A fierce palm wind surged out of nowhere, striking Lin Pingzhi with deadly force. It was Ren Woxing who struck himself. Having seen the might of Lin Pingzhi's Dugu Nine Swords, Ren Woxing deemed him a formidable foe and a major hurdle in his quest to reclaim the Sun Moon Sect leadership.
Ren Woxing was proud and brash. He had dismissed the young Alex as no threat.
But now, seeing how powerful Alex's disciple was, it was clear that Alex, as his master, possessed even deeper martial prowess.
Lin Pingzhi had just avenged his family, his heart soaring with triumph. Caught off guard by Ren Woxing's sudden attack, how could he defend himself?
The palm slammed into his back, sending him sprawling.
"Leader, shall we kill him?" Xiang Wentian asked, eyeing Lin Pingzhi, who lay unconscious from Ren Woxing's sneak attack.
"No, bind him and watch him closely. His martial skills are remarkable. As Alex's prized disciple, keeping him alive could prove valuable later," Ren Woxing said, a calculating glint in his eyes as he shook his head.
For over a decade, he had nursed his hatred, dreaming of storming Blackwood Cliff the moment he was free. But witnessing Lin Pingzhi's skill gave Ren Woxing pause. He reined in his impatience, moving with greater caution and deeper schemes.
"Understood," Xiang Wentian nodded at Ren Woxing's command.
"By the way, Yingying is under house arrest in Shaolin Temple. I planned to retake the leadership first, then use the Sun Moon Sect's might to demand her release. Since reclaiming the throne will take time, let's find a way to rescue Yingying from Shaolin Temple first," Ren Woxing said after a moment's thought.
The Sun Moon Sect's vast network hummed with activity, as messenger pigeons and even eagles swiftly carried critical news back to Blackwood Cliff.
Alex ran the sect, and without stepping outside, he could track every ripple in the martial world with precision.
Moreover, the Sun Moon Sect's affairs had been streamlined in recent days. This time, Alex ordered most middle and lower-tier followers to stay at Blackwood Cliff, but gathered a force of 500 elite middle and upper-tier disciples, ready to march.
After Linghu Chong and his group headed to Shaolin Temple, Alex led this elite team straight for the temple.
Though Linghu Chong's force numbered 1,000, they were a ragtag bunch. Alex, however, brought the Sun Moon Sect's finest, nearly half the sect's strength.
With the Sun Moon Sect's current power, this team could crush most martial world sects.
As in the original tale, Linghu Chong led his thousand fighters to besiege Shaolin Temple, only to find the monks had vanished, leaving an empty temple.
Then, Shaolin Temple ambushed Linghu Chong's group on the mountainside, joining forces with Wudang Sect, Songshan Sect, and Huashan Sect to trap them within the temple grounds.
"Master, your resolve is astounding. To vanquish evil and uphold justice, you're willing to abandon this thousand-year-old temple," Zuo Lengchan, head of Songshan Sect, said, awed by Master Fang Zheng's boldness.
"Amitabha, the Buddha once cut his flesh to feed an eagle, a tale passed down through ages. Today, to defeat evil and protect the righteous path, what is an ancient temple to me?" Master Fang Zheng intoned a Buddhist chant, his voice serene.
"Master Fang Zheng's strategy of luring them in is brilliant. Our four great sects surround the mountain without striking. By blocking their escape, we'll subdue them easily once they're starved and weakened," Yue Buqun said, a smile spreading across his face.
A victory here would be a monumental triumph for the martial world, boosting the righteous sects' prestige.
For three straight days, Linghu Chong and his fighters tried to break out twice, but the well-rested ambushers on the mountainside repelled them. The attackers retreated to Shaolin Temple, suffering heavy losses.
Three days later, those trapped on the mountain were reeling from hunger.
Yet, as in the original story, the Four Immortals of Taogu stumbled upon a secret passage beneath Shaolin Temple's great Buddha, leading to the mountain's base. This find thrilled Linghu Chong and his group, who quietly escaped down the passage.
At the mountain's foot, the triumphant escapees shouted and jeered together.
But for Linghu Chong, the mission to save Ren Yingying had failed. Unwilling to leave, he told his group to scatter while he slipped back to Shaolin Temple through the secret passage, hiding in the shadows.
If the bold rescue had failed, he'd stay hidden and search for Yingying quietly.
In Shaolin Temple's main hall, Master Fang Zheng, Taoist Chongxu of Wudang, Zuo Lengchan, Yue Buqun, and others entered one by one. Zuo Lengchan and his peers were baffled. They had trapped the so-called demons in the temple—how had they escaped down the mountain? No matter how they puzzled, they couldn't unravel it.
The heads of the four major sects debated how Linghu Chong's group had fled. Naturally, Zuo Lengchan and Yue Buqun cast suspicious glances at Master Fang Zheng.
"Amitabha, since our friend is here, please step forward to meet us," Master Fang Zheng suddenly chanted a Buddhist name, his voice ringing out.
"Hahaha, Master Fang Zheng, you're truly a great monk. I just breathed a bit heavily, and you noticed," Ren Woxing said as he, Ren Yingying, and Xiang Wentian emerged from the shadows.
Linghu Chong wasn't the only one who had returned. Ren Woxing and Xiang Wentian had seized the chaos to secretly rescue Ren Yingying.
Seeing Ren Woxing and his companions appear, Yue Buqun and Zuo Lengchan shot subtle glances at Master Fang Zheng, quietly stunned.
They hadn't sensed anyone hiding, yet Master Fang Zheng had.
"It's Leader Ren. Congratulations on escaping your ordeal and seeing daylight again," Master Fang Zheng said to Ren Woxing, his demeanor calm and free of hostility toward this feared figure.
"Ren Woxing!" Yue Buqun and Zuo Lengchan, standing nearby, paled at the sight of him.
"Master Fang Zheng is mistaken…" A clear voice echoed from outside the hall.
All eyes in the hall turned toward the sound. Alex strode in with bold steps.
Behind Alex followed Tong Baixiong and seven or eight senior elders and hall masters of the Sun Moon Sect.
"Ren Woxing is merely the former leader of our sect. The current leader is Dongfang Bubai," Alex declared as he entered the hall from the doorway.
"Amitabha, so it's Deputy Leader Alex, the Ghost Hand Sword Saint," Master Fang Zheng said, his face growing solemn as he saw Alex leading the Sun Moon Sect elders.
"This youth is Alex? So young," Ren Woxing thought. He'd long heard of Alex's name, but this was his first glimpse. He couldn't help but study him, struck by Alex's youth.
Having seen Linghu Chong, Ren Woxing already viewed him as a standout among the young. Yet Alex, roughly Linghu Chong's age, was rumored to far surpass him in martial skill.
Given time, this youth could become a foe even more daunting than Dongfang Bubai!