Narration System for the Journey of Martial Arts

Page 29

………………

Yue Yuchen pondered for a moment, then said...

"With your current level of martial arts skill, you are already capable of understanding these things. Speaking of which, this relates to the cultivation that follows martial arts."

"Remember when I told you about the four stages of martial arts: mind, body, qi, and technique? This involves the mind stage."

"This step requires you to decide what path you want to take. After asking yourself questions, everyone will determine their own path."

"Among them, Dongfang Bubai followed the 'Path of the Common People'. But this path was too vast, so Dongfang Bubai set a punctuation mark for himself, which was Yang Lianting."

"She wanted to start from a single point among the common people, use that point to expand to the whole world, and finally extend to all living beings. Therefore, Yang Lianting was the vessel she set up."

“If Yang Lianting dies, before her ‘Dao of the Common People’ is fully developed, it will inevitably damage her Dao heart.”

"This is also why her personality changed and her strength was diminished. But who would have known Dongfang Bubai's path, thus guiding Zuo Lengchan?"

Linghu Chong shook his head. This was the first time he had learned of this, and he couldn't guess what it meant.

Then he asked, "What kind of path is the Path of the Common People?"

Yue Yuchen smiled...

"What are the common people? The common people are all living beings in the world."

"Dongfang Bubai believed that in the world, people are born, grow old, get sick and die, so a mortal's short life is not worth her giving too much true affection."

"Of all things in the world, only the sun and moon are eternal. Although the world and nature may change, they will never perish. Therefore, she does not love the people of the world, but loves the world even more."

“She transformed her love and hatred for the world into a great love for the world. This is her way, which I call the ‘Way of All Living Beings’.”

Linghu Chong frowned: "Abandoning one's human identity, isn't that going berserk?"

Yue Yuchen smiled slightly and did not argue...

[Dongfang Bubai fell into the eternally cold pool at the foot of Blackwood Cliff. After being frozen by the cold air of heaven and earth, his injuries did not worsen.]

With Yang Lianting dead, Dongfang Bubai's Dao heart was damaged. However, she comprehended the mysteries of the 'life' of heaven and earth by sensing the Ten Thousand Year Cold Pool. She once again entrusted her Dao heart to the foot of Blackwood Cliff and is recovering from her injuries.

When she completely breaks free of the icy pool and reappears in the world, there will be one more 'demon' in the eyes of the people, a 'demon' who only has the world in her eyes and no one else.

Beside the system, Yue Yuchen was taken aback. He hadn't expected Dongfang Bubai to have such good fortune. He wondered how far her martial arts would have progressed when she returned to the world.

………………

However, he didn't intend to say any of this. He pointed to the sword pouch on the table and gestured for Linghu Chong to open it.

At his prompting, Linghu Chong opened his sword sheath, revealing a section of the golden hilt. As the entire sword was revealed, Linghu Chong saw the four characters "As if the Emperor were personally present" on the scabbard.

His hand trembled involuntarily: "This is... the Emperor's Sword!"

Yue Yuchen pointed in the direction of the Ancestral Hall and said, "Inform your master and all the senior uncles to hold a ceremony in the Ancestral Hall and enshrine this sword there!"

“This…” Linghu Chong hesitated.

Yue Yuchen knew what he was worried about, so he tapped the table and said, "This sword was bestowed by the Emperor himself, and soon an angel will come to deliver the imperial decree. Tell your master to prepare to receive the decree!"

"Then we'll wait for Master to choose an auspicious time before we enshrine this sword in the Ancestral Hall," Linghu Chong said, holding the sword pouch.

Chapter 56 Settling the Cause and Effect

A few days later, Linghu Chong went to the Sutra Pavilion again, but brought another piece of news.

"You mean Zuo Lengchan is dead? There's been internal strife within the Songshan Sect?" Yue Yuchen asked Linghu Chong.

Linghu Chong nodded and said with certainty...

"It is said that after Zuo Lengchan met a Shaolin monk, he remained secluded at home. When his eldest disciple, Shi Dengda, went to bring him dinner that evening, he discovered that Zuo Lengchan was gone."

"The remaining few of the Songshan Sect's chief protectors and second-generation disciples all recommended Fei Bin to take over the Songshan Sect."

"But the next day, after Stendhal went down the mountain, he suddenly changed his mind, gathered a group of second-generation disciples, and began to oppose Fei Bin."

"Then, the Songshan Sect was embroiled in internal strife. The two factions fought to the point of no return, until Shi Dengda withdrew from the Songshan Sect, but he also took a group of core members with him."

"It can be said that after this incident, the Songshan Sect has completely declined, and it is impossible for Fei Bin to replicate our path."

"Senior Brother, have you noticed that the internal strife within the Songshan Sect is similar to the sword qi dispute at Huashan back then?"

"The only thing I can't understand is why Fang Zheng suddenly wanted to kill Zuo Lengchan?"

"Has news of the Emperor's Sword already spread?" Yue Yuchen suddenly asked.

Linghu Chong nodded, then paused, realizing what he meant, and asked, "Senior Brother, are you saying that Fang Zheng acted prematurely because of news about the Emperor's Sword, wanting to sever ties with the Songshan Sect?"

Besides this, Yue Yuchen couldn't think of any other reason. Fortunately, the system's narration never failed to keep its promise...

Are you happy to hear the news of Zuo Lengchan's death and the internal strife within the Songshan Sect?

[Shaolin monk Benming went to the Songshan Sect and killed Zuo Lengchan with a single Bannu Palm. Tsk... another hidden master, but unfortunately, he didn't have the skill.]

[You've already begun to suspect Shaolin, and he's eager to distance himself from them. But as the saying goes, the more you do, the more mistakes you make, which only deepens your suspicions.]

Fang Zheng has already set up the Eighteen Arhats Formation at Shaolin Temple, plus Ben Ming, who is at the pseudo-Innate Realm, hiding in the shadows. Aren't you surprised?

"If you don't go to Shaolin every day, Fangzheng will suffer from anxiety and suspicion all day long. This is the greatest torment for him."

Even a sky full of Buddhas could not soothe his fear of death; after all, he was just a mortal, not a Buddha.

"I think I should also go to Shaolin Temple and settle things for what happened back then," Yue Yuchen said, looking at the system's narration.

Linghu Chong was not surprised and asked, "Should we have Master send an invitation to Shaolin Temple so that we can formally pay our respects?"

Yue Yuchen thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "No need. Let's give Shaolin some face."

………………

At the foot of Shaoshi Mountain, Yue Yuchen climbed the ancient path step by step.

At the foot of the mountain, in the terraced fields, elderly, hunched figures had finished their day's work and were heading home.

As dusk approached, the sound of evening drums echoed from the vast cluster of temples in the distance, and the chanting of sutras by monks could be heard from afar under the cover of night—truly a sacred Buddhist site.

Unfortunately, despite the beautiful scenery, Yue Yuchen paid it no heed. The old farmer returning home late from the fields already demonstrated just how severe the exploitation by Shaolin was.

No matter how magnificent it is, it cannot hide the stench of money that cannot be concealed. This reminded Yue Yuchen of a sentence he saw on the Internet in his previous life: "In times of chaos, Taoist priests revive their swords to save the common people; in times of prosperity, monks go out to make money."

With this thought in mind, Yue Yuchen lost all interest in sightseeing. He immediately lightened his steps and, like a fleeting shadow, skimmed over the verdant mountains and ancient temples, heading towards where Fang Zheng was.

Inside the abbot's courtyard, as soon as Yue Yuchen landed, he heard a voice say, "Amitabha." Immediately, eighteen figures leaped out from the shadows and surrounded him in the center; they were the Eighteen Arhats of Shaolin.

Yue Yuchen didn't even look at them, but instead gazed at the shadowy corner on the left: "Come out!"

"Amitabha!" A deep, aged Buddhist chant rang out, and then an old monk in a gray robe strolled out.

"Benefactor, you have been waiting for a long time!" the old monk said, bowing.

Yue Yuchen glanced at him. Although his martial arts were decent, the gap between him and Yue Yuchen was negligible. With a questioning yet certain tone, Yue Yuchen asked, "Did you kill Zuo Lengchan?"

The old monk clasped his hands together and said, "Benefactor Zuo is deeply possessed by demonic possession, and to prevent him from bringing harm to the common people, this old monk has no choice but to intervene and guide him on his journey. Amitabha..."

Yue Yuchen scoffed, "I hate hypocritical bald monks like you the most."

Then he changed the subject and asked...

"During the battle for sword energy at Mount Hua back then, there was a man on the mountain with a monk's head scar. Did you kill him?"

"Back then, when Grandmaster Feng was not at Mount Hua, it was your people who secretly instigated this idea, wasn't it? Otherwise, would you have dared to secretly go to Mount Hua?"

"You monks are indeed hypocritical and ruthless, even killing your own accomplices to avoid leaving any evidence. But how could you forget the ordination scar on his head?"

A low shout of "Enough!" rang out, and then the door to the abbot's room was pulled open, revealing an old monk with white hair and beard, wearing a crimson robe.

Yue Yuchen glanced at him disdainfully: "What, Fang Zheng, you dare to do it but not to admit it? I thought you were too ashamed to show your face?"

"Amitabha"

Fang Zheng bowed his head and chanted a Buddhist prayer, then lowered his gaze and said, "Ever since the rise of the Huashan Sect, and Yue's victory over Dongfang Bubai at Hengshan, I knew this day would come. I just didn't expect..."

"Didn't expect this day to come so early?" Yue Yuchen asked.

"No," Fang Zheng shook his head...

"I am late. Since the battle of Hengshan, I have been tormented by my inner demons every day and have hardly been able to sleep at night."

“Uncle-Master Benming saw that my inner demons had taken hold of me, which is why he killed Benefactor Zuo in an attempt to save this old monk. But this old monk knows how you will overcome this calamity.”

Yue Yuchen sneered...

"Self-salvation?"

"You bald monks are utterly hypocritical."

"More than seventy of my Huashan Sect's founders died because of your conspiracy. Now you think you can become a Buddha on the spot by simply saying 'lay down the butcher's knife'?"

"Fang Zheng, do you think your Buddha would dare to take a demon like you?"

Fang Zheng lowered his head and sighed...

“The Buddha said, ‘There is no self, no person, no sentient being, and no life span.’ As an old monk in the Buddhist order, I should shed all traces of worldly appearances.”

"But because the old monk was concerned about Shaolin, he gradually went astray and did all sorts of wrong things."

"Fang Zheng, commit suicide!" Yue Yuchen said, looking at the crescent moon in the sky without a trace of emotion.

"The abbot's fate rests on the shoulders of Buddhism; he cannot be disturbed by demons," Benming interjected, then turned to Yue Yuchen: "You wretched child, how dare you disrupt my Buddhist order..."

A murderous glint flashed in Yue Yuchen's eyes, and a sword light appeared. The old monk Benming chuckled twice in his throat, and then fell silent.

“You…” Fang Zheng felt a pang of pain in his heart. He looked at Yue Yuchen with sorrow, shock, and fear in his eyes, but no regret.

"If you do something wrong, you have to pay the price, right? Fang Zheng, don't you think that as long as you admit your mistake, this matter can be treated as if it never happened?" Yue Yuchen sneered.

The eighteen Arhats around him exchanged a glance, and immediately swarmed forward, cooperating seamlessly and each using their unique skills to cover Yue Yuchen's major acupoints.

Yue Yuchen staggered, and eighteen figures appeared in quick succession, each corresponding to a monk. Before they could surround them, streaks of blood bloomed from their necks, staining the area crimson.

Yue Yuchen sighed, his figure swayed, and he slapped Fang Zheng's forehead with his palm. He looked at the abbot's room and sneered before leaping away.

After a long while, the door to the abbot's room behind Fang Zheng was opened again, revealing Fang Sheng's figure. He checked his senior brother's breathing, then lowered his head and sighed.

It wasn't until the next day that news came from the Medicine Buddha Hall that the hall had been robbed the previous night, and many prescriptions for strengthening muscles and bones and consolidating the body's foundation, including the Great Rejuvenation Pill and the Lesser Rejuvenation Pill, were missing.

Fang Sheng simply said "I know" and then suppressed the matter, focusing on handling Fang Zheng's funeral arrangements.

………………

Behind Blackwood Cliff, at the Cold Pool.

Yue Yuchen appeared here in a flash. He didn't know why, but he suddenly felt a lot of emotions and wanted to see his only companion.

After standing there for a while, Yue Yuchen vanished in a flash.

Beneath the icy pool, Dongfang Bubai's corpse floated silently. At one moment, her fingers trembled slightly, as if it were an illusion, and then she fell silent again.

Chapter 57 The Martial World is All Water

On the Sutra Repository.

Yue Yuchen pushed the "Damo Yijinjing" he had just memorized to the other side of the table, looked at Linghu Chong and smiled slightly: "Junior brother is indeed exceptionally talented. You have embarked on your own sword path so quickly. I am no match for you."

Linghu Chong shook his head without saying anything, clearly not thinking he was as good as his senior brother.

Yue Yuchen pointed to the book "Damo Yijinjing" on the table and said, "I obtained this original copy of Yijinjing from the Imperial Palace. With your progress in martial arts, you may be able to use it in the future."

"Senior brother, you..." Linghu Chong frowned and asked with some curiosity.

Looking out the window, Yue Yuchen chuckled and said, "Junior brother, I have a feeling I might have to leave!"

Then he turned around and smiled, "You don't need to ask any more questions."

………………

The Ancestral Hall of the Huashan School.

This place is now very different from before, after the Huashan Sect was officially recognized by the imperial court as the lineage of the Great Emperor of the Western Mountain, and Yue Buqun was posthumously honored as the "Changchun Zhenren".

This place is no longer the domain of a single family or clan, but rather the authentic transmission of Taoism recognized by all Taoist sects across the land.

While keeping the main building unchanged, laborers were conscripted to carry out a large-scale expansion of the site.

The original main gate was transformed into a three-bay gate with three rooms on the left, center, and right.

The main gate in the middle will not be opened or used easily unless it is for a change of power in the Huashan Sect or to receive an imperial edict or other similar events.