Chapter 226 Shaoshi Mountain Demon Slaughtering Conference!
The sun rises over the valley of Mount Song, and the sound of the bell startles the birds.
Mount Shaoshi stands majestically.
Shaolin, the ancestral home of Zen Buddhism and an authentic martial arts school, is unique in today's martial arts world.
Before Zhang Sanfeng was born, Shaolin Temple was the leading authority in the martial arts world.
Originally, there was a Beggar Gang that could barely compete with the Shaolin Temple. Unfortunately, the forged household registration book of the former leader of the Beggar Gang, Qiao Feng, was exposed, and several major leaders of the Beggar Gang were also wiped out by Kang Min.
The Beggars' Sect was forced to give up all its territory in Jiangnan, and its influence gradually declined.
Today, Abbot Xuanci has once again assumed the role of leader of the martial arts world, gathering together all the heroes of the Central Plains martial arts world. The power they have demonstrated is considerable.
The first was the Shaolin Temple, led by Xuan Ci, which included eminent monks with the name Xuan, including Xuan Ji, Xuan Nan, Xuan Du, Xuan Tong, Xuan Shi, and Xuan Ming.
There are also one thousand monk soldiers and five hundred Arhats!
Shaolin Temple had never used its full strength before, but this time it actually used it.
When the Thirteen Monks with Sticks rescued the King of Tang, it was actually the Shaolin Temple assisting Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, in combating the power of Wang Shichong. The Thirteen Monks with Sticks were not only thirteen martial arts monks with high martial arts skills, but also the monk army representing Shaolin.
Among the thousands of Shaolin disciples, half of them practice martial arts. These people are inconspicuous at ordinary times, but once they are organized, they can become thousands of monk soldiers.
The stick techniques he practiced were actually spear techniques. He could match the same number of elite soldiers without even using the spear.
There are a total of 500 disciples of the monks in the Bodhidharma Temple, Shaolin disciples in the Prajna Hall, and Shaolin disciples in the Arhat Hall. Among them are monks of the Hui generation and disciples of the Xu generation.
These five hundred disciples are actually the most elite among many disciples, and the backbone of the next generation of Shaolin will come from among them.
Shaolin martial arts emphasizes gradual progress and does not require genius.
As long as an average person works hard for ten years, he can lay a solid foundation.
Then choose one of the 72 unique skills, practice hard for twenty years, and you can be called a master in the world.
After thirty years of hard training, the monk is forty years old and mature in his thinking and handling of affairs. He is able to take on the various responsibilities of Shaolin, stand on his own, and be trained as the core layer of the next generation.
Therefore, there has never been a shortage of first-rate masters in the Shaolin Temple throughout the ages, but top masters are indeed rare, and often there are no top masters for several generations.
However, the ability of this top-notch master is enough to make Shaolin Temple stand firm in the martial arts world.
Even after experiencing the turbulent times of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Huichang Persecution, the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, and the destruction of Buddhism by Emperor Shizong of Zhou, Shaolin was always able to rise again and become the leader of its peers.
Logically speaking, these five hundred people are the hope of the next generation, and Shaolin would not mobilize them unless it was a critical moment.
But Murong Fu was too strong. Under various psychological hints, Xuan Ci directly organized these 500 people and trained them in the Arhat Formation for two months.
The heroes were secretly shocked when they saw the strength displayed by Shaolin Temple.
The four elders of the Beggars' Sect, Lu, Song, Wu, and Xi, all looked somewhat lonely.
"I thought that when the Beggars' Sect was at its peak, it could rival the Shaolin Temple, but I didn't expect the gap to be so huge." Lu Zhang said solemnly, "Alas, especially now that we don't have the Twenty-Eight Dragon Subduing Palms and the Dog Beating Stick Technique, we are like a tiger without teeth."
"No wonder Abbot Xuanci is the leader of the martial arts world, and our leader Wang is second." Elder Song looked at the spirited Xuanci and said with mixed feelings, "We have to find a new leader as soon as possible."
Elder Xi said helplessly: "Even if we find a young talent, where can we learn the Dragon Subduing Palm and Dog Beating Stick? After all, martial arts are the most important thing in the martial arts world. We in the Beggars' Sect only have these two unique skills, which cannot compare to the Shaolin Temple, which has 72 unique skills."
After Xiao Feng left the Beggars' Sect, everyone in the sect discovered that the sect's previous mechanism was really too deceptive.
Not only does the gang leader possess absolute power as the top leader, but he also holds the two major intellectual property rights of the Beggars' Sect firmly in his hands. Only the gang leader knows the complete Dog Beating Stick Technique and the Dragon Subduing Palm Technique.
Although Lv Zhang is an elder who teaches martial arts, he only knows a few moves and is unable to create a complete intellectual property.
In the past, they thought that the reason why the Beggars' Sect was so powerful was because it had so many members.
Now I finally understand that without a powerful leader and martial arts that can defeat all the other gangs, the Beggars' Sect is just a younger brother of Shaolin and has to kneel down and look at the face of the Shaolin Temple.
The impact of the Kang Min incident has not been eliminated to date.
The heroes often discussed in private the romantic affairs of the Beggar Gang covered by Kang Min's red skirt. The look in the eyes of the Beggar Gang elders was also very strange, and sometimes he smiled inexplicably with bad intentions.
The members of the Beggars' Sect were naturally very angry, but unfortunately there were too many people who did this, and they could not go after them one by one. Otherwise, when the Beggars' Sect fell to the bottom, they would have to cut themselves off from the heroes of the world.
When I think back to the time when Xiao Feng was the leader of the Beggars' Sect, they were "armed with swords and spears, and as fierce as tigers." They fought against the Yipintang of Western Xia, assassinated generals of the Liao Kingdom, and charged to the front line of patriotism. All the heroes in the world admired them, and the limelight of Shaolin Temple was taken away by them.
What a vibrant life it is, with everything flourishing!
But now, the Beggars' Sect can only serve as the foil to Shaolin, and the four elders can only toast to the Shaolin monks of the Xuan generation, relying on human relationships to barely maintain the last bit of dignity of the Beggars' Sect. Every late night, the four elders are very upset.
Unlike the Beggars' Sect, Xuan Ci's fans are full of enthusiasm.
Although Murong Fu is very powerful, now that Shaolin has launched an all-out attack, fans believe that Murong Fu is like a grasshopper in autumn and will not be able to jump for many more days.
As the leader of the Central Plains martial arts world, Xuan Ci has huge traffic and is an idol among idols. After many years of debut, he has accumulated many old fans.
Fans in later generations supporting their own brother are nothing more than buying milk and pouring it into the river, or nothing more than confronting the black fans.
But Xuanci's fans are willing to risk their lives to protect their brother. Even if they are beaten to death by Xiao Feng, the little black man, they will never reveal their brother's true identity.
Even though many of them were beaten to death, his brother Xuanci turned a blind eye and pretended nothing had happened.
They respected and loved Xuanci so much that they came happily when Xuanci summoned them.
Xuanci's fan club is mainly:
Mr. and Mrs. Tan from Taihang Mountain, Zhao Qiansun, the ultimate bootlicker who will lick until old age!
Shan Zheng and the Five Tigers of the Shan Family.
There are also the two heroes of the You family from Juxianzhuang who have recently joined the fan club. They brought their own food and took the initiative to provide venues and funds for the Shaolin Temple, hoping to take the opportunity to enhance the brand style of Juxianzhuang.
After a slapstick contest between Mr. Tan and Zhao Qiansun, Zhao Qiansun was defeated in the end. He said dejectedly, "You actually took Xiaojuan's beating without fighting back. If I had known, I would not have fought back. Wow, I am so upset. I am like a fool."
No one paid any attention to Zhao Qiansun, except for Granny Tan who said a few words of comfort. Everyone already knew what kind of person he was.
Everyone is holding a demon-slaying conference here, thinking about how to deal with the big demon Murong Fu, who is just a bootlicker here.
What a bummer!
"This time, Abbot Xuanci took the lead in organizing the Shaoshi Mountain Demon Slaughtering Conference. The momentum is even greater than the Yanmen Pass Battle of the year. Although Murong Fu is a rare talent, he will definitely not return!" Shan Zheng said in an official manner. "Yanmen Pass, Yanmen Pass!" Zhao Qiansun yelled and was about to run away.
The three words "Yanmen Pass" were a psychological shadow in his life.
"Senior brother is sick again, let's control him!" said Grandma Tan helplessly.
Mr. Tan nodded, and together with Mrs. Tan, they pressed Zhao Qiansun to the ground.
"You are not allowed to mention the three words 'Yanmen Pass' to my brother in the future!" Granny Tan reminded.
"Ah! Yanmen Pass!" Zhao Qiansun began to struggle again.
Mrs. Tan’s face turned black.
The two heroes of the You family who were watching the show looked at each other, and suddenly felt that the level of the Shaoshi Mountain Demon-Slaying Conference had been lowered by this incomprehensible Zhao Qiansun.
This is supposed to be a gathering of all the heroes in the martial arts world, so how come a nobody like Zhao Qiansun would come to attend the meeting?
"Hmph, Shaolin!" Among the crowd, among a group of monks, the Master of Shenshan snorted coldly, still feeling unwilling in his heart.
Master Shenshan is the abbot of Qingliang Temple in Mount Wutai. He has excellent talent in martial arts and is known as the "Dragon-Subduing and Tiger-Subduing" Arhats together with Abbot Xuanci. Master Shenshan is the Dragon-Subduing Arhat, and Abbot Xuanci is the Tiger-Subduing Arhat.
It is said that the martial arts of Master Shenshan is a little bit stronger than that of Abbot Xuanci. Unfortunately, Qingliang Temple is far less famous than Shaolin Temple, which makes the traffic of Master Shenshan far less than that of Abbot Xuanci.
At that time, Master Shenshan once sought to see the Shaolin abbot, Master Lingmen, hoping to become his disciple.
Master Lingmen admired Master Shenshan very much, but thought that Master Shenshan was too aggressive, so he politely declined Master Shenshan's offer to join Shaolin. Master Shenshan then angrily went to Qingliang Temple.
Although Qingliang Temple made great efforts to cultivate his talent, the resources of Qingliang Temple were limited. Not only were the martial arts skills limited, but they were also far less profound than Shaolin martial arts, which restricted the performance of Master Shenshan.
The monk on the sacred mountain was very upset.
This time he came to Shaolin mainly because he was invited by both the Beggars' Sect and Shaolin.
The Beggars' Sect said that Xu Chongxiao was his senior brother, and that Xu Chongxiao's disgrace would also have an impact on Qingliang Temple. It would be better for them to defeat Murong Fu together with Shaolin. Then they could use the time history books to slowly tamper with the public's memory and clear Xu Chongxiao's name.
One could even say that Kang Min was a spy deliberately arranged by the ambitious Murong Fu to frame the hero of the Beggars' Sect.
Anyway, as long as Murong Fu dies, no one in the Murong family will have a say, and the Beggars' Sect can write as much history as they want.
The Hermit of Shenshan scoffed at the Beggars' Sect's views, and also sneered at his own senior brother Xu Chongxiao. He thought to himself that martial arts were the right way to go, and that senior brother Xu had been bewitched by a widow and had lost his integrity in his later years. He was really a good-for-nothing.
Such a useless thing can just die, what's the big deal?
However, Xuan Ci secretly sent someone to pass a message to Master Shenshan, promising that as long as Master Shenshan was willing to come to help, he would let Master Shenshan borrow three books of the 72 unique skills.
At this moment, the Hermit of Shenshan suddenly became righteous and said, "Murong Fu, the big devil, is endangering the country and people of the Song Dynasty. It is everyone's responsibility to slay demons and eliminate evil. I, a good man of Shenshan, must stand up." Then he rushed to Shaolin Temple in a hurry.
However, when he saw Xuanci being admired by so many people and the Shaolin monks being able to easily destroy Qingliang Temple, Shenshan Shangren still felt sour in his heart, and flames of jealousy flickered in his eyes.
He thought to himself: This great country should have belonged to me, but that old bald donkey from Lingmen didn't know what was good and rejected me. Humph, if I learned the Shaolin martial arts and became the leader of Shaolin, there would be no Murong of the South and Qiao Feng of the North in the world. In this world, there would only be me, the Arhat Conquering the Dragon, with my might shaking the nine heavens and ten earths!
The more he thought about it, the more angry the man on the sacred mountain became.
Beside the Monk on the Divine Mountain stood many eminent Buddhist monks, all of whom were masters invited by Xuan Ci to help.
There are Master Guanxin, the abbot of Daxiangguo Temple, Master Daoqing, the abbot of Pudu Temple, Master Juexian, the abbot of Donglin Temple, and Master Rongzhi, the abbot of Jingying Temple.
These are the four great masters of the world. Although they are not well-known in the martial arts world, they are all first-class masters.
In particular, Master Guanxin of the Daxiangguo Temple was a well-known financier in the Song Dynasty. His loan business spread all over the world. With just one order, he could find many thugs who owed him money to help him fight.
The influence of Buddhism in the Central Plains later far surpassed that of Taoism. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, there was a saying that "there are forty or eighty temples in the Southern Dynasties, and many pavilions are in the mist and rain." Buddhism was extremely prosperous and was far beyond the reach of Taoism.
Although Emperor Shizong of Later Zhou destroyed Buddhism, which caused a certain blow to Buddhism, Emperor Shizong died too early. After Zhao Kuangyin came to power, he supported Buddhism.
The Shaolin Temple, in particular, received a lot of favors from the Song Dynasty. Even the abbot of Shaolin received the imperial court's enthronement documents and a large number of tax-free benefits.
It is natural for Shaolin Temple to defend the Song Dynasty.
Xuan Ci also invested a lot of money this time, integrating the Buddhist resources in the Central Plains and inviting almost all Buddhist masters to fully demonstrate the strength of Shaolin Temple.
In addition, many smaller sects in the martial arts world also came to participate in the Shaoshi Mountain Demon-Slaying Conference. These people were densely packed, and there were hundreds of them.
This is the entire power of the Central Plains martial arts world.
At this moment, Abbot Xuanci was personally meeting an important hero, Zhao Rui, the great-great-grandson of Emperor Taizu Zhao Kuangyin.
The lineage of Taizu lost their wealth and glory and had no chance of becoming emperor, but they lived longer lives instead.
Zhao Rui is now seventy years old. Although he no longer participates in martial arts activities, he has mastered the "Taizu Changquan" and "Panlong Stick Technique" passed down by Taizu, and his martial arts skills are also very impressive.
Moreover, because he was a descendant of the Zhao family and a royal noble, he was highly respected by everyone, so Xuanci had to receive him in person.
"After receiving the message from the government, I rushed to Shaoshi Mountain without stopping. Murong Fu is a big devil who is endangering our Zhao family's kingdom, so naturally I have to do my part." Zhao Rui said.
Although the descendants of Taizu and Taizong did not get along well with each other, they had a common goal, which was that the Zhao Song dynasty must not be lost.
This is also the reason why Zhao Rui is willing to come forward.
If it was any other trivial matter, such as the beating of Qiao Feng at Juxianzhuang, Zhao Rui might not even bother to pay attention.
"The presence of Lord Zhao has brought honor to our Shaolin temple. This is the imperial edict from the emperor." Xuan Ci was about to ask Zhao Rui to testify that the imperial edict was genuine in order to demonstrate the authorization of the Song Dynasty court and further boost the morale of the heroes, but he heard a commotion coming from the foot of the mountain.
"It's the evil villain Xiao Feng!"
"He is indeed a Khitan!"
"Yes, he is accompanied by Khitan soldiers and Khitan women. How despicable!"
(End of this chapter)