Chapter 94: The Secret of the Arhat Hall

After returning to Shaolin, Huo Yuanzhen didn't feel much relief.

Although these rogue samurai had suffered a heavy blow and were unlikely to cause trouble again, possibly retreating soon, that wasn't the core issue. The mere presence of foreign men in the land of Henan was highly suspicious, implying that the local powers in Henan might have already allied with foreign forces to prepare for a confrontation with the imperial court.

Huo Yuanzhen could imagine the difficulties the court faced, but he didn't want to get involved.

As long as there were no wars and nothing troubling happening, he could continue to focus on developing Shaolin and pursue his goal of dominating the martial world.

At this moment, his primary concern was preparing for the martial arts gathering in Henan on the first day of October.

On that day, Hua Wuji would undoubtedly try to persuade all participating martial sects to join the Tian Dao Alliance, intending to take full control of Henan.

Huo Yuanzhen did not want to see a unified Tian Dao Alliance, as it would severely hinder his own ambitions to dominate the martial arts world of Henan. Therefore, he planned to sabotage the gathering, preventing the martial sects from uniting.

However, with his current internal power at the peak of the acquired stage, and a few special techniques, he wasn't sure if he could go up against Hua Wuji, who had entered the innate stage many years ago.

"Has Mo Phoenix not succeeded yet?"

In a branch of the Evil Sect, Zhu Huan asked his subordinate, the steward, incredulously.

"Yes, sect leader. Mo Phoenix said the abbot's heart is steadfast in his devotion to Buddha, making it hard to act. She needs more time."

"Time! Time! It's been almost half a month, and she still hasn't made any progress. This won't do. We can't keep relying on her. It seems I was too quick to trust this woman and underestimated that Shaolin abbot. Didn't the Holy Maiden leave Lüye Town? In that case, we'll have to handle it ourselves!"

"Sect leader, Mo Phoenix also mentioned that this matter is under her responsibility and forbade us from intervening. If we do, it will be considered as opposing Tianya Haige."

"Hmph, nonsense! This matter was entrusted to us by the Zhongyue Sect. I only wanted to save some effort by letting Mo Phoenix deal with it. Since she doesn't have the ability, we'll take care of it ourselves. How dare she interfere? Though Tianya Haige is strong, they are nothing more than small fry in our Sacred Sect's eyes."

"What the sect leader says is true, but I've heard something."

"Speak!"

"Recently, those rogue samurai from Fusang arrived in Henan."

"This? Those rogue samurai tried to use their martial arts to defeat our martial artists and spread their faith, worshipping their so-called Amaterasu. Heh, what's interesting is that their Amaterasu shares the same name as our military commissioner."

Laughing twice, Zhu Huan continued, "Unfortunately, those rogue samurai are not very skilled. They only managed to defeat some headmasters from escort agencies and martial arts schools, and in many sects, they suffered defeats. I heard they were heavily defeated in Dengfeng, with more than twenty casualties, including a peak acquired martial artist."

"The thing I wanted to mention is that those samurai encountered the Shaolin abbot at the Qinglong Escort. The abbot made a move and taught the Fusang samurai a lesson. Afterward, the peak acquired rogue samurai led a group to chase the abbot, but they were completely wiped out."

Upon hearing his subordinate's report, Zhu Huan fell silent.

He himself was just at the peak of the acquired stage. If the Fusang samurai were truly killed by the Shaolin abbot, he feared going would only result in his own death.

The steward also fell silent. He had said all that needed to be said; the rest was up to the sect leader's decision.

After a while, Zhu Huan spoke, "In that case, we must proceed carefully."

"Should we report this?"

"No, we can't report it," Zhu Huan refused. If he reported it, it would be disadvantageous to him.

After thinking for a while, Zhu Huan gritted his teeth, "Forget it. Let's go directly to the monks, Taoists, and nuns. Have them take action. It's best to uproot Shaolin entirely, or at least kill the abbot and be done with it!"

The steward shivered all over, hurriedly agreeing and leaving.

"Is this true?"

A few days later, on September 19th, Huo Yuanzhen received great news. The martial monks in the Arhat Hall had made rapid progress. After practicing the Wuxiang Divine Art for a while, three of them had broken through to the early acquired stage and even reached the mid-acquired stage.

Though they were already at the peak of the early acquired stage before, their ability to break through so quickly was beyond Huo Yuanzhen's expectations.

Hastily, he arrived at the Arhat Hall to inquire about everyone's progress.

The Wuxiang Divine Art had become Shaolin's core technique, and all of the Arhat Hall's disciples were practicing it, including Master Yijing, who was at the senior monk level, following alongside the others.

Upon asking, Huo Yuanzhen was astonished.

In the past few days, everyone had felt their internal power increase. Many of the new monks recruited had a martial foundation, and some had even practiced basic internal techniques before, giving them some internal power to begin with.

The Wuxiang Divine Art was an advanced internal technique. These individuals would naturally progress, but the speed of their progress seemed a bit too fast!

At this point, almost all the disciples of the Arhat Hall had felt their qi flow, with some even reaching the mid-acquired stage. The most surprising was Master Yijing.

Master Yijing was a martial genius at Shaolin, and his Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill was almost on the verge of breaking through to the first level, while his Iron Head Skill was nearing minor success, and his Tiger Subduing Fist was in full mastery. Yet, after only practicing the Wuxiang Divine Art for ten days, he had already begun to sense his qi flow, effectively entering the early acquired stage!

Previously, it took Monk Yijie, who had no particular talent, ten years to sense his qi when practicing the Pure Boy Skill. It had taken Huo Yuanzhen months of intense training after crossing over just to reach the mid-acquired stage!

Seeing how quickly Master Yijing had reached the early acquired stage, Huo Yuanzhen almost rolled his eyes. They both grew up eating steamed buns, so why was the difference in their martial talent so enormous?

Despite all of them practicing the same techniques, why was his progress so slow?

Seeing the joyous disciples of the Arhat Hall, the dejected abbot couldn't bear to watch and left the group, walking alone in the hall.

The surrounding Arhat statues were vivid, each baring sharp teeth and glaring down.

"Everyone's progressing. Is there no fool among them? Am I the only one who's a fool?"

Huo Yuanzhen muttered, feeling that something must be wrong.

Could it be that the Arhat Hall had some secret?

Looking up at the statues, Huo Yuanzhen suddenly realized—there could be something to this!

The Bell Tower was something he had drawn, and its bell sound was different from others, seeming to cleanse the soul, much like the wooden fish.

The Ten Thousand Buddhas Pagoda, which he had also drawn, seemed to bring good fortune to everyone who came to offer incense, making them increasingly devout. Even when he himself drew a prize there, he always got something good.

The Mountain Gate was another structure he had drawn, and seeing it gave people a sense of solemnity, causing all who entered Shaolin to behave respectfully and quietly, almost as if entering a sacred ground.

Could it be that these buildings, part of the system he had drawn, had some special function?

Could the Arhat Hall, a place for martial arts practice, also have some effect on martial progress?

As this thought crossed his mind, Huo Yuanzhen's heart surged with excitement. He quickly sat down on a cushion to practice the Pure Boy Skill.

After circulating his energy for one round, he opened his eyes after two hours.

"Indeed! It's true!"

Huo Yuanzhen exclaimed in his heart. The Arhat Hall was indeed beneficial for martial arts practice. After just two hours of practicing the Pure Boy Skill there, the results were equivalent to five or six hours of normal practice.

This was like a double time cheat code!

No wonder everyone was making such rapid progress—not just because of the Wuxiang Divine Art, but also because of the Arhat Hall's effect.

Having discovered the secret of the Arhat Hall, and finally proving that he wasn't a fool, Huo Yuanzhen was overjoyed.

However, as he pondered, he realized that he couldn't use this special effect constantly. As the abbot, he couldn't spend all his time in the Arhat Hall training. He still had to maintain the proper image of an abbot, and mingling with the lower monks all the time wouldn't help him establish his authority.

This thought made him feel a little down.

Should he disguise himself as an ordinary monk and sneak into the Arhat Hall for training?

After thinking it through, Huo Yuanzhen felt this approach wouldn't work. Besides, there would be more chances to draw other buildings in the future. Perhaps if he drew the Bodhi Hall, the Prajna Hall, or even the Abbot's Chamber, he would get even stronger effects.

Originally, the Pure Boy Skill was a major concern for Huo Yuanzhen. Mastering such an internal technique was no easy feat. Without decades of hard training, it would be almost impossible to reach perfection. Given his mediocre talent, it would take him at least a hundred years under normal conditions.

But now, there was finally hope, and Huo Yuanzhen felt overjoyed.

Just as he was about to leave, a monk came running toward him.

"Abbot, we have a situation outside. Two monks with strange appearances are saying that we Shaolin have stolen their protecting sect's divine skill. They've injured several people and are now fighting with Huiwu outside!"

Huo Yuanzhen froze for a moment. "When did we steal anyone's divine skill?"

Noticing Huo Yuanzhen's confusion, the monk added, "One of them said that our Shaolin is now practicing the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill, which they claim is their protecting sect's divine skill. They got upset when we argued with them and attacked. Their strength is enormous, and even Huiwu might not be able to defeat them."

Suddenly, Huo Yuanzhen's eyes lit up. He realized what was going on. It was likely a group from the esoteric sect who had come to trouble them.

The Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill was indeed the secret skill of the Esoteric Sect. The monks outside must be two Tibetan lamas come to claim it.