The Demon King, reborn in Japan as a monk

However, none of the six major sects dared to step forward and say, "I will do it."

After all, the poor performance of the Extinction Sect had diminished the influence of the Emei Immortal Clan, making it less powerful and mysterious than before. However, the strength and methods Extinction displayed in the battle were unmatched by ordinary martial arts masters among the six major sects, let alone the Stone Cult Leader who defeated Extinction. Knowing that he was no match for Extinction, he naturally wouldn't show his face again and invite humiliation.

"Since no one else is coming forward, let's end this competition here. I believe no one will have any objections to my saying that the Ming Cult has won." Ishihara Sho dissipated the flames burning on his body, returning to his normal state, and said calmly.

The members of the six major sects remained silent.

"Since no one objects, let's talk about something else."

"What does Master Shi want to say?" Kong Wen stepped forward and asked.

“Cooperation,” Ishihara Akira replied.

"What do you mean by 'leader'?" Kong Wen asked, frowning.

"As I have said before, the purpose of our Ming Cult is to overthrow the imperial court. Therefore, we will likely be undertaking some special operations. At that time, I hope that you six factions can exert your influence. Even if you do not assist us, please do not obstruct our plans. Of course, I will also restrain my subordinates and ask them to be discreet during the operation and try not to disturb your people and forces. I wonder if you would be willing?"

"Could we consider this matter first?" Kong Wen pondered for a moment, exchanged glances with the leaders of the other factions, and then spoke.

“Sure,” Ishihara Akira said nonchalantly.

After a pause, he continued, "Furthermore, if any of your sects wish to contribute to the Han people, the Ming Cult welcomes them without reservation. Of course, we also hope that you will not try to stop us. After all, you are all Han people, and you don't want us Han people to be fourth-class citizens forever, to lose our fighting spirit, and to be ruled by a group of foreigners, do you?"

Without waiting for a response from the six major factions, he continued, "That's all I wanted to say. As for your choice, it's up to you. But as I said before, as long as you don't cause trouble, I'll consider it your efforts to overthrow the imperial court."

After saying that, he turned around and called to the Ming Cult disciples, all of whom except for the Purple-Robed Dragon King, who were all injured, "Let's go back."

"Aren't we waiting for Left Envoy Yang and Bat King Wei?" the Purple-Robed Dragon King asked.

"Let's send a retreat signal. Whether they can come back or not is up to their own fate," Ishihara Akira said after thinking for a moment.

“Alright.” The Purple-Robed Dragon King nodded, took out something that looked like a tinderbox from his waist, pulled out the stopper, and a ball of light suddenly shot out from the long, thin bamboo tube, flew into the sky, and then exploded, turning into a ball of flame, which slowly dissipated into the air.

After that, the Ming Cult members did not linger and headed back to the nearby Ming Cult branch.

……

Only after a long while did a dark figure fly swiftly from the horizon, without pausing, directly to the vicinity of the temporary camp where the members of the six major sects were located, landing and revealing its true face—

It was none other than Ji Xiaofu, who had gone out to hunt down Yang Xiao and Wei Yixiao.

The disciples of the six major sects around her naturally recognized her identity, so they did not stop her and allowed her to enter the camp and find Abbess Miejue, who was discussing the next arrangements with the leaders of the other sects.

"Master," Ji Xiaofu greeted him with a bow.

"How did things go?" Extinction echoed.

"I have fulfilled my mission." Ji Xiaofu responded, then took out the food pouch given to her by Shi Yuanzhang. With a thought, she released Yang Xiao's corpse, presenting it to the eyes of all the high-ranking members of the six major sects.

This caused their thoughts and gazes to shift, and they all simultaneously looked at what Ji Xiaofu was holding—

Is that the legendary Jiezi at Mount Sumeru...?

"Well done." Extinction smiled with satisfaction.

Then Ji Xiaofu collected Yang Xiao's body and stood behind Miejue.

"Does anyone else have anything else to say? If not, we from Emei will take our leave now." Feeling that their mission was now complete, Miejue asked the leaders of Shaolin, Kunlun, Kongdong, Huashan, and Wudang.

"I wonder how many people the Emei Sect's spaceship can carry, and whether it can send us all back to the Central Plains?" Tang Wenliang of the Kongtong Sect asked after hesitating for a while.

"I'm sorry, Elder Tang, the space on the spaceship is only enough to carry people from our Emei Sect, and there's no way to accommodate any more passengers, so..." Abbess Miejue said apologetically.

"Oh, that's a real pity," Tang Wenliang said regretfully.

"Are you worried about the imperial court?" Xianyu Chong from Mount Hua asked, frowning.

"Since the Ming Cult has said that, they must have some evidence. In addition, this matter is indeed somewhat strange, so even for safety reasons, we have to be cautious to avoid being picked off one by one by the imperial court and wiped out in one fell swoop," Tang Wenliang said with a shake of his head and a sigh.

"Elder Tang is right," Song Yuanqiao agreed.

"What should we do then?" He Taichong asked anxiously.

After all, Shaolin, Huashan, Kongtong, and Wudang are all in the Central Plains and can travel together. Kunlun, on the other hand, is nearby and not on the same route as Shaolin and the others. If the imperial court is really keeping them at bay, who knows if Kunlun will become the target of everyone's attacks after they leave the group, and become the unlucky ones to be attacked by the imperial court first.

"How about this, we'll go to Kunlun together to make some minor repairs, then return to the Central Plains together, and send the people back according to the locations of each sect. What do you all think?" Kong Wen suggested after considering for a moment.

Chapter 367 The Burning of Shaolin Temple

Seeing this, Miejue couldn't go too far, so she agreed to accompany the Kunlun Sect back to their mountain gate first, and then launch the spaceship back to Emei.

After resting for a short while, the group set off again, heading towards the Kunlun Sect's mountain gate.

"Damn it! Ming Cult, Emei! When did martial arts in this world become so outrageous?" Zhao Min, who was hiding in a secluded place and monitoring the actions of the Ming Cult and the six major sects, muttered angrily.

Although the monk Fan Yao, who was playing a mute, couldn't speak, he rolled his eyes inwardly. Speaking of exaggeration, Princess, the martial arts you practiced didn't seem to be any more normal, did they?

"Princess, what do you think we should do next?" Lu Zhangke asked after Zhao Min had vented her emotions.

“Let’s go back to the Central Plains!” Zhao Min said without hesitation.

Afterwards, Zhao Min, the Bitter Monk, the Two Elders Xuanming, and other retainers recruited by the Prince of Ruyang's mansion, along with the soldiers they brought, set off again, passing through Yanmen Pass and returning to the Central Plains...

However, instead of returning to Dadu, he changed course and went to Mount Song, where he gathered the Mongol army stationed nearby. Taking advantage of the fact that the Shaolin masters were still in Kunlun or on their way back, he officially launched an attack on Shaolin...

As for why they didn't attack Mount Hua, which is closer to Yanmen Pass, it's because the Mount Hua sect's headquarters are on the mountain, and the roads on Mount Hua are so steep that it's dangerous for a person to climb the mountain alone, let alone a large group.

There was simply no place for cavalry to launch an offensive. Even if they had managed to take Mount Hua in the past, the scale of casualties would have been far beyond what Zhao Min could accept.

The same applies to the Kongtong School.

It was also surrounded by mountains, and although the surrounding roads were not as treacherous as those of Mount Hua, they were not places where the Mongol cavalry could maneuver, so they had to be excluded.

Wudang is too far away.

Emei is located in Sichuan.

So after considering all the options, they could only use Shaolin as a target to establish their authority.

It just so happens that Shaolin and Wudang are known as the pillars of the martial arts world. Taking down Shaolin is no less significant than taking down Huashan and Kongtong.

Therefore, the fate of Shaolin was predictable. After a three-day siege and ambush, while not all the monks on the front mountain of Shaolin were killed, by the time the Mongol army entered the Shaolin Temple to take things, there was not a single living person left in the temple.

Moreover, Zhao Min felt she hadn't gone far enough, so after the Shaolin monks had already taken away the important scriptures from the Shaolin Sutra Pavilion during their retreat, leaving only the more ordinary and non-core parts for the Mongols to confiscate, Zhao Min ordered her subordinates to set fire to Shaolin.

Therefore, after Zhao Min led her people away, the entire ancient temple on Mount Song was completely engulfed in flames, causing Shaolin to be destroyed by fire once again!

"Damn the Mongols!" The head of the Shaolin Dharma Hall, who had led his important disciples to escape through the secret passage when the Mongols attacked the mountain, looked at the Shaolin Mountain Gate engulfed in flames and roared loudly with a red face and a fierce expression.

It is evident how resentful and agitated he was at that moment.

……

Meanwhile, after sending the Kunlun Sect back to its mountain gate, and at the request of the Huashan and Kongtong Sects, and following the Shaolin and Wudang Sects, sending back the Huashan Sect located in Huayin and the Kongtong Sect in Gansu and Shaanxi, Miejue decisively ordered Ishihara Zhang to summon the spaceship, which carried the Emei disciples back to Mount Emei.

She had no interest in accompanying Shaolin and Wudang on this trip.

At least her relationship with Shaolin Temple isn't that good yet.

Although, as things stand now, Shaolin and Emei are both Buddhist sects, while Wudang is a Taoist sect.

But they couldn't resist the fact that their Emei founder, Guo Xiang, was related to Zhang Sanfeng. So if there was only Wudang, considering that it was somewhat on the way, Miejue wouldn't mind giving them a ride. But Shaolin...

The two sides are not even on the same map. Without any benefit to her, Emei has no obligation to act as Shaolin's babysitter.

That's the core reason why she decisively left.

The people from Shaolin and Wudang were taken aback by Miejue's decisive choice and looked at each other in bewilderment, unsure of what to say. However, after traveling a certain distance, they parted ways. One continued to travel by land back to Songshan, while the other traveled by water in the Gansu-Shaanxi region, heading back to Wudang Mountain.

As for what will happen to Shaolin afterward, or how he will react when he returns to Shaolin and sees the tragic state of Shaolin Temple, let's leave that aside and talk about Emei.

After a period of high-speed travel, the group from Emei finally returned to Mount Emei, disembarked from the spaceship, and happily returned to their rooms.

The only difference was that Miejue took the sac containing Yang Xiao's body from Ji Xiaofu, went to the place where Emei disciples were buried in the back mountain, and went to pay her respects to her senior brother Gu Hongzi, leaving Ji Xiaofu with Shi Yuanzhang.

Ishihara Sho didn't hold back either, immediately suppressing the second personality within Ji Xiaofu and releasing Ji Xiaofu's true personality.

Having regained her original appearance, Ji Xiaofu didn't say anything. After giving Shi Yuanzhang a deep look, she ran out and chased after Miejue in the direction she had left.

Ishihara Akira smiled and followed.

And so, one after the other, the three of them arrived at Gu Hongzi's grave.

"Master," Ji Xiaofu called out to Miejue, who had already cut off Yang Xiao's head and placed it in front of Gu Hongzi's grave as an offering.

"Are you here to retrieve Yang Xiao's body?" Miejue asked without turning her head.

"Yes," Ji Xiaofu hesitated for a moment before confirming.

"Take it away." Miejue didn't get angry or anything, and said very calmly.

"Thank you, Master," Ji Xiaofu said happily.

At the same time, he quickly caught the sac that Extinction threw at him and walked towards Yang Xiao's head, which was placed on Gu Hongzi's grave...

"Come back for your head in seven days." Miejue waved her hand, unleashing a sword aura that stopped Ji Xiaofu's actions, and said calmly.

"This... is." Not wanting to anger her master, Ji Xiaofu agreed after hesitating for a while.

Then he looked at Ishihara Sho, and seeing that he had nothing to say, he left and returned to the mountain gate.

Then Ishihara Sho stepped forward and hugged Extinction's waist from behind.

"What are you going to do?" Miejue asked, her expression slightly changing.

"Since it's a tribute, why not tell Gu Hongzi about our relationship as well?" Shi Yuanzhang rudely reached into Miejue's inner garment, grabbing the treasure that Gu Hongzi had never been able to touch in his entire life, and chuckled wickedly.

"You, let go!" Miejue said angrily.

"What? Scared?" As he spoke, Ishihara Sho went even further, directly using acupressure techniques from the Nine Yin Manual to immobilize Miejue, then ignoring her rage-distorted expression, he continued his actions—

They transformed the extinction into a large white sheep, and then used their actions to pay homage to the lone goose before them, as well as Yang Xiao, who could be considered a bystander.

Chapter 368 The Election of the Emperor

Ever since the six major sects attacked Bright Peak and were blocked at Yanmen Pass by the new leader of the Ming Cult, Shi, along with three of the Four Great Protectors, the Five Wanderers, and Yang Xiao, the entire martial arts world, and even the entire imperial court, has entered a state of turmoil and uncertainty.

First, there was Shaolin Temple. Not only was it besieged and annihilated by the Mongol army, but afterwards, the centuries-old Shaolin Temple complex was burned down. The casualties and losses were extremely heavy, and it is safe to say that it would be impossible to recover in less than a hundred years.

Therefore, Shaolin's choice was simple: as soon as Kong Wen and other masters returned to Shaolin, they announced that Shaolin would be closed for a hundred years and would refuse all Jianghu affairs.