At the sa ti, he appointed the Taoist Liu Bingzhong's disciple Wang Xun to accompany Zhenjin in his studies. Surrounding Zhenjin were the great scholars from the Han people, deeply knowledgeable about Han culture. If Kublai were to extend the Han system perpetually and establish an enduring regi, Zhenjin must inherit his undertaking.
Although Kublai esteed Sinicization, fundantally he regarded Han culture as a tool for governance. He had no intention of indulging in the supernatural phenona that are unspeakable. In his urgency, he instructed his attendants to order the Living Buddha Phagpa to conduct a ritual tomorrow, praying for blessings from the heavens for the Crown Prince.
After Kublai ascended to the throne, he pacified the kings, campaigned against the Great Song in the south, established national policies, and promoted Sinicization, favoring Confucian scholars with contentnt. However, despite his efforts, the status of Han people remained low in the Northern region, even esteed Han generals like Shi Tianze were often despised and insulted by Mongol nobles.
This too was Kublai's intention. Mongols viewed the earth and rivers as pastures; Kublai employed Han laws for a better occupation of these vast lands.
…
…
At dusk, Xu Qing entered the Capital. He gazed at the prosperous scenes before him, his eyes lacking any ripple, feeling that all seed splendid yet was in decay akin to bones in a tomb.
After realizing the Dao on Shaoshi Mountain, he intended to accelerate the demise of the Yuan Court to establish a Heavenly Court in this world.
Frankly, in this world, he could entirely conduct an experint to establish the Heavenly Court first.
Moreover, coinciding with the end of Dharma and the resurgence of Spiritual Energy, conditions were optimal.
He arrived at a small temple. This temple originally was a Daoist Temple of the Quanzhen Sect. The monk in charge had the surna Sun, the sa sect and clan as Sun True Master. Back then, the Quanzhen Sect failed in a duel against Phagpa before Kublai, hence all the Daoists of the temple were shaven-headed.
The Sun monk was no exception.
Now Xu Qing was renowned in the world, and the Quanzhen Sect showed signs of revival. The Sun monk also resud growing his hair.
Unexpectedly, just as his hair started growing a little, he encountered Xu Qing Daoist, now a spiritual pillar esteed by the disciples and descendants of the Quanzhen Sect.
Surprised and delighted, he hastily invited Xu Qing into the temple and warmly entertained him.
Since Xu Qing had nowhere to settle in the Capital, he stayed here to rest. Located in a secluded spot with few visitors, he worried not about disturbances.
Xu Qing sat in the temple's ditation room, gazing at the bright moon outside the window, his mind filled with myriad thoughts.
A storm was brewing, and he himself was at the eye of that storm.
Whether it's the Evil Buddha in the desert, Wuhua, or Kublai and Phagpa in the Capital, or various factions in the Worldly Society, all shall be drawn into this swirling vortex as subjects for Xu Qing's experint.
Heaven and earth are indifferent, treating all things as straw dogs.
He seed to have truly entered the Heavenly Dao.
The Human Dao is indeed also part of the Heavenly Dao.
As night deepened, the bustling of the Capital gradually cald, leaving only the bright moon high in the night sky, coldly watching over all.
Xu Qing closed his eyes and began ditating, cultivating. He knew he needed to accumulate strength to begin a true era.
…
…
The next day, the sky over the Capital was laden with inky clouds pressing down on the city walls. The air was filled with the damp sll of earth, seemingly heralding the arrival of a storm.
Xu Qing donned a grey-blue Daoist Robe, pushed open the temple's wooden door, and stepped into the bustling market.
Today was the day Tibetan Buddhist leader Phagpa held a ritual teaching, and the entire population of the Capital surged like a tide toward the square where the Dharma platform was located. Xu Qing's figure seamlessly rged into this tide of people.
Shops lining the streets had early removed their door panels. Vendors shouted, selling sweets, preserved fruits, and incense sticks, as the cries intermingled with children's laughter and won's admonitions.
However, this lively marketplace was soon shattered by the harsh sound of horse whips — a group of Lama knights, heads bound with gold hoops, dressed in red robes, rode in, snapping their long whips in mid-air, startling the roadside vendors into retreating, leaving fruits and vegetables scattered across the ground.
The riders remained oblivious, rely loudly ordering citizens to make way, trampling over countless livelihoods beneath their hooves in the swirling dust.
Standing amidst the crowd, Xu Qing witnessed it all, slightly furrowing his brow.
He utilized no Divine Skill, simply flowed with the surging crowd like a small skiff bobbing among waves, skillfully using the force, finding himself pushed to the front row in no ti. Raising his gaze, he saw smoke billowing from the west, as hundreds of Lamas in yellow monastic robes and black boots lined up, slowly approaching.
At the forefront, a hundred people were split into two lines, their held feathered ceremonial objects gleaming, with golden swords and silver wheels shimring under the sunlight, like the rumored Buddhist Guardians descending on earth.
Suddenly, a cry of astonishnt arose from the crowd.
A massive white elephant adorned in gold and silver, paced steadily into view, carrying a golden palanquin. The palanquin, with its openwork sides and gently swaying pearl curtains, revealed a Lama in a yellow robe seated inside. Hundreds of Lamas encircled the giant elephant, chanting scriptures, while the Scripture Reels in their hands spun without pause; their deep chanting seed to penetrate the clouds, reaching the Nine Heavens.
"Buddhism often employs solemn treasures as representations for widely spreading the Buddhist Law, and indeed Phagpa has put on quite the spectacle." Xu Qing observed this display, musing inwardly.
His gaze pierced through the pearl curtains, falling on Phagpa within the palanquin. His Divine Sense gently threaded out, probing the other's aura. Instantly, a glorious, sun-like aura enveloped him, pure and bright, with not a shadowed corner to hide, akin to the enlightening Buddha light that dared not to be directly gazed upon.
On the high platform, Phagpa's brow lightly furrowed. Gifted from a young age, he excelled in the Five Sciences and Three Treasures, with not only peak Martial Arts Realms but also transparent and clear Zen Heart, his spirit platform immaculate.
At this mont, he vividly felt a faint gaze upon himself, light as a feather yet stirring slight ripples of unease within his heart.
He sat firmly in the palanquin, his face as calm as water, yet inwardly cautious — today was the grand ceremony for the Crown Prince's blessing, any error was utterly impermissible.
The giant elephant slowly arrived before the high platform, its long trunk rising like a python, gently resting on the platform.
Phagpa, clad in a bright yellow monk robe, ascended the platform with sure steps upon the elephant's trunk.
Suddenly, a thunderous cheer erupted across the tens of thousands in the square: "Phagpa! Phagpa!" The roar reaching up to the heavens, as if it shook the clouds.
Phagpa pressed his palms upward, as if supporting the sun and moon, and instantaneously brought silence to the clamorous crowd, with only the sound of the wind brushing against the scripture banners, producing a soft rustle.
Xu Qing stood among the crowd, his gaze fixed intently on Phagpa upon the high platform.
He saw Phagpa's fingertips radiating a faint golden sheen — a sign of Tibetan Secret Martial Arts practiced to their utmost; noticed a red dot subtly glowing between his brows — a testant to profound Zen ditation Skills; further discerned beneath that solemn treasure-like appearance, a thread of worries discreetly concealed in his eyes — revealing that the Living Buddha too was not entirely detached, still held mundane concerns.
Xu Qing slightly tilted his head, his gaze sweeping across the square's periter, seeing Mongol soldiers fully armored standing like iron towers, their curved swords gleaming coldly in the clouds; seeing richly attired Sogdian rchants exchanging whispered conversations with flickering glances; even noting a few middle-aged monks in grey robes, hands clasped in prayer, occasionally raising their heads toward the platform, eyes reflecting veiled expectations.
Phagpa, seated on the high platform, ford a Dharma Seal with his hands, beginning to chant the Prayer Scripture. His voice deep and distant, as though an ancient invocation from the Snowy Plateau, each syllable bore an inexplicable rhythm, leading hearts involuntarily into imrsion.
As the scripture flowed, incense around the platform suddenly flourished, billowing smoke straight to the sky, forming a misty cloud under the dull heavens, accentuating Phagpa's silhouette with a more sacred and inviolable aura.
At this mont, Phagpa on the platform suddenly raised the tone of his chanting, his hands rapidly shifting the Dharma Seal, and a golden light shot from his palms, piercing the sky.
Simultaneously, the Lamas surrounding the square struck their Magic Artifacts, as the sound of copper gongs, Dharma Bells, and wooden fish intertwined, creating a deafening sound wave.
In the crowd, unknown who knelt first, increasingly more civilians began to prostrate, bowing deeply toward the platform.
Yet Xu Qing remained standing, his gaze piercing through layers of smoke, eting Phagpa's eyes across the space.
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