The Song Dynasty was the king for thirteen years before he knew that he was Tianlong.

Chapter 313 Secret Techniques
Along the way, strange phenomena were constantly observed, and disasters occurred from time to time in the mountains and fields, disturbing the peace of the people and giving a sense that a dark and chaotic world was about to arrive.

The group traveled by day and rested by night, without entering the city. They spent most of their evenings in the wilderness, observing the unusual occurrences.

A few days later, they arrived in Jianzhou. At dusk, they set up camp at the foot of a small mountain. Zhao Ti said to Xu Zhu, "Let's not go back to Songshan for now. I will write to Master Xuanci to explain. There are many temples in Xingzhou City. Let's choose one to be the abbot."

Xu Zhu was greatly surprised upon hearing this: "Your Highness, there is nothing wrong with following Your Highness, but what merit do I have to preside over a temple?"

Zhao Ti said, "The large temple is making things difficult for you, but the small temple is fine. There are few affairs to attend to, so it won't interfere with your practice."

Xu Zhu clasped his hands together and shook his head vigorously: "Your Highness, this humble monk has no experience as an abbot and is clumsy by nature. I'm afraid I'll make a complete mess of things."

Zhao Ti laughed and said, "So be it. Let's just make the decision here. There's no need to say anything more."

Xu Zhu could only nod and say, "Yes, this humble monk obeys."

Then a campfire was lit, and after everyone ate their meal by the fire, they went into their tents to rest.

Xu Zhu and Xiao Feng slept in the same tent. Because he had drunk a lot of water, he got up in the middle of the night to go out to relieve himself.

Looking outside, dark clouds obscured the moon, and the stars dimmed, as if veiled by a thin gray gauze, creating a rather mysterious atmosphere.

Xu Zhu ran behind a tree, and before he could even fasten his belt after relieving himself, he heard a soft voice reach his ears: "Good grand-disciple, why didn't you wait for your master before you left?"

Xu Zhu was stunned. It was the voice of the Spirit Gate. He immediately remembered Zhao Ti's warning, and a look of fear appeared on his face. He turned around and tried to run back to the tent.

But a silent, dark finger strike suddenly came and hit his Tianmen acupoint.

There has always been a saying about this acupoint: "The Heavenly Gate is in darkness on the ground, and the coccyx will never return home."

Xu Zhu rolled his eyes and fell backward, only to see a white shadow flash in front of him. A hand grabbed his collar; it was the Lingmen monk.

Lingmen's expression was rather strange. He glanced back at the direction of the tent, a cold smile appearing on his lips. Then, he grabbed Xuzhu and flew up the small hill.

Just as he reached the foot of the mountain, Xiao Feng appeared from the tent where the two were staying, Zhao Ti also emerged from a tent, and Kumārajīva also appeared.

The three exchanged glances without speaking, then used their lightness skills to silently rush towards the hill.

Lingmen, carrying Xuzhu, quickly reached the mountaintop. They found a cave and were about to enter when they suddenly pondered for a moment. Then they crossed the small hill and continued their journey into the distance.

After about a quarter of an hour, several more small hills appeared in succession. He headed towards one of them, this time finding a secluded cave and stepping inside without hesitation.

He then threw Xu Zhu to the ground, took out a candle from his pocket, lit it, cleaned the cave, and released Xu Zhu's acupoints.

Xu Zhu felt dizzy and disoriented. He opened his eyes and looked around. When he saw the Spirit Gate, he exclaimed in alarm, "Master, why did you kidnap me here?"

Lingmen's gaze was deep and unfathomable: "My dear grand-disciple, you left without waiting for your master. Naturally, your master will ask you why."

"This humble monk thinks... that since the snow mountain collapsed, my master has already left on his own, so... that's why I followed you, young master," Xu Zhu stammered, not daring to look at Lingmen.

Lingmen chuckled and said, "Do you think Master would believe that? Who is that young master, and why does he have so many subordinates following him?"

Xu Zhu said, "Young Master, Young Master is the leader of the Ming Cult..." "The leader of the Ming Cult?" Ling Men snorted coldly and slapped him across the face. "Do you still want to deceive your master at this time? Don't think I don't know, he is clearly a prince of the Song Dynasty!"

"Ouch..." Xu Zhu covered his face, on the verge of tears: "Since Master already knows, why did you ask this humble monk again?"

Lingmen sneered, "I'm seeing if you're honest. If you are, I'll naturally let you off this time. If you're not, then you can't blame your master."

Xu Zhu said bitterly, "Although I am clumsy, if Master wants to harm me, there's no need to come up with such a lame excuse..."

Lingmen looked at Xuzhu with a deep gaze, then his voice softened: "What kind of person do you think your master is? He's always thinking of you, so how could he possibly harm you?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Zhu looked up at Lingmen and saw that Lingmen's eyes were flashing with a strange emerald light, like two bottomless pools of emerald water. In an instant, all of Xu Zhu's thoughts and feelings were drawn into them, and he became unable to extricate himself.

Then Lingmen's voice grew more amiable: "My dear grand-disciple, your master asks you, what inheritance did you receive within the Buddhist Kingdom?"

Xu Zhu felt as if he were completely engulfed by the other's deep, dark gaze, his mind went limp, and he unconsciously replied, "I... I have obtained the lineage of the Yaksha King of the Eight Legions."

"Yaksha King?" Lingmen frowned, a hint of surprise and displeasure in his expression. He then asked, "Why not inherit the legacy of another Dharma King or Arhat?"

Xu Zhu said, "This humble monk is naturally dull-witted. I entered the trial stage too late, and I was afraid that I would find nothing along the way. Later, even the lineage of the Yaksha King would be taken over by someone else, so I entered the hall to inherit it."

Lingmen remained silent for a few moments, then said, "The Yaksha King's lineage is also quite good. Would you please give that seed of inheritance to your master?"

“The seed of inheritance…” Xu Zhu’s eyes were filled with confusion as he murmured, “But this inheritance is imprinted within my dantian. How can I give it to you?”

Lingmen said, "Follow your master's words, relax your mind, and your master will take it himself."

“Okay…” Xu Zhu replied.

At this moment, Lingmen took out a bunch of flesh-colored incense sticks from his body, lit them quickly, and wisps of smoke rose up. The smoke was also this color, but it did not emit a fragrance, but rather a foul, fishy smell.

He then muttered some incantations and, seeing that Xu Zhu was already unconscious, raised his hand and gently pressed several acupoints on Xu Zhu's body.

His movements were very gentle, as if he was afraid of waking the other person up and making them feel that they were being controlled, which would cause emotional fluctuations and physical struggles.

Then, he whispered again from the entrance of his spirit gate, as if it were a Buddhist scripture or a secret mantra. After several dozen breaths, he closed his eyes like Xu Zhu, but suddenly leaped into the air and landed above Xu Zhu.

Then he was turned upside down, head down and legs up, still sitting cross-legged, but his whole body was reversed.

Then he descended, and his Baihui acupoint on the top of his head aligned with Xuzhu's Baihui acupoint without making a sound.

The two were now connected at the top of their heads, with Xu Zhu sitting upright below and Lingmen sitting upside down, which was very strange and even a little frightening.

Lingmen opened his mouth as if to take a deep breath, but before he could inhale, a figure flashed at the cave entrance, followed by a white palm wind that swept over.

Upon hearing the sound, Lingmen hurriedly opened his eyes, but he had no time to dodge. He was immediately knocked off Xuzhu's head by the palm wind, fell to the ground, and was covered in frost, instantly freezing into a lump.

Zhao Ti, Xiao Feng, and Kumārajīva had already arrived.

(End of this chapter)