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

Seeing how Li Qingshan was unconvinced, senior brother Wang stifled his voice. “You better not underestimate senior brother Eternal Faith. Our merits, rewards, and punishments all depend on senior brother Eternal Faith. As a mighty Monk King, even if you verbally offend the Dauntless abbot, junior brother, he won’t stoop to your level, but…”

He stopped right there. Li Qingshan laughed and also stifled his voice. “I get it. It’s easy to win approval from the king of hell, but his lackeys are another matter. It’s often like that. If he doesn’t provoke me, then there's no reason for me to provoke him either.”

As it seems, this senior brother Eternal Faith isn’t a particularly open-minded person. I’ll be a little more careful when I talk later. I might not be afraid of him, but avoiding trouble altogether would be for the best. I still have to consider his influence considering we’re beneath Great Buddha mountain.

Seeing how Li Qingshan accepted his advice, senior brother Wang was rather “satisfied”. He stroked his beard and said, “Young man, remember to keep your edge hidden. You possess great talent, but if you don’t know how to deal with people, you’ll suffer greatly.”

When Li Qingshan heard how he tried to advise him like his experienced elder, he found it rather funny, but it was out of kind intentions after all, so he did not talk back, simply smiling silently.

From all that, Senior brother Wang entered a talkative mood. “Have you brought a gift with you this time?”

Li Qingshan was surprised. “What gift? For who?”

“For senior brother Eternal Faith, obviously.” Senior brother Wang’s expression seemed to say, “How are you so bad at understanding what’s going on?” He also seemed like he was extremely pained, like he was looking at a junior who did not live up to expectations.

The secular disciples of the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga were scattered across the Green province, but they were not necessarily allowed to wander about freely. Frequently, they would receive some missions, such as constructing temples or collecting various resources. When they completed these missions, they would earn merit, which they could use to exchange for benefits like cultivation methods in the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga. Many of the times, whether a mission had been completed and whether it had been completed well was completely up to Eternal Faith to decide.

Although they were secular disciples, they were still under the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga, so they had to know at least a little about the buddhist classics, and they could not act recklessly or outrageously. As a result, every once in a while, the secular disciples from various places would pay a visit to the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga, and the monks of the Courtyard of Secular Affairs would test their understanding of buddhism and their behaviour. If they could not pass, it would be very troublesome. There was even the chance for them to lose their identities as secular disciples.

As a result, Eternal Faith’s authority became even greater. Among the secular disciples, there were plenty of people who had absolutely no interest in buddhist scriptures like Li Qingshan. All they needed was a gift to ensure that they passed. As time went on, it became a standard practice.

When secular disciples returned from outside, they would always bring some gifts when they paid a visit to this senior brother Eternal Faith. They were not necessarily precious, but the thing was there were many secular disciples. It was about accumulation in terms of quantity.

“But my master didn’t tell me anything about that!”

Li Qingshan raised an eyebrow and smiled faintly. He was the mighty first disciple of the Unraging monk, yet he still had to give gifts to some first senior brother of the Courtyard of Secular Affairs? That was basically a joke!

“Who’s your master?”

The female cultivator interrupted their conversation with a question. The real reason why they became secular disciples was because there was no one in the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga willing to accept them as their disciple. Otherwise, joining any other courtyard would be far better than remaining in the Courtyard of Secular Affairs.

“You’ll have to think about that yourself! And, not every senior necessarily knows about the conventions involved. Thankfully, you ran into me. Otherwise, you’ll suffer if you went inside unprepared.”

Senior brother Wang patted Li Qingshan’s shoulder with sincere advice. He thought that Li Qingshan had only taken on his master when he was merely a Qi Practitioner. Otherwise, if he had a reputed master to study under, why would he become a secular disciple of the monastery?

“Buddhist disciples also accept bribes?”



From what was implied, if Li Qingshan did not give any gifts, things would even be made difficult for him. He could not help but raise his voice as he was rather surprised.

Senior brother Wang said in fright, “You can’t run your tongue carelessly like that. This is a friendship between seniors and juniors. How can you call it bribery?”

“Who out there is making a fuss in the pure land of buddhist cultivation?”

A middle-aged monk walked out of the hall, raising his eyebrows that spread out and faded away towards the end. He stared straight at Li Qingshan with a hint of annoyance.

Li Qingshan stared straight back at him. This must be that senior brother Eternal Faith. His appearance was nothing special. His head was so smooth that it shone brilliantly, and he was slightly plump, standing there with a bulging belly. He truly did have some prestige about him. Standing nearby behind him was a small, skinny male. He must have been the fellow that entered ahead of senior brother Wang.

“Senior brother Eternal Faith!” Senior brother Wang and the middle-aged female cultivator brought their palms together and bowed in a hurry.

Eternal Faith did not return the gesture. He directly questioned Li Qingshan, “Who are you? How dare you intrude upon our Courtyard of Secular Affairs?” He thought to himself, You bastard, this is your first time here, so if you don’t know the rules and you haven’t brought a gift, so be it, but how dare you say I’m accepting bribes? You really have no idea what I can do to you. I’ll show you what’s what.

Li Qingshan clasped his hands. “I’m Li Qingshan. I’ve come to become a secular disciple.”

“Secular disciple? Is what you’re doing right now supposed to be a buddhist greeting? Secular disciple isn’t a status you can earn just because you want to!”

Eternal Faith’s face changed. As an inner courtyard disciple of the monastery, he had obviously heard about Li Qingshan before.

This kid is unruly and rude. He’s even bold enough to defy the abbot’s orders. He well and truly deserves being sent into the Demon Suppression hall. Look at him, after some punishment, he has still ended up running over, all crestfallen, to become a secular disciple. Now that he has run into me, I better kill some times with him and make him learn what is called respecting your seniors.

“It’s exactly as senior brother says. With how rude and impolite he seems, you can tell with a single glance that he comes from some backwater place. How can he possess the right to become our senior or junior brother?” The small, skinny man behind Eternal Faith chimed in with a flattering expression.

“Kid, why don’t you apologise to first senior brother Eternal Faith quickly?” Senior brother Wang urged loudly, and the female cultivator shot glances at Li Qingshan too.

“Fucking bullshit!”

Li Qingshan’s face twisted, revealing his teeth. An aura of malice radiated from him naturally, making everyone present leap in fright. Their auras were all suppressed, and they felt like the surroundings had darkened.