The Foundations of Shaolin Temple

That the Arhat Fist could actually facilitate the marrow-cleansing and tendon-changing process was something Li Su had certainly not expected.

He quickly drew a bucket of water to rinse his entire body, focusing on the sensations within.

His internal energy had already achieved a Circulation Realm, rotating autonomously within his body.

Feeling this seemingly inexhaustible internal energy, Li Su was somewhat astonished.

He discovered that even if he left it alone, this energy would continue to grow on its own; in other words, even if he stopped practicing any martial arts from this moment on and simply let it circulate for thirty or fifty years, it would become incredibly formidable.

This meant that one did not necessarily have to actively cultivate to become powerful.

So that was it.

Facing this realization, a look of sudden enlightenment appeared on his face, and for the first time, he grasped the terrifying and formidable nature of the Shaolin Temple.

What?

You say the Shaolin Temple is terrifying?

In Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, the dignified Abbot was beaten into a disadvantageous position by You Tanzhi, and Jumozhi alone swept through the Shaolin Seventy-Two Arts, suppressing the entire temple to the point where they couldn't lift their heads; if not for the arrival of Xuzhu, they would have lost all face.

As for the later stages, it was undoubtedly even more miserable; if not for the arrangement of a Nameless Divine Monk, one would likely only have one impression of the Shaolin Temple: that it was a name without the reality to match.

In fact, Li Su had held this same sentiment. Back when he first read Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, before the Nameless Divine Monk appeared, he had viewed the Shaolin Temple as nothing more than a second-rate sect.

But now, looking back, Li Su could only feel his scalp tingle.

Is the Shaolin Temple weak?

Honestly, it is not weak—not in the slightest.

Damn it, it is terrifyingly strong, and it is the kind of strength that completely defies logic.

Everyone should be familiar with the saying that expert marksmen are made by burning through bullets.

While talent exists, there is no doubt that they have also fired a massive amount of ammunition.

But think about it: what kind of sect is the Shaolin Temple?

Although it is a major sect of the martial arts world, it is primarily focused on Buddhist cultivation.

Not to mention others, even Li Su and his peers, while they practiced punches and kicks, were merely going through the motions.

Look at Xuanci; after mastering the Arhat Fist, he hadn't been very diligent. Among the group, aside from Xuancheng, everyone was essentially three-parts perfunctory.

In fact, aside from the secular disciples, the monks of the Shaolin Temple rarely had opportunities for combat. Even when they did, it was merely a light sparring session, at most deciding a winner, and most of the time, they didn't even care about the outcome.

In such an environment, what kind of experts could emerge?

Contrast this with Jumozhi or Ding Chunqiu; which of them hadn't experienced countless battles and life-or-death struggles?

Even You Tanzhi had experienced many fights, especially during his time with Ding Chunqiu, where he learned no shortage of sinister and poisonous methods.

Although Ding Chunqiu's techniques were considered evil and beneath contempt, they were aimed at taking lives—they were killing arts.

If you defeat a group of people who don't even have experience in killing a chicken, what is there to be happy about?

Therefore, in Li Su's view, the fact that every monk of the Xuan generation appeared as a first-rate expert was completely unscientific, wasn't it?

Now, regarding the state of his internal energy, he understood.

No wonder the Xuan generation was so formidable, capable of trading blows with a bunch of killers.

Although it had taken him only a year to cultivate internal energy and form a Circulation Realm, and Xuanci and the others might have been slower, by the time they appeared, they would have possessed roughly forty years of internal strength.

While the Shaolin arts might not be the absolute best in the world, they were certainly top-tier.

What is the concept of having forty or fifty years of internal energy from a top-tier cultivation method?

No wonder that in all of Jin Da's books, only in Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre did anyone dare to storm the Shaolin Temple; in all other eras, they were the undisputed leaders of the martial arts world, and no one dared to move against them. I won't speculate on Jin Da's reasoning for writing it that way, but now that this has become a World Fragment, it finally makes sense.

These people are nothing but a bunch of monsters.

If it truly came to a fight to the death, you might win at the start, but the further you went, the more you would realize what kind of existence you had provoked.

What kind of combat power would a group of people with thirty to fifty years of internal energy, who had undergone sufficient life-or-death battles, be able to unleash?

A single Nine Yin Manual could throw the entire martial arts world into chaos, leaving even the Five Greats unable to sit still.

The Shaolin Temple possessed so many supreme arts—a classic case of "the innocent man is guilty of a crime because of his treasure." Although people came to steal, very few dared to come directly to the door to seize them; it seems everyone understood what kind of old monsters were sitting inside.

Murong Bo, that fellow obsessed with rebellion, lurked in the Shaolin Temple for decades; it likely wasn't that he didn't want to act, but that he truly didn't dare.

After resting for a while, Li Su assumed his stance and began practicing the Arhat Fist again.

Things had reached this point, and he was no longer in a rush.

In any case, the possibility of the Shaolin Temple currently possessing the Nine Yang Divine Skill was very low, and as for the Muscle Tendon Change, it was only a matter of time. Jin Da had written it very clearly: many people practiced it, but none had ever mastered it.

In other words, obtaining it was not difficult; the difficulty lay in mastering it.

It was highly probable that, like the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth, it had many requirements, and even if you obtained it, it would be useless if you couldn't meet them.

Now that his practice of the Arhat Fist was going as smoothly as a fish in water, there was no need to rush to find the Muscle Tendon Change. Besides, as a little monk who had lived in the Shaolin Temple since childhood, even if he did find it and master it, he wouldn't be able to explain it, would he?

It was better to proceed step by step. In any case, his internal energy was rising; at worst, he could wait a few decades until Duan Yu went to Wuliang Mountain and snatch the Northern Dark Divine Skill for himself.

As he practiced the fist techniques again, it felt like an entirely different experience.

Between a single hand, a single stance, and a single posture, the internal energy within his body rose naturally; the Twelve Standard Meridians surged along the Six Qi Yang Extension Meridian and settled into the Ultimate Yin Meridian, the effect proving to be several times greater than before.

After finishing the set in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Li Su felt as though he had run for dozens of kilometers; he was drenched in sweat, every pore on his body had opened, and his blood energy was surging.

He drew in a breath and exhaled it slowly.

He could not help but clench his fist, a look of joy appearing on his face.

The effect of practicing it just once was simply beyond imagination.

If left to circulate on its own, it would have taken at least three days to achieve the same result.

One round of the fist, equal to three days.

One hundred and fifty rounds, equal to one year.

If he practiced eight rounds a day, that would be two thousand nine hundred and twenty times a year, equivalent to nineteen years of progress?

Hiss!

Li Su could not help but gasp, his small eyes sparkling with light. By this calculation, a century of internal energy would only take five years of effort?

Of course, it would not be that fast.

But even if it took ten, no, twenty or thirty years, if he could truly attain this century of internal energy, was there any place in this world he could not go?

At the thought, Li Su could not help but break into a smile.

Those Seven-Turn Grandmasters in the current world only possessed three or four hundred years of internal energy; if he could gain sixty years of internal energy in one go, he could catch up to them in three turns and crush them in five years.

Thinking of this, Li Su felt his motivation grow even stronger.

Meanwhile, on the other side.

In the world of Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre.

Within the Zhuwu Serial Manor on Kunlun Mountain, a young boy was busy sweeping the courtyard.

Unlike the other children brought there, although he kept his head low, his eyes flickered constantly, sharp and filled with ambition.

Zhang Cuishan, Yin Susu, and the Golden-Haired Lion King Xie Xun had already disappeared, and the time was drawing near.

"Very good, everything is going according to plan. I only need to wait for Zhang Wuji to arrive, and then I will pull off a switch to steal the heavens."

Clearly, he was the son of the Xie Family who intended to seize the Nine Yang Divine Skill.

However, contrary to rumors from the outside world, his goal was not merely the Nine Yang Divine Skill. For a full century, countless members of the Xie Family had thrown themselves into the fray one after another; they had obtained many techniques, and the Nine Yang Divine Skill had long been locked onto, yet they had never made a move.

The reason for this was simple.

It was not just the Nine Yang Divine Skill; he wanted to completely replace Zhang Wuji, become Zhang Wuji, and then seize everything that belonged to Zhang Wuji.

The Nine Yang Divine Skill, the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth, the Holy Fire Tablet Divine Skill, and the Taiji Sword.

"Zhang Wuji, what virtue or ability do you possess that allows you to own so many techniques?"

"These all belong to me!"

In the same world of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils.

Within the gates of Wuliang Palace.

A young man with a somewhat gloomy expression was currently counting on his fingers.

"It is now 1090. There are two years left until Duan Yu arrives at Wuliang Mountain. The Northern Dark Divine Skill, Lingbo Micro-steps, the Six Meridians Divine Sword, the Dali One Finger—soon, it will be soon..."