Chapter 55: The Longxiang Monk's Little Thoughts!

"……The Longxiang Monk descended the mountain in fury, Buddhist light surging around him like flames, as if the Vajra Mingwang had descended to the mortal realm; if it were any other demon, they would have already fled in terror.

But the Xiaoyue Yaowang is infamous, his strength comparable to a Martial Arts Grandmaster, his demonic power vast as the sea—one howl shifts wind and clouds, a second dims sun and moon, a third displaces the stars, his power terrifying to the extreme!

Yet the Longxiang Monk remained calm and unafraid, displaying the Buddhist supernatural power Great Longxiang Force; with a single palm strike, heaven shattered and earth split, mountains collapsed and trees were destroyed.

However, the Xiaoyue Tianlang, after all, is a renowned great demon king; with one move, Heavenly Wolf Howling at the Moon, he drew down moonlight like a waterfall, blocking the Longxiang Monk's achievement.

Then, its form became like a ghost, transforming into a streak of moonlight that closed in on the Longxiang Monk, raising its gold-cutting, jade-slicing claws, and struck downward at the monk's bald head.

If this claw landed true, even a body of profound iron would be torn to shreds by it.

And you guess what happened?"

Huā~

The storyteller snapped his folding fan shut, just as everyone thought he would pause again to collect money, but he suddenly spoke out:

"Dang!

That wolf's claw seemed to scrape against divine gold and divine iron, sending up a string of splendid sparks, actually blocked outright by the great monk's Arhat Golden Body.

Speaking slowly, that moment came quickly.

The Longxiang Monk once again activated his divine ability, dragon and elephant intertwining and resonating in his palm, forming a Buddhist heavenly canopy that pressed downward.

Pū!

The Xiaoyue Yaowang's body was blasted to pieces.

As a demon king who once ruled a prefecture with terrifying ferocity, even with his body shattered to pieces, he still fought to the death without retreat.

Only seen, it opened its mouth and spat out a pearl, its radiance surpassing the ninth heaven's bright moon, violently striking the monk's chest.

Pa!

The pearl shattered, the golden body broke!

The half-step Grandmaster Longxiang Monk ultimately could not match the demon king, his heart pierced through.

Yet the Longxiang Monk paid no heed to this; only seen, he pressed his palms together, Buddhist light gathering over his entire body, and fiercely struck at the demon king's inner core, not yet fully shattered.

Hōng!

As if the bright moon exploded, silver light poured like a waterfall; wherever it passed, rocks exploded, plants turned to dust, all reduced to nothingness.

In that vast ocean of light, everyone only heard one voice: "Wicked beast, do not flee!"

But it was the demon king, bereft of his inner core, attempting to escape.

As the saying goes: If I do not enter hell, who will?

The Longxiang Monk, ignoring his shattered heart and mortal wound, pursued the demon king for a thousand li, solely to eradicate this great scourge upon humanity.

But heaven's will is hard to fathom; the Xiaoyue Yaowang had three burrows like a cunning rabbit, risking his life to flee, while the Longxiang Monk, gravely injured, gave chase—ultimately both vanished without trace.

Alas, a heavenly pride of the Buddhist sect, having just entered the Dao, sacrificed his life to slay the demon king, only to meet the fate of vanishing without a trace!"

Pā!

Accompanied by a clear sound, the storyteller rose and clasped his hands: "Ladies and gentlemen, if the tale was good, give a reward; if not, bear with it!"

Having said that, he flicked his sleeve and prepared to leave the stage.

"Good!"

The hall erupted in applause, even Qin Shuo couldn't help but nod repeatedly.

This old storyteller, with his rises and falls, full of emotion—no wonder so many come to listen.

Moreover, his tales are half-true, half-false, very good at whetting the appetite.

For example, this battle between the Longxiang Monk and the Xiaoyue Yaowang is indeed true, and many in the prefectural cities have heard of it.

However, the Longxiang Monk clearly stated in his kasaya's testament that he was ambushed and gravely wounded by the Xiaoyue Yaowang, not that he fought the demon king face-to-face and had his heart shattered.

This part is obviously the storyteller's artistic embellishment to attract attention.

But this is also easy to understand.

In a Grandmaster's battle, how could ordinary people possibly know the inner details?

The storyteller, based on known facts, embellishes to draw an audience—this is perfectly reasonable.

Or rather, this is precisely the essence of storytelling as a profession that attracts an audience.

Wild history, wild history—if it's not wild enough, how could it catch people's eyes?

Moreover, the Longxiang Monk's realization of the Longxiang True Meaning, stepping into half-step Grandmaster in one step—this part is obviously for storytelling effect, a deliberate beautification.

According to Qin Shuo's speculation, the reason the Longxiang Monk could, as a half-step Grandmaster, oppose a demon king comparable to a Martial Arts Grandmaster, is likely mainly due to relying on that fragment of saint's relic bone.

Wei Yuan once told him that divine ability can overturn rivers and seas, gathering the great power of heaven and earth within one's body—beyond human strength.

What is the gap between half-step Grandmaster and Grandmaster?

To cross it, one must master Martial Saint Divine Ability, only then possibly to wage war above one's level, to rebel against immortals?

And divine ability can only be fully mastered by a Martial Saint.

Even a Martial Saint's descendant can only rely on bloodline power to display part of its might.

According to the storyteller's words, this Longxiang Monk is clearly of refugee origin, obviously impossible to be a holy monk's descendant.

And the Longxiang True Meaning he realized, in Qin Shuo's view, is more like having refined the saint's relic bone by some means, thereby obtaining Martial Saint Divine Ability.

This also explains why the Longxiang Monk is so certain he can certainly produce relics.

And he left words on his kasaya, letting later generations send his relics back to the Dalong Temple pagoda for rest.

Now, recalling this, the Longxiang Monk having his inheritor go to Dalong Temple to seek aid—probably just a pretense; the main point is still to send that fragment of saint's relic bone back to Dalong Temple.

Thinking of this, Qin Shuo couldn't help but smile faintly.

It seems this Longxiang Monk is not entirely a reckless brute; he also knows how to employ subtle thoughts.

If it were an ordinary person, like the Yuan Family Three Brothers of the Black Dragon Stronghold, upon seeing the Longxiang Monk's Longxiang Golden Body Divine Intent Map and relics, their attention would surely be placed on the divine intent map.

After all, even if it is a saint's relic bone, without a special refinement method, it is merely a finger bone, useless to ordinary people, and one would not see anything extraordinary about it.

On the contrary, the Longxiang Golden Body Divine Intent Map would be far more attractive to martial artists.

Qin Shuo even suspected that if it weren't to provide cover for that Saint Relic Bone, the Longxiang Monk might not have left behind the Longxiang Golden Body Divine Intent Map at all.

Everything he did was to make those with affinity overlook the importance of that Saint Relic Bone.

Then, under the pretense of passing down the robe and bowl, he would have people send the Longxiang Relic back to Dalong Temple.

Only, the old monk had calculated everything a thousand times, yet never expected to encounter three bandits.

Although the secret of the Longxiang Relic was preserved, the Yuan Clan Brothers clearly had no intention of sending the relic to Dalong Temple.

Otherwise, they would not have become outlaws on Erlong Mountain, living by robbery.

Fortunately, this Saint Relic Bone ultimately ended up in Qin Shuo's hands; if he ever gets the chance to pass by Dalong Temple in the future, and if he has already refined it and obtained the Martial Saint Divine Ability within, he would not mind returning it to its rightful owner.

Moreover, Qin Shuo speculated that this Saint Relic Bone was likely not just a single fragment.

Because according to the hint from the Taotie Cauldron, refining this bone fragment could only yield the Martial Saint Divine Ability at the minor completion stage.

If this finger bone were the only relic left by that holy monk, logically it should be a divine ability of perfect completion.

Of course, this is merely his personal speculation.

After all, relics are formed through burning; perhaps the remaining Great Longxiang Force inheritance was destroyed during the burning process.

But regardless, Qin Shuo finally figured out what the Longxiang Relic was all about.

Moreover, from the storyteller's mouth, he obtained a very useful piece of information.

That is, after gaining fame, the Longxiang Monk studied the Vajra Buddhist Dharma for twenty years at Dalong Temple.

This might very well be the main reason why the Longxiang Monk could refine the Longxiang Relic.

And now, as he seeks to refine the Longxiang Relic, he must also cultivate the Vajra Buddha Nature—there must necessarily be a connection between the two.

If during this journey to Dongling Temple he cannot find a way to quickly cultivate the Vajra Buddha Nature, then he can only purchase some related scriptures on Vajra Buddhist Dharma and study them slowly.

With the storyteller's storytelling gone, the teahouse quickly became noisy.

Qin Shuo no longer paid attention to the outside world, and began to eat heartily.

Soon, the dishes on the table were completely cleared by him and Xiao Liu, every plate licked clean.

"Let's go, up the mountain."

Qin Shuo had Xiao Liu leave the carriage at the teahouse, and the two of them then followed the crowd of people going to the temple to burn incense and worship Buddha, hiking up the mountain on foot.