Chapter 504

Ten cold lights slashed onto the protective true Qi. The attacks of the Shinto swordsmen were from bottom to top, bringing up the filthy blood on the ground, while the attacks of the Enryaku-ji monks were from top to bottom, and the strong wind turned the filthy blood into a dense blood mist, outlining the contour of the protective true Qi.

Looking closely, one could see that at the landing points of the ten cold lights, the protective true Qi had been broken open with tiny gaps.

Minamoto Choryo in the distance felt relieved.

"It can be broken!"

"His state is indeed not right!"

Li Miao's state was not ideal.

Before the Venerable Bodhidharma completely dissipated, he shattered his heart and lungs, leaving true Qi seeds in his body that restricted his recovery. Although he only looked slightly pale on the surface, in reality, from the moment he left the Izumo Grand Shrine until now, he had been diverting a portion of his mind every moment to maintain the beating of his true Qi heart.

Now his breathing and heartbeat were controlled by reason—the mental exhaustion led to the weakening of Profound Observation, which was the reason why the Japanese experts could break through the protective true Qi.

This was just true Qi.

The Daoist school collectively refers to the brow center, heart, and dantian as the three dantians. Strength originates from Qi and blood, and Qi and blood originate from the middle dantian, the Crimson Palace, which is the heart. Without a heart or lungs, strength is like duckweed without roots, difficult to sustain.

According to his temperament, he should have charged up and slaughtered them. The reason he stood still and only used protective true Qi to fight was precisely because of this.

The experts who came to besiege Li Miao were all veterans of many battles, and they instantly saw this point clearly.

"It can be broken!"

"His spirit is lacking, his true Qi is not solid enough! His Qi and blood are empty, his strength cannot be generated!"

"We can win!"

Although Li Miao's last full-strength strike was the battle with An Qisheng, that battle took place in the Forbidden City, and not many people knew the situation. But the scene of An Qisheng fighting Zhu Shoujing and nearly ten honored guests alone was widely circulated.

They themselves were about the same as the honored guests. Even if Li Miao's state was different, An Qisheng was also seriously injured and not fully recovered at that time. They knew very well that if they couldn't break Li Miao's protective true Qi, they were just lambs waiting to be slaughtered.

Now, they saw the hope of victory.

As thoughts flashed through their minds, ten gazes crossed, and in an instant, they understood each other's thoughts and set a plan.

Three people feigned an attack to pull on the protective true Qi.

When Li Miao was stretched thin and couldn't look after everything, the remaining seven people would attack one point together!

Swish!

Two warrior monks and five swordsmen retreated rapidly, disappearing instantly into the rushing monk soldiers.

And the remaining three warrior monks laughed, borrowed the counter-shock force of the downward slash to flip in mid-air, and after landing, shook their naginata blades and each set up a stance.

"Oh."

Li Miao, as if he hadn't noticed their calculations at all, looked at their stances and smiled.

"Subduing Demon Shovel Technique, Universal Gate Staff Technique, Little Yaksha Stick Technique, all are the seventy-two stunts of Shaolin. Did you steal the inheritance of the Venerable Bodhidharma, or did you steal Master Jianzhen's master?"

He knew that these warrior monks could understand.

To practice authentic Shaolin martial arts, one must know Central Plains language. Those profound terms in Buddhist inheritance cannot be thoroughly understood by just finding an approximate word in Japanese to translate them.

Sure enough, as soon as he said this, one of the warrior monks' expressions suddenly sank.

"Shut up! Heavenly Demon!"

He shook the blade handle, and the blade slashed down!

"We are the authentic Buddhist school. It should be you Heavenly Demons who stole the inheritance of my Buddhism!"

"Shameless!"

Clang!

This angry strike once again slashed a gap in the protective true Qi.

The other two warrior monks also had gloomy expressions, lowered their bodies to dodge the sweeping true Qi, and attacked Li Miao's side with all their might.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Under the desperate offensive, the protective true Qi Li Miao had set up was actually worn away bit by bit, and the blades were getting closer and closer to his skin.

Li Miao didn't care at all, just rubbed his fingers and said.

"Heavenly Demon?"