26 Who Will Go to Heaven?

In the Hall of Discussion of Dao.

His answer made the audience gasp.

This was because the way he said these words were full of confidence.

In the past debates, Master Xuan Xin managed to defeat all the talented cultivators in Middle-Earth.

During the process, Master Xuan Xin was also building up his Heart of Invincibility.

When he came to Zenith Heaven on foot. Every step he took strengthened his faith.

Now, Master Xuan Xin's confidence was perfect.

In the world of cultivation, a debate wasn't just a mere argument.

The most important thing in a debate was to crush the other side's confidence.

Otherwise, they would only end up in a pure squabble that would easily end with sophistries.

Therefore, in this kind of debate, questions that were raised had to be related to their deepest beliefs.

While facing a question, one had to answer the point directly and use his own theories to explain his belief.

Only a perfect explanation could be considered a correct answer.

"Who is Buddha?"

This was Lu Changsheng's first question for Master Xuan Xin.

It was also quite a challenging one for the latter.

Xuan Xin then gave Changsheng his answer.

He answered the question using his own understanding of Buddhism.

The answer wasn't wrong.

Although Lu Changsheng wasn't satisfied with his response and even came up with a better one, Xuan Xin wasn't completely wrong either.

This was the reason why his confidence remained intact!

Getting one question wrong wasn't a big deal for these kinds of debates.

When Xuan Xin asked Lu Changsheng the same type of question, it was actually a trap.

The perfect answer, according to Xuan Xin, should've been the same:

Everyone is Dao.

If Lu Changsheng answered it using these words, he was basically saying that Buddhism and Daoism shared the same core concept.

Then, Xuan Xin could easily attack the answer by using this reason and call this round a draw.

This trap would be ignored by many people, but the Senior Leaders of the Dao sects figured it out easily. However, since they had no idea how to handle it, they were quite nervous.

But Lu Changsheng's answer greatly surprised them.

His answer showed his Heart of Invincibility and perfectly avoided the trap.

In fact, Lu Changsheng actually set this trap from the very beginning.

He had been waiting for Xuan Xin to ask this question and be tricked, and Xuan Xin fell for it so easily.

Xuan Xin's mistake even helped Lu Changsheng strengthen his confidence!

This was a brilliant fight filled with strategies.

Between these questions and answers, profound wisdom could be seen.

Xuan Xin lost the first round.

This was why the look on Xuan Xin's face slightly changed.

Back in the small Leiyin Temple.

When Master Pu Zhi saw this scene, he said with his hands folded, "He has deep wisdom."

The rest of the monks remained silent. Master Xuan Xin, the unbeatable debater, just lost! This wasn't a good start for them.

The reason why the small Leiyin Temple could see the debate, was because Zenith Heaven allowed Master Pu Zhi to observe it.

Zenith Heaven.

Lu Changsheng didn't show his excitement on his face. Instead, he remained rather calm. He knew that he shouldn't look down on Xuan Xin.

Xuan Xin already defeated nine saint lands and countless saint families in a row. His knowledge, wisdom, and abilities couldn't be underestimated.

It was good to be confident.

But being too confident would result in mistakes.

Lu Changsheng wasn't afraid of Xuan Xin, but at the same time, he wouldn't take his enemy lightly.

"Thank you for your wisdom. I'm enlightened." Xuan Xin stood up and paid his respect to Lu Changsheng with the most serious formality in Buddhism.

And then, the second round started.

This time, Xuan Xin asked a question first.

"Humans have eight sufferings: The suffering of birth, old age, sickness and death, of love, hatred, being apart, and unattained goals. Buddhism has the supreme sutras to save the people from these sufferings. What does Daoism have?"

This was Xuan Xin's second question.

Lu Changsheng answered without hesitation, "The Way of Nature!"

"What is the Way of Nature?"

"To let nature take its course."

"How?"

"When a person's alive, he enjoys life. When a person gets old, he lives a peaceful life. When a person gets sick, he has an open and clear mind. When a person dies, everything goes back to Heaven and Earth. When a person hates, he learns how to let the hatred go. When a person leaves his loved ones, he learns how to cherish them. When a person bears a grudge, he learns peace. When he can't get what he wants, he learns how to move on. When he suffers from the flourishing of the Five Skandhas, he learns what wisdom is.

"Buddhism makes people forget about the eight sufferings, but Daoism is different. Daoism makes people remember the sufferings, understand them, accept them, and then finally let go of them," Lu Changsheng responded with a peaceful tone.

The audience were deeply impressed by his answer.

Xuan Xin used the eight sufferings to speak highly of the Buddhism's sutras.

Buddhism made people forget about the sufferings and believed that every suffering came from desires.

However, Lu Changsheng's answer was even more brilliant.

He believed that the eight sufferings couldn't be avoided. Instead of escaping from them, one should go through them, feel them, and understand them.

When one falls in love, then that person's love should be filled with passion.

When one bears hatred, then he should learn how to let go of his resentment.

When one feels that he was treated unfairly, then he should learn how to forge on ahead.

When one had to be apart from his loved ones, then he would come to understand how to cherish them.

Forgetting was avoiding reality.

Facing the sufferings bravely day to day was the truth of life.

The philosophy within this answer was awe-inspiring.

Master Xuan Xin took a deep breath, his hands folded together again as he said, "Amitabha. Thank you for your wisdom. I'm enlightened."

Master Xuan Xin really meant what he said.

He believed that people should forget all the sufferings and empty out their desires, however, Lu Changsheng counter-argument believed that people should be honest to their true feelings. This was a higher level of wisdom.

Xuan Xin couldn't help but admit it.

Then, Lu Changsheng raised the second question.

"A fisherman and an enlightened monk were neighbours. The fisherman killed fish everyday while the monk chanted sutras for all living beings in the world. One day, they agreed on waking each other up early everyday. The enlightened monk got up early to chant more sutras for this world whereas the fisherman got up early to kill more fish, thus, he was always covered in blood.

"Here's my question; after they die, who will go to heaven?" Lu Changsheng asked.

Once this question was raised, the audience were all shocked.

This question was too simple!

Of course the enlightened monk would go to heaven!

Was Lu Changsheng trying to intentionally give up the round?

Was he showing his generous demeanor?

This sounded nice, but it was too risky!

The audience were utterly speechless.

Some of them, however, believed that the question wasn't as simple as it sounded.

Xuan Xin gave careful thought to the question since the time limit was an hour.

Finally, Master Xuan Xin spoke up slowly, "The fisherman will go to heaven."

His answer completely shocked everyone.

How did Xuan Xin answer such a simple question wrongly?

"Why?" Lu Changsheng calmly asked the monk.

"It's only my guess, but I dare not say," After taking a deep breath, Xuan Xin answered.

"Why?" Lu Changsheng asked him.

"It's about the root of Buddhism. I can't say, I can't explain, and I shouldn't guess," Xuan Xin looked at Lu Changsheng as he responded back.

"If you can't explain it, then you lose," Lu Changsheng's words rang in Xuan Xin's ears.

"It's only the second round," Xuan Xin said.

Lu Changsheng nodded.

The audience were beyond confused.

They had no idea what Lu Changsheng and Xuan Xin were talking about.

A Senior Elder spoke up, "It's the second round. However, since Xuan Xin refuses to give an explanation, he loses this round. Lu Changsheng should give the answer to the question now." His voice echoed out in Zenith Heaven.

It was Lu Changsheng's turn to answer his own question.