Sword Roaring in the Sky

Chapter 237 The Sweeping Monk (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

The Songyang Sect group stayed at Shaochan Temple that night.

The next morning, Sun Yanwan went to pay her respects to the elders and then strolled around Shaochan Temple at her leisure.

Unknowingly, they arrived at a courtyard. Two monks came over and blocked their way, saying gently, "Scholar, the temple's scripture pavilion is just ahead."

Sun Yanwan suddenly realized and replied, "I didn't know the way and just wandered around. Let's turn back this way."

He couldn't help but look up and glance at the Sutra Repository of Shaochan Temple.

The Songyang School possesses five classics and thirteen unique skills, along with nineteen sword techniques of varying lengths, making it a major school with profound martial arts knowledge. However, the Shaochan Temple's Sutra Repository is said to contain seventy-two Buddhist Zen techniques, making it the most abundant martial arts school in the world.

However, Sun Yanwan knew that even with the complete set of martial arts from Shaochan Temple and the seventy-two Buddhist Zen techniques in front of him, he could not change his path. After all, he already possessed Taoist true energy and there was no reason for him to change his method, unless he abandoned his own power and switched to Buddhist Zen techniques, but why bother?

The martial arts of the Songyang School are in no way inferior to those of the Shaochan Temple.

Just as he was about to leave, he heard a gentle voice say, "Is that Yan Wan? Come on up!"

Seeing this, the two monks stopped trying to stop them and instead made a respectful gesture of invitation.

Sun Yanwan was also very curious, and it would be impolite to refuse, so he walked towards the Sutra Pavilion. There he saw an old monk sweeping fallen leaves with a broom in his hand. When he saw Sun Yanwan, he smiled slightly and said, "I have long heard that the top scholar is intelligent, and seeing him today, I can see that he is indeed extraordinary."

Sun Yanwan had never seen this old monk before, and none of the head monks from the various halls had seen him yesterday. However, since this monk was in the Sutra Repository and could command the martial monks guarding it, his status must be very high. He bowed respectfully and asked, "What brings you here, senior?"

The old monk sweeping the floor smiled slightly and said, "It's nothing much, I just want to see the top scholar."

Sun Yanwan found it very strange, but he didn't ask any more questions, because the old monk would surely tell him himself, and even if he didn't, it didn't matter, and he wasn't that curious.

The old monk, holding a broom, seemed lost in thought. After a long while, he said in a low voice, "About forty years..."

"Perhaps it was forty-one or forty-two years ago!"

"Someone once broke into Shaochan Temple, intending to steal the temple's secret martial arts manuals."

Sun Yanwan hurriedly said, "I didn't have that thought, Master, please don't make wild assumptions."

The old monk chuckled and said, "That person claimed his surname was Feng, the Feng that stirs up trouble, and told me not to meddle in other people's business."

"I told him, 'What kind of thief would announce his identity?'"

Guess what he said?

Sun Yanwan was startled and quickly said, "This junior did not know."

The old monk chuckled and said, "He said..."

"Look at the palm!"

A giant, golden hand descended from the sky.

Even with her quick reflexes, Sun Yanwan only had time to activate the Immortal-Slaying Hammer and blast it into the sky.

The old monk's every move was like the wrath of a Vajra, full of imposing force, but when his palm strikes landed, it was just right, allowing Sun Yanwan to receive and withstand them, while also forcing out all of his potential.

Sun Yanwan felt as if the sky and the ground were filled with golden palm shadows. He had used all his skills in a hurry. The more sweaty he became in the fight, the more he felt like a monkey trapped in a net, unable to break free.

In the blink of an eye, dozens of moves had passed, and the countless palm shadows vanished. Sun Yanwan felt his muscles throbbing wildly, his inner energy completely depleted, and he couldn't muster even a ounce of strength. The old monk clasped his hands together and asked, "Scholar, have you grasped the essence?"

Sun Yanwan, still catching her breath, replied hesitantly, "Is there something wrong with my martial arts?"

The old monk laughed and said, "Don't blame the martial arts. The martial arts of the Songyang School have been revised by two generations and can be described as being refined through countless trials."

Sun Yanwan said, "Is there something wrong with me?"

The old monk nodded and said, "This child is teachable."

“Zhang Yuanqiao and Wang Xuangui may not have missed it either, but you are still so young. They think it’s not too late to give you pointers in a few years. Letting your cultivation stagnate for a while is not necessarily a bad thing.”

After Sun Yanwan advanced to the first rank, she vaguely sensed that the Innate Realm, which should have been achieved in one fell swoop or had some progress in some way, was inexplicably blocked. It seemed that something was wrong with her thinking or that she had overlooked something.
He had sincerely sought guidance from several elders, as well as Pei Han, Jiang Yan, and more than ten senior brothers and sisters of the Innate Realm from various branches of the Songyang Sect, but he was still unable to break through this barrier.

Just now, the old monk sweeping the floor made a sudden move, forcing out all of Sun Yanwan's potential. After exhausting his true energy and physical strength, Sun Yanwan vaguely understood something, but he couldn't grasp the key point no matter what.

He sat cross-legged for a while, recovering two or three parts of his inner energy. He stood up, bowed to the old monk, and said in a low voice, "Why does Senior give me this advice?"

The old monk chuckled and said, "It was after that one sentence, 'Look at the palm,' that the realm that had trapped me for twenty-six years was suddenly broken. Buddhism emphasizes cause and effect, so I returned this cause and effect to his grand-disciple."

Sun Yanwan thanked the old monk again, but he felt that something was not right. The old monk did not want him to stay any longer, so Sun Yanwan had no choice but to take his leave. Before leaving, he suddenly asked, "My master would not come to steal, so please introduce yourself?"

The old monk laughed and said, "Why don't you say that my master would never steal?"

Sun Yanwan chuckled and drifted away.

He knew, of course, that this Master Feng was not only a thief, but also a habitual thief, and even a robber.

After walking quite a distance, Sun Yanwan suddenly realized what was happening and exclaimed to herself, "I was fooled by that old bald man's appearance as a high-ranking monk. He was actually bluffing me!"

"However, what he said makes sense. It seems that I really did go wrong somewhere. It seems that I was just a little bit short, but every time I tried to break through, I failed."

"Why should I overthink things? I should just ask the teacher."

When Sun Yanwan went to find Zhang Yuanqiao, she learned that her master was having tea with Kongchan, so she went to find the monk Kongchan.

Zhang Yuanqiao was drinking tea with Kong Chan in a pavilion. The pavilion was surrounded by a quiet and secluded environment, with a very thin tributary drawn from the Wei River flowing around it. The babbling water and swaying trees made the scene of a monk and a Taoist priest appear as if they were living in seclusion.

That evening, Sun Yan visited her master and also paid her respects to the monk Kong Chan. She then recounted how she had received guidance from the old monk sweeping the floor when she passed by the Sutra Repository.

Of course, he didn't mention the matter of Master Feng. He simply said that this senior monk had given him some pointers and said that he had some problems.

Kong Chan smiled and said, "It's quite a stroke of luck that you were able to meet him."

“Your master knows, and I know, that you do have some problems with your martial arts training.”

“In fact, we all know that there is a best solution.”

Sun Yanwan hurriedly asked, "What kind of method is it?"

Kongchan smiled without saying a word.

(End of this chapter)