Chapter 334: Valley of Saints

As tumultuous events shook the east, a tanned and herculean Lianist monk knelt at the gilded steps of an ancient temple. A lotus sculpture hovered above the temple's flat roof, cast in pure gold and rippling with boundless Holy Force.

A procession of Lianist monks stood on the stairs, two columns of 12, each wearing white monastic robes embroidered with a golden lotus. Radiant Lianist runes swirled around the 24 monks. A 25th monk led them all, an old, wrinkled and shriveled man with a long gray mustache that fell over his hanging beard.

That senior monk stared at the kneeling giant, sighing continuously.

"Head abbot, I implore you, please allow me to borrow the Martyred Bones of Abbot Yuanzhen!" Qingxin lowered his head, kowtowing at the Golden Lotus' Head Abbot in complete humility.

The 24 monks standing behind the head abbot had heard a lot about Qingxin, and never in their wildest dreams did they expect that they'd one day see this legendary figure prostrating himself at the door of the Golden Lotus Temple.

Conflicting emotions flashed through their eyes. On the one hand, they felt vindicated. No matter how rogue, all monks returned to the Golden Lotus — seeking its help in the darkest of times. But on the other hand, they believed that, more than anyone else, the Lotus didn't wish to see its children lower themselves so.

"The Golden Lotus be praised. Hengye Wuxin, it's not that I don't want to help you. Abbot Yuanzhen was the last Perfected Monk of the Great Desolation World — the closest entity to sainthood. To the Golden Lotus Temple's monks, his bones hold much more than cultural value. They are inviolable vectors of enlightenment that each one of us pays homage to. I am only an Ascendant of the Holy Road and do not have the authority to touch, much less give you the bones of Abbot Yuanzhen.

Only a senior Perfected can request the relics of another Perfected. In theory, you, as Yuanzhen's senior on the Pyramid of Perfection, should have this right. And though you learned Lianism from the Black Lotus Temple, I shouldn't have the right to deny you Yuanzhen's relics.

But Hengye Wuxin, your Perfection is flawed. It was flawed before, and it still is now. That flaw brands you as an Imperfect — a pariah of the Holy Road. Until you resolve that flaw, you can never achieve true Perfection...and become a Saint. And because of that same flaw...you're not qualified to touch Yuanzhen's bones." Enlightened, Eminent, Ascendant, Perfected, Holy, and Transcendent. These were the six levels of the Holy Road. But more than levels of Lianist enlightenment, they represented lifeform tiers.

In pure enlightenment level, there wasn't much difference between a Perfected Monk and a Saint — granted of course that the monk achieved true Perfection. But more often than not, true Perfection was only possible in death — at the moment where monks entered the Zenith of Enlightenment.

Abbot Yuanzhen, for example, achieved Perfection during the Great Desolation War, after being betrayed by the immortal cultivators that he'd saved from the unstoppable demon hordes.

The Holy Road was both the strongest and weakest path. As a pure Lianist monk, Yuanzhen could single-handedly repel an army of 100,000 demons, but he couldn't resist a simple knife in the back. That knife forced him into the Zenith of Enlightenment, where he achieved Perfection.

Qingxin, on the other hand, relied solely on ordinary meditation — which made it near impossible for him to achieve Perfection without at least one flaw.

"I might have initially learned Lianism from the Black Lotus Temple, but after the collapse of my Holy Road, I learned everything back from scratch. The previous Clear Heart Abbot taught me all the precepts I abide by now. So, just like him, I follow the principles of the Golden Lotus Temple. Head Abbot, I'm not asking you this favor as Hengye Wuxin of the Black Lotus Temple, but as Qingxin of the Clear Heart Monastery.

To prove that I'm entirely devoted to the Golden Lotus Temple's ways, I'm willing to go through the Samadhi Purge!" Qingxin banged his head against the gilded steps, burning with determination. The Samadhi Purge was the supreme trial of the Golden Lotus Temple, a baptism of Holy Fire that would burn the monk's soul for each sin that he ever committed.

Seven days per sin, till the last sin had been cleansed from the monk's karma. With his past as Hengye Wuxin, Qingxin had no hope to survive a Samadhi Purge.

"The Golden Lotus be praised. Why would I make you go through the Samadhi Purge? I am not trying to kill you.

Wuxin or Qingxin, it doesn't matter. This isn't about the Creed of Liberation that you follow. You went from the Creed of Limitless Tyranny to the Creed of Eternal Peace. As a Lianist practitioner, I respect that change. But as the Head Abbot of the Golden Lotus Temple, I cannot allow you to touch Yuanzhen's relics.

Qingxin...why are you here?" The head abbot asked.

"..." Aware that all answers to this question were incorrect, Qingxin held his tongue.

"The Golden Lotus be praised. Every word that you speak is in contradiction with your Holy Road. Do you think I cannot guess why you want Yuanzhen's relics? Only with the shelter of a Perfected Monk can you enter the Valley of Saints, where all new Saints leave their relics before rising to the Pure Lands. You want Yuanzhen's bones so you can enter the valley and rob...the relics of a Saint."

"I...Yes! But I can pledge on my Creed that...this is not for personal gains!" Panicking from the head abbot's words, Qingxin rushed a reply.

"I know, and this is also why you can never become a true Perfected. Qingxin, you are in tune with the natural laws. This gift equips you with innate talent that few in the past, present and future will ever be able to compare to. Thanks to that gift, you should have long achieved Sainthood — no — by now, you should rank among the Transcendents of the Holy Road, able to stand right beside the Golden Lotus.

So why...are you still an Imperfect? Because time and time again, you've allowed those closest to you...to corrupt your creed.

In good or evil, one must stay committed. How can you call yourself a Lianist monk, when your commitment to your own Holy Road, your own precepts, your own creed...is so weak? Qingxin, stop allowing these illusory bonds to corrupt your path. The Golden Lotus' mercy is boundless. You still have time...to save yourself from ruin."