Danwu Refining Spirit

Chapter 263 Once upon a time, there was a mountain, and on the mountain was a temple.

The Tianyun Continent is vast and expansive, covering hundreds of millions of miles. But even the largest continent has its boundaries.

In the far west of the Tianyun Continent, there is a great mountain.

The mountain's height is unknown, its summit shrouded in mist and never sees the sun.

There is a small temple on the mountainside, hidden in the clouds and mist, unknown to the world for thousands of years.

In fact, there has never been a temple on the Tianyun Continent, let alone monks walking around in the world.

But not knowing doesn't mean it doesn't exist, because there are indeed monks living in this temple.

Since no one knew about the temple, it naturally didn't need a name. The mentally challenged Zen Master was the abbot of this nameless temple.

The temple was too small; even including the mentally challenged Zen master, there were only two people there.

Besides the abbot, Master Zhizhang, who was in charge of all affairs, there was another person with the Dharma name Wuneng, who was Master Zhizhang's disciple and was responsible for protecting the temple.

The mentally challenged Zen Master practices Buddhism, but due to certain unique aspects of the Tianyun Continent, he doesn't possess many supernatural powers. Therefore, his daily practice consists of meditation and chanting scriptures.

He was incapable of cultivating martial arts, but he had already reached the realm of martial god, which, in Buddhist terms, is an indestructible body.

One day, the master and disciple were meditating in the meditation room when the wooden fish in the hands of the mentally challenged Zen master suddenly shattered with a "crack".

The mentally challenged Zen master froze, and his movements stopped.

Wu Neng, bewildered, opened his eyes and asked, "Master, has something amiss?"

The mentally challenged Zen master also opened his eyes, calculated with his fingers, and calmly said, "It's nothing serious. It's just that the eyes and ears we planted in this world have been destroyed in an instant."

Wu Neng was shocked: "But did Elder Wu have someone kill him? Who has such abilities? I'll go to Tianyun City right away!"

The mentally challenged Zen master glanced at his disciple and sighed, "Incompetent! You've been chanting scriptures with me every day for almost ten thousand years, haven't you? Why are you still so anxious and haven't made any progress at all?"

Wu Neng quickly lowered his head to acknowledge the lesson, but said with some resentment, "Master, are we just supposed to turn a blind eye and let them get away with it?"

The mentally challenged Zen Master put down the broken wooden fish in his hand and said confidently, "I have sensed the traces of the Purple Lotus. It is leading the other party into the mountains. Just wait patiently."

After saying this, he put his hands together in prayer, closed his eyes, and continued chanting the sutra, no longer daring to look at the incompetent.

“Master’s concentration is getting deeper and deeper.” Wu Neng glanced at the Zhi Zhang Zen Master and immediately felt at ease, striking the wooden fish with a loud thud.

Xiao Chong was naturally unaware of the temple located in the far west of the Tianyun Continent, nor of the conversation between the two monks inside. However, he was certain that the eerie purple lotus would lead him to the answer.

Therefore, after the initial few days of pursuit, Xiao Chong discovered that Zi Lianhua was not fleeing rapidly, but rather adjusting her flight speed according to his. When he flew fast, Zi Lianhua flew fast, and when he slowed down, Zi Lianhua slowed down as well.

That makes things much easier! I'm not afraid of you leading me into a den of thieves; what I'm afraid of is you running away and hiding, making it too much trouble to find you!

Once he settled down, Xiao Chong didn't rush on his journey. Instead, he enjoyed the scenery while carefully pondering the wonderful uses of the Purple Cloud Cauldron.

And so, the person and the lotus traveled westward. After more than a day, a large mountain suddenly appeared in front of them, shrouded in clouds and mist, its height unknown.

Several miles away from the mountain, the purple lotus suddenly accelerated and flew impatiently straight to the mountaintop.

Xiao Chong knew they had arrived at their destination, so he didn't stop them and continued walking towards the mountaintop on his own.

In a meditation room of a mountaintop temple, a mentally challenged Zen master and his disciple were chanting sutras as usual.

Just as he was striking the wooden fish with great fervor, the mentally challenged Zen Master suddenly stopped and said calmly, "Here it comes."

Wu Neng was taken aback and asked in confusion, "Master, what's here?"

"That's the one who destroyed the Wu Lao Society." The mentally challenged Zen Master gently waved his hand, and a stream of light slipped in through the crack in the door, transforming into a faint lotus flower phantom that disappeared into his forehead.

"Where is he? I'm going to perform a ritual to help him pass on to the afterlife!" Wu Neng suddenly stood up, crushing the hard wooden fish in his hand into a pile of powder.

Just then, a faint sound of footsteps came from outside the meditation room, and a young man pushed open the door and entered.

The young man was only in his early twenties, with delicate features, bright eyes, and a clean-cut appearance. However, his eyebrows were thin at the front and sparse at the back, making them look like two brooms joined together.

Upon seeing the young man enter, Wu Neng swayed and was about to make a move without saying a word, but was stopped by the mentally challenged Zen Master.

"Honored guest, you have come from afar; I have failed to greet you properly. My apologies, my apologies." The Zen Master Zhizhang shielded himself from his incompetence, clasped his hands in a respectful bow, and asked, "May I ask how my honored guest is addressed?"

"Master, there's no need for such formalities. I am just an ordinary person named Xiao Chong. I dare not ask for your Dharma name."

Xiao Chong wanted to probe the other party's background first, so he was very polite and pretended to be puzzled, saying, "Also, Master, you are a monk, shouldn't you address me as benefactor? Do you think I have no intention of giving alms?"

“My Buddhist name is Zhizhang, and this is my disciple Wucheng…”

Perhaps because he hadn't seen outsiders for too long, the mentally challenged man blurted out, but then paused, asking curiously, "How did you know I have a Dharma name, benefactor?"

"Just as Lü Daka said, it was a scheme orchestrated by the Buddhist sect on the Tianyun Continent!" Xiao Chong's heart skipped a beat. He didn't reply, but just kept sneering.

"You scoundrel, your master kindly asked you a question, and instead of answering, you're sneering like that? Do you have a death wish?"

Wu Neng had a fiery temper. Although he had cultivated with the mentally challenged Zen Master for thousands of years, he had no compassion whatsoever. When he saw Xiao Chong sneer, he shouted at him, his words full of threats.

Now that the little monk had already shown no mercy, and Xiao Chong had discovered the other party's background, he no longer held back and shouted, "You little bald monk, stop pretending! What good intentions could you possibly have? Let's have a good fight first!"

"Let's fight! Today I'll show you what the wrath of Vajra is all about!" Wu Neng unleashed a punch, and the primordial energy of heaven and earth in the mountains surged wildly toward the temple.

Just then, the mentally challenged Zen Master stepped forward, stopping Wu Neng once again, and said to Xiao Chong, "Since you know my background, you must be no ordinary person. How about we make a deal?"

"Bald thief, what's there to discuss?" Xiao Chong asked, secretly channeling his inner energy.

The mentally challenged Zen Master, though called a bald thief, remained unperturbed and said softly, "Benefactor Xiao, this old monk intends for you to take over all the affairs of the Martial Elders' Association and lead the martial arts practitioners of the Tianyun Continent. What do you think?"

Xiao Chong slowly shook his head and said, "It's too late to say all this now! I only ask you, old monk, can you bring my dead teacher and comrades back to life?"

"No." The mentally challenged Zen master looked somewhat somber. "How can the dead be brought back to life? Benefactor Xiao, you must be joking."

"Then there's nothing to discuss!" Xiao Chong shouted, preparing for a life-or-death battle with his opponent.