CHAPTER 583: CHAPTER 580 JIAO LONG WHO LOSES HIS WAY! [THIRD MIDNIGHT]

"Abbot Brother, why is there such a commotion in the Scripture Pavilion?"

Elder Xuan Jue from the Dharma Institute looked towards the direction of the Scripture Pavilion with a worried inquiry.

"Brother Xuan Jue, the Eighteen Copper Men Formation is a divine artifact left by Master Huineng to protect the Scripture Pavilion. Even if Immortal Master Li’s magic reaches the heavens, he should not dream of breaking the formation!"

The responder was Elder Xuan Yong from the Precepts Hall.

However, before he could finish speaking, there was a "boom"–a thunderous roar that shook the heavens.

The nine-story tall Scripture Pavilion tilted like a mountain collapsing and crashed down spectacularly.

Immediately after, a Jiao Long, dozens of meters long with teeth and claws bared, soared directly into the Nine Heavens Cloud.

Seeing such an inconceivable scene, all the monks of the Shaolin Temple were dumbstruck.

"Not good, the Eighteen Copper Men Formation has been broken!"

Elder Xuan Jue’s pupils shrank sharply, crying out in alarm.

By the time Abbot Xuan Kong and others rushed over, the Scripture Pavilion had already turned into ruins. Most of the secret manuals stored inside were lost, and the Eighteen Copper Men that perennially guarded the place were nowhere to be found.

"That Demon Dragon swept through the Scripture Pavilion, hurry, chase it! We cannot let it escape!"

Xuan Kong roared explosively, and five Elders along with more than a dozen protectors transformed into streaks of light, chasing in the direction where the Jiao Long fled.

The Jiao Long was directionally challenged. Initially, it remembered the way it came, but after escaping a hundred miles and turning a few circles, it got utterly confused and didn’t know where to go.

Li Chen on its back was still unconscious, completely unable to give directions.

Just as it was spinning around in place, Xuan Kong and others had already caught up.

In the critical situation, Jiao Long didn’t care about anything else and recklessly sprinted in panic.

Seeing this, Xuan Kong and the others were also confused, completely unclear about the situation?

"Where exactly does this Immortal Master Li want to go, shifting his directions from east to west, from south to north?"

"I’ve heard that this Immortal Master Li is a monstrous genius that appears once in a century. His actions now seem abnormal, there must be some unspeakable secret behind it. We need to proceed with caution to avoid falling into an ambush!"

"Brother Xuan Yuan is right, we should act carefully and not rashly to avoid making the same mistakes as those before us!"

The self-proclaimed "extremely intelligent" Elders of Shaolin Temple regarded Jiao Long’s directionally challenged behavior as something extraordinary. Not daring to intercept rashly, they could only follow from a distance.

By the time they realized what was happening, the eastern sky had already begun to show the first light of dawn.

And Li Chen had already woken up.

Though still weak and unable to use the True Essence Spiritual Power, acting as a guide was still no issue for him.

Li Chen glanced around and saw that they had already reached the divine capital Luoyang, below was Dragon Gate Mountain.

"Little Dragon, into the mountain!"

Hearing the familiar voice, the excited Jiao Long roared joyously, nearly throwing Li Chen off.

"Stay put, don’t be so noisy!"

Li Chen patted the back of the Jiao Long, scolding it.

After barking "ao ao" a couple of times, the Jiao Long plunged into Dragon Gate Mountain.

Once on the ground, Li Chen saw the rugged barren mountain, an idea came to him, and he directed the Jiao Long, utilizing this free labor to move stones. He planned to leverage the mountain terrain to set up a simple Eight Diagrams Array to block the chase of Shaolin’s high monks.

As his array formation was completed, he saw Xuan Kong, Xuan Jue, Xuan Yong, and others catching up.

Li Chen did not entangle with them, immediately leaping onto Jiao Long’s back, and fled swiftly.

Xuan Kong and the others, eager to chase after Li Chen, failed to notice that the positions of the rocks around them had already changed.

When they ventured deeper and realized something was amiss, it was already too late.

Boulders flew through the air, waves crashed against the shore. At times it resembled the roaring Yellow River, imposing and majestic. At other times, it felt like towering Tai Mountain, peerless under the heavens.

Master Xuan Kong and others, inexperienced with Arrays, were immediately trapped, frantic like ants on a hot pan, turning in circles, unable to advance even a step.

"Thank you for your temple’s secret manual, I have other matters to attend to, so I must take my leave now. We shall meet again!"

Seeing that Master Xuan Kong and his group were tricked, Li Chen turned back, bowed to them from afar, and loudly declared.

Watching Li Chen’s figure disappearing in the distance, Xuan Yong and the others cursed loudly out of anger. Yet there was nothing they could devise, just glaring and stamping their feet in frustration.

Xuan Jue urgently spoke, "Elder Brother Abbot, with Immortal Master Li heading to Jiangnan, it’s like a hidden dragon entering the sea, a fierce tiger returning to the mountains. Our chances of retrieving the scriptures from the Scripture Pavilion are likely as hard as reaching the heavens!"

Master Xuan Kong clasped his hands together, uttering a Buddhist chant, "Amitabha Buddha, it’s destiny. Our Shaolin faces this calamity; we can’t force what’s not meant to be. Let it be."

Upon hearing Master Xuan Kong’s words, the easily angered Xuan Yong was immediately infuriated.

"Elder Brother Abbot, with the Scripture Pavilion destroyed, it’s a tremendous dishonor for our Shaolin. Are we just going to let this go?"

Master Xuan Kong fell silent for a moment, then said, "Amitabha Buddha, the Buddha once said: ’Everything in the world, regardless of cause and catastrophe, is fated. We should all follow nature and strictly adhere to the Buddha’s teachings.’"

Xuan Yong was seething with resentment but since the speaker was the Elder Brother Abbot, he couldn’t retort and merely sulked silently, his teeth grinding audibly in anger.

Seeing this, Xuan Jue stepped forward and said, "Elder and Younger Brothers, our current urgent task is to break this Stone Array together. Return to the temple to stabilize the situation and rebuild the Scripture Pavilion. We must minimize the losses this calamity has brought to our Shaolin Temple."

The senior monks exchanged glances, nodding in agreement with his opinion.

At this point, all they could do at Shaolin Temple was to swallow their teeth in their bellies.

Otherwise, what could they do, go to Jiangnan to seek revenge from Immortal Master Li?

Don’t joke around. Even if we don’t consider the Buddhist precepts, even the most skilled Master Xuan Kong couldn’t last two rounds under Immortal Master Li. All of them together likely wouldn’t suffice for Immortal Master Li to deal with?

Besides, Jiangnan is Immortal Master Li’s stronghold. His Huaxia Alliance houses numerous experts. Even risking the thousand-year foundation of Shaolin Temple might not be enough to overcome them.

Moreover, if they truly enraged Immortal Master Li, it would not just be the Scripture Pavilion that’s destroyed. Perhaps the entire Shaolin might follow the same fate as Medicine King Valley. A thousand years of foundation, ruined in an instant.

...

Li Chen did not return to school this time, but directly went to his headquarters at Cloud Mist Mountain.

When he opened the storage ring and dumped everything out, he couldn’t help but be stunned.

He finally understood why those bald monks from Shaolin chased after him like red-eyed rabbits.

Apart from the eighteen Copper Men, tens of thousands of volumes from the Scripture Pavilion were almost completely emptied, even the bookshelves weren’t left behind.

Jiao Long shook its head and wagged its tail, growling at Li Chen as if a schoolboy who had done well, waiting for praise.

"Roar, Roar!"

Li Chen understood its meaning; it was asking for a reward.

Dragon Blood Fruit were almost depleted, only the last five remained.

However, Li Chen still took out two and handed them to Jiao Long.

Seeing the Dragon Blood Fruit, Jiao Long’s eyes lit up, excitedly clawing and dancing: "Fruit, Fruit!"

Seeing this, Li Chen thought to himself: It seems I need to find a way to cultivate Dragon Blood Fruit. Otherwise, it’s going to be tough to get this greedy creature to work in the future.

Of course, cultivating Dragon Blood Fruit is not something that can be accomplished overnight. Li Chen merely considered it for the moment, tentatively planning it for the future.

His current urgent task was to quickly find the "Demon Puppet Secret Technique," and use it to reprocess the corpse of Demon King Zhang Xiaolin and the eighteen Copper Men stolen from Shaolin Temple into puppets.

Li Chen looked at the several hundred thousand volumes of secret manuals, piled up like a mountain, and immediately felt a headache.

Good grief, with so many books, which one is the "Demon Puppet Secret Technique"?