Shaolin Temple, within the Great Hero Hall.
“Abbot, how is your wound?” After Meng Qi and others had left, the old monk with white eyebrows asked with concern.
Suddenly, a flush of red appeared on Xin Ji’s withered yellow face. He opened his mouth and spat, a mouthful of blood raining down and staining the front of his robe.
“Abbot!”
“Master!”
…
The monks cried out in alarm, instantly realizing that the Abbot had merely suppressed his injuries earlier, not revealing his weakness in front of that group of unclear origins.
Xin Ji waved his hand and slowly said, “It’s fine. I’m temporarily unharmed, but I can’t exert even half of my martial prowess.”
The monks all fell silent. The Abbot was already old and frail, likely no match for General Dor Chad to begin with. Now with only half of his power remaining, the prospects seemed even more bleak. As for other Xiantian masters, there were only two in the entire temple, both merely at the initial stage of Xiantian. They couldn’t even compare to General Dor Chad’s subordinates, the “White-Browed Wolf” and the “Heaven and Earth Palm.”
The old monk with white eyebrows sighed deeply, “Abbot, under these circumstances, we should prioritize preserving the temple’s incense offering.”
“Master-disciple Xin Chan, I understand your meaning,” Xin Ji nodded slightly, looking back with a trace of weariness at the golden Buddha statue. “The barbarians have seized the advantage of the time, and their power is at its peak. Not to mention the so-called National Master or Wolf King, General Dor Chad alone is one of the top martial artists in the land. He has roamed the martial world his whole life, rarely facing defeat, and commands three hundred Iron Wolf Soldiers, who are invincible wherever they go.”
“If Shaolin chooses to fight to the death, we might still have a chance to stop Dor Chad temporarily, but even that would only last for a short time. And now, it seems we may not even be able to hold him off for that brief period.”
“What I said earlier wasn’t out of refusal to preserve the temple’s incense. Rather, I wish to use this frail old body to hold Dor Chad back, giving the monks a chance to escape. After all, as long as I remain alive, Dor Chad will relentlessly pursue us without hesitation, dragging you all down and jeopardizing the transfer of scriptures, secret texts, and relics.”
Dor Chad’s subordinates command three hundred Iron Wolf Soldiers, said to be trained through secret methods. Each of them possesses immense strength, feels no pain, and fears no death.
The old monk with white eyebrows and others fell silent again. They all knew that Dor Chad viewed the Abbot as a thorn in his eye, and this siege was likely aimed at eliminating top martial artists. If the mission isn’t completed, even if our sect abandons our ancestral estate, the relentless pursuit won’t cease. However, if the Abbot attains final peace, the pursuit we face will ease significantly. At the very least, the top martial artist, General Dor Chad, won’t personally take action anymore. At that time, we can scatter and hide separately, and the temple’s incense offering will be able to continue.
“Master, I will stay at Shaolin with you,” a middle-aged monk with a sorrowful expression knelt before Xin Ji.
Xin Ji sighed, “Why be so stubborn?”
He did not agree to his disciple’s request but instead looked around and said, “There is a secret passage in this temple, known only to the Abbot through generations. Everyone should quickly arrange for the disciples, pack up the secret texts, and wait until nightfall. As for the other ordinary disciples, when you leave, leave a note for them, letting them go down the mountain on their own.”
“What about the lay devotees at the foot of the mountain? Should we inform them?” Another monk, who looked like a laughing Maitreya Buddha, asked.
The old monk Xin Chan, with white eyebrows, frowned and said, “Inform them? Who knows how many barbarian spies are hiding among them, like that Shape-shifting Scholar earlier. If Dor Chad hears of it in advance, our Shaolin will be in imminent danger!”
“Once the ordinary disciples leave the mountain, they will naturally learn of it and disperse,” Xin Ji was unwilling to risk the information leaking.
“Master, since Dor Chad has arranged for the Shape-shifting Scholar to attack secretly, I think he should be nearby. We can’t delay until nightfall anymore,” the kneeling middle-aged monk stood up. “As for the lay devotees at the foot of the mountain, if they see Dor Chad’s Iron Wolf Soldiers attacking and the mountain gate remains closed, they won’t fight to the death and will naturally leave.”
Xin Ji nodded solemnly, “That makes sense.”
…
An inn at the foot of the mountain.
“Xiao Sang, Xiao Sang is coming…” Xiao Zi’s sleep-talking, as if she had encountered a ghost, made Wei Wuji and other onlookers involuntarily get goosebumps and their hairs stand on end.
Who is Xiao Sang? The name sounds creepy!
Jiang Zhiwei and Zhang Yuanshan looked up in astonishment, staring at Xiao Zi and simultaneously asked, “Xiao Sang? Gu Xiao Sang?”
Who is she…Meng Qi had heard Xiao Zi mention Gu Xiao Sang before, but he never expected this name to be so famous. Even Jiang Zhiwei and Zhang Yuanshan looked like they had heard of her before.
“Yes, Gu Xiao Sang, she’s coming, she wants to kill me, waaah…” Xiao Zi cried out, almost on the verge of breakdown.
Seeing Jiang Zhiwei and Zhang Yuanshan’s expressions turn serious, Meng Qi secretly speculated that Gu Xiao Sang must be a well-known figure in the main world. Otherwise, why would they have heard of her?
But weren’t only a few of us in this cycle?
Could she be a rival cycle participant?
But that didn’t seem right either, as the Master of the Six Paths of Reincarnation had given no indication!
The group exchanged glances. Just as Jiang Zhiwei was about to whisper to Meng Qi about who Gu Xiao Sang was, a horn suddenly sounded outside, startling everyone.
Woo!
The long horn call was desolate and distant, yet hidden with intensity. Then came the sound of horse hooves, like crashing waves, rapidly approaching from afar.
“Iron Wolf Soldiers! Iron Wolf Soldiers!” Wei Wuji’s expression changed drastically, his hands involuntarily trembling slightly. The arrival of the Iron Wolf Soldiers meant that General Dor Chad must be nearby!
He loudly shouted, “Fellow martial heroes, the Iron Wolf Soldiers are attacking. We must retreat into Shaolin Temple and defend ourselves at the mountain pass.”
The terrain at the foot of the mountain was open, and he knew he couldn’t hold off so many Iron Wolf Soldiers.
“Senior Wei’s words make sense!”
“Let’s quickly go to the mountain gate!”
Seeing the distant dust rising, the martial heroes and righteous people remembered the Iron Wolf Soldiers’ fearsome reputation, felt an inexplicable fear, and rushed toward the mountain gate.
Meng Qi, Jiang Zhiwei, and others also looked out from the inn window toward the distance, where the cavalry dragged a sky full of dust, advancing in a grand and mighty formation. The riders were all clad in pitch-black full armor, with only their eyes visible.
“Kneel and you shall not be killed!” Suddenly, a voice rang out from among the cavalry—solemn, deep, yet cold as iron. Despite the distance, everyone at the foot of the mountain heard it clearly.
“Dor Chad, General Dor Chad!” Wei Wuji’s face turned deathly pale as he shouted in panic, hurriedly turning to De Guang, who was guarding the mountain gate. “Quickly open the gate! General Dor Chad has arrived!”
De Guang’s face was equally pale: “Senior Wei, without the Abbot’s order, I cannot open the gate.”
“Ungrateful! Ungrateful! We risked our lives to come and help, yet you disregard our lives and deaths!” Wei Wuji’s face flushed with anger.
The surrounding martial heroes immediately stirred up a commotion, and the scene became chaotic.
“Hmph, brave in internal strife, cowardly in external battles. The people of Central Plains are naturally inferior,” Dor Chad’s voice sounded like a series of thunderclaps.
His figure appeared at the forefront of the cavalry, towering and mighty, holding a copper club with one arm. Though he was not mounted, he still stood out among the other Iron Wolf Soldiers.
He strode forward, covering vast distances in just a few steps.
As he approached, the sky suddenly darkened, fierce winds blew, dark clouds gathered, and distant thunder rumbled.
Meng Qi even smelled the stench of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, as an endless fear pressed upon his heart.
“Half-step into the External Realm, half-step into the External Realm,” Zhang Yuanshan drew his sword and flicked it with his finger. The sound resonated like a dragon’s roar, awakening Meng Qi and Qi Zhengyan, whose minds had been affected. The vision of corpses and blood vanished instantly before their eyes.
Jiang Zhiwei, somewhat eager, said, “It seems Dor Chad is indeed stronger than Master Xin Ji. Not only has he opened all nine orifices, but he has also begun to touch the External Realm. He only needs to bridge the internal and external realms to reach the External Realm. Even if I use ‘Sword Unyielding,’ I’m afraid I can’t do much against him.”
“Half-step into the External Realm?” Meng Qi, who was ignorant of such matters, instinctively asked.
Jiang Zhiwei slightly lifted her head: “When the internal and external realms converge, every movement can stir the changes of heaven and earth, which is the External Realm. In the External Realm, each move is immensely powerful, containing profound mysteries, capable of destroying mountains and cities effortlessly. Dor Chad can already alter the weather to a certain extent, indicating he is just half a step away.”
“This enemy is so powerful…” Just from Jiang Zhiwei’s description, Meng Qi knew that Dor Chad was countless times stronger than the previous Hidden Emperor Fortress Lord. Not to mention the current scene with winds rising, clouds gathering, thunder rumbling, and rain pouring.
“He’s completely beyond our capability to handle!” Meng Qi guessed that Jiang Zhiwei, who had already opened four orifices (eyes and ears each counting as two), if she used “Sword Unyielding” to fight desperately, could kill a martial artist with seven or eight orifices opened and even have a chance to wound someone with all nine orifices open. However, someone like Dor Chad, who had already begun to touch the mysteries of heaven and earth, couldn’t be defeated merely by powerful techniques. It was clear that the difficulty of this mission was beyond imagination!
“It’s not necessarily hopeless. If Master Xin Ji were in good condition, and my junior sister Jiang could coordinate with him, there might be a chance to kill Dor Chad,” Zhang Yuanshan said helplessly.
He had only opened his eye orifice and against Dor Chad, he feared he could only hold out for a few moves, barely having any possibility of fighting side by side—although he also had his ultimate techniques, the gap in cultivation was just too vast.
Meng Qi thought for a moment and said, “Anyway, our mission this time is to defend Shaolin until the very end. We might not need to confront Dor Chad directly.”
Boom!
A huge thunderclap exploded in everyone’s ears, and the mountains of corpses and seas of blood, along with the endless evil spirits, seemed to become even clearer.
These martial artists were affected by Dor Chad’s changes in heaven and earth and the mental pressure, collapsing instantly. Some fled to the sides, while others shouted loudly, “These bald devils have evil hearts. Everyone, charge in and kill them!”
Boom!
The thunder shook the ears of De Guang and others guarding the mountain gate, making them seem paralyzed. They wanted to take advantage of the terrain to resist those madmen but were powerless to act, only able to watch helplessly as they broke through the mountain gate and rushed in, becoming vanguards for the evil forces.
“Senior Wei…” De Guang saw Wei Wuji’s face twisted with rage as he struck a palm on his head.
The rain finally poured down in torrents, and the ground was covered in blood.
Dor Chad stopped in front of the mountain gate, turned his head sideways, and coldly looked toward the nearby inn. He calmly ordered the arriving Iron Wolf Soldiers behind him, “Fifty men stay here, leave no one alive. The rest follow me up the mountain.”
His face was crisscrossed with scars, rendering his original features unrecognizable.
Fifty Iron Wolf Soldiers split off and rushed to both sides. Their entire bodies were covered in iron armor, with only their blood-red eyes exposed.
“Enter the mountain gate within one teacup’s time, or Main Quest Two will fail.” Words appeared on the muddy ground.
“Follow them into the temple, or the main quest will fail.” Meng Qi saw the prompt from the “Master of the Six Paths of Reincarnation” and gritted his teeth.
At a time like this, they still had to follow into the temple, it was practically a model of righteousness and loyalty.
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