray the sect."

"No matter how pedantic they are, no matter how much Master Zhang Sanfeng resists Buddhism, Shaolin would at least not let him leave when he is fourteen years old—a young man's likes and dislikes can be changed, and Shaolin is not so pedantic as to not even know how to repay kindness."

Li Miao smiled.

"The master is quite frank."

Jianzhen shook his head.

"This humble monk died because of his pedantry, so naturally he had some enlightenment... Getting back to the main point, your situation is probably somewhat similar to that of Master Zhang Sanfeng, isn't it?"

“But you are different from Master Sanfeng. He solved this problem after he reached the Celestial Realm, while you are still exploring its secrets.”

Li Miao raised an eyebrow.

"Master, please speak frankly."

Jianzhen laughed.

"Although I don't know the reason either, I can tell you who to go to for help."

"Who?"

"Master Sanfeng".

Li Miao's pupils contracted slightly.

"Did Master Zhang Sanfeng leave behind any letters?"

Jianzhen smiled.

"There's no need for a letter; you can go and ask him yourself."

"...He's still alive?"

"nature."

"where?"

"Ise Shrine."

"...Severely wounded and dying, trapped in a lonely city, or like Venerable Bodhidharma and you, retaining even a trace of life?"

"neither."

Jianzhen said it with absolute certainty.

"He's still alive."

"Because at that point in time two hundred years ago, no one could kill him. I am absolutely certain of this."

Li Miao shrugged. "Even Bodhidharma is dead, how can the master be so certain?"

Jianzhen sighed.

"Does the benefactor know what Zhang Sanfeng's Xuanlan is?"

"His profound insight is called [Two Elements]. It is the most powerful profound insight from ancient times to the present. If he does not actively dispel it, no one can hurt him, no matter who it is."

"When Bodhidharma crossed the sea to the east, it took him three days to sweep away most of the Shinto shrines. But Zhang Sanfeng only took half a day to conquer Kyoto and the Ise Grand Shrine."

Li Miao pondered for a moment, fiddling with his fingers, and finally nodded.

"I see."

"Besides that, Master, is there anything else you would like to say? If not, then I will ask you a few questions, shall I?"

Jianzhen bowed his palm towards Li Miao.

"Donor, please tell me."

"How exactly are the 'Heavenly Demons' described by Shintoism and Enryakuji Temple classified, and why am I included in their categories?"

Jianzhen smiled and said.

"It's very simple."

"Does the benefactor know where martial arts originated, and who created the six realms of martial arts and the two paths of life and death?"

Before Li Miao could speak, he answered his own question.

"Martial arts originated in the late Spring and Autumn Period. The first person to use true qi was named Zhuan Zhu."

Li Miao thought about it.

"When Zhuan Zhu assassinated King Liao, a comet struck the moon... was it the Fish Gut Sword?"

Jianzhen nodded.

"That's right, it's him. Although he only had a slight sense of Qi before he died, in that era, he was still recognized as the first ancestor of martial arts."

"However, some changes occurred later."

Li Miao added a comment.

"What changes?"

Jianzhen lowered his voice and said solemnly.

"The emergence of the Six Realms of Martial Arts".

"A prodigy, the first to reach the Celestial Realm, created six cultivation techniques by his own strength: Sumeru, Vajra, Jiezi; Silent Illumination, Profound Vision, True Constant."

Li Miao raised his hand.

"Wait a minute, Master."

"Putting aside the fact that this is the first time I've heard of the True Constant Realm, you just said that it's six cultivation methods, not six paths to the realm?"

Jianzhen sighed.

"It is both a state of mind and a skill."

"Essentially, the names of these six techniques eventually became synonyms for different realms."

“Cultivating life force is relatively easy, but cultivating sexual energy is difficult to innovate... It can be said that almost all the celestial beings who practiced sexual energy in later generations were successors of this mysterious genius.”

"As for the Heavenly Demons."

Jianzhen looked at Li Miao and said, word by word.

"Those who create their own techniques and pave their own paths are the Heavenly Demons."

"A celestial being who has not practiced these six techniques is a celestial demon."

“You, me, the leader of the Ming Cult, Bodhidharma, and Zhang Sanfeng are all demons.”

Li Miao suddenly realized.

From his early days in the martial arts world to now, from his long conversation with Xingchi to learning the secrets of the celestial beings, a question that had always lingered in his mind has been answered—why did the two patriarchs, Bodhidharma and Zhang Sanfeng, not leave behind a legacy of spiritual cultivation for their descendants?

Very simple.

That would bring Shaolin and Wudang enemies they could not possibly resist.

That mysterious prodigy who pioneered the Six Realms of Heaven and Man and the Two Paths of Life and Death.

The old man on the river.

The two founders did not want to leave a legacy for future generations, but they suddenly discovered that a dark cloud, rising from the birthplace of martial arts, was relentlessly looming over them.

They came to Japan to disperse the dark cloud. If they won, the problem would be solved; but if they lost, their self-created martial arts techniques would attract the attention of the dark cloud, and the lineages of Wudang and Shaolin would be in danger of being preserved.

"So they chose to cross the sea to the east to solve this problem for future generations."

(End of this chapter)