Detective Conan: Birth of the Demon Child

Facing the sharp sword thrust by the man in blue, Li Maozhen calmly raised his left hand and delivered a straight punch.

"Ding ding ding..."

To everyone's astonishment, Li Maozhen's fist collided with the sword blade, but instead of being damaged in the slightest, he actually shattered the longsword in the blue-clad man's hand into several pieces.

"boom!!!"

The man in blue felt a tremendous force strike him, and his body flew backward uncontrollably, crashing into the ground in front of the tavern and creating a crater several inches deep. The bare hilt of his sword was also flung away.

Laudenau's pupils suddenly contracted as he stared at Li Maozhen's unscathed fist, inwardly marveling, "What an amazing Golden Bell Shield!"

While martial arts techniques like "Golden Bell Cover" and "Iron Shirt" are widely circulated in the martial arts world, they are notoriously easy to learn but difficult to master.

Martial arts like the "Golden Bell Cover" require almost no talent from the practitioner. As long as the practitioner is willing to endure hardship, they can master the basics of the "Golden Bell Cover" in just a few months.

Many third-rate masters with limited talent choose to also practice external martial arts techniques like the "Golden Bell Cover".

However, while the Golden Bell Shield is easy to learn, mastering it to a minor level requires considerable effort and time.

For an ordinary person to master the "Golden Bell Cover" technique from beginner to advanced level, it would take at least two to three years, and not many people can persevere.

After all, the way to cultivate external martial arts is not as easy as cultivating internal strength.

Cultivating the Golden Bell Cover technique requires not only enduring daily beatings, but also being beaten until the practitioner's skin is torn and bleeding.

The daily diet is also very particular, and there must be enough nutrition. Otherwise, before the practitioner can master the Golden Bell Cover, he will die from exhaustion of qi and blood.

Most martial arts masters who practice the Golden Bell Cover technique can only reach a minor level of mastery before giving up further practice.

To master the Golden Bell Shield technique, an ordinary person would need at least ten or even several decades. Without a strong enough belief, it would be impossible to persevere.

Moreover, the Golden Bell Cover is not a top-level external martial art like the Vajra Indestructible Divine Skill. Instead of spending so much time painstakingly cultivating the Golden Bell Cover, it would be better to switch to cultivating other internal energy cultivation methods that are easier to learn!

Therefore, although there are many martial arts masters in the martial arts world who practice the Golden Bell Cover technique, very few can master it to the highest level.

Li Maozhen just shattered the blue-robed man's longsword with his fist, leaving only a faint white mark on his fist, clearly a sign that he had mastered the Golden Bell Shield technique.

"boom!!!"

Seeing Yu Renyan's terrified expression, Suzuki Seimei's eyes flashed with disgust. He controlled Li Maozhen to slap Yu Renyan away with a palm strike and said in a cold voice, "I don't like killing people while I'm eating. Get lost!"

Suzuki Seimei didn't really want to let Yu Renyan go, but he was worried that Yu Renyan would be so scared that he would wet himself and ruin his appetite.

Since Li Maozhen has already used the Blood-Coagulating Divine Claw on Yu Renyan, he only has three days left to live.

"Da da da……"

Having narrowly escaped death, Yu Renyan ignored the pain in his body and scrambled to the banyan tree. He hurriedly untied the reins, mounted his horse, and galloped away without looking back.

Judging from the strength Li Maozhen had just displayed, Yu Renyan knew that this person was probably even stronger than his father, Yu Canghai. Knowing that he had kicked a hornet's nest, he naturally dared not say a word more.

"Junior Brother Yu, wait for me..."

Upon seeing this, the man in blue who had fallen to the ground quickly got up and rode his horse in the direction Yu Renyan had fled.

"That's amazing!"

Recovering from his shock, Lin Pingzhi first glanced at the fragments of the longsword, then at the unharmed Li Maozhen, his eyes filled with admiration.

Since Lin Pingzhi was born, the most powerful martial arts master he had ever seen was probably his father, Lin Zhennan.

Lin Pingzhi originally thought his father was very powerful, but now that he saw that Li Maozhen actually had the ability to be invulnerable to swords and spears, he suddenly felt that Lin Zhennan was not as powerful as he had imagined.

Lin Pingzhi even suspected that even if his father used the family's "Evil-Repelling Sword Technique" at full power, it would be difficult to injure Li Maozhen.

"Second Uncle, you once told me that the Huashan Sect has an extraordinary background. It was once the leader of the Five Mountains Sword Sects, almost comparable to Shaolin and Wudang."

Suzuki Seimei glanced at Laudenuo and Yue Lingshan, a hint of mockery flashing in the depths of his eyes, and asked with feigned curiosity, "But why did the storyteller yesterday say that the Huashan Sect has now declined and become the weakest of the Five Mountains Sword Sects?"

(╬￣Dish￣)

Upon hearing this, Yue Lingshan's expression changed slightly, and she clenched her fists with some resentment.

Although Yue Lingshan couldn't stand such disparaging remarks about the Huashan Sect, she had to admit that Suzuki Seimei was right; the Huashan Sect was indeed the weakest of the Five Mountains Sword Sects.

The other four sects each had at least several hundred disciples, with the Songshan sect having over a thousand, while the Huashan sect had only a little over twenty.

If it weren't for Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze holding things together, the Huashan Sect would probably have been wiped out long ago.

"Boom!"

Facing Suzuki Seimei's curious gaze, Li Maozhen put down his wine cup and said in a magnetic voice, "Ming'er, the reason why the Huashan Sect has fallen from the top of the Five Mountains Sword Sects to the point of almost being wiped out is mainly because of two fools."

"A fool? What kind of fool?"

Not only did Suzuki Seimei show curiosity, but Lin Pingzhi and the others also couldn't help but prick up their ears with curiosity.

Chapter 421 Two Fools

Li Maozhen shook his head and said, "These two fools are Yue Su and Cai Zifeng from the Huashan Sect. If it weren't for them creating the distinction between the Sword Sect and the Qi Sect..."

The Huashan Sect will not split into two factions that ultimately kill each other, depleting the sect's centuries-old foundation.

Upon hearing Li Maozhen call the two founders of the Huashan Sect fools, Yue Lingshan couldn't help but bite her lip.

However, Yue Lingshan only knew about the conflict between the Sword Sect and the Qi Sect, but she didn't know the details of this matter. While she was angry, she was also very curious.

"Sword Sect? Qi Sect? What are those?"

Suzuki Seimei blinked in confusion, feigning curiosity as he asked, "Second Uncle, Yue Su and Cai Zifeng were doing well, so why did they create the distinction between the Sword Sect and the Qi Sect?"

"There's more to this than meets the eye. Ming'er, do you remember what I told you before about the martial arts that the Demonic Sect Leader, Dongfang Bubai, practiced?"

"Of course I remember!"

Suzuki Seimei nodded and said, "My second uncle said that the martial arts practiced by Dongfang Bubai are called the Sunflower Manual. In the world today, only three top-level martial arts can compare with it: the Dugu Nine Swords, the Yi Jin Jing, and the Tai Chi Classics."

"Indeed! The Sunflower Manual is indeed one of the strongest martial arts in the world, but it is not a martial art of the Demonic Sect, but a martial art collected by the Putian Shaolin Temple."

Li Maozhen took a sip of wine, glanced at Lin Pingzhi and the others who were listening intently, and said slowly, "Decades ago, by chance, the Putian Shaolin Temple obtained the original copy of the Sunflower Manual, which was kept by the then abbot, Zen Master Hongye."

At that time, Yue Su and Cai Zifeng, disciples of the Huashan Sect, came to visit. The two learned about this matter by chance and secretly read through the "Sunflower Manual".

Unfortunately, the two were too guilty to read the entire "Sunflower Manual," so they divided the reading among themselves, with one person memorizing the first half and the other the second half.

After Yue Su and Cai Zifeng returned to Mount Hua, they compared their copies and found that they did not match at all. This led to mutual suspicion and ultimately caused the brothers to turn against each other.

From then on, the two engaged in a battle of wits and strength, igniting a conflict between the Sword Sect and the Qi Sect of Mount Hua, ultimately leading to the complete depletion of the Mount Hua Sect's centuries-old foundation.

Suzuki Seimei exclaimed with sudden realization, "So that's how it is! These two almost wiped out the Huashan Sect from the martial arts world because of a copy of the 'Sunflower Manual.' They really are two complete fools!"

"..."

Upon hearing Suzuki Harumi's words, Yue Lingshan's lips twitched, but she somewhat agreed with him.

If the founders of the Huashan Sect throughout history knew that their descendants almost wiped out the entire sect for a fragmented copy of the "Sunflower Manual," they would probably jump out of their coffins in anger.

Noticing Yue Lingshan's slightly twitching lips, Suzuki Seimei chuckled inwardly and then asked, "Second Uncle, didn't the people from the Putian Shaolin Temple discover that the 'Sunflower Manual' had been secretly read?"

Li Maozhen said, "Not long after Yue Su and Cai Zifeng left the Putian Shaolin Temple, Zen Master Hongye discovered this matter. He knew that the martial arts contained in this treasure manual were not only profound but also extremely dangerous."

To prevent Yue Su and his companions from accidentally killing themselves through practice, Zen Master Hongye dispatched his prized disciple, Zen Master Duyuan, to Mount Hua to advise Yue and Cai against practicing the martial arts techniques in the manual.

When Zen Master Duyuan arrived at Mount Hua, Yue and Cai treated him with great respect. They admitted to having secretly read the "Sunflower Manual" and, while expressing their deep apologies, asked him for guidance on the martial arts techniques recorded in the manual.

However, Yue and Cai were unaware that although Zen Master Duyuan was a prized disciple of Zen Master Hongye, he had not been taught the martial arts techniques in the manual.

At that moment, Zen Master Duyuan did not explain it. He listened to them recite the scriptures and casually offered his interpretations, but secretly memorized them in his heart.

Master Duyuan was not only highly skilled in martial arts but also extremely intelligent. Upon hearing a passage of scripture, he would casually interpret it in a few lines, and surprisingly, he could make perfect sense of it.

Unfortunately, the version of the Sunflower Manual recorded by Yue and Cai was incomplete to begin with, and after being relayed in this way, it was inevitably further compromised.

Master Duyuan stayed on Mount Hua for eight days before taking his leave, but he never returned to the Shaolin Temple in Putian.

Soon after, Zen Master Hongye received a letter from Zen Master Duyuan, saying that he could not suppress his worldly desires, had decided to return to secular life, and had no face to see his master again.

Because Zen Master Duyuan did not deliberately conceal his whereabouts or intentions when he went to the Huashan Sect, the news that the Huashan Sect disciples had spied on the "Sunflower Manual" quickly spread.

When the members of the Demonic Sect learned of this, they worried that the Five Mountains Sword Sect would become much stronger after obtaining the "Sunflower Manual," so they ordered the ten elders to lead an attack on the Huashan Sect.

Although almost all ten elders of the Demonic Sect were wiped out in this battle, Yue Su and Cai Zifeng also perished, and their copy of the "Sunflower Manual" was seized by the Demonic Sect.

o(?Д?)っ!

Upon hearing this, Suzuki Seimei couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "Second Uncle, if that's the case, then the 'Sunflower Manual' that Dongfang Bubai cultivated was only an incomplete manual. How powerful must the complete manual be!"

"The complete Sunflower Manual is naturally extremely powerful, but unfortunately, Zen Master Hongye felt that this manual was against the will of Heaven and had it burned long ago."

Li Maozhen paused mid-sentence, then added meaningfully, "However, every cloud has a silver lining. If Zen Master Hongye hadn't burned the Sunflower Manual, the Demonic Cult would have attacked the Putian Shaolin Temple instead of the Huashan Sect."

"..."

Upon hearing this, Yue Lingshan and the others' expressions became somewhat complicated.

Yue Su and Cai Zifeng nearly wiped out the Huashan Sect because they coveted the "Sunflower Manual".

However, Master Hongye, fearing that the "Sunflower Manual" would bring disaster to the world, resolutely burned it, thus saving the Putian Shaolin Temple from annihilation.

It is truly a matter of every sip and every thought, perhaps preordained, with every cause and effect having its reason.

"wrong!"

After listening to Li Maozhen's account, Lao Denuo couldn't help but frown, wondering to himself, "Where did that Zen Master Duyuan go afterward?"

You should know that Dongfang Bubai, the leader of the Demonic Cult, is recognized as the number one martial arts master in the world!

Since Dongfang Bubai was able to become the number one martial arts master in the world by using the incomplete "Sunflower Manual", then Master Duyuan, who also cultivated a part of the "Sunflower Manual", should not have been an unknown person.

Perhaps sensing the doubts in Laudenuo and the others' minds, Suzuki Seimei asked at just the right moment, "Second Uncle, didn't that Zen Master Duyuan also cultivate an incomplete version of the Sunflower Manual? What happened to him later?"

"After Zen Master Duyuan returned to secular life, he reverted to his original surname 'Lin', reversed his Dharma name to become Yuantu, and founded the Fuwei Escort Agency."

(°Д°)

Lin Pingzhi, who was listening intently, suddenly widened his eyes upon hearing this. He never expected that he would be gossiping about his own family.

Chapter 422 The Hypocrite Yue Buqun

Laudenuo also glanced at Lin Pingzhi thoughtfully. He had been wondering why Yue Buqun would send him to Fujian to investigate the Qingcheng Sect and the Fuwei Escort Agency.