Chapter 5 Is this still a human? Is this still a human?!

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Great Zen Temple, ancient lamps before age-old Buddhas.

Five years had hardly left a trace in this place.

Sutra Pavilion.

"Five years already..."

Lin Yuan sat cross-legged, his eyes deep and serene.

Unconsciously, he had already been in this world for five years.

A quarter of the twenty-year residency period had passed.

In these five years, Lin Yuan had immersed himself in the understanding and cultivation of the law.

He had also gained a certain level of understanding of this world.

As for the sources of his understanding, they naturally came from the Great Zen Temple.

Being the holy land of the Buddha Gate and one of the great martial sects of the world,

The Great Zen Temple was naturally not truly isolated from the world.

On the contrary, the temple's intelligence network had infiltrated every aspect of the world.

Using Buddhist belief as a cover for their intelligence, they were omnipresent.

According to what Lin Yuan knew,

The Dali Dynasty currently ruled the Central Plains, at the height of its power.

All the lands far and wide submitted to its rule.

Even a thousand-year great martial sect like the Great Zen Temple had to bow its head before the Dali Dynasty.

According to intelligence gathered by the temple,

There were at least six martial arts grandmasters serving the Dali Dynasty.

To put into perspective,

The grandmasters of martial arts in the world today added together would scarcely exceed a dozen.

With just one grandmaster to guard, the Great Zen Temple could dominate the martial fraternity.

The deterrent power of the Dali Dynasty, employing six martial arts grandmasters, can only be imagined.

The foundation of the Dali Dynasty rested on its founder,

A great grandmaster himself.

Grandmaster.

Great grandmaster.

A difference of just one word,

Yet as different as heaven and earth.

Since ancient times, each era would produce several grandmasters.

As few as ten or as many as several dozen.

But the advent of a great grandmaster... was an event that might only occur once in several hundred years.

The Dali Dynasty swept across all under heaven, forcing even grand martial sects like the Great Zen Temple to submit,

All thanks to that peerless founding great grandmaster.

So much so that, to this day, many years after the demise of that founding great grandmaster,

The Dali Dynasty still has the means to command so many martial arts grandmasters.

If we were to say that Houtian, Innate, and even Grandmaster,

Are merely enhancements and transformations at the physical body level,

Then the great grandmaster... is an elevation of the spirit and soul.

A living great grandmaster needs only a glance to cause an ordinary grandmaster's heart to tremble.

"Spiritual exotic force..."

Lin Yuan touched his brow.

The founder of the Great Zen Temple, Grandmaster Bodhidharma from a thousand years ago, was also a great grandmaster.

Therefore, the Great Zen Temple was not short on descriptions concerning great grandmasters.

Compared to grandmasters,

The most significant characteristic of a great grandmaster is the beginning of tapping into the power of the spirit and soul.

To break through to great grandmaster, one must consolidate and take control of this spiritual exotic force.

But how intangible is the spirit and soul?

An ordinary grandmaster might spend decades without ever feeling such power.

And even if a grandmaster did realize it,

Any slight miscalculation during the consolidation of the spiritual exotic force,

Could lead to a fate of no redemption.

After all, physical injuries can heal over time with proper care.

But on the level of the spirit and soul... no such negligence can be tolerated.

Under normal circumstances,

Out of a hundred grandmasters,

Eighty would never touch upon the level of spirit and soul in their whole lives.

Nineteen would fail to gather the spiritual exotic force and die in the attempt.

In the end, only one grandmaster might advance to the realm of great grandmaster.

...

"The hundred and sixty-third secret technique to break into the realm of great grandmaster almost poses no danger..."

Lin Yuan mused within.

Since the year before last, after he used the 'Yi Jin Washing Marrow Tempering Body Exchanging Blood Refining Divine Skill' to nurture his body and successfully step into the realm of grandmaster,

Lin Yuan had been pondering over the law to ascend to great grandmaster in his spare time.

With Lin Yuan's Against-Heaven's Understanding, realizing and even developing the spirit and soul was not a problem.

What was difficult was how to gather the spiritual exotic force without any risk.

Such a fundamental force related to the soul, even for Lin Yuan, required utmost care.

The founder Bodhidharma of the Great Zen Temple had indeed left behind the method to break through to the great grandmaster level.

Moreover, it was stored on the third floor of the Sutra Pavilion.

However, the death rate of that method was alarmingly high, at ninety-six percent.

A ninety-six percent death rate... though better than the ninety-nine percent death rate out there, was still far from acceptable to Lin Yuan.

That's why he intended to create a completely risk-free secret technique for ascending to great grandmaster, drawing upon his own Against-Heaven's Understanding.

After creating one hundred sixty-two secret techniques,

The breakthrough method he devised a few days prior, the hundred and sixty-third, left Lin Yuan quite satisfied.

It not only reduced the risk of advancing to great grandmaster to almost zero,

Even if some extreme situation arises, such as being disturbed by an external force during the breakthrough.

Or if Lin Yuan suddenly doesn't want to break through anymore.

There is still room for remedy,

At most, a few years of recuperation would suffice for recovery.

Unlike other secret techniques for breakthrough, which leave no room for turning back.

"To step into the realm of the Great Grandmaster is to do so today."

After mulling it over for a while, Lin Yuan decided to begin his breakthrough immediately.

...

Meanwhile.

The Abbot of the Great Zen Temple, along with the Head of the Martial Monk Institute Huiwen and several other institute heads, were chatting leisurely.

"Counting the time, it has been three or four years since Huizhen, our junior brother, set foot outside the Sutra Pavilion, hasn't it?"

The Disciplinary Institute Head reflected for a moment before speaking.

Huizhen, our junior brother... that is, Lin Yuan.

After becoming a disciple of Elder Long Eyebrow, Lin Yuan's seniority in the Great Zen Temple was equal to that of the Abbot,

Belonging to the 'Hui' generation.

When the Abbot mentioned Lin Yuan, he would refer to him as a junior brother.

"Correct."

The Abbot of the Great Zen Temple nodded and said.

Since Lin Yuan moved into the Sutra Pavilion five years ago, except for the first year when he occasionally came out,

He hadn't stepped out of the Sutra Pavilion's gate in the following four years.

"It is said that Huizhen, our junior brother, cultivated Innate Qi at the age of three, and that he is a martial arts prodigy that comes once in a millennium; yet his dedication to the Martial Tao transcends that of ordinary people."

The Head of the Miscellaneous Tasks Institute spoke.

The others nodded in agreement.

Four years without leaving the Sutra Pavilion, spending every day with martial arts scriptures,

Demonstrating a level of focus and patience that many high-ranking monks do not possess.

"I wonder how junior brother Huizhen's cultivation is coming along?"

A trace of curiosity appeared on the face of a third institute head.

Having merely observed a practice of the Arhat Fist and consequentially stepped into the Innate Realm,

Everyone wanted to know what level Lin Yuan had achieved after spending five years in the Sutra Pavilion.

"With junior brother Huizhen's talent, he might already be at the Peak of the Innate Realm."

The Disciplinary Institute Head speculated.

"Innate Realm Peak?"

The Abbot of the Great Zen Temple hesitated for a moment.

The Martial Tao of this world is divided into the Postnatal, Innate, Grandmaster, and Great Grandmaster realms.

Although Lin Yuan stepped into the Innate Realm as a three-year-old child,

A child that age usually lacks the vitality and blood energy,

Surely a foundation like that would require extensive time to compensate.

In five years... Lin Yuan might have just made up for it and reached the standards of a regular Innate Martial Tao Expert.

"Perhaps."

The Abbot of the Great Zen Temple pondered briefly before nodding slightly.

He didn't believe that junior brother Huizhen, after compensating for his poor foundation,

Could have further cultivated to the peak of the Innate Realm.

However, since Lin Yuan was Elder Long Eyebrow's disciple and their peer, he had to be careful not to be too dismissive.

"You two old fellows, have so little confidence in junior brother Huizhen?"

"Maybe junior brother Huizhen has already become a Grandmaster by now."

The Head of the Martial Monk Institute glanced in the direction of the Sutra Pavilion, a smile emerging on his face as he spoke.

He was the first to recognize Lin Yuan's martial arts talent.

"Grandmaster..."

The Disciplinary Institute Head and the Head of the Miscellaneous Tasks Institute looked at each other and shook their heads slightly.

Even though they could sense the Head of the Martial Monk Institute was partly jesting, neither responded to support the claim.

After all, that was... a Grandmaster.

Throughout the heavens, they were titanic figures that could be counted on one's hands.

"Okay, enough about junior brother Huizhen..."

The Abbot of the Great Zen Temple felt the idle conversation was drifting into the absurd and immediately intervened to stop them.

However.

At that moment.

Boom!!!

An invisible surge rose to the sky, transforming into ripples spreading in all directions.

"Is this spiritual psychic power?"

"A Great Grandmaster's spiritual psychic power?"

The Abbot of the Great Zen Temple and the institute heads' pupils suddenly contracted.

Instantly, they felt a sense of shock, their faces showing signs of fear.

When did another Great Grandmaster appear in the world?

And that Great Grandmaster had come to their Great Zen Temple?

"No, this spiritual psychic force, it's coming from the Sutra Pavilion!"

"It's junior brother Huizhen's aura!"

The Disciplinary Institute Head seemed to realize something, his eyes bulging.

"Huizhen's junior brother's aura?"

"Spiritual psychic power? Great Grandmaster?"

The Abbot of the Great Zen Temple and the Head of the Martial Monk Institute gasped as if they had seen a ghost.

Based on the origin of this spiritual psychic power and its aura,

A possibility they couldn't help but consider dawned on them.

Could it be that junior brother Huizhen, who had stayed in the Sutra Pavilion for five years, had stepped into the realm of Great Grandmaster?

Upon realizing this, a sense of absurdity washed over them.

Being Innate at three years old was one thing,

But now a Great Grandmaster at eight?

Is he still human?

Is he still human?!!