Chapter 291 – Within the Anāsravā? Temple (2/2)

Enlightened Mind’s face sank. He blocked Li Qingshan’s path with a flash. “Didn’t you hear what I said? How can I allow you to trespass on the peaceful land of buddhism?”

Li Qingshan said in irritation, “As a primary disciple, I can move about freely even if I’m on other islands, so how is it trespassing? Baldy, I’m showing you some respect for the One Thought master’s sake. Don’t take it too far!”

Enlightened Mind had yet to see a new disciple argue back against him. As the primary disciple of the school of Buddhism, he possessed great status and authority. He was on the same footing as Hua Chengzan, so how could he allow such disobedience from someone weaker than him? Let alone the primary disciple of the school of Novels, but even if the leader of the school of Novels, Liu Chuanfeng, was here in person, he would still look down on them.

“I’ve never heard of a person like you in the academy. Who knows if you’ve just stolen your set of clothes, wanting to hatch a plot against our school of Buddhism. As the primary disciple of the school of Buddhism, I must follow my master’s orders and protect junior sister Xiao An. If you want to see her, you’d better get through me first!”

He drew a shining monk’s spade1 and held it before him.

Apart from the school of the Military in the Hundred Schools of Thought, the school of Buddhism had many methods for Body Practitioners too. Those who practised both qi and the body were known as warrior monks. His posture was extremely proper, while his bearing was powerful. The monk’s spade kicked up a gust of wind, causing the leaves on the tree to fall down.

Li Qingshan immediately felt a powerful pressure. It even surpassed Wei Zhongyuan’s. While buddhism was about benevolence and sympathy, they had plenty of techniques to purge demons and daemons. He was also a tenth layer Qi Practitioner, but he could not be compared to someone from a sect that did not focus on combat like the Sect of Clouds and Rain.

However, the last thing that Li Qingshan feared was pressure. He raised an eyebrow, about to let loose, but he soon remembered the fact that this was still the territory of the school of Buddhism after all. Xiao An would still have to cultivate here, so offending this primary disciple would probably be detrimental to her. As a result, he withdrew his true qi.

Mind Enlightenment saw how Li Qingshan was afraid, so he showed even more contempt. And I had thought you were actually going to clash with me. Turns out you’re just a coward putting on a front. “The pure land of buddhism is not a place where you, a dirty novelist, can run amok. If you have your wits about you, you’d better leave quickly. Don’t come back.”

Li Qingshan gritted his teeth. He raised his hand and tapped the thumb ring gently. “Xiao An, where are you?”

Xiao An’s delighted voice immediately rang out from there. The two of them conversed a little. As it turned out, Xiao An was not in the Anāsravāṃ temple; this temple was where monks cultivated. To the south of Anāsravāṃ temple was the Pure Moon nunnery. An old nun who worked as a professor in the academy served as the abbess, responsible for guiding the female nuns.

Li Qingshan said, “If you want to cultivate, then just cultivate. I’ll just come a few days later.”

All Xiao An said was, “Wait for me.”

Li Qingshan said to Mind Enlightenment, “You’re not letting me go find her, so surely there’s nothing you can say now that she’s coming to find me!”

Mind Enlightenment furrowed and raised his eyebrows. His plump face immediately became slightly fierce. He swung down heavily with the hefty monk’s spade in his hand. “Begone, vile being!”

The various school leaders all set aside their matters at hand and gathered once more on Contention island to discuss the matter of the school of Novels. It was the same room as last time. It seemed even darker in there, while the atmosphere was slightly heavy too.

Liu Zhangqing was the most annoyed. The school of Confucianism pursued cultivating the body, managing the family, administering the empire, and bringing peace to the world. Normally, all the Academies of the Hundred Schools, no matter where they were, would basically accept the leader of the school of Confucianism to manage the various matters. Back then, he had led the movement to jointly abolish the school of Novels too.

Liu Wenchuan’s disgraceful, obscene novels had already crossed his bottom line a long time ago. Obviously, he had also played a role in the decline of the school of Novels to a point where they did not even have a primary disciple. He believed that the school of Novels would definitely be abolished after this entrance exam, but who would have imagined this to happen?

He had already promised the Cloudwisp island to someone else, along with the identity of the leader of the school of Painting. The future leader of the school of Painting had already promised him many benefits that interested him, but now, all of his plans had fallen apart. He felt indescribably annoyed, so he could not help but grumble about the slovenly daoist priest a little.

The various school leaders had grown unhappy with the slovenly daoist priest’s behaviour a long time ago, so they used this opportunity to erupt. They all blamed him.

The slovenly daoist priest would never just sit back and accept the blame. He immediately cursed each and every one of them individually, turning the meeting into a mess. He ended up becoming carried away, placing a foot on the table and rolling up his sleeves. “Come, come, come. If any of you don’t like what you’re hearing, you can come at me together. If this lowly priest is afraid of you all, then call me a bald ass.”

“Amitābha, I haven’t said anything this whole time, ox nose, so quit taking digs at this lowly monk.” This time, the One Thought master had said nothing in this meeting. He did not care about the fate of the school of Novels. All he cared about right now was Xiao An.

At this exact moment, a message rang out from the tablet on the One Thought master’s waist. “Oh no, they’ve begun fighting, abbott.”

“Who has begun fighting with who?”

“First senior brother and Li Qingshan.”