From the Ming Dynasty, we will conquer the world

Chapter 28: Flags Flying, Entering Shaolin Alone

After the four abbots and Mingshan left, Fawei left the hall, walked along a deep and winding path, climbed over rocks and mountains, and came to a dilapidated courtyard hidden deep in the back mountains.

Pushing the door open, you will see a quiet and spacious courtyard surrounded by colorful sculptures of Vajra Arhats, Bodhisattvas and Buddhas.

Each one has a different expression and posture, some with eyes open and forehead protruding, some with lowered brows and kind eyes, some sitting cross-legged, and some glaring, all of them are lifelike.

It’s a pity that these sculptures are all missing parts, faded and worn, and have lost their former solemnity, adding an eerie and desolate feeling to this place.

At the deepest part of the courtyard, there stands a nine-story stone pagoda. Under the pagoda, there is a charred body with only the upper half of the body left.

There was no flesh and blood on the body, only a thin layer of skin wrapped around a dead branch-like skeleton, with both hands in seals.

Although its appearance resembles that of an evil ghost, this broken body seems to echo the pagoda in the distance, naturally emitting a sense of great light that is self-sufficient, pure and perfect.

This is not a half-burnt corpse, but the physical body of a Buddha sitting upright on a lotus platform, looking down at the world with lowered eyebrows, wanting to save all living beings.

This is exactly the immortal treasure in the martial arts legend that points to the end of the road to immortality - the remains of Bodhidharma!
Before Fawei even entered the room, he had already sensed the sense of tranquility, and his face involuntarily became ferocious.

His muscles were throbbing and undulating wildly under his robes, as if there was a shape-shifting demon hiding in this skinny body, trying to break through the membrane and be born into the world.

Fawei looked into the eyes of the charred corpse. His chest heaved and he took a deep breath. Immediately, a strong wind blew around him, howling miserably, as if countless demons and ghosts were howling and trying to crawl out of hell.

The wild, evil and brutal fist force spread out with the sound, competing with this pure and perfect artistic conception without giving in.

It is in this way that Fawei hones his boxing skills.

He persisted for a long time, until sweat broke out on his forehead, then he slowly restrained his fists and turned back into the hidden abbot of Southern Shaolin.

Fawei walked to the foot of the pagoda and looked at the mutilated body. Although he had seen it many times, he still showed some awe when he saw the burn marks all over it.

Because the more advanced his boxing skills were, the more he could feel the horror of the burn marks.

"Old Bodhidharma's physique had almost reached the peak of being indestructible, but he was unable to withstand the burning fire of the unity of heaven, earth and man, and failed at the last moment.

It is really not easy to knock on the gate of immortality with martial arts..."

At this moment, Fawei's heart suddenly skipped a beat and he sensed some unusual movement.

-

Going up the mountain path, there is a martial arts arena built against the mountain wall. I wonder how much effort Southern Shaolin put in to open up this large flat stone area in the rock.

In the middle is a large incense burner, with thick smoke filling the entire place, making people extremely excited as soon as they smell it, and eager to take action.

Around the martial arts arena, there are also majestic statues of the Four Heavenly Kings, which are about ten feet tall. The statues overlook the martial arts arena with angry eyes, which have a kind of breathtaking majesty that makes it difficult for ordinary people to look directly at them.

These were all carved by Fawei himself to sharpen the courage of these monks.

It is now midsummer and the midday sun is scorching hot, but there are still many monks here who are not afraid of the heat and concentrate on practicing martial arts.

The field was densely packed with strong men, most of them with bare upper bodies. Each of them occupied a place and was either practicing boxing, kicking or using weapons alone, or competing with their fellow disciples.

However, the boxing they displayed was not of the unified Shaolin style, but was mixed with the shadows of various martial arts schools. Although it was a mixture of the north and the south, it had a kind of wild and chaotic vitality.

After Mingshan received the imperial edict from Fawei, he walked down the mountain. When he passed by this place, he stopped and was quite shocked.

He looked around, and although he didn't count them carefully, he could see that there were at least two hundred people practicing martial arts here.

Although he knew that this was only the more elementary one among the many dojos of Southern Shaolin, and that a glimpse of the whole picture was enough, Mingshan still realized from it how powerful Southern Shaolin is today.

He really didn't expect that Fawei had taken over Southern Shaolin for only a few years and had already built up such a large foundation.

Thinking about the group of misfits under his command, Mingshan felt an indescribable awe and fear towards his master.

At this moment, a loud bang came from the foot of the mountain. The sound was so loud that it seemed to shake the entire martial arts arena.

The monks all stopped and looked at each other.

After a brief silence, there was a burst of uproar, and they all ran towards the edge of the dojo, wanting to know what was happening down the mountain.

Mingshan was standing on the stone steps, overlooking the martial arts field from a high place, so his view was naturally broad.

So, he just raised his eyes and vaguely saw that the stone steps at the foot of the mountain seemed to have been hit violently by some huge object, and thick smoke and dust rose.

Not long after, the slowly rising smoke was stirred up by something, forming a long dragon-like air column that rolled up the mountain along the stone steps.

Mingshan was a great boxer with amazing eyesight and he could see that it was a fluttering flag.

The flag is as black as ink, with gilded patterns interwoven into it, depicting a roc with a defiant gaze. As it flutters, five large characters engraved on the back can be vaguely seen.

——Loyalty from all corners of the world!

The flags fluttered like dragons, rising and falling suddenly, and had already climbed to the martial arts field.

The monks then saw clearly that the flagpole was actually a tree trunk about ten feet long and as thick as a bowl.

The trunk and roots of the tree were twisted and fluttering, and were covered with clods of dirt, obviously having just been pulled out of the ground by someone.

The flags fluttered, the smoke and dust dissipated, revealing a handsome young man with a blood-stained blue shirt and black cloth shoes.

At this moment, the mountain breeze was blowing, Xu Xing held the flag in his right hand, stood proudly facing the wind, his clothes fluttering, and the flag rustling.

Someone in the crowd recognized the origin of the big flag in Xu Xing's hand and exclaimed:

"This is the banner of the Eight-Armed Shura!"

"Eight-armed Shura? Didn't he die a long time ago?"

There was a big, strong monk who stretched out his big hand like a palm-leaf fan, pushed through the crowd and stood out.

He glanced at the big flag, then looked at Xu Xing, and said in a deep voice:

"Over the years, our Southern Shaolin Temple and Lord Baolong have always kept to themselves. Why did you come here to provoke a fight?"

Although Yue Daohai had already escaped from the thirty-six ships, there were few people outside the thirty-six ships who knew about it.

Therefore, the monk still regarded Xu Xing as a pirate.

What's more, the news that Xu Xing assassinated two third-rank officials in Hangzhou a few days ago has now spread.

Since this incident happened close to the time when Zhu Tiandu raided Xiangshan, some people naturally interpreted it as a tacit cooperation, which further confirmed Xu Xing's identity as a pirate.

Therefore, this experienced coach couldn't help but wonder in his heart, what was the purpose of this young pirate who has been in the limelight recently coming here?
Could it be that Zhu Laolong was really planning to attack Southern Shaolin first, and sent Mingshan just to paralyze the abbot and the chief monks and wait for an opportunity to act?

Xu Xing was too lazy to explain so much. He crushed the stone steps under his feet with his feet, turned up the soil, and then inserted the flagpole.

The flagpole was about an inch deep in the ground, like a tree taking root, and remained motionless. Xu Xing clapped his hands, took two steps forward, and swept his eyes around. Every monk who looked at him felt as if he had been struck by lightning.

After two steps, Xu Xing retracted his gaze and said regretfully:

“Although I knew that after Master Fanian died in battle, Southern Shaolin had become a place of filth and corruption, I never thought that you would have fallen to this level.

Even if the pirates are in front of you, you dare not fight hard? "

Xu Xing crossed his arms, looked down upon everyone with a haughty gaze, and sneered:

“It’s really disappointing.”

Although there are only seven words, the disdain and contempt that runs through them is so expressive that anyone can clearly feel it.

The monk's expression suddenly turned cold. He stared at Xu Xing and shouted sternly:
"Even if the Eight-Armed Shura came in person, he wouldn't dare to act so arrogantly in this temple. How dare you, a junior, say such arrogant things?!"

Seeing the big monk come forward, the warrior monks recovered from their shock and surrounded him with unfriendly faces.

After the old master Fanian died in battle, Southern Shaolin began to recruit disciples in large numbers, and the situation began to change.

Fa Wei's return made this trend even more serious. In just a few years, the number of Shaolin monks doubled or tripled.

Fawei's methods of training his disciples were extremely harsh, and he often sent them to exchange and compete with each other, which resulted in many injuries and deaths. However, it also made these monks develop a ferocious spirit that had no taboos and was arrogant and domineering.

Therefore, even though they knew that Xu Xing's boxing skills were extremely high, no monk showed any sign of retreat. Instead, they were filled with deep malice that they could not help but express.

In Xu Xing's perception, the malice emanating from these monks was like a pack of wolves wandering in the wilderness. Once they caught sight of their prey, they would rush over and eat it all up.

Not only the malicious intentions of these monks, Xu Xing could even clearly feel the pure and perfect artistic conception that permeated this Buddhist land, as well as the evil fist power contained in the statues of the four heavenly kings.

This was the first time that Xu Xing realized that the super perception brought by the ultimate level of skin refining also had side effects.

This kind of perception is like amplifying the spiritual aura that is difficult for ordinary people to understand. Although it allows Xu Xing to better understand the true meaning, it also makes him more susceptible to the influence of this invisible thing.

If an ordinary master were here, he might just feel that it is difficult to perform punches, just like an ordinary person carrying a heavy load on his shoulders walking on a mountain road, even if it is difficult, it is unlikely to endanger his life.

But in the eyes of Xu Xing, a powerful man with extraordinary perception, these originally illusory punches seemed to have condensed into substance, just like the legendary devil's realm, forming all kinds of illusions, impacting his spiritual will wave after wave.

Sometimes it is a pack of wolves in the wilderness, sometimes it is a furious Vajra, sometimes it is an Arhat in the heavens, sometimes it is a guardian deity of the temple, and sometimes it is the golden body of the Buddha...

There are so many different things.

If you are not careful, you may go astray and suffer a mental breakdown.

With the demonic realm invading his sea of ​​consciousness and his boxing spirit being completely suppressed, he fought alone against the Southern Shaolin Temple, which was guarded by a grandmaster, with his body still not fully recovered...

This is the most rigorous double test for both the spirit and the body.

but……

Xu Xing grinned, revealing two rows of neat white teeth. He raised his eyebrows, smiled grimly, and said word by word:
“That’s what makes it fun!”

With every word Xu Xing uttered, his eyes became brighter, like light breaking through the clouds, dazzling and brilliant.

His voice became louder and louder, and when it reached its peak, it was like rumbling thunder, echoing throughout the entire venue.

When the monks heard this, they felt a sense of pride and confidence penetrating their lungs and rushing through their souls.

Before the whistling sound had died down, Xu Xing had already rushed towards the leading monk like an arrow. With one step, the stone slabs on the ground shattered like a spider web and a strong wind blew.

The strong wind blew away, and the big flag fluttered in the wind. Every thread on the flag was stretched to its limit, as if the cloth had suddenly turned into gold and iron, like a big sword cutting through the air.

The big monk only heard the sound of wind exploding in his ears. Before he could get ready to resist, Xu Xing's claw ripped his throat and he died on the spot.

After killing the big monk, Xu Xing used the rotor blades of an eagle to turn around and spun around to avoid the two wooden sticks attacking from the left and right. He then rushed forward and swung his hands, knocking two more monks to the ground with their throats broken.

Four more wooden sticks were pointed at his chest. The tips of the sticks made a buzzing sound like the ringing of metal, which showed how powerful they were.

When the four monks attacked, their steps were so heavy that even the extremely solid stone ground beneath their feet shook.

When they were training normally, one swing of the stick was enough to break a brick, but after Xu Xing was covered in blood, he became even more ferocious. He didn't dodge at all and was still hit in the chest by the long stick.

The four wooden sticks were like hitting a copper wall, bending and arching. The four monks only felt numbness in their palms and showed horror on their faces.

Xu Xing shouted in a deep voice, inflating his skin membranes, and his body suddenly expanded and grew stronger, his veins bulged, and he used his Iron Shirt Kung Fu to the extreme, taking two steps forward.

With a snap, the four wooden sticks broke.

At this moment, Xu Xing was like a giant bear that had just awakened from hibernation. He stepped closer, stretched out his arms, exerted force from his back, and swung his palm like an axe, hitting the faces of the two people on his left and right.

The facial bones of the two monks were completely twisted and collapsed, with broken bones piercing through the flesh, like two bulging blood bags that suddenly burst open, blood splattered everywhere, and the two corpses fell on their backs.

Xu Xing rushed forward again, his right foot in front, his spine twisted to the right, and his right shoulder thrust forward. He bent his right hand, which had just chopped down, into a spear at the elbow, and hit one of the men in the chest with a top elbow, shattering his sternum and piercing his lungs.

Blood bubbles gurgled out of the man's mouth, and his whole body went limp, dead.

Xu Xing's elbow touched the top of the head and then he retracted it. He turned around and twisted his waist again, and swung out his left arm. The five fingers of his left hand clenched into a claw, and his fingertips pierced the air. With a sharp whistle, he tore the throat of the only surviving monk among the four stick monks.

However, the sacrifice of these four people also bought enough time for others to react. Now Xu Xing was surrounded by the crowd rushing up from all sides.

At the same time, there were more than ten kinds of weapons coming towards him, including the conventional Shaolin weapons such as poles, swords, and Zen staffs, as well as strange weapons such as the mandarin duck axe, iron hook, and judge's pen.

Xu Xing's body sank and rose, and his qi and blood flowed through his forehead and Yongquan point. His face turned blood red, and he used his forehead to stimulate his physical strength. The muscles in his shoulder and back bulged, his shoulder blades flapped, and he suddenly leaped upward.

boom!
With Xu Xing's footsteps as the center of the circle, a footprint sank deeply into the hard stone ground. The flat stone slab was shattered, countless pieces of gravel splashed out, and smoke and dust rose up.

At that moment, the dozen or so monks who were besieging Xu Xing felt as if an earth dragon was turning over under their feet. Their bodies were shaking violently, and their skin was swollen and blue from being beaten by the broken stones.

As the saying goes, strength comes from the ground. When their footholds are shaken by their movements, it is naturally difficult for these monks to exert their strength.

After Xu Xing jumped up, he used his poking skills without reservation, stepping on the heads and shoulders of the monks and rushing forward.

Wherever he stepped on the monks' bodies, a big bloody hole would appear without exception, as if they were pierced by an iron spear dropped from the sky. The essence of "Five Steps and Thirteen Spears" was demonstrated to the fullest.

After another row of monks fell down, Xu Xing had arrived next to the big incense burner. With just a leap and a flip, he disappeared behind the incense burner.

When the monks thought that Xu Xing wanted to use the incense burner to hide his body and fight in a roundabout way, they saw the incense burner suddenly fly up and crash into the crowd.

This incense burner is more than ten feet high and weighs several thousand pounds. The force it exerted when it flew out was so terrifying that it cannot be described with words like force and heaviness. It can only be described as overwhelming and earth-shaking!
This kind of pure violence was so direct that the monks around who had not yet formally fought with Xu Xing had their brains go blank and their eyes dull. They even forgot that they were now in a life-and-death battle.

The moment the incense burner flew up, the dozen or so monks who rushed forward the fastest were already enveloped in the black shadow that covered the sky and the sun. They looked up in vain and could only let out a shrill howl.

boom! ! !
(End of this chapter)