Tianshan Tonglao grew anxious and said, "But Ding Chunqiu has already..."
Before she could finish, Song Qingshu cut her off. "Since an outsider like me knew about your plan, Shaolin may well have known too. Didn't that monk Xuan Cheng risk his life to get in because he wanted Senior Wuyazi's vast inner power?"
"Watch your filthy mouth!" A monk from Shaolin immediately spoke up. "Xuan Cheng has mastered thirteen ultimate arts, and his inner power is extraordinary. Why would he covet someone else's inner power?"
Wuyazi nodded as well. "Indeed. Master Xuan Cheng's inner power may not be inferior to mine. It makes little sense to say he went to such lengths for my cultivation."
Chen Jialuo, standing nearby, could not help but snort. "Shaolin's eminent monks are renowned for their virtue. How could they employ such underhanded schemes? On the contrary, some people are sowing discord between both sides. One wonders what their true intentions are."
Song Qingshu glanced at him but had no interest in responding. They were no longer people on the same level. He explained directly to Wuyazi, "Senior, you may not know this, but however upright and peaceful Shaolin martial arts may be, they are still arts meant for killing. To cultivate even one ultimate art requires corresponding Buddhist teachings to neutralize its effects. Yet the deeper one's Buddhist understanding becomes, the less one is willing to spend time learning such killing arts. That is why, throughout Shaolin's history, the most anyone has achieved has been twelve ultimate arts at once."
Master Yideng nodded slightly. "That is indeed so." As one of the foremost masters of the age and a Buddhist himself, he had vaguely seen through the connection long ago.
Song Qingshu continued, "As for Master Xuan Cheng, he was wholly devoted to