Chapter 153 Paradox
In the snow, a young Taoist priest in a dark blue robe stood under the plaque, stroking the bald head of the young monk with one hand and holding a scroll with the other, as if no one was around.

The young Taoist's hair was held up with a crude branch. It was the coldest time of the year, but his blue Taoist robe was just a single piece of clothing, incredibly thin.

The young Taoist priest who called himself Zhang Li looked at the young monk with a smile, curled his knuckles, and knocked the young monk on the head, "Still blocking here, don't you understand what I said, or is the name Zhang Li no longer effective in the martial arts world?"

The young monk stammered, "It turns out...it's Donor Zhang Li, please come in!"

Zhang Li patted his shoulder with the scroll and said, "Bring my blue cow in. Remember to find a clean cowshed for it and feed it three pounds of vegetarian buns with mushroom and vegetable fillings."

The little monk was startled: "Ah? Hey, buns?"

Zhang Li squinted at him: "Is there a problem?"

The little monk hurriedly shook his head: "No, no, I will go to the kitchen later to tell them what to do, but I'm afraid it's hard to find green vegetables at this time of year..."

Zhang Lihun waved his hand without caring: "Then let's make the ones stuffed with sour cabbage."

The young monk quickly agreed: "Yes, I ate steamed buns stuffed with sour cabbage last night..."

"Who asked you?"

Zhang Li didn't look at Chen Ji and the others, but walked into the manor with gray walls and gray tiles. He brushed the fallen snow off his body, and the little monk followed behind him in humbly small steps.

As soon as he entered the door, he saw a relief of the Eighteen Arhats with mighty and angry eyes on the stone screen in front of him. When Zhang Li passed by the stone wall, he sighed: "Back then, Daoting won this manor from the Zen Buddhism, and he refused to re-carve this stone wall, insisting that all visitors who saw this place would know that this manor was won from the Zen Buddhism..."

He asked casually, "I just heard the sound of a bell from afar. Who won this round?"

The young monk hesitated for a moment and said, "It was the people behind you who won."

Zhang Li paused: "Who won?"

The young monk said bitterly, "He beat our second brother Wuzheng. The second brother argued with good and evil, and he used the Mahaparinirvana Sutra to solve the problem."

At this point, the little monk was a little unconvinced: "However, we still have several brothers behind us, and there is only one person left in the Dao Court, so we still have no chance of winning!"

Zhang Li ignored him and went back to the door. He looked at Chen Ji sideways and asked, "You won?"

Chen Ji did not answer.

Zhang Li asked again: "Have you read all the Buddhist scriptures?"

Chen Ji still didn't answer.

Zhang Li looked back at Bai Li on horseback and asked, "She has caught a cold, right?"

Chen Ji hummed.

Zhang Li pulled out a gourd-shaped white porcelain bottle from his sleeve and poured out a black pill from it: "This is the Zixu Yuandan made by my junior sister. It can strengthen the body and replenish the essence. Although it is not the right medicine for the disease, it is enough to save lives."

As he said this, he laughed cheerfully and said, "You just defeated the monk, so this pill is for you."

Chen Ji's eyes lit up, he immediately thanked him, took it, turned around and went to feed it to the white carp.

Zhang Li calmly poured out another Purple Void Yuandan from the white porcelain bottle and called out to Chen Ji, "I see that this girl has a bone-chilling cold. One pill is definitely not enough. She needs to swallow two to recover."

Chen Ji turned around and asked, "What are the conditions?"

Zhang Li was happy: "Smart guy. If you want to get the second pill, you have to go with me to debate. You just need to answer a question, or ask a question that stumps a monk."

Chen Ji asked: "What if you don't do it?"

Zhang Li smiled and said, "This elixir is not easy to come by. My junior sister watched over the furnace for 49 days before the elixir was formed. If she didn't feel sorry for my senior brother who has to live in the open, she would never have given this elixir."

"so?"

"So this thing is precious. If you can't meet my conditions, I won't give you the pill."

The young monk in gray clothes widened his eyes and said, "How can the Taoist temple ask outsiders for help?"

Zhang Li was unhappy and knocked his bright forehead with his fingers. "When the Buddhist sect asked Confucian civil servants to help in the war, what did my Taoist court say?"

The little monk hurriedly said, "But they don't have an invitation, nor do they have a token to prove their identity..."

Zhang Li sneered, "I'm afraid that your senior brother is just making up an excuse to avoid being involved in karma. Never mind, I'll take the consequences! Let him go!"

The little monk curled his lips and said, "What right do you have to order me around? This Luhun Villa already belongs to my Yuanjue Temple, so you don't have the final say."

Zhang Li stroked his bald head and said with emotion: "Even your senior brother doesn't dare to say this nonsense to me. Shut up, or I will slap you."

The little monk shrank his neck.

Chen Ji looked at Zhang Li and said, "Let me try the efficacy of the medicine first."

Zhang Li smiled and said, "Please do as you please."

Chen Ji braved the wind and snow and walked out of the door. He gently handed the pill to Bai Li's mouth and said, "Take it quickly and see if it works."

Baili bit the pill and swallowed it with difficulty. Her face suddenly became ruddy and her eyes were no longer weak and lifeless. Baili propped herself up and got off the horse, but she was still a little shaky when she walked.

This elixir is so magical that it seems to have taken away the creation of heaven and earth.

The prince's eyes lit up: "What is the secret of the Huangshan Dao Court's medicine official?"

Zhang Li smiled and replied, "That's right."

Chen Ji stood in the snow and thought for a while, then turned around and handed the horse reins to another young monk in front of the door, and said to Zhang Li: "I do have a question, you can give it a try. As for whether it can stump those monks, I don't know."

Zhang Li smiled carefreely: "Let's give it a try."

Chen Ji and the others followed Zhang Li into Luhun Villa, passing through the tall gray walls, as if they were walking through a dark valley. Looking up, there was only a crack left in the gradually brightening sky.

Seeing Chen Ji looking up, Zhang Li said casually, "I don't know what those monks wanted to hide here. They built this Luhun Villa like a canyon. There is also a line of sky in Huangshan, just below Wenshu Cave. You can see it when you cross the Immortal Bridge. When you walk through it and look up at the sky, there is only a line of blue sky. If it is not midnight, you can't see the moon or the sun."

He looked back at Chen Ji and said with a smile: "The place where my Huangshan Dao Court is located is the most unique peak in the world. It is said that it is also the place where immortals forged sword pills and ascended to heaven."

Chen Ji was startled: "Jianwan? But is it a sword type from Jingchao Wumiao?"

Zhang Li shook his head: "Then I don't know."

Chen Ji asked: "What is the name of that immortal?"

Zhang Li also shook his head: "I don't know either. I only know that there is a thousand-year-old cave at the foot of Fugu Peak, and the word Xuanyuan is engraved in the cave. The immortal might be called Xuanyuan... Haha, I guessed."

Chen Ji was shocked.

Xuanyuan!

I finally heard Xuanyuan's name from someone else, and Qingshan's dream finally had roots in this world!
He concealed his excitement and asked calmly: "Does Huangshan Dao Court have any records of this Xuanyuan's history?" Zhang Li shook his head: "No, he is not from my Dao Court. When my Dao Court was built on Huangshan, his cave was already there. There are many wonders in Huangshan. If you can beat the monk this time, you are welcome to visit Huangshan."

Chen Ji looked strange: "What if I don't win?"

Zhang Li laughed happily and said, "Then don't come."

Chen Ji: "..."

……

……

I don't know how long I walked, but there was gradually more noise ahead.

Walking out of the "canyon", we saw a vast Taoist temple filled with scholars and literati, who were whispering to each other.

This oval-shaped dojo is surrounded by more than ten stone steps, on which scholars and literati sit one after another, letting the heavy snow fall on their bodies.

The Bagua pattern in the center of the temple was covered with snow, with only a cushion placed at each of the yin and yang fish eyes. On one of the cushions, a young monk in a gray robe was sitting cross-legged.

On the other side, no one had sat down on the cushion in the Taoist temple.

Zhang Li led Chen Ji and others to a group of Taoist priests and asked curiously, "Why is no one coming to fight?"

A young Taoist priest turned around and saw Zhang Li, and was immediately overjoyed: "Brother Zhang Li is here, hurry up, Brother Zhang Li, go and teach that arrogant bald guy a lesson!"

"How come Senior Brother Zhang Li is a day and a night late?"

Zhang Li raised his hand to suppress the voices of the young Taoist priests: "Wait a minute, wait a minute, how many people have been lost in my Taoist court?"

A young Taoist priest hesitated and said, "Eight people have already lost, and we can still send one more person..."

Zhang Li asked again: "How many people are there on the other side?"

The young Taoist hesitated again: "There are still four people on the other side."

Zhang Li raised his eyebrows: "You little Taoist priests from Laojun Mountain have bad intentions. You let me go last. If I lose, won't I be the only one to bear the blame?"

"How could Senior Brother Zhang Li lose?"

"Brother Zhang Li, you will definitely win!"

Zhang Li said angrily, "Stop flattering me. How can we win against four people alone? I, Huangshan Daoting, will not take the blame for this!"

The young Taoist priests were furious: "If you don't go, our Taoist temple will definitely lose. Then all of us will have to go to Yuanjue Temple to become monks! Huangshan and Laojun Mountain are of the same origin, why should we separate them?"

Zhang Li laughed angrily: "Wait, when my junior sister asked you to borrow the recipe for the elixir, why didn't you say that we are of the same blood?"

"Ah this..."

However, Zhang Li did not discuss the matter with them in depth. In the Buddhist and Taoist debates, all prospered and all suffered together.

He rolled his eyes, looked at Chen Ji and said with a smile: "Come on, if you win I will give you the elixir."

Chen Ji answered straightforwardly: "Okay."

The young Taoist priests were surprised: "Brother, who is this person?"

Zhang Li spread his hands: "I don't know either."

"Ah?" The young Taoist priests were shocked: "How can we let someone we don't know take part in such an important matter? What if he loses..."

Zhang Li patted him on the back of the head and interrupted, "He is the one who just won the debate with the monk outside the door. You are arrogant on weekdays and don't want to read Confucian and Buddhist scriptures. How can you win if you don't know yourself and the enemy? Those monks have read our Taoist scriptures thoroughly and came prepared. If we don't find someone who has read the Buddhist scriptures thoroughly, we can't win."

When the young Taoists heard that Chen Ji was the one who had defeated the monk, they looked at each other in bewilderment.

A young Taoist priest asked, "Brother, have you read Buddhist scriptures? Why don't you go up?"

Zhang Li said as a matter of course: "I am a Taoist priest, why should I read that stuff?"

Little Taoist priest: “…”

Zhang Li crouched low and whispered to the young Taoist priests at the foot of the stone steps, "Let outsiders fight. Even if they lose the last match, it will be outsiders who lose, and the Taoist court can still save some face. If the Taoist court loses, it will lose all its face."

The young Taoist priests then understood that Zhang Lixin knew that Ting was bound to lose, so he found an outsider to serve as a fig leaf.

They bowed their heads in shame: "But if we lose..."

Zhang Li said slowly: "As for the matter of becoming a monk, if you really lose, you can just be a monk for a month, and then say you want to return to secular life."

The young Taoist priest was stunned: "Ah? Return to secular life?"

Zhang Li said confidently, "Why? Doesn't Buddhism allow people to return to secular life?"

The young Taoist priests looked at each other and finally made up their minds: "Then let him go."

Zhang Li looked at Chen Ji and said, "Go ahead and ask questions. Ask them vigorously!"

At this time, Zhang Xia whispered, "This kind of debate can only be conducted by one person. I can't help. And I'm a woman, so I can't go forward to debate."

Chen Ji thought silently.

The prince suddenly said, "Why don't I go first? It would be shameful for them to win!"

Chen Ji, Zhang Xia, and Bai Li looked at the prince slowly with expressionless faces, not knowing what to say for a moment.

After a moment, Chen Ji pulled out Wuyun from his arms and stuffed it into Baili's arms: "Let me give it a try."

The next moment, he walked to the cushion and sat cross-legged.

A monk standing opposite stood up and asked, "How can outsiders participate in Buddhist and Taoist debates?"

Zhang Li said lazily: "This is my Huangshan Dao Court registered disciple."

The monk asked angrily, "When did you remember the name? What name did you remember?"

Zhang Li froze. He actually forgot to ask the young man's name!
When the situation was at a standstill, Chen Ji asked loudly: "Excuse me, venerable monk, if a ship is called 'Pudu Ship', and it is repaired and patched over the years, and eventually every plank and every part is replaced, is this ship still the original 'Pudu Ship'?"

The temple suddenly became quiet. The monks looked at each other in bewilderment. There was complete silence, with only snowflakes falling from the sky.

Zhang Li was originally lazily leaning on the stone steps. When he heard this question, the more he thought about it, the more he felt that there were many traps. He gradually sat up straight and looked at the young man sitting cross-legged in the wind and snow in the dojo.

Chen Ji has not read the Buddhist scriptures in full, but he has read the ten greatest paradoxes of the world.

(End of this chapter)