Legend of the Great Sage (Chapter 401-Chapter 500)

“This special cultivation method is different from other cultivation methods. Only my senior brother, the abbott, has the right to pass it to other people. And she’ll have to undertake a series of tests before that.”


That was the Annihilum Light Chan Master’s answer. As a revered monk of buddhism, he fully embraced the precept of telling no lies, not to mention how he would never lie about something so significant.

There was nothing Li Qingshan could do. He agreed to pay a visit to the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga with Xiao An once he dealt with the matters in the Clear River prefecture. That was what Xiao An had been planning in the first place too. The Annihilum Light Chan Master had nothing to say, so he continued giving sermons to Xiao An.

Li Qingshan made his way to the school of Medicine, thinking about the second story Ru Xin wanted to tell him. Back then, he was worried about Xiao An, so he was in no shape to think too much about it, but looking at it now, he felt that it bore great significance.

Ru Xin’s mouth was unforgiving, but never did she actually try to scam him out of his spiritual stones. He could feel that even if he had given her the spiritual stones reluctantly, she would not have accepted them.

Asking around a little, Ru Xin was not on Benevolence island. She had gone to the library on Contention island.

Suddenly, a gaze filled with hatred was cast over. Li Qingshan raised his head and looked over. There was a twisted face behind a window upstairs that he found rather familiar. It was Chu Tian.

Li Qingshan waved his hand with a smile, and the face became even more twisted. At this moment, a woman arrived by the window, and surprisingly, it was Qian Rongzhi. She dropped her gaze and glanced at Li Qingshan. Her expression was rather strange as she quickly closed the curtains.

“Is she guarding her prey?”

……

“Little Tian, stop looking. There will be a day when you become even more powerful than him.” There was no pity in Qian Rongzhi’s eyes. Instead, they were filled with trust and anticipation.



This was a gaze that no man could resist when they were in dejection. Chu Tian was no different. He shuddered before throwing himself into Qian Rongzhi’s arms. He began sobbing.

“I don’t have anything anymore!”

Qian Rongzhi rubbed his head gently with her gloved hands. Her gaze was gentle like a mother gazing at her own, dejected child.

However, the hell snake began to move, slithering around on her body reluctantly. She also comforted it like a mother.

Be patient. There’ll be food very soon.

Chu Tian had indeed lost quite a lot of things. After Ru Xin brought him to Benevolence island, his symptoms of qi deviation stabilised miraculously. Afterwards, Qian Rongzhi rushed over, her eyes red as she stuttered.

Under Chu Tian’s forceful questioning, she ended up telling him an extremely unfortunate piece of news. During the time he spent in secluded cultivation, the two girls who had joined the academy with him died in battle. He was childhood friends with the two girls, deeply attached to them.

Chu Tian was overcome with sorrow and experienced qi deviation again, almost dying.

Afterwards, a miracle occurred to him again, keeping his life intact as if fate really protected his life. However, his cultivation did regress drastically.

“You still have me!” Qian Rongzhi turned her head away as if seeing this broke her heart. She could not help herself as tears rolled down her cheek.

And, only me.

The venomous snake hissed.

……

“Fubai, why are you here?”

Li Qingshan arrived at the library, but he ran into an acquaintance, Sun Fubai.

The sunlight poured in through the window as Sun Fubai sat back in a rocking chair leisurely, reading a book, just like when they had first met.

“Qingshan, you’ve come.”

Only after a conversation did Li Qingshan learn that the library originally belonged to the school of Novels. The structures on Contention island all came with obligations, which were mostly handled by people various schools sent over.

However, as the school of Novels had originally declined to the point where they almost lost Cloudwisp island, possessing no disciples and unable to support any instructors, the library had fallen under the obligations of the school of Confucianism. Now that the school of Novels was prospering again, it returned to the hands of the school of Novels.

Sun Fubai had reached a crucial moment for his breakthrough to Foundation Establishment, so he dropped his matters in the Cloudwisp association and returned to the library to cultivate himself. Under his management, a complete structure had already been set up in the Cloudwisp association, so there was no need for him to personally tend to everything.

Books filled the bookshelves. The smell of wood and books was refreshing. However, the vast building was mostly empty, without many people inside.

The chaos brought by war had yet to be pacified. The people who were in the mood to read books and the books regarding cultivation were all on higher floors. Most of the books downstairs were classics, or on history, philosophy, and literature, which were very difficult for cultivators to take note of.

“You’re talking about school leader Ru, right? She’s right over there. She came a long time ago. So she’s been waiting for you!”

“Yeah. I’ll go and take a look.”

Li Qingshan had already sensed her aura. Navigating his way through the mountainous bookcases and piles of books, he finally found her in a corner.



There were many books piled on the table, but she was not holding a single one. She crossed her legs high up on the table, smiling brightly while leaning on her hands.

There were two floor-to-ceiling windows. The sunlight was wonderful, dyeing her black hair golden.

“What are you doing here?” Li Qingshan sat down in front of her, casually picking up a book and flipping through it before tossing it back onto the table.

“To tell you the second story.”

“What story?”

“A story about gods.”

Ru Xin removed her legs from the table. With a wave of her hand, the curtains were drawn with a rattle, blocking out the sunlight. A shadow enveloped her face. She crossed her arms and placed them on the table, leaning forward and stifling her voice. “Did you know that the nine provinces originally had many gods? These gods obviously couldn’t be compared to the gods and buddhas in heaven. At most, they were only some minor gods, and the places they governed were not large either, such as a mountain or a river.”

“Most of them were mountain or water daemons. Perhaps they might not have been particularly powerful in the cultivation world, but in the eyes of regular people, they already possessed powers to summon clouds and rain at whim. They seemed all-powerful. And, as long as they remained in their territory, their strength would be greatly enhanced. They would possess quite the power.”

“What about now? Why aren’t there any more left?” Li Qingshan seemed to understand something, but he failed to grasp the main point of all this.

“After the founding emperor established the nine provinces, not a single god existed in the world.”

“And then?”

“And then there’s no and then. I’m done with my story.” Ru Xin waved her hand again, and the dazzling sunlight flooded in.

“Is this your story?” Li Qingshan stared at her with widened eyes.

“It’s not like you’ve paid anything, so why should I make it so long? If you want to know, read it for yourself!” Ru Xin patted the pile of books, filling the air with dust that drifted about in the sunlight.

She stood up, about to leave.

“Hold on.” Li Qingshan stopped Ru Xin, but he had no idea where he should start with his questions. Just a certain thought of his became clearer and clearer. He glanced past the tall pile of books. She must have spent quite the effort digging up these damned books from the musty selection here!

“If you have something to say, just spit it out.”