327: Realization

That year, Tang Ku was thirty years old. Sanzu Temple was withering, with monks either returning to secular life or defecting to other sects, leaving only a dozen or so monks to maintain the place from top to bottom.

"Senior Brother, you've trapped me for several years now. When will I be able to leave?"

Dressed in a tattered monk's robe, he looked at the white-haired Old Monk before him, his face filled with helplessness and a sigh.

The Old Monk sat there cross-legged, his half-inch-long hair stubble turning white, his decrepit state making him seem as if he were on the verge of death.

He had crippled his own Meridians, making him appear to be eighty or ninety years old, but who would have known that he was not even sixty yet this year?

Jingkong looked at Tang Ku, shook his head, and said helplessly, "You still don't understand. It's not that I've trapped you, but that you have trapped yourself! Look at this mountain; after Master passed away, those who could leave have all left. You have hands and feet, and extraordinary abilities; why don't you leave?"

Tang Ku's eyes widened. "I swore an oath that after you crippled your own Meridians, I would take care of you until you died. That's the one good thing about me—I value loyalty!"

"Nonsense!"

Jingkong shook his head and scolded with a smile, "Your personality still hasn't changed. You must know that a tree dies if moved, but a person lives if they move. If you want to turn your dead end around, you have to move!"

Tang Ku curled his lip. "I don't have the energy for that anymore. If they come, let them come. At the very least, I can still die in the same place as you, this incorrigible monk..."

Jingkong suddenly glared. "Get lost! You might want to die, but this monk doesn't. Don't drag me down with you. Hurry up and get off the mountain to find another way out!"

Tang Ku rubbed his bald head and gave a self-deprecating smile. "From beginning to end, were you doing this for the reputation of Sanzu Temple?"

"What else? Do you think a little brat like you is worth me sacrificing so much? Get out, get out, get out... This monk's fate is ordained; I'm not supposed to die, and I'm not supposed to be served by you either. Get lost, get lost!"

Jingkong scolded.

"Fine, I'll get lost then..." Tang Ku clenched his fists. "Old Monk, don't you regret this."

"If you leave, I won't regret it. If you stay on the mountain, I would regret it to the extreme... Get out!"

Jingkong widened his eyes and finally drove the stubborn kid away.

That year, the Tianxing Sect gathered a group of evil heretics and stormed Sanzu Temple to avenge their previous sect leader. Sanzu Temple, no longer as powerful as before, could not withstand the attack and disappeared from the world from then on, with Monk Jingkong's whereabouts ultimately unknown.

It was only after that year that Tang Ku finally understood Jingkong's true intentions.

Rather than saying he was afraid of implicating the temple, it was more that he was afraid of implicating you.

On the mountain ridge, a tear flowed from the corner of Tang Ku's eye, dripping into the sand and soil, turning into a bead of mud that rolled endlessly down the hillside.

"With a body full of karmic sin from killing, how can I become a Buddha?"

Tang Ku looked at the clouds in the sky, then couldn't help but chuckle softly. "However, if I didn't have this karmic sin from killing, then I wouldn't be me, and I would have lost my original heart!"

That year, he grew his hair long, as if returning to secular life. While struggling to survive in the secular world, he walked the edge of the law to uphold justice, finally finding out even the color of the underwear of those who had destroyed the temple.

However, when he truly wanted to take action and kill these guys with his own hands, he suddenly understood a principle.

Having rolled around in the secular world for several years, his Vajra Zen Skill, which hadn't progressed for a long time, had actually reached an unprecedented Realm!

He finally realized that the bitterness, sweetness, sourness, and spiciness of life, and the myriad states of the world, were the foundation of a Zen heart; living in seclusion was, in the end, not the Dao.

Realizing this, he suddenly awakened and finally understood the true reason Jingkong had told him to get off the mountain.

It turned out it wasn't because he was afraid of him implicating the mountain gate, nor was it because he was afraid the mountain gate would implicate him; his true purpose was to let him find his own Dao.

Looking at this bustling world, he actually no longer had the desire for revenge. This was not because he was disheartened, but because he had other thoughts.

"Every drink and every peck is predestined; the fall of Sanzu Temple started with me! It was my excessive killing intent, killing Yao Dezhang, that caused things to develop this way. In that sense, I am the chief culprit behind the destruction of the temple..."

Tang Ku smiled helplessly, handed the information he had investigated to a War God of the Huaxia Xuanwu Camp, then disappeared from the human world and entered the deep mountains alone to cultivate.

That year, he was thirty-eight years old. On the Peak of Tianzhu Peak, in the ruined temple, a golden light shot up to the stars, parting the clouds to reveal the blue sky. His Vajra Zen Skill finally reached Major Achievement, and he stepped into the Peak of practitioners, welcoming the Nine-Nine Heavenly Tribulation. Under the Lightning Tribulation, his physical strength constantly increased, constantly surpassing his present self. Moreover, with the help of the Lightning Tribulation, his body actually gained the ability to decompose and reorganize. And just as the last tribulation fell, Tang Ku's consciousness paused briefly, and when it appeared again, it was in the body of Tang Sanzang.

"So... I wasn't struck dead by the Lightning Tribulation back then?"

As his consciousness gradually returned, Tang Ku suddenly woke up. An indescribable realization radiated from the depths of his soul, making his Zen heart even firmer and clearer.

However, just as he woke up, he felt gusts of evil wind blowing towards him, and the sound of weapons clashing rose one after another.

Turning his head to look, he saw the Three-Pointed Double-Edged Blade in Yang Jian's hand dancing in a flurry of blades, almost chasing after Tesla to hack at him. Tesla had an extra slender Western longsword in his hand; although he looked like he was fending off blows with difficulty, his movements were not chaotic, and he was trading blows with Yang Jian.

It was evident that both sides did not seem to be using their full strength, and their attacks still left room for maneuver.

"Hehe, will the True Lord continue? You seem to have already won the bet!"

Tesla's figure turned into countless afterimages, suddenly appearing a hundred meters away from Yang Jian.

The Three-Pointed Double-Edged Blade turned into a ray of light and disappeared from his hand. Yang Jian flew to Tang Ku's side and asked urgently, "Holy Monk, how are you? Is there any discomfort?"

Tang Ku frowned slightly, shook his head, and then looked at the smiling Tesla, saying in a deep voice, "You... are helping me?"

Tesla laughed. "It doesn't count as helping you; whatever you can comprehend from the dream is your own fortune!"

"Why?"

Tang Ku curled his lip. "You'd better state your purpose. I don't want to owe an enemy a favor, because it will be very troublesome later!"

Yang Jian, standing to the side, did not understand what was happening, but since Tang Ku knew, he didn't ask further. Instead, he stood by Tang Ku's side, watching Tesla with a vigilant gaze, not daring to relax for a moment.

"I have my own plans. You don't need to feel like you owe me any favors; all of this is driven by fate..."

Tesla waved his hand. "Alright, since I lost the bet, I will fulfill the agreement and take out the Sacred Light Mustard Cloud Cannon to return it to you... Hmm, remember, this is our first meeting. The next time we meet, perhaps we will have to fight to the death..."

As he spoke, a strange-looking pistol with a muzzle like a trumpet appeared in his hand. He aimed it at the head of the Doomsday Fortress and pulled the trigger!