The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 542 Victory or Loss
The wind carried the smell of blood up from the foot of the mountain.

Lu Wushuang held her breath.

"Bodhidharma... Venerable One?"

Even without having seen a portrait of Bodhidharma, she could recognize the identity of Bodhidharma's remains... Apart from Bodhidharma, it was impossible for anyone else to appear at Izumo Taisha in this state and injure Li Miao to this extent.

On the surface, Li Miao is now a master of four paths combined. But in reality, he possesses two paths of profound insight. Apart from an exceptional opponent like An Qisheng, probably no one at the same level can rival him.

On the other hand, the fact that Li Miao was still in a difficult situation with just a broken and decaying corpse that had been sealed in a statue for a thousand years, devoid of consciousness and the supernatural powers of the three paths of spiritual cultivation, suggests that this Bodhidharma was probably not just a master of the six paths in his lifetime.

He may have already reached a realm beyond that of the celestial beings.

He himself represents the pinnacle of martial arts, and he is the symbol of its most prosperous period. If Zhang Sanfeng had not appeared, people might have even categorized his deeds as mere tales of gods and ghosts.

Lu Wushuang dared not utter a sound.

She was also a martial artist, so how could she not have wondered if she had been born when the art of sexual cultivation had not been lost and martial arts were flourishing, could she have competed with those legendary geniuses?

It's as if time has reversed, and the Buddha of a thousand years ago is about to engage in a final battle with the strongest being in the world a thousand years later.

And she was the only audience member.

She must see and remember everything.

Li Miao took his first breath after assuming a boxing stance.

Lu Wushuang suddenly felt a chill run through her body, her internal energy circulation stopped on its own, and she instinctively screamed, "Run!!!"

She saw a sea of ​​blood surging towards her. Countless white bones floated in the sea of ​​blood, and countless wronged souls were swept up, wailing and screaming, stretching out rotting claws towards her, revealing a venomous and maniacal laugh.

Lu Wu's eyes flashed, and suddenly, the sea of ​​blood vanished, as if it were just a hallucination. But when she looked at Li Miao again, the sea of ​​blood faintly reappeared.

The prototype of "Jizhao".

The results of Li Miao's self-deduction were not enough for him to reach the fifth level of cultivation, but they were enough to affect his opponent's senses, which was also proof that he had used all his strength.

At the same time, the remains of Bodhidharma also showed some unusual movements.

It trembled.

It's like a person who is asleep and is suddenly pricked by something; although they are not awake, they react instinctively.

It slowly raised its hands, palms facing up, right hand pressing down on left hand, the tips of its two thumbs forming a circle, overlapping on its abdomen.

"Zen Meditation Seal."

Lu Wushuang thought to himself.

This is one of the "Five Seals of Shakyamuni" in Buddhism, symbolizing purity, focus, and wisdom.

"But why would the remains of Bodhidharma form this hand seal?"

"The Meditation Mudra is mostly used for meditation and has nothing to do with fighting. Among the Shaolin martial arts, there are many martial arts techniques related to the other four mudras, but the Meditation Mudra is unique in that it has no related moves. Why would it suddenly adopt this mudra in the face of your imposing aura?"

As Lu Wushuang pondered this, she suddenly heard Li Miao burst into laughter.

"I knew it!"

"Good, good, good!"

"This is the opponent I've been waiting for, this is the kind of opponent I've been looking for!"

Lu Wushuang curiously turned her gaze back to the remains of Bodhidharma, but suddenly froze.

She saw an eye.

A cloudy eye, its pupils dilated and lifeless, yet looking at it brings a sudden sense of peace to the heart.

The remaining eye on the mutilated corpse of Bodhidharma opened and looked at Li Miao.

As the eye opened, the bleeding wounds on the corpse suddenly stopped, and the skin closed up eerily, concealing the wounds before they had healed. At the same time, a golden sheen appeared on the corpse's skin.

"Xuanlan, connect with Vajra!"

Li Miao smiled.

"This is your profound insight—[Flawlessness]!"

"Is there anything else?!"

Furthermore, this was a technique left by Bodhidharma on his own corpse, not intended for Li Miao, but rather a trap he laid before his death, anticipating that the enemy would use his body. He simply hadn't anticipated that the enemy would exploit this.

This is a method left behind by Bodhidharma to deal with enemies who could kill him. Even after a thousand years of wear and tear, it is not as simple as just activating the Yilu Xuanlan.

Sure enough, before Li Miao finished speaking, the remnant of Bodhidharma changed his hand gestures. His right hand hung down naturally with his palm facing inward and pointing to the ground, while his left hand was raised with his thumb and forefinger forming a ring, and the other three fingers pointing to the sky.

The second of the five seals of Shakyamuni: the seal for subduing Mara and the seal for preaching the Dharma.

As soon as the hand seal was formed, the pebbles and fallen leaves on the ground around them suddenly trembled. Regardless of their weight, they rose and fell rapidly on the ground, as if something had agitated them and then forcibly pushed them back to their original positions dozens of times in an instant.

Lu Wushuang clutched her chest, panting heavily.

Her cycle completely stopped.

It was as if an invisible giant hand had gripped her meridians and dantian, pulling her true energy out of her body and throwing it at the remains of Bodhidharma.

"What's this……"

Lu Wushuang said with difficulty.

True Qi is formless and intangible, and there is no physical contact. The other party is just a corpse. How could he possibly steal her true Qi from a distance?
But then Li Miao spoke.

"I see."

"It's not Jizhao. Jizhao requires too much mental strength. If the person is not clear-headed enough, it's impossible to use illusions to influence the opponent. So your method is the last resort of sexual cultivation!"

"You appear to be forming the Demon-Subduing Mudra and the Dharma-Teaching Mudra, but in reality, you are pointing one finger to the sky and one finger to the earth..."

"I am the only one in heaven and under heaven."

Legend has it that when the Buddha descended to earth, he pointed one finger to the sky and one finger to the earth, saying, "Above and below heaven, I alone am the honored one." The two hand gestures on Bodhidharma's remains perfectly match these.

The remaining two paths of sexual cultivation techniques had been exhausted by the remnant of Bodhidharma's body, leaving him with no other means.

Lu Wushuang didn't dare to blink, afraid of missing even the slightest detail.

Li Miao once said that a single move can determine victory or defeat.

The outcome could be decided in the next instant.

call--

Moment.

Li Miao appeared behind the remains of Bodhidharma.

Blood suddenly burst open on his chest, a severed arm pierced through his chest, and five fingers formed a demon-subduing seal behind him, with flesh sliding off the fingertips.

Bang.

Li Miao seemed to suddenly lose all strength, and one knee touched the ground.

"grown ups!"

Lu Wushuang could no longer restrain herself. She leaped down from the torii gate, ran to Li Miao's side, grabbed his arm, and was about to escape with him.

But as soon as she stood up, she suddenly heard Li Miao say something in her ear.

"I won."

"what?"

Li Miao patted her shoulder, coughing up blood, and reached out to pull the severed arm that had pierced her heart, then threw it to the ground. The severed arm landed, but collapsed like incense ash.

Li Miao turned around with his arm around Lu Wushuang.

The remains of Bodhidharma appeared behind the two of them at some unknown time, less than a foot apart.

Its lifeless eyes fixed on Li Miao, and suddenly it raised its remaining left hand, placed it on Li Miao's chest, and then withdrew it back to its chest in a single-palm salute.

Then, just like that severed arm, it suddenly collapsed, turning into ashes that drifted away with the wind.

Li Miao smiled, barely managed to raise his hand, and made a single-palm salute in front of his chest.

"Thank you, senior, for your advice."

"I will accept your unfinished business and the demons you have not yet subdued."

(End of this chapter)