Chapter 14: Chapter 12: Engaging with the World while Retaining Detachment

Outside the Martial Hall.

The gaunt old man Yuwen Pan watched as the figure of the Sword Saint of the Southern Sea disappeared.

“To use Master Hui Zhen as a stepping stone to challenge the Realm of Great Grandmaster… this is truly…”

The gaunt old man Yuwen Pan was at a loss for words for a moment.

A look of sympathy couldn’t help but appear on his face.

In fact, using the pressure of life-and-death to break through shackles and bottlenecks isn’t a rare occurrence.

With the talent and understanding of the Sword Saint of the Southern Sea,

under the oppression of a Great Grandmaster, there’s indeed a great possibility of success.

After all, compared to Yuwen Pan,

the Sword Saint of the Southern Sea reached this step today all on his own.

His potential goes without saying.

The biggest mistake of the Sword Saint of the Southern Sea was setting his sights on Master Hui Zhen.

Because in the eyes of Yuwen Pan,

Lin Yuan’s strength was undoubtedly beyond that of an ordinary Great Grandmaster,

and could even be considered the strongest among all the Great Grandmasters throughout the ages.

Through close to a year of contact, Yuwen Pan was almost certain of this.

Furthermore, Yuwen Pan had an even more terrifying conjecture…

“Has the master’s strength truly broken through that step…”

Yuwen Pan felt his entire body trembling.

Since ancient times, spanning thousands of years,

the Great Grandmaster has always been regarded as the strongest without dispute.

It is the ultimate realm that all martial artists strive for.

As for the realm above Great Grandmaster, transcending the Great Grandmaster…

Yuwen Pan neither dared to think about it nor wished to.

It was as pointless as wondering why the sun hangs in the sky.

But now,

after experiencing the might of Lin Yuan’s roar, Yuwen Pan finally began to doubt.

Perhaps, there is a higher realm above the Great Grandmaster?

Just like Lin Yuan?

No wonder Yuwen Pan thought this way; the combat power manifested by Lin Yuan was indeed extraordinary.

The ancestor of the Dali Dynasty who was a Great Grandmaster didn’t die many years ago,

and Yuwen Pan remembered quite clearly the descriptions of a Great Grandmaster.

Even the strongest wouldn’t be this strong.

Moreover, when occasionally guided by Lin Yuan over the past year,

Yuwen Pan distinctly felt the existence of the Great Grandmaster bottleneck.

If the guidance of a Great Grandmaster was so useful,

there wouldn’t be a notion that a Great Grandmaster cannot cultivate another Great Grandmaster.

….

Inside the Martial Hall.

Lin Yuan sat cross-legged.

Since half a year ago, when the Martial Tao Conference began to be held in the capital,

Lin Yuan’s gains have never ceased as he witnessed countless martial artists fighting and killing each other.

The participants of the Martial Tao Conference might not be very strong,

but the martial skills they displayed were very diverse.

With Against-Heaven’s Understanding, Lin Yuan gained enlightenment from numerous perspectives,

which was far more useful than singly observing a few superior and profound martial skills.

…

[With your Against-Heaven’s Understanding, by comprehending the Martial Tao of the world, your understanding of the Martial Tao after the Mythical Realm has improved.]

…

[With your Against-Heaven’s Understanding, by comprehending the Martial Tao of the world, you have vaguely grasped the true essence of nature.]

…

[With your Against-Heaven’s Understanding, by comprehending the Martial Tao of the world, you have created the ‘Cloud Mist Spirit Refining Skill’.]

…

[With your Against-Heaven’s Understanding, by comprehending the Martial Tao of the world, you begin to perceive the direction for breaking through to subsequent realms.]

…

Lin Yuan was completely immersed in the world of enlightenment, and unless faced with a life-and-death threat, he would hardly awaken.

And with Lin Yuan’s current physique and the self-protecting ‘Yuan Force’ of the Mythical Realm,

even if a group of Grandmasters attacked, he would not suffer the slightest injury.

Half a month later.

Lin Yuan opened his eyes.

“I’ve finally found it.”

Lin Yuan let out a soft sigh.

At this moment, with the help of Against-Heaven’s Understanding, he had finally locked onto the path that transcends the Mythical level.

It was only about locking onto the path; as for completely traversing it, it would still require a great deal of effort.

But as long as the direction was correct, the rest was merely a matter of time for Lin Yuan.

“It’s time to go back.”

Lin Yuan stood up and walked towards the outside of the Martial Hall.

Although with Lin Yuan’s current strength, it didn’t matter where he practiced.

Still, he had spent ten years at the Great Zen Temple and was quite content with the environment of Mount Shaoshi, with its ancient Buddha lamps and a setting free from disturbances.

To advance beyond the Mythical Realm would require a considerable amount of time, and Lin Yuan still wanted to return and stay on Mount Shaoshi.

Crack.

The doors of the Martial Hall swung open.

Yuwen Pan, the lean old man who was always guarding outside, was suddenly startled.

“Master.”

Yuwen Pan instinctively looked towards the inside of the Martial Hall.

But he found that the young monk who should have been sitting there had already disappeared.

“The master… has left…”

Yuwen Pan was stunned for a moment, feeling somewhat forlorn.

Even though he had foreseen it, knowing that a powerhouse like Lin Yuan wouldn’t stay at the imperial palace forever,

He felt as though he had lost something.

…

Great Zen Temple.

Abbot Huaiyuan, the head of the Martial Monk Institute Huiwen, and several other institute heads gathered at the temple gate, their faces filled with worry.

A year ago, the Dali Imperial Palace was breached by a mysterious monk, possibly a Great Grandmaster,

And of course, the Great Zen Temple had heard about it early on.

Unlike other martial artists and powers speculating about the origins of this mysterious monk,

Abbot Huaiyuan and the several institute heads almost immediately confirmed that the monk was one of their Buddhist disciples.

There was no choice.

It was a young monk’s appearance,

Plus, the strength of a Great Grandmaster.

Such an accurate description could only fit the disciple who had just entered the world.

At first, they were amazed by Lin Yuan’s power.

Over a hundred years ago, the Great Grandmaster who was the ancestor of the Dali Dynasty ascended Mount Shaoshi.

Now, the Buddhist disciple of the Great Zen Temple had single-handedly breached the Dali Imperial Palace, which was a sort of quid pro quo.

However, as time passed,

The abbot and heads began to sense something was amiss.

It seemed the Buddhist disciple was planning to reside permanently at the Dali Imperial Palace?

Abbot Huaiyuan and the others weren’t really afraid that Lin Yuan would forsake the Great Zen Temple,

But they worried the Dali Dynasty might harbor other intentions.

It’s easy to dodge an overt spear, but hard to avoid a hidden arrow.

Admittedly, with Lin Yuan’s strength, no one in the Dali Dynasty was his match,

But what if the Dali Dynasty resorted to some despicable schemes… You must know, the Dali Imperial Palace was once the home of the Great Grandmaster ancestor, and it’s not without means to deal with a Great Grandmaster.

If Lin Yuan stayed at the Dali Imperial Palace for a long time, what if he fell into a trap?

Besides,

Abbot Huaiyuan had even deeper concerns.

As the Martial Tao Conference took place and several Grandmasters went to the capital city to test their skills against Lin Yuan,

Rumors about Lin Yuan’s power started to abound.

Great Grandmaster.

Pinnacle Great Grandmaster.

Invincible Great Grandmaster.

The unparalleled Great Grandmaster of all time, and so on.

These rumors all originated from the other Grandmasters.

There was no question about their authenticity.

As a result, Lin Yuan’s fame grew larger and larger, far surpassing Patriarch Bodhidharma from a thousand years ago and the ancestor of the Dali Dynasty a hundred plus years prior.

For other Great Grandmasters, this might not have had any impact.

After all, those Great Grandmasters took at least decades to reach this stage, their mental states had been tempered through many trials.

But Abbot Huaiyuan was well aware that the Buddhist disciple was only in his teens.

Could someone so young endure the trials of fame and fortune in the martial world?

“Let’s wait a bit longer, the disciple has only been down the mountain for a year, it’s not a long time. Even if he’s affected by the secular world, he can still turn back in time,” said the head of the Discipline Academy in a deep voice.

Not to mention a Great Grandmaster, even for an ordinary martial artist, one year was not long, just the beginning of their journey.

“The disciple has a simple heart…”

The head of the Martial Monk Institute frowned, about to speak.

Just then,

On the narrow trail of Mount Shaoshi, a young monk dressed in robes and straw sandals was stepping up the mountain one step at a time.

“The disciple, the disciple has returned.”

Abbot Huaiyuan was the first to spot Lin Yuan.

A moment later,

Lin Yuan arrived at the entrance to the Great Zen Temple.

“Disciple.”

The others greeted Lin Yuan with a slight bow, hesitating to speak.

“All is settled.”

Lin Yuan said only this,

Before returning to the third floor of the Sutra Pavilion, sitting down once again, distancing himself from the secular world, far from the troubles of the martial world.

On that day, the young Buddhist disciple of Mount Shaoshi, in his straw sandals and robes, had just entered the martial world before he left it.