After saying his part the priest seemed to be waiting for a reply, but Li Yan was stuck in his own thoughts. He remembered the feeling of obsession and reverence when he laid his eyes on Mu Lan; and when he held her hand his emotion was fluctuating highly, even making him nearly let go of her hand. Even someone with his willpower had been fazed by that so he could roughly guess that the others won’t be having a good time getting along with her, either they will be taken by their impulse and commit some crime or become like a doll worshiping her.

The mind has always been a sanctuary for mortals, getting one's mind imprisoned or controlled is more of a taboo than being a physical slave. So only weak-willed fools who don’t realize that their emotion is being manipulated or strong wills who don’t get fazed by her powers will voluntarily make contact with her, and all the others will likely avoid her unless they want to get their thoughts manipulated.

Though Li Yan could empathize with her situation, following her for his whole life wasn’t a situation he was fond of.

“Priest, frankly speaking, I want to be her divine attendant but I hate to admit it that even my will falters before her presence and I started producing extremely obsessive thoughts towards her. So with all due respect, I am not worthy to serve her for life” Li Yan said out loud with an earnest expression on his face.

He had just come to the temple to find some work due to granny Ming recommendation, but with things spiraling out of control he was nearly made a diving attendant bound to service for life. But with his statement, he has already made his position clear. By saying that he had an obsession with her, he has already printed an image of a weak and trash personality, and by saying he can’t serve her for life he has already made his position clear of unwilling to serve her for life. ‘Well the priest looked a little intelligent so hopefully, he can get my message across’ Li Yan thought.

Priest: ‘ o_o’

Li Yan: ‘Hmm, what’s with the look of bewilderment on the priest's face, did he not get my message across, or is he actually dumb? Wait why has he suddenly started laughing, is he crazy too.’

“Hmm, I don’t want you to be her divine attendant, but for her happiness, I can only consider it. Let’s not talk about that for now; follow me inside the temple I want to gauge your potential to see if you have what it takes to be an expert” said the priest in a happy mood.

The priest was really happy, as those who have come in contact with Mu Lan wouldn’t be able to easily control their thoughts, and will never let go of the opportunity to be with her.

As for the rules and regulations of the temple, how can it be compared with his granddaughter's happiness, and more so ever the era of sage has long since been over, some little change with the rules won’t affect anyone. Little did he know this little decision of his will affect the pre-existence balance of all realms.

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

The eccentricity of the priest made Li Yan really confused. ‘One moment he was saying that he won’t accept me in the temple, and the next moment he lets go of his rules; are priests supposed to be like this?. Was it because the priest has gone old and senile, was he the same back on earth when he was old’ Li Yan thought.

“Rules are made by men so they can also be broken by men, moreover there isn’t much left in this old mountain. As for being the divine attendant of my granddaughter you must be dreaming, first I will transform you into an exceptional warrior and only then you will have a chance to be her attendant” said the priest, but listening to these Li Yan couldn't help but wonder if they both were on the same page, but seeing that the priest wanted to train him without asking anything of him, he could only follow him wryly.

The priest brought Li Yan in front of a black gate in the passage of the inner temple. “Try to open this gate,” the priest said.

Li Yan went forward and pushed the door but the door didn’t even budge a little. “Priest the door is closed,” Li Yan said feeling perplexed by his command. But the next moment his worldview was turned upside down again.

The priest moved in front of the door and pushed it lightly, and the black iron door which weighed several tons started opening. It was as if a truck was ramped into the door. Even if Li Yan had used every ounce of his energy in his previous life he wouldn’t have been able to do what the priest did, at least not as easily, not unless he broke through the realm of the mortal grandmaster to that of supreme grandmaster.

The priest had a smug look on his face seeing Li Yan being amazed, as this reaction was what he wanted to see. You have to first install fear and obedience into young priests; so that their worldview won’t get affected later when they gain power, if you let young people be arrogant, then when they grow up they would bring disaster to their temple due to their ignorance.

The world is filled with hidden tigers and crouching dragons, every long-lasting sect and organization makes sure that their core members are humble, if not then no matter how powerful they or their sects are it will invite an unprecedented calamity.

The priest entered the gate with long strides and Li Yan followed behind him quietly. "This mountain range where you stand is known as Sage mountain", the priest started explaining "It is said that there was a divine monkey who was successful in ascending into Sagehood in this mountain. After becoming a sage, he carried the entire 10,000 mountain range from the far reaches of the east and brought it here. And so this temple is known as the temple of 10,000 Gods".

"It is one of the archaic temples of the mortal realm and the core of the Sage Mountain. The foundations of this temple date back to the mythical era where gods and demons roamed free and dragons and phoenixes were aplenty."

"The mortal realm was the last of the realm to be created, so a war started for the ownership of the realm. Thou the realm belonged to mortals but the mortals were weakest among all. Taking pity on us the creator sends forth his children to enlighten us, so that we may carry hope and be a beacon in the dark days for all mortals, thus the Sages were born. Sages could comprehend the knowledge of heavenly Dao, becoming equal with heaven itself. Once a mortal becomes a sage he comprehends the laws of heaven and earth."

"The sages were not allowed to kill any living beings arbitrarily, as that are the laws of heaven, but their words carried untold powers, any word coming out from them will be true and will be converted into reality, so their words become heavens mandate. Once given, even they couldn’t take it back. "

"But alas even their era came to an end. In the Middle Ages, an emperor was born in the mortal realm; he waged war against heaven and even fragmented the Heavenly Dao. Without heavenly Dao, sages lost their source of power bringing an end to their order, and collapsing the belief that lasted through eras."

"My teacher the sage of nothingness was the last sage of this realm. Now, this old man wants to ask you, do you want to learn from this old man and beholder of the belief that has lasted through eras. Even though the path of sage has been lost but the knowledge of heaven remains undisputed."