I am Zhao Zhijing, a poor Taoist priest, and I have disciples all over the world.

"Order people to build a tall tower in the Vajra Sect in the Western Regions and bury the Dharma King with a state funeral!"

At that time, King Jinlun proposed to recruit masters from the Jueqing Valley for Kublai Khan, so he set out together with Xiaoxiangzi, Yin Kexi and four others.

Unexpectedly, in just a few days, Xiaoxiangzi, Yin Kexi and Huodu disappeared, and only Ma Guangzuo brought back the body of King Jinlun.

King Jinlun is not only the first Dharma master who protects the country and is appointed by the current Queen of Mongolia, but also the most skilled martial artist under Kublai Khan. The attack on Xiangyang was already unsuccessful, and the death of King Jinlun will inevitably further shake the morale of the army.

"Fourth Prince, Huo Du betrayed his master and fled for his life that day. He is truly the most despicable and shameless villain!"

Ma Guangzuo was grateful to Zhao Zhijing for sparing his life, and since both sides served their own masters, it was normal for one to die in defeat in battle. Therefore, he did not have too much resentment towards Zhao Zhijing and simply passed the matter over with two sentences.

But it was different for Huo Du. Ma Guangzuo would not hide the truth for him, and he scolded Xiao Xiangzi and the other two.

After hearing this, although Kublai Khan thought that some details were debatable, he also believed that what Ma Guangzuo said was mostly true, otherwise Huodu and others would have returned to report long ago.

Since Huodu has betrayed his master, he will definitely not dare to show up again. Otherwise, no matter whether King Jinlun is dead or alive, the disciples of the Vajra Sect headed by Dalba will not let him go.

As for Xiaoxiangzi and Yin Kexi, they probably believed that they were no match for Zhao Zhijing and Guo Jing. If they continued to help Mongolia attack Xiangyang, they were afraid that one mistake would cost them their lives, so they left without saying goodbye.

"Ma Ying-jeou, thank you for bringing back the Imperial Master's corpse. This king will reward you handsomely!"

Kublai Khan also knew that Ma Guangzuo could only be ranked at the bottom among all the masters, but now was the time when a huge amount of gold was needed to buy horse bones, so he rewarded him greatly so that others could see the truth.

But Ma Guangzuo insisted on refusing and only wanted to return to his hometown in the Western Regions. Although he was dull and could not see through Kublai Khan's methods, he was determined to keep his promise to Zhao Zhijing.

"That's it!"

Kublai Khan sighed secretly. He originally had many talented people and experts under his command. Who could have imagined that there would be such a bleak situation today.

If he continued to attack Xiangyang now, and if Guo Jing and Zhao Zhijing ignored the consequences and decided to come to the army to take his life, who would be able to stop them?
Therefore, the army withdrew another thirty miles, nearly a hundred miles away from Xiangyang City, and made other plans.

"Your Highness, Zhao Zhijing is extremely skilled in martial arts. I think he can only be defeated with wits, not force."

Among Kublai Khan's advisers, there was a Han monk named Zicong, who was deeply trusted. At this time, he stepped forward to offer advice, hoping to share Kublai Khan's worries.

"As far as I know, although Zhao Zhijing has established his own sect in Huashan, he is still a disciple of Quanzhen Sect. I guess there is no master like him in Chongyang Palace."

"Back then, the Quanzhen Sect's Changchun Zhenren Qiu Chuji was deeply respected by Genghis Khan, so Your Majesty might as well ask for an imperial decree from the Great Han Emperor, and then send someone to Mount Zhongnan to confer the title of the current Quanzhen Sect's leader."

Seeing Kublai Khan nodding his head repeatedly, Monk Zicong continued, "Chongyang Palace is under the jurisdiction of Mongolia, so he has no choice but to accept it. Then, in the name of the head of Quanzhen Sect, we can order Zhao Zhijing to surrender, and then we can accomplish our goal!"

“I didn’t expect so many things to happen during this trip to Jueqing Valley.”

Zhao Zhijing, Huang Rong and others returned to Xiangyang safely, and Guo Jing naturally felt relieved. Later, when he heard people talk about their experiences in the past few days, Guo Jing was also quite emotional.

The poisonous love flower in the Jueqing Valley, the grudge between Gongsun Zhi and Qiu Qianchi, and the execution of King Jinlun and Li Mochou, all of these events are unforgettable.

Guo Jing clasped his fists and said, "After the death of King Jinlun, Kublai Khan withdrew his troops another thirty miles. It seems that the danger in Xiangyang has been resolved."

“I dare not. This is definitely not my own achievement. Uncle Master Zhou and Gang Leader Huang contributed even more.”

Huang Rong saw the two of them being humble and yielding to each other, and smiled, "Of course everyone has contributed, but if it weren't for Taoist Zhao breaking the fishing net formation, we might not be able to leave the Jueqing Valley!"

When they thought of the great battle in the stone house that day, they all felt that what Huang Rong said was true.

Cheng Ying also agreed, "Senior Sister is right. In addition to the fishing net formation, there is also Li Mochou's Ice Soul Silver Needle. If it weren't for the antidote prepared by Taoist Zhao and the Indian monk, the consequences would be disastrous."

Zhao Zhijing saw that everyone was praising each other endlessly, so he didn't want to interrupt and simply changed the subject, "Master Guo, I wonder if you have ever heard of the Ming Cult?"

Guo Jing glanced at his wife. He had indeed heard him mention the Ming Cult when they met Zhou Botong who was imprisoned by Huang Yaoshi on Peach Blossom Island.

However, at that time, the main purpose was to explain the origin of the Nine Yin Scriptures, and the matter of the Ming Cult was only briefly mentioned. I don't know why Zhao Zhijing suddenly brought it up.

"Before Li Mochou died, she said two strange things, such as 'burn my body' and 'blazing holy fire'. Taoist Zhao believed that they came from the Ming Cult, so I asked you."

After hearing his wife's explanation, Guo Jing realized that this matter was still related to the Gongping Religion and should not be taken lightly. He immediately carefully recalled what Zhou Botong had said that day.

"It's a long story. I've never dealt with the Ming Cult. I only know that their teachings came from Persia in the Western Regions and are very different from the three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism in the Central Plains."

"Senior Zhou said that they do not respect gods and Buddhas, but believe in foreign demons. Therefore, emperors of all dynasties have classified them as demonic cults."

Huang Rong added: "The most well-known story is that during the reign of Emperor Huizong of this dynasty, Fang La, who called himself the Holy Lord, started a rebellion in the Qingxi area."

"But after the rebellion failed and Fang La was executed, there was very little news about the Ming Cult in the martial arts world."

Guo Jing nodded and said, "Yes, the official who was responsible for exterminating the remnants of the Ming Cult at that time was Huang Shang, who later created the Nine Yin Manual."

"Senior Zhou said these things because he heard them from his senior brother, Master Chongyang. He spoke highly of Huang Shang, who compiled the Wanshou Daozang and actually comprehended the Nine Yin Manual."

Guo Jing then told him all the details he could remember, mentioning Huang Shang and the Nine Yin Scriptures the most, but only a few words about the Ming Cult.

"Huang Shang personally challenged the Ming Cult and killed several Dharma King messengers with the strange martial arts he had learned, but later his entire family was also killed by the Ming Cult."

"In order to seek revenge, he found a very secluded place to practice martial arts. It took him more than 40 years to finally achieve his ultimate skill."

At this point, Guo Jing sighed slightly and said, "But when Huang Shang came out again and wanted to seek revenge on the Ming Cult, he found that his former enemies were no longer alive."

"Birth, aging, sickness and death are inevitable for everyone. Huang Shang no longer clings to revenge, because he himself is already a hundred years old and has only a few years left to live." (End of this chapter)