Legend of the Great Sage

“If you don’t believe me, you’re welcome to ask the Great Banyan Tree King yourself. It’s just an Asura Field. Do you have to make such a fuss?” Li Qingshan said helplessly, but everyone present was in doubt apart from Han Qiongzhi.

“Are you telling me to go to the Mist province?” Yue Wuyang had already become certain that Li Qingshan was lying. It was impossible for them to go and ask the Great Banyan Tree King for confirmation.

“Not necessarily.” Li Qingshan thought about it and took out the Fruit of Wisdom from his sumeru ring, handing it to Han Qiongzhi. “Eat it and give me the seed.”

“This is…” Han Qiongzhi was taken aback. Gazing at the glistening fruit in her hand, she could tell with a single glance that it was anything but ordinary. It seemed to contain the endless secrets of nature and the world, sucking her in.

“This is a banyan fruit. You can treat it as a gift, as an apology for making you wait for all these years,” Li Qingshan said sincerely.

Han Anjun and Yue Bing had yet to realise what was going on, but the Great General King and the Unraging monk stood up at the same time, blurting out, “A Fruit of Wisdom!”

There was nothing strange about them being so surprised. The Fruit of Wisdom was renowned throughout the nine provinces. Some people even gave it the title of the greatest spiritual fruit in the world.

Regular spiritual fruits could only be used as a resource, to save some cultivation time, no matter how powerful their effects were. Relatively precious spiritual fruits could increase the talent of cultivators, but in actuality, that was merely refining the soul and strengthening the body. On the other hand, the Fruit of Wisdom could drastically increase a cultivator’s “affinity for comprehension”.

In the world, countless cultivators would encounter bottlenecks after bottlenecks and become stuck at major or minor realms of cultivation throughout their process of cultivation. Most of this occurred because of an insufficient affinity for comprehension. It was useless no matter how many resources they had, no matter how powerful their bodies were, or how pure their souls were.

This was where the value of the Fruit of Wisdom lay. A Fruit of Wisdom would tempt even a great cultivator like Yue Wuyang. No one would mind a little more affinity for comprehension.

“Damned disciple, where did you get this Fruit of Wisdom from?” the Unraging monk asked in surprise.

“I stole it!” Li Qingshan said.

“What?” The Unraging monk was stunned. He felt a little overwhelmed by everything going on around him. Probably even the imperial clan from the Dragon province could not steal something from the Great Banyan Tree King, particularly when it was a Fruit of Wisdom.

“Do you even need to ask, master? The Great Banyan Tree King obviously gifted it to me!” Li Qingshan shook his head.

The Unraging monk was speechless. He had heard from Duoge that Li Qingshan’s relationship with the Great Banyan Tree King was quite special. After all, one of the Great Banyan Tree King’s cuttings were planted on Savage mountain. However, the Great Banyan Tree Kings had plenty of cuttings. There were only so many Fruits of Wisdom.

Yue Wuyang furrowed his brows firmly and wavered slightly inside. Did the Asura Field really come from the Great Banyan Tree King?

“Even fathers aren’t that close with their sons!” Yue Bing sighed, which earned him another glare from Yue Wuyang. He thought inside, I didn’t expect this Li Qingshan to be so generous. Junior sister really hasn’t waited all these years for nothing. So much for behaving like a tomboy most of the time. Her ability to pick men sure is admirable!

“Qingshan, thank you for this, but I can’t accept something so precious. You better keep it for yourself!” Han Qiongzhi returned to her senses and returned the Fruit of Wisdom to Li Qingshan.

“What’s mine is yours, and what’s yours is mine. I’ve already eaten one anyway. It’s useless if I eat another. This one is much better than the one I ate. The Great Banyan Tree King condensed it after becoming the god of the Mist province, so it contains some fragments of the Mist Province cauldron. He said that it has quite the effect.”

Yue Wuyang’s eyes narrowed, staring at the Fruit of Wisdom deeply. It was no wonder that he sensed something akin to the laws of the world from within the fruit. This Fruit of Wisdom was probably worth even more than the Asura Field, enough to change a cultivator’s entire course of life. If it had not been Han Qiongzhi who was receiving it, he might even be overcome with the urge to steal it.

Han Qiongzhi said nothing more. Actually, she felt both proud and a little dejected when she heard Li Qingshan sweep up the locusts. She had spent all these years cultivating arduously, such that she believed she could get a little closer to him. However, after seeing him again, she only realised the distance between them had grown wider, almost to a point where she could not catch up anymore, just as Han Anjun had predicted in the past.

Gazing at Li Qingshan, she thought to herself, With this Fruit of Wisdom, I’ll be a little closer to you!

“Eat it and give me the seed. I’ll have the Great Banyan Tree King confirm this for them,” Li Qingshan said to Han Qiongzhi.

“That’s not necessary. Qiongzhi, the Fruit of Wisdom is of extraordinary value. Take some time to refine it slowly!” Yue Wuyang said.

“Yes, master,” Han Qiongzhi said.

“So you believe me now, Great General King?” Li Qingshan smiled.

“Even if the Great Banyan Tree King gave you the Asura Field, where did he get it from?” Yue Wuyang pondered.

“You’ll have to ask the Great Banyan Tree King. If you don’t want to go to the Mist province, you’ll have to wait a moment.” Li Qingshan shrugged.

“Didn’t he tell you anything when he gave it to you?” Yue Wuyang said.

“I think he found it somewhere,” said Li Qingshan.

“Can I take a look?” Yue Wuyang asked.

“No problem.” Li Qingshan took out the Asura Field and passed it to Yue Wuyang.

“Hmm? I didn’t expect it to have grown to such a state already. Looks like you’ve spent quite the effort.” Yue Wuyang fiddled around with the Asura Field. He was surprised by how heavy the bloody aura around it was. Who knew how many battles it had witnessed already.

“I have.” Li Qingshan had won numerous important battles in the Asura Field.

“It can already summon Asura Commanders. Can you keep them under control?” Yue Wuyang asked in doubt. The battle prowess of asura far surpassed regular cultivators. Victory was basically impossible if their cultivations were roughly the same.

“I can, but they were all killed. Only one pleasing to the eye stuck around, so I don’t need to keep them under control.”

“Who killed them? How were they killed?”

“That’s a little troublesome to explain. May I ask what you want, Great General King? You’re welcome to be direct!” Li Qingshan was already running out of patience.

“Li Qingshan, I’m not here to work against you, or I wouldn’t have called your master to come along. You need to know that every single Asura Field is different. I suspect that your Asura Field originally belonged to prince Si Qing before Northmoon stole it. Northmoon died in the Mist province, which was why it ended up in the Great Banyan Tree King’s hands.”

In the past, when prince Si Qing came to the Ruyi commandery, he had caused a very large disturbance to refine the Asura Field. The Great General King was extremely familiar with this incident. Now that an Asura Field had appeared in the Clear River prefecture again, he immediately thought of this.

“I’m not sure about that, but so what?” Li Qingshan said.

“You should know that prince Si Qing has already undergone the third heavenly tribulation and become the third crown prince of Great Xia. The news of the Asura Field will reach his ears very soon. I heard he already has grievances with you. If he learns that the lost Asura Field is in your possession…”

“He’ll probably come and make trouble for me immediately.” Li Qingshan’s eyes lit up slightly.