The problem was a serious one.
It lay with Zhao Zhen himself.
Zhu Yuanzhang stared at the candleholder in Zhao Zhen's hand and drew a deep breath.
A thick, cloyingly sweet scent.
The smell of Corpse Incense Tribute.
"Then there's no doubt about it now."
Zhu Yuanzhang lowered his eyes, avoiding the white fragments of stone rolling across the ground in the darkness.
"It really is the Dingguang Demon-Subduing True Technique."
But according to Yuanhui, since the Imperial Awakening Temple was founded, only Zhao the Great Monk—who had already become a Shadow Walker—had mastered the True Technique within a year.
Zhao Zhen had entered the temple the same year as Zhao the Great Monk.
Like Zhu Yuanzhang, he had only become Gao Bin's disciple in the third year of Zhizheng.
But Zhu Yuanzhang had been only a novice, while the two of them, thanks to their wealthy families' substantial donations of gold to the Imperial Awakening Temple, had been taken directly by Gao Bin as true disciples.
No one had ever suspected a connection between Zhao Zhen and Zhao the Great Monk.
After all, their birthdays, native places, and accents had nothing in common.
The only thing they shared was that they had entered the temple in the same year.
But now, Zhu Yuanzhang was almost certain that Zhao Zhen had some kind of connection to the unnamed Zhao the Great Monk.
At the very least, it couldn't be a coincidence that they both possessed a True Technique.
Zhu Yuanzhang narrowed his eyes slightly and watched Zhao Zhen's figure as he walked ahead, carrying the candleholder.
Zhu Yuanzhang believed he might be the person in this world who understood the Dingguang Demon-Subduing True Technique best.
After dying dozens of times, his understanding of true fire—in other words, his cultivation—should be far greater than Zhao Zhen's.
Although Zhao Zhen had Corpse Incense Tribute to bear the cost, Zhu Yuanzhang had the Great Wisdom Zen Technique to reduce the toll on his Three Treasures.
The advantage was mine!
But Zhu Yuanzhang didn't rush to act.
Even with a seventy percent chance of victory, it still wasn't safe enough.
A life was only lived once. In the real world, Zhu Yuanzhang's principle was to assume the worst of his opponent.
"Once everyone's here, I'll ask Senior Brother to distribute the travel permits from the General Doctrine Office."
Zhao Zhen walked beside Yuanhui at the head of the group, chatting as they went.
Zhu Yuanzhang walked in the middle of the group, with the two little monks Yuanhui had brought that morning following behind. They had also entered the temple in the third year of Zhizheng.
"After all, Venerable Gao Bin is the only true cultivator left in the temple, while Senior Brother Zhao's previous cultivation was... sigh... Abbot Gao Bin told me that if we can't resolve the crisis in the temple for now, we should first send the disciples down the mountain to seek refuge."
At that, Yuanhui fell silent.
A moment later, perhaps thinking of the temple's current state, he nodded heavily and said mournfully,
"That's the right thing to do. There really isn't a better solution."
Neither of them said another word. They only quickened their pace.
The cave was so quiet that the only sounds were the oil crackling as it burned and the little monks' labored breathing.
The farther they went into the Scripture Cave, the darker their surroundings became, until they couldn't see their hands in front of their faces.
Only the light from the candleholder in Zhao Zhen's hand illuminated the path ahead.
Amid the silence, Zhu Yuanzhang asked, "Senior Brothers, what's the history of this Scripture Cave? And what does it have to do with the abandoned Scripture Depository behind the mountain?"
The path beneath their feet rose and fell like a muddy, uneven field after a downpour.
Drawing on the purifying perception granted by Great Wisdom Zen Technique's Holy Wish-Fulfillment,
Zhu Yuanzhang "saw" blood. Lots of blood.
It had been sprinkled evenly beneath their feet, soaking into the black mire as if nurturing something.
These must be the senior and junior monks Zhao Zhen mentioned, the ones who came into the cave to gather.
But outwardly, Zhu Yuanzhang acted as if he hadn't noticed a thing.
As calm as a deep pool.
Since Zhao Zhen insisted on luring them to the depths of the cave,
that meant he wasn't confident he could kill all four of them with a single strike.
So Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to see what he was up to.
The two little monks behind him followed close, step for step.
They instinctively sensed danger and tensed up, but would never have guessed that it lay right beneath their feet.
"This Scripture Cave was made as a replacement after the Scripture Depository could no longer be rebuilt."
Zhao Zhen answered casually.
"Basically, all the books from the original Scripture Depository that weren't burned were moved here."
Oh?
Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes lit up.
If so, then the original copy of the Mountain-Shrinking Fist was probably in this Scripture Cave.
The group continued onward, but at some point Zhu Yuanzhang had fallen from the middle of the group to the very back.
"We're here... Senior Brother Yuantong and the other disciples are just ahead."
A dazzling ray of white light appeared at the end of the Scripture Cave.
It was a Maitreya Buddha carved from the finest white jade. Around it stood pale white candles, casting a ghastly glow.
"What's that..."
Yuanhui pointed at the Lotus Platforms beside the White Jade Maitreya. Each platform held a life-sized statue of a guardian deity, covered in white cloth, and asked,
A trace of confusion passed across his brow.
He had never seen any statues in the Scripture Depository besides the White Jade Maitreya.
"Those are the new guardian deities."
Zhao Zhen entered the meditation chamber deep within the Zen Courtyard and pulled away one of the white sheets.
A pungent smell of blood immediately filled the air.
"Senior Brother Yuantong!"
Yuanhui cried out.
A blood-soaked figure sat on the Lotus Platform before them.
His seven orifices had been sealed with golden thread.
Though he sat cross-legged on the platform, his hands forming the Fearlessness Mudra and his face solemn and compassionate, his smile still revealed a hint of terror.
"Senior and junior brothers, please take your seats."
Zhao Zhen pointed toward the empty Lotus Platforms at the far end of the Zen Courtyard, which looked as if they had been prepared especially for them, and gave a sinister smile.
As he spoke, the candle in Zhao Zhen's hand flickered in the windless air.
The next moment, several screams rang out. Yuanhui and the two little monks behind him burst into flames out of nowhere.
"The Dingguang Demon-Subduing True Technique..."
Yuanhui rolled on the ground, trying to smother the flames on his body. In disbelief, he said,
"You are—"
Zhao Zhen stopped there, holding his candleholder as he watched the others burn away under the true fire. He didn't bother hiding anything.
"I am a disciple under Prince of Zhou. I came to the Imperial Awakening Temple today to fulfill the prophecy and claim the hundred years of fortune my ancestor once left here."
Gusts of black wind stirred around the golden flame in Zhao Zhen's hand, which never went out, making the White Jade Maitreya behind him blaze with dazzling light in the darkness.
"White Lotus cultists!" Yuanhui, already swallowed by the true fire, stared at his junior brother in despair and disbelief. Those were the last words he left behind in this world.
"Hm?"
"What the hell is this Prince of Zhou's disciple?"
Zhu Yuanzhang had just followed the connection between the Mountain-Shrinking Fist and its original copy to retrieve it and enter the Zen Courtyard. Now he stared in confusion.
"Aren't you cultivating the Dingguang Demon-Subduing True Technique from Yinglong Temple?"
"Prince of Zhou raised his army in Yuan Prefecture a month ago. Soon he'll drive out the Mongol invaders and restore the realm to the Han people... For the sake of this great cause, Junior Brother Zhu, please take your place on the Lotus Platform... Hm?"
The candlelight flickered.
Zhao Zhen stared at Zhu Yuanzhang, who stood at the entrance to the Zen Courtyard as if he'd just arrived. He seemed stunned by the scene before him, frozen in place.
His face filled with disbelief.
Before the Maitreya's throne, true fire raged, yet formed a perfect ring around Zhu Yuanzhang himself.
The true fire, capable of burning steel and melting iron, couldn't harm Zhu Yuanzhang in the slightest.
"What are you—"
"Such paltry tricks, and you dare show them off before a master?"
Feeling how weak Zhao Zhen's true fire was, unable even to break through the Mountain-Shrinking Fist defense—now in perfect condition thanks to the Great Wisdom Zen Technique—Zhu Yuanzhang sneered.
In an instant, the Great Wisdom Zen Technique, the Dingguang Demon-Subduing True Technique, and the Mountain-Shrinking Fist began to circulate within him.
"With my unparalleled talent, courage, and wisdom."
Zhu Yuanzhang clenched both fists.
In that instant, flames a hundred times brighter than Zhao Zhen's erupted around Zhu Yuanzhang.
"Let this White Lotus heretic see what true Dingguang Demon-Subduing True Fire looks like!"
Before you continue