The Heavens: From Film and Mythology to Conquering Myriad Realms

"Please, Grandmaster Lu, heal my dantian. I am willing to give everything I have, just to regain the martial arts!"

Murong Fu knelt directly in front of Lu Yao and pleaded in a low, sincere voice.

The dantian is the foundation of martial arts. If it is damaged, the martial arts will collapse at best, and life will be in danger at worst.

The Sweeper Monk did not intend to kill Murong Fu. His attack was very precise, only crippling Murong Fu's martial arts cultivation without harming his life.

Upon hearing Murong Fu's words, Lu Yao's expression shifted slightly, and he remained silent for a long while.

In fact, with Lu Yao's abilities, he could indeed repair Murong Fu's dantian.

Murong Fu's dantian was only injured by the Sweeper Monk, making it unable to store true qi, but his origin was not damaged, so there is still hope for recovery.

But why would Lu Yao do that?

"I may have to disappoint Young Master Murong, but I am unable to heal your dantian."

Lu Yao shook his head, indicating that he was powerless to help.

"How is this possible! You're the one who healed my cousin's dantian!"

Murong Mu immediately raised her head and stared blankly at Lu Yao.

“Yu Yan’s dantian is naturally closed, so opening it is not difficult.”

"But Young Master Murong, your dantian was injured by external force, and you have lost the ability to cultivate martial arts again."

Lu Yao spoke up to explain to Murong Fu.

"No, that can't be true."

Murong Fu stared blankly, muttering to himself incessantly.

This renewed despair made it even harder for Murong Fu to accept.

Lu Yao ignored Murong Fu and walked directly past him into the courtyard.

In fact, it made no difference to Lu Yao whether Murong Fu possessed martial arts skills or not.

However, without martial arts skills, Murong Fu would be much more obedient, which is what Lu Yao needs.

Murong Fu was an extremely ambitious person to the core, and of course, he was also stupid.

……

Soon after, Murong Fu ascended the throne as emperor in the newly established capital of the Great Yan Kingdom, still regarding the Xiaoyao Sect as the supreme sect and establishing the Xiaoyao Pavilion.

Meanwhile, the four original retainers of the Murong family all became founding heroes of the Yan state, holding prestigious positions.

At that very moment, Zhao Xu of the Song Dynasty returned to the palace from Shaolin.

This time, Zhao Xu personally went to Shaolin Temple and, after many days of negotiations, finally managed to persuade the Sweeper Monk to come out of the mountains.

Deep within the Song Dynasty imperial palace.

"Those greedy old bald monks! I'll deal with them sooner or later!"

Zhao Xu's expression was gloomy. He was not happy about getting the Sweeper Monk out of the mountain. On the contrary, he was quite annoyed with Shaolin.

"Your Majesty, has something gone wrong with this trip to Shaolin?"

Seriously injured, Eunuch Wei, who had returned to the Song Dynasty palace, stood by Zhao Xu's side, frowning as he looked at him.

Eunuch Wei was one of the top forces in the Song Dynasty royal family. He went to Dali to provide assistance but was severely injured by Lu Yao, which greatly reduced his strength.

However, he was originally a loyal servant of the Zhao family. Although his martial arts cultivation had greatly declined, he was still Zhao Xu's confidant.

Zhongli, however, is in a terrible situation. Without his martial arts cultivation, it will be difficult for him to continue serving as the head of the Six Doors.

After Zhongli returned, Zhao Xu rewarded him with a lot of gold and silver treasures and also granted him a noble title as compensation.

But ultimately, he was far removed from the core circle of the Song Dynasty and retired early.

"After I explained the seriousness of the matter to that grandmaster of Shaolin, he actually wanted to emulate the Xiaoyao Sect and make Shaolin have such a transcendent status!"

Zhao Xu said through gritted teeth, his heart filled with rage.

Zhao Xu, who was still at Shaolin, was originally going to turn around and leave, because he didn't want to create a problem for himself.

However, news of Lu Yao's defeat of Zhongli and Eunuch Wei soon reached Zhao Xu, which greatly angered him.

What was shocking was that the Grandmaster actually possessed such formidable strength, defeating two late-stage Innate Realm cultivators in a single move.

What angered him was that he had been forced into a corner. If he did not find enough power to contend with Lu Yao, the fate of his Great Song Dynasty would be the same as that of the Western Xia and Dali.

In the end, Zhao Xu agreed to Shaolin's request, acknowledging Shaolin as the superior sect and revering Buddhism while abandoning Taoism.

Both Shaolin and the Xiaoyao Sect wanted to gain actual control of the country, but Shaolin was relatively more accommodating compared to the Xiaoyao Sect.

According to Lu Yao, the Xiaoyao Sect was to have absolute authority over the countries that submitted to them and to obey his orders without question.

However, Shaolin's goal was simply to achieve a transcendent status in the Song Dynasty, to uphold Buddhism and Taoism, and to completely eradicate Taoism.

Zhao Xu believed that agreeing to Shaolin's demands was only a temporary measure. Once the Song Dynasty recovered and had its own Grandmaster, it would naturally be able to get rid of Shaolin.

Therefore, Zhao Xu agreed to come to Shaolin Temple in exchange for Shaolin Temple's full support.

Even the Sweeping Monk couldn't resist the temptation to spread Buddhism and Taoism throughout the Song Dynasty, breaking his own promise and descending the mountain to assist the Song Dynasty.

The Sweeping Monk originally thought that Lu Yao only wanted to dominate the martial arts world and become the leader of the martial arts alliance, but he did not expect that Lu Yao actually wanted to unify the world and subdue all countries.

Such courage was admired even by the Sweeping Monk, who never dared to even dream of such a thing.

Seeing Lu Yao's actions, he suddenly had a whimsical idea and wanted to imitate Lu Yao's methods to expand Shaolin's influence.

"That Lu Yao is a real menace!"

Upon hearing this, Eunuch Wei was utterly shocked. Lu Yao had opened Pandora's box, giving all the Grandmasters new ideas.

"Alas, we can only block Lu Yao for now, otherwise our Great Song will never have a chance to recover."

Zhao Xu sighed and said helplessly.

Now that the Song Dynasty has no Grandmasters, it can only pay a price to ask for foreign aid.

The Song Dynasty now only has one late-stage Innate Realm cultivator left, who is the Song Dynasty's last trump card. Zhao Xu has given all the best martial arts medicines and breakthrough experience left by predecessors in the national treasury to that late-stage Innate Realm cultivator.

If he successfully breaks through to the Grandmaster level, there is still a chance for things to turn around.

……

A few months later.

Lu Yao sat in the newly built Xiaoyao Pavilion in Dali, listening to Zhang Liang and Han Xin's reports.

Now, both Western Xia and Dali have submitted to the Xiaoyao faction, and there is also a newly established Great Yan.

Under Zhang Liang's leadership, the three states, which had been in slight turmoil, quickly calmed down.

With Lu Yao's help, the three countries formed an alliance led by the Xiaoyao Sect, whose territory far exceeded that of the Song Dynasty, making them arguably the strongest force at present.

Han Xin commanded all the soldiers of the three kingdoms, and under the suppression of the Xiaoyao Sect's experts, they were completely disrupted and reorganized without causing any disturbance.

Lu Yao continued to implement the strategy of separating military and political affairs. Zhang Liang was in charge of civil administration, Han Xin was in charge of the army, and the Xiaoyao Sect was in charge of the martial arts world, thus integrating the power of the three countries together.

In the months following Dali's submission, Lu Yao was busy sorting out the affairs of the Three Kingdoms, suppressing local rebellions, and destroying martial arts sects that refused to obey orders.

Now, the three countries have finally been completely brought under the control of the Xiaoyao Sect.

"My lord, now that everything is ready, shall we take action against the Song Dynasty?"

After a moment of contemplation, Zhang Liang concluded that everything was now in place and the conditions for launching an attack on the Song Dynasty were met.

"That's about enough, let's get started!"

A cold glint flashed in Lu Yao's eyes, signaling the start of an attack on the Song Dynasty.