Legend of the Great Sage

“Eggborn” immediately understood what the Upraised Light abbot meant by “Even the buddha cannot help me with this. Only you can.” Gazing at the golden notice, a strong sense of déjà vu overcame him. He felt like he had heard about a situation like this before from somewhere.

But hold on, this was a notice written by the buddha. As a measly sangharama guardian, if he removed it rashly, wouldn’t he be asking to die?

The Upraised Light abbot smiled. “You don’t have to worry. To me, that’s the six-worded mantra, an infallible law, but to you, it’s just a notice that says ‘I have business. I’m not home’. What’s wrong with peeling it off and taking a look at it?”

However, “Eggborn” simply looked up, staring at the sky. The Upraised Light abbot was puzzled. “What are you looking for?”

“I’m worried about a hand suddenly descending from above and crushing a rebel like you in a single palm strike, dragging me down with you in the process.”

“I’ve never heard of anything like that.” The Upraised Light abbot sighed. “I’m definitely not rebelling. I’m only in search of an answer. If you don’t want to…”

“Alright then!”

“Eggborn” suddenly agreed to his request. He felt like if the buddha wanted to stop the Upraised Light abbot, there was no need for him to wait until now. Just letting a beam of light rain down on him as a revelation was enough for the monk to give up on persisting.

As a result, there probably, possibly, would not be any fatal danger.

He hovered up in the air, arriving before the notice and extending his hand over slowly. He still could not help but hold his breath, feeling nervous inside.

This was a notice left behind by the buddha after all. Apart from the Great Sages, which daemon, demon, ghost, or monster would not keep their distance away from it? Who knew what kind of powerful ability or technique it was hiding. Perhaps there would not even be the need for the buddha to do anything himself, where whoever peeled it would die.

However, he would not be conflicted like the Upraised Light abbot. Determination flashed through his eyes as he gripped the notice, ripping it off forcefully.

The notice drifted down, offering up no resistance at all.

He widened his eyes, on full guard, but nothing happened at all. Gazing at the notice in his hand, it really did seem like the most ordinary notice. At most, the material it was made of was relatively precious, woven from golden silk.

At this moment, the doors that had remained shut for who knew how many years opened slightly without producing a single sound.

Suddenly, the bells and drums on the mountain rang out together like thunder. Rings of golden light were released from the top of the mountain. The lotus flower seemed to be blooming completely.

The light shot through the sky, illuminating the entire land like aurora. Everyone raised their heads.

The Great Thunderclap temple that had remained sealed for all this time opened once more!

On a land that hung beyond the ocean alone, a pair of red eyes suddenly opened. The irises shimmered with golden light.

“Finally here!”

At this moment, “Eggborn” felt like he was being watched. He looked back, but he found nothing.

The Upraised Light abbot stood blankly before the entrance to the Great Thunderclap temple.

The glorious, solemn halls and towers seemed to continue to echo the buddha’s voice as he gave sermons. The intense discussion between monks still seemed to linger in the squares and shrines.

Under the guide of the buddha, everyone silently searched for the deepest of wisdom, enthusiastically pursuing the dharma that could be spread to all before finally developing into the world-renowned Mahāyāna Buddhism.

That White Bone Bodhisattva had once cultivated and studied here before winning over the monks with her great wisdom and great benevolence, receiving the buddha’s personal guidance. She became the abbot of the Great Thunderclap temple with countless hopes placed on her.

The Upraised Light abbot entered a trance. Everything was like a dream. But why? Why did it turn out like that? Where exactly did something go wrong? His chest heaved violently as he yelled out inside, taking quite the effort before he managed to calm himself down.

He had a feeling that all answers lay inside the Great Thunderclap temple!

Behind him, “Eggborn '' wanted to say, Have we created too great of a disturbance?

But the deed was already done, so there was nothing to fear. He shoved the notice into his clothes and also entered the Great Thunderclap temple. He had visited a treasured mountain, so how could he return empty-handed?

The Upraised Light abbot made a beeline for the library, but “Eggborn” had no interest in the scriptures. He had the Nine Transformation of the Demonic and Divine, so he did not need any cultivation method either, so he just strolled around randomly in the Great Thunderclap temple. He wanted to see if he could find any “souvenirs” to take back with him, like śarīra. Xiao An probably would have liked that.

However, this was paradise. No one aged or died, so why would there be śarīra?

As a result, no matter how he walked around, he actually found nothing worth taking.

The golden tiles? It was not like he was a petty thief. The buddha statues? It was not like he dealt in antiques.

However, the mountain was extremely rich in spiritual qi, basically flowing around in the form of liquid. Just his breaths purified his marrow and cleared his meridians, softening his tendons and hardening his bones. Probably even beyond the Nine Heavens would be nothing better than this.

Ever since he entered this Great Thunderclap temple, his body popped all over, and it was extremely itchy. He grew at a visible rate, going from a half-grown teenager to a valiant young man. His hair fell at a length as well.

“If I had fourth brother’s abilities, I’d take this spiritual mountain away with me. Even if it severs the underground veins and the spiritual qi is no longer so dense, it’s fine for throwing at people too!”

Before he knew it, he had already arrived at the top of the mountain. The grand hall towered loftily. Before the hall was a lotus pond.

Lotus flowers bloomed in the pond with different colours. There were white lotuses, green lotuses, red lotuses, golden lotuses, blue lotuses…

However, the roots had browned, and the remnants of the fragrance lingered. The leaves had wilted, making it seem rather abandoned. However, it did possess a different kind of tranquil aura, enough to enchant people.

He sucked in a deep breath. Immediately, a thick fragrance filled his lungs. Then it transformed into a gush of pure air in the blink of an eye, rushing right to the top of his head.

At this moment, the gate that kept his memories sealed collapsed. All of his memories returned, surging out to him.

He immediately remembered the reason for all this. “Oh no. I suppressed my memories to avoid assimilating and to prevent the demonic transformations from regressing. Now, suppression is no longer useful. I don’t have any other option either. I need to leave Sukhāvatī quickly!”

However, the dense fragrance continued to sway around in his lungs, even drifting from the lotus pond endlessly, seeping in through every pore.

His face turned beet-red as he tottered about like he was drunk. On top of that, this small worry was absolutely nothing compared to the ease and joy he was feeling inside. In the end, with a plop, he collapsed by the pond and began snoring away.

Despite being completely unconscious, the Qilin Transformation began to grow again as he inhaled the fragrance, constantly progressing before breaking through.

His forehead bulged as a pair of tall deer antlers grew out, slanting backwards and opening up. The sides of his tiger-like head had already become covered with hair, and his body that resembled an elk’s was covered in green scales. The tail of an ox swayed around on his back.

He had actually turned into a legendary qilin.

He had not reached completion, but he was half way there already.

Meanwhile, the lotus flowers that were originally rather wilted gradually became full and turgid again under the ushering of his aura. Their fragrance grew heavier.

By the time he woke up, he would definitely discover one thing, that the feeling of remaining in Sukhāvatī was extremely similar to when he swam around in Ruin’s End as a spirit turtle.

The wondrous sense of belonging, the recognition from the bottom of his heart, did not require any effort from him. It conformed with his disposition naturally. Coupled with the dense and compatible spiritual qi, his cultivation increased naturally, as easily as breathing.

And, he was faced with the same issue—his consciousness assimilating with the world. As a result, he sacrificed his memories in Ruin’s End. Here, he was forced to seal up his memories.

Was this all really just a coincidence?