Chapter 42 Helping Others and Oneself

After bestowing an empowerment upon this man, the Great Master walked back up to his seat.

The procession continued into the city; although the surrounding commoners were rowdy, no one dared to block the path.

Jiang Chen even saw that the city's chief magistrate had personally brought people to welcome them.

Although the official acted respectfully, the Great Master did not put on airs; instead, he stepped down from his seat to converse with the official.

The two walked and chatted, gradually making their way to the temple in the city.

The temple's abbot had been waiting at the temple gate early on, and seeing the arrival of the procession, he appeared very respectful.

"Amitabha, this humble monk greets Great Master Vajrabodhi."

The person before him was someone who could speak directly to His Majesty, possessing not only profound cultivation and strength but also a mastery of Buddhist scriptures far surpassing his own.

With him gracing their temple with his presence, their temple's voice within the Buddhist community would see a tremendous boost in the future.

The incense offerings would flourish even more; this was reputation!

"Amitabha, greetings, Great Master Abbot." Vajrabodhi raised his palm to return the greeting.

Afterward, the group walked into the temple together.

Seeing that Vajrabodhi was leaving, the commoners outside grew anxious, pushing forward one after another, begging the Great Master to bestow empowerment upon them or grant their wishes.

"Everyone, there is no need to be anxious. As long as you worship the Buddha with sincerity, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will naturally sense it, and you will naturally achieve success in your hearts," the young novice monk at the entrance said, blocking the surging crowd.

"Later, the Venerable will also hold a Dharma assembly here to bestow empowerment upon those who are sincere."

Jiang Chen saw that there was no more spectacle to watch, so he prepared to leave, but at that moment, the young novice monk suddenly called out to him.

"This patron, please stay a moment."

Jiang Chen turned back and asked with some confusion, "Little baldy... little monk, are you calling me?"

The young novice monk was instantly flushed with anger, but remembering his master's teachings, he refrained from trading insults with this Daoist priest.

"Patron, the Venerable invites you to the temple for a chat."

Jiang Chen's eyes narrowed slightly. He hadn't been conspicuous in the crowd, and if it were because he was a practitioner of the Dao, it wouldn't make sense for this Great Master to notice him.

Although there weren't many practitioners mixed in here, they weren't entirely absent, and there were other Daoists from different sects watching as well.

Why did this person happen to notice him specifically?

Jiang Chen thought for a moment and replied, "Fine, lead the way."

Thus, guided by the young novice monk, Jiang Chen walked into the temple.

Behind him, the other commoners watched Jiang Chen's back with envious and complex gazes, as if being noticed by this Great Master was an immense honor and opportunity.

The temple was built with magnificent splendor; as Jiang Chen looked around along the way, he found that the decorations inside were not at all inferior to Maoshan.

This made him sigh; indeed, these bald donkeys might be useless at other things, but they were truly skilled at amassing wealth.

Their Maoshan Disciples had to head down the mountain every day to subdue demons, eliminate monsters, and transport corpses just to earn that much money.

Others only needed to sit in the temple, strike a wooden fish, and say "Amitabha," and plenty of people would come to offer money.

Even more, there were women whose husbands were impotent and, desperate for children, came to receive "seeding."

"Patron, please enter."

Arriving at a courtyard with rockeries and a pond, the young novice monk stopped outside.

Jiang Chen walked in naturally; inside, the abbot and the Great Master were sitting on stone stools, with a chessboard set up on the stone table.

Jiang Chen glanced at it a few times; he didn't know much about chess, but it was visible to the naked eye that the black pieces held the upper hand.

The one holding the black pieces was none other than the Great Master.

Upon seeing Jiang Chen enter, the Great Master was in no hurry to speak; he simply remained calm, playing chess with the abbot in a slow, leisurely manner.

Jiang Chen waited for a moment, and finding that Vajrabodhi had no intention of speaking, he turned and walked toward the outside of the courtyard.

Clack!

Jiang Chen clearly heard the sound of a chess piece dropping onto the board.

Vajrabodhi could no longer remain calm and hurriedly stood up.

"Patron, please stay!"

Only then did Jiang Chen turn back, a hint of an ambiguous smile on his face.

Trying to put on an act in front of him? He wasn't going to play along.

"Your Excellency, you summoned this Daoist; do you have any instruction?"

Seeing Jiang Chen's casual attitude, the abbot said with slight dissatisfaction, "The person standing before you is none other than our Buddhist sect's Great Master Vajrabodhi!"

Vajrabodhi?

Hearing this name, Jiang Chen finally knew who this Great Master was.

Vajrabodhi, one of the three Great Masters of the Kaiyuan era, and also one of the three people who had an arranged duel with Senior Brother Ye Fashan.

If it were any other time, Jiang Chen would say "awesome," but now...

Jiang Chen only said indifferently, "Oh? What does that have to do with me?"

The abbot wanted to continue, but was stopped by Vajrabodhi.

Vajrabodhi's expression was gentle: "I would not dare to offer instruction. It is just that this humble monk sees that you, Patron, possess deep Buddhist nature and are fated with our Buddha. If you are willing, I would like to guide you into our Buddhist sect."

"With your Buddhist nature, Patron, you would surely have a chance to attain the fruit of a Bodhisattva."

The abbot looked at Jiang Chen with envy, jealousy, and surprise; clearly, he had not expected Vajrabodhi to hold Jiang Chen in such high regard.

The fruit of a Bodhisattva—this was already the pursuit of high monks like the three Great Masters.

The greatest pursuit of his life was merely the fruit of an Arhat, and even that was far off, almost impossible to attain.

However, Jiang Chen held it in disdain. What kind of judgment was that? If he could be given the fruit of a Buddha directly, he might consider it.

The fruit of a Bodhisattva?

Do you take me for a joke?

Jiang Chen wore a half-smile and asked, "Your Excellency, did you not say that all people possess Buddhist nature? Why do you only seek to save me alone, and not all living beings?"

The abbot had originally wanted to call Jiang Chen arrogant, but upon hearing Jiang Chen's retort, he was momentarily stunned and couldn't help but lower his head to ponder how to refute that statement.

After hearing this, Great Master Vajrabodhi smiled freely and said, "Patron, you are mistaken. This humble monk does not only seek to save you, Patron, but all living beings."

"Rather, it is to save gradually, slowly, and excellently, saving in a specific order; first saving one to lead the saving of others. This humble monk will first save you, Patron, and you will then go on to save others. In this cycle, all living beings can naturally be saved."

Jiang Chen listened, dumbfounded. Why did this rhetoric sound exactly like the empty, flowery words of some incompetent, meal-ticket-holding officials from modern times?

The abbot also had a look of sudden realization, looking at Vajrabodhi with even more admiration and respect.

The words that he had pondered for ages and couldn't refute were perfectly countered by the Great Master in just a few sentences.

Truly worthy of being Great Master Vajrabodhi; there is still so much for me to learn from the Great Master!

The abbot felt a wave of emotion.

Jiang Chen, however, appeared indifferent. He said, "Your Excellency's words are absurd. Surely you yourself are still struggling to cross the sea of suffering; whether you will sink or reach the shore is yet unknown, so how dare you claim you can save this Daoist?"

Vajrabodhi was not angry but pleased, and he took an extra look at Jiang Chen with some surprise.

He did not expect that the Daoist before him would actually be able to see through his level of cultivation.

It was just a whim; he had discovered this young Daoist in the crowd and noticed that his Aptitude was extraordinary and his cultivation was not weak, so he wanted to convert him into the Buddhist sect.

When the time came, this entire body of Daoist cultivation could naturally be fully converted into Buddhist cultivation.

If successful, and if this matter were spread, it could also weaken the prestige of the Daoist sects and strengthen the momentum of the Buddhist sect.

Brothers, I'm feeling a bit dizzy today, so I'm taking half a day off. I'll update at noon tomorrow.