A Clash of Gods - Chapter 130
Chapter 130 The Wuxiang Array
Jingkong said, “Since you want to fight three rounds, and it is not that we asked for a fight, but the respected guests came from afar and suggested it, we can do nothing but fight with you. However, the Baiyun Island and the Temple of Great Light had a minor conflict in the past, but we don’t have any enmity between us. We will learn from each other in the three rounds and stop at a certain point. We should try not to hurt anybody.”
Chi Danmei chuckled. “Master, rest assured. We came to learn from you, not to become your enemy.”
Jingkong had his own thought. The other party’s request was clear, and they would compete on the array technique, boxing and swordsmanship.
He was more than fifty years old, so he certainly had seen a lot and found that Bai Yuhe’s swordsmanship must be excellent.
Although there were many outstanding swordsmen in the Temple of Great Light, the number one swordsman Jingtong went to the imperial palace to attend the Shui Lu Rite and was not in the temple. If Jingtong was here, he could compete with Bai Yuhe, but this time, Jingkong looked at the monks in the temple, and perhaps nobody could be Bai Yuhe’s opponent.
The people in the temple would lose in swordsmanship before competing.
Jingkong was clear that the Purification Building was the most important place in the Temple of Great Light, with books about martial skills through the history kept inside, and it could be said to be the heart of the temple. People were sent to guard it all the time and there were traps in it.
If an outsider entered the Purification Building and read the books about martial skills, it was like somebody who was stabbed in his heart.
If the visitors today were others, the people in the Temple of Great Light wouldn’t agree to their requirement. Even if they were confident, they wouldn’t give others any chance to get close to the Purification Building.
But the comers were disciples of the owner of the Baiyun Island, so it was greatly different.
The Temple of Great Light was not an ordinary temple but the royal temple. Since the Chu State was established, it enjoyed a high position in the state.
The Temple of Great Light was not like the ordinary temples, which needed the pilgrims who would pay for praying and the incense to survive, but it had its fiefdom. The fiefdom would ensure the temple’s daily expense and it was more than enough.
Buddhism was popular in the Chu State, and most of the common people believed in Buddhism, which was of a high position in people’s hearts. As the first temple in the world, the Temple of Great Light was the leader of the Buddhist sect in the Chu State. Although there was no disciple who went out to advocate the Buddhist doctrine, because of its superior position in the Buddhist sect, it had extraordinary influence in the country.
The imperial court of the Chu State gave the Temple of Great Light special treatment, and the temple became a trump card of the imperial court. The imperial court controlled the political power in society and the temple protected the political power with the religion. They cooperated with and protected each other.
The ordinary temple wouldn’t care about the government affairs at the imperial court of the Chu State, but the Temple of Great Light had to consider this point.
Jingkong knew that the Southern Chu State and Northern Han State confronted each other, and the Eastern Qi State stayed aloof and was always not involved, but as the dispute between the two states got fiercer, it was quite difficult for the Eastern Qi State to be righteous alone between them. Both the Northern Han State and Chu State tried to win the Eastern Qi State over.
The Eastern Qi State sent the envoys to pay respect to the emperor of the Chu State who had passed away, which was a wonderful chance for the Chu State, so the imperial court of the state naturally attached importance to the envoys from the Eastern Qi State. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have sent the assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites to bring Chi Danmei and the others to the mountain.
Chi Danmei was a disciple of the owner of the Baiyun Island in East Sea, who was the imperial master of the Eastern Qi State.
Jingkong was aware that the owner of the Baiyun Island idly lived far away in the East Sea and didn’t ask about the state affairs of Eastern Qi at ordinary times, but his status in the state was extraordinary, and even if he said something randomly, it would influence the national policy of the Eastern Qi State.
Chi Danmei and the others were the island owner’s disciples, and the people in the Temple of Great Light had to treat them cautiously for the sake of the Chu State.
If they fell out with the people from the Baiyun Island, it meant that they fell out with the Eastern Qi State, and the relationship between the two states would be greatly influenced.
Since the other party demanded to fight three rounds, Jingkong thought it over and knew that they couldn’t refuse. Now he was the head of the Temple of Great Light, and he couldn’t do things sloppily but must decide promptly.
They could neither let the other party enter the Purification Building nor refuse the offer, and the only way was to win two rounds of the three.
They would be defeated in swordsmanship before competing, so if they wanted to stop the other party from entering the Purification Building, they must win the other two rounds.
Jingkong considered and weighed just now and thought that the Temple of Great Light had the winning chance. Although they would lose in swordsmanship, they had a great chance to win the other two rounds.
At the moment, Jingneng stood up and said, “I have heard long ago that the owner of the Baiyun Island has reached the acme of perfection in martial skills. Since you are from the Baiyun Island, you must have extraordinary martial skills. I will learn boxing from you. Who can give me instructions first?”
Jingkong stated in a deep voice, “Jingneng, you go away first!” His tone was calm, but there was majesty that couldn’t be disobeyed.
Jingneng was stunned but understood instantly. He put his palms together. “Yes!”
He felt disgusted with the disciples from the Baiyun Island and wanted to take actions to teach them a lesson, but he knew that since they were disciples of the island owner, they must be uncommon.
Among the thirteen eminent monks in the Temple of Great Light, of course, the abbot was the most powerful in martial arts and the other twelve couldn’t be put on a par with him. Jingneng knew that he was just average, and Jingkong was definitely one of the top three in the temple besides the abbot.
Since they had an agreement of three rounds, they couldn’t act rashly but should consider for the overall situation, so Jingkong who was the number one in the temple currently should take part in the boxing competition.
Chi Danmei slightly twisted her plump body and giggled. “Masters, don’t fight for the chance. The people from afar are guests. Since you treat us as guests, should you let us choose how to compete?”
Jingkong knew that Chi Danmei was cunning, and he just asked with a smile, “Chi, what’s your opinion?” He was sensitive and didn’t agree to let them make offers.
Chi Danmei replied, “We would certainly choose the people who would take part in the competition by ourselves, but today we have only six people. My senior fellow apprentice would naturally compete on swordsmanship, and the four people behind me would come out for the array technique, so there is no choice but to show my incompetence and compete on boxing.”
Jingkong nodded. “That’s great, but I don’t know what you want to compete on first, Chi. The people in our temple mainly study the Buddhist doctrine and seldom practice martial arts. But respected guests came from far away, so we have no choice but to accompany you.”
Yang Ning was at leisure and happy. He didn’t care whether the Temple of Great Light or the Baiyun Island would win. He didn’t like the Temple of Great Light or have feelings for the Baiyun Island. If they would compete on martial skills in the Brilliance Hall, he would take the opportunity to watch a good play.
Chi Danmei responded, “I have heard that there are more than ten kinds of arrays in your temple, and the most powerful is the Demon Killer Array formed by thirty-six monks. The disciples from the Baiyun Island wouldn’t be so conceited as to let four people challenge the Demon Killer Array.” She showed a charming smile. “But the Wuxiang Array is said to be formed by four people. Is it true?”
“Chi, it appears that you know well about this temple as you even know the Wuxiang Array.” Jingkong’s tone was peaceful, and he smiled. “Right, the Wuxiang Array in our temple is formed by four people.”
Chi Danmei raised her fair-skinned arm and moved her slender fingers forward. Then the four disciples dressed in clothes made of hemp behind her walked forward and spread their legs with their hands behind their backs. They looked indifferent.
Chi Danmei said, “My master was in a good mood sometimes and created an array of four people, and we want to learn the Wuxiang Array and exchange views. Can we?”
Jingkong put his palms together. “It’s reasonable and fair for four people in an array to compete with the other four people, so I don’t have a reason to refuse.” Then his voice became deep. “Zhenxu, Zhenzhao, Zhenhui, Zhenji, form the Wuxiang Array.”
As soon as he finished his words, there were figures flashing, and four people came swiftly out of the crowd. Yang Ning saw that all the four monks had yellow belts on their waists, and they were disciples from the Bright Building.
The four disciples with the word “Zhen” in their names put their palms together and stood across from the four visitors dressed in clothes made of hemp.
Chi Danmei smiled charmingly. “All of you, listen. You should know when to stop and can’t kill anybody. We learn from each other today in order to fulfill the island owner’s wish. If you lose, you should commit suicide at the foot of the mountain as soon as we go down. We will take your heads back to see the island owner.”
While speaking, she showed a beautiful smile and her voice was soft, but her words terrified the others.
Jingkong frowned slightly and didn’t say more in the end.
“Please give us instructions.” One of the four monks spoke in a deep voice and then added, “Form the array!” Afterward, the four monks moved swiftly and then surrounded the four visitors.
The four visitors didn’t say anything but moved respectively. In a flash, they formed a square array.
Yang Ning had never seen the martial arts masters form an array, so he looked at them in the distance and felt curious.
However, he saw that both sides stood still and didn’t start fighting immediately, so he was surprised. He didn’t know that the array was different from fighting alone. If the two parties wanted to win, they needed to break the other party’s array. Otherwise, even if some people on the other side were hurt, it was difficult to win when the array wasn’t broken.
Both the Temple of Great Light and the Baiyun Island were among the best sects, and the arrays they had shown were not ordinary but with mysteries hidden in them. If they were careless, the consequence couldn’t be imagined.
The four monks from the Temple of Great Light and the four visitors from the Baiyun Island remained unmoved and first observed the features of the other party’s array. Then they would cooperate and break it. The laymen just saw that the eight people stood still randomly, but the experts knew that it was the crucial time to battle.
It was silent in the Brilliance Hall and all people’s eyes focused on the eight people in the middle of the hall. It was spacious and magnificent, and it was easy for eight people to form arrays.
Suddenly a low roar was heard, and they saw that the four monks suddenly moved forward at the same time and started fighting. They cooperated with a tacit understanding as if they mentally communicated with one another.
The four visitors also moved in an instant. Soon the eight people were mixed and rolling.
Yang Ning found that the four monks mainly attacked, and the four visitors seemed to mainly defend. In comparison, the four monks moved swiftly and the four visitors’ locations were fixed. Although the four visitors also moved like flashing, they formed a square array all the time. They moved quickly but not in a mess. In the beginning, the audience could tell who were monks and visitors, but in a flash, Yang Ning just saw that the figures were interlaced, and he was dizzy and could hardly distinguish them.