Chapter 75: The August Grand Prize

Huo Yuanzhen instructed Yi Jing to close the temple doors before quickly making his way back.

Yi Jing followed closely behind, asking, "Abbot, are we really not going to help them?"

"We will help, but not here at Shaolin. Go find Yi Chen and bring him to me. I have something to discuss with him."

Yi Jing left to find Guan Shanyue, while Huo Yuanzhen returned to his quarters.

It wasn't that he didn't want to save Yue Ying and the princess, but Huo Yuanzhen couldn't bear the thought of letting them die at Guan Tianzhao's hands. There was definitely something major at stake here. Huo Yuanzhen sensed that if Yue Ying and the princess died, it would bring about a bloody storm for the nation.

He didn't enjoy times of chaos, as they would be detrimental to the development of Shaolin. However, if they saved them, it could very well bring disaster to Shaolin. That was something he absolutely couldn't accept.

Thus, he needed a solid plan. To do so, he had to consult with Guan Shanyue.

Although Guan Shanyue was Guan Tianzhao's father, Huo Yuanzhen believed in his loyalty to Shaolin. Now, the time had come to test that loyalty.

Soon enough, Guan Shanyue arrived, still unaware of the situation, his mood still elated from breaking through to the innate stage.

"Two people arrived outside, being chased. One is a woman—your daughter-in-law Zhao Yuanji—and the other is her bodyguard. They're asking Shaolin for refuge. What should we do about this?"

Huo Yuanzhen got straight to the point.

"Zhao Yuanji is being chased!" Guan Shanyue was immediately stunned, sitting down on a chair, silent for a long time.

"Yi Chen overheard their conversation and seemed to have learned something of great importance. They mentioned that the Tang Dynasty could be saved—or not. Do you know what this is about?"

"Ah! That ungrateful son! Beast! I knew he had that ambition for a long time, but no one could persuade him. That's why I left and wandered about. Who would have thought that he would be so ruthless as to even want to kill his own wife? This is unacceptable! Abbot, I must go find him. If he dares to defy me, I'll kill him. He's no son of mine anymore!"

The more Guan Shanyue spoke, the angrier he became, standing up abruptly and heading for the door.

"Yi Chen!"

Huo Yuanzhen shouted, shaking the room so much that dust fell from the ceiling.

"You're truly getting old and confused. You can't persuade him with words. If you try to be forceful, you'll only fail."

Guan Shanyue stood still for a moment, then sighed in resignation, "You're right, Abbot. If he had listened to me, none of this would have happened. And with two experts by his side, both in the innate realm, I really can't do anything about him."

"That's the problem. We need to figure out what to do next. Please, sit down and we'll discuss it."

Guan Shanyue slowly calmed down and sat beside Huo Yuanzhen.

"What about Zhao Yuanji?"

"She's sick. She's outside the mountain gate now. I haven't let them in."

Guan Shanyue nodded. "Your decision is correct. Everything Shaolin has now is hard-earned. We must proceed cautiously."

"What do you think, disciple? Should we save them or not?"

"We must save them. Even though Tianzhao is my son, I would rather kill him than let him bring disaster to the world. Abbot, I'll go out and bring Yuanji back. She's heading towards Chang'an from Zhengzhou. But Tianzhao wants to kill them. How can she return there? The borders are likely sealed. To reach Chang'an, she'll have to take a martial arts route."

"Henan's martial world is mostly controlled by the Tiandao Alliance. Are there other channels?"

Guan Shanyue said, "Abbot, you've focused on spiritual cultivation, so you might not know much about the martial world. While the Tiandao Alliance is powerful, they don't control all of Henan. I know some people who are opposed to them. We've clashed before. It looks like I'll have to find them this time."

Huo Yuanzhen thought for a long time. He wasn't fully comfortable with Guan Shanyue taking Zhao Yuanji away.

"Don't worry, Abbot. I'll bring them safely out of Henan. If everything goes smoothly, I'll get them out within a month. If not, I'll return to Shaolin. I've done my best."

"And if you don't come back?"

Guan Shanyue, being an innate master and deeply loyal to Shaolin, was someone Huo Yuanzhen didn't want to lose.

"If I don't return, you can dig a tomb for me in Shaolin and put up a memorial tablet. Since I've joined Shaolin, I wish to remain here forever."

After this, Guan Shanyue left Huo Yuanzhen's room.

Huo Yuanzhen didn't see him off. He knew Guan Shanyue would manage to divert the trouble and prevent Shaolin from getting involved in the conflict.

Guan Shanyue was a man worthy of respect. For the sake of the world, he had even turned against his own son. This moved Huo Yuanzhen deeply.

There truly were kind-hearted people in this world, and Huo Yuanzhen silently made a vow that if Guan Shanyue didn't return within a month, he would go find him.

After Guan Shanyue left, the immediate problem was resolved. Huo Yuanzhen refocused on his main goal: Shaolin's development. The rebellion of Guan Tianzhao was beyond his control, but cultivating Shaolin was still the right path. As long as he completed the system's tasks, he would succeed.

After taking care of the matter, it was nearly midnight. Huo Yuanzhen patiently waited for the lottery to begin.

Having gone through many draws already, Huo Yuanzhen had become calm in the face of them.

When the clock struck midnight, the system's familiar prompt sounded.

"The August Lottery has started. Do you wish to draw now?"

"Yes."

The familiar spinning wheel appeared again. Huo Yuanzhen checked the martial arts section first. No internal cultivation methods had appeared, and no particularly powerful external techniques either.

With that in mind, he decided not to focus on the martial arts this time. Without top-tier martial arts, his focus would be on the grand prizes—hoping to win several valuable items.

After calculating the position of the grand prize, Huo Yuanzhen selected the starting image and activated the spin.

He closed his eyes and quietly waited for the draw to finish.

"Ding!"

The sound of the light point stopping echoed, but there was no system message announcing the end.

"I really won," Huo Yuanzhen thought to himself with a satisfied smile, though he didn't feel overly excited. Instead, he continued to wait.

The light point spun again, and again, one prize after another was drawn.

After a few minutes, the three prizes were all selected, and the system prompt sounded again: "The August Lottery is complete. Would you like to claim your prizes now?"

Huo Yuanzhen opened his eyes and looked at the rewards he had received.

The first prize was a Buddhist scripture: the Dizang Sutra.

Huo Yuanzhen was quite pleased with this reward. Shaolin was in urgent need of scriptures, and the Lotus Sutra was almost like a forbidden book—only Huo Yuanzhen could understand it. He hoped that more people could come to believe in Shaolin and understand Buddhism. For that, they needed a large collection of scriptures. This religious power could make people fervent, more effective than any other form of persuasion.

The second prize was a construction token for the Luohan Hall!

This was the first time Huo Yuanzhen had won a token for building one of Shaolin's internal halls.

The Ten Halls of Shaolin, or "院" (Yuan), consisted of the Luohan Hall, Bodhi Hall, Prajna Hall, Dharma Hall, Confession Hall, Disciplinary Hall, Elder's Hall, Relic Hall, Scripture Repository, and Abbot's Hall.

Among these, the Luohan Hall, Bodhi Hall, Prajna Hall, and Dharma Hall were primarily for martial arts study, and they were the most important to Huo Yuanzhen.

The Confession Hall was where monks reflected on their wrongdoings, a place for facing the wall.

The Disciplinary Hall was similar to a criminal hall, enforcing Shaolin's rules.

The Relic Hall wasn't of much use right now because Shaolin had no other high monks besides Huo Yuanzhen himself.

The Elder's Hall housed the senior monks, but Huo Yuanzhen didn't need that yet.

The Scripture Repository was essential, but he hadn't drawn it yet.

Finally, the Abbot's Hall was the most important, representing the highest authority in Shaolin. If he won that, he could leave his current humble quarters.

Now, Huo Yuanzhen had drawn the Luohan Hall token. Although it ranked lowest among the martial halls, it was

still a true martial arts hall in Shaolin. It would give Shaolin's monks a sense of belonging and provide a goal for those who weren't yet in one of the top four halls.

In recent times, more than a dozen down-and-out people had expressed interest in joining Shaolin's inner sect to become monks, many of whom had decent martial arts skills. Huo Yuanzhen had hesitated but hadn't accepted them yet.

Now, with the Luohan Hall, these issues would be resolved. Tomorrow, Shaolin's Luohan Hall could officially be established, and martial monks would begin to join, setting Shaolin on a path of growth.

With this construction token, Huo Yuanzhen's mood lifted even more. As for the remaining prize, whether it was good or bad didn't matter much.

However, when Huo Yuanzhen saw the last prize, his eyes immediately lit up.

He had seen this item before when he drew the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill, but had passed on it in favor of the Nine Suns Scripture. Now, it had appeared again!

This was incredibly useful! Incredibly useful!

Even the usually calm Huo Yuanzhen felt a surge of excitement. He carefully selected the option to claim his reward.

PS: The item that appeared before... is it something you can guess? It's not so easy this time!