After a very friendly exchange with Chen Qianqian, Chen Xuanze was disappointed. This girl knew that the Cloud Dream Art could transcend the ordinary, all because fifteen hundred years ago, during the battle when the Killing Life Temple purified the White Mountain and Black Water, there was a shameless monk who practiced both Buddhism and Taoism. Relying on the Cloud Dream Art, he transcended the first-grade realm, causing the White Mountain to turn red and the Black Water to drift away.

This information was not widely known, except to those in the White Mountain and Black Water and the Killing Life Temple. Until now, there were still human captives attempting to practice the Twelve-Year Cicada technique in the White Mountain and Black Water.

Fortunately, this statement was confirmed by San Zang, which made Chen Xuanze start to hesitate whether to challenge the Twelve-Year Cicada.

Transcending the first grade was something no cultivator could refuse. Now was not the time to ponder this question; they continued fishing.

Watching Chen Xuanze and Wang Qingxuan pull up fish one by one, Chen Qianqian couldn't bear it any longer. "Chen Ge, what technique are you and Wang Ge using? Why are the fish biting so quickly?"

Without hiding anything, Chen Xuanze explained the method of using mana to fish to Chen Qianqian. Then, he saw this girl using demonic power. The fish seemed to be rushing to Chen Qianqian's fishing spot willingly, causing ripples on the calm water surface.

Chen Xuanze rolled his eyes at the spectacle, threw his own fishing rod to Chen Qianqian, and then laid down on a pile of grass casually.

San Zang, standing aside, couldn't help but laugh. If you looked at the three in front of you, they seemed idle. The snake demon was now at least an eighth-grade realm, the Taoist was seventh-grade, and Chen Xuanze's realm couldn't be clearly seen by San Zang, but from his observations, it was at least ninth-grade completion. These three were all practitioners; they could easily catch a bunch of fish in the sun, and he truly couldn't understand.

After laughing for a while, San Zang closed his eyes and lowered his head, preparing to cultivate.

"San Zang." Just as San Zang closed his eyes, he heard Chen Xuanze calling out. He opened his eyes and looked at Chen Xuanze, full of questions.

Chen Xuanze smiled innocently and asked, "I read in the Yellow Register Library that your Killing Life Temple eats demon flesh to improve your cultivation and seeks enlightenment in the Killing God nerve. Is that right?"

San Zang nodded, then shook his head, followed by some gestures.

Wang Qingxuan also stopped fishing and didn't care if Chen Qianqian could handle it. He threw the fishing rod over and began to focus on translating.

"Chen Ge, San Zang means what you said is right and wrong. The Killing Life Temple has a method of improving cultivation by consuming demon blood and flesh. This part you got right. The wrong part is that the Killing Life Temple suppresses demonic entities to seek the instantaneous feedback from the heavens and earth, which helps comprehend the Killing God nerve of the temple. However, cultivating the Killing God nerve is extremely difficult. With so many years of slaughter and damage to the heavens and earth, the feedback for suppressing demonic creatures has become less and less, making it increasingly difficult for the Buddhist practices to advance."

At this point, Wang Qingxuan paused for a moment, thought for a long time, and said with a desolate tone, "In fact, Qingyun Temple is in a similar situation. Originally, both our families were just doing the work for the Demon Suppression Bureau, which allowed rapid progress. At the beginning, we thought it was a change in the rules of heaven and earth. It wasn't until the Demon Suppression Bureau was established that we realized the heavens and earth had abandoned us due to excessive killings."

The matter of the heavenly punishment on the two families' inheritances had been seen by Chen Xuanze in the records. Asking San Zang about this issue was purely a result of idle and malicious curiosity.

"Qingxuan, San Zang, so you two now don't cultivate your own inheritances anymore?"

The monk and the Taoist both shook their heads. Wang Qingxuan sighed and said with a sigh of regret, "I cultivate the Qingyun Scripture, and San Zang cultivates the Killing God Nerve. There's no way around it. Each family has only one heir. If we don't cultivate this inheritance, it will be lost."

Chen Xuanze adjusted his position to make himself more comfortable and then asked, "So, after practicing for so long, haven't you experienced any changes?"

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Wang Qingxuan performed some mysterious Dao technique, causing the reeds beside him to grow wildly, automatically bending and forming a 'rocking chair' behind him. Chen Xuanze looked at this Dao technique with extreme envy, finding it quite practical.

After lying down, Wang Qingxuan answered, "Due to our low cultivation levels, San Zang and I cannot handle demon-slaying tasks. But surprisingly, even if we don't focus on demon-slaying in our respective inheritances, we can still cultivate. It just requires a higher level of comprehension and progresses more slowly."

Hearing this, Chen Xuanze revealed a fox-like smile and asked San Zang, "Have you ever heard of the Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra?"

After careful consideration, San Zang quickly ran through the Buddhist scriptures he had read in his mind, realizing that he had indeed not come across this named scripture. He shook his head and made a few gestures.

"San Zang says he hasn't encountered a scripture with that name. However, he has read most of the scriptures in the Nine Provinces, and even for those he hasn't read, he has heard of them. Perhaps what you mentioned, Chen Ge, is an alias for some scripture," translated Wang Qingxuan.

Chen Xuanze shook his head with a bright smile, finding this little monk quite proud.

After that, Chen Xuanze climbed up from the grass mat, sat cross-legged, and began to recite, "Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, when practicing the profound Prajna Paramita, clearly sees that all five aggregates are empty, and thus overcomes all suffering..."

At first, San Zang was indifferent.

Regarding realm, he excelled. In terms of Buddhist practices, he soloed the Hanging Temple in Kyoto at the age of eight. If it weren't for practicing the Silence Meditation, he would have gone west long ago.

He hadn't heard of this sutra, but it seemed rather ordinary. Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, an unknown Bodhisattva of the first grade?

Moreover, Chen Xuanze lacked any Zen atmosphere when reciting. It was no different from children reciting textbooks.

However, when Chen Xuanze recited, "Shariputra, form does not differ from emptiness, emptiness does not differ from form. Form is emptiness, emptiness is form. Sensation, perception, mental formation, and consciousness are also like this. Shariputra, all dharmas are marked by emptiness, not born or destroyed, not stained or pure..."

Enlightenment!

San Zang immediately closed his eyes without thinking much. He held his hands in front of his chest, rapidly twirling the one hundred and eight beads.

Soon, a Buddhist aura emanated from him, and a halo appeared behind him, as if he was about to achieve enlightenment at that moment.

The Heart Sutra was not long, and Chen Xuanze finished reciting it in no time. Seeing San Zang entering a state of cultivation, Chen Xuanze began to recite from the beginning again. After two recitations, the phenomenon around San Zang finally disappeared.

When San Zang regained consciousness from the cultivation state, opening his eyes, two rays of light shone from his eyes and then dissipated.

Wang Qingxuan was exceptionally excited and asked, "Did you break through to the sixth-grade realm by reciting the sutra?"

San Zang touched his bald head shyly and nodded.

Long before the incident of 'tracking' Little Cui, when Chen Xuanze inadvertently mumbled the Heart Sutra, he knew that this sutra had some extraordinary effects in this world.

He hadn't told San Zang at that time. One was that they weren't that familiar, and the other was that he didn't know that the Killing Life Temple and Qingyun Temple had once been so glorious.

Now that he knew, these two places produced people with no character issues. Over this period of time, they had confirmed that the monk and the Taoist were quite upright and sincere in their dealings with him.

The monk didn't talk much, but he knew a lot. Moreover, he was by no means a saint; he was truly ruthless.

The Taoist was slippery and cunning. When it was time to take action, he didn't hesitate. There was no such thing as a quiet and unassuming manner.

On the eighteenth day in the Yellow Register Library, Chen Xuanze felt worried about the future.

Reaching the first grade? The difficulty was enormous. Just consider the Double Ninth Festival, where two second-grade individuals were already planning to challenge the Demon Suppression Bureau. He didn't want to regret not working hard when someone wanted to kill him one day.

Being strong was one aspect; without a few impressive friends, how could he dominate the Nine Provinces?

The monk and the Taoist were like gifts from heaven. Shouldn't he take the opportunity to maintain and cultivate these relationships?

Unexpectedly, the effect of the Heart Sutra was overly good.

What he didn't know was that when he recited the Heart Sutra for the first time, the whale bell on the top of the Hanging Temple, seventy-two miles west of Kyoto, rang thirty-six times without wind. In the Tianlong Temple in the highland Buddhist country, a thousand-year-old eight-armed dragon image at the top of the eight-story pagoda inexplicably broke a finger, falling to the ground, pointing directly towards Kyoto.

Wang Qingxuan felt happy for San Zang, who had grown up with him. Breaking through one realm with a single recitation of the sutra was a great fortune. As for this 'bamboo pole' of his, he was getting harder to understand.

Whether he was awesome or not, he was just an ordinary ninth-grade Demon Suppression Guard under Li Gou's command.

If he didn't have any abilities, he wouldn't be able to handle the horse demons and hundred-year-old seven-grade snake demons. Reciting a random scripture could help San Zang break through a realm.

Now, San Zang, who had sorted out his thoughts, pushed Wang Qingxuan, interrupting his contemplation, and then made a few gestures.

Wang Qingxuan translated for Chen Xuanze, "Chen Ge, San Zang says he won't express gratitude for great favors, as Buddhism emphasizes karma. Today's Heart Sutra is a favor, and the consequences will be seen in the future."

Chen Xuanze nodded with a smile. This monk was sensible, and his goodwill was not in vain.

Then he saw Wang Qingxuan sit up from the reed lounge chair and eagerly look at him.

Fine, this is San Zang benefiting from it; he also wants a share.