The season turned to September.
In Jianghu, the word that the Five Poison Sect had been annihilated spread like wildfire, greatly boosting the prestige of the Great Wu Dynasty.
Apart from that, accounts of the Undying Evil Emperor’s lunatic attacks on various sects to plunder their secret manuals were circulating wildly.
According to the rumors, this was undoubtedly an expression of the Demon Sect’s grudge against the imperial court’s actions, a warning to the court, and an announcement to the world that, even though the Five Poison Sect had fallen, they were not the only force in Jianghu Martial Arts!
Just as everyone in Jianghu Martial Arts waited to see if the court would continue to hunt down the Evil King Sect, or even deploy a Great Grandmaster to capture or kill the Undying Evil Emperor, an even more explosive news spread.
The Su Yin Sword Sect, one of the eight major powers, announced a retreat from the world for thirty years!
This directly impacted the supremely talented Duan Mingyu, renowned for his exceptional skills in both playing the zither and wielding the sword.
It was said that he too had made a breakthrough during his reclusive training and had finally achieved the rank of Grandmaster, but... just as he emerged from seclusion, he was met with the news of his sect closing its doors to Jianghu, demanding that its disciples abstain from martial world affairs, nearly causing him to faint from shock...
Speculation was rife in Jianghu about the reasons behind the Su Yin Sword Sect’s decision to seclude themselves away.
In the midst of the bustling noise of the martial world, Zhong Shenxiu walked down from Huifeng Mountain with grace.
"Huifeng Sect’s Huifeng Swordsmanship... it’s nothing special after all."
He sighed, and a secret manual in his hand suddenly exploded into fragments, drifting with the wind.
"It seems that it’s really a waste of time on these small fries. To plunder, I must target the ’Heavenly Stele’ and the ’Stone Buddha Scripture’!"
No sooner had Zhong Shenxiu thought this than he sensed something different.
He meandered along and turned through a mist, arriving at a small market.
Busy with coming and going, the place buzzed with worldly clamor.
Next to a restaurant at the entrance, a server was carrying several carp, about to butcher them.
Just then, a red-tailed carp suddenly wriggled, escaping from the server’s grasp, leaping in front of Zhong Shenxiu.
It blinked its eyes, and to everyone’s surprise, shed two streams of tears.
"This fish is crying..."
A child eating a candied hawthorn suddenly shrieked.
The server came over, casually scooped up the fish, and said with a wry smile, "It’s rare to see a carp cry, but I can’t let you get away or the shopkeeper will deduct my wages..."
Perhaps influenced by the crowd of onlookers, he turned to Zhong Shenxiu and suggested, "Young Master, it seems this carp has a destiny with you. Why not buy it? Whether you choose to butcher or release it, the decision is yours..."
Zhong Shenxiu touched his face, detecting no traces of the Asura mask.
At the same time, his hands were bare, unhidden by gloves, revealing that he had taken on the appearance of Young Master Shen Xiu!
"So that’s how it is."
He smiled faintly, flicked a silver coin to the server, and said, "This carp seems spirited; its taste must be extraordinary. Quickly, cook it up for me to accompany my drink!"
The waiter smiled proudly and left with the reward money in hand.
After he had left, a thick fog gathered, and the marketplace, the horses, and the tavern...all turned into white mist and dissipated.
The only thing that remained was a red carp that lightly leapt up and transformed into a white-browed old monk sitting in meditation, who loudly chanted his Buddhist name, "This humble monk has seen the benefactor!"
"The great grandmaster’s spiritual prowess has been used by you to construct a spirit world, which almost seemed real enough to deceive..."
Zhong Shenxiu commented.
He knew that his meeting with the Stone Buddha Temple Saint Monk wasn’t real, but a mere illusion created by their spirits being in the same magnetic field.
In reality, as long as one knows the criteria by which the Undying Evil Emperor seeks his sects, and by following the incident locations to predict his next target to intercept him, it really shouldn’t be too difficult.
Zhong Shenxiu was prepared to engage in a fierce battle with the elite forces of the court and to live up to the reputation of the Undying Evil Emperor.
He just didn’t expect that the first one to seek him out would be the Saint Monk, his old nemesis.
"All beings are equal, if the carp is about to die, why wouldn’t the layman save it?"
The Saint Monk looked deeply into Zhong Shenxiu’s eyes with his philosophical and Zen-filled gaze, not caring whether he was the Undying Evil Emperor, and asked.
"The survival of the fittest is the law of nature, why save it?"
Zhong Shenxiu retorted, "Furthermore, I am human. If I encountered a human being eaten, and I could, I might save them. But it was just a fish. Were I a fish, I would wish for water to flood the continents, turning the world into rivers and lakes. But I am human, and naturally, my sympathies lie with humanity."
"What you say is completely different from what the Undying Evil Emperor would say, yet it has its own logic."
The Saint Monk didn’t argue but simply replied mildly.
"Would you, a worshipper of Da Mo, really discuss the heart of compassion with me?" Zhong Shenxiu asked in return.
Although the old monk had some skill and constructed a lifelike spirit world which could deceive ordinary people and even grandmasters into believing they had been drawn into another world and underwent reincarnations and so on,
To him, all of these were mere illusions, unable to deceive the grandmaster’s senses.
"So, the layman also knows of this? We worship Da Mo, believing him to be Spirit Mountain, the Tathagata, the ultimate, the everything... but this world is the human realm. If it became the Brahma Realm and everyone believed in Buddha and became monks, then who would bear children and continue the lineage? In time, humanity would be extinct... Therefore, in our practice, we do not aspire to convert all beings, but only seek self-cultivation!"
The Saint Monk placed his hands together and his eyes revealed a look of compassion, "Moreover... why did the first generation Saint Monk give his life to usher in Da Mo? It was also to fight the true demons!"
Zhong Shenxiu became interested, feeling that he might uncover more profound secrets of this world.
"In the past, the Great Wu Ancestor dreamt of a divine being and received the Martial Arts Divine Power, condensed the Heavenly Stele, which became the source of all martial arts and demonic corruption in this world. Alas, having made a grievous error, it was irreversible. The first generation Saint Monk realized this and devoted himself to understanding the Heavenly Stele, spending his lifetime deciphering another doctrine, to usher in Da Mo, solely to restrain the court and to save the people!"
The Saint Monk proclaimed with his hands together.
’The mistakes were actually made during Shang Jun’s time... Wu Dynasty Grand Ancestor just made it worse... And I won’t say anything else, but to restrain Niu Shenjun, you specifically introduced Da Mo? Haha... I always feel like it was because you thought the world wasn’t falling apart fast enough... Of course, this is also the sorrow of ants.’
"Indeed, Stone Buddha Temple is so noble, I am impressed," Zhong Shenxiu disparaged internally, but his face showed sincere respect.
"It’s not about compassion, saving others is to save oneself. Even ants try to sneak their lives... Now, although the Undying Evil Emperor is dead, in my spirit world, only ’truth’ can exist. The humble monk sees that the benefactor doesn’t belong to the court’s officials, so some things can be spoken. The one causing chaos across the realm is not the Five Poison Sect or the Evil King Sect... but the court itself!"
The Saint Monk suddenly spoke, his tone severe, "Originally, the Wu Dynasty was established by the mandate of heaven, rising through conquering Shang, with a dynasty lasting five hundred years of great prosperity. But the human heart is never content. After five hundred years, chaos began to rise, and the court refused to see its own faults, instead using all sorts of Martial Arts Divine Power to suppress rebellion, causing the dragon qi to wither but not die. The world was divided, people rose up, leading to the suffering of the common folks..."