A World-Shaking Sound

Spring departed and autumn arrived; flowers bloomed and withered.

Two years passed in the blink of an eye.

It was the same place, and the same eight people.

Xuancheng's Dragon-Capturing Skill had reached completion, and he had begun practicing the Daluoye Finger. However, being a martial arts fanatic, his progress this time was not particularly fast, as he had poured most of his energy into the Great Strength Vajra Palm—or rather, into the cultivation of his Vajra True Qi.

Xuanci was doing well too, though he did not choose the same finger techniques as Xuancheng; instead, he sought out a palm technique, the Thousand-Hand Tathagata Palm, to practice. This palm technique possessed myriad variations and was incredibly complex, yet it complemented his temperament perfectly, and his progress was steady.

Then there were Xuanji and the others, who had also begun learning new martial arts one after another.

Finally, there was Li Su.

Unlike the others, Li Su had not learned any new skills over these past two years; he had simply continued to practice the Arhat Fist and the Arhat Divine Art.

His progress was excellent, and the vision of the Arhat he had once glimpsed was becoming increasingly clear.

His Arhat True Qi was advancing by leaps and bounds every day.

Originally, the speed at which one could refine Arhat Qi by practicing the Arhat Fist was already far beyond that of ordinary people, and under the refinement of the Arhat Divine Art, a single day's work yielded results equivalent to several, or even a dozen, days for others.

Under such circumstances, Li Su's progress could well be imagined.

In just one year, his Arhat True Qi had reached a remarkably robust level.

And with the cultivation of the Arhat Divine Art, Li Su, who had just turned fourteen, had grown quite tall, nearing one hundred and eighty centimeters.

At this rate, he would likely exceed two meters by the time he reached eighteen.

After a few months of cooling off, the disciples of Shaolin Temple had also calmed down and no longer crowded around to watch him.

However, for some reason, Li Su felt a sense of unease.

The atmosphere was far too strange.

It was one thing for the lower ranks, but for these past two years, it seemed that everyone from the top down—whether it was the Tian generation or the Xuan generation—was in the midst of cultivation.

If this were any other prestigious sect, it would not be strange.

But Shaolin Temple was different.

This was a Buddhist sect; martial arts were merely supplementary, while Buddhist studies were the true path.

Yet, even the old monk Tianming, who had previously spent his days idling and chanting sutras, had begun to cultivate; every time Li Su saw him, he found him practicing or training.

A few months ago, the old monk had even sought him out specifically, wanting to see his Formless Calamity Finger.

This was too bizarre.

He always felt that beneath the seemingly calm surface of the Tian generation, there was a heavy, suppressed tension, as if something were brewing.

But it didn't matter. When the sky falls, there are taller people to hold it up. Although Li Su performed well, he could not change the fact that he was still a child. Once his generation grew up, Xuancheng and the others would likely be enough to shock the world.

In any case, the occasional posturing of the White-Clad Buddhist was fine.

But the life-or-death struggles of people like Xiao Feng were best avoided.

It was only because they had the destiny of protagonists that they survived; otherwise, they would have died countless times. Take Duan Yu, for instance—if the South Sea Crocodile God hadn't had a lapse in judgment, Duan Yu would have died many times over.

The same went for Xuzhu; if Ding Chunqiu had added even a hint of poison when he grabbed him, he would have been finished too.

Therefore, staying alive was all just protagonist luck.

Hoo!

Exhaling a long breath, Li Su put away the Arhat Divine Art.

He was nearing the end.

Although there was still some distance to go, he could already feel that the Arhat Divine Art was nearing its limit.

Mind you, "nearing the end" here did not mean the technique could no longer be practiced or that it was maxed out.

As mentioned before, any technique, even the most basic Arhat Fist, could be practiced for ten or twenty years.

The so-called "end" referred to the nature of the Arhat Divine Art itself nearing its limit.

The Great Completion Arhat Golden Body was the limit of the Arhat Divine Art; while one's internal power could continue to increase, this limit could not be broken. It made sense, after all—otherwise, if one could just keep cultivating like this forever, what would the world become?

The Arhat Divine Art was an internal cultivation method that enhanced the strength of the meridians.

Perhaps it could not compare to the all-encompassing nature of the Nine Yang Divine Skill, but it was definitely top-tier. If not for the fact that its cultivation required extremely high aptitude (though Li Su had not felt this himself), every disciple in Shaolin Temple would likely have practiced it.

Of course, even if the nature of the technique was nearing its limit, Li Su was still lacking in terms of perfection.

His Arhat True Qi had not yet permeated all the meridians of his body; it had only reached Great Completion in the main channels. While the secondary, smaller paths had also improved, they were far from reaching the level of the main channels.

However, cultivating those areas would undoubtedly be difficult.

It was much like the Formless Calamity Finger—a task of grinding, requiring the accumulation of time to eventually reach the goal.

But clearly, once he reached the end, he would have more free time, as he would no longer need to cultivate without a moment's rest as he did now.

Li Su was not anxious. He had not forgotten his purpose for coming to this world. The Nine Yang Manual was already in his hands; although he could not practice it in this world, he now possessed a supreme divine skill, and he could always practice it in the next world.

Therefore, he began to gradually slow down, not rushing to push the Arhat Divine Art to Great Completion all at once.

After all, he had not forgotten the nature of Shaolin martial arts: without the corresponding state of mind, it was very easy to suffer from Qi deviation.

He wondered what cultivation method would be passed down to him next.

Although he had slowed his pace, Li Su could not help but imagine the techniques he might cultivate in the future.

The Muscle Tendon Changing Classic? The Indestructible Diamond Divine Art?

That seemed unlikely.

After all, those were techniques that only a Chief could cultivate.

The Indestructible Diamond Divine Art, in particular, had even higher requirements than the Muscle Tendon Changing Classic; only the Chief of the Bodhidharma Institute could practice it. Once mastered, one became a candidate for Abbot, and unless one chose to renounce it, they were destined to be the future Abbot of Shaolin Temple.

Even though the Arhat Divine Art provided a solid foundation that made practicing these two techniques much simpler, Li Su did not believe he could reach such heights so easily.

Therefore, it was more likely that he would be taught another palm technique to continue honing his skills.

Of course, it was also possible that he would be advised to slow down.

Still, he was filled with anticipation.

After all, these were two great divine arts, their reputations no less formidable than the Nine Yang Divine Skill. There was no need to elaborate on how fierce the Indestructible Diamond Divine Art was; when the Golden-Haired Lion King Xie Xun mastered the Seven-Injury Fist and struck twelve consecutive blows, had it not been for the kindness of Master Kongjian, the recoil force alone would likely have claimed the man's life.

As for the Muscle Tendon Changing Classic, there was no need to even mention it; there were simply too many examples to count.

While Shaolin Temple continued to train its disciples, a piece of news suddenly spread across the entire martial arts world with lightning speed.

Like a thunderclap on a clear day, it shattered everyone's composure.

Li Yuanhao, the ruler of Western Xia, had torn up the ceasefire agreement with the Song Dynasty.

He raised an army of one hundred thousand and marched his forces to attack the Song!

The news of one hundred thousand mighty troops invading the Song shocked the imperial court, and even the martial arts world, far removed from the halls of power, felt an unprecedented pressure.

Not long after the Battle of Haoshui River, a new war had erupted, leaving the hearts of people across the land in a state of panic.

Shortly thereafter, Guan Tiannan, leader of the Beggar Sect, issued a martial arts summons, calling upon the warriors of the world to gather at Yanan Prefecture to deliberate on the great cause!

In an instant, the martial arts world was stirred into a frenzy, and heroes from the Central Plains began to journey there one after another.