CHAPTER 581: CHAPTER 578: DEFEAT THE SHAOLIN ABBOT! [FIRST RELEASE]

"You seek to overcome hardness with softness, then I shall conquer softness with hardness!"

Li Chen roared into the air, as he swung his Iron Fist like a cannonball in the roughest and most direct manner to meet the attack head-on.

Master Xuan Kong saw that Li Chen’s punch was too fierce, so he did not confront it directly. Instead, his fingers moved like lightning, looping around from the flank.

"Cling clang!"

His fingertips struck like lightning, fiercely poking at Li Chen’s Protective Gang Qi.

However, they only penetrated half an inch before being abruptly halted.

Master Xuan Kong was terrified; he had never anticipated that Li Chen’s defense would be so dreadfully strong. His Flower Pinching Finger, capable of penetrating a half-meter thick bulletproof steel plate, could not breach his defenses.

In the moment of his distraction, Li Chen raised a palm and ferociously smacked it down.

Master Xuan Kong was horrified; the True Yuan within his body surged violently, forming a Golden Gang defensive barrier around him.

"Vajra Unbreakable Divine Skill!"

This was one of the Shaolin Temple’s 72 Skills, the most powerful yet hardest to master. A rarity amongst tens of thousands.

Once mastered to great success, it can make the body as impregnable as a boulder. Even direct cannonball strikes would not pose any problem.

"Clang!"

Li Chen’s palm struck, sounding like a bell struck by a monk, echoing loudly.

Such formidable defense!

Li Chen retreated three steps hastily, his heart filled with astonishment.

In this second round, neither side had bested the other.

Master Xuan Kong was severely shaken, while Li Chen’s Protective Gang Qi had been punctured with a fingertip hole.

The monks of the Shaolin Temple were shocked and dumbfounded.

In their eyes, Abbot Xuan Kong was an invincible god.

Unexpectedly, even after deploying the Shaolin Dragon Claw Hand, Flower Pinching Finger, and Vajra Unbreakable Divine Skill consecutively, he was still driven into such a sorry state by Immortal Master Li.

And their Abbot was nearly a hundred years old, belonging to the twilight years. In contrast, Immortal Master Li was barely over twenty, ridiculously young.

If he were to reach a hundred years old, he might ascend in daylight like the Shaolin Dharma Ancestor and Wudang Zhang Sanfeng, stepping into the rank of a Land Immortal.

Thinking of "Land Immortal," the monks’ glances towards Li Chen were filled with awe and envy.

Li Chen looked at his torn clothes, frowning slightly.

Indeed, the martial arts emanating from Shaolin are as formidable as their reputation!

This was the first time his defense had been breached since his Foundation Establishment.

He casually dusted off the dirt on his body, and said nonchalantly, "Master, dare to take another punch from me?"

Master Xuan Kong put his palms together and silently recited a Buddha-name: "Amitabha Buddha, Master Li, please proceed!"

Li Chen nodded slightly and fiercely gathered his True Yuan, concentrating the Spiritual Power within his body like myriad streams returning to the sea, focusing it in his left palm.

Then, he tightly clenched his fist. Faintly, one could see lightning encircling it, crackling intensely.

"Sound Speed Fist!"

As the name suggests, the speed is comparable to sound speed!

Before his words even fell, his Iron Fist, like a meteor tearing the sky, violently struck towards Master Xuan Kong.

Seeing the extraordinary ferocity of Li Chen’s punch, Master Xuan Kong dared not underestimate it, his expression more solemn than ever.

"Vajra Unbreakable!"

He too roared into the air, his True Yuan materializing into a solid form, resembling a Vajra ancient Buddha enveloping him.

"Rumble rumble!"

The punch thundered down like an exploding cannonball, kicking up a storm of dust.

The golden defensive barrier around Master Xuan Kong trembled in the air, fading like a falling meteor.

"Pfft!"

Subsequently, he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood in midair, his body swaying unstably, like a kite with its string cut, harshly falling down.

"Abbot Brother!"

Seeing Xuan Kong repelled, the high-ranking monks of the Shaolin Temple all rushed over.

The elders from the Dharma Institute, Precepts Hall, and Arhat Hall took a step forward, guarding Abbot Master Xuan Kong to prevent Immortal Master Li from seizing the opportunity to launch a sneak attack.

Li Chen clasped his hands together and greeted them with a Buddhist salute: "Master, is it possible for your temple to hand over the ’Demon Puppet Secret Technique’ now?"

Xuan Yong bellowed angrily, "The ’Demon Puppet Secret Technique’ is an evil method, it absolutely cannot leave Shaolin Temple and harm the Human World!"

Li Chen shook his head and said, "Cultivation Technique itself is not guilty, why judge it based on human morality? Have you not understood this principle after decades of studying Buddhism?"

Upon hearing Li Chen’s words, everyone present was taken aback.

Cultivation Techniques, blades, and swords have no consciousness of their own, their righteousness or evilness depends entirely on whether the user is good or evil.

If they fall into the hands of the wicked, they will assist in tyranny. But if they are in the hands of the righteous, they will be used to punish the wicked and eliminate evil.

The same object, in the hands of different people, can lead to completely opposite outcomes.

Supported by his disciples, Master Xuan Kong struggled to stand up and chanted a Buddhist invocation towards Li Chen, "Amitabha Buddha, what Master Li said is most correct, we were indeed foolish."

After speaking, he slightly turned his body, looking towards the direction of the Scripture Pavilion.

"Master Li, the secret manual you seek is in the Scripture Pavilion. However, it is guarded by eighteen Copper Men left by Patriarch Huineng. If you can get through, you can take anything stored in Shaolin Temple. If you cannot, I hope that Master Li will leave early and never step into the Buddhist Sect again in this life!"

Li Chen followed the direction he was pointing and looked towards the Scripture Pavilion.

"Amitabha Buddha, thank you for your guidance. Today, that secret manual will be mine!"

After speaking, Li Chen’s figure flashed and appeared outside the door of the Scripture Pavilion.

He looked up, and under the moonlight, the three gilded characters of Scripture Pavilion glittered brilliantly.

In between, a golden glow could also be seen enveloping it.

This is a defensive barrier!

During the day, it is hard for ordinary people to see with the naked eye. Even at night, it can be obscured by the brilliance of the "Scripture Pavilion" golden characters.

Li Chen tried to probe with his consciousness, and the feedback he received made him furrow his brows.

"Such strong defenses!"

The strength of this barrier was not inferior to Master Xuan Kong’s Vajra Unbreakable Divine Skill, and in some aspects, it even surpassed it.

Moreover, it’s noteworthy that Xuan Kong’s Vajra Unbreakable Divine Skill can only protect him alone. However, this defensive barrier protects an entire hundreds of square meters large Scripture Pavilion.

The comparison makes the superiority clear!

It’s said that the Scripture Pavilion was built by Dharma Ancestor during his teachings in Central Plains, and presumably, this defensive barrier was also left by him.

However, since he taught in the Central Plains 1500 years ago, the Spiritual Power imbued in the barrier has long diminished substantially. Although Shaolin Temple has produced many excellent disciples afterwards continuously inputting Spiritual Power,

their comprehension and strength are far from Dharma Ancestor, and they simply cannot be mentioned in the same breath. Only Sixth Patriarch Hui Neng could barely compare.

At that time, Patriarch Hui Neng also saw this problem. So, he decided to play the villain once, forcibly took the ’Demon Puppet Secret Technique’ from Xiangxi Chen Family, and used it as a catalyst to collect Outer Heaven Meteor Iron, forge eighteen Copper Men, and had them eternally guard Shaolin.

"Well, today I will meet the Shaolin Ancestor!"

Li Chen clasped his hands together, his True Yuan surged like raging waves, sweeping heaven and earth. From a distance, he looked like a Heavenly God, disdainfully gazing at all.

Before his words fell, Li Chen’s pupils emitted two crimson flares, like drilling impacts, fiercely meeting the defensive barrier.

"Sizzle!"

The flames roasted the barrier, just like electric welding cutting through steel, sparking thousands of sparks crackling loudly.

"Break for me!"

Li Chen fiercely concentrated True Yuan at his fingertips, poking vigorously at the weakened part of the barrier scorched by flames.

If the monks of Shaolin Temple were to look closely, they would be surprised to find that the finger technique used by Li Chen was none other than the Flower Pinching Finger just performed by Master Xuan Kong.

To Li Chen, all martial arts in the world require just a glance to be completely understood. Apart from proficiency not yet matching Master Xuan Kong, whether in power or speed, he surpasses him.

The defensive barrier on the Scripture Pavilion, although vast and mighty, even a dike of a thousand miles can be broken by an ant hole. A house of a hundred rooms can be destroyed by a spark.

The originally flame-scorched barrier was already precarious. Now, punched by Li Chen using Flower Pinching Finger, it collapsed like an avalanche.

Seeing that he had succeeded, a smug smile appeared on the corner of Li Chen’s mouth.

With a flash in mid-air, he entered the Scripture Pavilion.

The scene that met his eyes was of eighteen Copper Men.

They lay, crouched, sat, or stood in a thousand different postures.

However, despite different forms, one thing was the same: their sharp gaze, all locked onto Li Chen.

Suddenly, Li Chen felt enveloped by the Death God, causing terror down his spine.

He was astonished to discover that each Copper Man was a physically powerful Cross-training Grandmaster, their robustness not inferior to Demon King Zhang Xiaolin’s zombie body.

If they were to arrange the mysterious and unparalleled Eighteen Copper Men Formation, even if three to five Divine-level Masters came together, they wouldn’t hope to break the formation.

Millennium Shaolin, truly lives up to its reputation!