Chapter 132: Defying a Heavenly Venerable Is Like Defying a Straw Man

Chapter 132: Treating Heavenly Venerables Like Fools

Tu Erdan rolled his eyes. "What’s there to say? Didn’t I tell you? Your consciousness storehouse, the Alaya-vijnana, can hide things, right? I told you before that there were countless mantras hidden inside, but you didn't believe me. Did you not see them yourself?"

Tu Zhe’s jaw dropped. He looked at the Orange Child, then at the Red Child. Both children nodded in unison, confirming it was true.

Tu Zhe slapped his forehead. Damn it, he hadn't even entered his own consciousness in ages; he simply hadn't had the time to practice.

He recalled the scene when the Red Child was sleeping, where countless talismans from the storehouse flowed into his body. He asked, "You mean those talismans? They contain countless mantras?"

The Red Child giggled. "Daddy, you’re so smart to have figured that out! Tee-hee..."

Tu Zhe stared at the dog and the three enchantresses with his mouth agape. He was utterly shocked. Could such a thing exist in the world? Mantras inside the Alaya-vijnana? And countless ones at that? What kind of logic was this?

The dog and the three enchantresses shook their heads in unison, signaling they couldn't verify the truth or reliability of such a claim.

Tu Zhe hurriedly closed his eyes to flip through the sections on consciousness and mantras in the *Scripture of Consciousness-Only*.

"All conditioned phenomena are, in essence, the True Suchness."

"True Suchness is within, conditioned phenomena are without. The inner governs the outer, just as the Tathagata does."

*All conditioned phenomena*—that was easy enough to understand; it referred to worldly arts and techniques. It meant all spells used for offense or defense.

*In essence, the True Suchness*—ultimately, it all originates from the True Suchness.

The problem was, what exactly is "True Suchness"? The definitions were endless! Nirvana, emptiness, non-action, supreme truth, oneness, suchness... there were so many explanations. It was maddening! Which one was he supposed to believe?

*Why don't I just interpret it myself?* he thought. *Is it really necessary to make it so complicated?*

When it comes down to it, isn't it just the root or the essence? If "dependent origination is emptiness," then isn't "nature" just the essence? And isn't that just "True Suchness"?

Damn it, it was a perfectly simple concept until they explained it into a muddle. Are they just trying to sound profound? Are they afraid that if people understood it easily, they'd realize the "masters" were nothing special?

True Suchness—the essence of the world.

"Does this 'essence' refer to the laws of nature or the Alaya-vijnana?" he mused. "Ah, you said 'the inner governs the outer'—that must mean the laws, right? That makes sense."

"True Suchness within, conditioned phenomena without—that means the essential laws are internal, and their manifestation externally is the technique, right?"

"The inner governs the outer, just as the Tathagata does—meaning if you understand the inner laws, you can release the outer techniques, and thus grasp the true meaning of the world, right?"

Heh.

What a headache. Making it so complicated—weren't those guys just being idiots?

Having cleared up some of the theoretical issues, Tu Zhe opened his eyes and looked at his two sons. The dog was clamoring impatiently, asking what he had figured out.

Tu Zhe laughed and said, "I’ve figured out a fundamental issue. Listen up—let’s test your IQ."

"Imagine a great master explaining a concept to his disciples. He says: 'Whether it is a single-celled organism or a multi-celled one, they consume energy every moment of their existence. When this consumption is insufficient to maintain necessary movement, the cells automatically generate a desire to continue absorbing energy.' What is this concept?"

The three enchantresses, the dog, and the two children stared at each other, completely baffled.

Tu Zhe laughed heartily. "Confused, aren't you? Stupid, right?"

"I realized that a concept which is perfectly simple to understand becomes a total mess once those bastards of 'masters' explain it. Do you know what that concept is?"

Everyone shook their heads.

Tu Zhe roared with laughter. "After all that gibberish, it’s just two words—'I'm hungry!'"

Aha!

Upon hearing this, the group immediately understood. The dog laughed so hard its back arched. "That's hilarious! I'm scared to death! From now on, that’s how I’m going to explain everything, hahaha..."

Tu Zhe sobered up quickly. "Don't you dare learn that, dog. Do you know what 'misleading the youth' means? Those masters—damn it, why are they all like broken engines, spewing nonsense?"

Jokes aside, Tu Zhe asked the two children what supernatural powers they had acquired. The Red Child bragged, "Let me go first!" The Orange Child curled his lip and muttered, "You're just an idiot, pfft..."

The Red Child ignored him and started counting his powers on his fingers.

He had gained immense benefits from his sleep. He had refined nearly two King-grade Brahma Crystals, pushing his strength to a peak even more formidable than that of a Heavenly Venerable.

Generally, the power of an ordinary Great Emperor’s physical body is equivalent to one or two "world-forces." A Heavenly Venerable's power is naturally much higher, but rarely exceeds ten world-forces.

The Red Child’s current physical power was at least equivalent to the combined strength of twenty Heavenly Venerables. That was terrifying. And he was just a nascent soul!

Setting aside his spells, his physical strength alone reached two hundred world-forces. How could one describe the shock? It meant the Red Child could fight twenty Heavenly Venerables at once without losing. It sounded like a tall tale.

As for his spells, the Red Child bragged for a full hour, involving over a thousand different techniques.

Take his "Mana Blade," for example. Not only could he change its size at will, but if he launched it, it could directly strike an opponent's consciousness from fifty million kilometers away. Furthermore, the blade showed signs of becoming a Divine Weapon. Its sheer power was comparable to an ordinary Immortal Artifact, and with its inherent properties of corrosion, combustion, pain, and fear, he could even go toe-to-toe with an average True Monarch.

The Red Child finished and looked at Tu Zhe smugly. "If it were you, Daddy, I could probably take down a hundred of you at once, tee-hee..."

Tu Zhe didn't take the bait. "If you're so capable, why don't you try taking down your old man and see what happens when you leave the warmth of my embrace and soul-platform, huh?"

Tu Zhe tilted his chin at the Orange Child. "Your turn to brag."

The Orange Child hugged the neck of the Enchantress of Desire, Roti, refusing to let go, ignoring Tu Zhe entirely.

Tu Zhe grumbled, "It seems we're low on sugar cubes. We'll have to ration them from now on. Yes, that’s it. Whoever doesn't listen gets their rations docked..."

The Orange Child flashed over, threw himself into Tu Zhe’s arms, gave him a loud kiss, and grinned cheekily. "Actually, my power isn't as solidified as the Red Child's yet. I can only handle maybe ten or eight Heavenly Venerables. But if the Red Child tried to fight me, I’d just use an invisibility spell. No matter how strong he is, where would he find me? I might even sneak up on him and take him out, tee-hee..."

Finally, it was Tu Zhe’s turn to laugh with pride.

Damn, he had two sons comparable to True Monarchs now. Dealing with Heavenly Venerables was as easy as dealing with straw dummies. If he didn't brag now, when would he?

Hahaha!