Is This Even Human?!

Is This Even Human?!

At Great Zen Temple, blue lamps burned before ancient Buddhas.

Five years had left no trace upon this place.

Scripture Storage Pavilion.

"Five years already."

Lin Yuan sat cross-legged, his gaze deep and distant.

Before he knew it, he had been in this world for five years.

A quarter of his twenty-year limit had already passed.

Over these five years, aside from immersing himself in comprehending techniques and cultivating,

Lin Yuan had also gained a certain understanding of this world.

Naturally, his source of information was Great Zen Temple.

As a sacred Buddhist land and a Great Martial Sect of the realm,

Great Zen Temple could not truly live in seclusion.

On the contrary, Great Zen Temple's hidden intelligence network had infiltrated nearly every corner of the world.

Using Buddhist faith as a pretext to build its network, it was everywhere and nowhere.

As far as Lin Yuan knew, the current Great Li Dynasty ruled the Central Plains and stood at the height of its power.

All lands beneath heaven had submitted to it.

Even a thousand-year-old sect like Great Zen Temple had to bow its head before the Great Li Dynasty.

According to Great Zen Temple's intelligence, at least six Martial Dao Grandmasters served the Great Li Dynasty.

One had to know,

there were likely only a little over ten Martial Dao Grandmasters in the entire world.

With one Master guarding it, Great Zen Temple could intimidate the martial world.

The Great Li Dynasty could command six Martial Dao Grandmasters. Its deterrent power was obvious.

The reason the Great Li Dynasty possessed such foundations was its Founding Emperor.

He had been a Great Grandmaster.

Master.

Great Grandmaster.

Only one word apart.

Yet worlds apart.

Since ancient times, every era had produced some Masters.

At the least, several or ten; at the most, several dozen.

But Great Grandmasters... one might not emerge even in several hundred years.

The Great Li Dynasty had swept across the land and forced even Great Martial Sects like Great Zen Temple to lower their heads.

What it relied upon was that Founding Emperor Great Grandmaster, invincible beneath heaven.

Even now, many years after the Great Li Dynasty's Founding Emperor had fallen,

it still had the means to command so many Martial Dao Grandmasters.

If the Acquired Realm, Innate Realm, and even Master

were merely advancements and transformations of the physique and flesh,

then a Great Grandmaster was an elevation of the mind and soul.

A living Great Grandmaster needed only a glance to make an ordinary Master tremble inwardly.

"Mental Energy."

Lin Yuan touched the spot between his brows.

Great Zen Temple's founder from a thousand years ago, Patriarch Damo, had also been a Great Grandmaster.

Thus, Great Zen Temple did not lack descriptions concerning Great Grandmasters.

Compared to Masters,

the greatest characteristic of Great Grandmasters was that they had begun developing the power of the mind and soul.

To break through to Great Grandmaster, one had to condense and master Mental Energy.

Yet how illusory and intangible were the mind and soul? An ordinary Master might spend decades without even sensing such power.

Even if a Master did gain insight into it, the slightest mistake while condensing Mental Energy would bring irreparable consequences.

After all, injuries to the flesh could slowly be nursed back to health.

But when it came to the mind and soul, not the slightest carelessness could be tolerated.

Normally,

out of a hundred Masters,

eighty would never touch the level of the mind and soul in their entire lives.

Nineteen would sense the level of the mind and soul, then fail and die while condensing Mental Energy.

Only one Master in the end could advance into the realm of Great Grandmaster.

"The one hundred and sixty-third secret method for entering Great Grandmaster is more or less free of danger now."

Lin Yuan pondered inwardly.

Ever since, four years ago, he had nourished his body with the Yi Jin Xi Sui Body Tempering, Blood Exchange, Spirit Refining Art and successfully entered the Master realm,

Lin Yuan had spent his spare time painstakingly considering methods to advance to Great Grandmaster.

With Lin Yuan's Heaven-Defying Comprehension, sensing and even developing the mind and soul posed no difficulty.

The difficult part was how to condense Mental Energy without any risk at all.

For such essential power involving the soul, even Lin Yuan had to proceed with the utmost caution.

Great Zen Temple's Patriarch Damo had indeed left behind a method for breaking through to Great Grandmaster.

It was even kept on the third floor of the Scripture Storage Pavilion.

However, this method had a rather high mortality rate, reaching ninety-six percent.

A ninety-six percent mortality rate... compared to the ninety-nine percent mortality rate outside, it was already a considerable improvement.

But to Lin Yuan, it was still utterly unacceptable.

It was precisely because of this

that Lin Yuan intended to use his own Heaven-Defying Comprehension to create a secret technique for entering Great Grandmaster without any risk.

After creating one hundred and sixty-two secret techniques,

the one hundred and sixty-third Breakthrough Secret Technique from a few days ago had satisfied Lin Yuan greatly.

Not only had it reduced the risk of reaching Great Grandmaster to nearly zero, even if some extreme situation occurred, such as outside interference during the breakthrough,

or if Lin Yuan himself suddenly decided he no longer wanted to break through,

there was still room to recover. At worst, he would need a few years of recuperation.

Unlike other breakthrough secret techniques, there was no point of no return.

"I'll enter Great Grandmaster today."

After considering it repeatedly for a while, Lin Yuan decided to begin his breakthrough immediately.

At the same time,

the Abbot of Great Zen Temple, Hui Wen, the Martial Monk Courtyard Head, and several other Courtyard Heads were chatting.

"Come to think of it, Junior Brother Huizhen has not stepped out of the Scripture Storage Pavilion for three or four years, has he?"

After thinking for a moment, the Discipline Hall Head spoke.

Junior Brother Huizhen was Lin Yuan.

After becoming the disciple of the Master Long Eyebrow Old Monk, Lin Yuan's seniority within Great Zen Temple had become equal to that of the Abbot and Courtyard Heads. He belonged to the Hui generation.

Whenever the Abbot and Courtyard Heads mentioned Lin Yuan, they addressed him as junior brother.

"Indeed."

The Abbot of Great Zen Temple nodded.

Ever since Lin Yuan moved into the Scripture Storage Pavilion five years ago, he had occasionally come out for a stroll during the first year.

But over the following four years, he had never once stepped outside the gates of the Scripture Storage Pavilion.

"They say Junior Brother Huizhen cultivated Innate Inner Energy at the age of three and is a Martial Path prodigy unseen in a thousand years, but the effort he has devoted to Martial Path is also beyond what ordinary people can compare with."

The Miscellaneous Affairs Hall Head spoke.

The others nodded to themselves.

Remaining in the Scripture Storage Pavilion for four years without leaving, spending every day with martial arts manuals—many eminent monks lacked such determination and patience.

"I wonder how Junior Brother Huizhen's cultivation has progressed?"

A third Courtyard Head showed a hint of curiosity.

He had merely watched the martial monks practice Arhat Fist once, yet he had entered the Innate Realm in one stroke.

Now that he had stayed in the Scripture Storage Pavilion for five years, everyone wanted to know exactly what level Lin Yuan had reached.

"With Junior Brother Huizhen's talent, perhaps he has already reached the Peak Innate Realm."

The Discipline Hall Head guessed.

"Peak Innate Realm?"

The Abbot of Great Zen Temple hesitated for a moment.

The Martial Path in this world was divided into the Acquired Realm, Innate Realm, Master, and Great Grandmaster.

Although Lin Yuan had entered the Innate Realm in the body of a three-year-old child,

a three-year-old child naturally lacked Qi and Blood.

Entering the Innate Realm upon such a foundation would certainly require a great deal of time to make up for it.

In five years, Lin Yuan might only have just finished compensating for it and reached the level of an ordinary Innate Realm martial artist.

"Perhaps."

After pondering for a while, the Abbot of Great Zen Temple nodded slightly.

He did not believe that Junior Brother Huizhen could, after making up for his foundation,

cultivate all the way to the Peak Innate Realm.

But Lin Yuan was the disciple of Long Eyebrow Old Monk and their peer, so he could not dismiss the notion too strongly.

"You two old fellows have so little faith in Junior Brother Huizhen?"

"Perhaps Junior Brother Huizhen is already a Master."

The Martial Monk Courtyard Head glanced toward the Scripture Storage Pavilion and smiled.

He had been the first to discover Lin Yuan's talent for Martial Path.

"Master."

The Discipline Hall Head and Miscellaneous Affairs Hall Head exchanged a glance and shook their heads slightly.

Though they could hear the teasing note in the Martial Monk Courtyard Head's words, neither echoed him.

After all, that was a Master.

The Pillars of Heaven of the world, so few that they could be counted on two hands.

"Enough, stop discussing Junior Brother Huizhen."

Seeing that their casual conversation was becoming increasingly outrageous, the Abbot of Great Zen Temple immediately spoke to stop them.

However,

at that moment,

Rumble!!! An invisible ripple surged into the heavens, turning into wave after wave that spread in every direction.

"Mental Energy?"

"A Great Grandmaster's Mental Energy?"

The pupils of the Abbot of Great Zen Temple and the several Courtyard Heads suddenly contracted.

Their scalps went numb, and terror filled their faces.

When had a Great Grandmaster appeared in the world?

And this Great Grandmaster had come to their Great Zen Temple?

"No, this Mental Energy came from the Scripture Storage Pavilion!"

"This is Junior Brother Huizhen's aura!"

The Discipline Hall Head seemed to notice something, his eyes widening round.

"Junior Brother Huizhen's aura?"

"Mental Energy? Great Grandmaster?"

The Abbot of Great Zen Temple and the Martial Monk Courtyard Head opened their mouths, as though they had seen a ghost.

Judging from the source and aura of this Mental Energy,

an impossible possibility could not help surfacing in their minds.

Could it be that Junior Brother Huizhen, who had spent five years in the Scripture Storage Pavilion, had entered Great Grandmaster?

Realizing this, a sense of absurdity welled up in their hearts.

Entering the Innate Realm at three was one thing.

But becoming a Great Grandmaster at eight?

Was this even human?

Was this even human?!