"So you don't have that Great Heavenly Dragon Prajna Heart Sutra?"
Li Xian didn't care whether it was a demonic art or not. Any art that could make him stronger was a good one.
Guan Jing and Guan Yi shook their heads.
"That technique is now kept on the Buddha Son's person. Outsiders have no way of seeing it."
"Don't you have any handwritten copies or anything?" Li Xian still wasn't ready to give up.
"No!"
Li Xian said helplessly, "Then let's forget about that Heart Sutra for now. What other powerful techniques does White Dragon Temple have? Let me take a look."
Guan Jing asked curiously, "Hall Master Li, we do have techniques, but what do you want to see them for?"
"Exactly. These techniques require years of cultivation before you can accomplish anything. You can't master them just by taking a glance." Guan Yi chimed in.
Li Xian gave an awkward laugh. "I just want to use them for reference. Stones from other mountains can be used to polish jade. Maybe I'll gain some new insights?"
"I see!"
The two monks then brought out what White Dragon Temple considered its secret arts.
"Buddhist Golden Bell Shield!"
"Vajra Demon Subduing Fist!"
"One Finger Zen!"
"Buddhist Great Hand Seal!"
"Great Compassion Palm!"
"Seventy-Two Forms Demon Suppressing Zen Staff!"
"Uh..."
Looking at the pile of secret manuals stacked up in front of him like a little mountain, Li Xian felt a wave of awkwardness.
White Dragon Temple might have plenty of techniques, but they all seemed rather commonplace. They didn't even seem as good as Crimson Sun Nine Songs.
If he cultivated these, wouldn't he be wasting his Proficiency Points?
"What do you think, Hall Master Li? Are these techniques enough?" Guan Jing asked.
"If they aren't, we have more."
"Mm..." Li Xian asked thoughtfully, "Masters, do you have any techniques more advanced than these?"
"These are our most advanced ones," Guan Yi said.
"What's wrong? Are these not good enough?"
Seeing the eager looks in the monks' eyes, Li Xian felt bad about dashing their hopes. He casually picked up a secret manual and looked it over.
"Not at all. Thank you, Masters. These techniques will be very useful to me."
"That's good."
The two monks smiled with relief.
Li Xian, meanwhile, smiled bitterly to himself.
It looked like he would have to think of another way. Before that Buddha Son came back, he needed to find a more advanced technique as soon as possible and push his cultivation into the Upper Three Ranks.
Still, it was strange.
Where had this Buddha Son gone?
In Qingzhou Prefecture, in the city of Taizhou, several people gathered in an unremarkable room to confer in secret.
"Gang Leader Cao, how did it go? Was the prince willing to see you?"
A hoarse, elderly voice asked from the darkness.
"Alas..."
A sigh rang out.
From the sound of it, the speaker was clearly Cao Xiong, the Cao Gang Leader.
"I went to the prince's residence again today, but got the same answer. The prince was out and wasn't at home. They told me to come back another day."
"Looks like the prince isn't willing to get involved."
"He's just a fallen prince who lost his standing and was driven out of the Capital City. Why would he risk offending Governor Zheng, who's at the height of his power?"
"Then what do we do now? Who else can we ask to intervene?"
"Who in Qingzhou Prefecture can stand on equal footing with Governor Zheng?"
"The Demon Suppressing Division's Yuan Benyu?"
"I'm not that familiar with Lord Yuan."
"Then that route is a dead end."
Listening to the old monks of White Dragon Temple, Cao Xiong couldn't help feeling a pang of sympathy for himself.
Not long ago, he had been the illustrious Cao Gang Leader. Now, in the blink of an eye, he had become a stray dog begging for shelter wherever he could find it.
And yet, even so, no one was willing to step forward and face that powerful man.
People like us from the Jianghu were as fragile as duckweed in the wind when faced with true high officials.
Earlier, he had been ambushed by the Buddha Son of White Dragon Temple. After just a few exchanges, he had been badly injured. Fortunately, these Masters of White Dragon Temple had intervened and saved him.
That was how their flight began.
It was also from the Masters that he learned Governor Zheng Ningji of Qingzhou Prefecture wanted to kill him and destroy the Cao Gang.
Cao Xiong wanted to save himself, while the Masters wanted to purge their own ranks. So they had joined forces and set out to seek help from the powerful figures in Qingzhou Prefecture.
But Governor Zheng's reputation preceded him. The Cao Gang's web of connections had become useless; not one person was willing to do something as foolish as offending a governor and ruining their own prospects.
Even the prince, exiled to this place, was unwilling to get involved.
To curry favor with the prince, Cao Xiong had once sent enough silver to almost fill West Lake.
Now, the prince had turned his back on him.
Just as the group sat there with furrowed brows, at their wits' end, a voice suddenly came from outside the door.
"So Master and my uncles were hiding here! This little monk has had quite a time searching for you!"
At the sound of that voice, everyone in the room went pale.
"The Buddha Son!"
"How did he find us?"
With a deafening crash, the door was blasted off its hinges.
A monk in snow-white robes appeared in the doorway.
His features were handsome, his skin white all over, like a pure Buddha carved from crystal.
His face was clearly kind and compassionate, yet for some reason he gave off an eerie, sinister air.
"Guan Miao pays his respects to Master and my uncles. Oh, Gang Leader Cao is here too."
"You wretch!"
"How did you find this place?"
Faced with his uncles' questions, the Buddha Son pressed his palms together and smiled.
"By the Buddha's guidance, of course!"
"Bullshit!"
"Is there a traitor among us?"
"Gang Leader Cao, could it be you...?"
Cao Xiong furrowed his brows and said nothing.
Abbot Yuan Hui said, "Amitabha. Don't make wild accusations!"
He looked at the Buddha Son standing in the doorway. "It was one of the prince's men who told you, wasn't it?"
The Buddha Son smiled. "Nothing escapes Master's discerning eye."
"What?"
"It was the prince!"
"No wonder the prince refused to see us. So he's already joined forces with Governor Zheng!"
Yuan Hui spoke to the Buddha Son in the doorway.
"Guan Miao, can you spare your uncles and Gang Leader Cao?"
Guan Miao was the Buddha Son's monastic name.
The Buddha Son Guan Miao smiled without answering, only shaking his head.
"Amitabha. It seems we have no choice but to settle this with force!"
Abbot Yuan Hui's expression was calm.
"Kill!"
Amid the cries of battle, the door slammed shut.
The sounds of fighting and screams rang out without end, but they were all sealed inside the little room. Not a single sound escaped.
A short while later, the Buddha Son Guan Miao opened the door and walked out again.
His expression remained as calm as ever, though his snowy-white skin had grown paler. A few drops of scarlet blood stained his pristine white robes.
It seemed that even the mighty Buddha Son had paid a considerable price.
Two days later, news spread through all of Qingzhou Prefecture like the wind!
"Yuan Hui of White Dragon Temple and Cao Xiong of the Cao Gang colluded with demonic evil and plotted to overthrow Qingzhou. Fortunately, White Dragon Temple disciple Guan Miao saw through their scheme. The Buddha Son Guan Miao took action himself and upheld righteousness by killing the entire group on the spot!"
Before you continue