What major events had happened in Jianghu recently?
The six major sects had come demanding answers on Zhang Sanfeng's hundredth birthday, driving Zhang Cuishan and his wife to their deaths?
Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, and Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Cult had wiped out an army of over ten thousand Yuan soldiers with a force of one thousand?
Hu Qingniu's contest with his wife had caught countless people from Jianghu in the crossfire, leaving Butterfly Valley surrounded?
No, none of those.
The biggest event in Jianghu lately was the appearance of the "Immortal Child."
They said the "Immortal Child" could ride Teng Yun and mist, lived in Heaven, and had heavenly soldiers and generals guarding her.
Others said the "Immortal Child" was a little girl named Zhou Zhiruo, the daughter of a fisherman on the H River, whom an immortal had taken as a disciple after recognizing her talent.
Without a doubt, this so-called "Immortal Child" was Little Zhiruo.
After Ling Yi entered seclusion, the little girl had been very well-behaved at first.
She first went to the first floor of the Trial Tower to learn the Smiling, Proud Cultivation Technique (Human Grade) and Dragon Ball Magic (Human Grade).
It was called learning, but the Trial Tower actually passed down martial arts through direct empowerment.
Not only did she instantly learn the cultivation techniques and skills, but she was also infused with the corresponding level of power, such as internal power and magical power.
After spending a few days familiarizing herself with them, Little Zhiruo advanced from a little girl with no foundation to a peak Human Grade expert-an expert at Master Great Perfection.
In the Heavenly Sword World, even Shaolin's three divine monks of the Du generation only possessed the strength of Innate Great Perfection.
Even in the later stages, Zhang Wuji only barely broke through to the Master realm.
Little Zhiruo had ascended to heaven in a single bound.
Afterward, Little Zhiruo spent several days following a three-point routine of cultivating, eating, and sleeping.
But children being children, she soon found this life boring. With no one here to supervise her, she gradually began running all over the floating landmass, getting up to all sorts of antics.
But aside from some mountains, rivers, trees, and almost identical heavenly soldier puppets, the floating landmass currently had nothing else.
Her newly acquired master, Ling Yi, was also in seclusion, so in less than a month, Little Zhiruo could no longer sit still. Besides, Ling Yi had said he placed no restrictions on where she could go; she only needed to take a few heavenly soldiers along when leaving "Heaven."
And so, Little Zhiruo "descended to the mortal realm."
Though the little girl was rather clever, she was only five years old, after all, and had absolutely no concept of keeping herself hidden.
On her first "descent," Little Zhiruo rode the Flying Nimbus back to her hometown, a little town beside the H River, in full view of many people.
Almost everyone in town saw Little Zhiruo ride the Flying Nimbus low over the entire town.
People in ancient times were already superstitious, and they immediately took Little Zhiruo for an "Immortal Child."
Someone recognized Zhou Zhiruo and came forward to greet her, and Little Zhiruo foolishly told them how she had become Ling Yi's disciple.
The riverside town erupted at once, and the news spread rapidly.
The townspeople knelt and worshipped whenever they saw Little Zhiruo. Some sought treatment for illnesses, some with missing hands or feet begged for immortal medicine, some wanted blessings for promotion and riches, and others wanted a recommendation to enter an immortal sect.
Little Zhiruo could save those seeking treatment for illnesses with healing magic, but Human Grade Dragon Ball Magic could do nothing for missing hands or feet. As for those seeking blessings for promotion and riches, she had even less idea how to handle them.
Yet even so, everyone's enthusiasm for Little Zhiruo did not diminish; instead, it grew.
Being able to perform immortal arts to cure illnesses was already amazing, all right? Besides, she had only just entered an immortal sect. Once she learned more powerful immortal arts, she would naturally be able to do more.
Little Zhiruo quite liked the feeling. She was a child, after all, and being praised and worshipped, with just a little display of "immortal arts" making a whole crowd gasp and shout, felt very entertaining to her.
After eating a delicious breakfast in "Heaven," she flew to the little town at around eight and began saving people. At noon, she flew back to Heaven for lunch, continued treating illnesses and saving people in the afternoon until evening, then returned to "Heaven" to rest, repeating it all the next day.
As Little Zhiruo's fame grew, more and more people came to her for treatment...
Eventually, this attracted the attention of martial artists with ulterior motives, as well as the imperial court of the Yuan dynasty.
After all, Little Zhiruo was performing "immortal arts." If they could learn those "immortal arts," wouldn't they be able to become immortals themselves?
As for whether an "immortal" would retaliate, or whether they might be unable to learn the immortal arts even after obtaining them, none of this mattered to those blinded by ambition. Even if it did, they could force an explanation that worked and hypnotize themselves into believing it.
The first to act was the Shaolin Sect of the Heavenly Sword World.
Shaolin and the Wudang Sect had always been the two sects with a transcendent standing in Jianghu.
The Wudang Sect advocated nonaction, and Zhang Sanfeng knew the whole story, so they could not possibly provoke Little Zhiruo, nor would they dare.
Shaolin sent out almost 108 monks, including the Eighteen Bronze Men, the three experts of the Du generation, and Shaolin's abbot. They had practically emptied their nest.
Once they confirmed that the immortal arts were real, they were tempted.
In Jin Yong's martial arts worlds, monks seldom seemed to receive a positive portrayal. Shaolin in The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, for instance, tossed out a martial arts manual and stirred up wind and rain, tearing Mount Hua apart.
Shaolin in Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber proclaimed that they wanted to punish Xie Xun, but their real aim was to claim the Dragon-Slaying Saber for themselves.
Shaolin in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils could hardly be called a righteous sect either. Though they were not portrayed as demons, the things they did were rather dark.
These monks changed out of their usual kasayas and monastic robes, all dressing in black, putting on black hats, and covering their faces with cloth masks.
While Little Zhiruo was treating people, they attacked directly, in full view of everyone...
Little Zhiruo was terrified. She had never fought anyone before, much less witnessed such a large formation.
Almost instinctively, she was about to summon the Flying Nimbus and flee.
But everyone seemed to have forgotten that Little Zhiruo had several heavenly soldier puppets accompanying her.
These heavenly soldier puppets were terrifying beings Ling Yi had created in the Dragon Balls world using Dragon Balls' fantastical technology, each possessing a power level in the tens of millions.
Seeing someone attack Little Zhiruo, the heavenly soldiers acted instantly, blocking every attack. They retaliated with a shock wave that killed half of them in an instant, then beat the rest to death at speeds barely visible to the naked eye.
To the heavenly soldier puppets, these martial arts experts were as fragile as tofu dregs.
From beginning to end, the entire incident lasted only a minute or two.
Only then did the people nearby finally react.
Someone dared to target the "Immortal Child"? How could they tolerate that? In the eyes of these ordinary people, the "Immortal Child" was their savior, their faith.
When someone pulled away the black-clad men's masks, their true identities were finally revealed.
These were all monks, experts from Shaolin.
Everyone exploded at once. Shaolin's reputation stank in the streets overnight. Afterward, tens of thousands of people besieged Shaolin, which already had only a paltry handful left. It was destroyed outright, even its gates torn down into rubble.
The power of faith was immense; it could drive people utterly mad.
This time, Little Zhiruo was truly frightened. She hid straight back in Heaven and did not come out for half a month, until Ling Yi emerged from seclusion.
"You've adapted pretty well these past few months," Ling Yi said in amusement as he looked at the noticeably plumper, chubby Little Zhiruo.
Was this girl growing in the wrong direction? Chubby as she was, she was worlds apart from the Zhou Zhiruo he remembered, though she did look sweet and adorable.
"Master, you finally came out of seclusion! Boo-hoo-hoo!" The little girl hugged Ling Yi's arm pitifully, pouting as she ate her ice cream.
Black lines covered Ling Yi's forehead. "Swallow your food before speaking."
"Oh!"
"Tell me, what have you been doing lately?"
Little Zhiruo recounted what she had done during this time, placing particular emphasis on being surrounded and attacked by a group of monks.
As she spoke of it, Little Zhiruo still looked shaken. The incident had clearly terrified her.
Ling Yi had actually anticipated something like this long ago, but he had never imagined Shaolin would be the first to act.
Ling Yi found it rather amusing. This little girl's strength had already reached the Master realm, and with the heavenly soldiers guarding her, she could run roughshod over Jianghu without a care, yet a single attack from Shaolin had frightened her.
Since his precious disciple had been frightened, Ling Yi naturally had to restore her standing.
Besides, Ling Yi also wanted to take a stroll through Jianghu.
Ling Yi first appeared at the Shaolin Sect with Little Zhiruo, only to discover that it had long since become a stretch of ruins.
According to the nearby villagers, it was not just the Shaolin Sect. Almost every temple in the Central Plains had suffered, and these monks had become rats crossing the street, with everyone crying out to beat them.
Especially since the "Immortal Child" had disappeared for so long, everyone believed these monks had angered her, causing her never to appear again.
"Immortal Child, huh!" Ling Yi was rather speechless. He had never expected Little Zhiruo alone to send the entire Heavenly Sword World off course.
"Hmph, it's all those monks' fault. Otherwise, Zhiruo would've been having so much fun."