Legend of the Great Sage (Chapter 501-Chapter 600)

Li Qingshan strolled through the monastery, looking around as he went. He became even more amazed by the scale of the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga. Regular ancient temples were all a single monastery hidden within many mountains, but the structures of the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga stretched over the entirety of Great Buddha mountain. Even the scale of the prefectural city of Clear River was no match for it.

Finally, he arrived outside the main hall of the Courtyard of Secular Affairs. The flow of people around him gradually decreased, no longer as noisy as the other places of the courtyard. Instead, this place seemed extremely quiet, littered with ancient cypress trees as the twitter of birds rang out time to time.

Li Qingshan strolled in. No one stopped him. He could make out a few voices from the distance, so he followed the quiet path and arrived before the hall. He saw a man and woman talking quietly.

“Senior brother Wang, what gift have you brought for senior brother Yong this time? Could you enlighten us about what you’ve chosen?”

The female cultivator asked. She seemed like she was already in her forties or fifties, and upon considering the many methods cultivators possessed to retain their youth, she must not have been young. She remained at Foundation Establishment, so she was basically unable to break through again in the remainder of her life.

“It’s merely a small gift. It’s not worth mentioning.” As for senior brother Wang, he seemed even older. His face was like the bark of a pine tree, and he carried a sword on his back.

Both of them were at Foundation Establishment. They seemed to be dressed in monk robes, but the style was slightly different from actual monk robes. They also wore prayer beads on their wrists.

Li Qingshan did not hide his aura, so before he had even approached them, they had looked over.

“Sir, where have you come from? Is there anything you’re looking for here?” Senior brother Wang noticed Li Qingshan’s extraordinary bearing and composure. And, he was young, yet he had already reached mid Foundation Establishment, so senior brother Wang dared not brush him aside, asking politely.

Li Qingshan strode over and clasped his hands. “I’ve come to register myself as a secular disciple. What brings you here?”

“We’re secular disciples of the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga. May I ask what your age is, sir?” Senior brother Wang asked curiously.

“I’m fortunate enough to be in my twenties.”

“You’re not even thirty yet! Sir, you can be regarded as a genius. Even if you want to become an inner courtyard disciple, there won’t be any issues at all. Why do you want to become a secular disciple instead?”

Senior brother Wang was surprised. Originally, he thought Li Qingshan was skilled in retaining a youthful appearance and was actually forty or fifty already. He never expected him to be so young, reaching mid Foundation Establishment when he was in his twenties. He could definitely be regarded as a genius, but what was a genius like him becoming a secular disciple for?

The Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga had a great number of secular disciples. Most of them lacked sufficient talent, so they had no right to become an inner courtyard disciple. However, they had spent enough time to become Foundation Establishment cultivators, so they could register for the identity of secular disciple and take it easy under the shade of the great tree that the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga was. Even if they could not learn the greatest cultivation method of the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga, even cultivation methods one level down surpassed those core disciples of regular sects received.

There were countless Foundation Establishment cultivators in the world, but there were truly only a handful who could reach Foundation Establishment in their twenties and thirties, particularly with independent cultivators. After all, they lacked the support of sects and clans. Most people made it to Foundation Establishment by taking their time.

“The abbot originally wanted me to become a monk, except I still have ties to the secular world, so I refused. But they also refused to let me go, so all I could do was become a secular disciple,” Li Qingshan said helplessly.

“The abbot? Ah! You mean the Dauntless abbot?”

The female cultivator cried out before stifling her voice in a hurry. She gazed at Li Qingshan in disbelief. She was taken aback by how he mentioned the Dauntless monk without the slightest hint of respect.

“Yeah. Who else is there otherwise?”

Li Qingshan spoke like he was stating a basic fact. Li Qingshan was able to remain unpressured before the Dauntless monk because he basically could clash with any second heavenly tribulation cultivator already with his actual cultivation, and he was confident he would constantly improve. There would be a day when he could stand with the Dauntless monk and everyone else on equal footing; he might even surpass them, so he had no mental weakness either.

However, in the eyes of regular Foundation Establishment cultivators, the abbot of the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga, the Dauntless monk, a Monk King conferred by the Great Xia empire, was basically like a god. If they could earn even a glance from someone like that, that was something worth boasting about.

Not to mention that the Dauntless monk had personally suggested accepting him into the inner courtyard. That was basically infinite glory, yet he actually turned him down, and his reason was something along the lines of “some ties to the secular world”. What a waste of such a great opportunity. The two of them basically wished they could take his place.



Fellow Wang remembered something and asked, “Sir, are you perhaps Li Qingshan from the Ruyi commandery?”

“I am. You know me?”

Li Qingshan had stayed in the back of the mountain for over a month, but little did he know the news of the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga’s most glorious reception of Xiao An, followed by the Dauntless monk personally carrying out tonsure for her, had already spread through the cultivation world of the Green province.

At the same time, Xiao An’s dharma name, One Will, boomed through the province. She had already earned the title of the greatest disciple of the monastery. Even now, the impact she caused still lingered about. The matter of Li Qingshan turning down the Dauntless monk publically in the grand hall before being sent into the Demon Suppression hall for punishment obviously did not stay as a secret from these secular disciples.

“I’ve heard many things about you. I’ve heard many things about you,” senior brother Wang repeated as the female cultivator said, “We’ll be seniors and juniors in the future, so there’s no need to be so polite. I’ll just shamelessly call myself ‘senior sister’ then.”

“Sure!” Li Qingshan conversed with them a little longer. Right when he was about to enter the main hall, senior brother Wang said in a hurry, “You can’t go in right now!”





Chapter 585: Who Are You Supposed to Be | Legend of the Great Sage




“Why?”

Senior brother Wang said, “Senior brother Eternal Faith has currently granted permission for another senior brother to see him. We’ll have to wait until that senior brother comes out. You can go ahead of us.”

“There’s no need for that. We can stick with the rules. Though, I do wonder who this senior brother Eternal Faith is, considering how much respect he demands for himself. He even needs to ‘grant permission’ for others to see him.”

“Since you want to become a secular disciple, junior brother, then you have to know about this. Senior brother Eternal Faith is the first disciple under the head monk of the Courtyard of Secular Affairs, the Distant Enlightenment Chan Master. He’s basically our first senior brother too. Normally, the Distant Enlightenment Chan Master spends his time studying the buddhist dharma, so senior brother Eternal Faith handles the matters of the Courtyard of Secular Affairs.”

“Heh, that sure is impressive.”