Nightfall

Ye Hongyu had suddenly appeared in the main hall of the Devil’s Doctrine. Her left shoulder was soaked in congealed blood and her skirt was in tatters, unable to cover her completely. She looked utterly pathetic, but her eyes were shockingly shiny.

Ning Que did not know that outside the Front Gate she had used all the strength to split the rock before her before reaching where they were with much difficulty. However, it was evident that she had suffered greatly judging from her appearance and he could not help but be in awe of her.

As compared to the vague respect he felt, he was even more nervous when he saw the Tao Addict. He quickly held on to the hilt of his blade behind him with his right hand and was prepared to get rid of this fearful enemy at her weakest.

However, he realized that Ye Hongyu did not bother with him at all. Mo Shanshan who leaned against the rock wall did not concern herself with her either. Both the Tao Addict and the Calligraphy Addict looked at the skinny old monk in the Bone Mountain speechlessly and somewhat intoxicatedly.

…

…

To the east of the West-Hill Divine Kingdom near the sea, there was a large circular stone. It was used against the fearful waves. Behind the rock was the Kingdom of Song. It could perhaps be due to the rainy days and winds, many great people came from the humble little country. There were a great number of priests in the Divine Hall that came from the Kingdom of Song. The Great Divine Priest of Light who had been imprisoned for many years came from this place. And in a dark night many years ago, the lotuses in the garden of a certain mansion in the capital of the kingdom Song bloomed. Together with the blooming of the lotus flowers, was the birth of a baby boy. As such, the baby boy was named Lotus.

The child named Lotus was not exceptional in his youth. He was like the other young masters around him who went to school and took exams. After that, he received an official position and married. The couple did not have any children before his beloved wife passed on from an illness. After the death of his wife, Lotus stayed by her grave in a hut. He grieved beside it for three months.

On a stormy night, Lotus walked into the rain. He stood in tranquil contemplation for half of the night before walking back in wet clothes. He picked up a brush and wrote an essay in remembrance of his wife. After that, he threw the brush into the grass that had grown on the grave, laughed out loud thrice and walked away.

In the years after, Lotus explored the world and visited many different cultivation sects. His essay in remembrance of his wife had made its way into the world and caused many to cry. His name was well known and the sects met him with respect but did not tell him anything about cultivation.

On the second autumn, Lotus traveled to the Wa Mountain. It rained, and he sought refuge in the Lanke Temple.

That night, he slept in the back hall and heard an old monk talking about the Buddhism Sect. He thought about it into the deep night and returned to the main gate of the Lanke Temple and rang the bell. He entered the temple and told the receiving monk that he wanted to enter a debate with the host of Lanke Temple.

The debate lasted for an entire 32 days. Lotus’s speech was as flowery as lotuses blooming on the clouds of the Wa Mountain. A bird from the heaven hidden in the tree by the edge of the cliff chirped gently during the debate, attracting scholars and celebrities from around the world.

The debate at the Lanke Temple became yet another grand event after the Yue laan hungry ghost festival. Lotus’s name began to circulate in the world.

On the last day, the previous Haotian hierarch from the West-Hill Divine Palace came from the Peach Mountain. He invited Lotus to join the Divine Hall as a visiting professor before the masses. Lotus smiled and rejected his offer. Then, the Elder who had lived in seclusion in the Lanke Temple of Wa Mountain appeared. He touched the top of his head and hair fell off from the top like black lotuses. His Buddhist Heart became increasingly firm.

In the autumn when the leaves began to fall, Lotus left the Lanke Temple in the Wa Mountain. He traveled across the great river and reached the Ink Lake. He crossed forests and entered the Yuelun Kingdom before disappearing into the Wilderness north-west of Yuelun Kingdom. Nobody knew where he went.

After several years, a monk returned from the Wilderness. He traveled between the palace and the masses, between verdant mountains and seas. He told the princes and nobles and the ordinary folk about cause and effect as well as Lucky Chance. He was well-versed in Buddhism and did well everywhere. The world respected him.

Mr. Lotus disappeared from the world. And the world gained a Master Lotus.

At the peak of their power, the Devil’s Doctrine’s infiltration into the Central Plains was hard to prevent just like it was hard to prevent the darkness at night. There were two Elders from the Devil’s Doctrine who were most mysterious. They secretly played off the other sects of various other countries and created several bloody tragedies. However, no one knew exactly where the two Elders of the Devil’s Doctrine were hidden.

That spring, Master Lotus was invited by the Haotian hierarch from West-Hill to teach in the Divine Hall. During the meeting, the vice headmaster of the Revelation Institute spoke with contempt and neglect. Master Lotus walked up to him and killed him before the Hierarch Lord and other powerhouses of the Divine Hall. The vice headmaster of the Revelation Institute was one of the Elders of the Devil’s Doctrine.

The hierarch of Haotian Taoism invited Master Lotus to the Divine Hall once more, not as a visiting professor, but to be a Great Divine Priest of Judgment, a position that had been empty for years. Master Lotus said that the time was not right, and refused once more.

Mater Lotus left the Peach Mountain for the Wa Mountain. He had attained Tao enlightenment there then, and now that he had returned, he visited the Lanke Temple to practice. He did not receive any visitors for the next two years and was gradually forgotten by the world.

One day, a high ranking monk died suddenly while sweeping the floors at Lanke Temple. The whole temple was shocked. Master Lotus stepped out of his room and admitted that he had killed the monk. This monk was yet another Elder from the Devil’s Doctrine who had concealed himself in the Central Plains. Master Lotus had secluded himself in the Wa Mountain for two years to verify this.

The two most mysterious Elders of the Devil’s Doctrine who had hidden out in the Central Plains were both dead. Most of the bloody secret plans of the Devil’s Doctrine were all exposed. Master Lotus’ name was well renowned across the world.

The White Tower Temple of Yuelun Kingdom, as well as the Lanke Temple of Wa Mountain, named him as a guard to the Front Gate of the Buddhism Sect in commemoration of his deed.

The West-Hill Divine Palace invited him to view the six scrolls of the Tomes of Arcane as a reward and also named him the Great Divine Priest of Judgment.

Master Lotus became the first Buddhism Sect disciple in history to become the Great Divine Priest of West-Hill Divine Palace.

Several years later, the bloodshed before Lanke Temple happened. The Priest of the Judicial Department of Divine Hall was involved in the matter and Master Lotus, grieving from the death of an old friend was willing to assume responsibility. He disregarded all attempts to make him stay from the Peach Mountain and insisted on resigning from the position as Great Divine Priest and left. He stayed hidden and no one knew where he went.

From then on, Master Lotus had disappeared from the world of cultivation. However, his name remained in the world until today.

In the memories of today’s world, Master Lotus had always exuded benevolence and mystery. The benevolence came from his action and the mystery was due to the legendary life that he had led.

Master Lotus was good at writing essays and calligraphy. He had traveled the world, studied the classics and cultivated. He attained Tao enlightenment in the Lanke Temple and entered the Knowing Destiny State after only several years. He was well versed in Buddhism laws and knew all the different ways of the different sects. He was a great writer and calligrapher of his generation. He was a guard of the Buddhism Sect Front Gate and also a Great Divine Priest of Judgment of the Divine Hall.

A man who was willing to come close to all beauty of the world, who had the ability to bring enlightenment to the world, who was willing to shoulder the burdens of the world; a man who was this perfect had never been seen before and might never appear again.

To many, such a perfect person could not have been cultivated in later life. He must have been born this way. That was why the people said after he disappeared, “There is a lotus in the west that landed in this world. It was born with 32 petals, and each petal is unique. They each make up a different world.”

His monastic title was Liansheng 32.

He was like a white lotus who had floated into the mortal world. With each blooming of a jade petal, he would show a big power that brought solace to the filthy world.

…

…

Ning Que stood in the Great Blockage Formation outside the Front Gate of the Devil’s Doctrine. He knelt and kowtowed to the mossy sword marks. He was worshiping his elder, the kin in his blood. He felt admiration and longing within him.

To the Tao Addict and Mo Shanshan, Master Lotus was like a great mountain that they had not stopped paying attention to since they started cultivation. A sense of closeness and admiration flowed in their blood.

That was why they did not care about what Ning Que wanted to do, and had no wish to fight. They kneeled and kowtowed respectfully to the withered old monk.

Compared with the Calligraphy Addict, the Tao Addict was visibly more excited. She was the Grand Master of the Divine Hall’s Judicial Department. Master Lotus was once the Divine Hall’s Great Divine Priest of Judgment. He was practically her senior. Furthermore, while the Judicial Department held most of the power in the West-Hill Divine Palace, their darkened names surpassed their sacredness due to their bad name from keeping prisoners. In the past century, it was only when Divine Lord Lotus held a position could the Judicial Department take control of the Devil’s Doctrine and gain respect from the masses. The elderly members of the Judicial Department still talked fondly of those times, which was why Divine Lord Lotus’ status was different in the eyes of those in the Judicial Department.

She could not suppress the shock and excitement in her heart. She looked at the Emblematic Gesture at the old monk made and said in a trembling voice, “Your disciple, Priest Ye Hongyu of the Divine Hall Judicial Department pays her respect to Divine Lord Lotus. Those from the Peach Mountain thought that you had ascended to heaven and became an immortal. I did not think that I would be so lucky to meet you, Divine Lord Lotus.”

Master Lotus did not expect that he would see a newbie from the Judicial Department here. He was slightly startled, but said with warmth and regret, “I have said before that I did not know how much time has passed in my time on the mountain. It seems that was very true indeed. A young and loveable young lady like you has been dragged into this pool of muddied water. That is such a pity. A pity indeed.”

If someone else had described the Judicial Department as a pool of muddied water, Ye Hongyu would have tortured that person. However, she did not react to this right now because the person who had said that was an old ancestor of the Judicial Department. She did not have the guts to behave unreasonably. Furthermore, Divine Lord Lotus’ voice was gentle and benevolent. He spoke like a grandfather to a grandchild, and it made her feel warm and slightly shy.

The three addicts were world-renowned. Both the Tao Addict and the Calligraphy Addict knelt before the Bone Mountain like obedient children while Ning Que stood still. Mo Shanshan pulled at him surreptitiously, but he pretended not to see her.

Ning Que was not like the Calligraphy Addict or the Tao Addict that had studied within sects since they were children. They knew about the legends of the cultivation world. However, he had only managed to enter the cultivators’ world after many difficulties two years ago. The Senior Brothers and Sisters in the back of the mountain of the Academy did not have much interest in telling stories, which was why he was lacking in knowledge regarding some things. He had never heard of Liansheng 32 before.

That was why he did not kneel in respect like Mo Shanshan and Ye Hongyu did.

When he heard the words “Divine Lord Lotus”, he looked at the old monk sitting in the pile of bones and laughed. He said, “So you were the Great Divine Priest of Judgment of Divine Hall. No wonder you wanted to vanquish the Devil’s Doctrine.”

His smile gradually dimmed. He stared at the old monk and said, “But I would still like to know, why did you spend half your life on a plot trying to harm my Youngest Uncle? I wouldn’t do it even if I had too much time on my hands.”

There was someone in the world who would speak with such disrespect to Divine Lord Lotus!

Ye Hongyu who knelt before the Bone Mountain glared at Ning Que. Her eyebrows were raised and looked like tiny sharp swords.