Legend of the Great Sage

Dai Mengfan shivered inside.

The sky was darkening. The red sun had already sunken into the ocean, but the western sky continued to blaze with red.

Suddenly, she found the sea wind at dusk to be slightly more chilly, which reminded her of the sharp cold winds outside Black Cloud city, the terrifying Demon God, his figure directly facing the Demon God, and the tremendous calls of hundreds of thousand soldiers—Li Qingshan!

Strangely enough, she had gone through so many hair-raising and heart-stirring moments that day, but it all became a blur. Only this sight was firmly embedded in her mind with deep colours. Perhaps it was better to say that it was exactly because that sight had left far too deep of an impression on her that everything else became blurred.

“Face Li Qingshan? Don’t kid with me!”

Dai Mengfan shook her head. The reason why she was bold enough to completely follow the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance’s orders was because she had calculated that it was impossible for Li Qingshan to return to the Human realm. If he did, the Desireless Heavenly Palace would immediately send the Divine Generals of the Six Ding and Six Jia to exterminate him, or they might even directly send a True Immortal.

Even if Li Qingshan infiltrated Myriad city, there was still the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance watching over the entire place. Coupled with the defensive formation around the sect, even Heretic Gods would struggle to escape with their lives intact.

The only time when they would meet again would probably be on the battlefield in the Demon domain.

But according to her understanding, the demonfolk carried out a full-scale retreat, giving up large swathes of territory. Countless monks from the Pure Land sect were mobilised to purify the demonic land, recovering the lost land. With their respective retreat and advance, there would not be any major battles occurring any time soon.

She had become the first senior sister already anyway, so compared to being constantly filled with fear, she was better off just giving it her all and using her identity to obtain as many resources as possible so that she could reach Human Immortal as soon as possible. By then, when the crisis of the world arrived, she would be capable of preserving her life to a certain extent. Even if she ran into Li Qingshan again, she could protect herself or even fend him off!

No, forget about that. I better just keep my distance from him!

The sight of Li Qingshan facing the Demon God crossed her head again, and she immediately dismissed the thought of facing him in battle.

The statuses of Human Immortals were noble and valued. They could not be compared to Heretic Gods. How could they throw delicate pieces of china at clay tiles?

In short, no matter how vicious and ferocious Li Qingshan was, he was like a tiger locked in a cage, incapable of touching a hair on her.

With that in mind, she gradually relaxed and let out another complacent smile. She sneered.

“Hmph, so you like being a demonfolk, do you?”

……

In the Hundred Herbs garden, Li Fengyuan returned to beneath the bodhi tree. Ruan Yaozhu had already left there.

The red clouds were smothered out, and the sky darkened. The garden was devoid of any human activity. The wind stirred the plants, making them rustle.

Before she had returned to her dwelling, she expelled all the disciples in the garden, just in case she implicated them too.

He could tell that these disciples all respected her very much. Many of them knelt down and begged her not to do this. Basically all of them shed tears, like they were parting for good. Others glared at him viciously, filled with hostility.

She shed tears as well, but whether it was because she was stubborn or because she was foolish, she had never been a person who changed her mind easily.

Li Fengyuan caressed the coarse trunk of the bodhi tree and could not help but let out a sigh. She was destined to suffer for this choice.

But in this world, was she the only one who suffered? Just how much pain and suffering was the person that she trusted and placed her hopes in going through?

“All living creatures suffer!”

The sun set and the stars rose, twinkling away in the sky. Li Fengyuan gazed at the scarlet star on the horizon.

“First father, since you’ve already made this choice, choosing to burden yourself with the suffering of the living creatures, let me lend you a hand!”

As a result, he shook off his kasaya and crossed his legs under the bodhi tree again, bringing his palms together solemnly.

He slowly shut his eyes and fog began to curl before his eyes again. He flapped his wings fervently.

Immediately, he pulled out of the clouds and saw the sun. At the end of the rippling sea of clouds was a range of snowy mountains. The tallest peak was shaped like a lotus.

“The place where the lotuses bloomed,” Li Fengyuan murmured. This was not his first time seeing this, but he felt shocked every time he did.

The red sun rose up in the east, illuminating the sea of clouds and hanging above the “lotus flower”, dyeing the snowy mountain a golden-red like it was a golden lotus.

The “lotus flower” became even more magnificent too. With the shift of the shadows, it seemed to be blooming at every passing moment, releasing a multicoloured glow that formed a thousand beams, extremely resplendent, extremely holy.

If Li Qingshan saw this, he would not find it unfamiliar at all. That was the “spiritual mountain” he had pushed over with his two hands.

Yet for some reason, it was still standing right now.

Li Fengyuan flapped his wings and sailed off, leaving behind a long trace in the sea of clouds.

Arriving above the spiritual mountain, a majestic temple sat at the peak. That was the renowned Great Thunderclap temple of the spiritual mountain.

Its name was Nālandā, which meant “almsgiving without intermission”.

Li Fengyuan had always preferred its original name—giving the buddhist dharma across all life, never to stop.

Peering down from the clouds, people moved about in the temple. Many monks walked around, some meditating in thought, some discussing the dharma, and some practising techniques. They all either stayed put or moved about, forming a flourishing scene. There was no sign of bleakness at all.

Li Fengyuan descended from above and walked between the buildings slowly, sometimes stopping to listen to a passage of a scripture or to admire a mural. Gradually, a peaceful smile appeared on his face.

However, now that he was much closer, these monks were all dressed differently from regular monks. Basically all of them walked about with bare feet like ascetics, dressed in extremely antiquated clothes. Many of them even had long hair and beards. At the same time, none of the monks noticed Li Fengyuan. Even when they looked towards him, they only saw through him.

Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!

Suddenly, heavy footsteps rang out from behind him. A black shadow loomed over him.

Li Fengyuan did not dodge. A bare-chested warrior attendant with lower robes passed through him. He carried a huge log that required several dozen people to carry, striding towards the grand hall that was currently being constructed nearby.

It was like an illusion or a dream. This was the distant past, the origins of Nālandā.

Li Fengyuan had constantly submerged himself here over the years—studying the primitive scriptures, practising the ancient techniques, comprehending and pondering the laws. He found endless inspiration. Most importantly, he personally witnessed the construction of Nālandā on this icy, barren land.

Every tile and brick, each blade of grass and tree, the great halls, treasured buildings, and bell towers, would all be destroyed by Li Qingshan in the end.

Li Fengyuan was well aware that the spiritual mountain had already been tipped over and Nālandā had been destroyed, never to be rebuilt again. As a result, he often felt sorrow as he gazed at all of this, like watching how an infant came into this world, how he bawled, how he opened his eyes curiously to study this world, how he ran, played, and studied… except “he” was already dead, having been destroyed long before this.

Everything came and went in a cycle, through formation, existence, disintegration, then emptiness. Whether it was the universe or a speck of dust, nothing was exempt from that.

So even the undying phoenix has a day when it grows old!

With that in mind, the scene before him gradually blurred. He suddenly discovered that before he had realised it, his face was already covered with tears.