Martial Arts Crossover: The Sweeping Monk of Wudang? That's our patriarch!

That palace was entirely crystal clear, its chilling aura lingering and unyielding, belonging exclusively to him; while the golden palace in the distance, gleaming with golden light, was the abode of the immortals of the Heavenly Mountains—the difference between the two was self-evident. With the task assigned, the old man called Seeker smiled and strode lightly back to his own icy palace.

Meanwhile, Lin Daochen was locked in fierce combat with a group of golden-armored guards. Suddenly, several sharp auras approached from afar, cutting through the wind. He paused in his swordplay, turned his head to gaze at them, and frowned slightly.

"How strange, why are so many experts suddenly rushing this way? There's no treasure to steal or profit to be made here, what are they after?"

He shook his head slightly, too lazy to investigate further, then turned around, raised his arrow again, and aimed straight for the throat of a golden-armored guard.

But just as the arrow left the bowstring, a sharp gust of wind suddenly tore through the air and slammed into it from behind!

Lin Daochen suddenly spun around, his pupils shrinking slightly—he saw more than ten figures hovering steadily in mid-air behind him, and further away, streaks of light were still rapidly approaching, surging like a tide.

A chill ran down his spine: Was this all a premeditated attack on me? This whole operation was clearly premeditated, a trap that had been set up long ago.

We must not sit idly by and wait for our demise.

He immediately abandoned the battle at hand, straightened his back, and activated his full mental awareness—the sneak attack just now had sounded the alarm, and if he was careless again, he might really capsize in a ditch.

A quick glance revealed several more figures approaching from a distance. Each wielded a different weapon: some carried hooks shrouded in black mist, others short halberds gleaming with a chilling blue light, and still others wielded slender, snake-like soft swords... If one were not a keen eye, it would be nearly impossible to discern their forms.

There is only one possibility—someone has given a death order and is specifically sent to surround and kill him.

But he asked himself why he was suddenly besieged when he had never made any enemies or provoked any powerful figures.

His face was ashen, and though his throat moved slightly, he ultimately uttered no sound.

A dozen or so people stood silently in the void opposite them, their expressions varied: some gritted their teeth, some were indifferent, some sneered, and some grinned, but there was no warmth in their eyes.

Lin Daochen knew perfectly well: those who come are not friendly; those who are friendly do not come.

Suddenly, a burly man with a thick beard roared and charged forward with his sword. The blade flashed, cleaving through the air, and aimed straight at the top of his head—his face was filled with ruthlessness, clearly indicating that he intended to kill him with one blow.

Lin Daochen lightly touched the ground with his toes, his body sliding three feet to the side, the blade grazing past his shoulder, and a strand of broken hair curling up in his hair.

That person wasn't weak, but he was far from being a match for him. If the fight continued, he would only be the one to die.

"Hahaha, interesting! You've come here specifically to ambush me? Have you ever considered—are you even worthy to be my opponents?" Lin Daoxuan flicked his wrist, and a wisp of pale white mist suddenly rose up, coiling around his body like a living thing. In that instant, his aura surged, rising higher and higher, as if tearing open an invisible shackle between heaven and earth.

Countless beams of light burst forth from his body, dazzling like an inverted galaxy, each imbued with the sharpness of laws. The onlookers froze on the spot, their eyes nearly popping out of their sockets—no one had expected Lin Daochen to have such a trump card hidden away!

Those rays of light from the Great Dao were clearly supreme powers that only those at the True God Realm or above could comprehend and control! Yet he was clearly only a cultivator of the modern era, how could he... how could he have wielded such power ahead of time? This was no human, he was simply a monstrous genius born against the heavens!

But the arrow was already on the bowstring, and there was no turning back. They exchanged a glance, gritted their teeth, and finally pounced.

"Brothers! If we can gain the favor of the Celestial Immortal today, it will be our only chance to turn things around! Our cultivation, resources, and future all depend on this gamble!"

"Let's attack together! No matter how many heads and six arms he has, he can't withstand our numbers—we can't expect him to take us all down by himself, can we?"

Before he could finish speaking, more than a dozen figures roared in unison, surrounding Lin Daochen like a pack of wolves, trapping him in the center in the blink of an eye. But even with such an impenetrable encirclement, they couldn't even touch the hem of his clothes—Lin Daochen was no pushover.

Just then, a dark figure suddenly darted out from the side! That person had been lying in wait for a moment when Lin Daochen was distracted, and then suddenly attacked.

"Lin Daochen! You will die today!"

Before the words had even faded, the person had already arrived! The speed was so fast that it tore through the air. Lin Daochen didn't even have time to raise his eyes before the opponent's sword was already at his throat—but that cold glint, the moment it touched his collar, shattered as if it had hit a copper wall and iron barrier!

Lin Daochen moved. With a single gesture, two gusts of wind shot out, and the two cultivators at the forefront were reduced to two clouds of blood mist before they could even utter a scream, dissipating into the wind.

A chill ran down everyone's spines, and their hearts pounded: They couldn't win! They really couldn't win! Some wanted to back down, but their escape routes had already been blocked by their comrades—to go forward meant death, and there was no way to retreat, so they could only grit their teeth and fight on.

"Should we keep fighting? If we keep going, we might all die here!"

"But if we back down now... who dares to be the first to turn back?"

They had barely whispered a few words when Lin Daochen's cold gaze swept over them. Thinking they were plotting another attack, he no longer held back, his five fingers clenching into a fist in the air—

Boom! A colossal hand, blotting out the sky, cleaved down from the clouds, its palm lines resembling mountain ranges and ravines, causing the entire earth to tremble and vibrate. Within a ten-kilometer radius, vegetation collapsed, rocks shattered, and all the attackers were crushed beneath its palm.

Fortunately, Lin Daochen controlled his strength with great precision—that palm strike concentrated his power into a single point, accurately wiping out thirteen people without harming a single blade of grass or tree.

Before the dust could settle, a dense black tide surged in from the distant horizon. The black dots connected into a line, then spread into a dark cloud; a rough count revealed no fewer than three thousand of them!

Lin Daochen's pupils contracted slightly: Where did so many people come from? Who is pulling the strings behind the scenes?

Kill them? If I kill them all, I'll become a demon who slaughters his own kind; don't kill them? Am I just to sit idly by and wait to be slaughtered?

He remained silent for a moment, then suddenly sighed softly.

"Since you've come knocking on my door, don't blame me for being ruthless."

"I'll be waiting right here."

As soon as he finished speaking, he sat cross-legged, the hem of his robe brushing against the bluestone, as still as an ancient pine tree.

Meanwhile, a vast crowd, riding the wind and thunder, surged toward this platform in waves.

The first few dozen people landed, their boots crushing the pebbles, their eyes fixed on Lin Daochen, a cruel and cold smile tugging at the corners of their mouths.

"Ha, I've long heard of your extraordinary abilities, Lin Daochen. Seeing it today—it truly lives up to your reputation. How about it? Dare to spar with us? Let's see who has the tougher backbone and the more arrogant spirit!"

Lin Daochen glanced at him sideways, not even bothering to lift his eyelids, and simply said in a calm voice:

"Stop arguing. If you want to fight, then fight. There's no need to keep arguing. But let me give you a piece of advice—think about your own strength before taking this step."

As soon as he finished speaking, he lowered his eyelids, his breath became heavy, and he remained silent.

Upon seeing this, the man swallowed hard, a cold smile appeared on his lips, and he turned and charged towards Lin Daochen.

"Brothers, let's risk it all! Our lives depend on this moment—we must bring him down today!"

Before he finished speaking, thousands of people surged forward like a tide, their killing intent surging, determined to crush Lin Daochen into dust.

Just as they rushed to within a few feet of the barrier, a clear, icy, invisible yet indestructible barrier suddenly appeared—neither water nor light, it stood firmly in front of them. When the group crashed into it, they felt as if they had struck ancient iron, their hands cracking and their blood churning, yet they couldn't even touch the hem of Lin Daochen's clothes.

Thousands of people stood frozen in place, their faces burning. They could see each other, yet couldn't touch; so close, yet so far.

Could it be that in Lin Daochen's eyes, they were truly like dust and ants, easily brushed aside and not worth a glance?

But all escape routes have been cut off—now only a desperate strike remains!

In an instant, the crowd surged forward again, their roars deafening.

Lin Daochen merely scoffed, his toes barely touching the ground before he soared into the air.

With a deafening roar, water vapor surged around the body, and thousands of water droplets exploded out of thin air, instantly condensing into a roaring, spinning azure tornado, carrying the force of thunder, howling and swirling!

Before the shadow of the humane fist had even settled, hundreds of people were sent flying backward like kites with broken strings. Their bones were not broken, but they all fainted and went limp.

"Hahaha—" he laughed loudly, his voice like the clash of metal, "A bunch of fledglings who haven't even stabilized their spiritual veins dare to utter the words 'slay me'? Aren't they afraid of their souls being scattered and not even ashes left?"

The crowd's expressions suddenly twisted. Fear? How could they not be afraid! But what they feared even more was—to spend their entire lives kneeling and begging for food, only to die as peasants; what they feared even more was that just as they climbed the Heavenly Mountain Immortal Gate, they would be swept off the cliff in the blink of an eye, their very qualification to kowtow to the immortals would be erased.

They were slaves every day, carrying heavy loads, their hands blistered and bleeding, just to exchange for a tattered manual or half a batch of inferior pills; all so that one day they could stand tall and let their parents hold their heads high at the village entrance.

But when one truly enters the world of cultivation, one realizes that so-called imperial power and hegemony are nothing but towers on sand—a single breath from an immortal can turn a vast land into ashes.

What's the point of fighting for glory and wealth? What's the point of seizing power?

Why not refine your own body into a cauldron, forge your soul into fire, and prove the Great Dao of Immortality!

Once the thought was clear, the mental obstacles vanished instantly. The land deeds, money, and face that he had fought so fiercely for before all disappeared like foam.

They finally realized that the only reliable thing in this world is the true power in one's palm, the sword intent between one's brows, and the solid cultivation that can shatter the void and transcend eternity!

From then on, he no longer sought titles or high positions, but only wished to knock on the gates of immortality.

But Lin Daochen stood before them with his hands behind his back, as still as a deep pool, yet he pressed down on them, making it hard to breathe—no matter how strong their will, they couldn't break through that barrier; no matter how hot their blood, they couldn't burn through that curtain of water.

The chance to become an immortal is a fleeting moment, hanging by a thread in this small space: success means riding the wind and ascending to the clouds, joining the ranks of the immortals; failure means falling back into the dust, picking up the hoe and plow again, and being a slave for eternity.

Anger surged through my veins, burning my eardrums.

We can't wait any longer—this battle isn't about killing, it's about saving lives!

"Brothers! If we lose this battle, we will never have a chance to rise again—everything will be for nothing, and we'll be dogs from scratch!"

Even if my soul is scattered and I am crushed into dust, I must not retreat even half a step today—the task entrusted by the immortal of Tianshan must be accomplished today.

Their eyes were bloodshot, their blood was surging, and their whole bodies were trembling. This was the only narrow gate they could use to climb the path to immortality; once they missed it, they would be forever condemned to dust, with no chance of ever rising again.

In an instant, thousands of people surged towards Lin Daochen like a flood bursting its banks, a dark mass, like a looming storm or a tidal wave crashing against the shore. Seeing this, Lin Daochen's lips curled into a cold, sneer.

"Take my life? You're not even qualified to be stepping stones. If you really want to take my life, you should at least ask the immortals of Tianshan to come and take me—who do you think you are?" Before he finished speaking, a cloud of immortal mist exploded around him.

The mist surged like a dragon, then transformed into a raging storm, whipping wildly within a hundred meters and instantly engulfing the entire open space. Golden light burst forth from the mist, and seven-colored clouds surged forth from his body—the manifestation of the Great Dao, the mark of his successful enlightenment.

A slight thought—

The earth suddenly roared! A deafening rumble echoed as the ground tore and bulged, and jagged stone peaks rose from the earth, blocking the path of the crowd. At the same time, Lin Daochen's spine trembled, and thousands of sword energies burst forth from his body, dense as a torrential rain, weaving a net of death that completely sealed off all avenues of escape.

Only then did everyone realize: the mountains beneath their feet stood abruptly, and sword energy crisscrossed overhead, making it impossible to move an inch. Trying to get close to Lin Daochen? It was harder than climbing to heaven. If they continued this stalemate, defeat was inevitable; they could only slink back to the bottom, becoming once again those trampled, precarious ants.

Who is willing to accept this? Who is willing to admit it?

They would rather die on the path to immortality than live in purgatory—being tormented, tamed, and slowly boiled in lukewarm water until they wither away day after day.

So, regardless of the sword energy piercing their throats and the flying blood and flesh, they still roared and charged forward, each step a drop of blood, each step a life lost, just to get a little closer to Lin Daochen.

As time passed, the carnage intensified. Countless people had barely taken a few steps when they were pierced by the sword energy, their bodies disintegrating and turning to ashes. Yet those behind them continued to ram through the corpses, one after another, without hesitation.

In the blink of an eye, hundreds of mutilated bodies were piled up on the ground—some with only half a torso remaining, others with only a charred hand. Severed limbs and broken bones mixed with blood mist covered the yellow earth, a shocking sight.

Lin Daochen frowned slightly, his expression complex: "When did I become an unforgivable demon? Why must I risk my life to fill this ditch? I have no connection with you, nor have I ever oppressed anyone. I've already given you concessions, what more do you want?"

"Take it a step further, kill without mercy. Leave no one alive in this place today."

But all that responded to him was an increasingly frenzied charge. In the blink of an eye, the vanguard had closed to within three zhang of Lin Daochen—and Lin Daochen had already raised his hand to prepare, waiting patiently for a long time.