Hmph, if I were a regular cultivator, then so be it, but I’m still half of a buddhist disciple! You better watch as I use my abilities to protect the buddhist dharma and demolish you obscene bastards!
With a thought, the heavenly secrets responded and roaring lightning crashed down.
The scorching-white lightning was like a dragon, piercing the low-hanging clouds and illuminating his curled lips, revealing his teeth.
The wind chimes on the eaves jingled as rain drifted over the cobbled streets, turning into a downpour in the blink of an eye. The surroundings darkened.
Li Qingshan had already developed the intent to kill, so he simply let himself go, allowing the rain to pour down on him.
It was already late. There had not been a lot of people on the streets in the first place, so it became even more empty with the rain. He was the only one left making his way through the streets.
The sides of the streets were littered with niches and buddha statues, as well as guardian kings, arhats, and countless other strange beings that he did not know the name of. Their style differed drastically from the temples of the Green province, giving off a strange, non-human feeling as if they were silently observing him. Between the flashes of lightning, they were a frightening sight to behold.
A grey-haired old woman spun a prayer wheel as she sat under the eaves, reciting the scriptures. Suddenly, she saw a figure make his way up the mountain. He clearly moved very slowly, yet he had arrived before her in the blink of an eye, which made her widen her eyes.
The person smiled at her, revealing a toothy white grin.
She trembled all over as chills ran through her body. In another blink of an eye, the person had vanished again as if it was merely an illusion.
However, the smile was imprinted firmly in her mind. It made her recall the glory of all the statues of demons and gods she had seen before, yet none of them were as vivid as that ordinary man’s face. It was as if he were a demon king that had emerged from a nightmare, resisting being vanquished, mocking the buddhist dharma, and shattering the buddhist country.
She spun the prayer wheel as quickly as she could and chanted without stop, yet she struggled to hide her fear.
Inside the Parlour of Clouds and Rain ablaze with lights, everyone gazed over carefully, even ignoring the pouring rain and lightning. They had grown accustomed to it a long time ago anyway. With the protection of the Thunderclap formation, none of the lightning would fall on the city. It was nowhere near as fascinating as the sight before them.
This sect master Qiu actually said she already had a man. Clearly, she had no intentions of accepting prince Tsangyang’s love, which was truly shocking.
Prince Tsangyang did not disappoint them either. He immediately stated Li Qingshan’s name, not only showing no fear, but even demonstrating determination instead. He was truly the Love Monk of Seven Lives.
Qiu Haitang sighed gently. Since she had already laid everything bare, there was no chance for her to save this situation anymore. It was no longer appropriate for her to remain in the Lightning province, so she decided to make things clear. “Is the prince truly in love?”
Prince Tsangyang smiled. “If you don’t believe me, Haitang, you’re welcome to ask everyone seated here. You’re welcome to ask everyone in the city.”
Even toddlers knew about the Love Monk of Seven Lives’ reputation.
The Mahachakra temple of the Lightning province enshrined the Wheel-turning King, Chakravarti. Their disciples did not enter the six realms for rebirth upon death. When they reached the end of their lives, they would condense their spirit and will into a true spirit; this would be placed into the body of a newborn like pouring water of the image of the buddha, turning them into “tülku”.
It was impossible for them to retain all of their experiences and memories, but they were much better off than regular cultivators. If one life did not work out, they could undergo rebirth, which was known as a minor cycle of sa?sāra.
Just like that, they would accumulate experiences and good karma over their lives. As long as they did not die an unnatural death in the process, everyone had a chance at becoming a buddha. Some people were even known as living buddhas. Over countless years, there was basically an immeasurable number of reincarnated living buddhas in the Lightning province. That was the true meaning behind Myriad Buddha city.
This prince Tsangyang was already on his seventh life. Every single one of his lives had a lingering influence on him. He was handsome and brilliant, such that he was the dream lover of all women in the Lightning province. They sang ballads adapted from his love poems everywhere, which was why he was known as the Love Monk of Seven Lives. Asking him whether he was in love was basically like asking if a monk had the buddha in their hearts.
As a result, many people raised a fuss. “If the prince is without love, then no one in the world has love!”
Qiu Haitang said, “I’m not asking anyone else. I’m only asking you.”
Prince Tsangyang’s expression changed slightly. He smiled warmly. “Sure enough, you’re the woman who understands me the best. The love among cultivators is obviously different from common human feelings, and it surpasses common human feelings. If you become my partner, you will become the queen of the Kingdom of Western Liang in the future, and I will swear to never take on another woman!”
There were a series of gasps in the parlour. The women were all filled with envy, refusing to accept this, while the men all sighed at the power and influence involved.
Prince Tsangyang had gone through seven lives. During his sixth life, he had even been the abbot of the Mahachakra temple, almost able to ascend.
For his seventh life, he had chosen a prince as his tülku. Not only was he destined to take the throne, but he could even continue to lead the Mahachakra temple, possessing unrivalled authority. He would truly be the greatest person in the Lightning province.
All Qiu Haitang had to do was nod, and she would become only second to him, obtaining the support of the Mahachakra temple and the entire Kingdom of Western Liang. Even undergoing the third heavenly tribulation would be nothing difficult, basically going on a meteoric rise.
Let alone a woman, probably even men could not decline such an offer.
Prince Tsangyang ignored the responses of the people around him and gazed at Qiu Haitang tenderly. “Haitang, is that enough to demonstrate my love? Perhaps my love is not satisfactory to you, but it’s far better than that Li Qingshan’s fickleness. He’s probably forgotten about you already.”
People surged outside the parlour. Even the fierce winds and rain could not dampen the enthusiasm of the spectators, completely surrounding the entrance.
Li Qingshan arrived outside the parlour silently, hiding in the crowd. When he heard that, he was furious. Not only is this damned bald ass trying to steal my woman, but he’s even trying to act superior to me!
The conditions that this prince Tsangyang had put forward were truly fantastic, but he was not worried that Qiu Haitang would accept them. If her mind could be changed so easily, he would not have come to the Lightning province in the first place. There would not have been so many ties between them back then too. They would have lost each other in the sea of people a long time ago.
“Yes, he might have forgotten about me already. He has always had plenty of women by his side, and it’s true that he’s fickle. No, perhaps he’s never taken the matter of love particularly seriously in the first place…”
Qiu Haitang criticised Li Qingshan mercilessly. He was basically trash among trash as a man. Everyone felt like leaving a man like that was basically the justice enforced upon him.
Even Li Qingshan’s face had darkened, but he could not help but admit she really had not wrongly accused him of anything. He could hear the attachment within her voice too, so he continued to listen quietly.
A smile appeared on prince Tsangyang’s face. His persistence over the recent years had finally paid off. Several years might have been very long to mortals, but it was nothing to him who had lived seven lives.
Female cultivators had always been relatively rare, and those that could reach her cultivation were even rarer. On top of that, she was naturally beautiful and striking, and she had practised the arts of mesmerisation, which pushed her beauty to the limits. As long as he had her, how could regular women still catch his eye? It would be of great benefit to his practice of the chan of delightful union.
Other schools of buddhism viewed esoteric buddhism as heretical, and the chan of delightful union was almost a demonic path. Those who did not possess great wisdom and great willpower could not practise and adhere to it. They understood the buddhist truth that form was emptiness and emptiness was form through sexual desire and love, so it would always lead to the transcendence of lust.
However, he felt guiltless. This was of great benefit to Qiu Haitang as well. If she could see through the emptiness of appearances and convert to buddhism, she too would enjoy endless benefits. She was basically his natural cultivation partner.
Qiu Haitang said all of that in a single breath and paused for a moment. Suddenly, she changed her tone. “But what does that have to do with me? And what does that have to do with you?”
Prince Tsangyang was taken aback.
Qiu Haitang said, “Why must you always calculate the costs and benefits to such a precise degree? Why must there always be something in return for how you feel or what you do? I love him. That’s my problem. What, if the buddha doesn’t give you benefits, you’d stop believing in the buddha?”
Prince Tsangyang was annoyed. “He’s just a measly wretched daemon. How can he compare to the buddha?”
“How are you so muddle-headed, your highness? I’m not talking about Li Qingshan, but love! To me, that’s something even more important than the buddha. Even if Li Qingshan has let me down in countless different ways, I’ve never wanted anything in return from him, much less does he owe me anything. Speaking of which, he’s very powerful. Your highness, in consideration of the care you’ve shown me over the years, I really do not wish to drag you into this matter, so I’ll take my leave right now.”
Qiu Haitang bowed gracefully, turning around to return to her room.
The crowd was silent, whether inside or outside. As people of the Lightning province, nothing was more important than the buddha. They could not accept this reason, but they were still touched by it.
“Hold on. Where are you going?” Prince Tsangyang felt like he had just lost something extremely important to him, so he felt empty inside.
“Obviously to find him.” Qiu Haitang smiled back at him, without any resentment or regret.
Prince Tsangyang became even more reluctant to see her go. He could not help but say, “He has made an enemy out of Great Xia, out of the Human Sovereign. He no longer has much time left!”
“And so what?” Qiu Haitang was unsurprised. She did not feel like that was a particularly big deal, but when she considered the thought process of other people, she said in thought, “Yeah, that’s why you have the courage to persevere like this, unafraid of offending him…”
“How can you say that, Haitang? I confessed my love to you many years ago,” said prince Tsangyang furiously.
However, he felt a little guilty inside. Back then, he had first confirmed Li Qingshan had been launched out of the nine heavens. He never thought Li Qingshan could still return. No one wanted to provoke a powerful enemy.
Qiu Haitang did not delve deeper into the matter. “Alright then. Please don’t be angered, your highness. If you’re willing to accompany me and explain this to him, then I’ll have wrongly accused you. I’ll definitely apologise.”
“You’re trying to send me to my doom!”
How could prince Tsangyang agree to that? Li Qingshan had killed a Corpse Emperor and destroyed the Spirit K?etra temple. Just how terrifying of a power was that? Just how violent of a personality was that? Even Si Long was momentarily powerless against him.
If he went up to him and told him to the face that he liked his woman, would that not just be asking to die?
Qiu Haitang smiled. “I will speak for your highness. At least it won’t be a certain death. Actually, he’s not as terrifying as the rumours say. If I were you, I’d go even if it’s certain death. As long as I can make the person I love believe in my love and remember my appearance, so what if I end up facing eternal damnation?”
She seemed to shine with invisible light, drawing over everyone’s gaze, yet also so bright that they could not stare at her directly. She gave off an unbelievable feeling.
When mortals spoke lightly of death, that was probably only in the heat of the moment. They would only lose a few decades, but to cultivators, that was centuries or even a millennia of freedom. That was time spent while preserving youth, free from the torture of sickness and pain, with the opportunity to become immortals. If they were killed, perhaps they truly did face eternal damnation, even losing the opportunity to undergo rebirth.
As a cultivator who pursued longevity, she truly had shocked everyone by saying something like that.
Prince Tsangyang’s expression changed again and again. Not only had he failed to obtain her, but he had even suffered a great blow to his reputation as the Love Monk of Seven Lives. His wisdom, cultivation, and status were all much higher than hers, yet he came nowhere close when it came to love. He felt like he had been slapped across the face.
Li Qingshan sighed inside. Alright then. This woman’s madness is getting worse and worse! In the past, she was only an infatuated young woman, but now, she’s almost become a saintess of love. Though, I like it!
