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

"Alright, in that case, we'll take our men and leave. You have a long road ahead, so take care of yourself. Don't do anything like this again that's thankless and only gets you into trouble."

"What are you after? Is it really worth it?"

As soon as they finished speaking, the powerful figures turned and left. Only after their figures disappeared at the end of the mountain path did they begin to discuss in hushed tones.

"Do you really think this can be pinned on that kid? I think he probably doesn't even know the truth."

The bystander immediately waved his hand: "That's not right—even if he didn't do it himself, he's still involved. The situation is in complete chaos right now; who has time to investigate who did it?"

The others were speechless. Though the words were crude, they hit the nail on the head: Lin Daochen was indeed not the instigator.

While he was slaughtering civilians in the street, another rogue cultivator who had gone mad was killing mortals everywhere to refine his blood and improve his cultivation. He even broke into the palaces of various countries and forced the emperors to sacrifice the nation's fortune... The court and the country were shaken and the people were filled with resentment.

The root of the whole mess didn't lie with Lin Daochen at all. He was just a shadow pushed out to shield others from the storm, taking the blame for someone else.

"Forget it, he's ignorant and clueless, why bother taking it seriously? Anyway, we need some kind of title to quell the rumors—he's high enough and conspicuous enough."

On the other side, Lin Daochen watched the figure disappear into the distance before slowly turning around.

Those cultivators who had once surrounded Elder Ye were now standing there trembling like frost-bitten grass—with the departure of the Nascent Soul stage expert, they had lost most of their courage to even look Lin Daochen in the eye.

The balance of power has already quietly shifted.

His gaze swept over the pale faces, a slight smile playing on his lips, a hint of coldness rising within.

"The situation has changed now. What are your next steps? Will you continue to confront me head-on, or will you back down and shake hands in reconciliation?"

The crowd exchanged bewildered glances, their throats bobbing, but no word came out. An apology? Their sincerity had long been worn away by their previous arrogance; a direct confrontation? Even those high-ranking officials had given them a wide berth, so what gave them the right?

After a long stalemate, one of them finally stepped forward, clasped his hands, and bowed: "Senior, in terms of age, we are only a few generations apart, but your realm... is truly as different as heaven and earth."

They knew perfectly well that if they dared to bare their teeth now, Lin Daochen could turn them to ashes on the spot with a wave of his hand. With those important figures gone, all that remained were easy targets, whom they could easily crush.

Right now, bowing down and submitting is the only way to survive.

Suddenly, they felt a warm, spiritual current seeping into their limbs and bones, and they were all shocked—someone was healing them!

They looked up in astonishment and saw Lin Daochen standing with his hands behind his back, his expression calm.

After a moment of stunned silence, someone finally gritted their teeth and nodded, and then, one after another, they slowly lowered their heads.

"It was indeed our rudeness that startled you, so it's understandable that you retaliated and caused some damage—after all, you didn't know our purpose."

"It is truly presumptuous of me to visit you today; I have not even observed the most basic courtesies."

"Enough, things have come to this, there's no point in saying more. Gentlemen, I do have a practical suggestion."

"I will neither pursue today's matter nor spread it to others. But I would like to offer this advice: if you encounter a similar situation in the future, do not overthink it or hesitate."

"Don't rush to criticize others—this not only hurts others but also damages your own virtue, as you all know."

Everyone nodded in agreement. How could they not understand the reasoning? It was just that they were caught in a dilemma, with the arrow already on the bowstring, and had no choice but to release it.

What else can I do? I came here hoping for a chance to benefit from something, but instead of getting the chance, I ended up feeling humiliated and ashamed to even speak up.

"Logically speaking, as fellow cultivators, we shouldn't ask for anything. However, the path of cultivation is fraught with obstacles at every step. If one remains stagnant for too long and cannot make any progress in one's realm, that would be a true predicament."

"Brother, could you do me a favor? Since you're willing to let bygones be bygones, why not lend a helping hand? It's just a few spirit crystals—for you, they're probably just a pile of stuff you'd be reluctant to put away, right?"

Lin Daochen pondered for a moment, then nodded. Spirit crystals were indeed like dust to him—he spent his years wandering and cultivating, subsisting on wind and dew; why would he need such mundane things?

By giving it to them, he could consider it a way to establish good karma and accumulate merit. Once the thought was made up, he lightly flicked his sleeves, and hundreds of streams of azure light suddenly shot out from his spatial pouch, sparkling and translucent, like scattered stardust, and steadily landed in the palms of more than three thousand cultivators.

"I don't have many spirit crystals saved up. One for each of you is the most I can manage right now. Any more and I'll really be emptying my savings—I hope you won't find it too stingy."

The elders at the head of the group, whose cultivation levels were similar to Lin Daochen's, immediately stepped forward, bowed their heads, and clasped their hands in a humble manner.

"That's only right! It was our recklessness that caused the disturbance, please forgive us, brother. The path of the martial world is treacherous, and we are like duckweed adrift; many things are not within our control. Everyone, let's retreat!"

Before the words were even finished, the figures had already disappeared like the tide.

Lin Daochen looked up and saw that the mountain valley, which had been bustling with people just moments before, was now empty and desolate. He remained silent for a moment, a sense of desolation rising in his heart—he had long expected this day to come, but he hadn't expected it to arrive so suddenly.

"Fate, fate..." He sighed, looking up at the sky, a slight smile playing on his lips. "Why did you have to choose this time to play tricks on me? Fine, now you really don't mean much to me."

He chuckled coldly, his gaze sharp as lightning, piercing into the distance—the outline of the Golden Palace was already faintly visible amidst the clouds. Once he stepped inside and met the Heavenly Mountain Immortal, the secret hidden for a hundred years would be revealed without any way to deny it.

Just as they were about to set off, they suddenly saw a figure walking on light from the horizon, his robes fluttering – it was the immortal from Tianshan.

Lin Daochen paused, then stepped forward to greet him: "I didn't expect the immortal to come personally to welcome me—I was just about to pay him a visit to seek his guidance, and your arrival is perfectly timed. Shouldn't you fulfill your promise from before?"

Upon hearing this, the immortal of Tianshan's expression stiffened slightly, then a cold smile appeared on his face.

"Agree? When have I ever given my word? Do you know how difficult it is to break through to a higher realm? It's harder than climbing to heaven!"

"It would be truly absurd to easily impart even such fundamental methods. This time, I have no interest whatsoever, and I will not give you a single word."

He stood with his hands behind his back, his brows furrowed with an unyielding resolve—he was determined never to hand over that cultivation manual.

But all of this was within Lin Daochen's expectations. As soon as the Heavenly Mountain Immortal finished speaking, he laughed loudly, and with a flick of his sleeve, a clear light screen suddenly appeared in mid-air, reflecting all of the Heavenly Mountain Immortal's past deeds.

The immortal of Tianshan was slightly taken aback and looked closely—his past deeds were clearly displayed on the light screen: before entering the path of immortality, he was a local tyrant at the foot of Tianshan Mountain, who seized fertile land, abducted women, and buried thirty-seven households alive due to personal grudges. His remains are still buried deep in a dry well.

He stood frozen in place, his face pale. Who could have imagined that a murderer who climbed up by stepping on piles of white bones would be draped in a celestial robe and revered as a "Heavenly Immortal," with incense burning so brightly that smoke lingered for years?

Absurd! Ridiculous! Chilling!

As the light screen dissipated, his Adam's apple bobbed, and a hint of panic flashed in his eyes.

He never expected that Lin Daochen held such irrefutable evidence in his hands—if it really reached the Heavenly Court's legal department, not only would his immortal status be in jeopardy, but his soul would probably be nailed into the Demon-Suppressing Abyss for repeated refining.

Although he held a celestial title, among the 3,600 celestial officials in the Heavenly Court, he was nothing more than a lowly immortal who had climbed up the ranks by exploiting loopholes; before the Heavenly Emperor, he didn't even have the right to serve tea.

After a moment's consideration, he suddenly grinned, his body floating lightly up, hovering three feet above Lin Daochen's head.

The world seemed to sink instantly. The gale ceased, the clouds froze, and even the snow on the distant mountain peaks began to fall in a soft rustling sound—for his toes had not yet touched the ground, yet he had already made the entire sky feel suffocated.

But Lin Daochen didn't even blink. His spine was as straight as a pine tree, and his gaze was as calm as a still pool, as if the person in front of him was not a high and mighty immortal, but a piece of rotten wood.

"You know perfectly well," Lin Daochen's voice wasn't loud, but every word struck the other's ears, "From now on, you must follow my rules. If you dare to have even the slightest misstep—these old scores will be laid bare on the Emperor's desk tomorrow."

"Tell me, does the Heavenly Emperor believe your divine appearance, or this screen full of bloody evidence?"

Upon hearing this, the Heavenly Mountain Immortal threw his head back and laughed wildly, but his laughter was dry and grating. He laughed in anger, but halfway through his laughter, he gritted his teeth and stopped himself—he couldn't really be led by the nose by a mere Golden Core junior.

With a sudden thought, he narrowed his eyes and pointed his fingertip at the air: "Lin Daochen, do you really think you are invincible? That boy named Yang Kai... you protect him like your own life, I'm not mistaken."

Lin Daochen's brows suddenly furrowed.

It's Yang Kai again.

I'm so annoyed.

Without another word, he raised his hand and flicked it, shattering the light barrier into stardust. At the same time, outside the South Heavenly Gate, a dark figure tore through the clouds and rushed over—its speed was so fast that it split the sky, and two snow-white cloud bands were smashed into pieces, tumbling and dissipating to both sides.

The heavenly soldiers guarding the gate instantly tensed up, their halberds arrayed horizontally, their armor clanging.

"Enemy attack!"

"Immediately report to the Southern Heavenly Gate Master!"

But when the person landed steadily in front of the white jade steps, everyone was stunned—it was a handsome young cultivator with dew and grass clippings from the mountains and fields below.

But that chilling aura caused the entire South Heavenly Gate to tremble and vibrate.

The celestial generals exchanged glances, and the leader forced a smile, clasped his hands in greeting, and stepped forward: "Brother, which cave abode did you follow? How did you cultivate such astonishing power?"

Lin Daochen glanced at him, but didn't respond. Instead, he flashed a bronze talisman with the character "Chen" engraved on it from his waist.

"My name is Lin Daochen, a rogue cultivator from the lower realm. I have reached the Golden Core stage and am on the verge of reaching the Body Integration stage."

"Please inform the Heavenly Emperor—I have come with the old case of the Heavenly Immortal, which involves the authenticity of the immortal's status and the justice of the law. If he does not come, I will stand here outside the South Heavenly Gate, in front of 100,000 heavenly soldiers, and read the truth to him word by word."

Upon hearing this, the heavenly soldiers and generals burst into laughter, one of them even raising his eyebrows and sneering, a sneer playing on his lips.

"Oh, brother, your idea is quite novel—do you really think you can sit on equal footing with the Heavenly Emperor? Our Heavenly Court is busy with mountains of affairs every day, where would we have time to play house with you? Besides, with your status, you haven't even warmed the threshold of the Lingxiao Palace yet, how dare you compare yourself to him?"

"You'd better assess your own capabilities beforehand! Otherwise, when you meet the Heavenly Emperor, he'll probably strip you of your celestial status on the spot, banish you to the mortal realm, and imprison you in the Immortal Locking Prison!"

Lin Daochen didn't even lift his eyelids after hearing this, treating it as if it were just a passing breeze. He had important duties on this trip, so how could he have time to argue with these gossipy people? These words were nothing but noisy nonsense, not even worth a second thought.

Seeing the several heavenly soldiers standing with their hands on their hips, glancing sideways with disdain, Lin Daochen's eyes darkened slightly. His voice was not loud, but every word was like a nail: "This matter is of great importance. If you delay or give a false report, you will bear the consequences yourselves. As for other trivial matters, I will not entertain you."

The heavenly soldiers and generals were taken aback, exchanged glances, and looked at Lin Daochen suspiciously. But after looking him over from all angles, they couldn't detect anything unusual about him, so they could only shake their heads in disappointment.