Legend of the Great Sage (Chapter 201-Chapter 300)

He discovered that the spiritual stone vein that contaminated the water source formed a strange loop, like some kind of inscription or formation, providing this component. He began to think. Could his powers provide this component to?

This paved a brand new path of cultivation. In the very beginning, all it did was record the gossips and strange legends among the people, turning it into tales and rumours, which would then be passed on through word of mouth. After generations upon generations of inheritance and improvements, especially after the school of Mohism invented mechanisms for printing books, it finally became the school of Novels of the present day.

Repeat a lie enough and it would become the truth. They used ink and brushes to create tales, using themselves to provide this component. As a result, fantasy would spring alive in their hands. It could create anything and everything. In terms of being interesting, there were probably no schools that could rival the school of Novels.

However, Li Qingshan had already witnessed its battle applicability. Unfortunately, all it was was interesting. Being interesting was not enough to defeat opponents. Writing a novel that people actually believed to be real, with characters that they would cry and laugh along with, was probably even more difficult than managing a city. It was not like cultivators lacked money anyway when it came to running a city. All they needed to do was hire a few advisors skilled in administration and pour in a few million taels of silver, and the place would prosper by itself.



Li Qingshan had read several impressive novels in his past life, and he did not mind becoming a plagiarist, but he had almost no impression of them anymore after almost two decades. Compared to that, he would be much better off if he just stuck with his Gui Water Method of Condensing Qi!

Faced with Liu Chuanfeng’s eager gaze, Li Qingshan shook his head and declined. “Thanks, but there’s no need for that. Where’s my room?”

Liu Chuanfeng was completely disappointed. He forced out a smile. “It’s very big here, so anywhere you’d like.”

Li Qingshan bowed slightly and left. He wandered through the courtyard and the building. He discovered that while it was not on par with the temple in the school of Daoism, it was not exactly small either.

The elevated bamboo and wood structure formed several winding corridors. As he walked through them, the clear sound of footsteps would echo around. The spring breeze would blow into his face, and the bamboo grove would sway. There was a slight chill in the air.

With his footsteps, he would gradually kick up ripples in the water below the bamboo building. The water gradually grew deeper too. When he arrived at the back of the courtyard and opened the bamboo door, a small, jade-green lake reflected the blue sky and verdant bamboo before him. It was a wonderful sight.

A bamboo rocking chair stood on the porch quietly. Li Qingshan sat down on it, and with a creak, it swayed gently, as if he could pass his entire life in a trance and wash away his carnal thoughts like this.

He sat there for a while before standing up. He smiled. He finally had a place of belonging now. He did not have to worry about his life being in danger, nor did he have to think about killing others here. He could cultivate slowly.

Now, it was time to go see Xiao An.

Arriving at the front room, Liu Chuanfeng was no longer there. A set of blue robes were folded neatly at the door, with a Cloudwisp brush on top.

Li Qingshan put on the clothes, stowed the brush away, and wore the tablet on his waist. He rode off on a cloud, flying towards Anāsravā? island of the school of Buddhism.

The full name of the island was Threefold Anāsravā? island, based off the threefold training and practises of buddhism—?īla, samādhi, and praj?ā, or moral virtue and precepts, meditation, and wisdom and insight respectively. As mentioned in buddhist scriptures, “Gathering your mind results in moral virtue. From moral virtue arises mental training and stability, and from mental training and stability arises wisdom and insight. This is called the Threefold Anāsravā? disciplines.” The place was also known as Threefold Disciplines island, or Moral Virtue, Meditation, and Wisdom island.

TL: The island is basically named after the Threefold Training or Disciplines prevalent within buddhism, which involves following precepts, meditating, and gaining wisdom and insight. Anāsravā? in this context means that these three disciplines are karma-neutral practices—they don’t come at the cost of karma and merit, allowing for liberation from suffering in the end. Anāsravā? is the opposite of sāsrava, which does come at a cost of karma and merit, so while you can derive benefit in the present, sāsrava practises are likely to lead to negative consequences in the future.

Anyway, you can read more about the Threefold Disciplines here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_Eightfold_Path#Threefold_division

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threefold_Training

Arriving above the island and looking over from afar, buddhist pagodas were scattered across the place, full of solemnity. He could vaguely hear the chanting of buddhist scriptures. It rivaled the school of Daoism’s Wuwei island in terms of scope. Xiao An was here.

……

In the Sea of Books within the Town of Flowing Clouds, Liu Chuanfeng bowed all the way to the ground as soon as he entered through the door.

Sun Fubai’s heart sank. “Junior brother, what are you doing? Don’t tell me… the school of Novels has been abolished?”

The hundred schools in the academy were not fixed. There were some differences from prefecture to prefecture. Apart from the ten standard schools, there were many places that did not possess minor schools like the school of Music, the school of Medicine, and so on.

TL: The ten standard schools in this case consist of the schools of Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, Yin-yang, Legalism, Names, Mohism, Miscellany, Agriculture, and Novels. Normally, the school of Diplomacy would replace the school of Buddhism, but seeing how a school of Diplomacy was never mentioned, I assumed it was the school of Buddhism instead. If the school of Novels is removed from the list, it is also known as the nine streams of thought, or just the nine streams.

The academies also practised the survival of the fittest. It had been several years since the school of Novels had gained a disciple, so the various school leaders had already submitted a written statement together to the Academy of the Hundred Schools in the Ruyi commandery so that they could remove this stain in the academy of the Clear River prefecture.

If the school of Novels were not a part of the ten standard schools that the founding emperor had designated, the higher-ups would have accepted their request a long time ago. But even with that being the case, they had issued an ultimatum. If the school leader, Liu Chuanfeng, was unable to reach Foundation Establishment or accept any new disciples, then they would abolish the school of Novels in the Clear River prefecture and take back Cloudwisp island so that another school could occupy the island.

Sun Fubai originated from the school of Novels. He was unwilling to see this happen, so having run out of choices, he would try whenever he saw a slightly talented Qi Practitioner. There was always a possibility, but he had actually given up on all hope too.

Liu Chuanfeng shook his head hurriedly. “Thank you, senior brother. Thank you, senior brother. Our school of Novels has gained a successor. There’s no need to worry about it being abolished.”



“Who is it?” Sun Fubai widened his eyes. Just who was so unlucky?

“Li Qingshan!” He might have had a bad temper and might have been unwilling to learn the secret arts of the school of Novels, but he was truly the primary disciple of the school of Novels.

Sun Fubai remained dazed for quite a while. His eyes reddened slightly too. His hard work had finally paid off.

“Junior brother!”