Quickly conquer the martial arts world, and let your fists dominate the heavens!

After Chen Zhan finished speaking, he didn't look at Qiao Feng again. He took a few steps and quickly crossed the stone steps halfway up the mountain, arriving at the back gate of Shaolin Temple.

Shaolin Temple is divided into a front courtyard and a back mountain, with clear boundaries.

The front courtyard houses the main hall and the Heavenly Kings Hall, filled with the smoke of incense, a noisy space for worshippers to offer incense and pay homage to the Buddha.

The back mountain covers an even larger area and has been developed over hundreds of years, with numerous halls and meditation rooms built there, including the Bodhidharma Academy, the Sutra Repository, and the Arhat Hall.

The Shaolin monks and core disciples live, practice martial arts, and cultivate themselves in the back mountains, which is the foundation of Shaolin. It is heavily guarded and ordinary people can hardly get close.

On the other side, Qiao Feng stood on the stone steps, watching Chen Zhan and Gu Yu's departing figures, the words echoing in his ears.
"Today I will make the Shaolin Temple on Mount Song flow with blood."

His expression was complicated. Although he did not know the identities of the two men, he could sense their sharp aura and knew they were no ordinary martial arts masters.

After hesitating for a moment, he gritted his teeth and returned to the mountain.

Inside the meditation room, the atmosphere remained oppressive, and the air still carried the lingering smell of blood from Qiao Feng's severed arm.

Xuanji sat upright on the futon, his face solemn, and looked at Xuanci: "Senior brother, Qiao Feng left just now without being stopped. Will letting him go down the mountain like this leave any future trouble? Why not send someone to keep him here and eliminate any future problems?"

Xuan Ci slowly shook his head, his fingers twirling the prayer beads, his expression indifferent: "No need. Immediately send someone to spread the news that Qiao Feng is a Khitan and the son of Xiao Yuanshan throughout the martial arts world, and then secretly reveal his route down the mountain today to the martial arts community."

"Now the Khitans are hated by everyone in the Song Dynasty. All the factions in the martial arts world take pride in resisting the Liao. We don't need to take action. Countless people will take care of eliminating this threat for us."

"Senior brother... isn't this a bit... too ruthless?"

Xuan Ku frowned, his tone full of reluctance, "Although Qiao Feng is a Khitan, he has never done anything to harm the Song Dynasty or the martial arts world. On the contrary, he led the Beggars' Sect, benefited the people, and killed countless evil Liao people. Today, he has already cut off his own arm and broken with my Shaolin. Why must we continue to kill him?"

Xuan Ci raised his eyes and gave Xuan Ku a cold glance.

"You have already severed ties with him, and the master-disciple relationship is broken. The next time he sets foot in Shaolin, he will be an enemy of Shaolin. Ask yourself honestly, with your current martial arts skills, can you stop him?"

Upon hearing this, Xuan Ku was stunned and could only sigh heavily, speechless.

He knew in his heart that Qiao Feng's martial arts skills had long surpassed his master's, and had already far exceeded his own many years ago. Now, they were even more unfathomable. With his strength, he really couldn't stop the grief-stricken Qiao Feng.

As the group was talking, a series of hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside the meditation room.

A young monk rushed in, looking flustered and covered in sweat, forgetting to even knock.

"Grandmaster, Grandmaster Uncle, Grandmaster Master..."

The young monk was indeed speaking falsely. He rushed to the center of the meditation room in one breath, panting heavily, his voice trembling.

He was a monk of the Xu generation, above whom were monks of the Hui and Xuan generations. Those sitting upright in the meditation room were all senior monks of the Xuan generation, the highest generation in Shaolin. His rashness had already violated the rules.

"So reckless! What kind of behavior is this!"

Xuan Du sat upright to one side, his tone calm yet carrying a hint of authority, "Is this how Huizhen taught you?"

Xuandu was Xuyan's grandmaster and Huizhen's master. Seeing Xuyan in such a state of disarray, he naturally had to reprimand him.

Xu Yan trembled with fear, quickly lowered his head, and said respectfully:

"Grandmaster, please forgive me, I know I was wrong. But..."

"Someone presented me with a calling card and asked me to personally deliver it to my Grandmaster Xuanci. The matter was urgent, and I was in a hurry, which is why I broke the rules."

Xuan Ci nodded slightly, raised his hand and waved it, and a gentle stream of true energy flowed out.

The name card in Xu Yan's hand floated lightly into his hand.

It was just a piece of ordinary hemp paper, with a rough texture, definitely not the kind used for famous calligraphy. It looked like a piece of paper that was casually torn off and the words were hastily written on.

Xuan Ci unfolded the hemp paper, his gaze falling upon it. He saw only four characters on it, written with powerful strokes:

Xuan Yang, persecuted Buddhism.

Xuan Ci's gaze sharpened slightly, but he did not take the words "suppressing Buddhism" to heart.

Today, the three major Buddhist sects wield immense power, spanning the entire territory of the Song Dynasty, and are no longer merely forces within the martial arts world.

In the imperial court, many officials were either obsessed with Buddhism, yearned for the longevity methods preached by Buddhism, or coveted the beauty and benefits secretly offered by Buddhism, all of whom colluded with Buddhism.

Only Zhao Qingtan's lineage remained unmoved by persuasion and consistently distanced themselves from Buddhism.

In his view, wanting to destroy Buddhism was simply a pipe dream.

Unless one has the full support of the Song Dynasty, no matter how high one's martial arts skills are, it is absolutely impossible to shake the foundation of the three Buddhist sects on one's own.

What truly surprised him was the name "Xuan Yang".

“Xuan Yang… Xuan Yang…”

Xuan Ci muttered to himself, his brows furrowed, "This name seems familiar, I feel like I've heard it somewhere before, but I can't quite place it."

As he spoke, he handed the hemp paper to Xuanji beside him, and the senior monks of the Xuan generation read the four characters on the paper one by one.

Xuan Nan spoke first, his tone tinged with doubt: "I don't think there's a fellow disciple named Xuan Yang among the Xuan generation of disciples in Shaolin. I've also never heard of such a name among the Hui or Xu generations."

The group of senior monks of the Xuan generation all shook their heads, their faces filled with doubt.

Xuanji pondered for a moment and slowly said, "This person was mentioned by Huiyuan before. In the past few months, a person named Xuanyang suddenly appeared in the martial arts world. He is mysterious, highly skilled in martial arts, and hates evil as if it were his enemy. He specializes in killing evildoers. However, I have not heard of any grudges or entanglements between him and Shaolin."

"It has nothing to do with Shaolin?"

Xuan Ci raised his eyes, looked at Xuan Ji, and asked in a deep voice, "Since he sent his calling card and wrote the words 'Destroy Buddhism' on it, it must have been an unintentional act."

"Indeed, it has nothing to do with us."

Xuanji shook his head. "Huiyuan said that this person traveled the martial world and killed only scoundrels, bullies and villains. He has never been involved in Buddhist affairs, nor has he ever had any conflict with my Shaolin disciples."

Xuan Ci frowned even more deeply and said in a deep voice, "Summon Hui Yuan here. Who is this Xuan Yang? How dare he spout such arrogant words and presumptuously claim to destroy Buddhism!"

"Yes."

Xu Yan quickly agreed and turned to leave, but he had just reached the door of the meditation room.

Then they saw Chen Zhan and Gu Yu walking slowly to the entrance of the courtyard, their expressions calm and leisurely.

At the same time, a series of urgent shouts came from behind, growing louder and louder: "Someone has broken into the mountain! Someone has broken into the mountain! The gatekeeper disciple, Xuming, has been killed by the thieves! Quickly inform the abbot!"

As the shouts subsided, dozens of monks wielding staffs surrounded them from all directions, each with a wary expression, their eyes fixed on Chen Zhan and Gu Yu, completely encircling the two.

The leader, dressed in a gray monk's robe, was the eldest disciple of the Hui generation, Huizhen, who was also Xuyan's master and in charge of guarding the back mountain of Shaolin.

Chen Zhan and Gu Yu paid no attention to this. They walked through the group of monks with sticks and went to the center of the courtyard. Their eyes met those of Xuan Ci inside the open meditation room.

Their eyes met, and an invisible collision seemed to occur in the air.

Chen Zhan smiled and said, "Yes, you're all here. That's good. It saves me the trouble of gathering you all together one by one."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Huizhen stepped forward, staff in hand, slamming it down on the ground with a loud thud, causing the ground to tremble slightly. His voice was icy as he sharply questioned:
"Who are you? Why have you trespassed into the back mountain of my Shaolin Temple and cruelly killed my Shaolin disciple Xuming? If you don't give Shaolin an explanation today, don't even think about leaving Songshan alive!" Chen Zhan raised his eyes indifferently, glanced at Huizhen, and said in a completely calm tone, "Because I want to destroy Buddhism."

Before she finished speaking, Gu Yu suddenly leaped into the air.

The longsword at his waist was drawn again, and a streak of icy blue sword light instantly spread out. The radiant white true energy swept out, and the sword energy crisscrossed, chilling and fast as lightning, heading straight for the surrounding monks.

Huizhen and the monks with staffs around him were shocked and caught off guard, with no time to react or even raise their staffs to defend themselves.

With a few muffled thuds, the sword energy swept across the ground, and the monks fell to the ground one after another, their flesh and blood flying everywhere, their screams echoing in the air.

Most of the monks of the Xu generation have not yet broken through to the Innate Realm, and even among the Hui generation, only a few have decent martial arts skills.

But even a master of innate skill is no match for Gu Yu.

Moreover, Gu Yu's attacks are ruthless, each move deadly, leaving no room for error.

In a short while, the dozens of monks who had surrounded them were all dead or wounded. The ground was covered with corpses and bloodstains, and monks' staffs were scattered all over the ground. The smell of blood instantly spread, mixing with the sandalwood incense in the courtyard, creating an eerie and pungent odor.

Only then did the senior monks of the Xuan generation in the meditation room fully react. Their expressions were horrified, and they all leaped out of the meditation room, their eyes filled with disbelief and anger.

"you!!!"

Xuanbei trembled with rage, pointing at Chen Zhan and Gu Yu, "Who are you people? Why are you so ruthless, killing people at the drop of a hat and harming my Shaolin disciples? You are simply insane!"

"Amitabha."

Xuan Ci clasped his hands together and uttered a Buddhist chant, "Your Excellency, are you Xuan Yang?"

At this moment, eight eminent monks of the Xuan generation stood in the courtyard: Xuanci, Xuancheng, Xuanji, Xuanbei, Xuannan, Xuanku, Xuandu, and Xuantong.

These eight individuals are all top masters of Shaolin, each in charge of important affairs of Shaolin. Their martial arts skills are unfathomable, and they are the foundation of Shaolin.

"Senior brother, why waste words with them!"

Xuan Nan spoke first, his tone volatile and his eyes blazing with anger, "They've already come to our doorstep, ruining our Shaolin Temple, harming our Shaolin disciples. They're clearly making an enemy of Shaolin and courting death!"

Xuan Nan is the head of the Shaolin Bodhidharma Academy. He is proficient in Shaolin martial arts such as the Maha Finger and Prajna Palm. He is highly skilled in martial arts, but also has a volatile temper and is extremely protective of his own.

Seeing the heavy casualties among his disciples, he could no longer contain his anger.

Chen Zhan nodded slightly: "That's right, this eminent monk is absolutely right. Why waste words? I came here today precisely to destroy Buddhism. If Buddhism won't save me, then why not?"

"Very well! How utterly arrogant!"

Enraged by Chen Zhan's words, Xuan Nan roared and leaped forward in an instant.

His body surged with true energy, his monk's robes fluttered in the wind, and he charged straight at Chen Zhan with a powerful aura, his palm strikes fierce and accompanied by chanting.

Clearly, he used all his strength from the very beginning, without holding back in the slightest.

Seeing this, Gu Yu moved slightly to step forward and stop him, but Chen Zhan raised his hand slightly, signaling her to step back.

Gu Yu instantly understood Chen Zhan's meaning, paused, and slowly took two steps back.

Xuan Nan's Prajna Palm was as fast as lightning. Before the palm wind even arrived, a surge of powerful true energy rushed towards him, as if it would completely engulf Chen Zhan.

As the palm wind swept past, Chen Zhan's plain-colored robe fluttered violently behind him, and his hair also lifted slightly.

"Hmm, not bad, excellent palm technique."

Chen Zhan spoke calmly, his tone carrying a hint of approval.

As soon as he finished speaking, the extraordinary phenomenon of dragon and tiger intertwining within Chen Zhan's dantian surged with a roar, his blood and qi surged, and his muscles and bones trembled slightly, with faint roars of dragon and tiger reaching everyone's ears.

The high-ranking monks of the Xuan generation present all changed their expressions. They could sense that Chen Zhan's body had no fluctuations of true energy, but there was a heart-palpitating aura surging within him.

Under everyone's gaze, Chen Zhan simply raised his right fist slowly, took a small half-step forward, and moved in a simple and unadorned manner, without any fancy gestures.

One punch!
It was unassuming, striking out from the waist with seemingly no power, yet it precisely met Xuan Nan's immense Prajna Palm energy.

"boom--!"

With a loud bang, the earth and rocks shook, and the bluestone slabs in the courtyard were instantly shattered. Shards flew everywhere, sand and stones flew, and dust filled the air, enveloping the entire courtyard in a cloud of dust.

Surprisingly, after the loud bang, Chen Zhan was not thrown out of the dust by Xuan Nan's palm force.

The commotion caused by this collision did not seem to be as great as everyone had imagined.

Just a moment ago, everyone felt that a force was about to erupt, as if it would completely destroy the entire courtyard.

However, that power was suppressed by an invisible force, confining it to a mere ten feet around the two of them, without spreading outwards at all.

"Senior Brother Xuan Nan!"

"Junior Brother Xuan Nan!"

"Uncle-Master Xuannan!"

Three shouts came in quick succession, their voices filled with anxiety and worry.

Xuan Ci, Xuan Ji, Xuan Ku, and the others spoke up one after another, their eyes fixed on the center of the billowing smoke, their expressions extremely solemn.

Because they could sense that Xuan Nan's true energy was rapidly dissipating, as if it had been drained away in an instant.

The smoke and dust gradually dissipated, revealing the original scene.

Chen Zhan remained standing in the same spot, his clothes neat and clean, without even a speck of dust on them, as if the earth-shattering collision just now had nothing to do with him.

But before him lay nothing but emptiness. There was no sign of Xuan Nan, only a pool of glaring blood and some fragments of red monk's robes scattered on the shattered bluestone slab.

"This……"

"What happened? Where is Uncle-Master Xuan Nan?"

"Where is he? Where did Uncle Xuannan go?"

"Junior Brother Xuan Nan... he... he could have already..."

A brief silence fell over the arena, followed by a tremendous roar.

More and more monks gathered to watch, including monks of the Hui generation and disciples of the Xu generation. They looked at the scene before them with shock and disbelief on their faces, discussing among themselves and looking flustered.

Xuan Nan, the head of the Shaolin Bodhidharma Academy, is a top master with unfathomable martial arts skills and a well-known figure throughout the martial arts world.

Now, he couldn't even withstand a single punch from Chen Zhan and vanished into thin air.
Chen Zhan lowered his eyes and said, "The person is here."

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Zhan slowly turned his hand over, palm facing upwards, and a relic, entirely crimson and radiating a faint Buddhist light and a bloody stench, appeared in his hand.

The relic was crimson in color and carried a strong, bloody odor. (End of Chapter)