Why do I have so many masters?

In Shaolin Temple.

The scenery remained as ever, with the verdant mountains elegant, and the solitary peak towering. Monks sat cross-legged, elderly scholars read books, and a man in a blue robe leaned lazily on a bamboo chair, holding a Pill Scripture without looking, his eye closed to the wind, his brows stern as usual.

Wang Anfeng suddenly relaxed.

It was as if the clouds had parted after a storm, and the chaotic thoughts that had swirled like a dance of demons vanished in an instant, leaving only tranquility. He pursed his lips and, as usual, approached to greet with a bow, saying in a low voice,

"Greeting Master, Second Master, and Scholar."

The chanting of scriptures paused briefly, and Master Ci opened his eyes to look at the young man.

His thoughts churned.

He had many emotions in his heart, still filled with worries and fears, yet also overwhelmed with joy. As his thoughts reached his lips, he simply said softly,

"Anfeng, you did very well."

His tone was gentle and rich, his emotions clear only to himself.

Wu Changqing, sitting beside him, put down the medical book in his hand, looked at Wang Anfeng with similar emotions, spoke comforting words, and inquired if there were any injuries. The Scholar, appearing impatient, raised his eyes to look at Master Ci and the others, and said coldly,

"With such a dull opponent, if he couldn't handle it, he would deserve it."

Then he glanced at Wang Anfeng again, a trace of imperceptible softness flickered deep in his eyes, but he scolded,

"You have not come here for several days."

"Such negligence."

"Now that you are here today, go and cultivate!"

.........

The gate of Copper Man Lane slowly closed, emitting a booming sound, isolating the inside from the outside. The young man looked at the opponent appearing before him, inhaling slightly, his expression becoming more pensive.

Outside, the world changed its appearance in an instant.

The deep blue sky slowly shattered into nothingness, the darkness surged, chilling to the bone. Outside Shaoshi Mountain, the surrounding mountains and earth turned into desolate ruins, with fierce sword scars above, permeated with cold and sharp air, devoid of any life.

Yet, in the sky, a sun still hung.

The light it cast was like tears of blood, covering the broken world, like a dying man coughing out his last blood, shocking and filled with indescribable despair.

Master Ci glanced at the sky, and for once, a trace of fear crossed his usually steadfast face, he murmured,

"The Grand Path collapses, Heaven and Earth Return to Ruin..."

Wu Changqing pursed his lips, said nothing, but the hardness in the old man's face betrayed his thoughts.

He and Master Ci were born into this world, to them, it was the real Heaven and Earth. If their world collapsed and was destroyed, they would not be spared, but would decline and disappear like the setting sun, leaving no trace behind.

Faced with such a scene, even those with superior cultivation and martial arts would still feel some fright.

The Scholar sneered, casually setting aside the Pill Scripture, his complexion paler than ever, his blue robe making him seem thin yet sharp like an unsheathed sword. He spoke with disdain,

"False things dare to claim themselves as the Path?"

Master Ci withdrew his gaze, spoke slowly,

"Vimalakirti once taught, 'Observe the suffering of the world, not weary of samsara; in the contemplation of non-arising, all methods bear the burden; see the falseness of all phenomena, without master, without form."

"All is void, the Grand Path is truth."

Scholar Ying shook his head, chuckling disdainfully,

"But false is false, and it shatters with a touch."

The voice paused slightly, as if recalling something, the scholar's complexion grew cold, and he spoke no more. Today, he shattered part of the world that had been triggered, but this had led to even greater and more serious consequences. The structure of this heaven and earth was different from others; the mountains and rivers were intimately connected.

If one part broke, the rest would suffer damage. Find more chapters on empire

Now, apart from Shaoshi Mountain, the rest of the world had become ruins.

He had simply been too lazy to explain to Wang Anfeng earlier, merely constructing an illusion with his own authority.

The three were silent for a long while. The scholar took out the fragmented Jade Bead from his hand; most of its spiritual essence had already spilled out. The remaining bit was used to stabilize the existence of the Shaolin Temple itself and to awaken Wu Changqing and Ci Yuan.

This was nothing but an empty shell now.

However, precisely because it was reduced to an empty shell, one could more keenly feel the spiritual essence that once existed within it, as well as extremely ancient traces that seemed out of place in this era. Mr. Ying lightly caressed the Jade Bead, feeling its charm. With eyes nearly closed, he said,

"The spiritual essence contained in this bead can reconstruct this world."

"But most importantly, the ability to refine the false into the true."

Ci Yuan looked slightly stunned, as faint luminescence began to appear at the scholar's fingertips. The Jade Bead emitted a soft glow, gradually deforming and finally turning into an Elixir. The pill was etched with intricate patterns, where one could seemingly see a flock of birds facing a phoenix, or perhaps even a dragon soaring into the skies.

A seductive fragrance wafted through the air but stopped just as it was about to reach its peak and vanished without a trace.

Wu Changqing's demeanor had been greatly moved by the scent that emanated from the Elixir. Now, witnessing its failure at the final step, an uncontrollable look of frustration and heartache appeared on his face. It took him several breaths to calm the tumult in his heart, and he looked up at Mr. Ying hesitantly and asked,

"Sir, is this…"

The scholar nodded and said,

"Green Glass Red Fire Pill."

As his voice fell, the Elixir in his hand changed back into the Jade Bead and then slowly crumbled into dust, completely disappearing from the world. After all, it was a broken relic, and anything it evolved into could only exist for a moment.

Yet this scene itself had caused an immense shock to the hearts of Wu Changqing and Ci Yuan.

Green Glass Red Fire Pill.

An Upper Third Rank Elixir in the game of the past year, it could completely remove the negative status penalties after a character was killed.

And in their memory of Jianghu, it was almost a miraculous medicine that could heal any grave injury. For martial artists who lived on the edge of the sword and in constant conflict, it was akin to having a second life.

To refine the false, and turn it into the true.

Wu Changqing's eyes widened slightly as his heart shook.

The original grade restrictions seemed to hold a glimmer of hope for being lifted.

....................

Perhaps it was because his state of mind had relaxed; Wang Anfeng's cultivation today went quite smoothly. His movement techniques and assaults were passionate and unrestrained. In the Copper Man Statue training, he successively defeated several opponents before an accidental misstep exposed a flaw and he was expelled.

He had been traveling with Gong Yu and others, worried that Baili Feng and others might come looking for him midway, so after he finished training in Copper Man Lane, he bid his two Masters and the still grim-faced Mr. Ying farewell and returned to the inn at Fufeng Guan City.

However, just before he left, Mr. Ying and Ci Yuan unusually assigned him another 'mission'.

The scenery of Shaolin Temple crumbled before his eyes. In the blink of an eye, the youth was back in his room at Fufeng Guan City. Since no one was there to tend to it, the candle had gone out. He found a flint and lit it again, and under the dim candlelight, Wang Anfeng slowly spread out the scroll in his hand and skimmed over the text, softly reading out loud:

"Search for an item."

"Characteristic: Very ancient, possibly a Jade Bead with spiritual essence within."

"Upon ensuring one's own safety, finding related records will suffice."

The young man looked over the content twice, committing it to memory, before rolling up the paper carefully and placing it in his chest pocket, determined to complete the mission after all previous ones had seemingly failed.

He then sat meditating on the bed for a while, and as the night deepened, he blew out the candle, tucked himself in, and fell asleep soundly.

PS: Another update coming around 11 or 12 o'clock, haha