"I don't want to!" Xiao An's expression remained the same as he replied with a clear and tender voice.
The Buddha hall seemed to become even quieter.
In the Buddhist niche, the plump cheeks of the Buddha statue glittered with golden light under the illumination of the Eternal Flame Lantern. There was a profound smile on it. His thin eyebrows and eyes seemed to take in all the believers, but at the same time, he seemed to see nothing at all.
Everyone doubted whether they had heard wrongly or not. It was an invitation that no one could refuse, but someone did.
The One Thought master's mouth hung agape. Even his thoughts halted for a moment.
Back then, after successfully reaching Foundation Establishment, he emerged from the Hundred Schools of Thought and turned down the invitations of a few temples, heading to the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga thousands of kilometers away to become a disciple. He knelt outside the Bodhi hall for three days and three nights before the Annihilum Light Chan Master accepted him into the Bodhi hall. He was tested for another three years before he was accepted as a formal disciple.
He had never regretted this choice. Otherwise, with his luck and aptitude, it would have been impossible for him to advance to a higher realm.
"Little Ann, you …"
The Annihilum Light Chan Master raised his hand and stopped the One Thought master from continuing. He looked at Little Ann.
Little Ann's expression was calm and unmoved.
The Annihilum Light Chan Master sighed. "The path of cultivation is boundless, and the buddhist dharma is boundless. Why must you stubbornly persist?"
Little Ann bowed and said, "Thank you, Shizun, for bestowing me with this Dharma name." If not wanting to separate from him meant stubbornness, then she would rather use this as her Dharma name and never change it.
The Annihilum Light Chan Master smiled at first, rejoicing over the cleverness of his thoughts. Then he sighed, lamenting over how stubborn he was. Then, without confirming or denying it, he floated away.
The One Thought master went up with a mixed expression and bowed. "Junior sister One Will."
Little Ann returned the gesture. "Senior brother Yi Nian."
Although there was no ceremony. But for the Zen Sect, which paid particular attention to "direct one's heart and see one's nature to become a Buddha", these superficial courtesies were insignificant.
Buddha pinched a flower, Maha Kasyapa smiled, master and disciple got along well.
In just a few words, their status had already been decided.
All the monks got up and bade farewell. The dharma assembly came to an end.
The Number One Genius in the Hundred Schools of Thought in a Hundred Years. He was also the first to find his future destination, which was the holy land of buddhist cultivators that spanned fifteen thousand kilometers across the Green province — the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga.
After Little Ann sent all the monks away … He also took his leave from senior brother One Thought.
The One Thought master obviously knew where she wanted to go. He waved his hand helplessly. "Go!" Even his master could not do anything about it. He silently allowed her to use One Will as her dharma name. How could he care about it?
On Cloudwisp island, after hearing about what had happened, Li Qingshan fell silent for a while. He rubbed Little Ann's head and smiled. "If you want to go cultivate in the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga in the future, I'll become a monk with you. However, I'll only be a monk who drinks and eats meat, plus a perverted monk."
Little Ann shook his head. "No, I'll stay with you. I don't want you to be a monk who eats meat and drinks wine."
Li Qingshan said, "I see! When the time comes, I'll pay a visit to the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga with you and get some benefits from the Annihilum Light Chan Master. You can just come out and work alone. I'll also go find a master to learn a thing or two. By then, I'll build a dwelling, and you can build a temple on the side. How's that? It'll be the best of both worlds! "
Little Ann said softly, "Alright."
This was their future. There was nothing worth worrying about.
… …
It was already late at night. The two of them laid on their backs, staring at the ceiling. They listened to the rustling snow outside together. They both felt extremely peaceful inside.
"Oh right, what do you think of that big sister Han?" Li Qingshan turned around and laid on his side.
"Big sister Han?" Little Ann turned around in doubt. Her two large eyes shone in the darkness.
"She's Han Qiongzhi."
"She's worth a hundred regular people," Little Ann said indifferently.
"I'm not telling you to eat her. Forget it, child. You won't understand even if I tell you." Li Qingshan was speechless. He lay back down.
Little Ann climbed onto him and stared at him.
"Alright, I'll tell you." Li Qingshan raised his hands in surrender and told her what happened tonight.
"You like her?" Little Ann blinked. "A little." Li Qingshan shrugged. Han Qiongzhi was naturally a good girl. Although they didn't have deep feelings for each other, as long as they spent some time together, they would naturally have feelings for each other! His parents in his previous life and this life had all gone through the same thing. It wasn't some third-rate romance drama where they had to love each other to the death.
"You want to marry her?" With the awakening of many memories, especially after reading many novels for Li Qingshan, Little Ann was no longer unfamiliar with these things. It was just that she didn't expect this kind of thing to happen to him. She felt very shocked.
"Not necessarily. It's possible!" Li Qingshan touched his nose embarrassedly. He felt like a divorced father who wanted to remarry and was asking for his daughter's consent. His usual heroic and casual attitude couldn't be shown at all.
He admitted that he wasn't a romantic person like Hwa Seung-zan. He probably wouldn't be able to feel that kind of infatuation without regret in this life. When he was young in his previous life, he might have had this kind of thought. But in this life, it had been sharpened by more than ten years of hard life. Only the simplest and most direct things were left.
Little Ann suddenly became unhappy. She got down from Li Qingshan and turned her back.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
"As long as you're happy." Little Ann thought that Li Qingshan would be stuck with that woman day and night like in the books. He probably wouldn't have time to accompany her anymore. She felt even more sad.
Li Qingshan pulled her body over. He saw that her eyes were red and tears were streaming down. It was as if he had done something that angered the heavens and people. He also panicked.
"I didn't say that I would definitely marry her. It's fine if you don't like her."
The future wasn't that simple.
…
More than ten days later, on Contention Island, in the underground cave abode of seclusion.
A drop of sweat flowed down his cheek, dripped from his chin, and landed on the wet ground.
Li Qingshan's body knelt on the ground. His long hair hung down and covered his face.
The muscles all over his body twisted like dragons and snakes. It was as if he was bearing a heavy burden. Scarlet blood flowed into his skin, revealing the color of black iron. He opened his mouth wide, revealing his long and sharp fangs. Two bulges appeared on his forehead, as if there were two horns that were ready to rush out at any time.
Li Qingshan suddenly raised his body and let out a furious roar. His arms spread out to the extreme, as if he was breaking free from invisible shackles.
"Hoo." It was the sound of his heavy breathing. It was filled with incomparable comfort.
"Hoo." It was his movement that kicked up a fierce gust of wind, surging through the dwelling and ruffling Little Ann's clothes and long hair.
Li Qingshan stood up. The colour of his skin gradually returned to normal, and his knotted muscles settled down too. However, his figure seemed slightly "bulkier", like a statue carved out of marble.
After this period of arduous cultivation, in particular the pills he had exchanged for with spiritual stones, he had basically eaten them all. He had finally reached the third layer of the Ox Demon's Fist of Great Strength.
Although the resources he required with each step forward were even greater — back then, reaching the first layer only required drinking and nourishing his body — the benefits to his body became greater and greater.
In particular, his strength had basically increased by several times. Although it was suppressed by the spirit turtle's daemon core, he could still feel the surging strength surge through his body, almost ready to burst out.
He changed his clothes and said to Little Ann, "It's time for me to pay the school of the Military a visit and test out the results of my cultivation."
"I'll help you!" Little Ann took out the Guardian King's pearl. It shone with golden light, conjuring a golden avatar. It was even more realistic than ever before, as if it was a golden person standing there instead of a golden statue.
During this period of time, she had comprehended and summarised what she had learned from the assembly of dharma. Because she had been by the One Thought master's side, she had only ingested two or three of the black lotus pods. Now that she had this opportunity, she could finally use it to cultivate. She ingested another seven or eight, and her cultivation advanced drastically.
The golden sash drifted about, and the guardian king's avatar arrived before Li Qingshan in the blink of an eye. It swung down with the huge vajra sword.
"Fair enough!" Li Qingshan caught the huge sword between his palms.
Apart from the short period of time Just Now, where he was afraid of the daemon qi leaking out, there was actually no need for him to enter secluded cultivation. He had only done it to make her happy, basically making up for the hardships she had gone through when she was trapped in the assembly of dharma.
He could tell that she was still rather reluctant to leave, so he would stay a little longer. He could also use this opportunity to practise the Ocean Wielding that he had never had the time to study.
The two of them cultivated separately, stopping from time to time to spar and joke around. Time passed by bit by bit.
Originally, Li Qingshan planned on spending another half a month in secluded cultivation, but as soon as he began practising this battle skill, he could not help but delve into it. He was shocked by the exquisite combination of qi and the body, submerging himself into it involuntarily.
Speaking of which, it was quite strange. His ability to comprehend various cultivation methods had always been very average, but he felt like a genius when it came to his comprehension of battle skills.
Little Ann benefited quite a lot too. He ingested the black lotus seeds in the lotus pods one by one, turning them into flames and merging with his bones, condensing another Skull Prayer Bead.
In the blink of an eye, another month passed. The door to the dwelling opened slowly.
Li Qingshan walked out and yawned, gazing down.
This time, their secluded cultivation was not at the lowest level of the dwelling, which had been occupied by Hwa Seung-zan. After such a long time, he wondered how his cultivation was progressing.
"Let's go!" Li Qingshan hugged Little Ann and stepped into the hollow in front of him.
This time, there were no clouds condensing. Instead, a wave-like blue light appeared under his feet. As if he was stepping on a spring, he soared into the sky.
Ocean Wielding? The Wave-treading Stance condensed water into shape. Using the force of the water, one's speed was several times faster than Cloud Treading. Furthermore, one's agility was greatly increased, as if one could walk in the sky.
After emerging from the underground, the sky was blue, and the sun was dazzling. The snow had melted, and the spring scenery was brilliant.
Li Qingshan took another step back and shot toward Cloudwisp Island in the distance.
During this period of time, the willpower accumulated in the Divine Talisman of Great Creation had reached a peak. Although he could not see it with his own eyes, the effect of the book and the painting was obviously very good. Moreover, as expected, his thin painting album was a level better, and he could easily conjure the characters in it.
However, it was still not enough. He needed to become stronger to have a chance. It was time to go out and use the paintings in his hands to do some publicity, so that the illusory could become real.
PS: Failed to wake up. I almost had insomnia last night. I'd better write in the morning!
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