tkworld Chapter 71 The Promise of Longhu Mountain
Chapter 71 The Promise of Longhu Mountain
Longhu Mountain, behind the mountain, in a secluded Taoist temple.
The air was filled with a strong medicinal smell and a faint sandalwood scent.
Ma Cong stood by the bed, looking at Zhou Tianyi lying on the bed, his face ashen and his breath faint.
The old celestial master invited the best alchemist from Longhu Mountain to keep Zhou Tianyi alive with the most precious medicinal herbs, but his injuries left everyone helpless.
The dantian was destroyed.
For a martial artist, these four words are more painful than death.
This means that all one's cultivation has vanished, one's meridians have been severed, and one has become a cripple who is even worse than an ordinary person. Being able to save one's life is already an immense stroke of luck.
"Master Ma... Master Ma..."
Zhou Tianyi's wife, the woman who had cried her heart out on the phone, now had red and swollen eyes and chapped lips. When she saw Ma Cong, she struggled to stand up.
Ma Cong helped her up. "Sister-in-law, please sit down. It's me, I'm so sorry."
His voice was low, filled with an overwhelming sense of guilt.
If he hadn't given away those two cultivation manuals, if he hadn't become the sect leader of the Martial Sect, Zhou Tianyi wouldn't have been targeted, and he wouldn't have suffered this misfortune.
"No, it's not your fault, Master Ma." Zhou Tianyi's wife shook her head, tears welling up again. "I...I know, Tianyi...he was happy and proud to do things for you. He always told me that following you, he felt his life hadn't been in vain."
Her words were like a knife, piercing Ma Cong's heart.
The more he heard Zhou Tianyi's trust and admiration for him, the heavier the self-reproach in his heart became.
"Sister-in-law, don't worry." Ma Cong looked at Zhou Tianyi on the bed and said, word by word, "I assure you, President Zhou will not only get better, but he will be even stronger than before."
This is not a word of comfort.
This is a promise.
It was a vow that Ma Cong made to his followers.
The woman stared blankly at him, at his incredibly earnest eyes, and for some reason, the despair in her heart was actually dispelled somewhat. She nodded heavily.
After settling Zhou Tianyi's family in, Ma Cong left the Taoist temple.
The old master was sitting under an old pine tree in the courtyard, playing chess with himself.
"You must be feeling bad, right?" The old master didn't even look up, picked up a black stone, and gently placed it down.
Ma Cong remained silent, walked to the opposite side of the stone table, and sat down.
"I once had a disciple," the old master said calmly, as if recounting something from a long time ago. "His talent was a little less than yours, but he was still a once-in-a-century genius. I treated him like my own son, thinking I would entrust the entire Longhu Mountain to him in the future."
"And then?" Ma Cong asked.
"Later, he went down the mountain to travel, got into a conflict with someone, and his enemies crippled his cultivation, severed his tendons, and threw him off a cliff." The old master placed the second chess piece, his tone revealing no emotion. "When I found him, he was already dead."
"From that day on, I understood one thing."
The old celestial master raised his head, his cloudy eyes revealing a world-weary wisdom.
"If you want to protect those around you, it's useless to rely on your own fighting ability alone. No matter how good you are at fighting, you only have two hands and two eyes. When you are in seclusion, when you are not around, your enemies will pounce on your most vulnerable spots like sharks smelling blood."
"Like Shaolin this time."
Ma Cong's fist clenched quietly inside his sleeve.
"Those bald monks, they don't dare to come directly to you, so they target Zhou Tianyi. Injuring Zhou Tianyi isn't their goal; their goal is to slap you in the face, to enrage you, to make you lose your temper, and to make you rush into Shaolin alone."
"If you really go alone, even if you turn Shaolin upside down, you will eventually be exhausted. At that time, that old bald monk Xuan Kong, and those who are hiding in the shadows waiting to watch the show, will not hesitate to tear you to pieces."
The old master's words sent a chill down Ma Cong's spine.
He admitted that at the moment he received the call, he was indeed blinded by anger, and only had one thought in his mind: to raze Shaolin Temple to the ground and make those who hurt Zhou Tianyi pay a bloody price.
If the old master hadn't appeared in time, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
"Senior, I..."
"Kid, don't take everything on yourself." The old master waved his hand. "This path was chosen by Zhou Tianyi himself. He chose to follow you, so he was prepared to take this risk. What you need to do now is not blame yourself, but think of a way to get back at him and make sure that your future enemies will never dare to touch the people around you again."
Ma Cong took a deep breath, and the confusion and guilt in his eyes gradually faded away, replaced by an unprecedented determination.
"How can we cure him?"
"Difficult." The old master shook his head and uttered a single word. "The dantian is the source of a martial artist's vital energy. Once it is destroyed, it's like a tree without roots. Throughout history, I've never heard of anyone whose dantian has been destroyed and then repaired. Being able to save one's life is already the best outcome."
"No exceptions?" Ma Cong pressed.
"Yes." The old celestial master pondered for a moment, "In legends, there are several heaven-defying divine objects that might be able to help. For example, the 'Jade Pool Immortal Elixir' in the legends of Kunlun Mountain, the 'Returning to the Void Treasure Tree' in the legends of the East Sea, or... the 'Bodhi Golden Relic' of Nalanda Monastery in Buddhist legends."
"But these things only exist in legends. No one has ever seen them in hundreds of years. Even if they really exist, getting them would be harder than climbing to heaven."
The old master looked at Ma Cong and said, "Boy, I know what you want to do. But this can't be rushed. What you should do now is to improve your strength as soon as possible, and at the same time, truly establish your 'Martial Sect'."
"An individual's strength is a deterrent. But the rise of a powerful sect is what truly makes one invincible."
"I understand." Ma Cong nodded.
The old master is right. He needs power now, not just his own power, but the power of a vast force.
He wanted everyone to know that anyone who dared to mess with Ma Cong was an enemy of the entire Wuzong sect.
He wanted Shaolin to pay a heavy price for their actions, a price they would never forget!
Just then, Ma Cong's phone rang.
It was Dong Yue calling.
"Master Ma, is it convenient for you to talk now?" Dong Yue's voice sounded very serious.
"It's convenient, you tell me."
"Regarding your plan to establish a sect on Mount Tai, it has been approved from above. The main ridge of the back mountain of Mount Tai, as well as three undeveloped peaks in the surrounding area, totaling 120 square kilometers, will be permanently leased to the Wuzong sect as its mountain gate residence for one yuan."
This news did not surprise Ma Cong.
"Furthermore," Dong Yue continued, "we have obtained all the evidence regarding the incident at Shaolin Temple. Their illegal detention and intentional assault are extremely egregious. We are preparing to launch a full investigation into Shaolin."
"No need," Ma Cong interrupted her directly.
Dong Yue on the other end of the phone was stunned.
"Master Ma, what do you mean?"
"This is an internal matter for our martial arts community," Ma Cong said coldly. "I will personally settle the debt with Shaolin. I won't trouble you."
He did not want to use official power to suppress Shaolin.
He wants to use his own methods, the methods of the martial arts world, to rightfully and honorably trample the Shaolin Temple underfoot!
He wanted the whole world to see how he, Ma Cong, Emperor Wuzong, would take his revenge!
After hanging up the phone, the old master looked at him with interest. "Kid, you've got guts. But I have to warn you, those bald monks at Shaolin aren't so simple. That old guy Xuan Kong is no less powerful than me, and there are definitely even older monsters hiding in Shaolin Temple. You're still a bit lacking."
"This junior understands." Ma Cong stood up and bowed deeply to the old Celestial Master. "I beg you, senior, to protect me on my path."
"Hahaha, you rascal!" The old Celestial Master stroked his beard and laughed. "Alright, this old man of mine will do one more favor for you. Longhu Mountain is the rear base for your Martial Sect. Just go ahead and do it; if the sky falls, I'll hold it up for you!"
With the old master's words, Ma Cong's last bit of concern vanished.
He turned around and walked once again toward the Taoist temple that was filled with the smell of medicine.
He wanted to see if his system could create a miracle.