Chapter 50: The End of the Martial Arts Tournament

"Well done."

Tang Xuan had just returned to his master’s side when he heard Master Xuan Zhi smile and praise him warmly.

He didn’t pretend to be modest and simply grinned. With his achievements in this tournament—defeating both Huo Du and Dalba in succession—there was no need for humility. After this gathering, word would surely spread among the thousands of martial artists present, and his name would resound throughout the martial world!

First, he had defeated Huo Du and obtained the antidote for Zhu Ziliu. Then he had won the crucial second bout, bringing honor to Shaolin. Upon returning to the monastery, he would be credited with great merit. Moreover, he and his master had earlier slain Li Mochou, which would also count toward his good deeds. Tang Xuan, with the merit he had earned, would surely be able to learn the Seventy-two Supreme Arts of Shaolin upon his return!

That was why he couldn't help but laugh aloud.

At this moment, the heroes in the great hall cast frequent glances in his direction. Who could have expected that after the legendary ‘Northern Qiao Feng’—a lay disciple of Shaolin renowned for his unmatched skill—another young man of such boundless promise would emerge from among Shaolin’s lay disciples?

Could it be that Shaolin’s lay disciples were destined to produce heroes and paragons?

Many in the martial world were now considering whether to send their own descendants to Shaolin as lay disciples.

Guo Fu, the daughter of Guo Jing and Huang Rong, gazed at Tang Xuan from afar, her eyes shining with admiration, much to the chagrin of the Wu brothers beside her.

The third bout soon began.

Guo Jing faced the Golden Wheel Lama.

One was the disciple of Hong Qigong, master of the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms, and also versed in the peerless Nine Yin Manual, combining both internal and external skills to reach unmatched heights.

The other had cultivated the Dragon Elephant Wisdom Art, the highest guardian technique of Esoteric Buddhism, rivaling both the Nine Yin Manual and the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms.

The Dragon Elephant Wisdom Art was recorded in the Dragon Elephant Sutra, a supreme secret of Esoteric Buddhism, forbidden to outsiders. It comprised thirteen levels, each said to grant the strength of one dragon and one elephant. The Golden Wheel Lama had reached the tenth level, gaining the might of ten dragons and ten elephants!

The first level was easy to learn—even the dullest of men, if properly instructed, could master it in a year or two. The second level was twice as difficult, requiring three or four years; the third, twice as hard again, taking seven or eight years, and so on, each level doubling the effort and time required. The further one progressed, the harder it became: the fourth level took sixteen years, the fifth thirty-two, the sixth sixty-four, the seventh one hundred twenty-eight, the eighth two hundred fifty-six, the ninth five hundred twelve, the tenth one thousand twenty-four... The thirteenth level would require more than eight thousand years!

For an ordinary person, without an impossibly long life, the thirteenth and final level was unattainable.

But that was for ordinary men.

The Golden Wheel Lama was a prodigy, whose diligent cultivation had brought him to the ninth level—a feat that to most would require centuries, even millennia. Throughout the history of Esoteric Buddhism, even the greatest monks had only reached the seventh or eighth level. There had once been a monk who reached the ninth, but when he pressed on to the tenth, inner demons overwhelmed him. He lost control, went mad, and died after seven days and nights of wild delirium.

But the Golden Wheel Lama had succeeded where others failed, attaining the tenth level. His palm strength at that stage rivaled that of Yang Guo—the Condor Hero—who had developed the Melancholy Palm upon the sea.

Even Qiu Qianren, the Iron Palm who became a monk under the name Ci'en, died under the Golden Wheel Lama’s blows. The Old Mischief Zhou Botong himself dared not meet the Lama’s palm directly, claiming no mortal flesh could withstand it.

Such was the might of the Dragon Elephant Wisdom Art!

For Tang Xuan, this art would have been the ideal choice. As a player with ‘enhanced stats,’ he could have brought this divine skill straight to perfection, all thirteen levels—what an outcome that would have been!

Yet, this art was the supreme, secret guardian technique of Esoteric Buddhism, forbidden to all outsiders. Even Dalba and Huo Du, disciples of the Lama himself, had not been taught it.

Even if Tang Xuan joined the Vajra Sect and became an inner disciple, he would not have been able to learn the Dragon Elephant Wisdom Art in the short term. So he settled for joining Shaolin to pursue the Seventy-two Supreme Arts.

Nevertheless, if he ever had the chance in the future, he would try to acquire the Dragon Elephant Wisdom Art, eager to witness the ultimate power of the thirteenth level.

After all, in the Great Wuxia game, characters like Guo Jing and the Golden Wheel Lama, as super bosses, received attribute enhancements and were even more formidable than in the original Legend of the Condor Heroes. The Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms and the Dragon Elephant Wisdom Art both had enhanced attributes!

Just as the legendary duel between Hong Qigong and Ouyang Feng, where the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms unleashed golden dragons with unrivaled mystery, the Dragon Elephant Wisdom Art, when mastered, might well bestow true dragon and elephant power in the game.

At present, Guo Jing and the Golden Wheel Lama had already begun their duel.

They started by testing each other, one striking with the palm, the other launching a punch.

Guo Jing’s Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms were the epitome of forceful masculinity; even a probing strike was nearly unstoppable. Yet the Lama’s punch, powered by the ninth level of the Dragon Elephant Wisdom Art, possessed tremendous might.

Before their blows even met, the air was filled with crackling and explosive sounds!

In an instant, most of the spectators in the hall instinctively covered their ears as they watched.

The force of their strikes thundered through the hall!

When fist and palm finally collided, the result was a tremendous explosion. The center of the hall sank into a deep pit from the force, and the entire building shook violently, nearly collapsing!

The next moment, after this initial test, both men’s expressions changed, each marveling at the other’s power and internal strength.

They attacked simultaneously: one unleashed the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms, accompanied by the roar of a dragon, his palm force manifesting as a golden dragon surging forth; the other countered with open-handed punches and palms, battling the golden dragon without yielding the slightest ground.

Both were supreme masters of their era.

The hall could no longer withstand their power. They blasted a hole in the roof and ascended into the air, allowing all within and without to witness their contest.

Tang Xuan looked up to watch as well.

He wondered when he himself might attain such mastery, his combat adorned with ‘golden dragon effects’ and ‘palm force effects’—supreme among martial artists.

If his guess was correct, at this time the Golden Wheel Lama had only reached the ninth level of the Dragon Elephant Wisdom Art, and was not yet a match for Guo Jing. At this stage, the Lama still needed his five wheels—gold, silver, copper, iron, and lead—to bolster his power.

Only after reaching the tenth level would he cast aside weapons and return to simplicity.

Meanwhile, Guo Jing, after years of cultivating the Nine Yin Manual and Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms, had surpassed even Hong Qigong, and was slightly superior to the Lama at this moment.

Even when the Lama eventually attained the tenth level, that would be many years in the future.

By then, Guo Jing’s martial arts would have reached an even higher state, surpassing the Five Supremes.

As Tang Xuan had expected, despite the Lama’s peerless skills and his use of the five wheels, his strength still fell just short of Guo Jing’s Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms.

In the end, he was defeated.

Thus, the contest for the alliance leader concluded with two wins for the martial artists of the Song Dynasty.

In all this, Tang Xuan, like Guo Jing, played an indispensable role.

He had become famous in a single stroke!