The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, becoming a disciple of Yue Buqun.

Bu Huo knew that Jiang Ning and Linghu Chong were not ordinary people and that their martial arts skills were very high. He did not underestimate them, but after the subsequent exchange of martial arts techniques, he realized that he still did not take them seriously enough.

Although Jiang Ning and Linghu Chong are young, their martial arts skills have reached such a high level that they naturally have an extraordinary understanding of martial arts.

Bu Huo's martial arts skills were quite good, even among the top in the martial arts world, but he often felt at a loss when communicating with Jiang Ning and the other two, which made him sigh at their talent.

Later, after he was in his forties, he summoned all the highly skilled monks of the Southern Shaolin Temple to discuss scriptures and doctrines with the two. One side started from the theoretical foundation of Buddhist martial arts, while the other side started from the theoretical foundation of Taoist martial arts. Their ideas collided, and each side expounded their own martial arts philosophy. Over the past few days, not only did the masters of the Southern Shaolin Temple admire Jiang Ning and Linghu Chong, but Jiang Ning and Linghu Chong also gained a lot.

In particular, Linghu Chong has gained some understanding of Buddhism through these few days of Buddhist and Taoist exchanges.

Five days later.

"Young Master Linghu and Young Master Jiang are both exceptionally talented, and the monks of our temple greatly admire them."

Bu Huo said to Jiang Ning and the other two.

This wasn't just polite talk; he genuinely admired him.

Jiang Ning also said, "The eminent monks of your temple are not only highly skilled in martial arts, but also extremely profound in Buddhist teachings. My fellow disciple and I admire them greatly."

Over the past few days, he spent his days discussing Buddhist scriptures with the monks and his nights wandering around the Southern Shaolin Temple, trying to explore its secret locations and discover something.

He visited the Zhengdao Academy, the Sheli Academy, and the Damo Academy, but found nothing. Next, he planned to visit the Sutra Repository.

I've heard that the Shaolin Temple's Sutra Repository houses Shaolin's scriptures and martial arts manuals, but it also contains books and martial arts manuals from other schools.

Jiang Ning went to the Sutra Repository not to look at the martial arts manuals, but to see if there was anything about the Huashan Sect inside.

Although so many years have passed, and the Southern Shaolin Temple shouldn't and wouldn't keep this matter in the Sutra Repository, Jiang Ning still decided to take a look rather than let it slip by, and planned to go there tonight.

However, he should be careful when he goes to the library tonight.

Generally speaking, a place like the Scripture Pavilion, where dragons and tigers lurk, might harbor true masters. Jiang Ning might not be afraid, but it would be bad if he were discovered.

Just as Jiang Ning had made up his mind, he suddenly heard Bu Huo speak.

"We have heard rumors in the martial arts world that the sword comes from Mount Hua. Today, since you two young heroes have come here, our temple's martial arts monks would like to have a friendly spar with you."

Sure enough, the discussion of martial arts eventually came down to sparring.

Chapter 505: Arhat Formation (Bonus chapter for Louis who likes oranges, 5/16)

Jiang Ning and Linghu Chong were not surprised. Linghu Chong was even prepared and said, "This junior also greatly admires the martial arts of the Southern Shaolin Temple and would like to have a friendly exchange. May I ask which eminent monk from your temple would like to spar with this junior?"

Without even discussing who should spar, Linghu Chong took the initiative to speak.

Jiang Ning's martial arts skills are extremely high, and it's likely that no one from the Southern Shaolin Temple can match him. In that case, there's no suspense, and Linghu Chong is prepared to take the stage himself.

But Bu Huo smiled slightly and said, "Young Master Linghu is joking. There is no one in our Southern Shaolin Temple whose martial arts can compare to those of you two, so this sparring match may be a bit special. I wonder if you two would agree?"

Jiang Ning and Linghu Chong exchanged a glance, and Linghu Chong asked, "Master, please speak."

"Our temple would like to have a friendly exchange of formations with you two young heroes."

Formation?

Linghu Chong asked, "What kind of formation?"

"The 108 Arhats Formation".

What formation are you talking about?

Not only was Linghu Chong taken aback, but Jiang Ning was also surprised.

The 108 Arhats Formation—how to deal with those two fellow disciples?

Shaolin Temple is famous throughout the world, and they had heard that Shaolin had very powerful formations, such as the Bronze Man Formation and the Vajra Subduing Demon Formation. However, Jiang Ning and Linghu Chong did not expect that Shaolin Temple would choose to use the Arhat Formation to deal with them.

It's impossible to say which of these formations is the most powerful, but the Arhat Formation is known to everyone in the martial arts world; it's extremely famous and universally recognized.

As a major sect in the martial arts world, Shaolin Temple has always said that it dislikes fighting and killing. However, Shaolin's reputation is so great that countless masters throughout history have wanted to come to Shaolin to learn martial arts. This inevitably involves sparring, so Shaolin's Arhat Hall is designed to deal with this. Normally, sparring involves monks from the Arhat Hall fighting with martial arts practitioners. But Shaolin has also introduced a formation called the Arhat Formation.

Shaolin once established a rule that if someone can break Shaolin's Arhat Formation, then Shaolin's martial arts will have no secrets from that person and can be fully revealed to them.

As soon as Shaolin said this, martial artists flocked to the scene, all wanting to break through the Arhat Formation and read Shaolin's martial arts secrets. However, no one could ever break through the Shaolin Arhat Formation. As a result, the Arhat Formation became more and more famous in the martial arts world, and even gained the reputation of being the number one wonder formation in the world.

This formation can consist of at least nine people. The more people there are, the stronger the formation becomes. The Arhat Formation can be formed by a maximum of one hundred and eight monks.

When the nine-person Arhat Formation faces off, they work together to surround the enemy, like a python coiling around them. Their attacks and defenses are as one, and the formation is perfectly coordinated, leaving no openings.

Above the nine-person formation is the Eighteen Arhats Formation, then the Twenty-Four Arhats Formation, and finally the Thirty-Six Arhats Formation. The more people there are, the stronger the power. The Arhats Formation, composed of up to one hundred and eight monks, is the most powerful of this formation.

Legend has it that once the 108 Arhats Formation launches its attack, it is like a raging river, never-ending and never-ending. Being in the formation is like being in a whirlpool, facing attacks from all directions, unable to escape. Even if you fight to the death, you will end up exhausted.

However, it is said in the martial arts world that Shaolin has never used the 108 Arhats Formation; it is only rumored to exist.

Jiang Ning and Linghu Chong were quite surprised when they were told by Bu Huo that they should attempt to break through the legendary highest-level Arhat Formation.

Is this a high-level sparring match?

"Master, this..."

Linghu Chong's expression was somewhat broken at this moment.

He was truly dumbfounded.

It's just a friendly sparring match, is it really that big of a deal?

Isn't this bullying?

"Young Master Linghu, may I have a word to say?"

He smiled slightly, though he was not yet forty.

Linghu Chong took a deep breath, suppressing his dissatisfaction, and said, "Please speak, Master."

The man smiled and said, “You two young heroes are highly skilled in martial arts. There are only a handful of people in the world who can surpass you, and there are none in my Southern Shaolin Temple. If we’re talking about a friendly spar, there is no one who can compare with you. That’s why I had this idea. But you two don’t need to worry. This is just a friendly spar, and we’ll stop when we’ve reached a point.”

Even after hearing what Bu Huo said, Linghu Chong found it outrageous, even feeling that the Southern Shaolin Temple was bullying its guests. Just as he was about to continue speaking, Bu Huo spoke again.

"Our Southern Shaolin Temple had no intention of humiliating you two young heroes. It is simply that no one in the temple is capable of competing with you two individually, so we had no choice but to take this desperate measure."

Bu Huo continued, "This humble monk will not let you two young heroes come for nothing. I'm sure you've heard the rumors in the martial arts world that as long as you pass through my Shaolin Arhat Formation, you can read all the secret manuals of Shaolin."

"To show the sincerity of Shaolin, this humble monk is willing to stand as a witness with you two young heroes."

"Our temple's Sutra Repository is where we store the secret manuals of Shaolin. It has three floors. If you two young heroes can break through our Shaolin Arhat Formation, you can read the Sutra Repository at your leisure. There is no time limit. Our temple will not disturb you while you are reading the Sutra Repository."

"If you two young heroes are unable to pass through, it is alright. The first and second floors of our temple's scripture pavilion will be open to you for three days."

The man smiled and said, "I wonder what you two young heroes think? If you still feel it's inappropriate, then let's drop this matter."

Hearing Bu Huo's words, Linghu Chong couldn't bring himself to say what he wanted to say.

If you succeed, you can see it; if you fail, there's a safety net?

Moreover, Bu Huo also said that as long as they pass the test, they can go to the Sutra Repository to read it at any time, and no one will disturb them. It was almost as if he was saying that they could even write down all the Shaolin secrets and take them back to Mount Hua.

Linghu Chong felt a little tempted and looked at Jiang Ning.

Jiang Ning laughed upon hearing this: "With such sincerity from the master and your temple, how could my fellow disciple and I refuse?"

That means you've agreed.

Bu Huo also laughed.

Yue Buqun sending Jiang Ning to the Southern Shaolin Temple to exchange martial arts techniques was something they hadn't expected. The Southern Shaolin Temple now has many masters, including Zen Master Lingxuan. However, Zen Master Lingxuan is the abbot of the Southern Shaolin Temple and is quite old. It's definitely not appropriate for the abbot to personally spar with a junior.

Even inviting other eminent monks from the Southern Shaolin Temple to spar wouldn't work. There were quite a few with first-rate martial arts skills, but none who could truly rival Jiang Ning.

It's not that the Southern Shaolin Temple lacks hidden masters; rather, these masters represent the temple's core strength, kept secret from others. If they were exposed, what kind of core strength would it be?

However, the reputation of the Southern Shaolin Temple cannot be tarnished. If word gets out that no one in the entire Southern Shaolin Temple is a match for the two junior disciples of the Huashan Sect, it will greatly damage the reputation of the Southern Shaolin Temple.

After racking their brains for several days, Bu Huo and a group of high-ranking monks from the Southern Shaolin Temple finally came up with this plan: to use an array to confront Jiang Ning and his companion, and they even had a reward in mind.

That way, even if word gets out, no one will say that the Southern Shaolin Temple is a sore loser.

"Master, shall my fellow disciple and I begin our challenge of the formation now?"

Linghu Chong asked.

Bu Huo smiled slightly and said, "Our temple's 108 Arhats Formation needs some time to prepare. Please wait a moment, young heroes. We will begin tomorrow morning after you have rested."

Chapter 506: Entering the Formation

Upon hearing that the challenge would be held the next day, Linghu Chong's initial eagerness subsided.

"It's getting late, you two young heroes should get some rest."

After Bu Huo left, a young novice monk escorted Jiang Ning and his companion back to the guest quarters.

Linghu Chong was still excited after returning to the guest courtyard.

The Shaolin Arhat Formation is world-renowned. Tomorrow he will be able to see the complete 108 Arhat Formation. Regardless of whether he wins or loses tomorrow, Linghu Chong will feel that the trip has been worthwhile.

Compared to Linghu Chong's excitement, Jiang Ning was rather calm.

At this moment, he wasn't thinking about the Arhat Formation that Bu Huo had mentioned, but rather about the matter of the Sutra Repository.

We don't need to go to the library tonight.

Because of what Congruent said today, Jiang Ning abandoned his previous plans.

Since the other party was able to mention this, it means there's nothing worth visiting in the Sutra Repository.

Jiang Ning couldn't help but frown.

Finding out the truth from decades ago is no easy task. Even if Shaolin Temple and Zen Master Hongye had set up a trap back then, it's impossible for them to have left any evidence until now; it's highly likely that the evidence has already been destroyed.

Jiang Ning had already prepared himself for the possibility of not being able to find anything before he arrived.

However, Jiang Ning was not discouraged. Even though this trip might be in vain and the truth could not be found, it would not be harmful to Huashan. After all, the matter of Songshan Sect had basically confirmed that Shaolin had secretly taken action against the Five Mountains Sword Sects a long time ago, and Yue Buqun had long been on guard against Shaolin.

"Junior brother."

Linghu Chong then said to Jiang Ning, "Let's conserve our energy today, and tomorrow we, brothers, will challenge this most extraordinary formation in the world!"

Linghu Chong spoke with great ambition, but received no enthusiastic response, only Jiang Ning's indifferent reply, "I know."

Linghu Chong's heroic spirit vanished instantly, and he muttered to himself that Jiang Ning was too indifferent, seemingly unmoved by anything.