A journey through the world of martial arts

Chapter 295 The Cataclysm at the Ancient Temple
The green-robed immortal saw Ci Zhi's staff coming at him and recognized it as the Demon-Subduing Staff Technique. His face immediately darkened, and with a swift movement, two gleaming green hooks appeared in his hands. With a slight twist, two balls of green light collided with the red light. Several clanging sounds were heard as the staff and hooks collided no less than seven times, each time louder than the last. On the last collision, both the red and green lights exploded simultaneously.

Liao Ci swayed slightly but quickly regained his balance, while the Green-Robed Immortal couldn't withstand the powerful force and involuntarily took a half-step back.

"The old monk's staff technique is quite good."

The green-robed immortal exhaled a breath of turbid air, his expression turning serious. The two flying hooks were joined together, forming a crescent-shaped weapon with a faint green light and a cold gleam. A fishy and sweet smell also wafted out. As soon as this weapon appeared, Abbot Liaoci's expression changed instantly, and he tightened his grip on his staff.

"Azure Sea Soul-Stealing Hook!"

This "Azure Sea Soul-Snatching Hook" was originally the personal weapon of the evil master Qinglan Shangren. Sixty years ago, Qinglan Shangren, because of his practice of evil arts, colluded with the Evil Ghost Cave to secretly abduct women and girls. Somehow, Shaolin Temple found out about this, and later Shaolin Temple contacted other sects to attack the Evil Ghost Cave together.

That battle resulted in heavy losses. Although Master Qinglan died, he relied on the Azure Sea Soul-Snatching Hook to kill four Shaolin monks, which made the weapon famous. However, after the battle, the weapon disappeared. It turned out that it had fallen into the hands of the Green Robe Immortal. What was even more unexpected was that he actually disassembled and reassembled it. No wonder I didn't recognize it at first.

"Old monk, you are quite knowledgeable. Many masters have died by your Azure Sea Soul-Snatching Hook, but none of them have ever drunk the blood of a master like you. Today, perhaps you can finally fulfill your wish."

The green-robed immortal gave a sinister smile, and with a flick of his wrist, the Soul-Snatching Hook hummed and then spiraled into the air, its sharp blade light filling the entire hall, making even Abbot Ci shudder.

Seeing the fierce soldiers displaying their power, Liao Ci let out a deep shout, his staff rising from the ground. He held the staff in one hand and struck straight at the green-robed immortal. The latter neither dodged nor avoided the attack, but instead struck the Soul-Snatching Hook with a burst of true energy. The hovering hook transformed into a streak of green light and shot towards Liao Ci with a whoosh.

Before Abbot Liaoci could even get off, his staff was stopped by the flying hook. The hook was incredibly sharp, and although the staff was made of refined copper, it was torn to pieces. After a few more breaths of stalemate, there was a crack, and the staff was shredded into several pieces by the hook, which clattered to the ground. The hook continued its momentum and went straight for Abbot Liaoci's neck.

"Amitabha!"

When Liao Ci saw that the Zen staff was destroyed, he felt neither sorrow nor joy. He put his hands together and chanted a Buddhist mantra. The sound was loud and clear, resounding throughout the hall. The echo lingered for a long time, like the wrath of a Vajra and the surge of thunder. An indescribable wave of energy struck the Soul-Severing Hook directly.

"Lion's Roar".

The Green-Robed Immortal snorted coldly, hurriedly retracted the Soul-Severing Hook that had been knocked away, and then focused his mind to disperse the incoming shockwave from both sides of his body.

"Old monk, even a lion's roar can't save your life."

After a moment, the Green-Robed Immortal noticed that the power of the Lion's Roar was gradually weakening. He immediately launched the Soul-Severing Hook again, and with his right hand, he pulled out three white bone spikes from his bosom. While Liao Ci was dealing with the hook, he used his internal energy to shoot them at Liao Ci's Tanzhong acupoint.

This needle was crafted by the Green-Robed Immortal to stabilize the mind, specifically designed to lock down an opponent's true energy. Once pierced by this object, one will instantly lose their fighting power. If it weren't for wanting to capture Liao Ci as soon as possible, the Green-Robed Immortal would not have been willing to take it out.

Liao Ci was using the Vajra Palm to deal with the Soul-Severing Hook. Although the Vajra Palm's energy was powerful, it was helpless against such a ferocious thing as the Soul-Severing Hook. As soon as the palm energy gathered, it was torn apart, and Liao Ci was forced to retreat again and again. Just as his palm energy was broken again, he suddenly felt a chill and saw three bone spikes flying over. He thought to himself that something was wrong and hurriedly flipped his wrist. A string of Buddhist beads was filled with internal energy and, like a long whip, met the three bone spikes. At the same time, he swung his right palm again, and a Vajra Palm temporarily slowed down the approaching Soul-Severing Hook.

The Buddhist beads, imbued with internal energy, acted like a dam to block the three flying bone spikes. However, to Liao Ci's surprise, two of the bone spikes simultaneously pierced the same Buddhist bead. Although the power was exhausted, a small hole was torn in the bead, and the last bone spike immediately pierced through. Just then, Liao Ci sensed something was wrong and tried to dodge to the side. At that moment, the green-robed immortal beside him let out a cold shout, grabbed the Soul-Severing Hook that was spinning in the air, and with his true energy fully gathered, a streak of emerald green light slashed down!

Upon seeing this, Liao Ci's expression changed drastically. Without thinking, he put his hands together and chanted a Buddhist mantra. A layer of golden energy appeared around him, covering his figure. The golden light was hazy, and he could only see shadowy figures, making it impossible to see his true form.

This is the "True Body of Tathagata" cultivated by Liao Ci. It is an extremely superior defensive technique. Once it is used, dozens of phantoms will appear. If the opponent cannot find the true body, even if he destroys many phantoms, it will be in vain. In the end, he will fall into an endless cycle and die from exhaustion of his true energy.

Upon seeing Ci unleash his divine power, the Green-Robed Immortal sneered. Then, the Soul-Severing Hook flashed with a green light, and simultaneously, the Mind-Stabilizing Needle moved with incredible speed. The two attacks converged, and a scream rang out as the golden light shield shattered. An arm was severed, blood splattering everywhere. Ci, pale-faced, collapsed to the ground. The Mind-Stabilizing Needle was firmly embedded in his Tanzhong acupoint. Ci stared at the Green-Robed Immortal in terror, his remaining left arm trembling as it pointed at him.

"How was it? The taste of the Blissful and Carefree Powder wasn't pleasant, was it?"

The Green-Robed Immortal looked at Liao Ci, whose expression was complicated, and said from a distance, "If I hadn't poisoned you beforehand and depleted your internal energy, I would have had the chance to strike you down in one blow. Old monk, your power is mine now."

As he spoke, the Green-Robed Immortal reached out and grabbed at the air, a suction force pulling the collapsed Liao Ci into the air. As the Green-Robed Immortal circulated his power, streams of pure internal energy flowed into Liao Ci's body. Liao Ci immediately roared in pain, while the Green-Robed Immortal looked on with enjoyment. In just a moment, Liao Ci's internal energy was drained, turning him into a dried-up corpse, which the Green-Robed Immortal casually tossed to the ground.

Having absorbed Ci's inner strength, the Green-Robed Immortal sat cross-legged. After only a few breaths, a flash of green light appeared on his face, and he slowly exhaled.

"Good internal energy. If I could absorb a few more like this, it wouldn't be impossible for me to reach the Innate Realm."

The green-robed immortal stood up, glanced at Ci, turned and left. He then set the hall ablaze. Flames rose everywhere he looked, and battle raged. But overall, his side still held the advantage.

However, at that moment, a red signal suddenly appeared in the southeast sky. The green-robed immortal's expression changed slightly, and he hurriedly used his lightness skill to head towards that place. When he arrived there, he discovered that this place was actually the Shaolin Temple's Sutra Repository.

"Old Green Monster, you've come at the right time. These bald monks are quite troublesome. The three of us can each take one down, and the rest of you, get into the Scripture Pavilion."

When the white-headed eagle saw the green-robed fairy arrive, it breathed a sigh of relief.

"White-haired guy, what's wrong with these three old guys? Did the Blissful and Carefree Powder not work?"

The Green-Robed Immortal calmly walked over to the White-Headed Eagle, his gaze sweeping over the three elderly monks opposite him, each clad in white robes and wielding a weapon. One of them was tall and thin with a sallow complexion, holding a crescent-shaped shovel. The one on the left had a fair complexion and a round body, carrying a monk's knife. The one on the right had dark skin, wore a monk's hat, and held a copper staff.

"These three are the guardians of the Sutra Repository: Fakong, Faxiang, and Fazhen. Just now, I was careless and almost fell victim to their combined attack. If it weren't for the Living Yama releasing the Phosphorous Fire, I would have been seriously injured."

The white-headed eagle briefly introduced the three men to the green-robed immortal and told him about the martial arts they practiced.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's finish this quickly!"

The green-robed immortal stared intently at Fakong in the center, his eyes gleaming. He suddenly grabbed the Soul-Severing Hook and unleashed a burst of emerald light towards Fakong.

When Fakong and the other two saw the Green-Robed Immortal appear, their hearts sank. The three of them could easily deal with the White-Headed Eagle and the Living Yama, but with the Green-Robed Immortal added, all their energy would be diverted. In that case, the Scripture Pavilion would definitely be lost.

Fakong snorted coldly as the Soul-Severing Hook came hurtling towards him. He exchanged a glance with Faxiang and Fazhen, and the three of them formed a formation with one in front and two behind. Instantly, their auras intertwined, and a protective aura enveloped several feet around them. The Soul-Severing Hook struck it with a loud bang, and was immediately shaken and reverberated before landing in the hand of the Green-Robed Immortal.

"Three Luo Zhou Tian Formation".

As the Green-Robed Immortal made his move, the White-Headed Eagle and the Living Yama also attacked simultaneously, striking the shield with their iron claws and tokens, but neither could break through. "Once the Three Luo Zhou Tian Formation is activated, the auras of the three are linked together. Unless all three are defeated by one force, it is impossible to break the formation by targeting only one person. We don't have much time to waste now. White-Headed Eagle, Living Yama, distract them for me."

The green-robed immortal transmitted a few words to the two white-haired men. The two nodded in response. Then, one of them used "Soaring Eagle" and the other "Extreme Fire Meteor" to strike the protective barrier. The barrier shone brightly and slowly dissipated the incoming force. At that moment, the green-robed immortal's eyes flashed slightly. He flicked three mind-stabilizing needles in his hand, and with a whoosh, they pierced through the protective barrier and rushed straight towards Fakong and the other two.

Fa Kong and his two companions originally intended to use the formation to hold off the three, but when they saw the mind-stabilizing needle pierce through the energy shield and fly towards them, they were all startled and hurriedly waved their weapons to block it. In an instant, the Three Luo Formation was dispelled. White-headed Eagle and Living Yama exchanged a glance, each of them found one person, and the six of them split into three groups and fought together. Meanwhile, the rest of the group following behind White-headed Eagle, seeing that Fa Kong and the others were entangled, immediately led their demons into the Scripture Pavilion.

"Thief!"

Fa Zhen, known for his fiery temper, swept his copper staff with a "Sweeping Thousands of Troops" move, intending to force the Living Yama back. However, the Living Yama did not dodge or evade, but charged forward to meet the powerful copper staff head-on. The two tokens were stimulated by his internal force, and the flame patterns on the tokens seemed to be ignited. The two tokens rubbed together, and with a flick of his wrist, the tokens were firmly attached to the copper staff like magnets.

Fa Zhen was already surprised that his staff had failed to repel the Living Yama. When he saw the token clamping the copper staff, he immediately felt a sense of foreboding. He shouted and tried to pull the staff back, but felt a surge of heat that burned his palms red. Just as he was feeling alarmed, he suddenly saw two tokens swirling around the staff. In the blink of an eye, the copper staff was completely red. Fa Zhen immediately dropped the staff, spun his right hand downwards, grabbed a few leaves, and with a burst of internal force, sent the leaves flying like sharp hidden weapons toward the tokens.

With a series of clanging sounds, the spinning token suddenly stopped, and the copper rod it was holding fell to the ground with a thud.

"The finger-picking technique, what a skillful one."

Although the Living Yama praised it verbally, his hands were not slow either. Taking advantage of Fa Zhen's loss of his weapon, he poured another palm force into the token. Instantly, flames rose up and, under the condensation of true energy, transformed into a feathered fire snake about a foot long. Its long tongue flicked and snapped, biting at Fa Zhen like lightning.

The latter had just made his finger gesture when he was surprised by the token's unexpected transformation. However, he reacted quickly, clenching his left fist and slamming it forward. A surging wave of energy engulfed the fire serpent.

The Living Yama sneered and poured in another burst of internal energy. The token, which had been trapped in the airflow, shone even brighter, easily tearing through the air waves and rushing towards Fazhen from the front and back.

"What exactly is this token?"

Fa Zhen now understood that this Living Yama was not as powerful as him, but he had the upper hand in the battle because of these two tokens. However, now was not the time to think about such things. Fa Zhen circulated his internal energy and pushed his palms horizontally, just as he was about to use the Vajra Palm, his internal energy suddenly surged, and his true energy was like a wild horse, wantonly destroying his meridians. Fa Zhen's face turned pale on the spot, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. Before the blood could fall, the two tokens were nailed to his arms one after the other, and the momentum did not decrease, nailing him to the ancient pine outside the Scripture Pavilion.

"Junior brother!"

Seeing Fazhen's miserable state while fighting Bai Tou, Fa Xiang cried out in grief. However, his momentary lapse in concentration gave Bai Tou the opportunity. In an instant, Bai Tou moved, soaring through the air like a hawk swooping down, and shot a cold light towards Fa Xiang. Fa Xiang's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately withdrew. His monk's knife flashed through the air, and he used the "Compassionate Blade" to strike the flying iron claw. With a clang, the iron claw was knocked away.

However, the white-headed eagle's powerful "eagle claw hand" struck the Dharma Image's monk's knife directly. In the Dharma Image's horrified eyes, the monk's knife, made of refined steel, was broken in one blow. The eagle claw hand continued its momentum and struck the Dharma Image squarely in the chest.

Caught off guard, the latter was instantly spitting out blood and flying several feet backward. Leaning on a broken half of his dagger, he looked sadly at the white-haired man walking slowly towards him.

"Shaolin Temple is now destroyed!"

With a flick of his wrist, the white-headed eagle sent out a dozen or so hidden weapons flying. The Dharma Image was already severely injured, so how could it withstand the Tang Clan's hidden weapons? He swung his knife to deflect several of the hidden weapons, but he was pinned to vital points all over his body by the hidden weapons and could not move at all.

Seeing that Fazhen and the other two had been defeated one after another, the Green-Robed Immortal immediately intensified his attack. The Soul-Severing Hook flashed with a green light, so bright that people couldn't open their eyes. However, Fakong was indeed the leader of the three monks. He wielded his crescent shovel with great power. The Green-Robed Immortal, relying on his divine weapon, managed to fight him back and forth.

"Old monk, your time to die has come."

Seeing the white-headed eagle and the living Yama gathering around, the green-robed immortal was filled with fighting spirit and looked at Fakong opposite him with a cruel expression.

Upon hearing this, Fakong remained neither sad nor happy. He launched several attacks with his crescent shovel, each move more ruthless and fierce than the last. The Green-Robed Immortal's Soul-Severing Hook spun faster and faster, transforming into a ball of emerald light that locked the crescent shovel tightly. Just then, the White-Headed Eagle and the Living Yama attacked from the left and right, respectively, with two palm strikes aimed at Fakong.

With his crescent shovel locked, Fakong twisted his wrist, causing it to spin rapidly and collide head-on with the Soul-Severing Hook. Then, he lightly touched the end of the shovel with his toes, his body hovering in mid-air. With his hands pointing downwards, he unleashed a Vajra Palm strike at the Green-Robed Immortal. The latter's expression changed slightly, and he could only barely extend his left palm, raising it high into the sky to meet Fakong's Vajra Palm. Instantly, a surge of powerful internal energy flowed through him, causing the Green-Robed Immortal's blood and qi to surge.

Fortunately, he had absorbed Ci's power earlier, so the Green-Robed Immortal immediately released it to clash with the Vajra Palm force.

"This is!"

Fakong felt the familiar internal force emanating from the Green-Robed Immortal's hand and was startled. Just then, the crescent shovel was shattered by the Soul-Severing Hook, and the White-Headed Eagle and the Living Yama also unleashed two more palm strikes. Seeing this, the Green-Robed Immortal released his inner force belonging to Ci, firmly holding onto Fakong's hand. Fakong's expression changed drastically, and he tried to pull away, but felt a numbness in his abdomen. As his internal energy surged, the attacks from the White-Headed Eagle and the Living Yama landed on him one after another, knocking him to the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust. The Green-Robed Immortal struck Fakong's acupoint with a finger, and then with a single hand, continuously absorbed the internal force from his body. After a moment, the Green-Robed Immortal reluctantly threw away the skeleton, glanced at the White-Headed Eagle and the Living Yama, and the two nodded to him before turning to deal with the books that had been carried out from the Scripture Pavilion.

Following the same method, the Green-Robed Immortal simultaneously absorbed the true and the same energy. Instantly, the three powerful true energies within his body condensed into a ball, seemingly about to solidify. The Green-Robed Immortal was overjoyed, but quickly restrained himself. This place was not suitable for practicing martial arts; he should go back and make further plans.

"Old Green Monster, it's time to retreat. Whitehead has already led his men ahead to transport the goods down the mountain."

The Living Yama returned with his men, glanced at the three mummified corpses on the ground, and his eyes flickered slightly.

"withdraw!"

The Living Yama instructed his disciples to throw all the torches here, and soon the library was engulfed in flames.

After the Green-Robed Immortal and his companions descended the mountain, they saw black smoke billowing into the sky, instantly turning the horizon red.

Three days later, in the Hongyi Hall of the Tianshan Sect, Xue Wanshan handed a report to Ni Qingfeng. The latter took it and read that the report said that Shaolin Temple had been destroyed by a group of evil demons led by the White-Headed Eagle, all the treasures of the past generations had been stolen, and Shaolin Temple had been turned into a wasteland.

"The destruction of Shaolin is horrifying, but it serves as a warning. Senior brother, our Tianshan Sect must not panic at this time."

"Of course I know that the White-Haired Group is only gathered for profit and is just a loose bunch. However, they have obtained all the treasures of Shaolin Temple. This is not a blessing, but a calamity. Zhongxin Hall has been coveting Shaolin for a long time. Before, they were still a bit reserved. Now that Shaolin has been destroyed, if Shangguan Yun doesn't make some noise, his position as the leader of the martial arts alliance will be over."

After Xue Wanshan finished speaking, he looked at Ni Qingfeng and said in a deep voice, "The relationship between Tianshan Sect and Zhongxin Hall is delicate now. If Zhongxin Hall sends someone to ask our sect to help suppress the White-Headed Eagle and his gang of evil demons, then I will trouble you, Junior Brother, to lead your disciples there."

Upon hearing this, Ni Qingfeng pondered for a moment, then nodded and said solemnly, "Junior brother will do his best to secure benefits for our Tianshan Sect, senior brother, please rest assured."

(End of this chapter)