The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 543 Seed
The morning light is dim.

Lu Wushuang carefully supported Li Miao, stepping through the blood-soaked ground, and walked down the mountain. When they reached the halfway point, Li Miao suddenly coughed a few times, causing Lu Wushuang to frown with worry.

"My lord... are you alright?"

Li Miao looked exhausted, but not with the usual listless languor. Instead, his weakness was evident in his complexion, movements, and even his breathing.

"Cough cough."

He coughed a few more times, raised his hand and pulled open the torn clothes on his chest, revealing the wound that ran from front to back. The battle with the remains of Bodhidharma had ended half an hour ago, and the wound had stopped bleeding, but it showed no signs of healing.

"Fortunately."

Li Miao said with a smile.

"My heart is half broken, and two pounds of my lungs have been scraped off. Fortunately, my spine is not injured. I temporarily used my internal energy to simulate my internal organs, so it doesn't affect my movement."

"what!"

Lu Wushuang let out a soft cry.

"Can you call this 'okay'?"

Li Miao's smile remained unchanged.

"You survived Bodhidharma's Formless Finger strike, so how can you say it's alright?"

Lu Wushuang choked for a moment.

Yes, that's right.

That makes sense; surviving a single blow from Bodhidharma is certainly something to brag about. But that's the reality; the injuries were real.

A person of Li Miao's caliber, whose spirit is overflowing and whose energy is abundant, cannot even conceal signs of fatigue, indicating that his very essence has been damaged. Not to mention the wounds that have never healed.

Seeing Lu Wushuang pursing her lips and remaining silent, Li Miao chuckled.

The fact that he had fought Bodhidharma across a thousand years, fulfilling half of his long-cherished wish, was already exhilarating for him. Now that he had nothing else to do, he naturally couldn't help but say a few pretentious words.

"The realm of Bodhidharma is most likely not just the unification of the six paths. There is still a path to walk beyond the heavens and humans. The unification of the six paths is not the end."

Li Miao seemed both pleased and disappointed.

"Actually, I had some suspicions before. I am already half of the Five Paths Unification, but I am only gradually adding strength and true energy. I have not yet reached any threshold. I can now deduce the power of the Six Paths Unification, which is just a stronger and faster Celestial Being."

"The pinnacle of martial arts shouldn't be this boring."

Seeing that Li Miao was in the mood for conversation, Lu Wushuang naturally wouldn't spoil his fun. Suppressing her worries, she followed Li Miao's lead.

"But this is how he ended up."

Li Miao nodded.

"Yes, it makes one sigh."

"But he didn't lose."

Li Miao raised his hand and pointed to the wound on his chest. Lu Wushuang glanced at it; the flesh inside the wound was writhing, and the transparent protective true energy was pieced together with the pulsating, mangled internal organs, clearly visible as Li Miao's breath rose and fell.

"I won, but he didn't lose to me either."

Li Miao sighed.

"He let it slide."

"He could have taken me down with him, but he held back a bit and didn't completely destroy my heart."

Lu Wushuang frowned.

She sensed something amiss in Li Miao's words.

"My lord... Bodhidharma is already dead, how could he possibly 'go easy' on us?"

"Because of his profound insight."

Li Miao said.

"The Xuanlan technique has spread throughout the martial arts world, and you should know something about it. The wonders of the Xuanlan realm vary from person to person, and even when connected with the same life-force technique, there will be differences."

"The profound vision of Bodhidharma should be called 'non-leaking,' which means connecting with Vajra and exchanging sexuality for a non-leaking golden body. Before he died, he expelled a portion of his sexuality into his own corpse, so... cough cough."

Li Miao coughed again.

Lu Wushuang accepted his words.

"So... what appeared behind us after the final move but didn't attack wasn't Bodhidharma's corpse, but Bodhidharma himself!?"

Li Miao coughed up a mouthful of blood and laughed. "You could say that."

"Although it was just a fleeting thought, it was enough for him to decide, based on the identity of his opponent, whether to kill him or leave behind a treasure."

"...An heirloom?"

Lu Wushuang suddenly realized that before the remains of Bodhidharma dissipated, he inexplicably raised his hand and pressed it on Li Miao's chest, and Li Miao let him do as he pleased without dodging.

She glanced again at the wound on Li Miao's chest.

Given Li Miao's cultivation level, even a heart ripped apart should heal in the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, assuming no enemy interference. Yet, Li Miao appears weak and shows no signs of using healing techniques to mend his flesh… Could it be related to that final press from Bodhidharma?
Li Miao seemed to hear her thoughts and nodded.

"You're right."

"When he opened his eyes, the last remaining trace of his nature had been awakened. Although it was only for a few breaths, Venerable Bodhidharma was indeed resurrected in an incomplete form."

"After recognizing that I was not an enemy, he planted a seed in my heart."

Lu Wushuang asked in confusion.

"What seed?"

Li Miao shook his head.

"do not know."

"I can only be sure that he meant no harm, but at this stage it is a problem. This seed has been planted in my heart, absorbing all the true energy that passes through my heart meridian, preventing me from activating healing techniques to heal my wounds."

"On the way down the mountain, I tried to move it, tried to infuse it with all the known internal energy, and tried to break it with protective energy, but to no avail."

"It just keeps absorbing my true energy without changing anything... So I think it needs a trigger to take root and sprout."

Li Miao raised her hand and wrapped her cloak tighter around herself, as if she were a little cold.

"The first patriarch of Zen Buddhism wouldn't harm me, would he?"

Lu Wushuang nodded in agreement.

Although monks generally don't have a good reputation, after decades of management, all the martial arts people in Da Shuo recognize the Shaolin name. As the founder of Shaolin, Bodhidharma should naturally be a highly respected monk.

It's hard to tell whether Xing Chi benefited from Shaolin's fame or Shaolin benefited from Xing Chi's reputation.

As they spoke, the two had already arrived at the foot of the mountain.

"By the way, what about that Japanese woman?"

Li Miao asked.

"Oh!"

Lu Wushuang slapped his forehead.

"I just hung it on the tree. Please wait a moment while I go get it down."

After saying that, Lu Wushuang helped Li Miao sit down on a rock, then disappeared and ran after Nanako's hoarse cries.

Li Miao sat cross-legged on the rock, adopting a posture of five hearts facing upwards, and closed his eyes to regulate his breathing for a while. After a while, he opened his eyes again, touched his chest, and murmured.

"Bodhidharma".

"Who killed you, Xu Fu, or the old man by the river?"

"You are sealed in Izumo Taisha, but what about the immortal Sanfeng? Where is he? Is he still alive?"

"Plans can't keep up with changes. In my current state, I can't possibly deal with an opponent capable of killing Bodhidharma... Did you foresee this and deliberately leave yourself some tricks, telling me not to rush to find the mastermind?"

"We can't go directly to the Ise Grand Shrine... Now that we've confirmed that the last lost cultivation technique is in Japan, we should find it first, cultivate all five techniques together, and then make further plans."

"Hachiman Shrine".

"The place where the Venerable God Sword Technique is most prosperous may be the place where the last line of spiritual cultivation can be found."

Lu Wushuang ran back carrying the trembling Nanako and helped Li Miao up.

"Sir, where are we going?"

Li Miao coughed a few times and said.

"Let's go to Toshodai-ji Temple first. I want to see the remains of Master Jianzhen. He was from a Buddhist family, so maybe he has some clues left by Bodhidharma."

"Then, go to Hachiman Shrine."

(End of this chapter)