Martial Arts Crossover: The Sweeping Monk of Wudang? That's our patriarch!

The others froze in place, their faces ashen. A Nascent Soul cultivator couldn't even withstand a single move from him?

This old man... is a bit too creepy.

"Report your master! Who gave you the audacity to attack us here?"

Lin Daochen burst out laughing on the spot, his laughter full of sarcasm. He had seen shameless people before, but he had never seen anyone this shameless.

It was clearly this group who had set up the trap and surrounded them long ago, but now that they were outmatched, they turned around and tried to shift the blame onto him.

In this world, they can make any kind of twisted logic sound plausible.

"You guys were putting on quite a show, huh?" His voice suddenly turned cold. "You were clearly squatting here waiting to chop us up, but you failed, and now you're making it seem like I provoked you? What, do you really think I, Lin Daochen, wouldn't dare to touch you?"

The group exchanged smiles, their lips curled in disdain—a direct descendant of a prestigious family, how could a rogue cultivator like you possibly afford to offend?

"Old man, we're standing right here. You dare touch a single hair on our head?"

"I'm making this clear today: if you harm us in the slightest, the ten major sects will immediately join forces to raze your sect to the ground! Have you thought it through?"

"All your teachers, fellow disciples, juniors, and relatives—not one of them will be spared; they will all be buried with you."

Are you out of your mind?

click-

A head shot into the sky, drawing a scarlet arc in mid-air.

The relaxed expression on everyone's faces vanished, replaced by a chilling shock frozen deep within their pupils.

The person who spoke earlier is now dead, his body severed from his head, lying in a pool of blood.

"Have you forgotten—this place is isolated from the outside world. Killing you is no different from stepping on a few ants." Lin Daochen lowered his eyes and glanced at the limbs scattered on the ground. "Just like those people you silently wiped out so you could keep the treasure for yourself. Those who kill will always be killed."

They preach righteousness, but their actions are the most despicable.

Upon seeing someone die on the spot, the crowd immediately panicked. The first to jump up was a noble young man in white brocade robes.

"I...I recognize your spell! It's Elder Qingluan's 'Burning Heaven Azure Flame Technique' from the Five Elements Sect—if you dare lay a finger on us, the entire Five Elements Sect will be uprooted!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the others' faces lit up with the joy of surviving a disaster.

As long as you can seize the opponent's weakness, your life is as secure as a rock. But before he could finish speaking, a pale white arc of lightning tore through the air, and with a "crack," another head rolled to the ground.

At this moment, Lin Daochen was like a demon crawling out of the blood pool of the Netherworld, standing still, but his gaze was like a blade scraping through everyone's throat.

He slowly put away the two storage bags, his gaze gradually sweeping over the survivors. A gentle, calm smile appeared on his lips.

"Since you know my identity and the location of my sect's mountain gate—but this place is deserted, without any inscriptions or records. If I erase you all, who will testify against me?"

"I intended to spare your lives, but alas—you know too much."

In an instant, a burst of spiritual light erupted, magical artifacts flew everywhere, and in a flash, corpses littered the ground, and no one breathed a sigh of relief.

From the moment he stepped into this place, he had already sentenced everyone to death in his heart.

With members of the Taishu clan mixed in, letting them go would immediately expose his true nature; not to mention the rare treasures they had plundered, which had long been burning in his heart. As for the consequences of offending a major sect? Who saw it? Who can testify?

After finishing everything, he looked up at Wan Botao and the others who had been cowering in the distance, silent as cicadas in fear.

"I don't need to say more about what happened today—you all know what to say when you get back."

Wan Botao's face was deathly pale. He spoke before anyone else could, his voice trembling, "We...we didn't see anything! We were outside the formation the moment we opened our eyes!"

Lin Daochen nodded, his expression slightly relaxed.

Then, his gaze shifted to Zhuge Xue, who remained slumped on the ground, never getting up.

"I understand... what to say, and what not to say." Her voice was low and hoarse, yet every word was clear. "Someone like you is beyond our even the right to look up to..."

In that instant, she finally understood: the so-called insurmountable barrier was not the chasm between the Nascent Soul and the Divine Transformation realms, but the difference in their comprehension of the essence of the Great Dao—power is not in the dantian, but in the fingertips; realm is not in age, but in the mind. True geniuses are those who break free from shackles, not puppets who merely accumulate spiritual power.

After listening, Lin Daochen said nothing more, but simply pointed towards the teleportation array.

No one dared to hesitate, and they filed out one after another. Just before stepping into the formation, Wan Botao glanced back and asked in a low voice, "Senior...Senior Brother, aren't you coming back to the sect with us?"

Lin Daochen waved his hand and turned to walk back the way he came.

Outside the entrance, elders from various sects had already formed a circle, eagerly watching the entrance and hoping that their disciples would appear safely.

As soon as the time limit was up, the teleportation array emitted a faint blue light, and all eyes were fixed on it. Before long, Wan Botao and his group stepped out one after another, their steps unsteady and their robes disheveled.

But the light gradually dimmed, and no more figures appeared—until the magic array completely went out and returned to silence.

A deathly silence fell over the surroundings. Everyone's pupils constricted, their anger churning within them, yet they forcefully suppressed it. Only one elder of the Heavenly Sword Sect could not contain himself any longer. He grabbed Wan Botao's collar, his knuckles turning white: "What exactly happened inside? Speak!"

Wan Botao trembled all over, his teeth chattering: "I really...I really don't know! I woke up here, and I didn't see a single person!"

His eyes darted around, and his voice was weak. Everyone present was a cunning old fox, shrewd enough to know he was lying at a glance.

The group exchanged glances, about to press for answers, when a deep cough suddenly made the air tremble slightly—

"Ahem... How dare you old fogies presume to presume to be disciples of my Five Elements Sect?"

Qingluan approached slowly, her skirts not fluttering, yet she had already shielded Wan Botao and the others behind her.

The elders' pupils contracted, and they narrowed their eyes, but they did not move an inch.

It wasn't that he feared her personally—although those at the Tribulation Transcending stage were strong, her cultivation level was strangely acquired, and her combat strength was actually at the bottom among those of the same level. If it really came down to a fight to the death, it was uncertain who would fall first.

But one only has one life. If a disciple is lost, another can be chosen. Why risk your life here?

We have to win back our pride in the end.

"Master Qingluan, we heard that you were seriously injured a few days ago. We have no other intentions, but we hope that some of your disciples can clear up some of our doubts!"

"Yes! None of our men came out alive—who would believe there wasn't something fishy going on?"

"In my opinion, they were most likely the ones who did it!"

The words became increasingly harsh. Qingluan lowered her brows and gave a cold snort that was as sharp as a blade, causing the air to freeze for a moment.

……

"A bunch of old fogies, biting the hand that feeds them? Don't you know your own disciples' skill level and my disciple's foundation? Do you really think life is made of paper, that you can just snap it off so easily?"

These words were like a red-hot iron ingot, scalding the surrounding elders into silence; their throats bobbed, but they couldn't utter a single word.

And that was indeed the case—while Wan Botao and his group were considered outstanding young talents outside, in the eyes of those top sects, they were nothing more than tender sprouts, not even able to catch up with the shadow of their direct disciples.

Not to mention slaughtering dozens of people in one go—it's so absurd that even the wind would stagger upon hearing it.

……

In fact, Qingluan had already made up her mind the moment Lin Daochen did not appear.

She thought to herself: That kid is probably still struggling with the dragon's mark. He's either trapped inside and can't get out, or he just broke free and was immediately targeted by the dragon, so he's hiding and looking for a way to survive. Unfortunately, he may not know that if he doesn't leave the array's core when the time limit is up, he will be devoured by the remnant and his body will be destroyed.

At this critical juncture, she was also at a loss.

The major sects were deadlocked, unwilling to leave empty-handed, yet unable to reach a conclusion through their arguments. In the end, all eyes were fixed on Elder Xuan Tianji of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion.

"Xuan Tianji, your disciple is also inside. Can't you predict the outcome?"

"Senior, please say something!"

As soon as Xuan Tianji plucked a beard between his fingers, he suddenly spat out a mouthful of black blood, and his entire body hunched over as if his spine had been removed.

"No... The Realm Lord is coming!"

After a long while, he finally caught his breath, but his face was deathly pale, his eyes were cloudy and gray, and his pupils had already lost their light.

"All gone...all the disciples, all dead!"

"At the beginning of the collapse of heaven and earth, on the night when chaos first cracked, the cycle of heaven began to turn..."

Before he could finish speaking, he choked on another mouthful of blood.

"A great calamity is imminent! The karmic chains are locked, no one can escape... Everyone must die, everyone must die, everyone must die..."

"The one who can break this deadlock has yet to arrive—we're already entangled in a knot of cause and effect, damn it! Damn it! Damn it all!"

Xuan Tianji has gone mad. The crowd exchanged glances, knowing without a word: This old Taoist priest has truly gone insane.

Qingluan stepped forward, touched his brow with her fingertip, and after a brief examination, her expression darkened slightly.

"When the soul is scattered and the mind collapses, it is highly likely that one has glimpsed a secret that should not have been seen."

"I will report this matter to the sect leader myself. As for the mistakes of the disciples... I, Qingluan Peak, will not take any responsibility."

Who would listen to this now? Everyone's ears were perked up, waiting to chew on the bones hidden in Xuan Tianji's crazy words.

The fate of his apprentice was long forgotten; what truly sent chills down one's spine were the few words he uttered during his madness.

The people of Tianji Pavilion have gone mad—there's only one possibility: they forced a deduction and suffered a backlash from the Heavenly Dao.

With Xuan Tianji's cultivation, he should have been able to see through ninety percent of the world's phenomena, yet he ended up in such a state, which shows that what he saw had long since transcended the boundaries of common sense.

Upon closer examination of the words he uttered in fits and starts: "the chaos before creation," "the one who breaks the deadlock"... no one could decipher their meaning.

But everyone understands one thing: a storm is brewing, and the world is about to collapse.

This message must be sent directly to the sects using the fastest sword talisman.

……

On the other side, deep within the ancient ruins, Lin Daochen squinted, leaning down to stare at the array patterns on the ground.

His heart burned with excitement: if he could engrave this array into his flesh and bones, then there would be no more forbidden areas in the world.

The relic teleportation array had long been shut down, its surface calm and still. Yet, a hundred paces away, a wisp of pale mist was quietly rising—it would wither any grass or tree it touched, and brittle any flying insects it brushed past.

Although the spread was slow, it steadily closed in on his location, inch by inch.

But Lin Daochen seemed oblivious, his entire mind already immersed in the depths of the array patterns, dissecting them line by line and deducing them inch by inch.

Just as the mist shrank to a mere three feet in diameter, its chill penetrating to the skin, his fingertips trembled, and the final stroke was completed.

The entire array diagram has been imprinted into his bones and veins.

The spiritual energy surged past like a dragon, and he vanished from his spot in a flash. When he opened his eyes again, the world before him was completely different.

This was a pure white, boundless void, so vast it was unsettling—without boundaries, without light or shadow, without direction, even the concepts of "up, down, left, and right" had vanished. He could see his own body clearly, but he could see no reference points: no sun, moon, or stars, no mountains, rivers, or vegetation, not even a wisp of wind or a shadow existed.

A clear, resonant voice swept in from all directions:

"King Ren, even you have fallen into the cycle of reincarnation! In the war that created the world, you seized all the opportunities of heaven and earth, and absorbed the creation of all ages—what a magnificent spirit you possessed! Our reunion today is truly due to an unfinished predestined relationship—I am willing to lend you a helping hand!"

Nioh?

Lin Daochen's heart skipped a beat, and his brows furrowed sharply. He was the reincarnation of the Benevolent King? Ridiculous! He was clearly torn into this situation by the backlash of the formation.

"I am not some Ren-ou. Let me out." His tone was calm, yet it carried an undeniable coldness.

But the voice refuted it without hesitation:

"No, you are the Benevolent King. Only you can break through the formation; only you dare to etch the formation patterns into your very blood and bones!"

"I will never be mistaken—you are the only one in the world who dares to tear open the scroll of Heaven's Dao, and even dares to refine it into your soul!"

Lin Daochen's pupils contracted slightly.

The other party has mistaken the person for someone else. And the mistake is quite well-founded... The one called "Renwang" is probably Qingluan—that woman who always treats the Way of Heaven like a piece of cloth to be cut and shaped.

"Open your eyes and look carefully," he interrupted in a deep voice, "I'm not talking about myself, I'm talking about my master."

"Impossible!" the voice declared resolutely. "No one in the world can withstand that soul-burning pain—except for the King of Benevolence!"

It's not working anymore. Lin Daochen slowly exhaled, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders.

"I want to leave. Surely you can manage something this simple?"

"Of course." The voice suddenly softened. "What I owed you back then, I'm returning today—I've retrieved your natal weapon for you. The cause and effect are settled, and we owe each other nothing."

Before he could finish speaking, an immense force suddenly seized him, and the world instantly flipped, collapsed, and exploded!

When he regained his composure, he found something else in his hand—a broken flag, its edges jagged and the flag itself long gone, leaving only a dark, gloomy flagpole, emanating a chilling aura.