Chapter 581 - Accepting a Master
Duoge still wanted to say something when an unprecedented feeling assaulted his heart. Many matters of the past surged over like a tsunami—his long-gone home, his dead parents. These matters of the past he originally never cared about suddenly became clear. They pierced his heart and sorrow swelled up controllably. Tears fell like rain.
Li Qingshan rubbed his head. Just cry. Pain will always surpass everything that has been indoctrinated into you and the senseless numbness. Even wild beasts know sorrow.
Duoge was able to turn back from completely demonifying this time all thanks to the profound wonders of the Demon Suppression Statuary. Li Qingshan’s assistance and his own comprehension had both been vital, immediately freeing him from the demon heart and allowing him to feel the many emotions of regular people.
He had gone through an intense battle and experienced a wave of emotions he had never felt before. After crying bitterly, Duoge slowly fell asleep.
Li Qingshan looked back, gazing at the doorway underneath the Demon Suppression statue. He experienced an urge to venture on and go to the next floor. He now possessed the Traitorous Demon sword and the Demon Suppression Tower. His strength had increased drastically.
Xiao An grabbed his sleeve and shook her head gently. Li Qingshan nodded. If he ventured down any further, true Demon Commanders would definitely appear. Troublesome situations would arise even from the slightest negligence.
“Come down. Come down. I’ll give you the greatest power there is!”
At this moment, a voice suddenly rang out in his head. It was extremely imposing and had a strange buzz to it, enough for people to do its bidding involuntarily.
Li Qingshan was momentarily dazed before returning to his senses immediately. “Who are you? Where are you?”
“I’m on the very bottom. As long as you come, I’ll give you the greatest power there is so that you can run about freely and do whatever you want.”
Li Qingshan could not help but laugh. “Hah. You better wait until you can run about freely and do whatever you want yourself before you tell me these things. Compared to being a prisoner, I think I’d be better off sticking with the jailors.”
Even when the Unraging monk wanted to take him as his disciple, he had declined, let alone risking his life to look for a prisoner. Do you really think I’m an idiot?
“How dare you speak to me like that!? Do you know who I am!?” The voice flew into a rage immediately.
Li Qingshan’s head buzzed. The strange buzz suddenly became louder, like several dozen steel saws being used on his head. It was unbearably painful. His expression changed, but he continued to mock. “I don’t care who you are. You piece of trash, if you’re so capable, why don’t you come and kill me?”
Each floor of the Demon Suppression hall was like a space of its own. The voice could reach here from the bottom floor, so the owner of the voice definitely possessed extraordinary strength. And, he was suppressed on the bottom floor, so he was definitely a vicious demon even among an entire generation. He definitely was not someone Li Qingshan could deal with right now. However, since he was suppressed, what was there to be afraid of? By the time you break out five centuries later, would you believe me if I say I can kill you with a flick of my finger?
The voice immediately fell quiet. Suddenly, the ground beneath him began to shake. The entire Demon Suppression hall rumbled as if a vicious beast was breaking free from its suppression.
Surely not today, right? How’d I manage to come here on the exact day he emerges!? Li Qingshan was stunned.
At this moment, a huge, fat monk with a smile stretching from ear to ear walked over with his sleeves drifting in the air, holding a lamb leg in one hand and a gourd of alcohol in the other.
He wore a pair of shabby straw sandals. With each step he took, the shaking of the Demon Suppression hall reduced by a little. When he arrived before Li Qingshan, the Demon Suppression hall had settled down completely. He was the Unraging monk.
The Unraging monk was quite tall and large, but he only reached up to Li Qingshan’s waist after the latter demonified. However, as he walked over, Li Qingshan only felt like a mountain was being pushed towards him.
The Unraging monk chuckled. “My good disciple, why don’t you formally acknowledge me as your master?”
Li Qingshan was taken aback. “Didn’t I say I didn’t want to become a monk?”
“You have a destiny with the bud- bah, we have a destiny together!” The Unraging monk extended his hand and pressed it against Li Qingshan’s shoulder, revealing a mysterious smile.
Due to the difference between their heights, the Unraging monk originally needed to leap up if he wanted to reach Li Qingshan’s shoulder. In the eyes of bystanders, it seemed like Li Qingshan had reverted to human form out of his own free will and allowed the Unragin Monk to touch him.
However, when Li Qingshan glanced at the chubby hand on his shoulder, he understood exactly what had happened. When the hand extended over, an incomparably tremendous yet extremely familiar power suppressed all of his demonic nature and demon qi.
Suddenly, he understood what the Unraging monk meant by “we have a destiny together”. This was the power of suppressing demons from the Demon Suppression Statuary! And, it was clearly much more powerful and pure than his own. Perhaps the Unraging monk had completely comprehended the Demon Suppression Statuary already!
As it turned out, the Unraging monk was actually the first person who had managed to practice the Demon Suppression Statuary in the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga.
Li Qingshan could not help but study this plump, amicable face oozing with smiles. Who would have thought in the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga, the Unraging monk who was equivalent to a Monk King actually possessed such an intense demonic nature inside.
He did not know, but over a century ago, the Unraging monk was known for being easily angered and killing ruthlessly. Only when his personality changed drastically later on did he become easygoing and beaming with smiles like right now. However, Li Qingshan could vaguely guess that the Unraging monk might be even more dangerous than the Dauntless monk.
Li Qingshan cursed inside, Sure enough, if they aren’t bald, they aren’t vicious, and if they’re aren’t vicious, they aren’t bald. Monks are all up to no good. Afterwards, he deliberated and said, “Master, I’m going home to get married very soon, so I really can’t afford to be converted into a monk. Please just spare me!”
No matter how powerful that voice earlier was, it was still suppressed beneath the Demon Suppression hall, making it equivalent to a caged beast. However, the beast right before him was standing outside its cage, with a claw placed on his shoulder.
“You are the first one to learn the Demon Suppression Statuary in the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga. The Demon Suppression Statuary is a supreme cultivation method of the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga, a secret method that is not taught to outsiders. My senior brother said you intruded upon the inner courtyard, but that’s just an excuse. He won’t do anything to you at the end of the day. However, now that it involves this cultivation method, do you think he’ll still spare you even if I spare you?”
“This…”
“If you don’t agree, then all we can do is cripple your demon heart and take the Demon Suppression Statuary away from you. Everything you’ve gained from this trip will be reduced to nothing.”
“Then you better do it, master. That woman is deeply in love with me. I cannot afford to let her down.” Li Qingshan exhaled deeply.
“Hmm? I didn’t expect you to be the infatuated type given how heartless you seemed.” The Unraging monk shot him a glance and clicked his tongue in wonder.
“You’re the infatuated type. Your whole family is the infatuated type. I’m a heartless, real man,” as Li Qingshan said that, he felt like he was becoming closer to a demon for some reason. Was it because of the demon heart he had condensed?
“Forget it, you don’t need to be a monk.” the Unraging monk waved his hand.
“Thank you for your generosity, master!” Li Qingshan clasped his hands.
“But you still have to acknowledge me as your master!”
“Huh?”
“Secular disciples are not forbidden from marriage. Eating meat and drinking alcohol are no problems either. You don’t have anything to complain about now, do you?”
The Unraging monk scratched his bald head and smiled bitterly. With his status and cultivation, there were enough people who wanted him as their master to line up all the way from the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga to South Hub city. He went out of his way to accept this kid as his disciple, yet he still found all sorts of excuses to turn him down.
“Could I ask one more question?” Li Qingshan said sternly.
“Ask away!”
“Will there be any benefits?”
“What benefits do you want?” The Unraging monk chuckled. Li Qingshan felt his shoulder tighten. The Unraging monk’s voice erupted in Li Qingshan’s head. “If you don’t agree right now, would you believe me if I say I’ll wipe you off the face of this world?”
“My great master, please accept a bow from your disciple!”
Li Qingshan was not unreasonable. It was not like he had to remain in the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga as a monk anyway, and he would have a powerful figure who had undergone the third heavenly tribulation as a master, so why not?
But monk, oh monk, you better not regret it in the future after forcing me to become your disciple today.
The Unraging monk smiled. “Very good. From today onwards, you are my first disciple. You can inherit my legacy in the future.”
Li Qingshan snickered and said nothing.
The Unraging monk touched Duoge’s face gently, and Duoge woke up. He spotted a huge, round face like the full moon and leapt in fright inside. Right before him was the most terrifying existence among humans—a monk!
It was rumoured that humans were extremely foolish and lowly already, while monks were at the top of the list. Their revered leaders had actually done something as unbelievably foolish as cutting off their own flesh to feed hawks, and if anyone refused to be as foolish as them, they would beat up and kill them.
Out of fright, Duoge hid behind Li Qingshan in a hurry. Although he had broken free from the restraint that his demon heart had over his mind, certain inherent beliefs could not be changed so easily.
The Unraging monk asked with a smile, “Do you want to leave the Demon Suppression hall?”
“I do!”
Duoge said immediately. After breaking free from the demon heart’s restraint, he immediately sensed how unfortunate it was to be trapped in here, forced to fight and kill his own clansmen. Even if there was only a shred of opportunity of leaving this place, he would go for it.
“As you accept me as your master, you can leave here.”
The Unraging monk said. This little demonfolk had managed to recover from absolute demonification. Although he had not changed yet, he had already gained some comprehension over the Demon Suppression Statuary. If he received some further guidance, then perhaps he was the most optimal choice to practise the Demon Suppression Statuary as someone born as a demon.
Duoge immediately began to hesitate. For him to accept a monk as his master was like a devoted buddhist monk accepting a demonfolk as a master. It was very difficult to accept.
This was also evidence of him breaking free from the demon heart’s restraint. He had developed a conscious will and judgement. In the past, he probably would have agreed eagerly as long as there were benefits, without any regard for whether it was right or wrong.
“Just accept him as your master!”
Li Qingshan extended his hand and grabbed Duoge by the back of his neck, lifting him out and placing him before him. He had already reached this point. There was nothing else he could say.
“Venerable!”
Duoge turned around in surprise, glancing at Li Qingshan before glancing at the smiling Unraging monk. He dropped to his knees and performed a few solid bows. He thought, Since even the venerable has mentioned it, there’s obviously a great reason to do so. The venerable will never harm me!
Despite demonifying and going crazy, many of the memories still remained intact. He knew Li Qingshan had saved him again, and a strange feeling he had never experienced before filled his heart. That was gratitude and trust, emotions that demonfolk did not possess.
“I only have the two of you as disciples under me. In the future, you should help each other as junior and senior brothers… Forget it, it’s all some nonsense. Do you have any alcohol cups?”
Li Qingshan took out a few alcohol cups. The Unraging monk filled three of them before picking up one for himself. He chuckled. “Come, a toast from your master!” With that, he downed it all.
Even Li Qingshan found this rite of accepting a master rather strange, but having a guy like him as a master might not be a bad thing!