Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 343 Everyone shows off their magical powers

The floor tiles of the tower formed a five-story concentric circle, and each circle was divided into four, six, eight, twelve, and twenty-four pieces.

Each piece is engraved with Sanskrit, so densely packed that it would be dizzy for an outsider to read.

But Faxiu was a monk who was one in a million and was good at translating Buddhist scriptures, so this was a piece of cake for him.

He explained to the two of them:
"The person who set the test probably didn't intend to embarrass us. These circles are all basic concepts of Buddhism, but the order has been disrupted."

"The innermost layer should be the Four Noble Truths: suffering, origin, cessation, and path." So he began to rearrange the order, arranging the innermost layer as follows:

'→→→'

"The second level is the six realms of reincarnation. There are the heavens, the human realm, the Asuras, the animals, the hungry ghosts, and the hell realm."

"But the order is also disrupted. We just need to rearrange it according to cause and effect." He said as he rearranged the six stone tablets:

'→→→→→'

"The third layer is the 'Eightfold Path', also known as the Eight Boats or Eight Rafts, which are the path to Nirvana. In order of practice, they are Right View, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration." The little monk said, and arranged the stone tablets in the following order:
'→→→→→→→'

"The fourth level is the 'Twelve Links of Dependent Origination', which are arranged in natural order as ignorance, volition, consciousness, name and form, the six sense organs, contact, feeling, craving, attachment, existence, birth, aging and death."

"The fifth level is the 'Twenty-Four Heavens'. The heavens here are not a world of their own, but heavenly beings or heavenly beings. We must first arrange the Four Heavenly Kings according to the east, west, south, and north. For example, the Eastern Heavenly King Dhritarashtra..." The little monk listed them one by one while diligently sorting them out:
"Then we can just rank the merits of the heavenly guardians according to the Golden Light Sutra, and that should be enough..."

After he put the last brick back in place, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and said with admiration:

"How clever! The Four Noble Truths are the foundation for liberation, the Six Paths represent reincarnation, the Eightfold Path is practice, the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination show interdependent origination, and the Twenty-Four Devas symbolize perfect protection."

"Each layer is in line with 'the law of increasing numbers', which is exactly the method of cultivation I teach," he praised, "The person who set the questions did not mean to embarrass us, but if you are not good at studying, you will never be able to solve it."

"Amazing..." Ren Yuan also touched the little monk's bald head in admiration and said:
"But how come after all this hard work, there's no response?"

"Ah? Need a reaction?" the little monk said cutely.

"Nonsense." Ren Yuan said, "Your two sisters both had stairs down when they broke through the formation."

"Haha, Third Brother, you are obsessed. Who said that there must be stairs to go upstairs?" Faxiu pointed to the center of the circle and said, "This is called 'The Three Realms are only mind, and all things are only consciousness'. If you stand on it, you will naturally find a way."

"Really?" Ren Yuan walked to the center of the circle as he was told, and sure enough, he saw the stone slab under his feet light up. It turned out to be a teleportation formation.

"Niu Boyi..."

Before he could finish his words, he was teleported to the fifth floor.

~~
When we reached the fifth floor, Ren Yuan thought to himself, this time it's finally my turn...

But I saw a huge machine lying quietly in front of me, almost filling up an entire floor of the tower.

Looking at the countless connecting rods, bearings, hinges, pulleys, and gears densely packed together, Ren Yuan felt dizzy. What did all this connect to?
Look, A Yao has already prepared the pillow...

~~
Thousand miles on the ship.

Everyone was used to seeing him coming again.

The little monk also came back with Ren Yuan, looking at him expectantly, with a big "Praise me" written on his face. "Xiao Si'er is amazing." Ren Yuan praised him generously, "He was able to understand all the Sanskrit that I couldn't understand in no time, and he also explained it clearly. He will definitely become a master in the future."

"I'm not that powerful." Faxiu shook his head happily, his tail almost reaching the sky.

"Great, great! My brothers are all talented and speak nicely. I like Xiaosi very much." Chen Baxian happily hugged Faxiu and rubbed him.

"You are also a talent." Yang Zhong said to Chen Baxian indifferently.

"Why does what you said sound weird?" Chen Baxian didn't bother to argue with him.

"Thank you anyway."

"Oh, oh, oh..." Seeing that even Faxiu showed up, the princess was not very happy and asked:
"Why isn't it my turn yet?"

"There's a chance." Ren Yuan said with a perfunctory smile.

"Now is your chance." The little monk excitedly told Ren Yuan about the situation on the fifth floor, and then looked at her expectantly:
"Princess, can I?"

"I think you are trying to embarrass my princess!" Xiao Yuhuan pulled him over, twisted his chubby cheeks, and said with a smile:

"Do you think I know anything about mechanics?"

"I was wrong, I was wrong. I thought the princess knew everything." Faxiu begged for mercy.

"Hmph, there's still something I don't quite understand." Xiao Yuhuan then let go of Fa Xiu.

Ren Yuan, who was not as leisurely as them, had already pulled Zu An aside and asked softly, "Brother Zu has a rich family background, so he should know some mechanical techniques, right?"

"I know a little bit. Although I never learned it from my father, I have read all the books left by my grandfather." Zuan nodded and said, "For example, this ship is very similar to the Qianli ship designed by my grandfather from its structure to its principle."

"Is there a possibility that this boat was built by your grandfather?" Ren Yuan said softly.

"Yeah, why does he look so familiar?" Zuan slapped his forehead and sighed, "If only he were still alive..."

Ren Yuan glanced at the cabin. With Zu Chongzhi's supernatural powers, he must have discovered that his grandson had boarded the ship long ago.

But the old man hadn't said anything until now, so he must have his reasons. Without Zu Chongzhi's permission, he didn't dare to speak carelessly... He could only comfort himself by saying that even if he told him, he would forget it after getting off the boat. It's better not to waste your time to annoy others.

"Come on, I'll go with you to take a look." Zuan said as he stretched out his hand to Ren Yuan, who took his arm and returned to the tower.

~~
In the tower.

Su Xiaoxiao was there too, talking to A Yao, and when she saw Ren Yuan and Zu An appear, she teased, "Hey, this time we're pulling each other's arms."

"Senior sister doesn't like holding hands, we have to correct that." Ren Yuanmang said with a smile.

"Does she not like you holding hands with men?" Su Xiaoxiao said, "Well, although holding hands with men is also disgusting."

"Hey, brother, your family's status is worrying." Zu An was so happy that he started to make sarcastic remarks. When he saw that Ren Yuan was about to lose his temper, he quickly said seriously, "Come, let me see what's going on."

"You'd better understand." Ren Yuan snorted. If he couldn't handle two women, how could he handle the leader of his subordinates?
(End of this chapter)