The disaster of the world begins with Dongfang Bubai

Chapter 40: Jun Suyada, you will not let me return in vain

Since Yang Guang ascended the throne, he had been ambitious and had launched many foreign expeditions. He was also extremely extravagant, built many palaces and villas, went on tours everywhere, levied heavy taxes, and made the people suffer terribly.

Even bandits were everywhere, and heroes from all over the country rose up and proclaimed themselves kings. As the world became chaotic, dojos and martial arts schools in various places became more and more prosperous.

In the city of Yangzhou, the most prosperous dojo was founded by Shi Long, who was known as Yangzhou's number one master.

"Shichangguan, you made me look for you so hard. I didn't expect you to come to the monastery for many years. No wonder you are nowhere to be seen in such a large monastery in the city. Fortunately, you have your disciples regularly deliver your daily expenses."

A monk in white, about twenty years old, with a temperament that seemed real and illusory and a face that was so handsome that it was weird, walked to the gate of a small manor in the suburbs.

Shi Long, who was meditating in the house, heard the sound suddenly. Alarm bells rang in his heart. He did not expect the arrival of the uninvited guest. He had never felt anything until now. Even now, if he had not seen someone outside the gate, he would still feel nothing just by feeling.

"Since you are such an honored guest, please come in and have a cup of hot tea."

Xi Mingzhang walked into the yard with his hands behind his back, and then stepped into the hall with a smile on his face, saying:

"I heard that you have a Taoist secret book called "The Secret of Immortality". This book is made of black gold thread. It will not get wet when it touches water and will not burn when it touches fire. I am very eager to have it. Please give it to me."

He looked at the stone dragon still sitting on the couch, and said with a smile:
"Jun Suyada, you will not let me return in vain."

After Shi Long heard this, he found himself sweating on his forehead, cheeks, and neck.

At this moment, this seemingly friendly and amiable young monk can't help but give people a terrifying feeling of walking on the edge of an abyss, as if a knife is pressed against their heart and they may lose their life at any time.

After a while, he said with difficulty:
"Shi's internal and external skills have both reached the level of a first-rate master, otherwise he would not have been so famous for decades. But when facing Brother Buddha, I can't help but feel that I am not as good as him."

"Brother Buddha's realm is hard to fathom. I'm afraid he can rival the three great masters. Why do you want the Secret of Immortality?"

Puzzlement appeared on his face:
"This book is written in oracle bone script and is very profound and difficult to decipher. Although there are many wise men who have read this book, no one has ever been able to understand it and decipher the whole book."

"Shi is a Taoist by nature and has never married. For three years, he has been studying the Secret of Immortality without leaving his house. Even though the book is filled with annotations and translations by people who have read it before, these are often more confusing than the original text, and in the end, he still gained nothing."

When Shi Long said this, the puzzlement on his face became more intense:
"The most important thing is that Brother Buddha is a monk, and the Secret of Immortality is a Taoist treasure book. What benefit does this treasure book bring to Brother Buddha?"

"Buddha is originally the Tao, but Shichangguan is obsessed with appearances." Xi Mingzhang heard this with a calm expression:
"I often live in the mountains. This time I came down the mountain and heard that there are four great books in the martial arts world, namely "The Secret of Immortality", "The Heavenly Demon Strategy", "The Compassionate Sword Canon" and "The God of War Atlas".

"These Taoist treasures, the Demonic Secret Books, and the treasures of the town, I want to see them one by one. Even the most illusory one, the "War God Atlas", which has been passed down by word of mouth but no one has ever seen, I also want to get my hands on it."

"So, I decided to start with the easy part and then move on to the difficult part."

"Brother Fo has great ambition. I admire him."

Shi Long showed helplessness. No matter how much he said, it would be useless to deal with such a fool who had unfathomable martial arts skills and dared to covet the treasures of both the righteous and evil sects, or to deal with such a madman who didn't care about his life.

It's because he doesn't even care about his own life, let alone the lives of others. If it was his own life, it would be fine, but he is afraid that it will also implicate the disciples and students in the dojo.

He immediately stood up, dug out the "Eternal Life Secret" made of black gold thread, handed it over, and saw Xi Mingzhang flipping through it calmly, so he said:
"There are 7,400 characters in the book, but only 3,000 have been deciphered. However, these translations are not very accurate, making it even harder to understand the book."

Xi Mingzhang spoke without even raising his head:
"There are always some smart people in the world who want to show off their intelligence and ambitions. They think they are the most special ones. If there is no such person, it would be a loss to the world. So this is normal."

"Similarly, the world is not short of people who sacrifice others without regard for the consequences for so-called grand causes and some lofty goals, and instead frequently plunge the world into turmoil." "Brother Buddha's words are really thought-provoking."

Shi Long immediately felt that there was a reason why the person in front of him had such profound martial arts skills.

Seeing Xi Mingzhang quickly flipping through the pages with the graphics, he said:

"There are seven human figures in the book, none of which are facing each other. They are indicated by various symbols such as red dots and arrows, which seem to describe some kind of cultivation method."

“But those who don’t understand its meaning can refrain from practicing it. If one tries to use certain symbols to stimulate the internal energy, the blood and qi will immediately churn, and one may even go astray and become extremely dangerous.”

Shilong smiled bitterly:

"For this reason, over the past three years, even though I have been reading this book day and night, I have still gained nothing."

Xi Mingzhang finished reading it, put it into his sleeve, and said with a faint smile:

"Since the Shichang Hall is so elegant, I might as well explain it to you. The whole book of "The Secret of Immortality" teaches the method of strengthening the foundation and nourishing the essence of heaven and earth. Due to the passage of time, the secret of practicing this book has been lost."

"Furthermore, the way the exercises are performed is extremely special, and can be said to be contrary to the current ways of cultivation of various sects."

"First, the practitioner cannot have any internal energy. Second, the practitioner needs to practice with an unintentional intention."

"This is why if you force yourself to use any of the symbols to activate your internal energy, your blood will churn and you may even go astray. This is because you already have internal energy in your body, causing the two powers to conflict with each other."

When Shi Long heard this, an expression of sudden enlightenment appeared on his face.

"In addition, anyone who obtains the 'Eternal Life Secret' believes that this book is extraordinary, so they work hard on it deliberately, and cannot achieve the meaning of unintentionality. In addition, if they want to practice this skill to the point of entry, they will absorb the essence of heaven and earth through the acupoints, replenish themselves, and directly cultivate the innate true qi."

"In the process of practicing this skill, it is very much like being possessed by a demon, causing those who understand the way of martial arts to not dare to continue practicing. As a result, until now, no one has ever heard of anyone successfully practicing this skill."

Xi Mingzhang's eyes fell on Shi Long and he said with a smile:

"Generally speaking, this set of martial arts is prepared for those who are not familiar with martial arts, but have excellent comprehension, great luck, and those who have survived a disaster and will surely have good fortune in the future. And you, Shi Changguan, are obviously not a trendsetter of this era."

After Shi Long heard this, the look of enlightenment on his face gradually faded, and his heart was filled with shock and awe towards the person in front of him. He never thought that the "Eternal Life Secret" that he had been pondering over for three years could be discovered by someone just by casually glancing at it.

"The current Emperor of Sui is obsessed with the Taoist alchemy technique of immortality and has sent Yu Wenhuaji to Yangzhou City to obtain the Secret of Immortality. If he comes to you, just tell him directly."

"Let's talk about the abandoned disciple of the evil king, the last monk of the Tiantai sect, the coveter of the four great books, Wuchang, who took away the "Eternal Life Secret"."

After Xi Mingzhang finished speaking, his figure turned from solid to virtual, like foam and smoke dissipating, leaving only the stone dragon standing there blankly.

As he had been concentrating on studying the Secret of Immortality for three years without leaving his house and turning a deaf ear to anything else outside, it was unknown how the last monk understood it, but the famous Evil King must know it.

Suddenly, an extremely complicated and indescribable expression appeared on his face.

(End of this chapter)