Traveling the Heavens in Thunderbolt

Chapter 22: War and Natural Dangers
Cheng Qian took the first move, and his first move was to destroy "The arrogant dragon will regret".

The Sweeping Monk also responded with his palm strike. As the two of them clashed, dust flew all around them. Everyone could only retreat to avoid being hit by the flying stones.

In the center of the battle, the Sweeping Monk and Cheng Qian were unaware of anything and only had eyes for each other.

One has deep inner strength, the other one is fierce and powerful. Between punches and kicks, what is being compared is the depth of internal strength and even more so, the skill of using the strength.

The fight between the two sides became more and more intense, with pushing and tackling, punching and palming, all showing the true meaning of martial arts.

After a round of competition, both sides were shocked and retreated.

But the sweeping monk said, "Your Majesty is truly a genius. You have been able to integrate all kinds of martial arts into one and reach new heights. And your Majesty is also very intelligent. You have been able to continuously improve during the fights, absorbing other people's martial arts moves and mastering them effortlessly. I wonder if there is a name for it?"

"This skill is called 'Senluo Wanxiang'. In our fight just now, I am not as good as you in terms of internal strength, and you are not as good as me in terms of skills. Now it seems that you have entered the realm of innateness. Is that right or not?"

The sweeping monk replied: "This state is indeed the innate state. With your majesty's ability, it is only a matter of time."

"You and I have rested, let's do it again."

As soon as he finished speaking, another round of life-and-death battle began, with the two showing off everything they had learned throughout their lives.

The Sweeping Monk used the "72 Shaolin Kung Fu Skills", sometimes the "Vedanta Palm" and sometimes the "Dharma Finger", and Cheng Qian also responded with various skills, which he performed at will, with every move being precise and wonderful.

Everyone watching the fight was dumbfounded, because every martial art that Cheng Qian used was either a unique martial arts skill, or would take an ordinary person ten to twenty years or even a lifetime to master, yet they were nowhere near as proficient as Cheng Qian's.

The two sides fought fiercely for three hours, from afternoon to evening, and from evening to night.

The Miao troops in the surrounding areas set up campfires in the area to prevent any accidents from affecting this decisive battle.

After fighting for a long time, the Sweeping Monk has realized that his advantage is the foundation and innate state he has acquired over hundreds of years.

He then made up his mind, gathered all his life's skills and used force to overwhelm the opponent.

As the tremendous palm force came at him, Cheng Qian also showed his full strength for the first time.

The unmatched internal forces of both sides collided, and the surrounding campfires were blown out by the impact of the energy.

When the personal soldiers attacked again, it was Cheng Qian who was weaker and was repelled for the first time. Unexpectedly, his "Infinite Jade Body" protected him and he was not hurt at all.

Seeing that this was ineffective, the Sweeping Monk stopped immediately and said, "I didn't expect that Your Majesty has created a set of body protection skills. I have used almost all my strength, but I still can't hurt Your Majesty at all. If the battle continues, I will definitely lose."

Cheng Qian said, "If that's the case, wouldn't it be boring? How about you and I each use our strongest moves? If you can block it, you win. How do you think?"

"Can"

Cheng Qian gathered his strength and breathed in his energy. Before he launched his move, his entire body was already filled with the image of a weapon. "Pay attention, this move is my strongest one."

Without Cheng Qian's reminder, the sweeping monk did not dare to take it lightly, and used all his strength to create a wall of air in front of him. He wanted to first rub the edge of this move, and then follow up with this one.

As Cheng Qian performed the move, heaven and earth changed dramatically, and thunder rose from the ground, as if this move was not meant to appear in the world and that heaven was about to bring down punishment.

Cheng Qian ignored him, and the aura of war in his body suddenly burst out, and the move was about to be perfected. When he was about to launch it, Cheng Qian shouted: "Master, you are so lucky to be the first person in the world to see this move. Be careful!"

"Six Disasters Forbidden Style·Military Disaster and Natural Danger!"

Cheng Qian's two palms came with the aura of weapons, and the momentum was like that of thousands of troops. The wall of energy that was condensed could not withstand such a powerful force and was broken immediately.

The sweeping monk behind the Qi wall also used his century-old foundation, integrated the power of the 72 Shaolin unique skills, and finally revealed his own roots, which were the long-lost "Xisui Jing" of Shaolin. Integrating the power of Shaolin moves and combining it with his own innate state, the sweeping monk, like the predecessors of Shaolin, made the martial arts he learned from the Buddhist scriptures "illuminate the world."

The moves collided, raising a cloud of dust. When the dust settled, Cheng Qian and the Sweeping Monk were left standing.

Just as everyone held their breath, a drop of blood fell into the dust, breaking the silence. It was the first time Cheng Qian was injured.

Cheng Qian ignored the blood on his lips and sighed, "Is this the innate realm? I did see it, but it's a pity for you."

Before Xiao Feng and the others could cheer, they heard the sweeping monk say, "I hope Your Majesty will keep your promise."

Cheng Qian wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with a wave of his hand and said, "Sir, don't joke."

Then he jumped on his horse and said to the commander of the guards, "Let's go back to the camp."

"Yes"

After hearing this, the Sweeping Monk seemed to have fulfilled his wish and closed his eyes.

Before Xiao Feng and the others could step forward, the aura of war was fully revealed all over his body, and then it broke out of his body, with all his meridians severed, and the blood in his body spilled all over the world.

A great monk of his generation, he finally followed through on his teachings and passed away at this point.

When Xuanci and the monks went forward to collect the body, a voice came from afar, "Abbot Xuanci, you must not forget the bet between you and me. From now on, Shaolin Temple must not rebel against my Miaojiang rule. Otherwise, I will follow the example of Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou."
-
I am the dividing line -
After the Shaolin battle, the martial arts conference, which was once so noisy, became completely silent after the death of the Sweeping Monk.

All major martial arts sects ceased their anti-Miao activities, making it easy for the Miao to consolidate their rule over Shandong, Jiangnan and other places.

The only good news for the Song court was that the Liao Kingdom formally agreed to form an alliance with the Song.

Under the strong persuasion of Xiao Feng who had just returned from Shaolin, Yelu Hongji finally realized the ambition of Miaojiang. Regardless of the fact that the country had just gone through war, he mobilized the entire country's troops as the emperor of Liao and the common ruler of the grassland, and assembled the most elite palace troops of Liao and adult men from various tribes on the grassland, totaling nearly 600,000 troops (mainly the essential parts such as the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun).

The Song Dynasty finally showed its strength. The redundant soldiers that had troubled the Song Dynasty for several years were solved under the attack of Miaojiang. Through peace talks and truce with Xixia, Emperor Zhao Xi of Song Dynasty finally freed up the "Western Army", the most elite force of the Song Dynasty left over from "Wang Anshi's Reform", and transferred it to the front line to prepare for war and join the troops from various places to support the emperor.

At the same time, there were also troops from Western Xia accompanying them.

This is because Xixia also understood the principle that "when the nest is overturned, how can the eggs remain intact?" According to the information sent back by the Xixia Yipintang spies from the Shaolin Temple, they were afraid that after the Miaojiang destroyed the Song Dynasty, the first person they would want to destroy would be themselves, just because they blocked the Miaojiang's way to the west.

However, Xixia's support this time was not without gain. According to the agreement, if Xixia joined the war, the Song Dynasty would open trade with it and give all the land conquered by the "Hehuang Border Opening" to Xixia.

At this point, the Song-Xia coalition forces had assembled nearly 800,000 troops in the Guanzhong area.

The coalition forces of Song, Liao and Xia assembled a total of more than 1.3 million troops to counter the attack from Miao.

Little did he know that this was exactly what Cheng Qian wanted.

In the Luoyang Palace, Cheng Qian received the news about the Three Kingdoms Allied Forces and he burst into laughter.

Cai Jing, the new cabinet minister of Miaojiang, asked, "Your Majesty, why are you laughing? Although our army has conquered Shandong, Jiangnan and other places, and recruited soldiers from these areas, our total strength has reached 600,000."

After a pause, he continued, "But because our Miao territory has also expanded, minus the 100,000 troops defending Liaodong and the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun and the 50,000 troops conquering Bashu, there are also troops scattered around to maintain public order. Our army can only mobilize more than 200,000 troops on the front line. The situation is still very serious."

Cheng Qian sat on the dragon chair, looking at the famous treacherous prime minister in history who was reporting to him and said, "Lord Cai, you don't know. I am laughing at Zhao Xi's lack of strategy and Yelu's lack of wisdom."

Cai Jing asked in confusion: "I wonder where your Majesty got this from?"

(End of this chapter)