Legend of the Great Sage (Chapter 201-Chapter 300)

He Yishi was completely dejected inside. Whether it be Li Qingshan or Xiao An, they had both reached a higher domain than him. He was filled with jealousy. The heavens were unfair! He had cultivated painstakingly for all these years, yet it could not even rival a year from Li Qingshan, or a day and night from Xiao An.

After a slight conversation, Zhang Lanqing could not help but sigh. “If it’s the school of Buddhism, then so be it. It’s a good place to join. However, with your talent, Qingshan, joining the school of Novels really is quite a pity.”

Li Qingshan took a sip of tea and said without minding, “The school of Novels is not all bad.”

Hao Pingyang said, “Yeah, it’s not all bad. This environment is suited for cultivation. Joining the school of Novels doesn’t mean you have to learn their arts. With your talent, Qingshan, you’ll definitely be able to reach Foundation Establishment in the future. By then, there’ll be plenty of good cultivation methods available to you.”

“Just as brother Hao has said.” Li Qingshan smiled. Hao Pingyang seemed like an unsophisticated person, but he was extremely sharp-witted, and his concern and encouragement moved him too. Zhang Lanqing was a prudent, honest person who did not want to offend anyone as well. Only He Yishi was rather strange, glaring at him. Who knew what he was thinking.

Hao Pingyang changed the topic. “Have you chosen your subjects?”

Li Qingshan said, “I haven’t yet. I heard there are quite a lot of subjects. I don’t even know where to start right now.”

Within the academy, from Contention island to the various other islands, they all had subjects, ranging from forging artifacts and alchemy to philosophy and literature. They covered everything, and disciples from other schools could listen in too. However, regular new disciples would primarily focus on the arts of their own schools once they joined the academy. Since Li Qingshan was reluctant to learn the arts of the school of Novels, these subjects were extremely important to him. They were also one of the reasons why he had joined the academy in the first place.

Hao Pingyang said, “Then that’s perfect. We’ll choose them for you. There’s quite a lot you need to know when it comes to choosing. Lanqing, you’ve brought a list of subjects, right?”

“I have.” Zhang Lanqing pulled out a piece of paper from his hundred treasures pouch in a hurry. It was covered in tiny words. Every single line was neat and uniform in size. Clearly, it had come from a printer and was not hand-written.

Li Qingshan lowered his head and read through them carefully—“Divinations and Symbols”, “Identifying Spiritual Herbs”, “Explanations for the Yi Wood Method of Living Qi” and so on. According to the timetabling, there were over a dozen days of classes. On the back of the paper were the times and locations for the classes, as well as the names of the instructors and professors. Apart from subjects that were directly related to cultivation, there were also subjects on literature and etiquette, or even appreciating music. There was everything.

This was all knowledge that Li Qingshan required the most. It would assist him in understanding everything about cultivation. He was rather impatient to learn as well, but if he really was supposed to choose from all these subjects, he really would be left at a loss. And, he noticed that there was a price at the end of a few subjects, such as a few subjects from the school of Music. They could only be taken at the cost of a few spiritual stones.

Hao Pingyang explained, “Some subjects can cover highly important and secretive aspects to certain schools, so they obviously won’t just teach it to anybody for free. Moreover, the professors need money too. However, as a primary disciple, it’ll all be easy. You can take any of these subjects for free.”

“Do the subjects of the school of Music also cover highly secretive subjectives? They actually want spiritual stones too.” Li Qingshan remarked in surprise.

Hao Pingyang smiled. “That’s because most of the disciples of the school of Music are females. If they don’t charge spiritual stones, there’ll be a great group of men mucking around in each subject.” He wiggled his eyebrows with a smirk at Li Qingshan. “If you have spare time, you should check it out too. Perhaps you’ll find a good match for you! It’s free to you anyway. There are a lot of people who would be jealous of you if they found out.”

Li Qingshan smiled. “How are Qi Practitioners lacking women? Can’t they just go looking outside? I’ve come to the academy for cultivation, not match-making.”

Hao Pingyang said, “Now you can’t say that. How can regular women rival the charm of female cultivators?”

Li Qingshan could not help but think of Gu Yanying, and he discovered that Hao Pingyang was right. Everyone was born the same way. There were only so many different combinations of facial features. Gu Yanying was not exactly any fairer than a regular woman either, but every twinkle in her eyes and every smile she gave was just so breath-taking.

This had nothing to do with the arts of charm. Just like how flaws of the inside would show themselves externally, “bearing” was no longer a mere concept. At the very least, she truly did possess the word “qi”.

However, Li Qingshan disagreed with Hao Pingyang’s suggestion. “Can you still be regarded as a qualified cultivator if you spend all your time thinking about a woman?”

Hao Pingyang said, “The path of cultivation is boundless. If you walk alone, won’t it be lonely? If you have a partner for dual cultivation, it’ll be like a combination of the qin zither and se zither, a complementary match. It’ll bring you great joy, and perhaps, you might even make it a little further. There are many people with companions like this in the academy, like him beside you.”

TL: A qin zither is a plucked seven-stringed Chinese instrument, while a se zither is a plucked twenty-five to fifty stringed Chinese instrument. It’s said that a combination between the two creates great music, which makes them a great pairing.

Li Qingshan looked at Zhang Lanqing in surprise. He never thought he would have a partner too. Zhang Lanqing’s darker face reddened slightly in embarrassment.



Hao Pingyang said, “Whenever we go out for some fun, he never comes with us. That’s the exact aspect that she fancies about him. Heh, honest people never suffer.”

“Don’t you have someone too, brother Hao?” Li Qingshan asked with a smile. The idea of bearing suited men too. Hao Pingyang was not handsome, but he was frank and generous. He could be regarded as quite charming too.

Zhang Lanqing immediately said, “Originally, there were people who took a fancy towards senior brother, but he spends all his spare time in the workshop, and whenever he leaves the academy, he indulges himself in women and alcohol. There’s no one who can put up with that.”

Hao Pingyang chuckled. “My hands are full already, so why would I have the time to deal with them?”

“And yet you’re advising me?” Li Qingshan broke into laughter. The Academy of the Hundred Schools was quite similar to the universities of his past life, but with even more freedom. Here, it did not matter even if there was a class you did not want to attend. All you needed to do was give the school leader some notice, and no one would care even if you went out travelling for a few months. You could do whatever you wanted as long as you paid the fees every year.

However, these disciples of the academy could not be compared with the abundant university students from his past life. They were true prodigies.

PS: One release for today. My back suddenly began hurting in the afternoon, and I felt quite ill. Don’t tell me this is a so-called occupational illness? Hopefully, I’ll be better after sleeping! (from the author, not the translator)





Chapter 296: Choosing Subjects and Missions | Legend of the Great Sage




Hao Pingyang said, “Even if you’re uninterested, listening to their music is still quite a rare treat.”