In the beginning, he was ranked alongside An Shigeng as a spoiled brat.

"Feixuan is just curious about the young master's style. Why is he so ruthless towards foreign tribes?"

Upon hearing Shi Feixuan's 'question,' Zhang Xiaoshan looked at Shi Feixuan and immediately revealed a contemptuous expression as if he were looking at an idiot.

Such contempt angered both Shuanglong and Shi Feixuan.

"It's normal for the Fairy Master to be compassionate and empathetic since she hasn't been down the mountain for long."

But some acts of kindness are not given indiscriminately. The Zhang family also has a reputation for benevolence and righteousness, but this benevolence and righteousness is directed towards people, or rather, their own people, not towards a pack of tigers, leopards, wolves, and jackals.

In fact, Master Xianzi's problem is similar to one in the Southern Shaolin Temple—

Most of the Shaolin monks in the Southern Shaolin Temple have broken their vow of celibacy, but as long as they don't kill too many, it doesn't count as breaking a major vow.

The most typical example is the Zhang family's five former eminent monks. If they hadn't committed the crime of wiping out their entire families, they wouldn't have been recruited by the Zhang family as guest elders!

"Buddhism forbids killing, so how could what you're describing be possible?"

Chapter 467 The Unpredictable Pure Yang Finger

"Ahem, Master Shi, it seems this matter is true!"

Shuanglong looked at Shi Feixuan. This matter was not a secret in Jiangnan, but the Southern Shaolin Temple had not killed people, but Japanese pirates.

They used to frequent the streets and alleys, where many of the entertainment venues were filled with propaganda about the Southern Shaolin Temple's defeat of the Japanese pirates. It could be said that in Jiangnan, the Southern Shaolin Temple was more popular than the Northern Shaolin Temple, even though the Northern Shaolin Temple was the ancestral home of Zen Buddhism.

"However, the Southern Shaolin Temple fought against the Japanese pirates, which is what Young Master Zhang called 'those who are not of our kind'."

Xu Ziling, however, was clear-headed and understood Zhang Xiaoshan's meaning perfectly.

The Zhang family's compassion was directed towards the Han people of the Nine Provinces, while their ruthlessness was directed towards the surrounding foreign tribes. Therefore, Zhang Xiaoshan's personal charm further attracted Song Yuzhi's infatuation.

This is the spirit of the 'great hero' in a young girl's heart.

"Zhang has some connection with Buddhism and knows that Buddhism emphasizes the equality of all beings and uses a compassionate heart to guide people towards goodness."

But these foreign tribes are like tigers and wolves; unlike the Han Chinese of the Central Plains who work at sunrise and rest at sunset, they only see the abundant fruits of burning, killing, and looting. Who would be willing to work hard for such a way of getting something for nothing, just as a wolf cannot be directly tamed into a dog?

The Fairy Master had never witnessed the scenes of villages along the coast being massacred by Japanese pirates, nor had she ever heard of the slaughter where nine out of ten houses were empty under the iron hooves of foreign invaders...

Although Zhang feels somewhat guilty about some of his actions, he will not regret them.

For example, the matter of the Demonic Sword of the East Japan was already a major problem due to the large number of Japanese samurai at the time!

Previously, they could rely on the Zhang family's maritime trade and hire samurai to work for them. However, after the Zhang family moved away, if these Japanese samurai were not handled properly, they would gather and occupy the southeastern coast, burning, killing, and looting—this is what we call Wokou (Japanese pirates)!

With chaos imminent in the Central Plains, if the Japanese samurai were at their peak, they would surely seize the opportunity to take control of the Central Plains, leading to another bloody upheaval.

As for Tibet? It was the Tibetan national teacher, Kumārajīva, who failed to keep his promise not to introduce Central Plains martial arts to Tibet.

Therefore, during his trip to Tibet, Zhang saw a group of Tibetan monks practicing Central Plains martial arts and decided to kill them. He slaughtered all the headquarters of the five major Tibetan sects to eliminate any future troubles.

Zhang was not a murderer, but he always acted with discretion; otherwise, the fairy wouldn't have come to his door to offer advice.

Zhang Xiaoshan's domineering response left even Shi Feixuan at a loss for words.

Although Zhang Xiaoshan was domineering and extremely murderous, he always had good reasons for it.

It's simply addressing the root cause of the problem.

"The Zhang family are businessmen who value harmony above all else. They will never take action unless it is absolutely necessary."

Zhang Xiaoshan's self-introduction made everyone's lips twitch.

"It was Fei Xuan who was reckless!"

Shi Feixuan could not refute it; the threat of Japanese pirates and the invasion of foreign tribes were undeniable facts.

Moreover, if we were to discuss who understood the threat of Japanese pirates best, it would be the Zhang family and the Southern Shaolin Temple. Most importantly, Zhang Xiaoshan's statement that "great chaos is coming" clearly indicates that Zhang Xiaoshan knew something.

"I hope you understand, Fairy Master."

Zhang knew the fairy's purpose, but the Zhang family were businessmen who did not pursue the idea of ​​hoarding rare goods, nor did they want to participate in the conquest of the Nine Provinces.

In business, harmony brings wealth. Whether under a tyrant or a wise ruler, the Zhang family will always be the Zhang family and will not choose to side with either side.

Zhang Xiaoshan was well aware of Shi Feixuan's true intentions, but she was dreaming too much to think that the Zhang family would become a tool in the hands of Cihang Jingzhai.

Even Shi Feixuan couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

It should be noted that the Zhang family is among the top in Kyushu in terms of both strength and reputation. Therefore, if Cihang Jingzhai could obtain the support of the Zhang family, it would be as if it had divine assistance.

However, the Zhang family was not easily fooled, and the person in front of them went straight to the point, stating their attitude directly.

····

"They're awake! They're awake! They've really come back to life!"

Upon seeing the awakened Tibetan Grand Lama, the guards of the main hall immediately began to discuss among themselves.

When they were moving the bodies earlier, they discovered that all the Tibetan envoys had stopped breathing and had no pulse, clearly signs of death.

However, both the commander of the Imperial Guard and the imperial advisor who came to check on them predicted that they would wake up.

Now these 'dead' people have actually woken up.

"Pity!"

At this moment, the junior commander of the Thousand Bull Guards also looked at the awakened Grand Lama. According to the principle that "the higher the martial arts skill, the faster one wakes up," this Grand Lama should be a top-notch master, but now he is just useless.

It should be noted that among the generals of the Sixteen Guards, there are only a handful of top-tier experts.

"Junior brother, junior brother... Imperial Preceptor... Vice Prime Minister..."

"Master, don't worry. They are not really dead. They have just fallen into a state of suspended animation after being hit by the Pure Yang Finger."

The master just now also 'came back to life' in this way, but... Master, you should still check your internal energy. Waking up from a state of suspended animation usually results in the complete loss of internal energy, leaving you a cripple!

"Feigned death? Internal energy destroyed?"

Upon hearing the explanation from the junior commander of the Thousand Ox Guard, the Grand Lama immediately circulated his internal energy.

But then he discovered that his previously abundant and profound internal energy was now completely empty.

Moreover, his meridians were not damaged in the slightest, and his qi and blood were strong without any signs of poisoning, as if he had never cultivated internal energy before.

However, when circulating the Great Circulation, one cannot sense the presence of any internal force.

"how is this possible?"

Seeing the Grand Lama's unwilling and frantic appearance, the junior commander of the Thousand Bull Guard still reminded him:

"Master, there's no need to try. There's more than one person in the Central Plains who has been hit by this finger strike."

At least dozens of eminent monks at Qingliang Temple, a Buddhist temple, were in the same situation, including two masters at the pinnacle of their cultivation. The only ones who recovered were two newly minted thugs who, having narrowly escaped death, managed to regain their inner strength.

Upon hearing this, the Grand Lama immediately looked at the junior commander of the Thousand Bull Guards, his eyes gleaming.

The possibility of recovery is hope, and since it is a martial arts technique, there must be a way to break it, rather than the internal energy being truly destroyed, but merely sealed.

"You mean someone else has recovered their internal energy?"

"Master, you don't need to think about it. I'm not trying to discourage you, but that's an exception."

According to their recovery method, they survived countless assassination attempts, just like a master who was 'resurrected' but lost all his internal energy; similarly, if they wanted to regain their internal energy, they would have to 'resurrect' again.

However, the next time the master dies, it might really be a death!

Those two thugs weren't ordinary thugs; without extraordinary luck and strength, they wouldn't have been able to get that finger planted on them.

Upon hearing this, the high lama was also startled, realizing that what the other party said was true.

But they never want to give up when there is hope.

At noon, along with Kumārajīva, all four lamas, who were at least top-level experts, woke up. However, Kumārajīva had his Tanzhong acupoint pierced by a finger, making him a true 'crippled person'. Therefore, the question of whether Kumārajīva's skills were useless did not apply.

But when he woke up, not only had his meridians, which had been injured by the shock, been completely restored, but even the Tanzhong acupoint, which had been damaged, showed no abnormalities.

This shocked Kumārajīva even more.

Rumors are just rumors, but when they actually happened to him, Kumārajīva realized that the rumors weren't unfounded.

The Pure Yang Finger technique actually has the effect of bringing the dead back to life, and its healing effect is nothing short of abnormal.

He had only taken a nap, and if he hadn't remembered everything so clearly beforehand, it would have seemed like a dream.

"Amitabha!"

Kumārajīva looked at the three great lamas who still refused to give up, and his face fell with sorrow.

It should be noted that this group consisted of sixteen high-ranking lamas, who were top-tier experts and represented almost the last remaining strength of the Tantric sect.

But now, some are dead, some are crippled, and the remaining guards are all elites from the Potala Palace. Even if they wake up, they will still be crippled and face the same fate.

One can imagine how devastating this was for Tibet.

The army is the foundation of an empire, but these experts are the backbone of the empire. Without the protection of these experts, the Tibetan leadership would be like living in the open, vulnerable to assassination at any moment.

Like Zhang Xiaoshan before, who could destroy five ancient temples in Tibet in one night.

Without these Tantric masters, any top-tier martial artist could assassinate high-ranking Tibetan officials, dealing a significant blow to Tibet.

Therefore, the consequences of this incident far exceeded Kumārajīva's expectations.

And all of this is the bitter fruit of his own actions!

Thinking of this, Kumārajīva couldn't help but feel the urge to die (good, good). He now had no choice but to atone for his sins with death.

As for passing on the martial arts of the Central Plains again?

The consequences will be so severe that only the Potala Palace will be worth Zhang Xiaoshan's attention.

···

"What a mysterious Pure Yang Finger technique! Even I didn't notice the slightest flaw before."

However, Pianpian possesses the ability to 'bring the dead back to life,' and she can also seal their internal energy, preventing them from cultivating.

In a corner of the state guesthouse, the Empress watched as the Tibetan experts gradually awoke, and her fear of Zhang Xiaoshan grew even stronger.

Out of curiosity about the Pure Yang Finger, and its ability to 'bring the dead back to life' and cripple a person's internal energy, the Empress personally came to investigate.

But in the end, no abnormalities were found in these Tibetan delegations.

If the bodies hadn't remained intact for an hour or two, she would have thought Zhang Xiaoshan had truly killed them, especially Kumārajīva, whose condition seemed to be a miraculous "resurrection."

This method is truly unpredictable!

"Your Majesty, what should we do with these Tibetan envoys?"

"Have the imperial physician examine them. If there are no abnormalities, send them back."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

If it weren't for the fear of the Tibetan barbarian cavalry and the fact that these experts had all become crippled, the Empress would never have let go of a group of people who treated her like an idiot.

Chapter 468 First Hearing of Ghost Street and Green Willow Manor

The Third Ghost Street!

Located in Mangshan, near the capital city, the project took a year from planning and construction to completion.

Moreover, the construction of Ghost Street this time was extremely large-scale, involving targeted demolitions, material transportation, and the fact that Mangshan is only a little over a hundred miles away from the capital, so it did not escape the notice of many powerful families, but there was no need to.

These are problems that will surface sooner or later; it's better to know them sooner rather than later.

After all, Ghost Street was built in Mangshan Mountain, and the explosion would cause a huge commotion. With more people knowing about it, Zhang Xiaoshan no longer needed to hide it.

It takes more than half a year just to excavate the mountain and build the reinforced concrete structure.

The manpower and resources consumed exceeded one million gold coins.

Moreover, the method of hollowing out the mountain was mainly based on Zhang Xiaoshan's incomparably powerful true qi, mixed with air and gunpowder to shatter the rocks.

In just three months, a huge mountain space was created.

Immediately afterwards, air-raid shelters were built with reinforced concrete to ensure they would not be destroyed by explosions or earthquakes.

Therefore, such a huge commotion could not be concealed even if one wanted to.

However, both the major families and the empire turned a blind eye and didn't care at all.

Ultimately, the establishment of Ghost Street was a good thing for them.

It is important to know that the more powerful families there are, the more shady things will happen, and Ghost Street is a good buffer zone.