Chapter 281: Harvest, Shadows, and the Interaction with Piao Xu

"Amitabha."

Accompanied by a clear, resonant Fotu chant, Master Liaojie stepped out with long strides.

He cast his gaze upon the more than three hundred characters that seemed as solid as ten thousand jun, feeling each character as heavy as a mountain, yet as elegant and sharp as a sword, giving one a sense of vast grandeur and exposed brilliance.

Based solely on these three hundred-plus characters, Master Liaojie could see that Yu Liancheng's finger techniques, sword techniques, and calligraphy had all reached an extremely profound realm.

"All phenomena, whether existent or non-existent, are empty. Thus it is said, there is no Faxiang, nor is there any non-Faxiang..."

At first glance, these three hundred-plus characters appeared to be an ordinary Fotu scripture.

But upon careful contemplation, one could discover that they contained extremely profound principles, possessing infinite philosophy and Zen, and even seemed connected to the Martial Dao; yet, it was difficult to articulate exactly what, giving one a feeling of being enlightened yet not quite, understood yet not fully grasped.

"Donor Yu, these three hundred characters are truly profound and unfathomable, comparable to any unique skill of my sect. This old monk is impressed." After observing for a long while, Master Liaojie bowed to Yu Liancheng, his tone carrying a hint of respect.

"In reality, this is merely a general outline of martial arts. What one can comprehend is closely related to the observer's talent and state of mind." Yu Liancheng stood with his hands behind his back, yet possessed an indescribable Zen quality that made people feel convinced and submissive without realizing it.

Master Liaojie pressed his palms together and said, "Donor Yu is truly gifted with extraordinary talent, with a deep-seated compassionate heart, and has an affinity with our Fotu. If you could enter the Fotu gate, you would surely be able to save all living beings..."

Yu Liancheng cut him off: "My hands are stained with countless blood, and the number of people who have died by my hand is innumerable. If you say I have an affinity with Fotu, does that not mean that 'killing to attain the Dao' is the correct path, and only by holding the butcher's knife can one be qualified to lay it down and become a Fotu on the spot?"

Master Liaojie smiled slightly: "You hold the butcher's knife, yet you have never wantonly killed the innocent; that is precisely the compassionate heart. If others possessed your martial arts, I fear the world would have long since been filled with weapons, slaughter, and rivers of blood."

Yu Liancheng laughed dryly: "I simply have a bottom line. Furthermore, in my view, this world is but a corner of the universe; I am just too lazy to stir up trouble."

"A corner of the universe?" Master Liaojie looked puzzled.

"Haha, why dwell on it so much." Yu Liancheng laughed and said: "My harvest from the Shadow Wall is far more than just this three-hundred-character outline. Does Master Liaojie not wish to see it?"

"Please." Master Liaojie smiled slightly and made a gesture of invitation.

"Be careful." Yu Liancheng curled his five fingers and grabbed toward Master Liaojie.

This grab was filled with a sense of great destruction and great death, bordering on nothingness. It made Master Liaojie, who was facing this palm, feel as if he were walking alone across a vast, parched land, with white bones filling the wilderness, all vitality extinguished, and everything returning to Jiemie.

"Jiemie Zhua." Master Liaojie had extraordinary insight and recognized at a glance that this was the 'Jiemie Zhua' specifically cultivated by the Bore Hall. Although the technique had changed, the spirit within it could not be erased.

It was just that the sense of Jiemie in this claw had reached an unprecedented realm, one that even Elder Liaowu of the Bore Hall could never execute.

Master Liaojie's figure was as steady as Mount Tai, his internal Bodhidharma power fully activated, his robes billowing.

Amidst a dragon's roar, he extended his arm and clawed out, the force whistling through the air and transforming into phantoms that enveloped Yu Liancheng; it was the "Shaolin Dragon Claw Hand," known as the unbreakable technique after being tempered a thousand times.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The force exploded continuously, and in the blink of an eye, the two had exchanged over twenty moves.

As the leader of the Shaolin Three Liaos, Master Liaojie's martial arts were so high that one could hardly imagine anyone else being his equal.

Yet, while exchanging blows with Yu Liancheng, he actually felt a sense of being unable to resist and kept retreating.

If the opponent were using Demon Sect martial arts, it would be one thing, but Yu Liancheng happened to be using only Shaolin martial arts.

Jiemie Zhua, Wuxiang Jie Finger, Bright Fist, Flower-Plucking Finger... one Fotu martial art after another was executed in Yu Liancheng's hands, natural and flawless, leaving no traces. Every move carried a sacred, solemn artistic conception, possessing a magic that penetrated directly to the soul.

It turned out that in these fifteen days, Yu Liancheng had actually mastered the Shaolin unique skills and left his own deep mark upon them.

Now, using the outline on the stone wall as a foundation to drive the Fotu unique skills, every skill he executed had a power no less than that of a high Fotu monk who had immersed himself in that martial art for decades.

Just as Master Liaojie was retreating steadily, Yu Liancheng suddenly withdrew his offensive and smiled: "Master, how do you think I practice these Seventy-Two Unique Skills?"

"Amitabha." Master Liaojie sighed: "This old monk truly did not misjudge; Donor Yu is destined to enter our Fotu gate. If not for an innate Fotu-nature, how could one master so many unique skills?"

"You are wrong again. The reason I comprehended them so quickly is because I am a genius, a true genius, a peerless genius seen once every four thousand years."

Yu Liancheng laughed and added: "In reality, whether it is that general outline or the unique skills I previously displayed, they still do not escape the scope of the Seventy-Two Unique Skills. But in these fifteen days, my true harvest is two other self-created unique skills that are just beginning to take shape."

His whole person radiated a vast, boundless aura, his expression solemn and grave.

And in Master Liaojie's perception, the opponent's figure suddenly towered, transforming into a ten-zhang-tall Fotu with lowered brows and bowed head; for a moment, there were bursts of Sanskrit sounds, Heavenly Flowers Falling in Disorder, and golden lotuses springing from the ground.

At this moment, Master Liaojie actually felt an urge to prostrate himself in worship. He hurriedly recited Fotu mantras to collect his mind, only then managing to banish the thought.

"Be careful."

With a light shout from Yu Liancheng, his palm pushed out slowly, and that Fotu also struck a palm down toward Master Liaojie. The palm force was vast and boundless, the airflow like a raging hurricane.

Master Liaojie's eyes narrowed. He suddenly stepped forward, his five fingers pointing to the sky, his withered palm pressing through the air, the wind whistling across the sky.

Although the palm technique was fierce and sharp, and the blade-like force was ferocious, there was also a sense of self-sacrifice and compassion.

This was—Dabei Palm.

The most authentic Dabei Palm.

Only a master like Liaojie, whose Fotu dharma and martial arts had both reached the peak, could execute such a palm.

Bang!

Across a distance of a zhang, the two palms struck each other from afar, the force exploding and scattering in all directions, causing a flurry of flying sand and rolling stones.

Master Liaojie's figure swayed, a flush rising to his face. After a long while, he finally calmed his Qi and Blood and said: "Good palm technique. I wonder if this palm has a name?"

Yu Liancheng shook his head: "I originally wanted to call it 'Tathagata Palm', but the power of this palm is ultimately a bit lacking, so I am worrying about the name."

Master Liaojie asked: "I wonder what the other unique skill is?"

"Good, watch carefully. This unique skill is the true essence of the Shadow Wall, but no one has ever been able to comprehend it; I, too, obtained it by luck."

After speaking, Yu Liancheng stood with his hands behind his back, motionless.

Master Liaojie was on full alert, his brows tightly furrowed, completely unaware of what Yu Liancheng was up to.

Suddenly, his pupils dilated, seemingly in disbelief.

And on his trouser leg, unknowingly, a tear had appeared.

Yu Liancheng's face suddenly turned somewhat pale, sweat seeping from his forehead, and he panted: "How is it? Did Master Liaojie see clearly?"

"This... how is this possible? Is it a trick of the Demon Sect, or have you really reached that step?" Master Liaojie's calm Xinhu was shattered, his eyes filled with incredulity.

Yu Liancheng said: "That is the true mystery of the Shadow Wall."

Master Liaojie said: "But how can a person control a shadow? This old monk truly cannot believe it."

Yu Liancheng's complexion gradually returned to a ruddy state: "For a martial artist, practicing martial arts is to further develop one's own treasures and control every part of oneself. It is said that the world's number one assassin, 'Kill Without Mercy', once used soft hair to kill. And the shadow is also a part of our body; as long as one can find the method, why can it not be driven freely?"

It turned out that in that previous instant, Yu Liancheng's shadow had suddenly moved like lightning, cutting Master Liaojie's trouser leg.

It was only because the speed was too fast that it made one doubt if they had seen it wrong.

But with the keen eyes of Master Liaojie, and with his full concentration, how could he possibly have seen it wrong?

Master Liaojie remained in a state of shock, muttering to himself: "Controlling shadows, this simply exceeds the scope of martial arts; it is more like a myth or a folk legend."

Yu Liancheng exhaled a long breath and said: "In reality, with this extraordinary martial art of mine, in the eyes of ordinary people, is it not also like that of a God? And when martial arts reach the end, how much difference is there really between them and the magic of a God?"

Master Liaojie remained silent in his heart.

Yu Liancheng said: "The ancestor Bodhidharma had long ago understood this method, but because this method requires the consumption of a vast amount of mental energy and is obscure and difficult to comprehend, he left this method within the Shadow Wall for those predestined to realize it."

Monk Liaojie looked at Yu Liancheng with bright, piercing eyes and said: "Benefactor Yu is a genius of heavenly proportions; why not join our Fotu faith? You would surely..."

"You monk, you truly cannot go three sentences without returning to your old profession. Goodbye." Yu Liancheng shook his head, unfolded his movement technique, transformed into a ghost, and vanished without a trace in an instant.

Watching the direction in which Yu Liancheng disappeared, Monk Liaojie sighed: "This Benefactor Yu is simply a Fotu Son descended to the world, actually able to solve the mystery of the Shadow Wall. It is a pity he cannot join our Fotu faith; a pity, a pity..."

In a lush forest, there was a lake, and on the shore stood an exquisite and elegant small cottage; beside the house, flowers were like brocade, blooming brilliantly.

The owner of the cottage was sitting on a blue stone; her appearance was stunningly beautiful, her dark hair draped casually over her fragrant shoulders, wearing no makeup, yet she was as fresh as a lotus flower, untainted by the dust of the world.

Who else could it be but Liusheng Piaoxu.

This place was not far from Songshan; Yu Liancheng wanted to study the Shadow Wall, and since there were many experts at the Shaolin Temple, it was always inconvenient for her, a woman, to hide in a monk's temple, so she lived in seclusion here.

Liusheng Piaoxu placed her fair and smooth jade-like feet into the crystal-clear, babbling stream, occasionally kicking up water splashes with her toes, humming a song softly with her cherry lips.

If those familiar with her were to see this, they would likely drop their jaws; the female Martial Warrior who was usually decisive and cold as a snow-capped mountain could actually have a childlike side.

Or rather, this was her true nature, only that she had been suppressed by the strict teachings of Yagyu Tajima no Kami on a daily basis, burying this playful and lively side.

A crystalline luster seemed to flow in Liusheng Piaoxu's eyes; as if remembering something, her originally lighthearted song gained a hint of melancholy.

She took a short flute from her bosom and played it softly.

The flute sound was melodious and lingering, carrying a hint of resentment. It was like a young girl full of spring longing, complaining why her lover had not come to see her for so long.

Just as the flute melody turned and twisted, the sound of a xiao flute rang out abruptly.

The xiao sound was melodious and moving, filled with a strange magic; one only had to hear it to feel their spirits lifted and their hearts filled with joy from the depths of their souls.

If the flute sound was a wisp of dark cloud, this xiao sound was the sunlight pouring down from the dark clouds, bright and clear, warm and peaceful.

And the flute melody, moved by the xiao sound, was no longer sorrowful or depressed, becoming increasingly melodious and bright.

The flute sound and the xiao sound blended together, possessing a sense of harmony and nature, as if they had merged with heaven and earth, and as if heaven and earth were praising this wonderful music.

It is unknown how much time passed before the flute sound and the xiao sound fell silent at the same time.

Liusheng Piaoxu had already seen Yu Liancheng, a look of joy blooming on her pretty face, and she said crisply: "You have been at the Shaolin Temple for half a month; if you hadn't come down the mountain, I would have thought you had gone to become a monk."

Yu Liancheng drifted over and sat beside her, smiling: "Then wouldn't you have to go become a nun? A monk and a nun would be a perfect match."

"In your dreams, I can't be bothered to care about you." Liusheng Piaoxu gave a delicate snort, her beautiful eyes turning, and she added: "Having spent half a month, what exactly did you figure out on that Shadow Wall? Did you gain anything?"

Yu Liancheng toyed with her slender jade-like hands and smiled: "Of course I gained a lot; I will tell you about it."

He recounted the insights from the Shadow Wall one by one, but unfortunately, the martial arts philosophy was too profound, and Liusheng Piaoxu had not been exposed to Fotu scriptures before, so she listened in a daze, unable to grasp the meaning.

After Yu Liancheng finished speaking, Liusheng Piaoxu leaned against his shoulder and said in a lazy tone: "The Shadow Wall is finished, what do you plan to do next?"

"Return to the Capital."

"Return to the Capital for what? We only just came out." Liusheng Piaoxu asked, puzzled.

Yu Liancheng said indifferently: "According to the news I just received, the Ten Great Generals guarding the borders have entered the Capital without permission. I suppose that after Cao Zhengchun died, the Divine Marquis finally could not sit still and is preparing to usurp the throne. How could I not get involved in such a matter?"

Liusheng Piaoxu pondered for a moment, lifted her jade-like feet, a blush appearing on her pretty face, and said crisply: "Hurry and put my shoes on for me, I want to go too."

"Alright." Yu Liancheng followed her wishes and squatted down, preparing to put on her shoes and socks.

A look of cunning flashed across Liusheng Piaoxu's jade-like face; she used her toes to kick up water, splashing it onto Yu Liancheng. Watching his slightly dazed appearance, the young girl could not help but giggle, her laughter like silver bells.

Yu Liancheng did not get angry, but instead grasped her soft, boneless ankle. Seeing the ten slightly upturned jade-like toes, glistening like pearls, he could not help but tickle the soles of her feet with his hand, immediately provoking another burst of delicate laughter.

After giving Liusheng Piaoxu a good lesson, leaving her cheeks flushed and begging for mercy, Yu Liancheng finally put on her shoes and socks, kissed her lips lightly, and smiled: "Let's go, we are going to the Capital."