Travel through the heavens

At noon the next day, six people sat cross-legged on cushions in the Muni Hall.

At the innermost side was Elder Kurong, who had not moved at all and was still facing the wall. Behind him were the four masters Benguan, Benxiang, Benyin and Bencan, who were sitting in a row with their backs to him.

Sitting opposite the four monks was also a monk, who was less than fifty years old, wearing a yellow robe, cloth clothes and straw sandals. His face was full of energy, and there seemed to be a faint flow of precious light, like a pearl or jade, naturally shining. It was the Great Wheel King Jiumozhi.

Jiumozhi put his hands together and said, "I have a good friend in my life. He is from Gusu, Song Dynasty. His surname is Murong and his given name is Bo. In the past, I met him and we talked about martial arts and swordsmanship. Mr. Murong has studied all martial arts in the world and is proficient in all of them. When it comes to swordsmanship in the world, he firmly believes that the Six Meridians Divine Sword of Dali Tianlong Temple is the best among all swords in the world. I just regret that I have never seen it, which is the biggest regret of my life."

"I have received guidance from Mr. Murong for several days, and I have solved many of my doubts. He also generously gave me a martial arts manual. I will never forget his kindness. Unexpectedly, the great hero died young and Mr. Murong passed away. I am stubborn and lack wisdom. I have not been able to understand love, hate, life and death, and I have always been unable to break the friendship with my good friend. Today, I come to pay my respects to you, and I intend to ask for the Six Meridians Divine Sword Sutra from your temple, and burn it in front of Mr. Murong's tomb to repay my kindness and comfort his spirit. This is an unkind request, but I hope the elders will show mercy."

Ben Yin said, "Your Majesty lives far away in the Western Regions, and I think he has not heard any recent news from the Central Plains. Mr. Murong Bo did not go to heaven, but just faked his death and lived in seclusion. There is another deep meaning. Your Majesty's move is nothing but adding fuel to the fire."

Jiumozhi's expression did not change, and he said, "I have not heard what the abbot said. If Mr. Murong is really alive, I would be extremely happy. However, there are many falsehoods in the world, and some are true and some are false, and some are true and some are false. I cannot say anything for sure. Since I have made a promise to Mr. Murong, I will not break it. I hope that all the masters will grant my promise and let me fulfill my promise. I will be very grateful."

When the monks of Tianlong Temple heard Jiumozhi say this, they guessed that he had probably heard the news of Murong Bo's fake death. But just as Donor Fang expected, this Mahalakshatra with "profound Buddhist knowledge" was going to be "shameless" for the treasure of Tianlong Temple.

Jiumozhi clapped his hands three times, and two followers carried a sandalwood box in and placed it on the ground. Jiumozhi flicked his sleeves, and the lid of the box opened without wind. He leaned over and took out a shining golden box, held it in his hands, opened the lid of the golden box, and took out three old books.

Jiumozhi flipped through the book and said, "These three volumes of martial arts secrets were written by Mr. Murong. They explain the essence, training methods, and ways to break the 72 unique skills of the Shaolin School. Mr. Murong gave me these three volumes of rare books. I have benefited a lot from reading and studying them. I am willing to exchange these three volumes of rare books with your temple for the Six Meridians Divine Sword Sutra."

"When your temple bestows upon you the precious scripture, you may keep a copy for yourself. I will seal it immediately after receiving it and will not peek at it privately. I will personally deliver it to Gusu. If Mr. Murong is indeed dead, I will burn the scripture in front of his grave. If Mr. Murong is really alive as the rumors say, I will return the scripture intact to Zhao and guarantee that your temple's high art will not be spread outside."

Jiumozhi spoke these words in a fluent and confident manner, which made a lot of sense. However, the monks in Tianlong Temple had already seen through the true face of Mahalakshatra, which was "all show and no substance", and was determined to commit theft.

Ben Yin said: "Your Majesty, your intention is very sincere, but we cannot even practice our own "One Yang Finger" completely, what use do we need other people's martial arts skills? My uncle has not seen outsiders for more than ten years. Your Majesty is a great monk of the time, so my uncle made an exception and invited him to see you. Your Majesty, you have taken the trouble to come from afar, and our temple will host a vegetarian feast to welcome you. Your Majesty, please." With this, he naturally rejected Jiumozhi's request.

Jiumozhi sighed, but did not stand up. He said slowly, "I am arrogant today and said something that is beyond my imagination. If the sword technique of the Six Meridians Divine Sword is really as profound as Mr. Murong said, I am afraid that even though your temple has the diagram, no one can practice it. If someone can practice it, then this sword technique may not be as wonderful as Mr. Murong imagined. Since the Six Meridians Divine Sword is just an empty name and has no practical use, why does your temple attach so much importance to it? It has damaged the harmony between Tianlong Temple and Dalun Temple, and the diplomatic relations between Dali Kingdom and Tubo Kingdom?"

Ben Yin's face changed slightly, and he asked grimly, "Did the King mean that if the Tianlong Temple does not allow the handover of the scriptures, Dali and Tubo will go to war?"

Jiumozhi smiled slightly and said, "My Tubo King has long admired the customs and people of Dali, and has long wanted to go hunting with your King in Dali. However, I think this will inevitably cause more casualties, which is against the compassionate intention of our Buddha, so I have been trying my best to dissuade him for several years."

The monks of Tianlong Temple sighed in their hearts: This Jiumozhi is really just as Donor Fang said. With the diplomatic wars and threats between Tubo and Dali, it seems that under his solemn appearance, he actually hides a greedy and despicable heart. He is really unworthy of the title of "eminent monk". He has brought disgrace to Buddhism and has lost his status as a top master.

Master Kurong said in a deep voice: "Since the Ming King insists on this sutra, how dare we be stingy? The Ming King is willing to exchange the 72 Shaolin Temple skills, but our temple dare not accept it. The Ming King has mastered the 72 Shaolin skills, and is also proficient in the martial arts of the Great Snow Mountain Dalun Temple. I think he has no rivals in the world."

Jiumozhi put his hands together and said, "Master, do you want me to show off my ugliness?"

Ku Rong said, "I was just about to learn some of the skills of the King Ming. Please take out the weapon the King Ming uses."

Jiumozhi clapped his hands, and a tall attendant walked in from the outside. Jiumozhi said a few words, and the attendant nodded in agreement, took a bunch of Tibetan incense from the box outside the door, handed it to Jiumozhi, and then walked out backwards.

The monks in Tianlong Temple all felt strange, thinking that this incense stick broke at the touch, could it be used as a weapon?

Jiumozhi picked up a stick of Tibetan incense in his left hand, and with his right hand, he picked up some wood chips from the sandalwood box like he was pinching sand, and gently squeezed them, inserting the Tibetan incense into the box. He inserted five sticks of Tibetan incense in a row, with each stick about one foot apart.

Jiumozhi sat cross-legged behind the incense, about five feet away. He suddenly rubbed his palms together a few times and waved them outwards. The five incense sticks lit up and were lit at the same time.

The monks of Tianlong Temple were all shocked, and felt that his inner strength was so strong that it had reached an incredible level. But then they smelled a faint smell of saltpeter and guessed that there was gunpowder on the tips of the five Tibetan incense sticks. Jiumozhi did not light the incense with his inner strength, but used his inner strength to rub the gunpowder and burn the incense tips. Although this was difficult, the monks thought they could do it.

The smoke produced by the Tibetan incense was emerald green, and five straight green lines rose up. Jiumozhi held his palms as if holding a ball, and exerted his inner strength. Five green smokes slowly bent outwards, pointing at Kurong, Benguan, Benxiang, Benyin, and Bencan, the five people respectively.

Jiumozhi's palm power is called "Flame Blade". Although it is ethereal and unpredictable, it can kill people invisibly with internal force. This time, he only wants to obtain the scriptures and does not want to hurt anyone, so he lit five incense sticks to show the direction of the palm power. On the one hand, he seems to be fearless, and on the other hand, he means to show compassion. His purpose is to compete in martial arts skills, not to kill or injure people.

The five green smokes came to within three feet of Ben Yin and the others, and then stopped. Ben Yin and the others were shocked. They thought that it was not difficult to force the green smoke out with internal force, but it would be ten times more difficult to condense this floating smoke in the air.

Jiumozhi is worthy of being one of the "Five Great Masters". His martial arts are very advanced and mysterious. The five monks suddenly became more cautious and immediately fought back with "One Finger of Sun".

The One Yang Finger is also a peerless magical skill, very mysterious and powerful, and can injure people in mid-air after it is fully developed. Ku Rong and the others have a deep understanding of the One Yang Finger. When they perform the finger technique, a stream of internal force shoots out and points to the green smoke in front of them.

The five smoke pillars were forced by the force of the fingers and shot backwards towards Jiumozhi at an incredible speed. When they were two feet in front of him, Jiumozhi's internal force of "Flame Sword" increased and the smoke pillars could no longer move forward.

Jiumozhi fought one against five without showing any fear. He nodded and said, "The Dali One Yang Finger is indeed worthy of its reputation."

Only a "chi chi" sound was heard in front of him, and the power of the "Flame Sword" became so powerful that it forced back the internal force of the five people's finger techniques.

Benguan, Benxiang, Benyin and Bencan felt a little pressure, and they stood up together, took a few steps forward, and with a few "chi" sounds, the internal force in their fingers attacked again. As they fought each other, green smoke was seen floating around, going left and right, circling and dancing.

In the open space between the two sides, internal forces intertwined and strong winds were silent. Their danger and power were even greater than having real weapons in their hands. If a flesh and blood body entered, he would definitely be in danger of being beheaded and having his stomach disemboweled.

The internal forces of both sides were stirred, and they fought back and forth for dozens of rounds. Although the five monks Ku Rong joined forces, they did not gain the upper hand at all. Jiumozhi was fighting against five great masters alone. To stabilize the five green smokes for a long time, he would have to consume a lot of internal force. Therefore, he did not dare to take it lightly and had to concentrate his attention.

At this moment when both sides had no time to pay attention to other things, a figure suddenly shot out from behind the beam several feet away. The figure was wearing gray-brown clothes, similar to the color of the pine wood in the Muni Hall, and his face was covered with a cloth, so his appearance could not be seen.

This mysterious man who suddenly appeared was as fast as lightning. A trail of phantoms flashed behind him. He crossed a distance of several feet in an instant and appeared in front of Ku Rong. Before Ku Rong could react, he had already picked up six scrolls from in front of him, then moved his feet and quickly ran towards Jiumozhi.

All this happened in a flash, and the changes were so fast that the six people in the Muni Hall were caught off guard.

I only heard Ku Rong shouting, "He has taken the sword scripture, don't let him leave."

Jiumozhi and the monks of Tianlong Temple stopped fighting immediately and were going to stop the mysterious man, but he was too fast and his footwork was unpredictable. In the blink of an eye, he was beside Jiumozhi. He slightly tilted his body and scooped in the air with his right hand, just like scooping the moon in the water. The three books in the box in front of Jiumozhi flew up and fell into his hand.

Seeing that the mysterious man was about to leave, the four monks Benguan, Benxiang, Benyin and Bencan all pointed their fingers in the air. Four quick "chi chi" sounds were heard, and four finger forces attacked the mysterious man in all directions. At the critical moment, Jiumozhi also hit him with the "Flame Sword".

Faced with the sudden fierce attacks from the side and behind, the mysterious man transferred the book in his right hand to his left hand, dodged four internal forces of "One Finger Yang", and at the same time swung his right hand to confront Jiumozhi's "Flame Blade".

There was only a loud "bang" sound. Jiumozhi's palm strike, which contained extremely strong internal energy and great power, did not work to hurt the mysterious man. Instead, he used the recoil force of the palm strike to shoot towards the gate of Muni Hall faster and left Muni Hall in an instant.

The six people in the Muni Hall only heard a long laugh, and a rough voice came: "Thank you for your help, Ming Wang. I will gladly accept the four magical skills."

Jiumozhi didn't know at this time that he was being "the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind". He was always proud of his wisdom, but he didn't expect to be tricked by others and fall flat on his face. He could not help but shout angrily: "You bold thief, how dare you plot against me? Where can you escape!"

As he said that, he quickly rushed out of the door and chased after the mysterious man.

The four monks Benguan, Benxiang, Benyin and Bencan did not delay and chased after him together.