Volcanic Age

Chapter 136: Visiting the Shaolin Temple (1)

The Dark Heavens Association acted as if it owned everything under the sun. No one knew of their existence, but their influence was greater than any other authoritative figure.

Sometimes, a few people would come close to learning about their existence. In the end, however, they failed to learn the truth and mysteriously vanished from the world without a trace.

The Dark Heavens Association threatened heaven and earth little by little. Behind the scenes, it threatened the entire Murim.

But now, it was facing an unprecedented crisis.

Something the members of the organization never thought was possible had happened. Vast Gate of the Seven Stars Division could no longer be contacted.

At first, the organization assumed her heavy workload was keeping her busy. But that assumption turned out to be incorrect.

If she hadn't been in touch for half a day, or maybe even one day, that explanation would've made sense. But two days of complete silence? Something must've happened to her.

Most importantly, Vast Gate had not notified them beforehand. The woman Blessed Existence knew was not this irresponsible.

If she had been some fool who only cared about staying youthful and looking good, then this action would've made sense, but Vast Gate was an old monster at the Harmony realm. In terms of life experience, she belonged to the upper half of the Seven Stars Division's leadership.

Blessed Existence grew suspicious on the first day. By the second day his suspicion turned to a certainty, and he spoke to the Dark Heavens Association Lord about it.

On the third day, he summoned the division's leadership and conveyed the news of Vast Gate's demise.

Blessed Existence addressed his fellow leaders. "Lord could not attend due to scheduling conflict. The head of the archives also couldn't attend as the management of spiritual beings took priority."

Six of the Seven Stars Division had gathered in one place.

"Vast Gate is missing. No, in truth, she's dead," said Blessed Existence.

"Mm...!" Twisted Melody, who cooperated with Vast Gate as a spy collecting information, gasped in shock and asked in disbelief, "Do we have the confirmation?"

The world had been underestimating the Xia Wu Sect Master, but that was because she had them fooled.

Excluding Warped Valor or Blessed Existence who acted as the brains of the leadership, everyone else in this meeting had equal martial prowess. They could easily rank within the list of One Hundred Experts Under Heaven if they wished to reveal themselves in Jianghu.

If that were the case, who could have murdered Vast Gate? What troubled these leaders was that the killer had managed to murder her without anyone finding out.

Blessed Existence continued his briefing.

"I've been pondering this for the past three days. It's a certainty. Twisted Melody, you know better than anyone here that Vast Gate was not the type of person to not contact us for over a day."

Twisted Melody was about to say something, only to stop and sigh deeply instead.

Blessed Existence stared at Twisted Melody with a hint of rebuke.

"Don't allow yourself to be completely convinced about something. Suspect everything. Nothing in this life is absolute. Remember, conceit will come back to haunt you. Sometimes, you must accept reality as it is."

Blessed Existence should be thanked for how busy the Dark Heavens Association had been until now. Even if something had a 99% chance of success, he would still focus on that one percent and act under the assumption of 'What if?'

"What about you? Aren't you also acting conceited under the guise of certainty?" Pure Faith, tasked with monitoring and assassinations of non-believers within the organization, asked testily.

"An excellent question. However, I've already taken that possibility into account. You don't have to worry about it."

Instead of being displeased, Blessed Existence smiled in satisfaction.

"I'll exclude what everyone can already guess from my report and tell you the worst possibility in the name of what if."

Blessed Existence narrowed his eyes and addressed everyone.

"It's possible that someone, or an organization, knows about us and is actively trying to undermine our grand plan."

"Nonsense!" Avaricious Wolf immediately interjected. He wasn't alone; other leaders reacted similarly.

Avaricious Wolf laid out his case.

"Pure Faith is already monitoring any non-believers who might leak information about our organization. And anyone foolish enough to do that gets eliminated with absolute certainty. Besides, you also know better than anyone how information about us is strictly controlled."

The leaders nodded in agreement with Avaricious Wolf's words.

"I'm talking about the worst-case scenario. There's no need for this reaction. Even so, isn't it better to keep this possibility in mind rather than not even considering it?" Blessed Existence said.

"Your opinion is indeed logical."

"Then, Blessed Existence. Any other possibilities?"

One month had flown by. Zhou Xuchuan had promised to go on the journey to gangho with her, so he could already picture Luo Xiaoyue pouting in displeasure.

The weight of the Prajna Divine Art currently rotting away under his clothes felt like a block of heavy lead.

Zhou Xuchuan also gained a renewed appreciation for the difficulties Li Yicai must experience.

"What a relief it is that I don't have to stand in this queue!"

A special entrance was prepared for cultivators and disciples from the Nine Sects and One Gang. When Zhou Xuchuan reached the Mountain Gate, he saw the long queue stretching down to the foot of the mountain, but beside it was a table with no queue at all.

He naturally headed to the queue-less entrance. A monk with a visitor's log glanced at the plum blossom insignia engraved on Zhou Xuchuan's sleeve, then greeted him while putting his hands together in a Buddhist prayer.

"Welcome to the Shaolin Temple. Would you mind registering your name and Daoist title, the name of your sect, as well as the purpose of your visit?"

It was obvious what kind of commotion Zhou Xuchuan might cause by being truthful with the purpose of his visit. Thankfully, the correspondence from the Martial Alliance Leader contained a password for situations like this.

"Ancient Buddhist scriptures...?"

The monk tilted his head in confusion as he read what Zhou Xuchuan had written. Then, he gasped in surprise at the name and title.

Plum Blossom Order Sword!

Every Shaolin disciple, or a cultivator of Murim for that matter, should have heard of that name by now. Wasn't he the protagonist responsible for burning the cause of war, the Blood Monk's secret manual?

From the Shaolin Temple's perspective, they simply had to know about this man even if they didn't want to. After all, he was the culprit who destroyed the chance to fulfill the Shaolin's long-cherished wish!

Zhou Xuchuan whispered to the monk. "I'd like to avoid drawing people's attention. If you don't mind, can you let me through quietly?"

The monk stared pale-faced at Zhou Xuchuan before hurriedly nodding.

When receiving cultivators as guests at the Mountain Gate, monks on duty would often encounter celebrities like this. Quite a few of these celebrities wished for their visit to be as discreet as possible for personal reasons, such as being on secret missions.

"Please, come this way."

Zhou Xuchuan was immediately guided to the temple's guest reception hall.

****

As the current Abbot of Shaolin and the First Seat in the Ten Empyrean Overlords, Divine Monk Abbot Hui Mian's fame rivaled that of the Martial Alliance Leader.

Currently, he was in a room made of stone. A small statue of Buddha was somewhere in the middle of the room, and in front of it was a tower of fading but well-cared-for Buddhist scriptures.

"What should I do?" Hui Mian muttered worriedly.

The Blood Muscle and Tendon Classic! It had almost been half a year already since that demonic art capable of fulfilling Shaolin Temple's long-cherished wish had surfaced in Jianghu before disappearing forever.

The Shaolin Temple should also have participated in the battle to snatch that secret manual away, but several circumstances forced them to watch from the sidelines instead.

If the Shaolin Temple had joined the fray, it could have turned the rush to acquire that art into an all-out war between the righteous and demonic, or heretical, sects.

As a fellow denizen of Murim, the Abbot knew he shouldn't have just brushed aside the relationships of favors and grudges and turned a blind eye. Even though that was true, the Shaolin Temple studied the teachings of Buddha. As such, he couldn't accept his temple acting as the trigger of a great war.

Even if this long-cherished wish had become a great humiliation for the temple, he couldn't go against the Buddhist ideals to fulfill it.

Unfortunately, the circumstances didn't improve afterward. The Martial Alliance had achieved a total victory, but the all-too-important Blood Muscle and Tendon Classic burned down to a pile of ashes along with the opportunity to undo the Shaolin Temple's humiliation.

It didn't take a genius to imagine how the Shaolin Temple reacted afterward. And Hui Mian was left embarrassed for choosing not to participate.

At least one good thing had come of this mess, and that was the Martial Alliance Leader promising to hand over an art that could substitute the Blood Muscle and Tendon Classic. Unfortunately, that art still hadn't arrived at the Shaolin Temple.

If it were up to him, Hui Mian would have dispatched the Hundred and Eight Arhats to retrieve the art. However, the Martial Alliance Leader and the Heavenly Strategist convinced him to trust them and wait, saying dispatching the Arhats could attract unwanted attention.

However, as time went on, dissatisfaction among the hot-blooded younger generations of monks was threatening to boil over.

Particularly among the generation whose names began with Hong, which came right after Hui, who were destined to become the future pillars of the temple. Their voices of discontent were considerable, putting the Abbot in a difficult position.

The Abbot recalled the conversation he had with one of the members, which left him with a pounding headache.

To think things would end up like this, not because of the Two Demonic Factions or the Evil Valley, but because of a member from the Nine Sects and One Gang! That's why I pray the Prajna Divine Art arrives soon.

At this point in time, Abbot Hui Mian had no idea that the courier would be the Plum Blossoms Order Sword, the one who caused so much trouble during the Blood Muscle and Tendon Classic incident.