A Feast in Store

Destroying withered grass requires only the effort of blowing away dust.

Crushing rotten wood is as easy as turning one's hand.

In the mountains of Jingzhou, the martial arts heroes who had witnessed the entire battle couldn't help but have this thought echoing in their minds.

Completely devastating, truly devastating.

With a single palm strike, the Sea of Bitterness Dharma Protectors was sent flying like a wild goose falling from the Southern Heaven, its feathers scattered in all directions.

The perfect, rounded energy crushed Master Diantou, leaving him utterly devastated, embracing the rocks and forgetting himself in the world.

"Gao Ye's Plum Blossom Yi Numerology Mystic Art grows stronger with each battle, but what's most remarkable is his ability to deploy troops and maneuver with ease."

The Wudang Daoist priest stared blankly, muttering to himself.

Some people, still in shock, were so focused on looking at Chu Tianshu that they forgot to look up at the shadow of the Heavenly Ranking in the clouds above.

The Shaolin monk, however, was more concerned about this matter and suddenly looked up.

Gao Ye's name has been moved to the Ancient Heavenly Ranking, and after a slight rise and fall, he has fallen to sixth place.

The name of the Great Immortal Zongheng ranks fifth on the Present Ranking, and has jumped up again, surpassing Gu Qiuxing, the Commander of the Brocade Guard, to take fourth place.

Before the Shaolin monks could even catch their breath, the title jumped up again.

Great Immortal Zongheng ranked third.

Fortunately, the third one only fluctuated slightly, then lost momentum and did not surge upwards further.

The Shaolin was restless, his lips were dry and chapped, and he couldn't describe how he felt.

Two hundred years ago, the martial arts skills that the Great Immortal Zongheng displayed in the martial arts world would not even qualify him as a first-rate master today.

However, his suppression of Japanese pirates, his purge of government officials, his crackdown on the Demonic Sect, his victory over Flowing Cloud Manor, and the Poyang Lake Daoist Conference all sowed the seeds for profound changes.

That's why he was able to leave his name on the Ancient Heavenly Ranking.

In the early years of the founding of the Great Xuan, it was said to have fully inherited the ideas of the Zongheng Army, but Prince Xuan Taizu disliked both Buddhism and Daoism.

This convenient opportunity to widely publicize a long-lost "Great Immortal Zongheng" inadvertently further enhances the Great Immortal Zongheng's reputation.

Even so, he could only rank fifth on the Ancient Heavenly Ranking.

Although many heroes witnessed today's battle, the news has not yet spread, and the leaders of each faction did not come.

The benefits of fame have not yet been fully realized.

In other words, the fact that this name entered the Present Ranking and was able to rise from fifth to third was almost entirely due to Chu Tianshu's strength.

What level of cultivation is this?

"Amitabha Buddha, Amitabha Buddha, the Benevolent God of the True Dharma —that's recorded in Buddhist scriptures, it must be orthodox Buddhist scripture, how can you say it's just rural talk?"

"That foolish monk of old was truly a menace!"

The old monk frantically moved the prayer beads, his mind racing, unable to control himself.

"A letter should be sent back to the temple immediately, requesting the addition of a new Benevolent God of the True Dharma to the temple—"

"That's right, those statues of the Great Immortal Zongheng all look like old men. How can they compare to the lifelike depictions I, this old monk, paint?"

The Shaolin monks, upon realizing this, just happened to witness Chu Tianshu flicking his sleeve and smashing the withered bones.

Instantly, a golden glint several inches long appeared in the old monk's eyes, and he no longer cared about anything else.

With a ripping sound.

The Shaolin monk tore off his robe, spread it on the ground, bit his finger, and immediately compared it with the scene just now, capturing the essence of that moment, and painted on the robe.

With a few strokes, he sketched out a framework, and suddenly realized that someone was squatting beside him.

Turning his head, he saw a Daoist priest.

The robe was pure blue, with an even lighter shade of blue lining, much more understated than the gaudy colors of the kasaya. It would have been better suited as a canvas.

The old Daoist priest's calligraphy was also extraordinary; his fingers were like swords, and he used blood to infuse wine.

In the blink of an eye, Chu Tianshu's upper body was drawn on the Daoist robe.

But wasn't that bull-nose guy standing quite far away just now?

How come the angle and the spirit in this painting are 99% similar to the scene I chose for my robe?

"You old man, are you copying me?!"

"Ha, Master, why do you say that? I will definitely finish painting before you."

The Shaolin felt a surge of nausea rise to his throat, which he swallowed hard. The opportunity was too precious to miss; he dared not utter a word now and decided to finish the painting first.

The assembled heroes, barely recovering from their shock, witnessed the actions of these two old men.

The powerful elders of the prestigious Shaolin and Wudang sects were squatting on the ground painting, completely disregarding their dignity.

Many young and middle-aged people were momentarily at a loss for what expression to make.

The older people, however, suddenly realized what was happening and looked on with admiration.

Some people even tore off their sleeves and started drawing with their inner energy.

In fact, there are many temples and monasteries in the world that have added statues of deities such as the Great Immortal Zongheng Diplomacy and the Firearms Guardian God of the Home.

Only major ancient temples like Shaolin and Wudang have been relatively reserved and have never done anything like this.

Now these two factions want to bring back the statue of the Great Immortal Zongheng and Vertical Sects to their temples to gain the upper hand. How can other sects that also run temples and monasteries tolerate this?

It's clear that we were the ones who first worshipped the Great Immortal Zongheng.

"Cough."

Chu Tianshu watched this scene and coughed lightly.

Those who were painting also hurriedly stopped and nervously looked up.

I doubt the immortal would attack someone just because their true appearance has been revealed. Judging from his reputation, he's not that kind of person.

But, in my own life, have I done anything deserving of death? ----No, right?----Or not?----

Chu Tianshu glanced at them and took in all the subtle differences in their expressions at that moment.

Tsk, they all seem to have a pretty good mentality; not one of them immediately turned and ran away.

If anyone feels guilty and runs away immediately, Chu Tianshu can capture them, interrogate them about their merits and demerits, and see if they deserve to be killed.

"It's fate that you've all come here today. Please don't leave yet, come and visit me on my mountain."

Chu Tianshu's figure slowly rose into the air and drifted gently towards the mountain. Throughout the process, he turned his body to the side and still looked at everyone.

Once today's events have had a widespread impact and the accumulated fame has been reflected back, Chu Tianshu will attempt to open up a new dantian.

Then, I will judge people with the discerning eye.

Perhaps, one can try to see through the illusions and discern the true nature of their aura, thus determining whether they have committed any great evils in their lives.

Hearing his invitation, no one dared to delay and quickly followed.

Although half of the stone steps leading up the mountain were destroyed, they were not much of an obstacle for these people.

At the mountaintop, Dream-Eating Marquis and Lan Ziya witnessed the entire process, Shangdu.

The Dream-Eating Marquis thought to himself, "It's a good thing I didn't bet on whether Gao Ye could remove the silkworm cocoon. Now it seems he definitely can't. But, did this old man really do so many bad things? How come it's even more exaggerated than the absurd rumors I've heard?"

He recalled hearing similar things before, but he didn't like listening to them. Taohua Scholar and others often tried to persuade him, saying that those with high positions and power attract envy and are bound to be slandered, so he didn't pay any attention.

Now, thinking of Taohua Scholar and the others, Dream-Eating Marquis couldn't help but feel a little annoyed.

Lan Ziya's gaze gradually shifted to the mangled body of the Master Diantou.

He had long known that his old friend had close ties with the imperial court and was probably only accompanying him at someone else's behest.

However, the hidden strength of the Master Diantou was somewhat beyond expectations.

The rankings on the Heavenly Ranking are highly authoritative.

Each position on the Heavenly Ranking is the result of a combination of fame and ability.

In terms of sheer size, the figures ranked higher, including both their fame and actual size, are certainly larger than those ranked lower.

The problem is that while cultivation level and strength belong to oneself, fame and achievements do not.

While Heavenly Ranking experts can unleash their full strength in battle, they can only borrow a portion of the power of prestige at most.

Some people, at a certain stage in their lives, have similar reputations and styles, or are particularly adept at leveraging the power of their reputation, perhaps even using 70% of that reputation to enhance their own cultivation.

For some people, fame and their state of mind are in serious conflict; if they use their fame to their advantage, it may even interfere with their performance.

Therefore, those ranked one or two places lower can challenge those ranked higher and win.

There have been many examples of this kind of thing in the martial arts world.

The conflict with Lan Ziya was even more intense.

He had reached the point where even when he wasn't in battle, the fame he received from the Heavenly Ranking while walking, sitting, or lying down would bother him.

It would make it difficult for him to even perform normal cultivation, causing his skill to stagnate or even regress slightly.

In this situation, if the Master Diantou were to use that kind of assassination method to attack him...

I'm afraid Lan Ziya won't be able to dodge it at all.

"In my opinion, the person I've known for ten years is, at the very least, a Zen master or a high-ranking monk. Even if he's bound by worldly constraints, he should still have some genuine feelings for me."

Lan Ziya sighed softly.

"Turns out he was an assassin."

Upon hearing this, the Dream-Eating Marquis wanted to comfort him, "How about I have someone dig him up and build him a grave so his disciples and grandchildren can pay their respects? That would be more than enough of your kindness."

"That's enough."

Lan Ziya waved his hand, "Dust to dust, ashes to ashes, a stinking carcass, its body resting with the mountains. This is the true monk's carefree spirit. He said it himself back then, so I'll take it as truth."

Chu Tianshu arrived gracefully, and smiled upon hearing the sound.

"Don't leave it on the stone steps. Shovel it up later and put it in another part of the woods; the skin will decompose faster that way."

"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. I invited Lord Xuantan to this banquet to eat a big fish. Talking about these things all the time is making me sick of it."

Chu Tianshu turned and walked towards the temple.

In the front courtyard of the Zongheng Temple, there were some stoves and stone slabs.

There was a large basin of water next to it, filled with fresh fish and shrimp. There were also several wooden tables with various condiments and drinks.

Yan Shisansheng and others were busy in the temple.

They seemed to be working very quickly, but upon closer inspection, it was clear that one person was delivering the seasonings to the other table, and then the other person was bringing them back; it was unclear what they were busy with.

As soon as Chu Tianshu entered, everyone's eyes couldn't help but drift towards him.

Chu Tianshu had instructed them to stay here and prepare the fish feast, but with such a commotion just now, how could they possibly resist going out to see what was going on?

The battles between top experts are too fast; there are many scenes they don't even see clearly. But the few scenes they do see repeatedly flow through their minds, stirring up countless waves of emotion.

"Alright, stop pretending to be busy."

Chu Tianshu clapped his hands and said, "Since we have so many people, we can't let them just sit there. Go find a few dozen more tables and set them up in the square outside the courtyard."

"Later we'll fillet fish and catch shrimp, grill them fresh, and eat them right away—they'll be fresh, sweet, and delicious."

The plaza outside the courtyard is spacious enough to accommodate dozens of tables.

Everyone hurriedly went to find a table.

Yan Shisansheng suddenly remembered something and said, "Senior, tables are easy to find, but we can't get any more fish and shrimp right now."

Chu Tianshu smiled.

"I had planned this all along; ordinary fish wouldn't even catch the eye of you heroes of the martial world."

The heroes from the mountains also came up to the square, forming a huge crowd.

Chu Tianshu reached out and grabbed at the air, then swung it outwards.

All the stoves were remotely guided, carrying the stone slabs, and steadily flew out of the courtyard, where they were distributed throughout the square.

The tables that the Dream-Gathering Sect had just found also flew out of their hands and into the square.

"Tai Xu----"

A faint blue mark appeared between Chu Tianshu's brows. He raised his hands slightly, and all the fish and shrimp broke out of the water.

Invisible ripples flowed continuously into the bodies of these fish and shrimp.

Fish and shrimp twisted and stretched in the air, their bodies growing rapidly at a visible speed.

River shrimp have thickened shells with barbs, rough scales, sharp teeth in their mouths, and long, tough whiskers like soft whips.

The length of each fish and each shrimp has increased almost tenfold.

In terms of volume, it has increased even more.

As the heroes of the martial arts world watched the fish and shrimp fly out of the courtyard and land on the tables, their throats tightened.

Large fish and shrimp are indeed plump and delicious, but are these fish and shrimp that grow so fast, seemingly in the blink of an eye, really safe to eat?

Its ferocious appearance is completely different from the fish and shrimp we usually see.

"Hahaha, you are all in for a treat today."

Chu Tianshu walked out of the courtyard, facing everyone with a beaming smile.

"I've only recently mastered this technique of stimulating fish and shrimp growth to the perfect degree. Come, come, quickly take some fish and shrimp meat, grill it, and enjoy!"

"If you like to eat raw food, I won't object."