The Demon King, reborn in Japan as a monk

Before the palm strike even arrived, the palm wind generated by the force of the palm strike had already reached Ishihara Sho's front, pushing aside the protective flames around him and revealing the golden shield light inside.

"boom!"

Golden light rippled, and Yang Xiao's palm force was completely dissipated in the ripples. Then, Ishihara Sho's attack landed on Yang Xiao at the same time. It was an ordinary punch, but it directly cracked Yang Xiao's sternum. He flew backward like a cannonball, spitting out blood as he looked up.

This shows just how vicious Ishihara Akira's punch was.

Then Ishihara Akira turned his head and casually flicked his fingers a few times at the Ming Cult disciple who had brought him in earlier. Several flames quickly landed on the disciple who was stunned by the changes in the hall, and then exploded, killing the disciple on the spot.

There's no need for too many people to know about his relationship with Yang Xiao, lest it increase the risk of him controlling the Ming Cult.

Chapter 352 The True Man Enters Dadu

In the martial arts world, especially among masters, the key to victory lies in seizing that one moment. If you grasp it, even if you are slightly weaker than your opponent, you can turn the tide and win, or even take their life. Conversely, if you fail, you are simply handing over your head.

Moreover, Ishihara Sho himself—even if he is now an avatar—far surpasses Yang Xiao, who is a mere mortal, in all aspects of quality and ability.

So after landing a successful blow, he decisively pressed his advantage and, in just a few moves, completely suppressed Yang Xiao, who had been drinking and neglecting his martial arts training since Ji Xiaofu left. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that he later needed Yang Xiao's help to summon the Ming Cult's Dharma King, the Five Wanderers, the Five Elements Flag Masters, and the various altar masters to Bright Peak to witness his coronation as the leader of the cult, Ishihara Akira would have actually intended to use this opportunity to kill Yang Xiao and completely extinguish Ji Xiaofu's hopes.

Then, Ishihara Sho squatted down next to Yang Xiao's head, who was now powerless to resist, and stretched out his hands, using his Double-Hand Technique to modify Yang Xiao's will.

Of course, we should also take this opportunity to treat his injuries, so that he doesn't actually die in the main hall because of our attack.

After a short while, Yang Xiao recovered his health and, under the influence of the Double-Handed Technique, became Ishihara Akira's lackey.

"Summon the others in your name, and say that you want to elect a new leader." Ishihara Akira sat in the main seat where Yang Xiao had been sitting, looking down at Yang Xiao standing below and giving the order in a low voice.

"Yes," Yang Xiao replied.

Then Ishihara Akira's figure gradually disappeared into the air, and Yang Xiao resumed his identity as the acting leader of the Ming Cult. He walked outside the hall and shouted to the guards on his left and right, "Someone come here!"

……

Meanwhile, having temporarily subdued the Ming Cult and only needing to gather the final personnel before officially ascending to the throne as its leader, Ishihara Akira's other avatar, following his initial plan upon entering the world of "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber," arrived at the foot of Longhu Mountain and began stealing its inheritance—

Yes, theft.

After all, who knows what the situation is like at Longhu Mountain? So, just in case, Shi Yuanzhang didn't act as blatantly as he would with other sects or the Ming Cult. Instead, he resorted to his old tricks—directly descending into the body of the current Celestial Master of Longhu Mountain as a demonic incarnation. He stole the body, copied the entire lineage of the Celestial Master from the Celestial Master's mind, and used the Celestial Master's identity to enter and exit various scripture pavilions and secret scripture caves in Longhu Mountain. He recorded the various classics preserved on Longhu Mountain into his mind, searching for the inheritance of the Five Thunder Orthodox Method and the secrets of the fusion of Yang Five Thunder and Yin Five Thunder recorded in them.

Unfortunately, in the end, Ishihara Akira never found the so-called method for fusing Yang Five Thunder and Yin Five Thunder from Longhu Mountain...

Because in this world's Longhu Mountain, there is no distinction between Yang Five Thunders and Yin Five Thunders; there is only the Five Thunder Orthodox Method, a single thunder technique. In other words, if you want to cultivate the Five Thunder Orthodox Method, you must start directly from the fundamentals. There is no distinction between Yin and Yang Five Thunders; instead, there is a division into Five Elements and Five Thunders.

It refers to thunder magic cultivation methods such as Wu Earth, Bing Fire, and Gui Water, and then the key points of the Five Thunder Orthodox Method, which combines the five elements and five thunders.

Although it didn't seem to be the right solution and wasn't what Ishihara Sho was originally looking for, the method of unifying the five elements contained within it still gave Ishihara Sho considerable inspiration, allowing him to find a way to integrate Yang Five Thunder and Yin Five Thunder.

Therefore, after emptying all the treasures of Longhu Mountain and also examining the essence of the Yangping Zhidu Gong Seal in the hands of the Zhang family of the Celestial Master's Mansion, and finding that it was not a magic weapon or treasure, but merely a symbolic object in the world of The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, with nothing unusual about it except for the large amount of faith power gathered on it, he decisively erased the memories in the current Celestial Master's mind about being invaded by the Heavenly Demon or even having the Celestial Master's Mansion's inheritance stolen. Just as he had come, he left Longhu Mountain quietly and, by dissolving his clone, sent everything back to Shi Yuanzhang.

The camphor tree received it and then absorbed and digested it.

……

"Master, Emei's reputation is so great now." Some time later, near Chang'an, Zhang Sanfeng and his companions, who had just returned from their business in the Western Regions, sat down in a restaurant. Listening to the news about Emei from the other patrons, Yu Lianzhou, the second disciple who was the most concerned about the outside world besides Zhang Sanfeng, said with great emotion.

Although they knew from the moment they saw the Emei disciples leaving on the flying flower boat on Wudang Mountain that the rise of Emei was unstoppable, they still did not expect that this time would come so quickly. They had only been to the Western Regions for a little over a month, and even ordinary people who were obviously not martial artists could talk about Emei.

This is a world of difference compared to the past when only residents of Sichuan at the foot of Mount Emei knew about it.

Not to mention, in the mouths of these people, Emei seems to have become a celestial sect, with female sword immortals and the like, speaking as if they had seen it with their own eyes. If they hadn't actually witnessed the power of Emei, they might not have believed the words of these commoners!

After all, in the past, when disciples of Wudang Mountain went out to travel, they were treated as immortals...

After all, he was a Taoist priest, which gave him an innate advantage in terms of status.

"That's their destiny, something we can't envy," Zhang Sanfeng said with a sigh, taking a sip of the tea his disciple had poured for him.

"It's just a pity about Sixth Brother..." Fourth Brother Zhang Songxi said, as if he wanted to bring up something he didn't want to talk about.

"Fourth Brother, I am not good enough for Sister Fu." Sure enough, Yin Liting's expression changed upon hearing this, and he said in a low, disappointed voice.

Seeing this, no one dared to say anything more and could only remain silent, continuing to listen to the storyteller in the tavern recounting tales of the martial arts world, or rather, the legends of Emei.

The scene fell silent for a moment.

"Let's rest here for the day, and continue our journey tomorrow," Zhang Sanfeng said on behalf of his disciples after they had eaten and drunk their fill.

"Yes."

Afterwards, the group found an inn in the city and settled down there...

……

In the blink of an eye, Zhang Sanfeng and his companions reappeared in Dadu, the capital of the Yuan Dynasty, wandering around the city like ordinary itinerant Taoist priests.

"Master has found out." After a long while, Zhang Songxi and Yin Liting, who had gone out to investigate, returned to the inn where they and their disciples were temporarily staying and said to Zhang Sanfeng and the others who were waiting in the room.

"The Ruyang Prince's Mansion is located on a main street in the eastern part of the inner city of Dadu. It is surrounded by the mansions of Yuan Dynasty nobles. Although it is heavily guarded, there are no experts there. With our skills, we can easily infiltrate it. However, the situation inside the Ruyang Prince's Mansion is more complicated. It is said that there are many experts there. In addition to the three people we are looking for, there are also the Xuanming Elders and a mute monk with a scar on his face. Besides them, there are all kinds of elite soldiers guarding it. It seems that it will not be easy to succeed in one strike."

That's right. After returning to the Central Plains, they didn't go straight back to Wudang but came to Yuan Dadu. Their purpose was to infiltrate the Ruyang Prince's Mansion and seek revenge on Yu Daiyan, who was from the Vajra Sect in the Western Regions!

Otherwise, it would be a huge disservice to Zhang Sanfeng for personally coming down the mountain to make this trip.

Chapter 353 Nighttime Intrusion into the Prince of Ruyang's Mansion

"Hmm?" In the dead of night, Zhao Min, who was practicing the knock-off version of the Eternal Heaven Divine Art created by Ishihara Sho in her room, suddenly twitched her brows and opened her eyes.

"An illusion?" Zhao Min muttered, but then she turned around, reached for her bed curtains, and pulled hard on a thin hemp rope hidden inside. Then, all the martial arts masters kept in the Ruyang Prince's mansion, such as A'da, A'er, A'san, and the two Xuanming Elders, came out of the room. The guards in the mansion also took their swords and led their dogs, patrolling the entire mansion.

In an instant, it transformed from a poorly guarded ordinary residence into a strategic location.

Then, with the barking of dogs and the shouts of the patrolmen, everyone knew why the princess had pulled the alarm bell—a thief had broken into the mansion.

"Such tight security," Zhang Sanfeng remarked, having witnessed everything.

"Master, what do we do now?" Zhang Cuishan asked.

“Alright then, Lianzhou, Songxi, Cuishan, and Liting, you guys quickly search the entire mansion and find who seems to be the leader. I’ll go down first and help you hold off the experts here.” Zhang Sanfeng didn’t hesitate much and immediately came up with a solution.

Given the Mongol tradition that if a leader died unexpectedly, the guards had no choice but to either seek revenge or die with him, there was no better guarantee of their safety than directly capturing the leader.

"Then please be careful, Master," Yu Lianzhou instructed.

"Don't worry, these little guys can't hurt me," Zhang Sanfeng replied confidently.

Without further hesitation, Yu Lianzhou, Zhang Songxi, Zhang Cuishan, and Yin Liting shot towards one side of the mansion, searching for those who appeared to be leaders. Zhang Sanfeng, on the other hand, landed directly in the crowd that was growing larger amidst the sounds of guards and barking dogs. He spread his arms and attacked the guards of the Ruyang Prince's Mansion and the Mongol experts who had arrived later.

"Be careful, it's Zhang Sanfeng!" At this moment, Lu Zhangke, one of the Xuanming Elders who had rushed over, was the old man who had previously taken Zhang Wuji to Wudang Mountain but had met Zhang Sanfeng due to Zhang Wudi's resistance. Upon seeing this, his expression changed, and he hurriedly warned the others.

"What? Zhang Sanfeng?" The other Mongolian masters and the martial arts practitioners summoned by the Prince of Ruyang's mansion were all stunned upon hearing this, their expressions turning incredulous...

Wasn't Zhang Sanfeng on Wudang Mountain? Why would he suddenly come to Yuan Dadu and sneak into the Prince of Ruyang's mansion at night like a petty thief? What was he planning to do? Kill an official and rebel?

"What are you afraid of? Even if he is Zhang Sanfeng, so what? He's all alone right now, while we have so many experts here. Are you saying we can't take down an old man who's over a hundred years old?" A man's eyes flashed with madness as he shouted loudly.

"And this is Zhang Sanfeng! If we can capture him, or even kill him, how do you think the Prince and the Princess will reward us?"

Instantly, the eyes of those martial arts practitioners who had joined the Prince of Ruyang's mansion for wealth and status turned red. With a roar, they attacked Zhang Sanfeng with even greater vigor.

"This is really..." Zhang Sanfeng shook his head helplessly upon seeing this, and then quickly drew out several figures, rushing directly to the man who had incited the greed of the martial arts world. He broke through the man's defense with one move and pressed the Wudang Cotton Palm against the man's chest.

The palm strike looked light and seemingly harmless, but the man's eyes bulged immediately after being hit, and he opened his mouth in despair, spitting out a large mouthful of blood, which even contained pieces of flesh and blood.

Clearly, his internal organs had been shattered, and he was beyond dead.

Then, Zhang Sanfeng turned around and faced the others.

Although Zhang Sanfeng practiced Taoism, it didn't mean he had to cultivate his character and lay down his butcher's knife.

Moreover, he was facing a group of wicked and treacherous江湖人士 (jianghu figures), so he would show no mercy or remorse when killing them. He could kill a man in just three or five moves, directly suppressing the greed in the hearts of these江湖 ...勇于) people who were aroused by money and wealth in the江湖江湖江湖江湖江湖江湖江湖江湖江湖江湖江湖江湖江湖江湖江湖江湖江湖江湖江湖江湖侠lad江湖侠lad江湖侠lad江湖侠lad江湖侠lad江湖江湖侠lad江湖江湖侠lad江湖江湖侠lad江湖江湖侠lad江湖江湖侠lad江湖江湖侠lad江湖江湖侠lad江湖江湖侠lad江湖江湖侠lad江湖江湖侠lad江湖江湖侠lad江湖江湖侠lad江湖江湖侠lad江湖江湖侠

"What are you all hesitating for?! Do you think you can get away with this by not taking action? Don't forget, the princess is watching us from the shadows." Seeing this, Hebi Weng couldn't help but speak up and urge them on.

Of course, he didn't just talk; he also joined forces with his fellow disciples, as well as Ah Da, Ah Er, Ah San, the Eight-Armed Beggar Dongfang Zhuo, and others to launch an attack on Zhang Sanfeng.

"Well done!" Zhang Sanfeng laughed excitedly.

It's clear how he's feeling right now.

……

Meanwhile, Zhang Cuishan, who had been sent out to find high-ranking figures, also arrived at the back of the Prince's mansion. Carefully avoiding the increased patrols, he slipped into a house.

What's even more coincidental is that the house he crawled into wasn't anyone else's; it was Zhao Min's room, the one that triggered all the changes!

The two met by chance, just like characters in a play.

"Shh, don't speak. As long as you don't speak, I won't hurt you." Zhang Cuishan looked at Zhao Min, who was the same age as his son, and couldn't help but feel compassion. He leaned against the door, made a gesture in front of his mouth with his hand, and whispered.

"Who are you?" Zhao Min blinked and obediently asked in the same gentle tone.

"I am Zhang Cuishan, and you are?" Zhang Cuishan replied without much suspicion because Zhao Min was a child.

“Zhang Cuishan? The Zhang Cuishan from Wudang Mountain? Aren’t you already dead?” Zhao Min asked in surprise.

After all, ancient society was not reality. Reputation could be spread by word of mouth, but appearance, even with a portrait, was difficult to make a stranger instantly recognizable like a modern video.

After all, traditional Chinese painters have always valued the meaning rather than the form, and very few people can depict the true appearance of a person in a completely realistic way.

It was similar during the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty. It was only with the arrival of Western missionaries, such as Matteo Ricci, who introduced Western sketching techniques to China that the later realist painters emerged.

"How did you know I was dead?" Zhang Cuishan was not truly stupid, but he was relaxed. As soon as Zhao Min finished speaking, he became alert and frowned as he pressed for an answer.

Although his suicide could not be called a secret, ordinary families or servants in wealthy households would not necessarily know about it.

This is different from Emei, which deliberately does things to promote its reputation, so those who know this news must have some special circumstances—

For example, the little girl in front of you might be from the Ruyang Prince's mansion, or an important figure in the Ruyang Prince's household.

"I heard it from a storyteller," Zhao Min replied calmly, her expression unchanged.

“The storyteller…” Zhang Cuishan still frowned, pondering whether or not to bring the little girl along.

What if she really is a relative of the Prince of Ruyang?

Although it was somewhat shameful to do this, for the safety of his fellow disciples and master, the minor moral flaws didn't matter, since he was just a 'dead man' in the eyes of outsiders anyway!

Chapter 354 Force is no match for cunning