Li Qingshan exhaled and gathered his focus, preparing for battle as he stepped into the Pure Land temple.

  Making his way around the grand hall, the path winded through a dim, beautiful forest. The Upraised Light abbot personally received him outside the meditation room. Li Qingshan was astounded, as the Upraised Light abbot actually seemed even more revitalised than him. Not only did he have a healthy glow and shining eyes, his white eyebrows had turned black, while his white beard had vanished. Even many of his wrinkles had disappeared from his face. He had basically received a new lease of life, radiating with energy.

  He had clearly suffered such heavy wounds. Wasn’t the Pure Land temple a little too awesome? Was the buddha supposed to be his dad?

  The Upraised Light abbot smiled. “Fellow, you shouldn’t slander the buddha like that.”
Li Qingshan shivered inside. His delight from fighting the army was gone. He stood no chance against an Upraised Light abbot like this. Not only had he become much younger, but his vigour had reached an entirely new level. His eyes could basically see through his thoughts.

  He brought his palms together and bowed before raising his head and staring at him closely. “Abbot, why have you called me over?”
The Upraised Light abbot glanced at him and sighed. “Sure enough, you haven’t changed.”
When he heard that, anger welled up inside Li Qingshan. You screwed me over so badly, bald ass, and you still say something like that!

  “Please calm down, fellow. That was the only way to remove the image of Maheśvara. Of course, I did hide some information intentionally, so Amitābha, I have sinned. Please forgive me, fellow. The Upraised Light abbot brought his palms together and bowed in apology.

  Li Qingshan moved aside, avoiding the bow. Just what was wrong with this monk? Was he up to some new scheme again?

  “I was the one who thought I was clever, worshipping other gods carelessly, so I can’t blame anyone else. You’ve both assisted me and harmed me, so we don’t owe each other anything!”
The Upraised Light abbot smiled. “You think I’m out to harm you again?”
Li Qingshan said rudely, “You’re not up to anything good anyway!”
The Upraised Light abbot suddenly became serious. “I called you over to ask you a question. Are you willing to convert to buddhism?”
So sudden! Li Qingshan took a step back and cried out, “I knew it would be nothing good!” He was better off being killed than being converted into believing some shitty god or buddha.

  The Upraised Light abbot’s eyes shone. “You still haven’t answered me.”
“Thank you, but I must decline. Can I go now? I must warn you that you better not stop me from leaving. I am a disciple of the Myriad sect.”
“Haha, of course not. Converting to buddhism is something you do out of your free will. You can’t press an ox’s head into the water because it refuses to drink.”
Li Qingshan immediately became suspicious. Just a few days ago, his head had almost been pressed down until it broke.

  The Upraised Light abbot felt slightly awkward, so he explained. “Back then, I still treated you as half an enemy, so…”
“What difference is there now?”
The Upraised Light abbot said seriously, “Now I know you have a destiny with the buddha!”
Li Qingshan said, “I am more than familiar with that saying.”
“You might not believe me, but I received a sign from the buddha when I was unconscious.” The Upraised Light abbot raised his finger and pointed upwards.

  Li Qingshan was absolutely shocked. This was not like cultists going on about some end of the world from his past life. It was completely possible for it to be true. If it were true, then it really would be the end of the world.

  He asked carefully, “So the buddha paid a visit in person?”
“How could he?” The Upraised Light abbot laughed.

  “The buddha spoke with you?”
“He didn’t.” The Upraised Light abbot shook his head.

  “The buddha told you my name?”
“He didn’t do that either.”
“Then what kind of sign is that!?” Li Qingshan’s worries vanished. The bald ass is deceiving me.

  However, the Upraised Light abbot became enchanted. “That’s exactly why it’s called a sign. Can the likes of us witness the true appearance of the buddha? Can the likes of us receive the direct message of the buddha?”
Li Qingshan grinned. Fanatics were simply disgusting. “Don’t tell me you were dreaming!”
“It’s exactly because it’s similar to dreaming that it’s called a sign in a dream.”
“The path of great liberty cannot coexist with Mahāyāna buddhism, so please continue dreaming! I’m taking my leave.” Li Qingshan clasped his hands and was about to leave.

  “Hold on, the sign I received was not just from the dream. It’s from you too.” The Upraised Light abbot abruptly pointed towards Li Qingshan with his finger that he was pointing upwards with.

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  Li Qingshan shivered inside and felt completely uncomfortable. He could not help but check himself. “What’s on me?”
“You have a heart of benevolence.”
Li Qingshan laughed. “Who knows how many wicked deeds I’ve done in my life. I beat up over ten thousand people just now.”
“Yet not a single one of them is injured beyond recovery.”
The drilling ground was covered with soldiers. The army doctors moved around and tended to their wounds. They discovered that most of them had only suffered light wounds. At most, it was a few broken bones. With the medical treatment of the cultivation community, they recovered very quickly.

  Of course, Li Qingshan had held back, or he probably would have blasted them to pieces with a punch of his. He would have left the drilling grounds flowing with blood. However, Chao Tianjiao would definitely end up stopping him, so he could not play to his heart’s content. In the end, he would even break the military law and give Li Liehuo an edge over him.

  He was not trying to play some good guy. He said calmly, “I just had qualms.”
The Upraised Light abbot asked closely, “If you didn’t have these qualms, would you have held a massacre?”
Li Qingshan was slightly taken aback. He shook his head. “Of course not. They only spoke ill of me behind my back. There’s no need for me to kill them!”
The Upraised Light abbot said in delight, “In your eyes, they’re still people.” Then a hint of sympathy appeared in his eyes. “Yet in the eyes of many cultivators, they’re no longer people. Let alone cultivators, but even to many ruling figures among mortals, they’re not people.”
“Heh, a heart of benevolence.” Li Qingshan fell silent for a while. “Then do you know just how many innocent people I’ve killed? If the need arises, I’ll still kill them.” For some reason, he found it rather saddening and ironic. If he had a heart of benevolence, then wouldn’t a certain head of state basically be a living buddha?

  “The buddha has said, set down the butcher’s blade and achieve buddhahood.”
Li Qingshan became filled with even more scorn. “So you can call that enlightenment through murder? Good people can’t become buddhas, while bad people can. Oh, I understand now. The ones with the butcher’s blade are still strong enough after all. As long as they’re willing to convert to buddhism, they’ll immediately become powerful lackeys that can work for buddhism. Of course, they’re more useful than those weak, vulnerable good people. Looks like I need to kill a little more in the future.”
Reaching there, his face had already become filled with contempt. He completely disregarded the fact that this was the Pure Land temple and he was facing a monk who had attained two fruits of buddhism that was stronger than him.

  “That’s not true!” The Upraised Light abbot shook his head. “The so-called goodness of regular people is mostly just because of weakness. It cannot stand any test. If you give them power beyond their control, they will act as they please, also becoming butchers and great demons. Even without power, they will blame everyone and everything but not themselves, refusing to admit their mistakes. That’s why it’s difficult to bring salvation to everyone.”
“Cultivators and people of superior status have always started off as mortals. You must have seen many of their faces and heard many of their sayings, either viewing mortals as ants where no matter how they trampled or destroyed them, it was not a crime, or viewing the common people as lambs that were born to be oppressed. Not only do their butcher’s blade take the lives of others, but it’s even destroyed their benevolence as well. Everything they do is only for the sake of their own peace of mind.”
Suddenly, he asked Li Qingshan, “Why must you make yourself suffer?”
Li Qingshan remained silent.

  “You have the butcher’s blade in hand and benevolence in your heart. The more you kill, the more you suffer inside. You would rather endure this suffering than let go of your benevolence, your view that all are equal. If someone like that is willing to cast aside the butcher’s blade, they will definitely embrace benevolence, never to be swayed by anything again. That is why the buddha has said, set down the butcher’s blade and achieve buddhahood.”