Chapter 625 — The Crown Prince of Moonlight
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 4 of 4
I was the Deva of the Moon Palace, emperor of the Moonlight Kingdom, and when I awakened to the Buddha-dharma, one awakening brought a hundred, and I became a Buddha upon the instant! After I became a Buddha I left the Moonlight Kingdom behind, and the Moonlight Buddha Kingdom is the Moon Palace Deva Heaven among the Twenty Heavens. Prince Moonlight is my disciple, deep in the Buddha-dharma. " Shen Mu, Chenghuai, and the demon ape Xuanliao looked at Prince Moonlight: he cultivated with his hair unshorn, his robes whiter than snow, his hair bound in a topknot, a precious sword at his waist, and behind his head a round bright moon that swayed slightly and sent its clear moonlight shining forward, a whole expanse of brightness. The monk Chenghuai said to Shen Mu, "This Prince Moonlight once debated the Dharma with Brother Zhankong.
He recited a great heap of sutras; Brother Zhankong spoke a single word, and he thought for a long while, then conceded. But Prince Moonlight's powers are fearsome indeed: the Tathagata says he has refined his sword into light and turned it into the round bright moon behind his head — it is called the Bright Moon Sword Radiance. " Shen Mu was grateful at heart, knowing that the monk Chenghuai was tipping him off, telling him Prince Moonlight's powers so that he might be on his guard. Thump. The monk dropped to his knees again, knocked his head on the ground before Dharma King Molun, and said, "You are the Deva of the Moon Palace, Dharma King, and no doubt magnanimous.
My Brother Zhankong has debated the Dharma through the Twenty Heavens and is already weary. This disciple begs that the layman Shen stand in for him. I thank you for your forbearance, Dharma King! " Dharma King Molun frowned and looked at Shen Mu.
The Deva King Indra laughed. "Dharma King, since it is so, let the layman Shen of the lower realm stand in for him. Prince Moonlight's powers inherit your peerless learning in the Heavenly Court; among his fellows he has scarce an equal. Let him try a round with this layman Shen, that we may see how far the divine powers and dharma arts of the lower realm have come.
" Dharma King Molun could only nod. "Moonlight, do not injure our honored guest from the lower realm.
" Prince Moonlight bowed slightly.
"This disciple obeys. " Then he walked toward Shen Mu and said calmly, "In the Moon Palace Deva Heaven, among those of my generation, I had no match in the world, and I felt the loneliness and austerity of it deeply; so I entered the Heavenly Court to study, and studied the sword in the Sword Heaven Palace for three years. " That said, he fell silent.
Shen Mu was filled with solemn respect.
"I learned the sword in Yincan Village, and the one who taught me swordplay was a worthless old man with no limbs. I once. . .
I never went to any Sword Heaven Palace or the like to learn the sword; I only groped after it on my own.
Please! " Prince Moonlight stood unmoving. "After all, the lower realm seldom sees great sights. I will grant you one move.
" Shen Mu held the yang seal with one hand before him and the yin seal with the other behind, bowed low — and unleashed the layered hand of the Yin-Yang Heaven-Flipping Hand. Prince Moonlight thought he meant to bow to him and received the courtesy in calm, when suddenly there came a tremendous boom: Prince Moonlight was blasted dozens of li away and smashed into a great mountain, punching out a deep, deep hole. Shen Mu's yin hand flipped to yang, his yang hand flipped to yin; in an instant he flipped a dozen times and more, and twenty or thirty strokes of the Yin-Yang Heaven-Flipping Hand burst forth one after another — and a whole cliff of sheer rock was hammered out of that great mountain by main force!
Shen Mu drew back his hand, waited a while, and said helplessly, "Dharma King, have you any other crown princes?
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