‘If my intuition’s right, abbot Hui Wen might not make it past tonight.’
Su Qin carefully examined the aura of abbot Hui Wen that was located somewhere deep inside the Bodhi Court and came to that conclusion.
‘It’s a shame.’ Su Qin sighed softly.
In all his years in the Shaolin temple, even though he never received any special treatment from abbot Hui Wen, he always treated Su Qin fairly and never made it difficult for him.
Abbot Hui Wen even took the time to confront Su Qin after the Miscellaneous Court head passed away to see if he had the intention of returning to his family.
It could be said that even though abbot Hui Wen did not lead the Shaolin temple into glory, he managed to preserve its foundation and kept it safe. That was why Su Qin was able to sign in peacefully for the past ten years.
‘If abbot Hui Wen doesn’t survive, the Shaolin temple will erupt into chaos and might even attract the attention of the outside powers. When that happens, I’ll not be able to live as comfortably as I am now with the daily signing in and sweeping the temple grounds,’ thought Su Qin to himself.
‘After everything that he’s done for me over the past ten or so years, I can’t turn a blind eye to this.’
An idea occurred to Su Qin and a mysterious force field appeared around him instantly, extending countless meters around him. The visibility was poor within the force field and light began to distort in it. One could only faintly see a fuzzy, indistinct figure standing inside it.
*****
Deep inside the Bodhi Court, all the temple court heads gathered and the atmosphere was filled with great grief and sadness.
“Is there absolutely no way to save the abbot?” asked the Dharma Court head in a low voice toward the Bodhi Court head.
Over the past year, abbot Hui Wen went for Closed-Door Meditation in the hopes of achieving a breakthrough. Hence, all the affairs of the Shaolin temple were handled by the Dharma Court head.
However, the Dharma Court head never expected that abbot Hui Wen’s breakthrough would have resulted in that manner!
The Bodhi Court head shook his head and said solemnly, “Once he has a Qi Deviation, his meridians[1] will slowly become disordered. Even if we had a first-rank grandmaster here, he’d only be able to preserve abbot Hui Wen’s life but abbot Hui Wen would still be unable to fully recover…”
As soon as he finished speaking, the other temple court heads became silent. To be honest, they already anticipated the Bodhi Court head’s answer. A martial artist’s greatest downfall was to suffer from a Qi Deviation. It was because a Qi Deviation would utterly have devastated a warrior’s physical body and Internal Energy, sending their meridians into disorder. It was pretty much incurable.
“Abbot,” called out the Dharma Court head quietly as he looked sorrowfully at abbot Hui Wen. Abbot Hui Wen looked pale as death as he sat cross-legged on the ground. The other temple court heads had similar expressions of sorrow.
Since the Dharma Court head took over the affairs of the Shaolin temple, he knew how big an impact abbot Hui Wen’s death would have had on the Shaolin temple. Even though the Shaolin temple did not lack martial artists of the Upper Realms, abbot Hui Wen was the only one who was a second-rank warrior.
If they lost abbot Hui Wen, it would have meant that the Shaolin temple did not have a second-rank warrior presiding over it.
Many outside powers already questioned the validity of the Shaolin temple continuing to be known as one of the greatest martial arts sects in the world when it did not have a first-rank grandmaster presiding over it. Nothing happened thus far because of the rich foundation of the Shaolin temple. No one dared pick a fight out of nowhere.
However, if the Shaolin temple did not even have a second-rank martial artist, even their strong foundational heritage would not have been enough to keep their enemies at bay. When that happened, the Shaolin temple would not only have lost its identity as one of the greatest martial arts sects in the world, but might even be invaded by many of its rivals.
Both of the two possible outcomes were not something that the Shaolin temple would be able to bear.
Right at that moment, abbot Hui Wen opened his eyes and struggled to say, “I think I acted too hastily this time.”
Abbot Hui Wen’s face was as white as a sheet, utterly devoid of color. The Internal Force within his body was utterly deranged. He was unable to even move a muscle. It was a herculean feat for him to be able to move his mouth to speak.
“Abbot, you’ll be fine!” said the Dharma Court head as he drew closer to the abbot with red-rimmed eyes.
Abbot Hui Wen shook his head and said while he looked at the Dharma Court head, “When I die, everything in the Shaolin temple will be your responsibility.”
The Dharma Court head nodded his head. His expression was grave and solemn. No matter what, the Shaolin temple could never cease to have existed even if they had to pay a heavy price.
All of a sudden, a racket was heard outside the Bodhi Court.
“Who are you? How dare you intrude into the Bodhi Court.” The angry shout of a warrior monk rang out.
Outside the Bodhi Court, a large number of warrior monks glared at a blurry figure like they were facing a terrible opponent. A large number of warrior monks were stationed outside the Bodhi Court because abbot Hui Wen was undergoing his Closed-Door Meditation inside.
“Please step aside.” Su Qin could not be bothered to explain himself. Since he was concealed with a secret technique of his Internal Force, no one would have been able to identify him.
Whoosh!
Su Qin walked ahead calmly but with each step he took, a frightening suppressive force enveloped the area. All the warriors instantly collapsed on the ground and lost consciousness under the sheer might of the suppressive force. It was comparable to an ant meeting a human.
Su Qin did not even have to try hard. If he exerted his true strength, none of them would gave survived.
Su Qin arrived in the depths of the Bodhi temple very quickly after that. The temple court heads heard the warrior monks shouting outside before they saw a blurry figure walk into the room. They were startled!
They did not know how to react. All they could tell was that the blurry figure that just invaded the room was a frightfully powerful presence.
All the warrior monks stationed outside the Bodhi temple were the cream of the crop and the pride of the Shaolin temple. Even if a second-rank martial artist like abbot Hui Wen tried to get past them, it would have taken him quite some time.
Yet, the blurry figure that stood in front of them managed to make it past them in a flash! What kind of power did the blurry figure possess?
“Leave this place at once!” shouted the Martial Arts Court head angrily. His aura expanded rapidly as he launched a heavy blow toward Su Qin. That punch condensed all the power possessed by the Martial Court head. At the very last moment, the force suddenly increased and achieved another breakthrough. Now it was powerful enough to even make a second-rank martial artist balk in fear.
However, when the Martial Arts Court head’s punch was within 10 meters of the blurry figure, it got stuck like it entered a quicksand. It happened right in front of everyone.
‘How troublesome,’ thought Su Qin. He frowned and released a tiny amount of aura.
In an instant, a terrifying force field filled the air and enveloped the entire Bodhi Court in the blink of an eye. All the temple court heads instantly became like bugs trapped in a spider’s web, unable to move.
Apart from that, the Internal Force within them seemed to have gone through a shock. It seemed to be stuck inside their dantian[2] and completely unable to be utilized. That scene completely stunned all the temple court heads!
They were all martial artists of the Uppers Realms and could be counted among the strongest warriors in the world. How was it possible that they seemed as weak as newborn babies in front of Su Qin? They completely lost the ability to retaliate before their opponent even raised a finger.
What kind of power did he possess to be able to do that?
Chills were sent down the Dharma Court head’s spine and the others. They trembled in fear as they looked at that blurry figure that stood before them.
Right at that moment, Su Qin walked past all the temple court heads, who he froze and stood before abbot Hui Wen.
[1] Meridians (经脉 jīngmài) – the network of channels through which Qi flows in the body. Like blood vessels, but for Qi instead.
[2] Dantian (丹田 dāntián) – literally translates as “Elixir Field”. It refers to the place in the body where a person’s Qi is concentrated. It is located somewhere around the navel.