Chapter 05
“Thought so.” Hua Qing needed to simplify his story. Being as quick-witted as he was, he should’ve been able to get his point across easily; however, the things he had yet to solve rendered it difficult to explain when he couldn’t understand them.
“I don’t blame you. I’ve been mulling over everything Master Xu told me for a year, yet I still can’t figure out where it went wrong. Why would several adepts in the pugilistic world suddenly target him when he’s just a business man? Why would Shaolin’s monks suddenly die? Ever since they framed me for Xu Clan’s extermination, they’ve continued to commit big crimes, all of which I am to be held accountable for. If they just wanted to force me out of hiding, it feels like they went to too much effort. I assume the people out for my life are the monk’s henchmen. As for who he is and why he wants the item, I don’t have the foggiest idea.”
“It’s called wealth brings trouble.” Ming Feizhen twirled the red pouch. “This isn’t something for ordinary folk to keep. Xu Clan must’ve sealed this away when they decided to hang up their swords, but that’s not enough; they should’ve entrusted it to a sect capable of safeguarding it, such as the ones just below Shaolin and Wudang. Had they done so, misfortune wouldn’t have visited their descendants.” Ming Feizhen licked his oily fingers. “In the Central Plain, we call it Repository Jade. In Western Regions, they call it ‘glaze śarīra’ or just ‘śarīra’, which just means ‘Buddhist relic’.”
“Śarīra? Is it a weapon?”
“On its own, it’s nothing special. It’s about as useful as a brick in combat. Utilise its special feature appropriately, however, and it’ll be a treasure to martial artists. It possesses the ability to subsume one’s essence until it is full, regardless of nature and potency.”
“If it can just absorb energy like that that, doesn’t that mean whoever possesses it will be invincible?”
“Oh yeah, because people will just go, ‘Want to suck my energy out of me? I’ll wait for you.’ It’s not very solid in the first place, which makes it vulnerable to breaking in combat. It supposedly drains energy slowly, and you can only absorb a certain amount at once, or it’ll become useless. That’s why draining energy and storing it is a challenge. Once it is done storing energy, the energy can be consumed. Apparently, a full glaze śarīra is worth a hundred and twenty years of training. Can you imagine how stupidly strong Xu Clan’s ancestors were when they had this cheat item?’
“A hundred and twenty years? What celestial-divine-heavenly realm would that be? Surely humans can’t possibly reach that level.”
Ming Feizhen muttered under his breath, “My grandmaster has probably lived for that long.”
“What?”
“Ahem, as for the monk from the Western Regions, it’s understandable for you to not recognise him. He’s called Lord Miguo, one of the three lords of the Western Region’s Lotus Sacred Sect.”
“Say what?! You know him?!”
“The Western Regions consists of seven autonomous municipalities, each with its own unique customs. I visited the area twice in my childhood with my shifu. The monk covered in tattoos must be Lord Miguo. Lotus Sacred Sect have the three lords directly under their head, better known as Pure Lands’ Three Lords, have their own posts and skills. The fatso I killed in one punch must’ve learnt an inkling of Lord Miguo’s Impregnable Golden Body skill.
“I suspected he was connected from the moment I saw the skill. Besides, Lord Miguo’s portrait is found in every major shrine. His shirtless, tattooed body and ugly bald head matches your depiction, so I’m confident in my speculation.”
He makes the monk sound like some thug off the street? Did I really describe him like that?
“So, why did this Lord Miguo or whatever monk come to the Central Plain. Is he trying to start trouble in our martial world?”
“Nope. Lotus Sacred Sect is second only to Divine Moon Cult in the Western Regions, making it the second biggest religion there. Their leader, Autarch Lotus, is respected even by the leaders of the seven regions. Stirring the pot in our martial world would just be deigning. I’m sure they wouldn’t do that. According to what I know, he fought some other lord bloke from Divine Moon Cult and got whooped embarrassingly. I think he got injured, got bashed by his aunt or something and then went missing.”
“He has an aunt now?”
“How should I know what they train when I’m not part of their cult? Look, the translation from their language to Mandarin is something like that, okay?”
“… Okay, why does he have enmity with Master Xu, then?”
“Lord Miguo’s discipline focuses on cultivating śarīra, too, which explains why he’d target Xu Clan. For all we know, śarīra might be the cornerstone to his recovery or level up. You think he’d let something so important go?”
Frankly, Hua Qing started to feel uneasy about the fact that Ming Feizhen knew so much. “H-how come you said you don’t understand when you know so much?”
“I don’t. I don’t understand why you would involve yourself in something so dangerous? Life too tiring or something?”
“…”
“I didn’t say all that just for you. Some things are better off not being repeated.”
“Wh-what do you mean?”
“This.” Ming Feizhen looked over to Su Li. “Hey, lass, if you keep lying there, I’m going to lift your skirt. I’m notorious for my quick hands.” He threw a chicken bone right at Su Li’s buttock.
“Ow!” Su Li sprung to her feet, hands on her buttocks. Face red, Su Li yelled, “You runt!”
“Now that you’ve come to, you can pay for your information. I’m the least concerned person in all of this. If you don’t want my help, feel free to go back to sleep. I promise not to hit your butt.” Ming Feizhen thumped his chest.
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