Legend of the Great Sage (Chapter 1-Chapter 100)

“What am I supposed to do?”


Li Qingshan grimaced and said nothing. The black ox had told him a long time ago. “No matter what danger you come across, you better not rely on me, as I’m not even going to lift a finger to help out.” Right from the beginning, the ox had never given him the opportunity to rely on it. Li Qingshan glanced at the gazelle by the ox’s foot, which prohibited him from complaining even more. The black ox had already provided him with the most crucial assistance. He could not rely on the black ox for everything.

Under the warm sunlight of the rising sun, Li Qingshan stood up and loosened up. “Fortunately the little ghost won’t come out during the day, as I really can’t last much longer than that. Brother ox, I’m practising a daoist ability after all, yet I can’t even deal with a mere ghost?”

“If it were not for the ability you practised, you wouldn’t have even been able to last through the night. Once you achieve the strength of one ox, you’ll be brimming with vigour, and you obviously won’t be afraid of a mere ghost.”

“Then how much longer do I have to wait?”

“Apart from that, I have another idea.”

“What idea?”

“Ghosts are afraid of murderous and vicious auras the most. If you claim a hundred or so lives with your hands, I’ll guarantee you that anything evil will avoid you like the plague. That little ghost won’t even be able to get in a range of ten steps from you.”

Li Qingshan rolled his eyes. “Am I supposed to massacre the entire village?”

“It’s not like that’s impossible. What, you want to try it?” The black ox sniggered.

“Why don’t I butcher you into steaks first!” Li Qingshan ignored it. He dealt with the gazelle first. After eating breakfast, he tossed this matter aside for now and ignored his fatigue before applying himself to another day of cultivation.

However, as soon as he began cultivating, he felt that it was rather different from before. A thin, weak sliver of ‘qi’ flowed through his body. He would have never discovered it had he not been careful.

The qi was not like the true qi mentioned in those wuxia novels, stored within the dantian and flowing along the meridians. Instead, it flowed freely like a fish, passing through every part of his body. Whenever he punched out hard, the sliver would flow through his arms and into his fist. All of it would happen in a single moment.

His mind eased up, and the sliver flowed off somewhere. It was like a misbehaving child, basically beyond his control. He told the black ox about this.

The black ox was not surprised. Instead, it said meaningfully, “It’s all thanks to that little ghost that you were able to sense the existence of qi so soon. You can say that it’s a blessing in disguise.”

On the edge of life and death, Li Qingshan had used everything that his mind and willpower could offer to fend off the yin qi. The little ghost had departed, but the willpower lingered, turning into a trace of true qi.

“So this is true qi?” Li Qingshan gazed at his palm. “What exactly do you use true qi for?”

“Refining vitality into qi, refining vitality into qi. Is it just for this qi? What do you think its uses are? If you can’t sense qi, it’ll just be some peasant’s tricks even if you practise for your entire life. You won’t be able to achieve anything. As for the benefits, they are truly innumerable. You’ll just have to experience it yourself slowly.”





Chapter 12: A Long Blade in Hand | Legend of the Great Sage




Li Qingshan felt like the black ox was not telling him everything; it was as if it were hiding something. However, he could not be bothered thinking too much about it in his joy. He immediately began to practise again, sensing the uses of this true qi.

Indeed, he found a knack for it before long. Today, he practised the Ox Demon’s Fist of Great Strength more smoothly than ever before. He was like an old machine that had been freshly lubricated. It was indescribably satisfying.

Additionally, his strength recovered much faster than before. At a glance, this seemed insignificant. However, normal people would never be bold enough to use their full strength in their attacks when they fought. They would always hold back a little. After all, if the opponent dodged the attack, they would seize up momentarily and leave a huge opening.

He did not have to worry about that. In the time that others would take to throw a punch, he could throw three punches at full strength. It would be impossible for them to match his power either.

After all these days of hard cultivation, he finally achieved a sliver of result. He could not help but feel overjoyed. He felt like he was another step closer to his objective.

However, when he remembered the danger and difficulties he went through last night, his face turned cold. “But I do want to know who gave me this blessing.”

The black ox said seemingly carelessly, “Everything, whether good or bad, is brought on by man himself.”

Li Qingshan’s eyes lit up. This was what he had said when the witch had come for the boar’s head. The little ghost was definitely haunting him for a reason. Upon closer thought, he immediately found some clues.

He had been born and raised in this tiny mountain village, so he did know a little about the few major matters that had happened in the village. In such a remote, little village, major matters barely ever happened in the first place.

One of these included the ruin of a family in the village due to a child’s death a few years ago.

Back then, Li Qingshan was a child as well. He even knew the child, Xiao Mao. He had never thought the child would actually die because of this, and this was also the reason why Li Qingshan had ‘turned back to normal’ after drinking the purging water, afraid of revealing any surprising aspects anymore. It was also when he had developed his great abhorrence towards the local witch.

The death of Xiao Mao’s mother was very fishy. She had died all of a sudden one night for no particular reason.

Originally, Li Qingshan had believed she was unable to endure the grief of the loss of her son. However, looking at it now, she had clearly been killed by the yin qi. He suddenly stood up; a cold light flashed through his eyes. “I see. I can’t spare her!”

The black ox said, “Then go kill her!”

“It’s not that simple.” Li Qingshan sat down with his legs crossed and sank into his thoughts.

The local witch was not a ruffian like patch-haired Liu. Not only did she possess great status in the village, but she even had some renown in the local region as well. Non-locals would often come to the village for her fortunes.

He could only flee the village after killing her. It was even possible that he would be reported to the government and be deemed as a fugitive. He had no evidence or witnesses either, so he could not jump to the conclusion that she was behind everything. Most importantly, since she could control the little ghost, who knows whether she had other things that she could use against him.

The black ox did not chip in from the side, but it approved of him very much. If Li Qingshan wanted to use his might from yesterday and confronted the witch in a rash manner, all of the painstaking effort he had gone through would have gone to waste.

Rarely was anything perfect in the world. Courageous people would often be rash and careless, while clever people would often be hesitant, lacking resolve and courage. To have the courage of a swordsman and the heart and patience of a zitherist—now that was rare.

Li Qingshan made up his mind and made his way over to the village.