From the Ming Dynasty, we will conquer the world

Chapter 103 Ling Chi Xuan Ci, Bloodbath Shaolin ( words long chapter, monthly vote requested)
The King of Zuo Wu, Zhao Lie, was none other than Xuan Cheng, one of the “Twenty-three Outstanding Monks”.

For Xu Xing, this truth was both unexpected and reasonable.

After all, he had seen the authentic Shaolin magic from King Zuo Wu on Li Qiu Shui, and he also knew from the annotations in the secret book of "Screen Four Doors" that Ling Luoshi's magic was a gift from King Zuo Wu.

However, because Xu knew that there was a hidden master like the "Sweeping Monk" in Shaolin, he naturally became suspicious of this mysterious and powerful man whose past deeds were not revealed in the original work.

Now that Tian Jue has appeared and revealed his identity as the founder of the "Screen Four Doors Method", Xu Xing naturally shifted his suspicion to another person.

During these decades, the most suspicious person in Shaolin Temple is of course the peerless genius who rose to fame and fell just as quickly, and was hailed as "the best martial arts talent in the past two hundred years."

In fact, looking back now, there were many intriguing aspects to Xuan Cheng’s death.

How could a genius who is proficient in twenty-three unique skills not understand that the way of martial arts requires gradual progress.

What's more, given Xuan Cheng's age at that time, why should he be so greedy and reckless?

In fact, in the world of the Ming Dynasty, there were indeed countless masters who went astray in their practice of martial arts, but this was because the masters had no way forward to follow. As the saying goes, when you are blazing a trail in the mountains, there will naturally be all kinds of problems.

Or maybe he was like Yu Dayou, who was under double pressure from the imperial court and pirates. In order to protect the overall situation in the southeast and prevent the recurrence of the sea disaster, he had no choice but to take the risk and have a gamble.

But what about Xuan Cheng?

Just looking at Shaolin's background, one can tell that even if he learns twenty-three unique skills, he is still far from reaching the point of "no way forward".

At the very least, everyone in the world knows that Shaolin also has the unique skill of "embracing the world".

However, the Shaolin Temple still has figures of the Tian generation in charge, as well as martial arts masters like Tian Jue. Even though its influence has not been as strong as before in recent years, it is far from being in a state of transition.

Why would a Shaolin Temple like this need a monk like him from the Xuan generation to support it? And there is no reason for him to take such a risk.

Since he possesses a vast collection of Shaolin martial arts secrets and has a teacher like Tian Jue to support him, with Xuan Cheng's extraordinary talent, how could he go astray so easily?
In fact, Xu Xing was not the only one who had this doubt. Many martial artists had thought about the same question.

In fact, in the few years after Xuan Cheng disappeared, all major forces in the martial arts world always regarded this name as a key focus, and Xuan Cheng was also given a number in the Six Gates.

However, since Wudang and Shaolin martial arts are widely spread, and in the past few decades, there have been no masters who have become famous with Shaolin martial arts, or committed any major crimes, so the attention of many martial arts forces on Xuan Cheng has gradually faded.

Another reason is that there are too many mysterious masters in this world who like to wear disguises.

Before Tian Jue entered Shaolin, he was the "Nine-Five Divine Lord" Song Baoshi, and the "Great Heavenly King Zhu", the leader of the "Twelve Linked Docks Waterway of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River" who once competed with the "King of the World" Li Chenzhou. He also had a public official identity like Zhu Xiawu, the Divine Constable of the Six Gates.

The masters of the Power Gang under Li Chenzhou, such as the "Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, Nineteen Demons" and the "Eight Heavenly Kings", once they leave the Power Gang, they also have prominent status in the white world.

Today's underworld masters have also inherited the fine traditions of their predecessors of pretending to be mysterious and using nesting dolls.

For example, the famous masters in the underworld, such as "Ten Thousand Enemies" and "King of Calling", have only their reputations passed down, but few people have seen their true faces. This is the typical feature of "vest accounts".

In fact, there are very few people like "General Terrified" Ling Luoshi and "General Iron Sword" Chu Yici, who are unscrupulous gangsters but still sit in power and rule a region with great fanfare.

Even a pillar of righteousness like Zhuge Zhengwo sometimes has to resort to the identity of "the man in straw raincoat" to handle some matters that "Zhuge Shenhou" cannot handle easily.

The best among them was Bai Choufei, who died at the hands of Xu Xing. Although he was not very old, he had used at least dozens of names and fake identities, and achieved success in each of them.

Because there are too many people and facts like this, people in the underworld gradually learn not to care. In the end, only the people from the Six Gates will try to sort out these complicated and confusing identities in order to solve the case.

Therefore, whether Xuan Cheng is dead or not, and whether he has taken this opportunity to escape into the underworld, is not a very important matter to many people.

Of course, this also depends on Xuan Cheng’s true identity.

If he is King Zuo Wu, that is another matter.

Even the monks of Shaolin Temple, who had just experienced wave after wave of shock and whose worldviews had been refreshed many times, could not help but feel surprised when faced with such shocking facts.

Because, that was King Zuo Wu!
The whole world knows that this wealthy prince has a wide range of friends and is very humble. He has friends from Dali to Western Xia, from the Jin Dynasty to the Liao Dynasty. His influence covers all corners of the country, and is spread across the court and the people, and between the black and white worlds.

Even the emperor of the time had to respect him three points, fear him seven points, and as for the remaining ninety points, naturally, they wanted to eat his flesh alive and drink his blood.

After all, a prince with royal family status has built up such a huge network of relationships and is involved with so many forces. It is obvious what he wants to do.

There are also rumors that this person secretly keeps a group of top masters who do shady things for him. Each of these people is a top-notch warrior.

The identities of the others are difficult to confirm for the time being, but the "King of Extinction" Chu Xiangyu, who has entered the palace three times, is enough to shock the world.

In addition, it is said that Changsun Feihong, the "Sorrowful King" who had been defeated and nearly perished together with Zhuge Zhengwo, also seemed to be under the command of this person.

But now, Xu Xing said that such an ambitious person who wanted to overthrow the world could be Xuan Cheng who came from Shaolin Temple?

In fact, the people in Shaolin Temple still did not have a clear understanding of King Zuo Wu, while Yan Zhao, Qiao Feng and others were even more shocked.

Because they have learned from Xu Xing that King Zuo Wu is most likely the master of the "Four Evil Conspirators", Zhang Yiman, who is known as "the number one in the world in terms of right and wrong, success and failure".

The "Four Evil Gangsters" have always been listed alongside the "Four Famous Detectives", and even the mysterious figure Zhang Yiman has been frequently brought up by people in the martial arts world and compared with Zhuge Shenhou.

Almost everyone believes that the master of the "Four Evil Gangsters" must have an extraordinary origin and should have a different identity like "Ten Thousand Enemies" and "King of Heaven".

Otherwise, he would never have been able to train characters like the "Four Evil Gangsters".

In fact, King Zuo Wu also had similar problems.

This is because when this prince became famous in one battle in the past, he had already mastered martial arts and was proficient in hundreds of martial arts. However, no matter how all the major forces in the world searched, they could not find his master.

In desperation, people in the martial arts world could only attribute this behavior to his identity as a royal disciple and the rumored "Shao Wu Zhen Jing".

After all, there are many talented people in the palace, so it is not impossible that King Zuo Wu learned his unique skills there.

But now it seems that if King Zuo Wu is really Xuan Cheng, many problems can be easily solved.

Xu Xing turned his head and looked at Tian Jue and the others, and asked with a smile:
"Four of you, am I right?"

Tian Jue and his three fellow apprentices were eyewitnesses of what happened back then. After hearing what Xu Xing said, they finally understood why they wanted to attack Shaolin Temple today.

The four Tianzi masters looked at each other and saw the expression of "as expected" in each other's eyes. They were not even that surprised, but just sighed together.

As Xuan Cheng's master, Tian Jue took the initiative to step forward and admit it, and told everyone a story from long ago.

During the reign of Emperor Renzong, the Eighth Wise King, three other princes who had already retired, and Lady She of Tianbo Prefecture, held the imperial magic weapons and jointly advised Emperor Renzong in order to save the framed Bao Longtu.

The actions of these five people were a great act of usurpation. Although they saved Bao Longtu's life, they were also retaliated against one after another in the future. Even the five great national defenders were wandering around and their whereabouts have been unknown to this day.

This is why the "Tianmen Divine Art", a unique skill from the Yang family of Tianbo Mansion, eventually fell into the hands of Fu Zongshu after many twists and turns.

Due to the affection and relationship with the royal family, the lineage of the Eighth Wise King had the best fate. They were not exterminated, but were kept under strict surveillance.

Xuan Cheng, or Zhao Lie, the clan disciple who did not become King Zuo Wu at that time, was born in the lineage of the Eight Wise Kings.

Zhao Lie's mother was from the Tang Clan and had the heroic temperament of a man of the rivers and lakes. She did not want her child to be a bird in a cage or a fish in a net from the moment he was born, trapped in the palace forever and leading a life that was tantamount to imprisonment.

Therefore, after the child was born, the princess left the palace and came to Shaolin Temple in the name of praying for blessings. In the name of fellow martial artists, she begged all the masters of Shaolin Temple to accept her unborn child.

Although Tian Xiang and others were Buddhists, they also had chivalrous hearts. They were quite grateful for the benevolent and righteous deeds of the Eighth Wise Kings in the past. They did not want to see the Eighth Wise King end up in a miserable situation, so they agreed to the princess' request.

In this way, the infant Zhao Lie became a Shaolin disciple.

Since this matter involves the secrets of the royal family, although Tian Xiang and others offer their help, they do not want to get too deeply involved.

Therefore, the old monks did not give him any preferential treatment. They just treated him as an ordinary monk and taught him to meditate, chant scriptures, and practice martial arts.

In the eyes of Tianxiang and the others, as long as Zhao Lie could live his life in peace, he would have given an explanation to the princess and the lineage of the Eighth Wise King.

But no one would have thought that this child's talent was so amazing that at the age of ten he was already qualified to take the "Seventy-two Unique Skills" based on his solid martial arts skills.

Three years later, at the age of thirteen, he had mastered the three unique skills: Vajra Indestructible Divine Art, Formless Tribulation Finger, and Dora Leaf Finger.

Although it sounds like this record is still slightly inferior to that of the top genius in the martial arts world, the Invincible Young Master of Helan Mountain, who debuted at the age of seven and was able to kill a master of the Yihe School.

But we must know that Shaolin Kung Fu has always been known for its profoundness and breadth. It is always difficult at first and then easy. Shaolin masters of all generations have to be at least thirty years old before they can accumulate and make great achievements in martial arts.

The current abbot Xuanci mastered the "Great Vajra Palm" at the age of forty, which made him considered a prodigy in the temple and a leader in the Dharma Academy.

However, Xuan Cheng was able to successively master three unique skills in just three years, and these three skills had completely different requirements and were unrelated.

Such talent and giftedness cannot be found anywhere else in the history of Shaolin.

No matter how confident Tian Xiang and others were, they did not dare to say that they could teach such a genius, so they thought of someone.

This person is Tian Jue, who has been secluded in the secret cave in the back mountain for a long time, studying "Embracing the World" painstakingly, trying to solve the defects of the "Four Doors Screen Method".

Shaolin's "Embracing the World" requires people with excellent qualifications to practice. Even Tian Xiang and others can only grasp part of the essence and combine it with other magic skills to achieve the "Vajra Subduing Demon Circle". They have no chance to inherit the orthodox Shaolin's most powerful magic skill, which shows how difficult it is.

If it weren't for the amazing genius Song Baoshi who came to China when the "Five Elders in Embrace" were dying, I'm afraid that "Embracing the World" would have been lost, and it would take an unknown amount of time for it to reappear in the world.

But it is a blessing to encounter such an opportunity once, how can we expect it to happen again?
Therefore, Tianxiang and others were unwilling to let go of such a genius. What's more, Xuancheng was a monk who grew up in Shaolin Temple. In terms of background, he was even more legitimate than Tianjue who became a monk halfway through his career.

As it concerns the inheritance of "embracing the world", Tian Xiang did not care about Xuan Cheng's clan background and sent him directly to Tian Jue's retreat, wanting the eldest brother to accept this disciple who is rare in hundreds of years.

In fact, Tian Jue originally wanted to find someone to help him break the reincarnation barrier, but because of the oath he made with the "Five Elders", he confined himself to a corner of Shaolin voluntarily.

However, even so, he did not give up, but came up with another idea:
Since I can't get out, why not personally train a disciple who can break the "Six Paths of Reincarnation"?

However, such a candidate is really hard to find. After all, how many people like him can be found in the long history of martial arts?
Therefore, when Tian Jue saw Xuan Cheng, a genius who was comparable to himself, he felt like he had found a treasure and immediately taught him all his unique skills without reservation.

Although he was not conscious at that time, with his extraordinary martial arts skills, even just a few words could still benefit Xuan Cheng a lot.

Tian Xiang and others also provided Xuan Cheng with unlimited treasures and martial arts secrets in the temple, sincerely hoping that he could successfully take control of the world and become the "temple-sweeping monk" qualified to succeed Tian Jue.

Xuan Cheng was a man of great comprehension, and with the training of a top master like Tian Jue, and with the hundreds of years of practice accumulated in Shaolin Temple, his martial arts naturally improved by leaps and bounds.

In just a few years, he has understood part of the secret of "embracing the world" and began to study the "four-door screen method".

In the spare time while comprehending these two magical skills, Xuan Cheng even took some time out from his busy schedule to learn twenty-three unique skills, which he used to draw inferences from one instance to another and comprehend the true meaning of Buddhist martial arts.

This was originally the least praiseworthy thing in Xuancheng's life's learning, but it has become a great achievement that the Shaolin monks compete to praise, and he was also given the title of "Twenty-three Wonderful Monks".

However, as Xuan Cheng grew up, Tian Jue and others also realized that something was wrong.

They found that although Xuan Cheng grew up in the Shaolin Temple and had been chanting Buddhist scriptures and practicing Zen since childhood, he had no interest in Buddhism and was only focused on martial arts.

Moreover, the four of them also discovered that while they were meditating, Xuan Cheng seemed to be performing martial arts from time to time, leaving the temple without anyone noticing, and interacting with some mysterious figures.

Seeing that Xuan Cheng was about to learn the most superior style of "embracing the world", the "Five-petal lotus" that combined the unique skills of Wudang and Shaolin, Tian Jue could no longer sit idly by.

For Tian Jue, his own transcendence is certainly important, but his promise to the "Five Elders" must never be broken.

If he passes on "embracing the world" to people with evil intentions, how will he face the five teachers who have been so kind to him in the afterlife?

Therefore, the master and the disciple had a frank conversation.

Xuan Cheng did not hide anything and told everyone the truth.

Only then did Tian Jue realize that Xuan Cheng had established connections with the Tang Clan in Shu, and that he had left the temple several times before just to meet people from the Tang Clan.

Xuan Cheng also learned about his own life experience from Tang Menkou.

It turned out that although Xuan Cheng's mother married into the Eighth Sage Prince's Mansion, she did not cut off contact with the Tang Clan. She even told the Tang Clan the truth about her son's situation, hoping that the Tang Clan could take better care of him.

In fact, given the cold nature of the people in the Tang Sect, they would naturally not pay much attention to an ordinary disciple. This is why the princess did not send Zhao Lie back to the Tang Sect, but sent him to Shaolin.

She did this just to do her best.

However, Xuan Cheng's reputation was so great that it even attracted the attention of Old Lady Tang, who considered recalling him.

The Tang Clan in Shu has been the most terrifying and powerful family in the martial arts world for hundreds of years. They have attempted to dominate the world and be the only one in the world several times, but have failed every time.

The last person who crushed the Tang Clan’s plan was none other than “the greatest hero in Shenzhou” Xiao Qiu Shui.

But even a top powerhouse like Xiao Qiu Shui was trapped tightly by Grandma Tang, the head of the Tang Clan in Shu, and Grandpa Tang, who used countless mechanical devices and hidden weapons.

This achievement alone is enough to make the Tang Clan's name shock the world.

Now that the Tang Sect has approached Xuan Cheng, the Shaolin monks naturally understand that the other party has taken a fancy to Xuan Cheng's talent and wants to use his power to fulfill the dream of "the only Tang in the world".

The people of Shaolin should not have sat idly by and watched the Tang Sect's actions, but unfortunately, they did feel guilty towards Xuan Cheng.

After all, logically speaking, the other party is a disciple of the royal family and his identity is sensitive, so Shaolin should not have taught him these martial arts from the beginning.

However, Tian Xiang and others really wanted someone to inherit the Shaolin sect, and they had inappropriate obsessions and made this decision.

They had been hiding his origins from Xuan Cheng for this reason, but they did not expect that the people in the Tang Clan had already made plans to expose the cover-up, allowing Xuan Cheng to understand his true identity.

Now that Zhao Lie understands his life experience, he has no intention of staying in Shaolin Temple any longer and living a "Xuancheng" life.

Zhao Lie was even more outspoken. He believed that martial arts should be used to establish unprecedented achievements and accomplish great feats and imperial hegemony.

If I am just trapped in Shaolin and spend the whole day trying to gain strength, then what is the point of learning all these martial arts?

That is merely the martial arts of the common people, not the martial arts of the princes, much less the martial arts of the emperor.

In order to repay Shaolin's kindness in teaching him, Zhao Lie was even more calm. He could give up his martial arts so as not to embarrass his teachers.

Tian Jue looked at the burning ambition in Zhao Lie's eyes and knew that this disciple and he were not the same kind of people after all.

Considering the relationship between master and disciple for more than ten years, Tian Jue finally did not abolish Zhao Lie's martial arts. He just asked him to return the name "Xuan Cheng" and leave on his own.

Since then, Shaolin lost one of its “Twenty-three Great Monks” and gained an unknown young master in the world of martial arts.

In the days that followed, Xuan Cheng never set foot in Shaolin again.

But although Xuan Cheng left, he also realized that Shaolin was still a place where he could draw strength.

Although he himself never came to Shaolin again, he still mobilized forces from all sides and added a lot of sand to Shaolin.

Even among the Xuan generation, there were a few people who were bribed by Xuan Cheng using various means to become the bridge of communication between him and the abbot Xuan Ci.

The Three Kingdoms' coalition forces wanted to go to the Sutra Repository and steal "Holding the World in Arms", which gave Zhao Lie room to take advantage of the situation.

After Xuan Ci was transferred away by Murong Bo using a strategy of luring the tiger away from the mountain, Zhao Lie learned about the actions of the Three Kingdoms coalition through his connections with the Tang Clan in Shu, and killed this team of masters in advance.

With this achievement, he not only helped Xuanci secure his position as abbot, but also made those who knew the situation grateful to him, which gave him room to repay the favor.

The fact that Xuan Ci fell into a vicious trap, which led to the deaths of many of his fellow martial artists, was concealed by Zhao Lie.

But these things could be hidden from others, but not from Xuanci himself.

Since returning to Shaolin, he felt very regretful for falling into a conspiracy, implicating his fellow martial artists, and killing innocent people.

What's more, during this period of time, Qiao Feng has gradually grown up, and his existence reminds Xuan Ci of all this all the time.

Since then, Xuan Ci always felt a chill coming from his back, even in his sleep.

Countless cold nights of fear eventually turned into a nightmare that lingered in his heart and that he could not face.

Xuanci could not confide these things to his fellow disciples in the temple, and it was at this time that he met Ye Erniang.

During the days he spent with this innocent girl, Xuan Ci found a long-lost peace. Only with Ye Erniang could this sinful Shaolin abbot temporarily get rid of his burden and get a brief relief from his anxiety and restlessness.

So they met in Ziyun Cave every day.

But after every separation, the pain, anxiety, boredom and all the negative emotions come back doubled.

For that brief escape, Xuan Ci needs to pay a greater price.

In the end, he separated from the pregnant Ye Erniang and returned to the Great Hall of the Buddha, becoming the highly respected and dignified abbot of Shaolin Temple, confessing his sins in front of the Buddha every day.

But Xuan Ci had never expected that when Ye Erniang's child was born, he was kidnapped by a mysterious master. She was so sad that she eventually became possessed and wanted to make everyone in the world suffer the pain of losing their child.

So, Ye Erniang would snatch other people's children to play with and then kill them, just like ordinary people buying chickens, ducks, fish and sheep in the vegetable market, picking out the best and the fattest ones. Thus, she became the "most evil" among the four evil people.

This incident dealt a fatal blow to Xuan Ci, who was already on the verge of collapse. He thought of dying to thank the world, but was stopped by several eminent monks of the Xuan generation who were placed around him by Zhao Lie.

It turned out that Zhao Lie had known about Xuan Ci and Ye Erniang for a long time. He even killed the second worst villain in the world who followed the "evil-doer" Duan Yanqing to join Yipintang in Xixia on the battlefield of Xixia, thus eliminating Xuan Ci's worries.

Moreover, Zhao Lie also found out that Xuanci's son was in Shaolin Temple, and his Buddhist name was Xuzhu.

These people told Xuan Ci that since he had sacrificed so much for Shaolin and committed such sins, how could he be relieved by simply dying? Only by living in pain like this would he have a chance to atone for his past deeds.

If Xuanci really wanted to die, they would make these ugly deeds public.

If everyone in the world knew that the head of the Zen Buddhism was such a person, how would Shaolin stand in the martial arts world?

After hearing this, Xuan Ci was completely desperate and even began to doubt whether this senior brother was the one behind Ye Erniang's loss of her son?
But no matter what the truth is, King Zuo Wu used these means to completely turn Xuan Ci, who as the abbot of Shaolin had to protect the reputation and fame of Shaolin, into a puppet in his hands.

This time, it was Xuan Ci who revealed Qiao Feng's Khitan origin and strictly ordered the Shaolin disciples not to go down the mountain to help Qiao Feng.

After hearing this story, the monks and many experts on Xu Xing's side, even the few who knew the truth, such as Xuan Ku, Xuan Nan, and Xuan Ji, all burst into laughter.

The expressions on the faces of the rest of the people showed surprise, horror, staring, anger, heartache, pity, and so many other things, too numerous to mention.

Xuan Ci has been in charge of Shaolin for many years and has always been quite fair in his conduct. He has always been respected by the martial arts world and all the fellow disciples in the temple are impressed by him.

Even in the eyes of Tian Xiang and others, although Xuan Ci's talent in martial arts is slightly inferior, as an abbot, he is much better than Xuan Cheng.

But did anyone ever think that he would do such things?

He listened to slander, killed innocent people, implicated his fellows, violated the taboo of adultery, had an affair with a good woman, and abandoned his wife and children. In the end, he even wanted to harm a great hero like Qiao Feng for the sake of so-called fame and reputation...

Such a person could actually be Xuan Ci?
Even the masters on Xu Xing's side couldn't believe it. Qiao Feng's hands were shaking, his body was trembling, and his face was extremely stunned, but he didn't know what to say.

Xu Zhu looked around, at a loss as to what to do.

He could never have imagined that he, a little monk, would actually be the illegitimate son of the old abbot, and he could never have imagined that his mother was the notorious "evil-doer" Ye Erniang.

Thinking of this, even though Xu Zhu had profound internal skills, he still felt dizzy and almost fell down. Fortunately, Yue Fei was always by his side, and he was quick to support Xu Zhu.

Xuan Ci did not look at his son, but looked at Qiao Feng, his face twitching, obviously struggling in extreme pain.

He sighed deeply, full of regret:

“Junior Brother Xuanku is right. The cause of this matter is nothing more than the word reputation. If I could have seen through this from the beginning, there wouldn’t have been so many incidents in the future.

"Master Xiao, all the sins are mine!"

After saying this, Xuan Ci took off his cassock, knelt heavily in front of Qiao Feng, his body trembling.

Qiao Feng looked at the Shaolin abbot, whom he once admired so much, with his eyes fluctuating and full of disbelief, because when he was learning martial arts in Shaolin in the past, he had received a lot of care from Xuan Ci.

Even before today, Qiao Feng believed that the reason he was chosen by the old leader of the Beggars' Sect, Wang Jiantong, was all because of Xuan Ci's introduction.

In Qiao Feng's heart, Xuanci's status is even enough to be compared with like-minded seniors such as Zhang Sanba and Zhuge Zhengwo, and is only inferior to his two teachers, Wang Jiantong and Xuan Ku.

Therefore, when Qiao Feng heard Xu Xing express his doubts about Shaolin, he was unwilling to believe it.

In fact, until Xuanci admitted it himself, he believed that this was the work of some scum in Shaolin, or simply a spy planted in Shaolin by Cai Jing.

Qiao Feng could never have imagined that the beginning of his life's tragedy was actually related to Xuan Ci.

He thought of his fellow Beggars' Sect brothers and fellow martial artists who had died tragically on the road to escape in order to protect him, and his expression changed drastically.

Even during the most difficult days of escape, even after suffering injuries that would have killed or injured an ordinary person countless times, Qiao Feng's majestic body was able to stand firm, looking down on all opponents with a fearless attitude.

But at this moment, the leader of the Beggars' Sect was pale, his steps were staggering, veins were bulging on the back of his hands, cheeks, and neck, his teeth were gritting, and he was in unprecedented chaos.

Even Liang Dian and Cai Kuang, who had followed him for many years, and Zhang Sanba, who had fought alongside him for a long time, had never seen Qiao Feng in such a state. The three of them stepped forward together and supported the gang leader's body.

Looking at Xuan Ci like this, even Xuan Ku, who had just proposed to clean up the ills of Shaolin, looked reluctant.

Indeed, as Xuan Ci said, if he had not been so careful about his reputation from the beginning, had not tried to cover up the truth about the Yanmen Pass incident, and had dared to stand up and take responsibility for everything, how could he have caused so many troubles in the future?
The more you try to cover up, the deeper you will sink. In the end, it will be too late to turn back and you will make a huge mistake that will affect thousands of people.

Seeing Xuan Ci acting like this, Xu Xing sneered:
"All the sins are yours?

Xuanci, who are you to be able to bear all this?
How many people in the world have you caused to suffer for the so-called position of abbot and the reputation of Shaolin?

You are unworthy of being a Buddhist, but your heart is filled with only fame and gain, and you have no compassion at all!"

At this point, Xu Xing showed a rare look of contempt, and suddenly spat, angrily scolding:
"People like you are not worthy of being human, let alone committing sins!"

After he finished speaking, Xu Xing turned his head and looked at Tian Jue. His eyes revealed a chilling coldness that Tian Jue had never seen before. This was the same determination to kill that he had never shown even in the fierce battle just now.

Xuanci might not be a wicked person by nature.

However, as the abbot of Shaolin, he not only did not take the slightest responsibility, but instead kept evading and retreating, not daring to face the mistakes he had made, which eventually led to a huge disaster and harmed countless people.

After all, Xuan Ci was just afraid.

Standing in the position of the abbot of Shaolin, what he feared most was that he would do something that would bring eternal infamy to Shaolin, and he was even more afraid of a single misstep that would cause eternal regret.

In the end, he chose to do nothing. He just turned his back, faced the ancient Buddha with a green lamp, and meditated and chanted scriptures, completely ignoring the corpses and wronged souls that were everywhere behind him.

Xu Xing absolutely could not tolerate such a person.

In his opinion, the minimum requirement for being a human being is to be responsible for oneself, let alone a person like Xuan Ci, whose every move has a huge impact, even affecting the whole world?

Tian Jue knew what he meant and sighed:
"When he took over as abbot, Junior Brother Tianxiang and I agreed. We are also responsible for the situation. I will take action and punish him accordingly."

Xu Xing knew that Tian Jue saw that Qiao Feng was now in a state of mental confusion and might find it difficult to take revenge, so he simply stood up himself and represented Shaolin, as the temple's number one master, to get rid of the scum Xuan Ci.

Xu Xing had just seen the words and actions of Tian Jue, Tian Xiang and Xuan Ku. Out of respect for the three, he was willing to give Tian Jue a chance, and also give Shaolin a chance to prove their innocence.

Tian Jue turned around and slowly walked to Xuan Ci. He lowered his head, a look of compassion on his face, and said with emotion:

"At the beginning, Abbot Tianzheng named you 'Ci' because he wanted you to be compassionate, determined to spread the Dharma and save people.

But in the end, you can see the Shaolin precepts, the Shaolin reputation, and the abbot's throne, but you can't see the word compassion!"

When Xuan Ci mentioned his master, Abbot Tianzheng, his body trembled again and he buried his head even lower.

Tian Jue sighed:

“If we really want to trace the root of the problem, this matter is also related to us.

When we first entered Shaolin, my three fellow apprentices and I were all focused on inheriting the orthodox Shaolin martial arts, and had no interest in worldly affairs. As a result, we had too many expectations of you that we shouldn't have.

Perhaps it is these expectations that make you have an unnecessary obsession with the word Shaolin. Just as Master Xuanku said, the reputation of this Zen ancestral temple is really harmful to people.

In fact, even if Shaolin was destroyed, what would it matter? The temple was gone, but the monks were still there; the monks were gone, but the Dharma was still there.

But once compassion is lost, even if Shaolin can last for thousands of years, what is the meaning? It is nothing more than a demon monk who goes against the righteous path."

At this point, Xuanci was already in tears.

Tian Jue shook his head, stretched out his dry and thin arm, and pressed it on the top of Xuan Ci's head.

He used his inner strength to once again manifest the "Hell Realm" and "Animal Realm" of the "Three Evil Realms" and said slowly:
"Your sins are so deep that even death is inexcusable. I will first send your body into the hell of knives and let you suffer the pain of being cut into pieces.

But this is still not enough to repay.

The Nirvana Sutra says, 'It is difficult to obtain a human body, like the Udumbara flower.' If that is the case, then I will banish your soul to the animal realm, where you will suffer eternal damnation. Are you willing?"

Xuanci's voice trembled as he kowtowed repeatedly:
"Thank you, Uncle Master, for your help."

Tian Jue nodded and said no more. He just exerted a little force with his right hand, and the Hell of the Mountain of Swords in the "Hell Road" was activated at this moment.

After the fierce battle with Xu Xing, although his internal strength was greatly depleted, the thousands of blades he condensed into still sparkled brightly under the sunlight, as if they were made of fine iron, shining with a cold light.

Just by looking at those blades, the masters felt their sharpness was blinding and chilling. Even Xu Xing raised his eyebrows, feeling a kind of calmness without any worldly airs from Tian Jue's methods.

——It seems that this old monk has indeed made extraordinary progress.

Facing this array of swords, Xuan Ci became calmer, knowing that his sins in this life would eventually be settled.

He stood up, looked at Xu Zhu, moved his lips a few times, but ultimately did not speak.

Tian Jue certainly understood what Xuan Ci wanted to say, he just nodded and said calmly:
"That's a very good child. I have already taught Xuan Cheng and let you, the abbot, go. I will never make the same mistake again and let him go down the path you two have."

Seeing Xu Zhu's pale face, Xu Xing couldn't help but shook his head and sighed. No matter what Xuan Ci and Ye Erniang were like, at least Xu Zhu was innocent after all.

Thinking of this, he ignored his injuries and condensed "Muni Zhu" again. He opened his eyes slightly and simply shocked Xu Zhu unconscious, then gave Yue Fei a look.

Although Yue Fei had not followed Xu Xing for a long time, he already understood his master's intentions. He nodded and carried Xu Zhu into the crowd.

Duan Yu also realized what was going to happen next, so he came to Yue Fei, squatted down, took Xu Zhu's pulse for a while, and then injected his internal energy to calm his mind.

Duan Yu was originally a kind-hearted person, and even though he had changed a lot now, he couldn't bear to witness such a scene, so he simply took this opportunity to hide away.

After hearing Tian Jue's assurance, Xuan Ci no longer had any regrets. Instead, he closed his eyes, looked calm, and finally chanted a Buddhist name.

Tian Jue's eyes were as steady as before, and he lightly flicked his right hand. Thousands of blades flew out, turning into a storm of rotating and cutting sharp blades, shaving off Xuan Ci's flesh inch by inch.

Under the gaze of everyone, the Shaolin abbot gradually turned into a pile of white bones. The place where he stood completely turned into a thick pool of blood. The air flow carried a strong smell of blood as it blew through the crowd.

Among the people present, except Xu Xing who was calm and composed, everyone else couldn't bear to watch.

Everyone could imagine that Xuanci had committed such a serious crime and there was no way he could survive.

However, seeing this abbot having his skin and flesh peeled off in such a cruel way in the Shaolin Temple, the shock is still beyond words.

The masters on Xu Xing's side are slightly better.

After all, they have experienced countless life-and-death battles. Undercover agents like Grandma Daxiao have witnessed the methods of the general. A "simple" lingchi is not too big a shock to them.

But even when the Shaolin monks went down the mountain for training, they seldom used sharp weapons, so naturally they had never seen such a scene. What's more, the one being tortured to death was none other than the former Shaolin abbot!

Some people turned pale, their chests heaved, and they almost vomited, but every time someone tried to turn their face away, they would be restrained by an invisible force and could not move at all.

The person who took action was Tian Jue.

Tian Jue used his internal energy to lingchi Xuan Ci while stopping the Shaolin monks' movements. He was also able to speak calmly. His voice was calm without any fluctuations. He just said word by word:
"Remember this day, remember this day."

With Tian Jue's method, he could have taken Xuan Ci's life in an instant, but he forcibly prolonged the process, prolonged it to the point that all the monks could see it all very clearly.

Tian Jue wanted to use this bloody method to make everyone understand his determination to eliminate Shaolin's ills, and to make everyone learn from it and never dare to make the same mistake again.

When Xuan Ci's flesh and blood were completely gone, Tian Jue slapped out with another palm and forcibly pulled out a ball of light golden vitality from his body.

Looking at this vitality, a trace of emotion flashed across Tian Jue's old face, but it disappeared in a flash, and was replaced by iron-like determination.

He shook his head and threw the air mass into the "Animal Realm" wheel. He then looked at the pale and trembling Shaolin monks and sighed:
"In my opinion, it is time to change the rules of Shaolin. Anyone who is Xuanci's accomplice, please come forward."

On that day, out of a total of sixty-seven Shaolin elders with the surname Xuan, thirteen died at the hands of Tian Jue, including Abbot Xuan Ci and the head of Damo Academy, Xuan Nan.

This is an unprecedented tragedy in the history of Shaolin.

What’s more, the person who made the move was the monk Tianjue, who was the most senior and powerful monk in the temple?

After killing these thirteen people one after another with thunderous means, Tian Jue announced in public that he would appoint Xuan Ku as the abbot, and ordered him to immediately lead Tian Xiang and three other masters of the Tian generation to the Great Hall of the Buddha to summon all the monks and vow to eliminate all the spies planted by King Zuo Wu in Shaolin.

After finishing these instructions, Tian Jue came to Qiao Feng, whose face was complicated, and looked at his face before sighing:
"Are you really so similar? Boss Qiao, can you come with me to a place where Xuanci may not know something about your life story."

After saying that, he looked at Xu Xing again and also extended an invitation:
"Master Xu, please come along as well. I'm sure you still have some questions to ask about Xuan Cheng."

Xu Xing and Qiao Feng looked at each other, nodded, and followed Tian Jue.

As for the rest of the people, after experiencing this huge change tonight, they all had mixed feelings in their hearts and their spirits were greatly shocked. They were arranged by Tianxiang and others to rest in the Zen room.

To put it more bluntly, about a dozen monks of the Xuan generation have just died, so we should just make room for them.

Tian Jue led the way in front and said with emotion:

"When I was mentally confused, two people broke into the Sutra Library several times, trying to steal the scriptures. They eventually fell into my hands and were subdued by me using the 'Six Paths of Reincarnation'. One of them..."

He turned around and looked at Qiao Feng's face again before nodding and saying:
"His face is quite similar to that of Boss Qiao, and they are both equally heroic. Perhaps he is your biological father."

Qiao Feng was startled.

He already felt quite conflicted about his Khitan identity, and after witnessing Xuanci's death in such a tragic way, his emotions became even more complicated. Now that he heard that his biological father might still be alive, his heart was in a mess and he didn't know what to say.

When Xu Xing heard this description, he knew that the two people captured by Tian Jue were Xiao Yuanshan and Murong Bo.

He did not expect that in the face of this unprecedentedly powerful Shaolin, these two would dare to come to the Sutra Library. He could not help but sigh:
"remarkably brave."

Qiao Feng thought about how Xu Xing had also made the same comment about "Three Days" and couldn't help laughing.

However, he soon remembered that one of the two people commented on by Xu Xing might be his biological father, so he forced his smile back and looked extremely strange.

Xu Xing looked at his face, laughed, walked up to him and patted him on the shoulder:

"Brother Qiao, why are you so nervous? Do you remember what I told you when we were drinking together?
The Beggars' Gang is a gang for all the people in the world. There are poor people and beggars among the Khitan people as well."

After hearing Xu Xing's words and persuading him, Qiao Feng's originally heavy mood was relieved a lot. He looked at Xu Xing, who was still able to talk and laugh easily despite being covered in wounds, and said with sincere admiration:

"Tafa, thank you."

Xu Xing just smiled indifferently. Tian Jue watched the two of them talking and thought of his most proud disciple, and couldn't help but sigh.

Once upon a time, they were so open-minded, but unfortunately...

Thinking of this, Tian Jue shook his head again.

He was not a sentimental person, but what happened today was quite a shock even for him, so his mood was a little up and down.

All three of them were masters of extraordinary martial arts. Although they had not yet recovered from their injuries, they were still better than 99% of the warriors in the world. So after a few jumps, they arrived at the secret cave in the back mountain.

Qiao Feng looked at the deep cave, took a deep breath, and strode in.

(End of this chapter)