Chapter 988

Chapter 988: Hui Ming’s Journey

Mahayana Star

Ye Chen and the Stone Emperor really put aside their tasks to accompany Hui Ming on his tour. Hui Ming also changed his outfit to not appear as a monk, causing no inconvenience to Ye Chen and the others.

"This is the Buddhist Museum, and all the exhibits inside are related to your Buddhism. Take a good look…"

"This is the land deed and rent receipt from the landlord under the Buddhist Sect. At one time, the Buddhist Sect owned over ninety percent of the land on this planet. Poor people who farm your land must pay eighty percent of the rent, and this does not include other heavy taxes, as well as offerings to the Buddhist temples. As a result, every year, hard-working common folks end up owing money to you landlords by the end of the year, unable to pay it off for generations, forced to toil endlessly like animals…"

"Do you see this photo? The person being punished in the photo is a cultivator. He was executed by your Buddhist Sect simply because he practiced a cultivation method outside of your system. Before he died, he endured cruel torture. According to various reports, before we arrived, over a thousand years ago, no fewer than five hundred thousand people on Mahayana Star were executed under such excuses…"

"This row of photos serves as a safety warning. In the case before you, over sixty thousand workers died because the factories owned by the Buddhist Sect had no fire safety measures. At that time, various fire safety regulations were issued, but the relevant departments were too afraid to inspect the Buddhist factories. After a fire broke out, no Buddhist cultivators came to help…"

Two days later, Ye Chen took Hui Ming to a Buddhist Museum, a very large museum filled with items related to the Buddhist Sect, but not in a positive way. The exhibits showed the darker side of the Buddhist Sect, and none of them were fabricated; they were all true.

There are no fewer than a thousand such Buddhist Museums and memorials on Mahayana Star, and they are mandatory visits during the compulsory education phase. Every year, students are organized to tour them. You could say that as long as these exist, the Buddhist Sect will never return.

"Amitabha."

Hui Ming looked sorrowful, saying little, and simply recited the Buddha’s name in silence.

He knows the evils of the Buddhist Sect very well, but he is not convinced that the Buddhist Sect is entirely evil. Every power has both good and bad actions, two sides of the same coin; no power can be called completely good or pure good.

"Master, Master Hui Ming, you are a high monk of the Buddhist Sect. What do you think about all this?"

"Amitabha, Taoist Friend Ye, as a monk of the Buddha’s teachings, I condemn their actions. These people bring shame to the followers of Buddhism."

"Hehe, are you trying to take all responsibility away with just one sentence?"

"Not at all, if these people were under my command, I would also punish them harshly for such evil deeds."

"Hehe."

Ye Chen let out a cold laugh and stopped making things difficult for Hui Ming, knowing it was useless. A person like Hui Ming wouldn’t waver in his Buddhist beliefs because of a few words. Ye Chen was just trying to annoy Hui Ming.

Then Ye Chen took Hui Ming to see real technological achievements, like the chip industry and so on. Of course, they couldn’t enter the core areas, but it was enough to show what was there.

Beyond the advanced technology, there are also some practical aspects. These practical things are not without technology; science and technology form a complete system.

"This is a branch of the Agricultural Science Institute. There are over three hundred of these branches on Mahayana Star. This one studies food for common people, with a yield of thirty thousand pounds per acre. Although I hate to mention it, it must be said that with a population of a hundred billion, ninety percent are common people. It is the greatest kindness to prevent common people from competing with cultivators for resources."

"Amitabha, Taoist Friend Ye is right. The big problem on my side is the fierce competition between cultivators and common people. The root cause of this is simply low productivity."

Hui Ming said that others might look down on mortals, but he would not. On his Qiyuan Star, mortals and cultivators mixed together. Mortals consumed a lot of resources from cultivators, leading to great conflict between them. In the end, the main reason was a lack of productivity. If there was enough, they could live in peace.

"Taoist Friend Ye, could you please give me some seeds?"

"Dream on! If you reach out, I will hurt you!"

"Ahem, Taoist Friend Ye, don’t be so fierce! I was just joking."

"I’ll give you a chance to sneak a peek. Whether you can learn anything will depend on your skill."

Ye Chen rolled his eyes and then showed him around the entire base. With Hui Ming’s knowledge, he could only remember some basic things; he wouldn’t be able to learn the real skills.

Science has developed to the point where there are countless specialized fields. If someone is not working in a specific area, it’s like being in a completely different world. Truly talented geniuses are rare.

·······

At night, Ye Chen arranged for Hui Ming to rest.

One day on Mahayana Star is one hundred Blue Star days. For high-priced cultivators, not sleeping or resting is fine, but for ordinary people and low-level cultivators, this is too difficult to handle.

Therefore, Mahayana Star still has strict labor laws, providing times for physical rest. High-level cultivators will also rest according to these times. After all, they are important figures; if they don’t take a break, the people below them will be too afraid to rest, and that could cause problems.

He used a secret method to send back exactly what he saw during the day to Qiyuan Star, allowing the scientists there to present it. Then Hui Ming opened his eyes again.

He came to Mahayana Star for the future of Buddhism, not as a gamble to show his bravery on this adventure.

The technology of Buddhism has reached a bottleneck, and there have been no major breakthroughs for over a hundred years.

In other words, the scientists of Buddhism are confused about how to progress in technology. If they continue to imitate Blue Star’s technological path, it may seem like a good reference short-term, but it will be the best option for now.

However, they cannot just look at short-term results. Long-term, following Blue Star’s old path would mean facing difficulties with being constantly suppressed by Blue Star, making it nearly impossible to surpass Blue Star’s achievements.

It’s not about standing on the shoulders of giants; that would be too easy. They must face the pits they have to jump into. For example, Buddhism has already gone through economic crises and financial struggles, even though they tried hard to avoid them, they still broke out.

So at this time, the scientists of Buddhism proposed another idea: to take a different technological path from Blue Star and create their own way. While this is also a correct choice, it brings many problems because they don’t know how to take this new technological path.

In summary, the development of the Buddhist community has reached a crossroads. No matter the choice, the Buddhist path is difficult to walk. Therefore, Hui Ming personally took the risk to come to Mahayana Star, hoping to gain some experience for the Buddhist community.

"The splendor of Blue Star Technology is like a legend; it truly deserves to be the source of technology, the ancestor star of all innovations."

Hui Ming thought deeply and sighed. During this time, he has truly felt the greatness of Blue Star’s technology. Moreover, this is Mahayana Star. He has heard that the technological advancements on Blue Star are just as impressive as those on Mahayana Star.

There are many things that Hui Ming greatly admires, such as the field of basic science, which brings significant benefits. If the Buddhist community had this strength, many of the problems they face now could be solved, and he wouldn’t have to worry so much.

While Hui Ming was lost in thought, Ye Chen and Stone Emperor returned to Lin Jiang’s estate to report on their work.

"Hui Ming is truly a knowledgeable leader of the Buddhist community, although he seems to be a jack of all trades and it’s hard to tell which area he excels in."

"Hui Ming did not make any suspicious moves, including leaving any marks or traces…"

"I spoke with Hui Ming, but I still haven’t figured out his purpose. He doesn’t talk much and is good at hiding his thoughts…"

"I took him to the casino; Hui Ming played a couple of games and then stopped. He probably doesn’t have much of a gambling habit, after all, he is a bodhisattva…"

"He doesn’t discuss Buddhist teachings with us. I prepared a lot, but it all went unused…"

Ye Chen and Stone Emperor kept reporting. They both agreed that Hui Ming is a very wise person, and they didn’t find anything unusual about Hui Ming.

"Liang Long, how about you give it a try?"

"I feel it’s a bit difficult?"

"We can give it a try."

"Okay."

Lin Jiang glanced at Liang Long sitting next to him. He had specifically called Liang Long over and shared his plans with him. Liang Long showed his support.