The young monk Mingxing, hearing this, flew into a rage and cried out, "Monstrous blasphemy! You dare insult the Buddha!" Shen Mu smiled; his heart settled into complete stillness, and his eyes held an incomparable confidence. Whatever this young monk's actual power, whatever his arts, he had already lost in his state of mind! The old monk across from Old Man Ma was wavering. Shen Mu's words seemed utterly lawless, defying Heaven itself — an insult not merely to the Buddha, but to gods and demons alike — and yet, when they fell upon his ears, they were not impiety but words of supreme truth. Only when the heart holds no Buddha can one become a Buddha; once the heart holds a Buddha, one can never become a Buddha. Only when the heart holds no demon can one become a demon; once the heart holds a demon, one can never become a demon. Mingxing's realm had not yet reached that height, and he could not understand these words. The old monk had understood them deeply. It was only after he entered the Heaven-Man Realm that he had perceived the true meaning of those words; and yet, now that he had cultivated to the Life-Death Realm, the Buddha in his heart still could not be broken. The deeper his cultivation, the more he saw how dreadful gods and demons were, and how vast Tathagata was. Knowing is easy; doing is hard. Uttered by the mouth of a mere child like Shen Mu, the same truth was exceedingly strange. Stranger still, this child actually claimed to have broken the gods and Buddhas in his heart! Shen Mu was far too young; it was utterly impossible that he could have touched the true meaning of those words; and since he could not touch the true meaning, how could he have broken the gods and Buddhas in his heart? To break the gods and Buddhas in one's heart, one must pass through bitter cultivation, must attain a sudden awakening; otherwise, the Buddha in the heart remains a Buddha, and the demon in the heart remains a demon. "Whatever the case, he has not obtained the true supreme arts of my Great Thunderclap Temple. However high his state of mind may be, he will not be a match for Mingxing." The old monk kept his eyes on his nose and his nose on his heart, seeming to sink into meditation, utterly unconcerned with the victory or defeat on the stage. On the stage, a faint golden light bloomed from Mingxing's tall, gaunt body. This young monk actually gave one the sensation of a living Buddha — holy, solemn, vast, pressing on the heart with unmatched spiritual weight! Beneath the stage, men and women, old and young from every village had gathered, drawn there by the commotion. A moment before, the place had been a boiling clamor of voices; now, as the golden light broke over Mingxing's body, all sound suddenly died away together into dead silence. They shut their mouths at almost the same instant, as if struck across the head by a staff! This was the mind-art of the Buddha's school: the Thunderclap Mahayana Sutra. The path of cultivation in this mind-art differed from the mind-arts of other sects, for it goes from the outside to the inside. The outside is the surface of the body; the body is Tathagata. The inside is the heart; the heart is Tathagata. The Buddha's school calls these Body-Thusness and Mind-Thusness. Although Mingxing had only cultivated the outermost layer of Body-Thusness, once the Buddha-form appeared, it could indeed deliver that staff-blow across the head! Granny Zhu and the others could not help growing desperate again. Mingxing had not yet made a move, but this aura alone was enough to overawe Shen Mu at the outset and crush his fighting spirit. Tell me, who would dare strike at a Buddha? But Shen Mu dared! Shen Mu joined body to heart, heart to will, will to fist, fist to vital force, vital force to body; at the same moment, his spirit embryo moved together with his body, body and spirit united, and he unleashed Nine Dragons Riding Wind and Thunder! His footwork was the Lame Old Man's Heaven-Stealing Divine Leg, so swift that Shen Mu was before Mingxing before the monk could blink; and before Mingxing could lift his hand, that immense and majestic fist had smashed into his chest. Nine Dragons Riding Wind and Thunder hid nine layers of force within one fist. The first layer, like a fire dragon, rushed from the eye of Shen Mu's fist into Mingxing's heart, and a great clang rang out. The golden light on Mingxing's body flared suddenly bright, and a great golden bell loomed faintly around him. The second layer of Shen Mu's punch followed hard behind — the Twin Dragon Coil; two dragon-forces twisted about one another and bored toward the hollow of Mingxing's heart! Clang—again a toll of the bell. The two forces had come too fast; the two notes sounded almost in the same instant, deafening! Then came the third layer of Nine Dragons Riding Wind and Thunder, Three Dragons Crushing Stones; then the fourth layer, Four Dragons Pouncing to Kill; the fifth layer, Five Dragons Refining Demons; the sixth layer, Six Dragons Turning the Wheel; the seventh layer, Seven Dragons Overturning the Sea! Seven layers of force burst out continuously, seven bell notes running into one uninterrupted peal; at last the great golden bell around Mingxing's body dimmed, and the tall, gaunt young monk stepped back one pace. The eighth layer, the Eightfold Heavenly Dragon Power, erupted, and Mingxing stepped back again; the golden bell around his body regained its glory. Shen Mu's ninth layer, Nine Dragons' Wind and Thunder, erupted, and the golden bell around Mingxing shattered with a crash. Shen Mu was astounded. Even the Nether Ape could not withstand the complete nine layers of Nine Dragons Riding Wind and Thunder; whenever Shen Mu fought it, he would use only six or seven layers and then ease off, for fear of killing or maiming it. Yet Mingxing, without dodging or flinching, had taken the entire nine layers head-on! He had heeded Granny Zhu's words; this time he had held nothing back, had used all his strength, even summoning the power of the divine palace of his own soul — and still he had only forced Mingxing back a few steps. "You have not received the true transmission of the Thunderclap Eight Formulae." Mingxing moved his feet, vital force exploding beneath his soles, and was suddenly swift beyond measure. He raised his palm, thunder leapt from it, and a fist smashed over, breaking into the roar of a dragon! Rumble— Before the fist had even struck Shen Mu, his vital force transformed into an azure dragon — faint, but savage and ferocious beyond measure, hegemonic and unforgiving! The first layer of Nine Dragons Riding Wind and Thunder, made visible from his vital force — this showed his vital force was extremely abundant as well; and, more crucially, he possessed a mind-art perfectly matched to the Thunderclap Eight Formulae — and that was precisely the part Shen Mu lacked! Shen Mu took this blow head-on and felt that even this first layer was strangely powerful. Yet before he had fully received it, the second layer of Nine Dragons Riding Wind and Thunder, the Twin Dragon Coil, came hard upon it; two dragon-shaped vital forces churned against each other, twisting Shen Mu's arms out of line, and then the third layer, Three Dragons Crushing Stones, hammered directly into his arms! Shen Mu's arms bled. His steps jolted sideways and he fell back repeatedly, stamping the stones of the arena into flying shards. Four dragon-breaths pounced in for the kill. Shen Mu gave a muffled grunt; vital force surged into both his eyes, and the Cloud-Soaring Heavenly Eye opened instantly. The vital force in his hand became a long spear; holding it, he thrust through the midst of the four pouncing dragons and, with a ringing note, stabbed Mingxing in the palm. Mingxing's Five Dragons Refining Demons had not yet erupted when this thrust scattered his vital force. The two forces collided, and the spear formed of Shen Mu's vital force broke apart and dispersed. Shen Mu's brows arched.