Legend of the Great Sage (Chapter 601-Chapter 700)

Sun Fubai said, “Yeah. I’ve already contacted the various prefectures. We want to establish an association that spans the entire Ruyi commandery. The larger of an audience we have, the closer to the limit we can push the power of the school of Novels. They’re quite interested too. As a result, the battle has become even more important. It’s not only for the entrance exam. It’ll also determine which prefecture can occupy the dominant position.”


With the books Li Qingshan had plagiarised so far, if he could publish them across the entire Ruyi commandery, the rate at which he gathered the power of belief would definitely multiply. Because of the war, the population of the Clear River prefecture had fallen drastically, while the eight other prefectures were not particularly affected. It was an extremely vast market.

But thinking about it the other way, the schools of Novels in other prefectures must also want to expand their influence. By then, just publishing whose work first would be an issue. If this was handled badly, it could lead to a dispute, so the dominant position was relatively important.

As they spoke, the three of them arrived before the bamboo loft. Li Qingshan said, “Let’s go in and properly plan and prepare!”





Chapter 607: The Secret of the Painting Tomb | Legend of the Great Sage




Chu Danqing paced around the room anxiously, opening the window and glancing in the direction of Cloudwisp island from time to time, constantly sighing. He had always been an excitable person, but there was no one else he could discuss it with apart from Li Qingshan with how important the matter was.

“Danqing, what have you encountered that has made you so anxious?”

Li Qingshan’s voice suddenly rang out from behind. Chu Danqing turned around in joy, only to see Li Qingshan stride into the room and sit down before the window without holding back, leaning against the small table.

He discussed with Liu Chuanfeng and Sun Fubai for a while and came up with a few ideas before leaving Cloudwisp island. He understood his strengths and weaknesses very well. In terms of attachment to and understanding of the school of Novels, he paled in comparison to Liu Chuanfeng. In terms of meticulousness and dealing with matters, he paled in comparison to Sun Fubai. He would not be of much help even if he stayed behind, so he was better off dealing with all these matters before learning about water from Ru Xin.

“If you require me to fight anywhere, I can guarantee victory. As for everything else, I’ll leave it all to you.”

With that, Li Qingshan bade farewell and took his leave, visiting the school of Painting that was relatively closer first.

“Qingshan, your cultivation has progressed yet again!”

Chu Danqing sighed as he sat down on the other side of the table. He wanted to pour some tea, but Li Qingshan had already picked up the teapot, pouring a cup for himself before downing it all. He smiled. “It’s been a while. You’ve picked up on these civilities.”

He could still vividly recall Chu Danqing’s tactlessness when he first met him. Now that he had been through matters of the world, his innocence and gullibility had faded away. In particular, with how his eyebrows were pinched in worry, he seemed much more mature.

“This isn’t civilities. Your cultivation… Forget it, let’s not talk about this for now. I have… Sigh, I really don’t know where to start.” Chu Danqing had originally made up his mind about asking Li Qingshan for help, but he had never asked for assistance before, so he had no idea how to mention it to Li Qingshan.

Li Qingshan’s smile receded. He placed the teacup on the table. “I still haven’t forgotten the kindness that master Chu has shown me. If you have any difficulties you need my help with, just mention it. I won’t object at all. Honestly, what I hate the most is never forgetting about the great kindness someone has shown me, let alone clinging onto favours owed even until death. It feels horrible to be in debt to someone. I’d prefer paying back their kindness straightforwardly.”

Chu Danqing ruminated for a while. “You know that my master had more than just me as his disciple…”

A wisp of steam rose up from the teacup, coiling and dispersing. Chu Danqing explained with his eyebrows furrowed as Li Qingshan listened attentively and quietly.

As it turned out, Chu Shidao had many more disciples other than Chu Danqing. There were three who were the most outstanding, all having undergone the first heavenly tribulation and reached Foundation Establishment.

But ever since then, they set up their own schools and sects. They personally believed they had already obtained Chu Shidao’s true legacy, so they no longer treated Chu Shidao with much courtesy. As a matter of fact, they became envious of Chu Shidao’s reputation and status, so they secretly brought up misdeeds of the past and spread rumors.

Chu Shidao was dispirited. He refused to argue with his disciples, which was why he retired deep into the mountains, taking on Chu Shidao as his last disciple and diligently guiding him to adulthood.

Li Qingshan slapped his thigh. “If I were to meet such ungrateful scum, I’ll definitely turn them into pulpy scum for real!”

“For real?” Chu Danqing was unable to understand what Li Qingshan was implying. He had no idea that Li Qingshan could crush people into pulp.

“Keep going. Since you don’t have any contact with them anymore, what’s it got to do with them?”

“A few days ago, they suddenly came and visited master’s grave. I thought they had finally realised their errors and decided to change, but I never thought they would begin discussing how to split up master’s estate afterwards. They hadn’t even participated in master’s funeral!” Chu Danqing was extremely furious.

When Chu Shidao was buried, the war between the humans and daemons still raged. No cultivators were bold enough to enter a place as dangerous as the Clear River prefecture. Now that the situation had gradually settled down, the people that needed to come obviously came.

Li Qingshan nodded. Chu Shidao’s primary estate was obviously paintings. Any single painting from him could be used as a spiritual artifact, and some of his finer works were even equivalent to arcane artifacts in power. Importantly, they did not have a particularly high demand on the cultivator’s strength and cultivation.

For example, the Heavenly Maiden Scatters the Blossoms Li Qingshan had won, even Qi Practitioners could use it and summon out the heavenly maiden, yet it could rival the power of Foundation Establishment cultivators, which made it worth even more than regular arcane artifacts. With property like that up for grabs, it was no wonder that Chu Danqing’s senior brothers and sisters would become restless.

Chu Danqing took out an invitation card created from ink. “I managed to evade this situation that day, but I really won’t be able to evade it this time.”



Li Qingshan took the invitation card and studied it. An ink-black carp suddenly became alarmed and swam around. He said in confusion, “Do they really deserve a piece of the estate just because they asked for it? And, you’re in the Clear River prefecture, so with the support of prefect Liu and other fellow cultivators, where would the three of them find the courage to touch you? Why must you be so worried?”

Chu Danqing said, “This is a matter between my seniors and I. It has never been a matter where outsiders should become involved in. Qingshan, you might not be a part of the school of Painting, but my master trusted you very much. Sigh, my three seniors are all people with a certain level of status identity now, so they would never stoop to the level of fighting if it were only for these paintings. However, this is connected to a secret treasure too. If I insist on ignoring them, it’ll lead to great trouble if they divulge the secret out of anger.”

Li Qingshan became curious. “What secret treasure?”

Chu Danqing sucked in a deep breath. “The secret of the Painting Tomb!”