The morning sun cast long shadows across Enlightenment Peak as Liu Chen's eyes opened to greet his tenth birthday. Three years of relentless cultivation had transformed the boy into something that barely resembled his former self. Where once a thin child had struggled with basic tasks, now lay a young man whose frame stretched nearly six feet in length, his body a testament to countless hours of grueling training.
Liu Chen rose from his simple sleeping mat, muscles rippling beneath his skin like coiled serpents ready to strike. All six of his arms bore the evidence of his dedication—bulging muscles that spoke of power beyond mortal comprehension. His hair, once long and unkempt, now maintained a clean, precise cut that framed his face with martial dignity. Despite Master Lian Shenlong's repeated suggestions to embrace the traditional bald pate of a monk, Liu Chen had resolutely refused, giving the matter no thought whatsoever.
Discarding his sleeping garments, Liu Chen donned his most prized possession—black Buddhist monk robes adorned with intricate red flame patterns that danced across the fabric like living fire. The customized robes had been a hard-won prize from his ninth birthday, requiring considerable begging before his master had finally relented.
Across his muscular frame, red Buddhist markings and tattoos covered every inch of skin save for his face, each symbol a testament to his growing mastery of the sacred Buddhist arts.
He wore nothing on his feet, as that was how it had always been for Asura, and the feeling of feeling the Earth beneath him gave Liu Chen a certain enlightened feeling. Like he was truly on his own path to Nirvana.
As Liu Chen prepared to begin his morning routine, Master Lian Shenlong appeared with the silent grace that marked all truly powerful cultivators.
"Asura," the old master spoke, his voice carrying the weight of years and wisdom, "once you have completed your duties, meet me in the hidden chambers beside the Northern Pavilion."
Liu Chen immediately dropped into a respectful bow. "This disciple obeys."
The familiar routine of cleaning statues, sweeping floors, tending plants, and polishing walls proceeded with mechanical precision. Yet Liu Chen's mind wandered to what awaited him in the hidden chambers. This would not be his first visit to that secret sanctuary—two years ago, upon breaking through to the Divine Court Realm, he had first been granted access to the Buddhist cultivation methods that allowed him to shape his energy according to the ancient teachings.
Now, at the peak stage of the Divine Court Realm and trembling on the edge of another breakthrough, Liu Chen had achieved what hadn't been witnessed in centuries—talent so remarkable that even the heavens seemed to take notice.
Completing his tasks with practiced efficiency, Liu Chen made his way to the concealed entrance beside the Northern Pavilion. Three precise knocks echoed in the morning air.
"Master, this disciple requests entry," Liu Chen called respectfully.
"Enter."
The chamber revealed itself in all its familiar glory—weapons of countless varieties adorned the walls, while ancient scrolls containing techniques beyond mortal imagination lined the shelves. Master Lian Shenlong sat cross-legged upon a massive cushion, a small table positioned before him bearing tea that steamed with aromatic promise.
"Asura," Lian Shenlong began, stroking his beard thoughtfully, "your progress continues to astound even this old master. The sect tournament approaches—held once every four years, it will provide the perfect stage for you to test your martial prowess against worthy opponents."
Liu Chen's eyes lit up with barely contained excitement. After years of training without true combat, the prospect of actual sparring matches filled him with anticipation.
"This disciple would be honored to participate," Liu Chen replied, bowing deeply.
Lian Shenlong nodded approvingly, then rose with fluid grace. "Come. Let us see how well your training has progressed."
Crossing his middle and index fingers, the master disappeared in a burst of golden radiance—the Soul Chase technique that allowed instantaneous travel for those who had reached the Nascent Soul Divinity Realm. For lesser cultivators, attempting such a feat would result in immediate death from energy expenditure.
Liu Chen raced after his master, arriving at the main courtyard to find the old monk standing calmly within a sparring ring beside a small open pavilion. The message was unmistakable.
Taking his position at the opposite end of the ring, Liu Chen felt his heart race with anticipation. This would be his first true test.
"To provide a fair challenge," Lian Shenlong announced, "this master will suppress his cultivation to peak Divine Court Realm. Come, Asura. Show me the fruits of your training."
Without hesitation, Liu Chen lunged forward, unleashing the Buddhist Fist Technique with all six arms moving in perfect coordination. His punches moved faster than mortal eyes could follow, breaking the sound barrier and creating thunderous sonic booms that echoed across the mountainside. Yet each strike met only the casual palm of his master, blocked with insulting ease.
"Disappointing," Lian Shenlong said as the final punch was deflected. "If this is all my years of teaching have produced..."
Stung by the criticism, Liu Chen leaped high into the air, channeling qi into his heel as he brought down a devastating axe kick. The master smiled and stepped back gracefully, allowing the attack to impact the ground with earth-shattering force. Stone cracked and shattered beneath the blow, sending debris flying in all directions.
"Master, was that sufficient?" Liu Chen asked hopefully.
Lian Shenlong shook his head with visible disappointment. "If this is your limit, you will be decimated in the sect battles. Show me your grand techniques, or admit defeat now."
Fire burned in Liu Chen's veins as he began gathering primal qi from the surrounding environment. Grand techniques—the jealously guarded secrets of each sect—represented the pinnacle of martial artistry. Drawing upon his years of Buddhist training, Liu Chen compressed the accumulated energy into his palm.
"Buddhist Hand Seal!" he roared, unleashing a five-foot-tall golden palm that blazed with sacred scripts meaning 'nirvana' and 'enlightenment.'
For the first time, Lian Shenlong smiled with approval. "Better. But observe the difference in our mastery."
The master's own palm seal erupted forth—ten feet tall and radiating power that made Liu Chen's technique appear pitiful by comparison. The colossal golden hand completely overwhelmed his attack and continued its destructive path. Liu Chen dove desperately to the right, barely avoiding the explosion that left a perfect five-fingered crater in the ground.
Sweat beaded on Liu Chen's forehead as he realized the vast gulf that still separated him from true mastery. Channeling double the qi he had used before, he rushed forward again, his body blazing with golden energy. Punches and kicks created shockwaves that rippled through the air, yet his master continued to dodge with maddening ease.
"Pathetic," Lian Shenlong taunted. "With such weakness, how will you ever protect those you love? Your mother still waits in the Wang household, suffering while you play at being strong."
The words struck Liu Chen's heart like physical blows. Memories of his earlier life—the abuse, the helplessness, his mother's tears—ignited a rage that burned hotter than any forge. Primal qi began flowing into him from every direction, his body shining like a miniature sun as power coursed through his meridians.
Lian Shenlong's eyes widened with recognition and joy. "A breakthrough during battle! Impossible!"
Liu Chen felt the familiar sensation of his cultivation base advancing, qi condensing and refining as he leaped four meters into the air. At the peak of his jump, he began compressing primal energy into a technique that surpassed anything he had previously attempted.
"Dhyana Mudra!" he bellowed.
A twenty-foot circle of compressed qi materialized, emblazoned with a golden yin-yang pattern that pulsed with Buddhist power. As the technique reached completion, Liu Chen's cultivation finally broke through—the early stage Foundation Establishment Realm was achieved! The sensation of an almost unlimited qi flowing through his body was intoxicating.
The massive Dhyana Mudra descended toward his master at tremendous speed, carrying enough force to level a small mountain. Yet instead of concern, Lian Shenlong threw back his head and laughed with pure delight.
"Magnificent! You truly are a talent seen once every few centuries! Very well, Asura—let this master show you what true power looks like!"
The suppression on Lian Shenlong's cultivation base shattered like glass. His eyes blazed with energy as he elevated his displayed power to the Nascent Soul Divinity Realm. Behind him, reality itself seemed to bend as his Nascent Soul Avatar manifested - the one-hundred tribulations underworld dharma body.
A colossal golden Buddha—two hundred feet tall and one hundred fifty feet wide—materialized above the monastery. Ten spinning lotus leaves rotated beneath the Avatar's base while a magnificent halo crowned its serene features. The sight was visible even from the distant city below, where common folk gasped in awe and paid silent respects to the peerless expert dwelling upon Enlightenment Peak.
The ten leaves beneath the Avatar marked Lian Shenlong as peak Nascent Soul Divinity Realm—a revelation that staggered Liu Chen's comprehension. His master was even more powerful than he had dared imagine.
The massive one-hundred tribulations Buddha Avatar casually blocked Liu Chen's Dhyana Mudra as if swatting an insect. Yet when the golden giant turned to locate its opponent, Liu Chen had vanished.
Behind the Avatar, primal qi suddenly spiked as Liu Chen revealed his position. A fifty-foot golden palm seal materialized instantly, aimed at the concealed attacker.
But Liu Chen had not been idle during his moment of concealment. Drawing upon the deepest teachings of Buddhist cultivation, he quickly sat down into his lotus position, and began to recite the sacred words that would unlock his greatest technique:
"Once the body is at its peak, and is fused with the power of nature in perfect harmony, only will the soul become one with the fusion, and that fusion shall give birth to the Arhat Body. Obtaining this body is to be free of the cycle of rebirth, attaining enlightenment and becoming one with nirvana."
Golden qi began to outline Liu Chen's form, expanding beyond his physical body until a ten-foot-tall Avatar manifested—an exact replica of himself seated in lotus position. Eight prayer beads adorned the Avatar's neck, each representing a principle of the Eightfold Path: right views, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.
The golden replica of Liu Chen quickly shattered the incoming palm seal into golden particles.
But Liu Chen was not finished. Channeling every drop of his qi reserves, he created two perfect copies of his Arhat Avatar, positioning them flanking the original. Three golden Arhats now faced the colossal Buddha, their combined presence radiating power that made the very air tremble.
"Arhat Body!?" Lian Shenlong whispered, his voice carrying both pride and amazement. "Impossible... at his age..."
The three Arhat Avatars opened their mouths in perfect synchronization, and Liu Chen's voice emerged as visible golden waves that rippled through reality itself. The ancient Buddhist teachings flowed forth with power that transcended mere words:
"Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule."
The first wave of golden sound struck Lian Shenlong's Avatar, causing even the mighty Buddha to stagger slightly.
"Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth."
"The mind is everything. What you think you become."
Each phrase carried the weight of cosmic truth, the accumulated wisdom of countless enlightened masters channeled through Liu Chen's pure intent.
"You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger."
"Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without."
The golden waves intensified, reality bending around the profound truths being spoken.
"No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path."
"You only lose what you cling to."
"The root of suffering is attachment."
The very foundations of Enlightenment Peak began to resonate with the sacred words.
"It is better to travel well than to arrive."
"A man is not called wise because he talks and talks again; but if he is peaceful, loving and fearless then he is in truth called wise."
As the final teaching echoed across the mountain, silence fell like a curtain. The three Arhat Avatars slowly faded, their golden light returning to Liu Chen's exhausted form. Even Lian Shenlong's mighty Buddha Avatar flickered and dissolved, the display of power having served its purpose.
Master and disciple stood facing each other in the devastated courtyard, surrounded by the evidence of their incredible battle. Craters pocked the ground, and the very air seemed to shimmer with residual qi.
Lian Shenlong's face bore an expression Liu Chen had never seen before—a mixture of profound pride, amazement, and something approaching reverence.
"Asura," the master said softly, "in all my thousands of years of life, I have never witnessed such talent. You have not merely broken through to Foundation Establishment—you have touched the very essence of Buddhist enlightenment itself."
Liu Chen swayed on his feet, exhaustion threatening to overwhelm him. Yet within his dantian, he could feel the stable foundation of his new cultivation realm, solid as mountain bedrock and twice as enduring.
"The tournament of sects will be hard however. Prodigies just like you will be competing from all across the Province, but unlike you - they will fight to kill." Lian Shenlong continued. "But that is no longer our primary concern. Asura... Since it is your birthday, I have prepared for you a suitable gift."
Liu Chen, barely being able to stand, wore an expression of pure joy on his face upon hearing this, as if the very sentence itself had invigorated him and blew away all of his tiredness.
"This disciple sincerely thanks his Master for having such benevolent thoughts." He said cupping his hands and bowing.
Lian Shenlong looked at Liu Chen, as he saw the image of a dirty little boy beside him, looking at the young man he had grown into in just a couple of years. He felt as if he was truly this boy's father.
As the saying goes, A Master for a day is a father for a lifetime.
He then used soul chase to go to his hidden chambers and receive eight items.
As Liu Chen watched this action, a self depreciating smile came across his face. 'So he still has enough energy to use that technique..huh. I shouldn't blame myself for being too weak though, its just his fault for being too damn strong.'
As he let out a small chuckle at his own foolishness thinking he could really push his master into a corner, he finally allowed himself to give in to the nagging state of unconsciousness that kept gripping at his body.
Right before his mind succumbed to the impending darkness, memories of his years spent together cultivating with his master surfaced inside of his thoughts. He inwardly smiled as he now understood he had found a father, one that truly cared for him and was proud of the person he was becoming and who he already was.
'One day, I should introduce my mother to Master. I think with their personalities they would get along fine.'
This had been his final thought before falling into his slumber.
His master had long since come back, watching Liu Chen from a far with a proud smile on his face.
"You truly are the one whose worthy of these teachings, Asura. I'm joyful at the fact I get to be called your teacher." He slowly walked over to the sleeping boy, and lifted him up with his energy.
It wouldn't have looked right with a small old man carrying a boy who was way bigger than him.
As Lian Shenyong walked over to the Western Pavillion to put Asura in bed, a small tear drop escaped his small eyes.
The age of Asura had truly begun.