Legend of the Great Sage

gazed at the scarlet star on the horizon.

“First father, since you’ve already made this choice, choosing to burden yourself with the suffering of the living creatures, let me lend you a hand!”

As a result, he shook off his kasaya and crossed his legs under the bodhi tree again, bringing his palms together solemnly.

He slowly shut his eyes and fog began to curl before his eyes again.
He flapped his wings fervently.

Immediately, he pulled out of the clouds and saw the sun.
At the end of the rippling sea of clouds was a range of snowy mountains.
The tallest peak was shaped like a lotus.

“The place where the lotuses bloomed,” Li Fengyuan murmured.
This was not his first time seeing this, but he felt shocked every time he did.

The red sun rose up in the east, illuminating the sea of clouds and hanging above the “lotus flower”, dyeing the snowy mountain a golden-red like it was a golden lotus.

The “lotus flower” became even more magnificent too.
With the shift of the shadows, it seemed to be blooming at every passing moment, releasing a multicoloured glow that formed a thousand beams, extremely resplendent, extremely holy.

If Li Qingshan saw this, he would not find it unfamiliar at all.
That was the “spiritual mountain” he had pushed over with his two hands.

Yet for some reason, it was still standing right now.

Li Fengyuan flapped his wings and sailed off, leaving behind a long trace in the sea of clouds.

Arriving above the spiritual mountain, a majestic temple sat at the peak.
That was the renowned Great Thunderclap temple of the spiritual mountain.

Its name was Nālandā, which meant “almsgiving without intermission”.

Li Fengyuan had always preferred its original name—giving the buddhist dharma across all life, never to stop.

Peering down from the clouds, people moved about in the temple.
Many monks walked around, some meditating in thought, some discussing the dharma, and some practising techniques.
They all either stayed put or moved about, forming a flourishing scene.
There was no sign of bleakness at all.

Li Fengyuan descended from above and walked between the buildings slowly, sometimes stopping to listen to a passage of a scripture or to admire a mural.
Gradually, a peaceful smile appeared on his face.

However, now that he was much closer, these monks were all dressed differently from regular monks.
Basically all of them walked about with bare feet like ascetics, dressed in extremely antiquated clothes.
Many of them even had long hair and beards.
At the same time, none of the monks noticed Li Fengyuan.
Even when they looked towards him, they only saw through him.

Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!

Suddenly, heavy footsteps rang out from behind him.
A black shadow loomed over him.

Li Fengyuan did not dodge.
A bare-chested warrior attendant with lower robes passed through him.
He carried a huge log that required several dozen people to carry, striding towards the grand hall that was currently being constructed nearby.

It was like an illusion or a dream.
This was the distant past, the origins of Nālandā.

Li Fengyuan had constantly submerged himself here over the years—studying the primitive scriptures, practising the ancient techniques, comprehending and pondering the laws.
He found endless inspiration.
Most importantly, he personally witnessed the construction of Nālandā on this icy, barren land.

Every tile and brick, each blade of grass and tree, the great halls, treasured buildings, and bell towers, would all be destroyed by Li Qingshan in the end.

Li Fengyuan was well aware that the spiritual mountain had already been tipped over and Nālandā had been destroyed, never to be rebuilt again.
As a result, he often felt sorrow as he gazed at all of this, like watching how an infant came into this world, how he bawled, how he opened his eyes curiously to study this world, how he ran, played, and studied… except “he” was already dead, having been destroyed long before this.

Everything came and went in a cycle, through formation, existence, disintegration, then emptiness.
Whether it was the universe or a speck of dust, nothing was exempt from that.

So even the undying phoenix has a day when it grows old!

With that in mind, the scene before him gradually blurred.
He suddenly discovered that before he had realised it, his face was already covered with tears.