"Over a hundred years ago, a wandering monk of profound cultivation stopped at our temple. That night, golden radiance suddenly soared into the sky above the temple, only fading after half the night had passed. The monk told the old monks here that Golden Mountain Temple harbored an affinity with the Buddha, and that an eminent monk of earth-shaking virtue would surely emerge here in the future. He therefore decided to stay. Naturally, the old monks welcomed him. He settled here, entered the generational ranks of Golden Mountain Temple, and took the religious name Faming," Meditation Master Hai Shi continued.
"Elder Fa Ming!" Shen Luo's gaze stirred. Lu Huaming had told him about this man before, but he had never known his origins.
"Patriarch Faming possessed profound cultivation. Soon after he joined our temple, the old abbot yielded his position to him. After taking charge, Elder Fa Ming vigorously supported his fellow monks and imparted the Buddhist teachings he practiced to them all. Only then did our temple flourish again. Patriarch Faming's kindness was tantamount to giving our temple a second life, and everyone here revered him. Yet he refused to accept disciples, saying that the necessary affinity was lacking, much to the disappointment of many in the temple. Then, more than ten years after his arrival, he was playing the zither at the foot of the mountain one day when he suddenly heard a baby crying. A wooden basin came drifting down the river below the mountain, carrying an infant and a letter written in blood. The patriarch brought him safely ashore and learned his origins from the letter. He was the posthumous son of Chen Guangrui, the top imperial examination graduate from Liuzhou. The patriarch gave him the childhood name Jiang Liu'er, raised him, and accepted him as