A Single Step Spanned a Thousand Li

Mo Wenjian had thought that, after having a nightmare during the night, Zhu Zhanshan would surely sleep in to make up for it.

To his surprise, Zhu Zhanshan got up early to practice swordsmanship as usual, dark circles around his eyes.

Such diligence and hard work left Mo Wenjian a little surprised.

If students in the twenty-first century had all been as self-disciplined as Zhu Zhanshan, countless parents would probably have wept for joy.

A sensible little brat was always easy to like.

The more Mo Wenjian saw of Zhu Zhanshan, the more pleasing he found him.

"Your Highness, how long have you been away from the Capital?" Mo Wenjian walked over and asked, seemingly in passing.

"The journey from the Capital to Mount Wudang took nearly two months, I think!" Zhu Zhanshan instinctively put away his sword and gave Mo Wenjian the formal salute between master and disciple.

"I want to go to the Capital and take in the sights of the Forbidden City. Would you like to come with me?" Mo Wenjian had long heard of the Palace Museum's majestic splendor, but had never visited it. When he was on Earth, he had been reluctant to spend the money on a trip there. In the National Martial Arts World, he had not wanted to go there and see money-rat-tail queues. Now that he had arrived in the Wuxia Great Ming World, Mo Wenjian had taken an interest in visiting it.

"I could hardly ask for anything more!" Zhu Zhanshan was still a little brat, after all. Unable to hide what was on his mind, he could not help showing his delight.

"Since you agree, let's set out now!" As Mo Wenjian spoke, he wrapped Zhu Zhanshan and his master in Chaos Sword Gang.

Mo Wenjian used a space-folding technique to fold together spatial points a thousand li apart.

With his first step, he went from Wudang to Henan.

With his second step, he went from Henan to Hebei.

With his third step, he went from Hebei to the Capital.

Mo Wenjian's final landing place was the Hall of Supreme Harmony at the center of the Forbidden City.

It happened to be the morning court session, and Zhu Di was receiving his civil and military officials.

The three people who had appeared out of nowhere immediately became the focus of every eye.

"What scoundrels are you, to dare trespass in the Hall of Supreme Harmony? Surrender at once!"

Master Daoyan, recognized throughout the martial world as the second strongest under heaven, believed his strength was no less than Zhang Sanfeng's, the strongest under heaven.

Everyone in the martial world knew that Master Daoyan was the sea-calming pillar of the Great Ming Dynasty and had diligently assisted Zhu Di all these years.

Mo Wenjian's intrusion into the Hall of Supreme Harmony was, in Master Daoyan's eyes, not only a challenge to the imperial authority of the Great Ming Dynasty, but also to his own golden reputation as the second strongest under heaven.

As Master Daoyan spoke, he unleashed the Great Mercy and Great Compassion Thousand-Leaf Hand, one of Shaolin's Seventy-Two Supreme Skills.

A thousand-armed Tathagata manifestation appeared behind Master Daoyan.

With Master Daoyan's shout, 365 golden palm prints bore down on Mo Wenjian like a meteor shower.

The 365 golden palm prints were aimed at the 365 acupoints of Mo Wenjian's body.

If any one of the golden palm prints struck an acupoint, it would directly block the flow of True Qi.

The move would not kill, but it could seal an enemy's strength.

The defining features of Buddhist cultivation methods were displayed to the fullest.

"I am Mo Wenjian. A sudden fancy took me today, and I wished to tour the Forbidden City. I came only out of curiosity and meant no harm!"

As Mo Wenjian spoke, he used Close at Hand, Distant Horizons.

Mo Wenjian and Master Daoyan stood no more than three meters apart.

But after the space between them expanded a hundredfold, the distance the attack had to cover stretched to three hundred meters.

Master Daoyan's Great Mercy and Great Compassion Thousand-Leaf Hand clearly could not hold together over such a distance.

All 365 golden palm prints dissipated before they came within three feet of Mo Wenjian.

Seeing that Mo Wenjian had not only refused to surrender but had instead countered the Great Mercy and Great Compassion Thousand-Leaf Hand by unknown means, Master Daoyan's face immediately took on the wrathful visage of a vajra.

At court, Master Daoyan was the black-robed chancellor whom civil and military officials feared like a tiger.

By countering the Great Mercy and Great Compassion Thousand-Leaf Hand, Mo Wenjian had undoubtedly delivered a resounding slap to Master Daoyan's face.

Master Daoyan felt that his authority had been gravely challenged.

He immediately decided to go all out rather than hold back out of Buddhist compassion.

"Ignorant junior, the Forbidden City is the central seat of the Great Ming Dynasty. How could you be allowed to run wild here? If you know what's good for you, surrender at once, or don't blame me for striking you dead. Never forget that the Buddha shows great mercy and compassion, but also wears the wrathful visage of a vajra!"

As Master Daoyan spoke, he unleashed the Vajra Prajna Palm, one of Shaolin's Seventy-Two Supreme Skills.

The Vajra Prajna Palm was hailed as Shaolin's foremost palm technique, its ferocity and sharpness in no way inferior to the Beggar Gang's Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms.

A golden palm print three meters high surged toward Mo Wenjian.

The golden palm print swept forward with rainbow-spanning momentum, seemingly unstoppable.

The civil and military officials present all had the same illusion: even if a wall of bronze and iron stood before it, the golden palm print would smash it like rotten wood.

Faced with the menacing golden palm print, Mo Wenjian felt no fear.

"I mean no harm. Master Daoyan, please stop for a moment!"

The power of the golden palm print had already come infinitely close to the Celestial Person Realm.

Mo Wenjian immediately realized that the one attacking had to be Master Daoyan.

The Wuxia Great Ming World had originally known no title of Invincible Grandmaster; the title had only appeared because of Master Daoyan.

What was an Invincible Grandmaster?

A grandmaster at the very pinnacle, who had mastered several Celestial Person supreme arts and could fight above his level and strike down Celestial Persons!

Mo Wenjian did not continue using Close at Hand, Distant Horizons, but switched to an entirely new move.

A spatial expansion factor of 100 × 100 × 100 caused the golden palm print to crumble instantly.

Having failed with two moves in succession, Master Daoyan looked rather grim.

It was like taking a slap to the left cheek, then another to the right.

"If you had barged into the Hall of Supreme Harmony alone, I could just about understand it. But you brought two weaklings with you. You truly hold all the heroes under heaven in contempt!"

Master Daoyan had already realized how formidable Mo Wenjian was and concluded that he must have reached the Celestial Person Realm.

Master Daoyan had no confidence in defeating Mo Wenjian head-on, so he thought to start with Mo Wenjian's weakness.

In Master Daoyan's view, the two burdens Mo Wenjian had brought with him were clearly that weakness.

Using the Past Amitabha Sutra and the Future Maitreya Sutra, Master Daoyan conjured two afterimages.

Master Daoyan used the Tathagata Divine Palm to pin Mo Wenjian down from the front, while the two afterimages rushed at Zhu Zhanshan and his master.

The Tathagata Divine Palm was said to be a mythical martial art created by Shakyamuni, its power far surpassing Shaolin's Seventy-Two Supreme Skills.

A golden Buddha palm three meters high swept straight toward Mo Wenjian.

On the golden Buddha palm, a [*] character radiated dazzling golden light.

The golden Buddha palm destroyed the body; the [*] character shattered the spirit.

Mo Wenjian marveled inwardly. The Tathagata Divine Palm truly deserved its reputation as Buddhism's foremost divine art.

This move would utterly annihilate both body and spirit!

"Since Master Daoyan doesn't want to listen to me, then let His Highness speak!"

Mo Wenjian casually released a streak of Chaos Sword Gang, effortlessly cutting open a spatial rift.

The seemingly boundless might of the Tathagata Divine Palm was swallowed up by the spatial rift in an instant.

At the sight of the spatial rift, Master Daoyan was utterly shocked.

The Shattered Void and ascending in broad daylight was the highest realm countless martial artists dreamed of attaining.

The fundamental reason Master Daoyan had joined Zhu Di was to draw upon the strength of the entire Great Ming Dynasty to find a way to attain the Shattered Void and ascend in broad daylight.

Now that the Shattered Void and ascending in broad daylight lay right before his eyes, how could Master Daoyan remain calm?

Master Daoyan's mind reeled, and the two afterimages immediately collapsed without a fight.