Chapter 57: The End of the Road for an Overlord

This sword strike, it moves mountains and fills the seas.

Since the bitter sea is hard to cross, use the sword as a boat, and move the Five Mountains to fill the sea.

Boom!

A violent aura surged outward from the array, and the sight of monk robes and the sound of Buddhist chants filling the sky vanished completely.

The Vajra Subduing Demon Array formed by one hundred and eight Arhats and Vajras, broken!

On the vast Fengchan Platform, Lu Li leaned on his long sword and looked around, only to see one hundred and eight monks lying on the ground.

They were originally pure people of the Buddhist faith, but now they were covered in blood and filth.

Those monks with weaker cultivation could not withstand Lu Li's Sword Qi at all, and had already died from bleeding from their seven orifices.

Eight monks holding monk staffs sat slumped on the ground.

At Shaolin Temple, those who use monk staffs as weapons hold high status.

One of them was the Head of the Arhat Hall, Master Fang Hui; he was the one leading this Arhat array.

But now, the monk staff in his hand was already bent, as if it had been crushed by a massive weight.

He smiled bitterly at Abbot Fangzheng beside him: "Amitabha!

Senior Brother, we failed to stop this demon."

"How could it be like this?"

Abbot Fangzheng looked shocked; he could never have imagined that Lu Li would be able to break the Arhat Demon-Subduing Array.

This was not an ordinary array formed by eighteen Arhats, but an array of one hundred and eight Arhats, guided by the Head of the Arhat Hall!

Since the founding of Shaolin Temple, no one had ever broken it.

Even the Wudang Sect Leader Zhang Sanfeng back in the day could not break the Vajra Subduing Demon Circle of the Three Monks!

These two types of arrays were originally one, yet today they were broken by Lu Li!

Could it be that the current Lu Li has already surpassed Master Zhang? Or is it that Lu Li has truly become a demon!

Zuo Lengchan's pupils dilated and contracted in an instant, and he roared: "Impossible!

Lu Li, by what right can you break the Vajra Subduing Demon Array?"

He knew better than anyone that this Vajra Subduing Demon Array was the ultimate trump card in this layout!

And with Lu Li breaking this array, there was no one left on Songshan who could stop him.

A thought suddenly occurred to him: Is Songshan finished? And the crowd of martial arts heroes in the distance of the Fengchan Platform finally crawled up from the ground.

"Could it be that Lu Li really won?!

The leader of the righteous path for thousands of years, Shaolin Temple, couldn't stop Lu Li's sword either."

"Brother, give me a hand, my knees can't stand up..."

"I'm kneeling too."

They rubbed their eyes, unable to believe the reality before them.

But it was undeniable that they might be witnessing a battle that would change the landscape of the martial arts world.

The father and son of the Wang Family were already dumbfounded.

On the Fengchan Platform, what difference was there between Lu Li and an immortal? It is laughable that the Golden Blade Sect didn't even dare to provoke one of the Songshan Sect's guardians, yet dared to talk big.

Come to think of it, in Lu Li's eyes, he probably only regarded them as insects that wouldn't live to see winter.

On the Fengchan Platform, Lu Li focused his mind and regulated his breath for a moment.

Then, he moved.

Lu Li slowly stepped forward, his feet landing on the thin layer of undried Buddhist blood on the ground, making a pattering sound.

At this moment, the Fengchan Platform was deathly silent; people heard the sound of footsteps as if they were stepping on their own heads.

He walked toward Zuo Lengchan, and as he walked, he said: "On this trip to Songshan to pay respects to the sword, I have viewed the mountain, and I have defeated your sword.

Zuo Lengchan, the grievances between you and me, it is time to settle them."

"Yaah!"

Zuo Lengchan leaped up from the ground, raised his great sword with both hands, and slashed down at Lu Li's head.

Lu Li's expression did not change; his long sword pointed diagonally, the tip striking directly on Zuo Lengchan's sword blade, making a 'ding' sound, and that Songshan great sword snapped in response!

Respect the sword, defeat the sword, and break the sword!

"A complete mess!

Cold Ice True Qi, Songshan Sword Art, nothing more than this."

Zuo Lengchan fell back onto the ground again, his hair disheveled and his face ashen.

To think that he, a generation of Five Mountains Sect Leader, would end up in such a state; he felt a sense of desolation.

Zuo Lengchan suddenly looked at Abbot Fangzheng and roared: "Abbot Fangzheng!

What other means does your Shaolin Temple have? Hurry up and use them."

Lu Li also looked at Fangzheng.

"Amitabha, Sect Leader Zuo, my Shaolin cannot stop Benefactor Lu either.

Alas, my Shaolin has failed our fellow martial artists; we are willing to close the mountain for a hundred years and no longer interfere in the affairs of the martial arts world."

"Abbot Fangzheng, what did you say..."

Zuo Lengchan's face turned deathly pale, as if he had lost his last straw.

"Hahaha!

Close the mountain!

A fine 'Shaolin closing the mountain'."

He suddenly looked up to the sky and laughed, then cursed: "You bald donkey!"

"Now you want to cross the river and burn the bridge, cutting off your arm to survive? If it weren't for your Shaolin behind the scenes, how would my Songshan Sect have dealt with Huashan, and how would I have provoked this baleful star Lu Li?"

"Amitabha, Sect Leader Zuo, do not speak nonsense."

"Heh heh heh!

My Songshan is finished, so don't think you Shaolin will have it any better."

"Amitabha!

Watch your words."

Master Fangzheng suddenly flew over and struck a palm toward Zuo Lengchan.

Suddenly, a streak of sword light blocked Master Fangzheng's path, and Lu Li's eyes carried a faint chill: "Let him speak."

Zuo Lengchan looked as if he had gone mad, roaring: "Lu Li, the reason you are dealing with my Songshan is just for Huashan, isn't it? Then let me tell you, the culprit behind all this is not my Songshan Sect, but the Shaolin Temple."

"The Shaolin Temple long ago surrendered to the Imperial Court and is responsible for managing the pugilistic world!

Whenever any sect becomes powerful, they, Shaolin, think of ways to make that sect fall."

He raised his arms high and shouted loudly to the heroes gathered around: "Everyone!

Listen well to me."

Zuo Lengchan, word by word, laid out everything he knew.

It turned out that the Shaolin Temple had already surrendered to the Imperial Court.

Knights use martial arts to violate prohibitions; how could the Imperial Court allow pugilists to run amok at will? They were bound to take action to manage this pugilistic world, and Shaolin was that hand of theirs.

Shaolin never participated in the disputes of the pugilistic world, yet it was always the leader of the righteous path.

When the Sun Moon Holy Cult became powerful, Shaolin supported the Five Mountains Sword Sects to oppose the Sun Moon Holy Cult.

When the Huashan Sect became powerful, Shaolin supported the Songshan Sect to become the Five Mountains Alliance Leader to oppose the Huashan Sect.

Hearing Zuo Lengchan's self-exposure, everyone was greatly shocked, feeling that this piece of gossip was more explosive than anything else.

Lu Li pondered for a moment and asked: "The Huashan Sword Qi Dispute and the Evil-Warding Sword Manual are also related to Shaolin?"

The crowd was stunned; could it be that the Evil-Warding Sword Manual, which had been widely rumored in the pugilistic world, was also a trick by Shaolin? Zuo Lengchan sneered: "To make pugilists kill each other, isn't the best method a secret manual?"

"The Evil-Warding Sword Manual and the Sunflower Manual are both the same secret manual!

This secret manual came from the palace and was passed to Shaolin, and then the monk Yuanxing of Shaolin passed the Sunflower Manual into the pugilistic world.

Lu Li, do you know what the monk Yuanxing's surname was after he returned to secular life?"

"What was his surname?"

Lu Li frowned slightly.

"His surname was Zuo."

Zuo Lengchan's voice was hoarse, and though his complexion was getting worse, the luster in his eyes was growing increasingly intense.

"Go and kill!

Kill all these bald donkeys!

But after you finish killing them, you will die too!

Even if your sword art is divine, it cannot compare to the Imperial Court's iron cavalry."

"Old bald donkey, do you regret it? If you had listened to me back then and buried explosives here on the Fengchan Platform, he, Lu Li, would definitely not have been able to escape!

This pugilistic world would still be ours."

The crowd was shocked, not expecting that Zuo Lengchan had actually wanted to bury explosives.

Lu Li was also startled; with his martial arts, he no longer feared human power, but if Zuo Lengchan had really buried explosives, he feared he would have died on Songshan as well!

Gradually, Zuo Lengchan's hair became disheveled, and his pupils even grew somewhat unfocused.

He struggled to stand up and stumbled backward.

"Lu Li, do you want to kill me very much?"

"I, Zuo Lengchan, began practicing martial arts at six, surpassed my master at thirteen, and defeated all the heroes of the pugilistic world by sixteen!

At twenty-three, I became the Songshan Master, improving the Songshan Sword Art to make it the strongest sword art of the Five Mountains!

At thirty, I became the Five Mountains Alliance Leader; in this life, I have never known defeat!

Lu Li, your swordsmanship is invincible, but you still cannot kill me."

"Shaolin, Imperial Court, Five Mountains, to hell with this pugilistic world."

Suddenly, Zuo Lengchan exerted force with his feet, causing the blue bricks to sink half an inch and crack in all directions.

And his body leaped violently backward.

Behind him was the ten-thousand-foot abyss of Songshan!

Zuo Lengchan opened his arms as if embracing the mountains, and in an instant, he fell into the clouds and mist, leaving no corpse behind.

"No one can kill me."

Zuo Lengchan fell into the cliff.

This Songshan Sect Master, a generation of pugilistic world overlords, ultimately died by his own hand.