"Junior Brother? Junior Brother? Tianming!!!"
"Ah, yes, Senior Brother? What is it?"
"What is it? I've called you several times, and you didn't hear me?"
"Ah, no, it's just that I..."
Watching the flustered Monk Tianming, Abbot Tianjian let out a deep sigh. They were clearly discussing preparations for their journey to Western Xia, yet Tianming looked completely distracted.
Beside them, Monk Tianxing frowned. "Tianming, what are you doing? At such an important time..."
Tianwen also furrowed his brow. There was no doubt that their next plan concerned Shaolin's future.
Tianming hesitated for a while, then took a deep breath and pressed his palms together. "Amitabha Buddha. I'm sorry, Senior Brothers. Something happened before I came, and I've been rather unsettled. I don't know where to begin."
Tianxing frowned and was about to speak.
Tianjian raised a hand to stop him, then looked at Tianming with some curiosity. "What happened to leave you so flustered, Junior Brother?"
Tianming thought it over. Clearly, he couldn't keep this a secret. Even if nobody knew yet, they would find out once they reached Western Xia.
"Senior Brother, do you remember how I once wrote out the introductory chapters of three of our sect's four divine arts—the Muscle Tendon Changing Classic, the Indestructible Diamond Divine Art, and the Bodhi Heart Sutra—and gave them to Xuancheng and the others to test the disciples and observe their character?"
Tianjian nodded. Of course he remembered.
Under normal circumstances, this would not have been allowed. Each of these three divine arts was so difficult that even mastering the basics was an immense challenge. They knew the Arhat Divine Art, right? In the past hundred years, only Xuankong had managed to master it. There was no doubt that the four divine arts were even harder.
And this difficulty did not simply come from how hard they were to practice. Their contents were profoundly abstruse.
Without decades of martial arts experience to lay the groundwork, they were impossible to cultivate.
Tianjian smiled. "Xuancheng and those boys have been carrying water every day lately, and the hostility between their brows has eased considerably. What? Did something go wrong? From what I've seen, the effect on Xuancheng and the others has been quite good."
Tianwen and Tianxing also nodded, rare smiles appearing on their faces.
Tianming was undoubtedly very good at teaching people. That was one reason he had become the head of Arhat Hall.
Tianming took a breath and hesitated for a moment before saying, "The lessons did work well on them, but the first thing is, only seven of them were punished, not all eight."
"Hm?" The others stared at him in surprise. They only knew that Xuancheng and the others hadn't been practicing these past few days and had spent every day carrying water.
They hadn't really paid attention to exactly how many there were.
"Why?"
"To kill for the sake of protecting life; to cut away karma, not people!"
Tianjian and the others' eyes widened at once. Those words...!
"Xuankong was the one who wasn't punished. He was also the one who wrote those words."
The three men's eyes lit up. What remarkable insight—he could grasp such a principle. The Discipline Hall would have a worthy successor.
Right, he was practicing the Arhat Divine Art. Good. Once he mastered it, they could start teaching him the Discipline Hall's techniques.
"Besides not being punished... Xuankong did one more thing."
Tianjian was taken aback. He frowned and said, "Just say it. Why are you dithering? What did Xuankong do? With his talent and intelligence, as long as he doesn't violate Shaolin's rules against harming fellow disciples or committing treason, then..."
"It's nothing much. He just learned the second volume of the three manuals I gave them to practice."
Tianjian smiled and immediately said, "So he learned the techniques. I thought he'd done some..."
"What did you say???"
Tianming felt his scalp go numb. "He learned it. One of them—the second volume."
Tianjian's mouth twitched. Tianwen and Tianxing's eyes had also gone wide.
"What was in the second volume? The Bodhi Heart Sutra?"
"The Indestructible Diamond Divine Art!"
"Pfft!!"
The Muscle Tendon Changing Classic might be Shaolin Temple's foremost technique, but—but the Indestructible Diamond Divine Art was reserved for the abbot.
Anyone who mastered it was practically guaranteed to be the next abbot, unless they chose to give up the position themselves.
Monk Tianjian couldn't help asking, "He mastered it? How?"
Tianming's mouth twitched. That was exactly how he'd reacted, too.
Mimicking Xuankong's attitude, Tianming gave a helpless smile. "He said he followed the instructions in the manual, and then he mastered it. Yes, that's what Xuankong said."
Tianjian and the other two men's mouths twitched violently. What kind of answer was that?
He followed the instructions, and then he mastered it?
If the Indestructible Diamond Divine Art were that easy, would Shaolin Temple have fallen into its current predicament?
It couldn't be. It just couldn't.
So what did that make me? What did it make me, having practiced for ten years without even mastering the basics?
Tianjian and the others felt as if decades of Buddhist devotion had just shattered. Amitabha, what had they done to deserve such blatant favoritism from Buddha?
That was right. Tianjian, Tianwen, Tianxing, and Tianming had all practiced the Indestructible Diamond Divine Art.
And that made it all the more painful. Excruciatingly painful.
For a moment, being the abbot or a hall head didn't seem appealing at all.
Comparisons were odious; when you saw better goods, you tossed your own aside.
If their honored teacher Lingquan hadn't passed away, he'd probably be finding ways to despise them right now.
They still remembered how Lingquan had said more than once, "You're the worst batch I've ever taught."
Was it really so hard? Was it?
Do this, then this, then this, and then this. Wouldn't that do it? It was all written out clearly in the manual. Why couldn't you learn it?
Master, you left too soon.
If you were still alive, wouldn't you be so angry your seven orifices would smoke?
The Indestructible Diamond Divine Art—Lingquan's greatest regret in life was never mastering it. If only he had...
Cough! Cough!
Almost simultaneously, they all coughed. After silently exchanging glances, Tianjian and the others quickly composed themselves.
"Senior Brother, what should we do?"
"What should we do? Nothing we can do. He's already learned it."
"No, I mean, are we still taking Xuankong with us?"
"Uh, you mean that... yes, take him."
Tianwen and Tianxing couldn't help speaking up at once. "Senior Brother!"
That was the Indestructible Diamond Divine Art! And given Xuankong's age, if you gave him twenty years, the number one under heaven might not even be someone from the Xiaoyao Sect.
Tianjian took a breath and said quietly, "Every disciple going on this trip will receive one Great Restoration Pill."
Tianming and the others froze. The words they'd been about to say caught in their throats.
Damn, they'd forgotten that.
The Great Restoration Pill, Shaolin Temple's exclusive sacred medicine.
It could bring the dead back to life and restore white bones, and it could also increase one's power.
How many people longed for one?
That was why Shaolin Temple had set a rule: disciples were absolutely forbidden from using the Great Restoration Pill to cultivate martial arts.
Anyone who violated this rule, no matter who they were—not even the abbot—would be expelled from the sect.
That was why, in all these years, only Xuancheng and another disciple had been allowed to take it, two years ago, when their injuries were too severe. Even then, they had used only a third of a pill, and only because they had fought the White-Clad Buddhist on behalf of their sect.
Why send Xuancheng and the others to take part in the Song-Xia war? Drawing attention was one reason, but this was another.
Although Xuancheng and the others had exceptional talent, they lacked experience. That was a common shortcoming among Shaolin monks. So while the Song-Xia war was dangerous, it was also a rare opportunity. If they could take part to some extent, it would undoubtedly help them greatly in the future.