Chapter 197
Chapter 197
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 197
Chapter Title: The Crumbling Shaolin Temple
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They wouldn't stop at just raiding Shaolin.
Not only the Buddhist Emei Sect, but other Daoist sects, and perhaps even the Five Great Families!
‘I must stop them.’
As the current abbot of Shaolin, the pillar of the martial world and a thousand-year-old institution, he could not stand idly by.
‘If I must spend my remaining life hurling these monsters back into hell, there is nothing better.’
“Haaap!”
With a resounding shout, Won-gil drew up his inner energy.
He thrust out his right palm, which he had pulled back.
-Clang-!
Along with the deep, resonant toll of a great bell, the energy surging from Won-gil’s palm struck one of the Divine Wood Corps members transformed into a wooden monster.
-Kieee-!
The hideous figure flew helplessly, crashing into the wall of the main hall.
A massive handprint was vividly imprinted above it.
“Hap!”
As Won-gil prepared to unleash palm strikes at another Divine Wood Corps member in succession, Yi-ji blocked his path.
“Kyahaha—! Demon-Subduing Tathagata Divine Palm! What else are you hiding?!”
At Yi-ji’s shout, Won-gil’s eyes widened.
“How…!?”
How did she know of this technique?
It was a secret known only to a handful within Shaolin, erased from records centuries ago…!
Shock and suspicion swirled within him.
Even amid the confusion of those two emotions, Won-gil unleashed the Tathagata Divine Palm at Yi-ji.
Yi-ji extended her hand toward him in response.
The two palms clashed in midair.
-Kwarang-!
A tremendous roar filled the Shaolin main hall, and their palm-force battle began.
“Mm…!”
Won-gil instantly sensed that Yi-ji’s inner energy was no less than his own, clashing against the Tathagata Divine Palm.
‘She looks like nothing more than a young woman—how can she possess such power…!’
Doubts only multiplied as time passed, but he had neither the time nor leisure to seek answers.
His best course was to pour everything into felling the bizarre being before him.
“Haaap!”
Won-gil shouted again, drawing up his inner energy once more.
The power of the Tathagata Divine Palm grew even greater, and blood flowed anew from Yi-ji’s seven apertures, exposed to its energy.
“Kee, keehihihi—!”
Yet Yi-ji, who seemed to teeter on the brink of life and death, did not scream in pain—she burst into delighted laughter.
“This is exhilarating! It’s been ages since I felt this! Come on, shall we play for real?!”
With her resounding cry, Yi-ji’s energy began to swell.
Her palm force, which had faltered against the demon-subduing power of the Tathagata Divine Palm, grew fiercer by the moment until it began to overwhelm it in turn.
“This, this can’t be…!”
Won-gil could not hide his astonishment at the sight.
To overpower the Tathagata Divine Palm, infused with his consummate tenth-stage power, while ignoring its elemental advantage.
“Kr, krrgh…!”
“Kyahaha—!”
Amid the piercing mad laughter that battered his ears, Won-gil was helplessly pushed back and ultimately swept away by Yi-ji’s palm force.
“Kaaaak—!”
With a scream, Won-gil crashed into a corner of the main hall.
The green-glowing staff slipped from his grasp and rolled pitifully across the floor.
Yi-ji, her face a bloody mess from the blood pouring from her seven apertures, stuck out her tongue to lick the blood trickling from her mouth and muttered.
“…To go down after just that much. Lower level than I thought. Can’t be helped after such a long hiatus, I suppose? Probably tastes worse too?”
She muttered with strange regret, smacking her lips.
“Yi, Yi-ji…!”
Il-ji called out to her laboriously.
She had not transformed into a wooden monster like the other Divine Wood Corps members, but she was clearly no match.
“Oh, right.”
Yi-ji belatedly noticed her comrades and extended both hands.
A bloody energy poured from her palms, enveloping the fallen Divine Wood Corps members on the main hall floor.
The bloody energy rapidly seeped into their bodies.
Then, astonishingly, the near-dead Divine Wood Corps members rose as if nothing had happened.
Even those who had become wooden monsters reverted to their original beautiful forms as if it had never been.
“Gu-ji…?”
Il-ji, recovering first, checked on Gu-ji, who had been sent flying by Won-gil’s Tathagata Divine Palm.
But Gu-ji, embedded in the wall with a massive handprint, was already melting into a gooey mess over her entire body.
Seeing this, Yi-ji shrugged and muttered.
“Ah, too late for that one.”
Having failed to withstand the demon-subduing energy, her body had melted away—Yi-ji’s energy could not revive her now.
Il-ji’s face turned fierce at losing yet another comrade after Chil-ji’s recent death, her gaze turning toward Won-gil as he struggled to rise.
But this time, Yi-ji blocked her path.
“I’ll handle this one.”
“Yi-ji…!”
“The Captain or the others can’t do it. You know that, right?”
“…….”
Il-ji clamped her mouth shut.
Her clenched fist trembled with frustration before slowly relaxing.
Seeing this, Yi-ji grinned and continued.
“Leave this monk to me and take the other members to sort out the situation outside.”
“…Got it.”
The Divine Wood Corps left Yi-ji behind and exited the main hall.
Yi-ji glanced at her comrades’ retreating backs before turning to face Won-gil.
“Cough—!”
Won-gil vomited blood again; his hands were a total mess, and his face was openly filled with the aura of death.
Unable to control the poison ravaging his body and now struck by Yi-ji’s attack, he was likely feeling his insides melt away right now.
His mental fortitude in not showing it deserved praise.
“Well, that’s the only praiseworthy part. Compared to your ancestors, you’re really lacking.”
“…What are you talking about?”
Won-gil countered, baffled by her incomprehensible words.
Yi-ji had no intention of answering; she tore the corners of her mouth wide.
At the same time, Yi-ji’s body began to twist with an eerie sound.
-Kuduk, kruduk
“No need for you to know. You’ll be dead soon anyway.”
Won-gil flinched at the sight of Yi-ji rapidly swelling.
“You, you’re…?”
-Eujik, eujijik
Yi-ji’s size ballooned in an instant.
The shadow behind her, cast by the blazing flames, grew large enough to engulf Won-gil’s body.
A pair of red eyes now gazed down at him from far above, and the old monk’s wrinkled face paled.
-Please entertain me, if only for a moment.
A chilling echo emanated as if from her belly.
Beneath her blood-red eyes, a massive mouth gaped wide.
Gazing into that maw, which resembled a gateway to hell, Won-gil thought.
‘Please, survive.’
-Kwajik!
*
“It’s over.”
-Swish
Yi-ji emerged from the main hall, now collapsing amid the flames, and tossed something.
It was Won-gil’s head.
Just the head rolling pitifully on the ground without its body—it was a wretched sight unfit for the current Shaolin abbot, one of the Ten Supremes.
Il-ji stared coldly at Won-gil’s head for a moment before looking up and praising Yi-ji.
“Good work.”
“Yeah, but we’ve got a problem.”
“Problem?”
To the puzzled Il-ji, Yi-ji held up the green-glowing staff in her hand.
Emerald Jade Buddha Staff.
It was Shaolin’s symbol of authority as sect leader, the treasure that Fortress Lord Do Han of Tyrant Heaven had ordered them to retrieve.
But why this…?
“…This?”
After examining the Emerald Jade Buddha Staff briefly, Il-ji realized it was a fake.
“Looks like they just painted some random staff green to disguise it.”
“…Then where’s the real one?”
Yi-ji shrugged, meaning she didn’t know either.
Il-ji scowled and glared at Won-gil’s head again.
“You damn monk…!”
Causing trouble until the very end…!
After venting by stomping Won-gil’s head to pieces, Il-ji ordered the Divine Wood Corps and her subordinate elites to search for the Emerald Jade Buddha Staff.
How much time passed after that?
“Captain!”
Ship-ji, one of the Divine Wood Corps members, rushed up to her.
“Th-there’s something you need to see!”
Following Ship-ji’s urgent tone, Il-ji entered the Ancestral Hall where the relics and ashes of past eminent monks were enshrined, and beheld the secret passage hidden within.
“…No wonder there were oddly few novice monks around.”
It seemed they had evacuated the young novices and their escorts here.
‘One of them must have the Emerald Jade Buddha Staff.’
Clicking her tongue at the unexpectedly troublesome situation, Il-ji ordered everyone to pursue.
Yi-ji then restrained Il-ji, who was about to follow.
“Ah, wait. Captain, you should head back to the fortress first.”
“W-what? Why?”
In her hand was a small mirror, identical to the one held by the spy who had infiltrated the Zhuge family.
“Just got word from Yi-gan. Turns out the princess who escaped is still alive.”
“What…?”
Il-ji, who at first couldn’t comprehend Yi-ji’s words, soon grasped their meaning and widened her eyes.
“The former lord’s daughter… is alive?”
“Yes. She showed up at the Zhuge family recently. Purpose unknown, but it’s definitely not good for us.”
Il-ji’s face hardened at those words, and she soon nodded.
This news was as critical as eradicating Shaolin’s lineage.
“I’ll return to the fortress and report this to the lord. Can I leave the pursuit command to you?”
“Yes, don’t worry. I’ll make sure to catch and kill them all.”
“What about the Nine Nether Illusion Dream Formation? Is it working properly?”
“Of course. Want to check it yourself?”
At Yi-ji’s relaxed response, Il-ji promptly turned and exited through Shaolin’s mountain gate.
Glancing back, she saw the sight beyond the gate: the “peaceful Shaolin.”
The buildings that had stood for a thousand years burned pathetically—not a trace remained.
‘Good thing the formation is holding up well.’
It would have been perfect if not for the kids escaping.
Well, she’d left it to Yi-ji, so the escapees would be dead soon enough.
With that thought, she descended the mountain.
To deliver news to Do Han at Tyrant Heaven Fortress that he absolutely would not welcome.