Tianlong: I am carefree

Chapter Three: One Finger Divine Skill

Tianlong Temple is located north of Zhongyue Peak in the Cangshan Mountains outside Dali City. Its official name is Chongsheng Temple, but the people of Dali are used to calling it Tianlong Temple. Backed by the Cangshan Mountains and facing the Erhai Lake, it occupies a very strategic location. The temple has three pagodas, built in the early Tang Dynasty. The largest one is over 200 feet tall with sixteen levels. The top of the pagoda has an iron inscription that reads: "Made by Yuchi Jingde during the Zhenguan era of the Great Tang Dynasty." Legend has it that Tianlong Temple has five treasures, and the three pagodas are the most important of them.

The ancestors of the Duan family who were emperors often abdicated and became monks, all taking their vows at Tianlong Temple. Therefore, Tianlong Temple was the ancestral temple of the Dali royal family, the most prestigious among all temples in the country. After each emperor became a monk, his descendants would visit the temple to pay homage on his birthday, and each visit included offerings for renovations. The temple boasted three pavilions, seven towers, nine halls, and a hundred buildings, a grand scale and exquisite architecture. Even famous Buddhist temples in the Central Plains, such as Wutai, Putuo, Jiuhua, and Emei, rarely rivaled it; it was only its remote location in southern Xinjiang that kept its fame relatively unknown.

Following the information he had gathered, Wang Lie left Dali City early in the morning to search for Tianlong Temple.

"I wonder if there's a Diancang Sword Sect on Diancang Mountain. It seems there aren't any powerful figures from Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils on Diancang Mountain. I'll go to Tianlong Temple first and see what it's like," Wang Lie thought to himself.

Wang Lie arrived at Tianlong Temple without stopping. It looked no different from an ordinary temple. The incense was not very strong, with only three or five worshippers coming and going. A young monk was sweeping the ground at the temple gate.

"Hello, Master. Is this Tianlong Temple?" Wang Lie asked as he walked over.

The young monk stopped sweeping, put his hands together, and said, "I am just a novice monk who has just entered the path. I dare not accept the title of master from you. Our temple is called Chong Sheng Temple, and indeed some of you call it Tianlong Temple."

"This is good," Wang Lie said with a smile. "May I ask your Dharma name, Master?"

Seeing that Wang Lie still addressed him as "Master," the young monk didn't correct him further and was somewhat pleased. He replied, "My Dharma name is Ku Rong. When the World-Honored One Shakyamuni entered Nirvana between the twin Sala trees in Kushinagar, there were twin trees on each of the four sides, one flourishing and one withered, known as the 'Four Withered and Four Flourishing Trees.' According to Buddhist scriptures, the twin trees on the east represent 'permanence and impermanence,' the twin trees on the south represent 'joy and no joy,' the twin trees on the west represent 'self and no-self,' and the twin trees on the north represent 'purity and impurity.' The flourishing and flourishing trees signify the true nature of Nirvana: permanence, joy, self, and purity; the withered and decaying trees signify the worldly nature: impermanence, no joy, no self, and no purity. The Tathagata entered Nirvana amidst these eight states, signifying neither withered nor flourishing, neither false nor empty. Master gave me this Dharma name in the hope that I could comprehend the Zen of Ku Rong and attain Buddhahood on the spot." The young monk continued his incessant explanation.

Two huge words popped into Wang Lie's mind: "Holy crap!"

"You are Master Kuru and Rong?"

"I'm not some kind of master," the little monk said, scratching his head sheepishly.

"Master Kurong is only this old. It seems I really did transmigrate too early. This is troublesome. It will take at least fifty or sixty years before I can get to the Tianlong world I'm familiar with. By then, even Murong Fu's father probably won't be born yet," Wang Lie thought to himself.

"Master Kurong, I've heard that many masters in your temple are highly skilled in martial arts. I wonder if I could broaden my horizons?" Wang Lie asked Kurong.

"Our temple does indeed have many senior monks and elders with profound martial arts skills, including the One-Finger Divine Skill. However, monks practice martial arts to strengthen their bodies, not to show off in front of others," Ku Rong said, clasping his hands together.

"Is that so? Then, Master, do you know the One-Finger Divine Skill?" Wang Lie didn't even enter the temple; he just kept pestering the young monk for a question. He'd finally met someone whose name he knew, so he had to try and establish some connection, right?

"This humble monk has only just begun practicing the One-Finger Divine Skill, and has only reached the seventh rank." Ku Rong was a little embarrassed, but also vaguely proud.

According to Wang Lie, the One-Finger Divine Skill is divided into nine grades. When Duan Yu went to Tianlong Temple for help, those old monks had only reached the fourth grade. Ku Rong, at such a young age, had already reached the seventh grade, which shows that he was indeed quite talented.

"So the master really is a member of the Duan clan. I didn't expect the master to be so amazing at such a young age. He must be the number one among the younger generation," Wang Lie flattered.

"Not at all, I just have a little talent for martial arts." Kurong scratched his head sheepishly.

"Master is too modest. Given time, you might even master the Six Meridians Divine Sword," Wang Lie casually boasted.

"Six Meridian Divine Sword? What kind of ultimate technique is that? This humble monk has never heard of it," Kurong asked in confusion.

"That's right, Kurong is still just a novice monk. Even Duan Zhengchun didn't know about the Six Meridians Divine Sword back then, so he probably hasn't heard of it yet," Wang Lie thought to himself.

"That's also a finger technique, and also a sword technique. If you master it, you'll be invincible." Wang Lie boasted without restraint, spouting nonsense.

"There is such a finger technique in the world! My Duan family's One-Finger Divine Skill is already the best finger technique in the world. Even Shaolin's Flower-Picking Finger and Formless Calamity Finger are inferior. Could it be that the Six Meridian Divine Sword is even more powerful than the One-Finger Divine Skill?" Ku Rong was still a young monk after all, and did not have as much knowledge as he would later gain.

“You don’t understand,” Wang Lie said, pulling on one side of the gate of Kurong Temple to avoid the occasional pilgrims and monks passing by. “Let me tell you, the Six Meridians Divine Sword is not a real sword, but rather sword energy formed by finger strength. It has substance but no form, and can be called an invisible qi sword. The so-called six meridians are the six meridians of the hand: Taiyin Lung Meridian, Jueyin Pericardium Meridian, Shaoyin Heart Meridian, Taiyang Small Intestine Meridian, Yangming Stomach Meridian, and Shaoyang Sanjiao Meridian. You only have one finger for your One Yang Finger, but the Six Meridians Divine Sword requires six. Tell me, which one is more powerful?”

“This cannot be measured by quantity,” Kurong said seriously. “To transform finger strength into sword energy requires a foundation of profound internal strength. One can barely achieve this by practicing the One-Finger Divine Skill to a high level. Our temple’s Grand Elder can easily extinguish a candle flame from ten feet away with his finger strength.”

"Damn, thirteen meters! That's quite a wide attack range. No wonder the Six Meridians Divine Sword's ranged attacks are so powerful," Wang Lie thought to himself.

"To master the Six Meridians Sword Qi as you claim, I'm afraid no one in this world possesses such profound internal strength," Ku Rong continued.

"I wonder how far the master's finger strikes can reach?" Wang Lie quickly changed the subject, not expecting Ku Rong to be a martial arts fanatic.

Ku Rong was a little embarrassed. "This humble monk is dull-witted. I can only extinguish the candle flame within three feet. I can't do anything beyond that."

"Wow, that's amazing!" Wang Lie exclaimed. "Master, could you show me how it works? Come on, how about you hit that leaf?" Wang Lie pointed to a tree just a step away.

"Isn't that a bad idea?" Ku Rong hesitated, but was also eager to try. Wang Lie had just described the Six Meridians Divine Sword as so powerful, and he wanted to prove that his One Finger Divine Skill was not just for show.

"No, no, it's not like we're going to fight or fight anyone. As the Buddha said, helping others is the source of happiness. It would be good for the master to demonstrate so that the boy knows how high the sky is and won't cause trouble in the future."

Although Ku Rong didn't quite understand Wang Lie's logic, he still nodded reluctantly.

He straightened his stance, gathered his strength, and with a slight movement of his breath, his right index finger flicked out. With a soft hiss, a leaf fell from the book half a meter away, its stem slightly charred.

"Ding—" Just as Ku Rong made his finger strike, Wang Lie's vision went black, and a faint voice rang in his mind, "One-Finger Divine Skill, the ultimate technique of the Dali Duan family. It is based on internal energy. It uses the right index finger to strike acupoints. The finger strike can be slow or fast. When slow, it is elegant and graceful. When fast, it is as fast as lightning. The skill is divided into nine grades, with the first grade being the highest. It is the foundation of the peerless martial art Six Meridian Divine Sword."

After the sound, images suddenly appeared in Wang Lie's mind: a transparent figure sitting cross-legged, a bright line moving continuously within its body; behind the transparent figure, identical figures practicing various finger techniques of the One-Finger Divine Skill. Like scenes from a movie, the figures merged into one, turning into specks of light and disappearing from his mind.

It sounds complicated, but it was actually just a matter of time between Ku Rong extending and retracting his finger, and Wang Lie had already returned to normal.

"I've struck gold! There really is such a thing as a cheat code!" Wang Lie was overjoyed. "Could it be that as long as I see someone use martial arts, I can get a secret manual? Whether it's true or not, at least I have the One-Finger Divine Skill. I'll try it again when I get the chance." Wang Lie closed his eyes for a moment and found that everything that had just happened was clearly imprinted in his mind.

"Master, your skills are superb. I have other matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave now and come back to offer incense another day!" After saying this, he ignored the bewildered Ku Rong and strode away. At this moment, for Wang Lie, the cheat code was more important than anything else; he would study it first before thinking about anything else.