The Rebel Monk and the Buddhist Son

Fankong, the fourteenth Buddha's Chosen One of Spirit Mountain, was the closest anyone had come to attaining sainthood in the thousands of years since the Dao Inquiry Continent was founded. His accumulated merit was so immense that it could rival the heavens. A peerless figure like him should have gone down in history and been remembered for ages. Yet, for some unknown reason, no one in the cultivation world has dared mention his name in the past five hundred years. Even the Sword Venerable of the Sword Sect, hailed as the greatest in the martial world, refuses to speak of him. Only scattered records in folk writings tell of him. Some say he cared for all under heaven and saved all living beings, calling him a true Buddha among men. Some say he had severed all feelings and was incapable of emotion, calling him a true demon among men. Others say his aura was uncanny, capable of seducing both people and immortals, and that he must have been a true monster among men. But whatever the truth, this Buddha's Chosen One has been gone for five hundred years. Five hundred years later, a fortune-teller named Ning Yongji, plagued by illness, emerges from the depths of the mountains. His features are calm, he speaks little, and not a trace of spiritual energy stirs around him. Even those old acquaintances who have long since reached the pinnacle of the world would take one look at him and think he was a mortal who wouldn't live much longer. When the rumors reach Ning Yongji, he gives them a glance, smiles, and puts them out of his mind. In his eyes, the world makes far too much of him. Five hundred years ago, he wanted to ascend. Five hundred years later, all he wants is to ascend. Nothing more. *This is a story about a protagonist who only wants to ascend, while his old acquaintances, now one powerful big shot after another, come knocking, crying and clamoring about all sorts of inexplicable things and getting in the way of his ascension. *Of course, the biggest big shot has always been the protagonist. 2024.10.28 Theme: The Great Dao is impartial, yet one should cherish all living beings.