The old Puyin's journey home was fraught with peril, and Wheel-Turning King was also far from peaceful. He was ambushed by several Half-step Innate and nearly perished on the way several times. Fortunately, he eventually returned to the capital.
Upon returning to the capital, Wheel-Turning King did not dare to delay for a moment. He invited Elder Chu and together they went to the palace to meet the ancestor, Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding Great Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty, also known as the Hongwu Emperor.
"Master, is your Longevity Dao Art truly derived from that Longevity Instruction?"
After Wheel-Turning King finished recounting the words that Wang Hao had tricked him out of, Old Man Elder Chu looked incredulously at the old man sitting cross-legged in front of him.
This man was none other than Zhu Yuanzhang. At this moment, Zhu Yuanzhang looked extremely old, with most of his hair gone and his skin loose and sagging, appearing to be on the verge of death. He was clearly in poor condition.
After a long silence, Zhu Yuanzhang finally spoke, "My Longevity Dao Art was presented to me by Liu Bowen. I only know that it is Taoist School skill. In fact, the Taoist School deliberately presented this unique skill to me through Liu Bowen, in order to use me to restrain the Confucian School."
In the end, even the founding Great Emperor couldn't help but sigh. Who could have imagined that his Great Ming Dynasty was merely a product of the struggle between Taoist School and Confucian School, and that it was only surviving in the cracks between the two schools of thought.
Even he was forced to constantly fight against the Innate experts of the Confucian School school, to the point that he had no choice but to hide in this underground palace and eke out a living.
Although Innate experts are powerful, they also have a great limitation: each battle consumes their lifespan.
Logically speaking, having mastered the Longevity Dao Art, he should have a lifespan of five hundred years. However, he is only two hundred years old and has already become like this. If it weren't for some spiritual medicines and secret techniques, he would have perished a hundred years ago.
But this is already the limit.
Although he had mastered the Longevity Dao Art, he didn't know much about its origins and had never heard of the Longevity Instruction.
"Whether it's true or false, you should pay more attention to news in this area in the future, especially regarding that overseas martial arts world."
After some thought, Zhu Yuanzhang decided to increase the importance he placed on this aspect. Since his Great Ming Dynasty was already in such a state, it couldn't get any worse, so he might as well take a gamble.
The same scene was playing Taoist School in various reclusive Daoist sects, but what they valued was not the Longevity Instruction, but the Dao Classic that Wang Hao had convincingly fabricated.
After all, that was the ultimate skill created by Laozi, the founder of Taoist School. Compared to the Longevity Instruction created by the Emperor Xuanyuan, the Dao Classic were definitely more suitable for them.
Moreover, Dugu Jian also said that the Dao Classic themselves were preserved within their Taoist School, but were scattered due to several splits within the Taoist School.
Therefore, many Taoist School began searching through ancient texts, especially those from the Legend of Qin, hoping to find fragments Dao Classic Daoist scriptures.
Similarly, the eight major branches of Confucian School also began to peruse their own classic texts.
Although Qin Yan was furious with Wang Hao, he dared not underestimate the Literary Qi Nourishing Method that Wang Hao had tricked him into believing. As soon as he returned, he reported this information to his ancestor and then passed it on to other branches, hoping to find out the Literary Qi Nourishing Method created by their Confucian School ancestor, Master Kong.
The Confucian School remained skeptical of the information Wang Hao had gleaned, given that their Confucian School had been broken several times over.
The first instance was the burning of books and burying of Confucian School during the Qin Dynasty, which almost completely destroyed the Confucian classics.
The transmission of Confucian School today basically began in the Han Dynasty, and very few classics from the Legend of Qin have been preserved.
Later, during the Five Barbarian Invasions, Confucian School was also ruined, and most of its classic texts were lost again. The same thing happened during the Yuan Dynasty.
Therefore, they had no way of knowing whether what Wang Hao said was true or false, but it was better to believe it than not.
Meanwhile, in a meditation room inside the Sutra Repository of Shaomu Temple, Fangzhang Fangzheng and the heads of various academies, including the Damo Court Bodhi Court the Prajna Hall, were gathered together. In front of them sat an old monk sitting cross-legged.
The old monk was tall, but he was missing half of his lower leg. This man was the true foundation of their Shaomu Temple, their only Innate expert.
At this moment, the old monk was staring at a string of fine steel prayer beads in his hand, which were engraved with densely packed small characters. These were the first four levels of the Golden Bell Shield Divine Art that Wang Hao had temporarily deduced at Mount Hua.
Among all the monks at Shaomu Temple, this old monk possessed the highest cultivation level. He was a true expert at the Innate Realm and was proficient in all Shaolin Muscle-Tendon Changing Classic arts, including the Yi Jin Jing, which was exclusive to the Fangzhang.
Therefore, after receiving the remains of Puyin and the others, Fangzheng urged the old monk to quickly comprehend the Golden Bell Shield Divine Art on the prayer beads, at least to verify the authenticity of this divine skill.
This matter is of great importance and cannot be taken lightly.
After a long while, seeing the old monk put down the last bead of his rosary, Fangzheng couldn't wait to ask, "Grandmaster, can you confirm the authenticity of this Golden Bell Shield Divine Art?"
The other monks also opened their eyes and stared intently at the old monk.
"It is indeed of the same lineage as the Golden Bell Shield of my Shaomu Temple, and this Golden Bell Shield Divine Art also has a sense of endless power after the fourth level, so there should be subsequent techniques."
The old monk did not hide anything and revealed the results of his enlightenment.
Upon hearing this, the eyes of all the monks, including Fangzheng, lit up, and their breathing became much heavier.
Although they were all monks, it was impossible for them to achieve complete detachment from worldly desires, let alone be faced with such a lost and unparalleled martial art.
The fact that they laid the foundation for their position as the leader of the Shaomu Temple martial arts world by only losing the core essence of four unique skills shows how terrifying the complete version of the Four Divine Skills must be.
Moreover, they had also seen the golden statue left behind by Puyin, a kind of artifact they had never even heard of before, let alone seen.
Even after Puyin's death, they could still sense a subtle yet terrifying sense of oppression emanating from his body, which showed just how terrifying he must have been in life.
And all of this is thanks to the Golden Bell Shield Divine Art Skill!
"Grandmaster, could you deduce the subsequent techniques based on my Shaomu Temple's Golden Bell Shield Kung Fu and the first four stages of the Golden Bell Shield Divine Art Skill?"
Taking a deep breath and forcibly suppressing the turmoil in his heart, Fangzheng asked the second crucial question.
Dugu Jian has now disappeared. Although he said that the Sword Buddha Yan Shisan might come to visit their Shaomu Temple, this news cannot be confirmed, and we cannot know the Sword Buddha's specific attitude towards their Shaomu Temple, nor his own cultivation level.
If the opponent is abnormally strong, they'd be lucky to avoid being wiped out, let alone obtain the Great God from them.
Therefore, it's best to rely on your own deductions for comparison.
The old monk is the strongest in their Shaomu Temple, and is the most likely to be the foundation for developing subsequent techniques.
Upon hearing this, the monks' eyes lit up again, and they looked eagerly at the old monk sitting cross-legged in front of them.
" Amitabha Buddha, this old monk is not Damo reincarnated!"
Under the intense gaze of these people, the old monk's face twitched, and after a long pause, he finally managed to utter this sentence.
In fact, if he hadn't had to give Fangzheng Fangzhang Zheng some face, he would have slapped him long ago.
Is that even human language you're talking about?
This old monk is indeed at the Innate Realm, but I'm only at the Innate Realm!
According to the man named Dugu Jian, above the Innate Realm, there are the Celestial Person Realm and the Shattering Realm, and Damo is very likely an unparalleled expert in the Shattering Realm.
Furthermore, these Four Great Divine Arts of Shaomu were basically created from scratch by others, which is completely different from his Innate Realm achieved by relying on the legacy of his predecessors, okay?
To ask him to deduce such a powerful and profound martial art is simply asking the impossible.
This indirect answer disappointed Fangzheng and the others, but it was also expected, after all, those were the Great God created by Damo!
After much deliberation, Fangzheng seemed to have made up his mind and said in a deep voice, "Junior brothers, the martial world will probably not be peaceful in the future. With the current strength of Shaomu Temple, it will be difficult to survive this calamity. After much consideration, I have decided to issue this order in my capacity as the Third Fangzhang of Shaomu."
From this day forward, the restriction that the Muscle-Tendon Changing Classic could only be practiced Fangzhang the abbot's lineage is lifted. I also hope that all fellow disciples can put aside all prejudices and diligently cultivate the art, and nurture many promising disciples to help our temple overcome this calamity.
The person who can become the Fangzhang of Shaomu Temple is naturally not bad. Perhaps his cultivation and strength may not be the strongest, but his vision and overall perspective are definitely top-notch.
Based on the intelligence he had gathered, he was able to foresee that an unprecedented storm would be unleashed in the Central Plains martial arts world.
To survive such a calamity, the only option is to do everything possible to increase one's own strength.
Therefore, they not only need to find a way to retrieve the Great God of Shaomu Temple, but also to integrate them into one to create a world-shattering divine skill at the Shattering Realm.
This is no easy task; it's impossible for one person to do it alone. Therefore, the only solution is to remove the restrictions on the practice of Muscle-Tendon Changing Classic.
Whoever succeeds in cultivating it will be a great opportunity for Shaomu Temple.
Of course, in addition to that, they also planned to search through their own family's books, especially those ancient books personally handwritten by Damo. Besides looking for clues about the Great God, they also wanted to see if there were Tathagata Divine Palm records of the Tianzhu Buddhist Order, the supreme martial art of Indian Buddhism.
After all, Damo came from Tianzhu!
However, they didn't have much hope for this. After all, Shaomu Temple had suffered many calamities over the past thousand years, and its scriptures had been destroyed many times. The original handwritten works left by Damo were almost entirely lost, so it would be very difficult to find any clues among them.
Other forces with weaker foundations were also getting anxious. After all, compared to Confucian School Taoist School, which have been passed down for thousands of years, they simply did not have any relevant classics, especially ancient books from the Legend of Qin.
Finally, forced by circumstances, these forces began to focus their attention on ancient tombs, especially those from the Legend of Qin, which led to the rise of tomb raiding... no, archaeology.
Leaving aside the various archaeological expeditions launched by different factions, on the other side, in the Mount Heng Sword Sect, Abbess Qingmiao and Little Long Ling Longling were listening intently to Wang Hao's charade—no, his explanation.
They were overjoyed when they heard Wang Hao describe the astonishing power of the Tathagata Divine Palm, but became distressed and angry when they heard that the Tathagata Divine Palm had been scattered and lost. Their moods were like a rollercoaster.
After all, that was the only martial art in their Buddhist School that offered a chance to advance to the Shattering Realm!
Even the so-called Great God of Shaomu Temple are far inferior to it. Unless, as Dugu Jian said, someone can fuse the Four Great Divine Skills into one, there is no possibility of recreating the power of Damo.
Unfortunately, achieving this is extremely difficult. After all, only fragments of the Great God of Shaomu Temple remain. It's unknown when the time will come to complete them, let alone fuse them together.
"Actually, your Esoteric Sect's Dragon-Elephant Prajna Art should also be a Body Refinement art evolved from the Tathagata Divine Palm. It is said that the Tathagata Buddha not only had Tongtian, but also possessed the golden body of the Buddha. Obviously, there should be Body Refinement inheritance within the Tathagata Divine Palm."
Finally, Wang Hao turned his gaze to the silent High Person Longxiang, a thought forming in his mind, and began another round of deception.
"What?"
High Person Longxiang was completely bewildered. When did his Dragon-Elephant Prajna Art become so high-level?
It's unbelievable that it can be associated with the Buddhist Order Tathagata Divine Palm!