The Reversal of Heaven Begins with The Smiling, Proud Wanderer

They colluded with brothel madams in the town below the mountain, regularly arranging for prostitutes to pose as pilgrims and enter specific monasteries within the temple through special channels at agreed times, where they would be used for sexual pleasure.

But this still couldn't satisfy all the monks' lustful desires.

Some people then extended their evil clutches to tenant farmers who depended on the temple's land for survival. Farm girls with even a little bit of beauty became their targets. They used coercion and enticement, threatening them with land rent and the safety of their families, to force them into prostitution.

If there is resistance, families are often destroyed and people are killed!

Because Shaolin Temple had partnerships with local officials and powerful families, the common people had no recourse and suffered greatly.

What a serene Buddhist sanctuary! What a group of enlightened monks, pure of heart and mind! The value of Journey to the West is still rising!

[It's true that the closer one gets to Buddha, the more numerous and ferocious the demons become. I used to think Wu Cheng'en was a dreamer, but I never expected him to be a realist!]

Chapter 26: Neither Betraying the Buddha Nor the Beloved

The moon is dark and the wind kills the night.

Lin Mu stood in the shadows, gazing at the magnificent palace illuminated by the firelight in the distance.

How can Shaolin Temple, with such a reputation, possibly hold the title of a leading institution?

How can they still have the face to enjoy the incense offerings of the people?

His eyes no longer held only the burning passion of hunting internal energy, but also a murderous intent to cleanse impurities.

Having made up his mind, Lin Mu did not act rashly, but instead cultivated in the forest until the fourth watch of the night, which was around 3 a.m., before setting off.

At this time, there is still some time before dawn, which is the period when people are sleeping the most soundly and their vigilance is at its lowest.

The Shaolin Temple was completely silent, and most of the monks had fallen asleep.

Only a few monks patrolled in formation, or a few individuals with kidney problems got up at night to relieve themselves.

Beneath the tall, vermilion wall, a dark figure floated over the wall as lightly as a willow catkin. When it landed, its toes barely touched the bluestone slab before it disappeared without a sound, not even stirring up a speck of dust.

Lin Mu had prepared the same makeup and styling as Ren Woxing in advance, and wore night clothes with his face and head covered in black cloth, revealing only a pair of bright eyes. He concealed his aura and, relying on the exquisite movement technique of "Phoenix Dance Six Illusions", he moved through the temple like a wisp of smoke.

Not far away, a patrol of five monks was marching in orderly steps. The leader was about forty years old, with bulging temples and sharp eyes like an eagle, holding a steel staff in both hands.

Judging from the aura of the other party, Lin Mu believed that the leading monk had at least the eighth level of the Acquired Realm, and his internal strength was even more profound than that of the leaders of ordinary martial arts sects.

Seizing the opportunity, Lin Mu's figure suddenly changed from extreme stillness to extreme movement, so fast that only a blurry black shadow remained.

He avoided the moonlight, bursting out of the shadows and cutting into the patrol squad like a gust of wind.

A wisp of true energy gathered at his fingertips, and he flicked it out with lightning speed—

"Puff puff!"

Before the four ordinary monks could react, they were accurately struck, their bodies stiffening instantly, unable to utter a sound.

The leading monk seemed to sense something, but as soon as he turned around, Lin Mu struck his vital points.

Then his palm lightly landed on his dantian.

"Uh!"

The lead monk's eyes suddenly widened, his pupils filled with horror.

He felt as if an invisible opening had been opened in his dantian, and the pure Buddhist internal energy he had cultivated for more than ten years poured out uncontrollably like a flood breaking its banks, rushing wildly into the other person's body through his palm.

He wanted to scream a warning, but his throat felt blocked, and he couldn't make a sound; he wanted to struggle, but his meridians were bound by an invisible force, and he couldn't even move a finger.

He could only watch helplessly as his internal energy rapidly dissipated, his body quickly becoming weak and powerless from its original state of abundant blood and qi, his temples gradually sunken, and his eyes turning from sharp to cloudy.

In just a few breaths, his internal energy, which he had painstakingly cultivated for over twenty years, was completely absorbed.

Lin Mu released his grip, and the leading monk collapsed to the ground as if his bones had been removed, his eyes filled with despair.

[As expected of Shaolin monks, their internal energy is far purer than that of ordinary martial artists, and their conversion efficiency is also much higher.]

Lin Mu felt the true energy surging into his body, which, after being reversed by the system, transformed into a pure, attribute-free energy that merged into his dantian.

He perked up, then bent down and absorbed the internal energy of the other four monks, snapping their necks and storing them in his system space.

Although the internal strength of these ordinary monks was not as profound as that of the leading monk, their sheer numbers made them superior. As they accumulated, their combined strength made Lin Mu's true energy even more abundant.

For the next half hour, Lin Mu moved swiftly through the Shaolin Temple like a ghost in the night.

The monks in the Sutra Repository, the Bodhidharma Hall, the Arhat Hall, and the meditation rooms all fell victim to Lin Mu's wickedness.

Acupressure, energy absorption, life taking, corpse collection...

Lin Mu's movements were fluid and smooth, without making much noise.

Many people don't even know how they died.

However, not everyone at Shaolin Temple knows martial arts. Most Shaolin disciples only know a little bit of fist and footwork, and have no internal strength at all.

Only disciples who pass the assessment will receive the "Shaolin Internal Skill" and cultivate internal strength.

After absorbing the power of over a hundred people and refining it through the Reversal Star Absorption Technique, he has taken another step closer to the late stage of the Innate Realm.

Lin Mu's actions became increasingly skillful, and his control over the "Star Absorbing Technique" became more and more exquisite.

At the same time, his use of "Phoenix Dance Six Illusions" has become increasingly refined, allowing him to weave through the gaps in the patrolling monks' line of sight, and even use feathers and leaves to refract light in mid-air.

The deeper one's skill level, the faster one can absorb internal energy; the more internal energy one absorbs, the deeper one's skill level becomes.

This has created a highly efficient and virtuous cycle.

After a while.

Lin Mu sneaked into the meditation room of the head monk of the Bodhidharma Academy.

They discovered that the nearly 60-year-old abbot of the Dharma Hall had two naked, ravaged young girls lying on his bed.

[Playing with women first, then chanting scriptures—a skill passed down from father to son, truly a family tradition. This scoundrel is quite the expert!]

Lin Mu sneered inwardly. This old beast was really eating well; he had never even done anything like this before.

You deserve to die!

Lin Mu then subdued the head of the Bodhidharma Academy, who had exhausted a great deal of energy, by striking his acupoints, and then put the two unknown girls to sleep.

To prevent them from shouting and alerting others.

Just as Lin Mu was about to absorb the power of the abbot of the Bodhidharma Academy, the monks who had been waiting for their turn to change shifts finally noticed something amiss.

"Clang—!! Clang—!! Clang—!!"

Suddenly, a sharp alarm bell rang out from the bell tower, its loud sound tearing through the night sky and making the paper windows of the meditation room tremble.

"A powerful enemy has invaded! Arhat Hall disciples, assemble with me!"

"Many of my fellow disciples have gone missing!"

"Quickly report to the abbot!"

……

Shouts of battle erupted from all parts of the temple, and dozens of lamps instantly lit up the originally dimly lit monastery, followed by many torches.

Figures moved about in the firelight, the clatter of monks' staffs dragging on the ground, the swishing of monks' knives being drawn, and the shouts of the warrior monks all mingled together.

Lin Mu calmly absorbed the power of the head of the Bodhidharma Academy, casually shattered his heart, and stored him in the system space.

After releasing the pressure points of the two innocent girls, Lin Mu flashed out of the meditation room, his black robe leaving a black mark in the night wind, and landed in the shadow of the pagoda not far away.

Lin Mu hung halfway up the pagoda, looking down at the monks who were rapidly gathering below.

I was planning to contact them one by one, but since you've all come to me, it saves me the trouble.

He decided to stop hiding altogether. He lightly touched the brick wall of the pagoda with both feet and glided down like an owl. His black robe spread out like wings, and he landed directly among a group of monks who had just formed a formation.

Leading the group was Fang Jue, the head monk of the Arhat Hall. The old monk had a solemn face and a flowing white beard. When he saw Lin Mu barge in, he shouted sternly, "There he is! Quickly set up the 'Vajra Subduing Demon Formation'! Use your staff to block his escape route!"

The twelve monks, wielding staffs, moved at the command, their staffs spinning swiftly in their hands. With a whooshing sound, the twelve nanmu staffs wove together into an impenetrable net of staffs.

Three blows from the left horizontally to the waist and abdomen, four blows from the right straight to the throat, two blows sweeping towards the legs, and three blows protecting the center of the formation—this is the "Vajra Subduing Demon Formation" from the Seventy-Two Shaolin Arts, specifically designed to counter all sorts of strange and unpredictable movement techniques in the martial arts world!

Chapter 27: Prescriptions

"Heavenly Frost Fist!"

Facing the Vajra Demon-Subduing Formation, Lin Mu let out a low shout and swung both fists simultaneously. A layer of white frost instantly condensed on his fists, and the extremely yin and cold Heavenly Frost Qi surged out.

Where the force of the punch passed, tiny ice particles floated in the air.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Three punches struck three long sticks in succession. Those nanmu sticks, which could withstand the hardness of steel, snapped with a "crack" in the cold force, and a thin layer of ice condensed at the broken edge.

"What kind of martial arts is this?!"

Fang Jue was shocked and furious. He had practiced staff techniques for thirty years and had never seen a fist force that could freeze a wooden stick brittle.

Lin Mu did not give them a chance to adjust their formation. He used the "Frosty Steps on Thin Ice" footwork to shatter the afterimages and his figure cut into the formation like a ghost.

With a left fist, he struck a monk with a staff in the chest. The monk felt a chill penetrate his armor, his meridians instantly stiffened, and he groaned as he fell to the ground, his beard and eyebrows instantly covered in white frost.

With a slight lift of his right palm, he gripped the wrist of another monk with a staff, and the "Star Absorbing Technique" was activated once again.

The monk's internal energy surged into Lin Mu's palm, and Lin Mu felt a pure Buddhist energy enter his body, merging with the internal energy he had just acquired. It was even easier to refine than the internal energy of ordinary martial artists.

His intention was to seize credit rather than kill, so he left room for maneuver in every strike; otherwise, with his current level of cultivation, these monks with sticks wouldn't have been able to withstand even one move.

In the blink of an eye, nine of the twelve staff-wielding monks had fallen, and the remaining three were pale-faced, their staffs trembling in their hands, barely able to muster the strength to swing them.

Lin Mu spun around, his fists suddenly clenched, unleashing "Frost and Snow Flying," and an even stronger cold current erupted from him.

A wide-ranging icy aura swept out like a blizzard. The remaining three monks felt the cold air rise from the soles of their feet to the tops of their heads. Their fingers were so frozen that they could not even hold their staffs. They fell to the ground with a "thud," their bodies stiff as ice sculptures.

Lin Mu stepped forward and placed his palms on the dantian of each of the three people in turn. Pure Buddhist internal energy surged into their bodies like rivers flowing into the sea. Their meridians not only did not feel swollen or painful, but were actually strengthened to a certain extent.

This trip to Shaolin was far more fruitful than his half-month of wandering in the martial arts world.

"Demon! Cease your arrogance!"

Just then, a roar containing powerful true energy rolled in, making people's eardrums buzz, and even the thin frost on the ground was shaken up by the sound waves.

It is the Buddhist martial art "Lion's Roar"!

The roar was as swift as thunder, enough to terrify any ordinary martial artist. But Lin Mu merely paused slightly, and the pale golden protective aura around his body vanished in an instant. The sound wave struck the aura and disappeared without a trace, like a mud ox sinking into the sea.

On the contrary, the monks around who had been drained of their inner strength and were extremely weak were shocked by the "Lion's Roar," causing their ears and noses to bleed. Some of them fainted directly, while others lay on the ground, covering their ears and screaming in agony.

Judging from his appearance, he may never hear a voice again in this lifetime.

"Amitabha! You wicked creature! Surrender now!"

Five figures in red robes rushed over, each step landing silently on the cracks in the bluestone slabs, yet exuding a powerful aura.

The elderly monk at the head of the group had a gaunt face and nine ordination scars on his head; he was none other than Abbot Fangzheng of Shaolin Temple.

Beside him were Fang Tong, the head of the Discipline Hall, Fang Zhi of the Prajna Hall, and two elders who were guards of the Sutra Repository, all of whom were innate masters of Shaolin.

The senior monks, seeing their disciple lying motionless on the ground, all turned grim. Abbot Fang Tong, trembling with rage, slammed his staff into the ground with a loud thud, creating a shallow crater: "You fiend, how dare you commit such a heinous crime in Shaolin! Today, I will execute you on the spot, crushing your bones to dust!"

Master Fangzheng's gaze was like lightning, fixed firmly on Lin Mu. He clasped his hands together and said in a deep, resonant voice, "Amitabha. Benefactor Ren, you are at least the leader of a sect. Why hide your true colors?"

Fang Zheng and Ren Woxing had never met before, but Fang Zheng had heard of Ren Woxing's "Star Absorbing Technique".

Fang Zheng witnessed Lin Mu using the Star Absorbing Technique, and given the recent rumors of Ren Woxing's return to the martial world, Fang Zheng concluded that the person before him was Ren Woxing.

"Hmph, why should I explain my actions to others?"

Lin Mu took advantage of the situation, imitating Ren Woxing's voice and tone, and said a sentence. Then, his figure suddenly swayed and rushed towards Fang Zheng like a ghost!

"presumptuous!"

Fang Tong shouted sharply, sweeping his staff horizontally, aiming straight for Lin Mu's waist with a single strike that seemed to sweep away a thousand troops.

Fang Zhi thrust out his right palm, the "Vajra Palm" palm wind as thick as a wall, carrying the fierce energy of Buddhism.

The two elders guarding the pavilion simultaneously flicked out a finger, the force of the "flower-plucking finger" flying out along the stone, aiming straight for Lin Mu's vital points between his eyebrows and dantian.

In an instant, attacks from four top experts came from different directions.

The wind from the palm, the shadow of the staff, and the force of the fingers intertwined to form a net of death. The wind howled, and even the torches around were flickering due to the force.

Lin Mu's eyes burned with fighting spirit, and the Heavenly Frost Qi within his body surged forth.

The move "Frost Condenses to Reveal Clumsiness" is executed, using stillness to control movement, and frost condenses to deflect force.