Entering the World Is Leaving It

Entering the World Is Leaving It

Outside the Martial Hall.

Lean Elder Yuwen Pan watched the South Sea Sword Saint's figure disappear into the distance.

"Using Master Huizhen as a stepping stone to break into the Great Grandmaster realm. This really is..."

For a moment, Lean Elder Yuwen Pan did not know what to say.

A trace of sympathy could not help appearing on his face.

In truth, this method of relying on the pressure of life and death

to break through one's shackles and bottlenecks was not uncommon.

Given the South Sea Sword Saint's talent and comprehension, under the pressure of a Great Grandmaster, he truly had a good chance of succeeding.

After all, compared to Yuwen Pan,

the South Sea Sword Saint had reached this point entirely through his own efforts.

There was no need to question his potential.

The South Sea Sword Saint's greatest mistake was choosing Master Huizhen as his target.

Because in Yuwen Pan's eyes,

Lin Yuan's strength undoubtedly surpassed that of ordinary Great Grandmasters.

He could even be called the strongest among all Great Grandmasters throughout history.

After nearly a year of contact, Yuwen Pan was almost certain of this.

Yuwen Pan even had an even more terrifying suspicion. "Has Master's strength truly not crossed that threshold?"

Yuwen Pan felt his entire body tremble.

Since ancient times, across spans of a thousand or several thousand years,

Great Grandmasters had always been regarded as the undisputed strongest.

They were the ultimate realm pursued by all martial artists in the world.

As for a realm above Great Grandmasters, one surpassing Great Grandmasters, Yuwen Pan did not dare think of it, nor would he think of it.

It was as meaningless as wondering why the sun hung in the heavens.

But now,

after witnessing the power of Lin Yuan's roar, Yuwen Pan finally began to doubt.

Perhaps there was a higher realm beyond Great Grandmasters? One like Lin Yuan's?

Yuwen Pan could not be blamed for thinking so. Lin Yuan's displayed combat power was simply far too extraordinary.

The Great Grandmaster Founding Ancestor of the Great Li Dynasty had not been dead for many years.

Yuwen Pan remembered the descriptions of Great Grandmasters clearly.

No matter how strong they were, they should not have been this strong.

Furthermore, over the past year, with Lin Yuan's occasional guidance,

Yuwen Pan had clearly sensed the existence of the Great Grandmaster bottleneck.

If a Great Grandmaster's guidance were truly so useful, there would not be a saying that one Great Grandmaster could not cultivate another.

Inside the Martial Hall.

Lin Yuan sat cross-legged.

Ever since the Martial Arts Tournament began being held in the capital half a year ago,

Lin Yuan's gains had never ceased as he watched countless martial artists fight and clash.

The martial artists participating in the Martial Arts Tournament might not have been strong, but the martial arts they displayed came in every variety.

With his Heaven-Defying Comprehension, Lin Yuan comprehended the Martial Path from countless perspectives.

This was far more useful than merely observing a few superior and profound martial arts techniques.

Your Heaven-Defying Comprehension has allowed you to perceive the Martial Path of the world, enhancing your understanding of the Martial Path beyond the Mythic Realm.

Your Heaven-Defying Comprehension has allowed you to perceive the Martial Path of the world, faintly grasping the true essence of heaven, earth, and nature.

Your Heaven-Defying Comprehension has allowed you to perceive the Martial Path of the world, creating the Cloud Mist Spirit Refining Art.

Your Heaven-Defying Comprehension has allowed you to perceive the Martial Path of the world, beginning to detect the direction for breaking through into the next realm.

Lin Yuan was completely immersed in the world of Sudden Enlightenment. Unless faced with a threat to his life, he would basically not awaken.

With Lin Yuan's current physique, as well as the Mythic Realm Yuan Power that automatically protected his body,

even an attack by a group of Masters would not leave him with the slightest injury.

Half a month later.

Lin Yuan opened his eyes.

"Finally, I found it."

Lin Yuan let out a soft sigh.

With the aid of his Heaven-Defying Comprehension, he had finally locked onto the path beyond the Mythic Realm.

Of course, he had merely located it. Actually walking that path would still require vast amounts of effort.

But as long as the direction was right, the rest was merely a matter of time for Lin Yuan.

"It is time to return."

Lin Yuan rose to his feet and walked out of the Martial Hall.

Though with Lin Yuan's current strength, it made no difference where he cultivated,

he had spent ten years at Great Zen Temple, after all. He was quite satisfied with the peaceful environment atop Shaoshi Mountain, with its blue lamps, ancient Buddhas, and freedom from disturbance.

Cultivating to a realm above the Mythic Realm would take considerable time. Lin Yuan still wished to remain atop Shaoshi Mountain.

Crack.

The doors of the Martial Hall opened.

Lean Elder Yuwen Pan, who had been standing guard outside at all times, was suddenly startled.

"Master."

Yuwen Pan instinctively looked into the Martial Hall.

Only to discover that the young monk who should have been sitting there had already vanished.

"Master... has left?"

Yuwen Pan was stunned, and for a moment, he felt a sense of loss.

Even though he had long anticipated it and knew that a powerhouse like Lin Yuan could not remain in the Imperial Palace forever,

it still felt as though something had been taken from his heart.

Great Zen Temple.

Abbot Hui Yuan, Hui Wen, Courtyard Head of the Martial Monk Courtyard, and several other Courtyard Heads gathered at the temple gates, their faces full of worry.

A year ago, the Great Li Imperial Palace had been torn through by a Mysterious Monk suspected to be a Great Grandmaster. Great Zen Temple had naturally learned of this long ago.

Unlike the other martial artists and factions, who speculated about the Mysterious Monk's origins,

Abbot Hui Yuan and the several Courtyard Heads had almost immediately decided that the monk was their own Buddha's Disciple.

There was no helping it.

He had the appearance of a young monk.

He also possessed the strength of a Great Grandmaster.

With such an exact description, who else could it have been but the Buddha's Disciple who had only recently entered the world?

At first, they had all marveled at Lin Yuan's strength.

More than a hundred years ago, the Great Grandmaster Founding Ancestor of Great Li had fought his way up Shaoshi Mountain.

Now, Great Zen Temple's Buddha's Disciple had torn through the Great Li Imperial Palace alone. It was a fitting return of courtesy.

However, as time passed,

the Abbot, Courtyard Heads, and the others realized something was wrong.

Did the Buddha's Disciple intend to remain permanently in the Great Li Imperial Palace? Abbot Hui Yuan and the others had never thought Lin Yuan would abandon Great Zen Temple.

Rather, they worried that the Great Li Dynasty might harbor other intentions.

Open attacks were easy to evade, but hidden arrows were hard to guard against.

Certainly, with Lin Yuan's strength, no one in the Great Li Dynasty was his match.

But what if the Great Li Dynasty resorted to some sinister scheme? The Great Li Imperial Palace had been the residence of that Great Grandmaster Founding Ancestor. It might possess methods for dealing with Great Grandmasters.

If Lin Yuan remained in the Great Li Imperial Palace for too long, what if he fell victim to such a scheme?

Besides that,

Abbot Hui Yuan had an even deeper concern.

With the Martial Arts Tournament being held, and several Masters traveling to the capital to spar with Lin Yuan,

more and more rumors about Lin Yuan's strength began to spread.

Great Grandmaster.

Peak Great Grandmaster.

Invincible Great Grandmaster.

The greatest Great Grandmaster in history, and so on.

These rumors all came from other Masters.

There was no reason to doubt their authenticity.

As a result, Lin Yuan's reputation grew greater and greater, far surpassing Bodhidharma Ancestor from a thousand years ago and the Great Li Founding Ancestor from over a century ago.

Such a situation might not have affected other Great Grandmasters.

After all, other Great Grandmasters had spent at least decades reaching that point, and their states of mind had long endured countless trials.

But Abbot Hui Yuan knew that the Buddha's Disciple was only in his teens.

At such a young age, could he withstand the temptations of fame, profit, and glory in the martial world?

"Let us wait a little longer. The Buddha's Disciple has only been down the mountain for one year. It has not been long. Even if he has been affected by the mortal world, he can still turn back in time."

The Discipline Hall Head spoke in a deep voice.

Not to mention Great Grandmasters—even for ordinary martial artists, a year was not a long time. It was merely the stage of first entering the martial world.

"The Buddha's Disciple's state of mind is pure."

The Courtyard Head of the Martial Monk Courtyard frowned and was about to speak.

Just then,

on the narrow mountain path of Shaoshi Mountain, a young monk in monk's robes and cloth shoes walked up step by step.

"The Buddha's Disciple—the Buddha's Disciple has returned."

Abbot Hui Yuan was the first to spot Lin Yuan.

A moment later.

Lin Yuan arrived at the gates of Great Zen Temple.

"Buddha's Disciple."

The group gave Lin Yuan slight bows. They wanted to say something, yet swallowed their words.

"Everything has been settled."

Lin Yuan said only this,

then returned to the third floor of the Scripture Storage Pavilion and sat down once more, leaving the mortal world and the martial world behind.

That day, the young Buddha's Disciple atop Shaoshi Mountain, in cloth shoes and monk's robes, had only just entered the martial world, yet already left it.