Chapter 5: Chapter 4: Sutra Pavilion, Five Years Later

“Little fellow,”

“Show me your hand.”

As the abbot and the heads of the various halls’ thoughts were churning wildly,

Elder Long Eyebrow stepped forward and said with a gentle tone.

“Fine…”

Lin Yuan did not refuse.

In fact, he could not refuse.

When he looked at Elder Long Eyebrow, Lin Yuan felt the strand of Innate Qi that had just begun to nourish within his Dantian trembling.

It was clear.

This Elder Long Eyebrow was far beyond Lin Yuan’s imagination in strength.

He was at least a large cut above the abbot and the heads of the various halls.

Because Lin Yuan had not felt such pressure from the latter.

“Martial arts perfected, Inner Qi self-generated.”

“Indeed, he has cultivated a superior martial art to the perfect state…”

Elder Long Eyebrow lightly touched Lin Yuan’s right hand, a scorching Inner Qi spread, and then he sighed.

“Inner Qi self-generated?”

The Great Zen Temple’s abbot and the various heads exhaled in unison when they heard this.

Even though they had already suspected it, it still seemed incredible to them.

In this world of Martial Tao, there are the Acquired Realm, Innate Realm, Grandmaster, and Great Grandmaster.

Generally speaking, being a Grandmaster is already the ceiling, and a Great Grandmaster—…one might not appear even in hundreds of years.

And the majority of martial artists belong to the Acquired and Innate realms.

There are roughly three ways to step from the Acquired Realm into the Innate Realm.

One: Swallow a rare spiritual medicine from heaven and earth, and as long as the medicinal power is absorbed, even an ordinary person can become an Innate Realm Martial Taoist.

Two: An Acquired Peak Martial Artist grasps the opportunity for a breakthrough and successfully enters the Innate Realm.

This way is also the mainstream; nearly all Innate martial artists come about this way.

Three: Perfecting a superior martial art to its ultimate state.

A superior martial art is the painstaking creation of a Grandmaster-level Martial Taoist.

A superior martial art at the perfect level has already developed a certain aspect of the body to the ultimate extent.

Therefore, it is not strange for Innate Qi to naturally arise from this.

However, Martial Taoists who enter the Innate Realm through this path are basically in their fifties or sixties, after decades of day and night studying a superior martial art. Finally, on a certain day, an enlightenment arises from a serendipitous event.

For someone like Lin Yuan to grasp a superior martial art at the age of three or four… at least the abbot and heads had never heard of such a thing.

Only those who are born with knowledge, the once-in-a-thousand-years martial prodigy, could barely explain it.

“Little fellow, would you like to take me as your master?”

Elder Long Eyebrow looked at Lin Yuan with a complex expression and suddenly asked.

At these words, the abbot and the various heads did not show any surprise.

After confirming that Lin Yuan had grasped a superior martial art and cultivated it to the perfect state,

they realized that Lin Yuan’s Martial Talent was truly the best seen in the Great Zen Temple for a thousand years.

Such a Martial Tao prodigy could only be taught by Elder Long Eyebrow in the entire Great Zen Temple.

As for the abbot and heads… strictly speaking, they were at the same Innate level as Lin Yuan.

Where were they qualified to take disciples?

“Disciple pays respect to Master,”

Lin Yuan immediately bowed deeply to Elder Long Eyebrow.

…

Becoming the disciple of Elder Long Eyebrow indeed saved Lin Yuan a great deal of time.

According to the rules of the Great Zen Temple, any disciple, no matter who they are or what their status,

must go through three years as a horse-riding monk, three years of menial service, three years in the sutra exposition hall, and three years in the Discipline Academy.

Only after enduring these twelve years do they qualify to truly engage with the genuine martial arts of the Great Zen Temple.

If Lin Yuan hadn’t shown his talent and had hidden among the ordinary novice monks, who knows how much time it would have wasted.

Although with his Against-Heaven’s Understanding, even by watching mountains and waters, he could still have epiphanies,

the different starting points meant vastly different gains in the same amount of time.

Under the premise that he could only stay in this world for twenty years, hiding would obviously not work.

As Elder Long Eyebrow’s disciple and having the only Grandmaster of the Great Zen Temple to teach him personally,

combined with his Against-Heaven’s Understanding, Lin Yuan’s progress was indeed rarely seen in the world.

…

Two months later.

Lin Yuan and Elder Long Eyebrow sat opposite each other.

“From now on, you should move to Sutra Pavilion to live,”

Elder Long Eyebrow’s mouth twitched slightly.

These words implied that Elder Long Eyebrow had realized he could no longer teach Lin Yuan.

There was no helping it.

Lin Yuan’s understanding was too exaggerated.

In the beginning, Elder Long Eyebrow could still offer some guidance to Lin Yuan.

But after a few days, something felt amiss.

Since ancient times, the phrase ‘to lift one and infer three’ was used to describe people with keen talents.

But was Lin Yuan merely capable of drawing inferences from one fact?

No, he was able to infer tenfold!

Even a hundredfold!

No matter what Elder Long Eyebrow said, Lin Yuan could quickly understand.

And from that, he could perceive even more profound meanings.

What astonished Elder Long Eyebrow even more was that Lin Yuan’s talent was not limited to the Martial Tao.

He was equally talented in understanding Buddhist sutras and laws.

Facing such an anomaly, even a Grandmaster like Elder Long Eyebrow felt somewhat overwhelmed.

So towards the end, rather than saying Elder Long Eyebrow was instructing Lin Yuan,

It was more like a debate between two high monks on equal footing.

Sometimes, the words of Lin Yuan brought great benefit to Elder Long Eyebrow, despite being a Grandmaster himself.

And all this had only taken two months.

“Sutra Pavilion?”

Lin Yuan’s eyes shone with a faint light.

The Sutra Pavilion was where the Great Zen Temple stored its martial arts.

It was an absolutely critical and vital place.

The seventy-two ultimate techniques, the seventy-two supreme martial arts, were all housed on the second floor of the Sutra Pavilion.

Besides, the third floor of the Sutra Pavilion contained martial arts that surpassed even the seventy-two ultimate techniques.

Lin Yuan had long wanted to go to the Sutra Pavilion to have a look, but Elder Long Eyebrow had not agreed yet,

saying something about being too young and that touching upon things that were too advanced could be detrimental to one’s mental state.

“The numerous martial arts collected in the Sutra Pavilion are the creations of the past Grandmasters of the Great Zen Temple.”

“There, you should be able to learn a lot more.”

Elder Long Eyebrow waved his hand, with an attitude of giving up.

Since he could not teach Lin Yuan, let the legacy of the past Grandmasters of the Great Zen Temple do the teaching.

In fact, the Sutra Pavilion, being an important place in the Great Zen Temple, was out of bounds for regular disciples.

But Lin Yuan was different; with the permission of Grandmaster Elder Long Eyebrow, entering the Sutra Pavilion wouldn’t be a problem for him at all.

…

After that day, Elder Long Eyebrow declared he would go into seclusion.

And Lin Yuan stayed in the Sutra Pavilion frequently.

Only three years old, Lin Yuan began to browse through numerous martial arts.

The martial arts stored in the Sutra Pavilion were vast as the sea; the seventy-two ultimate techniques were just the most famous part, among many other martial arts.

“Yi Jin Jing?”

On the second floor of the Sutra Pavilion, Lin Yuan took out an ancient tome.

The Yi Jin Jing was a unique martial art that could remodel the meridians and enhance martial talent.

Its value was even above that of the seventy-two ultimate techniques.

However, no one in the entire Great Zen Temple had managed to master this martial art.

The reason was that the threshold was too high; it required not only martial understanding but was also related to the essence of Buddhist scriptures.

Elder Long Eyebrow might have had the foundation to practice the Yi Jin Jing, but for a Grandmaster, the Yi Jin Jing was no longer that significant.

Lin Yuan picked up the original text of the Yi Jin Jing and began to read intently.

In the blink of an eye, three days passed.

[Your understanding is against Heaven’s; by observing the special martial art ‘Yi Jin Jing,’ you’ve comprehended the special martial art ‘Yi Jin Washing Marrow Tempering Body Exchanging Blood Refining Divine Skill.’]

Lin Yuan felt a surge of joy in his heart.

He felt an indescribable energy beginning to circulate within his limbs and bones, slowly strengthening his own meridians and flesh.

This force was not limited to the physical body but was also nourishing Lin Yuan’s spirit and soul.

“The original Yi Jin Jing could only remodel the meridians, which seems too one-dimensional; this newly comprehended ‘Yi Jin Washing Marrow Tempering Body Exchanging Blood Refining Divine Skill’ can strengthen all aspects without any weaknesses or flaws. Even Great Grandmasters would probably be envious to see this,” Lin Yuan couldn’t help but smile at the corner of his mouth.

With two months of teachings from Grandmaster Elder Long Eyebrow,

Lin Yuan’s understanding of the martial arts of the present world was no longer negligible.

Grandmasters do not focus on sinews and bones.

Or rather, every Grandmaster has already developed their sinews and bones to the extreme limit of ordinary people.

But the subsequent tempering of the body, exchanging of blood, and refining of the spirit, could have a huge impact on Grandmasters.

Especially the refining of the spirit, which it is said even Great Grandmasters desperately desire to enhance through martial arts.

“With this ‘Yi Jin Washing Marrow Tempering Body Exchanging Blood Refining Divine Skill’, stepping into the Grand Master Realm should come sooner rather than later.”

Lin Yuan nodded slightly, quite satisfied with himself.

After comprehending the ‘Great Arhat Buddha Fist’, Lin Yuan ascended rapidly, bypassing the Acquired Realm and stepping directly into the Innate Realm.

But Lin Yuan’s Innate Realm was somewhat superficially strong.

After all, other Innate Martial Tao Experts nurtured their Innate Qi under the premise of robust vitality and strength, eventually breaking through to the Innate Realm.

Whereas Lin Yuan, with the physique of a three-year-old child, naturally had neither the quality nor the quantity of Innate Qi compared to normal Innate Martial Tao Experts.

But with the realm achieved, everything else was just a matter of time.

Now, however, with the nurturing of the body and spirit through the ‘Yi Jin Washing Marrow Tempering Body Exchanging Blood Refining Divine Skill’, Lin Yuan was even saving time.

This martial technique far surpassed the Yi Jin Jing and could comprehensively improve and enhance all aspects of Lin Yuan’s being.

And so,

Lin Yuan stayed in the Sutra Pavilion for five years.