Legend of the Great Sage

“Alright!” The Seven Treasures Monk King’s eyes lit up. This was the exact outcome that he wanted.

“You must not!” the Dauntless monk said. He turned around and said to the Seven Treasures Monk King, “Seven Treasures, do you really think there’s no one else around in my Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga that you can just harass her with your superior cultivation?”

“Junior brother, One Will is no longer a child. She’ll receive the title of Monk King before long, standing on equal footing with us. Don’t tell me she can’t even make her own decision over something as small as this?”

The Seven Treasures Monk King was already certain that Xiao An would try and lose to him intentionally so that she could justify going to the Spirit K?etra temple. A contest like this was merely to provide the Dauntless monk with an explanation.

“Don’t worry, abbott. I won’t lose,” said Xiao An.

“You see!” The Seven Treasures Monk King smiled at the Dauntless monk. He did not take Xiao An’s words seriously at all.

By now, even the Dauntless monk was unable to stop this anymore. He glanced at Xiao An deeply and said, “Do what you must and take care!”

“One Will, you can strike first!” the Seven Treasures Monk King said to Xiao An happily.

“Please go first, master.” Xiao An let go of Li Qingshan’s hand and walked over slowly.

“Alright then.” The Seven Treasures Monk King swung his hand, and the coins and gems on his kasaya glimmered under the sunlight. He was in no hurry to strike, instead asking, “Do you know why I’m known as Seven Treasures?”

“Buddhism has seven treasures. That ought to be where the master’s name comes from,” said Xiao An.

“Which seven treasures are they?”

“Violet gold, white silver, glaze, crystal, agate, coral, and amber.”

“Correct. What I practise is the Spirit K?etra temple’s Dharma Flower Scripture of Seven Treasures. Among all the buddhist disciples in existence right now, only I have practised this cultivation method to my level and refined the seven treasures as my lifebound buddhist treasures,” the Seven Treasures Monk King said rather proudly.

The Dauntless monk growled heavily. Whether it were arcane treasures or buddhist treasures, it was not necessarily better if there were more of them. The number that cultivators could control was limited. Even he was capable of wielding the seven buddhist treasures, but their might would definitely be affected, and they could get in each other’s way. When facing enemies, the effect he could achieve with just two or three buddhist treasures would instead be far better.

However, the Seven Treasures Monk King could wield seven buddhist treasures at the same time. Not only would their might be unaffected, they could even compound one another to greater effect. Even if it did not make him invincible, very few people could defeat him. No matter how talented Xiao An was, she had only undergone the third heavenly tribulation recently after all. Her cultivation had been lacking in comparison to his in the first place. If she had to face another seven buddhist treasures, she basically had no chance at victory at all.

“Master’s buddhist dharma is profound. You have One Will’s admiration.”

The Seven Treasures Monk King smiled with that. He brought the violet gold staff in his hand forward horizontally, and the golden hoops jangled about. “This buddhist staff is forged from violet gold. For the sake of purging demons, this treasure alone is sufficient. I don’t mind letting you witness a little more today.”

As he said that, a streak of golden light appeared. A silver dharma wheel flew out from his sleeve and spun about, radiating with dazzling silver light. It dyed the entire mountain peak silver, and the light alone was enough to cut through mountains.

A large, illusionary golden hand then extended out from behind the Seven Treasures Monk King, holding a glazed cup. It rippled with light such that it seemed like it was holding an entire lake, where it could flood Great Buddha mountain the moment it tipped over.

“Truly wondrous!” Xiao An praised. These three buddhist treasures were no longer just “foreign objects” for triumphing over enemies. They were also closely connected to the Seven Treasures Monk King as if they were part of him.

“Ever since I forged the seven treasures and received the title of Monk King, all of the opponents I’ve encountered have only forced me to use three treasures at most,” said the Seven Treasures Monk King.

“Then I wonder what the four other treasures look like.” Xiao An did not give off any fighting spirit at all as if she was a modest disciple asking for a master’s guidance on the buddhist dharma.

“Since you’ve asked, I’ll broaden your horizons then.”

The Seven Treasures Monk King smiled and unleashed all seven treasures—a crystal sword shining with rainbow light, an unpolished piece of white agate, a bright-red mountain of coral, and a string of amber prayer beads. They all shone with different colours.

Immediately, the colourful lights filled the surroundings and mingled together, even outshining the sun that had just risen in the east.

The Seven Treasures Monk King stood in the centre of the lights. An illusionary buddha statue appeared behind him with three heads and six arms, flowing with light and colour. It extended its six arms and wielded six treasures individually, making it seem even more solemn and magnificent.

“This is Prabhūtaratna, the buddha of the eastern Treasure Purity world, as well as the buddha I worship.”

The Dauntless monk and the Unraging monk lowered their heads and uttered Prabhūtaratna’s name. While the sect of chan did advocate for staying true to the buddha within them, without any demands beyond the dharma, they still held true buddhas in absolute reverence, even if they were just an illusion or statue.

Only Li Qingshan stood with his head held high, staring straight at the buddha statue. He felt like it was no different from the other buddha statues apart from being a little more fancy and colourful.

What a damned disciple! If it wasn’t for the fact that I have other plans in mind for today, I’ll definitely make you suffer for good! The Seven Treasures Monk King was displeased inside. At the same time, he treated Xiao An’s behaviour of staring straight at the buddha as an act of worship.

“I managed to practise this Dharma Flower Scripture of Seven Flowers not only because of my talent and ability to comprehend, but also because of the Spirit K?etra temple’s full support, which allowed me to forge the seven treasures. In any other sect, even if they had a cultivation method like this, no one would be able to practise it.”

The Dauntless monk was unable to rebuke the Seven Treasures Monk King’s words. The seven buddhist treasures were not only precious because of their value, but also because they were very difficult to collect. Only the Dragon province could assemble such precious treasures from across the world.

“How is it? You wished to see it, so I showed it to you. Do you still wish to face me?” The Seven Treasures Monk King smiled at Xiao An.

“One Will, if you wish to go, then go! With your talent, you can earn a place of your own no matter where you go.”

The Dauntless monk sighed. He was not confident she could defeat the Seven Treasures Monk King. She could hold her ground at most. Xiao An had basically made the bet with the intention of throwing it.

“Master Seven Treasures, I can defeat you.”

Xiao An’s voice remained just as calm as before. Even her respect towards the Seven Treasures Monk King in her expression and tone had not changed, but when she said that, she stunned everyone apart from Li Qingshan.

In particular, the Seven Treasures Monk King even suspected he had heard her wrong. He gazed at Xiao An and asked, “What did you say?”

Li Qingshan sat on the tall door sill to the grand hall in an unconcerned manner as if it had nothing to do with him. Normally speaking, it was impossible for Xiao An to defeat the Seven Treasures Monk King if she hid the Path of White Bone and Great Beauty and could only rely on her buddhist cultivation, but he was even less worried about Xiao An than himself.

“I can defeat you,” Xiao An said.

The Seven Treasures Monk King laughed instead of becoming angered. “Alright then. You can come at me then!”

“Be careful.”

Xiao An extended her right hand and revealed a buddhist treasure as well. On her wrist that was so white and clean that it seemed like it had been carved from ivory was a string of golden prayer beads. With a gentle wave of her hand, it scattered through the air like stars, falling into a vague formation and flying towards the Seven Treasures Monk King.

The Seven Treasures Monk King did not take the prayer beads seriously. They were only an ordinary buddhist treasure. Only when the formation assembled from the thirty-three prayer beads enveloped him did his face change in shock. “That’s impossible!”

It actually was not a buddhist treasure, but a set of buddhist treasures. The quality of each prayer bead was not too high, but once they assembled the formation, they possessed enough might to topple whole mountains!