Gu Yue was secretly angry but he was shocked as well.
No wonder when King An sent them, he exhorted them to be wary of Chu Li’s Light-body Technique. Initially, Gu Yue had thought that his own Light-body Technique was good enough to be extraordinary in the martial arts world but he did not think that Chu Li’s skill was not lacking despite such a young age.
Gu Yue did not activate his secret technique to stimulate his potential. Otherwise, his speed would double up.
He was still rational. If Gu Yue really did that and unleashed all his capacity, he would need to rest for a day and if the Princess saw that, she would laugh her head off.
More importantly, if he used his secret technique, Chu Li might do the same. If this happened and he lagged, then Gu Yue would lose his reputation entirely. It was always good to leave a leeway.
Xiao Shi looked at the scenery around her. Her body slowly became more relaxed until she had almost put her entire weight on Chu Li’s hand. Xiao Shi closed her eyes.
Chu Li used his inner energy to shield her from the wind as if there was a windshield in front of her. The strong wind transformed into a gentle breeze which made her clothes flutter. It seemed as if Xiao Shi was walking over ripples and riding over dust. She looked like a fairy. Gu Yue could not help but steal glances at her from time to time with his peripheral vision.
Gu Yue felt that his inner concentration was distracted as he could not control himself from not turning around.
Gu Yue used all his might for his Light-body Technique; his speed was shocking and he was faster than a galloping horse. He had already traveled a mile in just a blink of an eye.
The Titanium Temple was on the West side of the Fairy’s Capital, about two thousand miles away. They arrived at the Titanium Temple in the evening.
Xiao Shi had already taken two naps by then and woke up leisurely. She opened her eyes and stretched herself, revealing her stunning curves.
“We’re not there yet?”
“Princess, we’re here!” Gu Yue replied respectfully.
Xiao Shi stood outside the Titanium Temple. She checked out the old temple, her clear eyes shone. “Is this the Titanium Temple?”
“Princess, when I arrived I felt odd too. I didn’t think that the Titanium Temple would look like that. I’ve seen the Tempest Temple too – it’s solemn, holy, and magnificent, which shows the honorable magnanimity of Buddhists. This place looks like a temple in a countryside instead.” Gu Yue laughed.
Xiao Shi said, “They practice a different Dharma and they’re incomparable. May I enter?”
“I’ll have to ask,” Gu Yue quickly answered.
He tapped on the door of the temple.
An intelligent looking novice opened the door and looked at him curiously then looked at Chu Li and Xiao Shi.
“Which one of you is Almsgiver Xiao?” the novice asked.
Xiao Shi answered, “Little monk, Xiao is my family name.”
“Indeed, a female almsgiver.” the novice smiled and greeted with her palms put together then announced loud and clear, “Master Senior Kong Hai welcomes the three of you.”
“Now Kong Hai becomes easy-going!” Xiao Shi scoffed.
Chu Li laughed. “It’s good enough that we can enter.”
Xiao Shi’s face turned dark. “Thank you very much, little monk!”
The novice welcomed the three of them into the temple and they entered the courtyard.
In the courtyard, over a hundred monks were there; old monks, teenage monks, and little monks.
The little monks were in the most inner circle, the teenage monks were in the middle circle and the old monks were on the outermost circle.
In the heart of the circle, Kong Hai sat calmly and peacefully.
Chu Li noticed that the golden lights were placed in a few of the stupa. Little people were vaguely seen sitting in full-lotus posture in the golden light which shrouded over the entire Titanium Temple. Chu Li’s Omniscient Mirror did not function here so he could not see anything at all.
It was hard to tell the monks who possessed divine powers apart from those who did not. From their appearances, they did not look like they practice martial arts.
Kong Hai crossed his legs as he sat on a yellow cattail hassock. Other than a purple cam wooden box, there was nothing else.
He shut his eyes and did not move.
Chu Li looked at him for a few moments. At that moment, Kong Hai was filled with a demeanor of a senior monk in Buddhism – he was calm and peaceful as if he was a completely different person from the Kong Hai that used to hunt after him to kill him.
The monks around remained still too. It was so quiet that they could only hear the sound of the wind around them. Their footsteps were loud and clear.
Kong Hai opened his eyes slowly and waved his hand.
The novice said, “Almsgiver Xiao, Almsgiver Chu, Master Senior Kong Hai welcomes the both of you.”
Gu Yue looked at the novice, the novice closed his eyes and did not say a word.
When Xiao Shi looked at Chu Li, he nodded.
Both of them walked past all the monks with bald heads and arrived before Kong Hai.
“Amitabha… Almsgiver Xiao, Almsgiver Chu, I welcome you!” Kong Hai greeted them with his palms closed.
Chu Li laughed and said, “Is the Revered Sir Kong Hai really going to pass away?”
“Yes. My destiny has come to an end and it’s time to return.” Kong Hai showed an amiable smile. He was calm.
Chu Li said, “Revered Sir before you go, can you help me with my confusions?”
Kong Hai smiled and said, “Almsgiver Chu, please go ahead.”
Chu Li said, “Revered Sir, I find it very hard to believe that you’d help King An to kill.”
“Why not?” Kong Hai laughed.
Chu Li shook his head. “Revered Sir, you must be disillusioned with the worldly wealth and splendor. I don’t think you’re doing this for power, are you?”
“I can kill, or not, I can help King An, or not, as a person who cultivated, if I can’t follow my heart, how can I see through the illusory of the world? Things that must be done, things that must not be done, they’re all just a piece of mind. When King An requested me to help, I could feel it in my heart that my opportunity had come so I followed King An’s instructions. It was not for anything else.” Kong Hai smiled.
Chu Li’s face changed slightly, he glanced slowly towards the monks who were sitting with their legs crossed.
The little ones looked intelligent, the teenage ones had a reflection of God, and the older ones were like dead trees. They looked calm and peaceful as they were placid.
Chu Li suddenly understood. When Kong Hai listened to King An’s orders to kill both of them, it was not for the Titanium Temple and it was not for King An too. He had just wanted to do it.
The way the Titanium Temple did things was different from the Tempest Temple. Everything they did was for self-cultivation as the world was just a place for that. Whether they would kill or not, it was all just for self-cultivation.
On the other hand, the Tempest Temple had a strict commandment which struck people with awe. Whereas the Titanium Temple paid no attention to the mortal world. They acted recklessly and did not spare a glance for the world, which was much scarier.
“Revered Sir, you had a feeling in your heart. What opportunity was it?” Chu Li asked.
Kong Hai answered, “My chance to leave my life has come. This is all thanks to you, Almsgiver Chu.”
Chu Li laughed. “I don’t deserve it.”
Kong Hai said, “When I killed you, I killed myself too. The Kong Hai you see now is not the Kong Hai from before. The Kong Hai now understands the mundane world and needs to leave the world behind. Of course, I’ll have to thank you, Almsgiver Chu!”
Chu Li buried himself in thought, his mind was flowing like an electric current.
Although the old monk’s words were unclear, Chu Li could understand it because he came from the Autumn Temple.
Perhaps the Titanium Sarira Skill made Kong Hai realize that when he killed someone, he cut off all the karma in the world. His concept of heart was lifted, so he could finally leave the world.
Kong Hai turned around and said, “Almsgiver Xiao.”
Xiao Shi looked at him calmly. “Old monk, what do you have to say?”
Kong Hai pushed the box forward. “Almsgiver Xiao, this is your hair. Not one strand is missing.”
Xiao Shi scoffed.
Chu Li received the box and opened it.
Indeed it was Xiao Shi’s hair. He placed the hair in his palm and rubbed it. There was a faint burnt smell and it turned into powder and fell to the ground as the wind blew.
Kong Hai took out the Sarira prayer beads on his left wrist slowly and stared at it for a moment and sighed with a complicated look. He passed it to Xiao Shi. “This prayer bead is a personal belonging that I carry with me at all times. I’m gifting it to you, Almsgiver Xiao. With this prayer bead on you, no divine powers can get near you.”
Chu Li immediately signaled to Xiao Shi that it was a previous item and she must accept it.
Xiao Shi frowned as she looked at the Sarira prayer bead. She shook her head and said, “Old monk, since this is your personal belonging, why are you gifting it to me? It’s better that you leave it for your descendants. Can’t you see that their eyes are already shining at the sight of it?”
However, Chu Li knew the reason she despised the Sarira prayer bead. Xiao Shi did not want to wear it because it was ugly.
Kong Hai put on a friendly smile then laughed out loud.
Xiao Shi looked at him snappily.
Kong Hai held back his laughter. “This is just a small token of appreciation from an old man like me. It’s also me apologizing to you, Almsgiver Xiao.”
“I accept your apology. There’s no need for the prayer bead. I think it’ll be better for you to leave it to your disciples and juniors.” Xiao Shi waved her hand.