A thousand enlightenments in one night, starting from being a menial apprentice.

Chapter 497: The Three-Car Monk
Master Lingji, whose secular surname is Yuchi.

The Yuchi clan is an aristocratic family in Yongzhou.

Master Lingji was a man of great spiritual enlightenment at a young age. In Yongzhou, where Buddhism was flourishing, he often defeated senior monks in debates on scriptures and doctrines, and was known for his eloquence.

When he was seventeen, he had already become famous.

At the Dharma Assembly that year, Master Xuan Ku, a great monk from the Fashang Temple, spotted Lingji, then a handsome young man from the Yuchi family, in the crowd at a glance.

Xuan Ku called Lingji and asked him about Buddhist principles for the third time. The young Lingji answered fluently.

After Xuan Ku asked three questions, he asked Ling Ji to become his disciple on the spot.

Lingji flatly refused!

Lingji had not yet become a monk, nor had he observed the precepts at that time. He was the direct descendant of the Yuchi family, and he was enlightened at a young age and had extraordinary talent. Everyone in the Yuchi family doted on him. He had long since developed a life of luxury and dissipation, and was not only proficient in Buddhism, but also in eating, drinking and having fun. How could he bear the hardship of being a monk?
Moreover, Fashang Temple was well-known for its asceticism, and its ancestral temple was located in the hinterland of the 500-li Moheyan Desert, where there were no people. Every year, pilgrims died on the road.

And this monk Xuan Ku is the master of Fashang Temple and the Dharma King of Yongzhou.

Although the Dharma King often lived in the Western Regions and rarely interfered with the governance of Yongzhou, in Yongzhou, Buddhism was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and religion was more important than politics.

None of the aristocratic families in Yongzhou dared to disobey the decree of the Fashang Temple.

Xuan Ku sent an edict to Yuchi's family.

"Yuchi Zong, if you don't become a monk, you will be sentenced to death."

The Yuchi family was in chaos, but the seventeen-year-old Lingji refused to obey. He told the law enforcement monk who came to deliver the decree: "Go back and tell that old bald donkey Xuanku that you can let Yuchi Zong become a monk, but you must let me bring a cart of wine, a cart of meat, and a cart of beauties into the Faxiang Temple. Otherwise, I, Yuchi Zong, would rather die!"

As soon as Lingji said this, not only did the monk who came to convey the Dharma's decree turn pale, but even the head of the Yuchi family was so frightened that his face changed drastically.

Xuan Ku was an eminent monk, the master of Fashang Temple, the Dharma King of Yongzhou, yet Lingji actually called him an old bald donkey. Moreover, Fashang Temple is a holy place of Buddhism, how could it allow you to enter with a cart of wine, a cart of meat, and a cart of beauties?

Any one of these three would be a great blasphemy, let alone the three vehicles?
The monk who was supposed to deliver the Dharma message walked away immediately.

Although the Yuchi family doted on Yuchi Zong, they did not want the entire family to be destroyed. It would have been fine if Yuchi Zong did not become a monk, but he made such an impolite and blasphemous request, and even insulted the old bald donkey, the King of Dharma. This was a crime of genocide!
In turbulent times, people's minds change, and many people begin to pack up their valuables and flee, fearing that they will be implicated.

But the next day, the monk who had left in anger came again and told the Yuchi family expressionlessly that the Dharma King had agreed to Yuchi Zong's request.

At that time, the head of the Yuchi family stood there in a daze, not understanding the law enforcement monk's meaning for a long time. The law enforcement monk had to explain it again and again.

So, the seventeen-year-old Lingji became a monk.

The convoy at that time was huge, with one cart of wine, one cart of meat, and one cart of beauties. The whole city was watching, and the nickname "Three-Cart Monk" spread like wildfire.

At the age of seventeen, Yuchi Zong was ordained as a monk under Xuan Ku at the Fashang Temple and was given the name "Lingji".

Xuan Ku let Lingji do whatever he wanted and only asked him to practice with him on the first and fifteenth day of every month. He could arrange the rest of the time on his own.

Although Lingji had shaved his head, he still indulged in the pleasures of life in the other courtyard every day. From then on, the morning and evening bells of Faxiang Temple were often mixed with the wanton laughter of women...

There was a lot of complaints in the temple.

No matter how absurd Lingji's behavior was, Xuan Ku turned a deaf ear and did not punish him.

Three months later, on the fifteenth day, a night of the full moon, no one knew what happened to Lingji that night, but he returned to the villa and smashed a cart full of fine wine, dismissed a cart full of beauties, and threw away a cart full of bacon. From then on, he devoted himself to Buddhist scriptures and was obsessed with them.

One year for cyclone, three years for cave of hell, ten years for Nascent Soul, and twenty years for Original God!
At the age of fifty-one, Lingji achieved the Immortal Spirit, advanced to the Original God Realm, and became the number one person in the Kyushu Continent.

In the same year, Xuan Ku passed away and the throne of the Dharma King was passed to Lingji.

Zhu He carried Duan Rong and turned into a black light, landing in a valley somewhere. Duan Rong was still in a daze, lost in the life story of Master Lingji that Zhu He had just told him in the bathtub.

There are some people whom you can't help but admire if you only hear a brief account of their life.

Because their light is too dazzling.

"I became a monk at the age of seventeen, and I was in a cyclone for a year, which means I got married when I was eighteen." Duan Rong calculated silently in his heart.

Although both of them stirred up the tide of heaven and earth's vital energy when they formed the vortex, Duan Rong really didn't dare to compare himself with this spiritual master who was far away in the Western Regions.

Because Zhu He told Duan Rong that if one advances to the original god realm and achieves the immortal primordial spirit, one's soul will be immortal forever. In other words, this master of spiritual foundation has been immortal since he was fifty-one years old!

This was the first time Duan Rong knew of an example of true immortality in this world.

"Original God Realm!?"

Zhu He brought Duan Rong to a thatched cottage beside a stream in the forest.

At this time, at the door of the hut, there was an old farmer sitting there basking in the sun with his eyes squinted.

Zhu He came over, bowed with a big smile on his face and said, "Mr. Chu, I brought Duan Rong here."

Duan Rong was slightly surprised that Zhu He was actually very respectful to the old farmer.

The old farmer just hummed. He opened his eyes and didn't even look at Zhu He. He just glanced at Duan Rong up and down, then stood up, coughed, and said, "Come with me."

They followed the old farmer, went around the back of the house, and after walking for a while, they came to a bare hillside. They climbed over the hillside and went down the slope, and walked into a dead tree forest filled with mist.

As soon as he entered the dead woods, Duan Rong was startled, because the moment he stepped into the dead woods, the road behind him suddenly disappeared. The road that had just led down the hillside was now filled with mist and a forest of dead trees...

"Is it an illusion?" Duan Rong's heart moved.

At this time, Zhu He looked at Duan Rong and said, "Pay attention and follow closely. If you get lost here, your master won't be able to find you."

"Yes, Master." Duan Rong replied obediently.

If Zhu He couldn't find him, it was definitely not an ordinary illusion. Zhu He was a strong man in the Cave and Dark Realm, how could an ordinary illusion trap him?
The two men followed the old farmer. After walking for an unknown amount of time, the old farmer suddenly stopped, took out the copper ruler from his waist, and did the same thing again.

Duan Rong looked at the old farmer holding a ruler, swinging it back and forth like a shaman, and was completely confused.

The copper ruler in the old farmer's hand suddenly flew out and fell to the ground with a clang. Then the mist in front of him suddenly dissipated, and the few dead trees in front of him also disappeared as the mist dissipated.

Duan Rong's eyes turned grim.

"Could it be that those dead trees were illusions created by the mist?" He couldn't help but think in his heart, but then he denied this idea. Along the way, he reached out and touched those dead branches more than once. Those were definitely not illusions, but the real dead trees!

The mist and dead trees in front of them dissipated, and Duan Rong suddenly found that they were standing at the entrance of a valley. Not far away stood an ancient stone tablet two people tall. The inscription on the stone tablet was ancient and mottled.

Duan Rong's eyes moved. He didn't recognize the ancient and twisted inscription, but for some reason, the shape of the inscription reminded him of the dew-drinking cicada hanging on his chest. There seemed to be the same ancient inscription on the body of the dew-drinking cicada, looming.

The old farmer walked up to the stone tablet, picked up the copper ruler on the ground, inserted it into his lower back, and said, "The ancestor is in the valley, you can go in."

After the old farmer finished speaking, he turned and walked into the misty dry forest, disappearing in an instant.

Zhu He thanked Mr. Chu and led Duan Rong into the valley. Duan Rong followed Zhu He and looked around the valley.

There are towering steep cliffs on all sides. On the cliffs, there are a few ancient wintersweets and pines scattered around. The cliffs are bitterly cold, and all of them look thin and sickly.

Such a steep cliff is enough to make monkeys and eagles anxious, which makes you imagine how quiet this valley is.

An old man was sitting at a stone table under an ancient pine tree in the valley. The old man had a calm look in his eyes. Although his hair and beard were gray, there was not a single wrinkle on his face. Instead, his complexion was rosy and shiny, like that of a baby.

At this moment, he was staring at the black and white game on the stone table, lost in thought.

Pine needles fell from the ancient pine trees from time to time. Some of them fell on the old man's body and hair, but not a single pine needle fell on the chessboard in front of him.

At this time, Zhu He brought Duan Rong over. Duan Rong stared at the old man under the tree. The old man sat there, staring at the chess game intently, as if the world did not exist.

What made him feel even more strange was that the old man was clearly very focused, yet he gave people a feeling of leisure and ease. The pine needles falling on him suddenly gave him a sense of wildness and naturalness. It was a strange feeling of being integrated with the environment.

Duan Rong knew that the person in front of him was the ancestor of Taiyi Sect, Lu Yinlin, the old monster in the Nascent Soul stage who had lived for more than a thousand years.

But at this moment, there was no aura about the old man, just like an old man leisurely enjoying his old age under the forest.

Zhu He had already prostrated himself on his knees, with a hint of tears in his voice, and said, "I am the unworthy disciple Zhu He, and I pay my respects to the ancestor!"

Duan Rong immediately knelt down and shouted, "I am the unworthy disciple Duan Rong, and I pay homage to the ancestor!"

Lu Yinlin raised his head, smiled slightly, glanced at the two people crawling on the ground, and said, "Get up."

Zhu He stood up with his shoulders shaking, tears already streaming down his face.

It was the first time that Duan Rong saw Zhu He lose his composure like this, and he was stunned for a moment.

Lu Yinlin said, "Zhu He, don't be like this. I am not as kind as you are to my students. I have never invited you to the valley in all these years."

Zhu He wiped his tears with his sleeve and said, "Master, you are really embarrassing me by saying this. I am a failure, how dare I blame you, Master?"

When Zhu He was young, he was considered to have good talent. Before Lu Yinlin moved deep into this valley, he personally taught him and Gu Daoling for a few years. Therefore, both he and Gu Daoling could call Lu Yinlin "Master".

Lu Yinlin asked, "The boy Gu Daoling was willing to return to the mountain. Was it you who arranged it?"

Zhu He said: "Junior brother has always been concerned about Master. But he is stubborn and refuses to admit his mistakes."

Lu Yinlin sighed and said, "Gu Daoling is good in every way, except that he is full of thorns and is born to be rebellious."

When Lu Yinlin said this, he suddenly looked at Duan Rong for some reason.

It was obvious that Lu Yinlin was still angry, so Zhu He immediately stopped talking.

After a short pause, Lu Yinlin looked at Duan Rong and asked, "Are you Duan Rong?"

Duan Rong clasped his fists and bowed, saying, "Grandmaster, it is you, my disciple!"

Lu Yinlin stood up, pine needles all over his body falling off, and said, "Come with me!"

After Lu Yinlin finished speaking, he turned away from the stone table and walked towards the cave not far away.

Duan Rong turned his head and looked at Zhu He with a questioning look.

Zhu He said: "If the ancestor asks you to go, you should go!"

Duan Rong then followed Lu Yinlin towards the cave.

Zhu He stood there, looking at Duan Rong's back, curled his lips, and muttered: "This kid looks reluctant. I want to follow him in, too."

However, Lu Yinlin did not call Zhu He just now, so Zhu He naturally did not dare to follow him in. He could only walk to the stone table and look at the unfinished game on the stone table.

At this time, a pine needle fell from the stone table. It turned a few times and then fell to the ground by rubbing against the edge of the stone table... After rubbing against the edge of the stone table, it suddenly fell down from its originally lightly floating state...

Over there, Duan Rong followed Lu Yinlin into a dark cave.

Although it was dark at the entrance of the cave, there was a faint light inside that was neither glaring nor very clear.

There were all kinds of things inside the cave, but it was not messy and was very simple.

Lu Yinlin pointed to a cushion on the floor inside the cave and said, "Sit there."

Duan Rong walked over as he was told and sat cross-legged on the cushion.

Lu Yinlin poured a bamboo tube of clear water onto the stone table and drank two sips.

Duan Rong sat on the mat, glancing at Lu Yinlin from time to time. He couldn't help feeling a little uneasy, wondering why Lu Yinlin asked him to sit on this mat?
After Lu Yinlin took two sips of water, he put down the bamboo tube in his hand.

At the moment the bamboo tube in his hand fell on the stone table, Lu Yinlin's figure suddenly disappeared like a ghost.

Duan Rong had been keeping an eye on Lu Yinlin. The moment Lu Yinlin's figure disappeared, Duan Rong was startled. But almost at the same time, without any warning, Lu Yinlin suddenly appeared in front of Duan Rong.

Lu Yinlin suddenly appeared like a ghost, and sat cross-legged in the air about half a meter in front of Duan Rong.

At the moment when Lu Yinlin's sitting figure appeared in the air, Duan Rong found that his body could not move, as if he was fixed by a spell, and his hands, feet and neck were out of control.

The height at which Lu Yinlin was sitting cross-legged in the air was just at the level of Duan Rong's eyes. At this moment, his eyes were closed, his face was serene, and a few strands of gray hair hung down from his temples.

At this moment, a mass of something suddenly emerged from above Lu Yinlin's head.

It was the spirit of a baby. Its body was like light and shadow, not solid at all, but translucent and clear as glass, but its facial features were clear and its hands and feet were nimble.

The baby's face was very similar to Lu Yinlin's.

Duan Rong looked at the strange scene in front of him, his heart pounding. He knew that the thing in front of him was the Nascent Soul.

This was the first time he saw a real Nascent Soul.

Yuanying is the embryonic form of the Yuanshen.

The Nascent Soul already possesses some of the magical powers of the Primordial Spirit, but is far less solid than the Primordial Spirit. Compared to the Primordial Spirit, he is still very fragile.

The Nascent Soul's eyes opened, and a pair of glass-like pupils looked at Duan Rong.

Duan Rong also looked at the Nascent Soul. When their eyes met, the Nascent Soul had a peaceful expression, neither happy nor sad. Suddenly, the Nascent Soul leaped and actually jumped directly towards Duan Rong. The next moment, the baby's glass body, which was only the size of a human head, actually entered Duan Rong's brows and disappeared without a trace.

At that moment, Duan Rong's eyes suddenly became dull and lifeless, and he just stared blankly ahead.

(End of this chapter)