“What kind of tricks are these two playing?” Zhao Min was also confused and couldn’t help frowning.
“The two noble ladies may not know that Prajna Palm is the most profound palm method in Shaolin Temple. Prajna emphasizes emptiness, so the power of Prajna Palm is invisible, and there is no form, feeling, thought, and consciousness. Its palm strength is empty, and emptiness is nothing. So, to outsiders it would seem that it doesn’t have much strength, but only those who face the palm strike can perceive the danger in the palm strike.” Monk Jinlun heard Hua Zheng and Zhao Min’s discussion, and quickly cleared their confusion.
Hua Zheng was still quite bewildered, so she shook her head and said, “The Zen Buddhism of the Central Plains is indeed obscure and difficult to understand. No wonder Father Khan likes the teachings of Tantric Buddhism.”
Monk Jinlun’s face turned bright.
The Mongol Empire was now powerful and domineering. So various sects had sent envoys to preach to the Mongol royal family, including not only Buddhism in China, Quanzhen and other schools, but also Zoroas*trianism in the Western Regions, Catholicism, and more, but the most successful one of them all was Tantra.
Several masters of Tantrism were regarded as honored guests by Mongolia, and they themselves were appointed as state teachers. Basiba of Nalanda Temple was revered as imperial teacher, and even Sangjie, the second-generation disciple of Shingon Sect was highly thought of by Prince Alibuge. So it was highly possible that Tantric Buddhism would become the state religion of Mongolia in the near future.
“What the princess said is very true. Those monks in Central Plains like to say some obscure and ambiguous words. If you ask them to explain, they can’t explain it clearly. They also say that you have to realize it yourself, then you will naturally understand. It is enough to deceive the ignorant common people with such words, but it’s far from enough to deceive the great Genghis Khan.”
“The State Teacher is correct. Because of the obscure and difficult teachings of Zen Buddhism in Ch*na, there are indeed many eminent monks who deceive the world and become famous, but there are also people who are truly enlightened.” Zhao Min paused and slightly shook her head. “Even famous eminent monks are often confused, so how can ordinary people understand it.”
Everyone here was talking about Buddhism, but the two people fighting a bit farther were in an extremely dangerous situation. Song Qingshu’s Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms were fierce and unparalleled, but Xuancheng’s Prajna Palm was ethereal and lethal.
Every time Song Qingshu attacked with all his strength, he felt like he was hitting a ball of cotton, his palm strength was unknowingly turned into nothingness by the opponent. After dozens of exchanges, Song Qingshu was starting to feel extremely uncomfortable.
“Great monk, it seems that you haven’t practiced the highest state of Prajna Palm, ‘all empty to the end’.” Song Qingshu remembered that in the original book, Xuanci used Prajna Palm to fight against Qiao Feng’s Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, and finally only at the critical moment did he realize the true meaning of ‘all empty to the end’.
“I didn’t expect you to be so knowledgeable. Ordinary people know that Prajna Palm is not easy to practice, but you even know that the highest level of Prajna Palm is ‘all empty to the end’!” Xuancheng showed a strange expression, “But looking at your Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, it seems that you also have not reached the peak.”
“The Great Monk really has discerning eyes!” Song Qingshu exclaimed, “Since you and I haven’t mastered our palm technique to the extreme, it will be difficult to tell the winner if we continue fighting like this, so why not end it here?”
Xuancheng was quite moved, but he soon showed a look of hesitation, “You rescued that demoness today, and as a result, I don’t know how many innocent lives will be lost by her hand in the future. This is a great sin, so this poor monk will teach you well.”
Xuancheng understood that although he temporarily had the upper hand at the moment, it wouldn’t be easy for him to beat Song Qingshu in a short time. But so far all he had used was the Prajna Palm. If he used the other twelve excellent arts techniques at the same time, his power would be doubled. In addition, he hadn’t yet used the Staff technique that he was better at, so Xuancheng was confident that he could really win. He would be able to teach Song Qingshu a lesson!
“Great Monk, may I ask if killing a few people is a more serious sin, than killing tens of thousands of people?” Song Qingshu said while parrying Xuancheng’s continuous attacks.
Xuancheng was stunned, and quickly said, “There is a saying in Buddhism that all living beings are equal, everything in the world is illusory. There is no difference between killing one person and killing tens of thousands of people. However, this poor monk is still in the realm of mortals, and I still cannot comprehend the ‘Detachment Realm’. So in the eyes of this poor monk, killing tens of millions of people is a more serious crime.”
“That’s it. Li Mochou just killed a few people, and the evil she did was only a minor evil. On the other hand, the princess over there, with thousands of troops, she invaded the Central Plains and slaughtered thousands of our people. That is truly a major evil. You are letting the major evil be, but pursuing the minor evil! Could it be that you are concerned about the many masters around the princess, so you are pretending not to see it, and bullying the solitary Li Mochou?” Song Qingshu swung Xuancheng away with the The Twin Dragons Fetch Water, and a sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth.
“Preposterous! How can this poor monk be afraid of them!” Xuancheng said angrily, but he also withdrew from the fight and didn’t intend to continue anymore.
“Young Master Song is really eloquent. The two armies are fighting each other based on their own abilities. There is no right or wrong in a war. What’s more, we are going south this time to discuss peace with the Song Imperial Court. If this peace negotiation is successful, I don’t know how many innocent lives will be saved, this kind of merit is incomparable to Li Mochou, a cold-blooded demoness who kills innocent people indiscriminately.”
Zhao Min glanced at the broken hair pin on the pillar, and felt lost in her heart, then looked at Song Qingshu with a trace of hatred in her eyes.
“We all know that the Princess orchestrated a bloodbath the six major sects, and even one of the four great monks of Shaolin Temple was beheaded by your subordinates. Does this not count as killing innocent people indiscriminately?”
Hearing Zhao Min say that they were going south to negotiate a peace treaty, Song Qingshu was secretly startled. ‘So Mongolia is ceasing war with the Southern Song Dynasty! It seems that it has changed its strategy of attacking everywhere at the same time. If I’m not wrong, Mongolia will definitely attack a country with the force of thunder, but I don’t know if it will be Jin or Qing, or the Ming Cult of the Western Regions…’
If they attack the Ming Cult, he would be happy to see that, but if they attacked the Qing Dynasty, it would really be hard for him to fend against Mongolia at the moment, as they had yet to fully digest the strength of the Qing Empire.
While Song Qingshu was still lost in his thoughts, Xuancheng glared at the Mongolian group, “Are you that demoness Zhao Min?”
At that time, Abbot Xuanci led the eminent monks out of the temple and arranged for Kongwen and others to stay in the temple. Who knew that Zhao Min would use the Tendon Softening Incense to trap all the monks and took them all to Wan’an Temple, which caused Shaolin Temple to be almost wiped out, and Master Kongxing was killed by beheading. That incident was really a matter of great shame and humiliation for the Shaolin Temple.
Before, even though Xuancheng heard them call Zhao Min the princess, he didn’t care too much. After all, there were as many prince and princesses as there were cow fur. It wasn’t until Song Qingshu reminded him that he knew that this delicate girl in front of him was actually the mortal enemy of his sect!
“Demoness suffer!” Xuancheng’s eyes widened in anger, and he slashed towards Zhao Min with a single palm strike.
Hearing the conversation between the two, the Divine Arrow Eight Heroes were already on alert. Seeing Xuancheng rushing towards them, they drew their bow and shot at him.
Seeing that, Xuancheng stopped, but didn’t dodge. He took a deep breath, and his monk’s robe bulged like an inflated balloon, as he stood upright on the spot. A metallic sound was heard, and the arrows that hit the monk’s robe, all fell to his feet as if they were bounced off by an invisible force.
After being hit by a rain of arrows, Xuancheng’s monk’s robe wasn’t even pierced on a single spot!
Song Qingshu’s eyes turned sharp, Monk Jinlun and the Xuanming Elders also cried out, “Vajra Body Defending Divine Skill!”
Xuancheng didn’t say a word, and while Divine Arrow Eight Heroes and others were stunned, he opened his mouth and roared, and sound waves visible to the naked eye attacked everyone.
“The Vajra Zen Lion’s Roar! Hurry up and protect the princesses!” Monk Jinlun was startled and angry, and quickly raised his big golden wheels to protect the two women. He appeared in front of the girls, and blocked most of the sound waves for them.
However, the rest of Zhao Min’s guards were not so lucky, and they covered their ears in pain and fell to the ground as they howled in pain. Although the Divine Arrow Eight Heroes were excellent in archery, they were not as good at internal strength, so their situation wasn’t much better than ordinary guards. It didn’t take long for them to bleed from ears, mouth and nose from the shock.
The people guarding Zhao Min and Hua Zheng were not much better as well.
Monk Jinlun looked dignified. The faces of the two Xuanming Elders trembled slightly. Because they had suffered a lot of internal injuries just now, they were obviously approaching their limit. Ah Da, Ah Er and Ah San trembled all over, a trace of blood slowly seeped from the corner of their mouth.
Song Qingshu was not directly in front of Xuancheng’s attack. With his level of inner strength, the Vajra Zen Lion’s Roar naturally had no effect on him. So he just casually grabbed a chair and sat down. He then performed the Twin Dragons Fetch Water, pulled in a flagon from the counter, and began to drink from the sidelines as he watched the show.
After a while, Xuancheng’s Vajra Zen Lion’s Roar finally ended. Zhao Min and Hua Zheng were fine because they were protected by many masters, but most of their subordinates were stumbling around, obviously losing their fighting power. The only ones who could still stand unharmed were Monk Jinlun, the Xuanming Elders and Ah Da, Ah Er, and Ah San.
Ah Da, Ah Er, and Ah San were injured by Zhang Wuji, and after recovering, their strength was far from what it was at their peak, so they were affected by the Vajra Zen Lion’s Roar, and already suffered a lot of internal injuries.
“I heard that Kongxing from this poor monk’s temple died from the Vajra Finger of a master from the Western Regions. If the poor monk is not mistaken, that should be you.” Xuancheng looked at Ah San.
“So what if I killed him? That bald donkey’s Dragon Claw was not that great, and so he lost his life.” Although Ah San knew that he was in trouble, he didn’t want to lose his momentum.
“Very well, then this poor monk will use the Dragon’s Claw to match your powerful Vajra Finger!” Xuancheng remained expressionless, and as soon as he finished speaking, he attacked with his left hand, and accompanied by a gust of wind in his right hand, he grabbed the major acupoint on Ah San’s left shoulder.
Ah San had fought against Shaolin monks before, so he naturally knew that this was the Dragon Claw’s ‘holding the cloud’ style, and he quickly used his powerful Vajra Finger to poke Xuancheng’s elbow, aiming to use his Vajra Finger to break the opponents bone. So Xuancheng would have to withdraw his move if he wanted to keep his arm.
Xuancheng didn’t panic, and pressed down with his right hand, which happened to catch Ah San’s powerful Vajra Finger. Ah San suddenly felt a sharp pain from his fingertips, as if his finger was poking on a piece of thousand-year-old black iron. And, his two fingers were broken apart inch by inch1
Before Ah San could react, Xuancheng’s left hand had already caught his throat. Ah Da and Ah Er turned pale with fright, and rushed over to rescue him. But alas, Xuancheng broke Ah San’s neck before they could reach him.
“Kongxing, I let him die under your famous skill, I hope you can rest in peace.”
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