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

The sun set in the west, and the sky darkened. The crows of chickens and the barking of dogs gradually died down, and the village recovered its peace.

The black ox strolled in from outside. Li Qingshan sat up, and just when he was about to speak, the black ox said, “I saw it all, but I didn’t help you.”

“I didn’t want you to help me. I don’t care about that bit of land either. It’s just that I…”

“Just can’t let it go?”

“Yes.”

“There are plenty of matters in the world where right and wrong are twisted and distorted. Let alone the indignation that you, a mere mortal, experiences, even immortals, buddhas, and great sages of tremendous power will have times when they feel wronged and insulted. How can your little bit of anger be compared to theirs?”

Li Qingshan’s eyes widened. “But I don’t want to just take it lying down.” He suddenly thought of the knife again.

The black ox stared at him silently for quite a while before suddenly laughing aloud. “Good, good, good. As long as you can’t accept it. When a real man goes about his matters, he is clear with his debts of gratitude and revenge. Even the debt of a single meal must be returned, while the grievance of a hostile glare must be resolved. I originally thought your resolve had been worn down through the years, but you actually still have some manliness. And only like that are you worthy of me teaching you.”

Li Qingshan was dazed. “You were testing me?”

The black ox sniffed. “That's a test? I just wanted to ask you which path you wanted to take.”

“Which path?” Li Qingshan was

“There is a myriad of paths in this world. There are paths where you swallow your anger and play safe, as well as paths where you stick by your weapon and die for a righteous cause. Humans have human paths, daemons have daemon paths, gods have god paths, and ghosts have ghost paths. Each path is glorious in its own way, and each path has its own trade-offs…”

As Li Qingshan listened to the ox go on about paths, he felt overwhelmed. Are you trying to sing that ‘path path path’ song to me? Reaching there, he interrupted the black ox, “I seek my own path!”

TL: The song might be referring to this.

The black ox was taken by surprise before being overcome with joy. “You actually understood. That’s right. Among the myriad paths, you must seek your own path.” He pulled out a large gourd from somewhere, and it flew into Li Qingshan’s hands by itself. “Since you don’t want to take things lying down, I will teach you the way to not take things lying down.”

Li Qingshan only felt his hand droop. There was some sort of liquid sloshing around inside. After opening the gourd, the smell of alcohol assaulted him.

Li Qingshan smiled wryly. After eating meat, was he supposed to drink? This sequence of events seemed perfectly reasonable, but was there anyone who cultivated just by relying on these two items? If people could become immortals by eating meat and drinking alcohol, all the wealthy people in the world would have become immortals already.Were immortals all just useless gluttons?

The black ox only said eight words, “Meat strengthens the body. Alcohol gives you courage.”

Li Qingshan made up his mind and tilted his head, gulping down all the alcohol. It was just unfiltered alcohol from the village. However, with the gourd of alcohol in his belly, he felt the world spin around him. He stared at the black ox in a daze. Did the ox want him to drink away his anger?



“Go kill someone, and I’ll teach you how to cultivate.” The black ox said flatly, acting like it had just mentioned something insignificant. With that, it crouched down.

Li Qingshan only felt a chill rise up from his back. He suddenly realised that before him was not a diligent old ox who had ploughed the land across all these years with him, but an actual ox monster. It would not be guiding him on a tranquil, peaceful path of immortals and buddhas, but a malicious, brutal path of daemons and demons.

Before it had even taught him any great abilities, it wanted him to eat meat, drink alcohol, and kill someone.

Was he really supposed to go kill someone? Faces flashed before him. He hated these people, to the point where he wanted to kill them, but he knew that he was not brave enough to do so. The black ox had seen through this, which was why it made him drink to gain courage.

Was this to demonstrate his loyalty or a formality for accepting him as a disciple?

Recalling what had happened today, a sense of tipsiness swelled up and anger flowed out. Li Qingshan raised his head and took in a deep breath. He lowered his head. “Kill whom?”

“That’s your problem. Let me just say this first. I won’t help you, nor will I save you. I am just an ordinary ox.”

The moon was bright that night, scattering a frosty light on the ground. Li Qingshan walked under the moonlight alone, only to find that the moon was dazzling. He would much rather it be shrouded by a dark cloud.

The village was quiet. Li Qingshan swayed about in the village as he felt at a loss.

Arriving before a run-down house, he heard a hubbub from inside. Li Qingshan recognised them clearly. They were the ruffians from the ancestral hall today. He quickly pressed against the wall and crouched down, eavesdropping on what they were saying.

“Today’s alcohol came far too easily. We just stood around in the ancestral hall and caretaker Liu rewarded us with so much.”

Li Qingshan immediately recognised the voice. Patch-haired Liu was a renowned ruffian in the village. He would loaf around and be up to no good everyday. He had a vicious and twisted personality, often carrying a woodcutter around with him. The villagers were all rather afraid of him. Even when they found him stealing things, they were afraid to do anything to him. The other scoundrels followed him as their leader.

“This is all thanks to your might, big brother. Didn’t you see that kid’s face? He even turned pale from fright.” A roar of laughter rang out from inside.

Li Qingshan had no idea how he looked back then, but he was definitely bright red now. The tipsiness mixed with his anger and rushed to his head.

“It’s just a pity that the coward didn’t try to pick a fight. I haven’t used my arms and legs in a long time. Originally, I planned on using him for some practise. That kid never takes me seriously.”

Having experienced two lives, Li Qingshan was not as afraid of him as the ordinary villagers were. He had never thought that it would lead to hostility.

“Big brother, if you want to beat him up, it can’t be any easier. That idiot built his house outside the village. We can throw something over his head and give him a bashing. How simple is that? We might as well lead his ox away and sell it on the market. We’ll be able to get some money for drinking too.”

The other scoundrels all played along and agreed.

Li Qingshan let out a breath of alcohol and grasped the knife in his bosom.

Patch-haired Liu had been filled up with alcohol. He came outside to take outside, but he did not return inside afterwards. Instead, he made his way south of the village along a path.

Li Qingshan found this to be strange. He immediately followed along and saw him arrive before the house of the renowned widow Liu of the village, calling out for her to open the door. Only then did he understand what he wanted to do.

The door remained firmly shut, and not a single lamp had been lit up either. She was clearly afraid of him. There were a few cottages nearby, but everyone actually ignored him.