13 A Force Separated By Distance

Outside the Scripture Pavilion.

Dark Shadow broke out in a cold sweat. He remained in the same spot and did not dare to move. He hardly dared to breathe because he feared drawing the attention of Su Qin. 

As a member of the Evil sect, Dark Shadow was very clear that he took a huge risk by sneaking into the Shaolin temple. However, he did not have a choice. He could not disobey the orders of the Sect Master. Plus, since he had his motive as well, he decided to toughen up.

Dark Shadow thought that even if he did not manage to steal the Muscle Strengthening Manual, he would still be able to escape with no trouble thanks to his stealth skill. However, he never imagined that he would have been forced to reveal himself before he even set foot in the Scripture Pavilion.

'The Shaolin temple's too terrifying! Even a temple sweeper has such power?' Dark Shadow complained bitterly internally. 

Su Qin had no idea what Dark Shadow thought but he saw that Dark Shadow was extremely nervous. The Internal Force within it spun madly and seemed like it could explode at any time. 

Yet, it did not interest Su Qin at all. If Dark Shadow was a first-rank grandmaster, Su Qin might have paid more attention. However, Dark Shadow was merely a fourth-rank martial artist. He was not even at the third-rank. So, even if he exploded, it would have felt like no more than a slap to Su Qin.

'It's not okay. This can't drag on!' thought Dark Shadow as he considered his situation. The Scripture Pavilion was an important place in the Shaolin temple and it was under constant patrol by the warrior monks. He was extremely lucky to sneak in at a point in time between patrols.

However, that meant that his time was running. If that continued to drag on and even if Su Qin did not act, the patrol warrior monks would have discovered him. When that time came, Dark Shadow would be pitted against the entire Shaolin temple! As soon as he thought about that, he gritted his teeth and yelled, "I'm just going to go for it!"

Three silver needles appeared in Dark Shadow's right hand. Those three silver needles were made of a mysterious metal and were designed to destroy the Internal Force protecting the body. Even a third-rank martial artist would suffer if he was caught unaware. 

"Attack!" Dark Shadow's face was flushed with a hint of regret as he threw the needles. 

Whoosh! The three silver needles sped toward Su Qin like poisonous snakes. Right at that moment, Dark Shadow turned around rapidly and fled toward the exit of the temple grounds. In an instant, he was already dozens of meters away from the scene. 

"So, he's not going to chase me?" Dark Shadow looked delighted and subconsciously looked at Su Qin.

"Huh?" His eyes widened in surprise. It was because the three silver needles that flew at Su Qin were blazed with bone-piercingly cold energy. However, Su Qin did not attempt to avoid it. It looked like he froze with fear. How could it have been?

In the eyes of Dark Shadow, Su Qin was a martial artist of the Upper Realms at the very least. Even though the silver needles moved silently, a martial artist of the Upper Realms would have been able to avoid it with no problem. 

"Did I mistake this temple sweeper to be a powerful warrior? It looked like he's just an ordinary person!" Dark Shadow raged in frustration. 

The next moment, the silver needles finally made contact with Su Qin's chest without a sound. However, the image of the silver needles piercing through Su Qin did not happen. Instead, the silver needles cracked into pieces and fell to the ground as scrap metal.

"This…" The dark shadow was stunned. His entire body was consumed with the heat of fear. "He used his body to block the silver needles!? How is that possible!!!?"

Dark Shadow started trembling violently. He looked like he had just seen a ghost. The next instant, Dark Shadow did not bother with anything else and began to use forbidden arts to increase his speed to the maximum to flee at top speed.

"So, you still plan on escaping after you attacked me?" Su Qin smiled as he raised his right hand. Swirls of incomparable energy were seen colliding with each other within his palm.

Whoosh! 

A ball of incomparable energy shot out and dashed across hundreds of meters to land on Dark Shadow. He grunted in pain but he did not stop. Instead, he made use of the momentum from the blast to speed up and escape. 

Su Qin watched the scene but did not continue. He instead bent down to pick up the scrap metal that used to be the silver needles. 

'So, this is the mysterious metal that can pierce through the Internal Force of martial artists?' Su Qin assessed the needles and thought with some amusement.

If it were any other martial artist, they may have gone on a rampage. However, Su Qin was calm and collected. The needles in front of him were of his nemesis' and it looked like it was produced in limited quantities as the supply was controlled by various nations. A typical martial artist would not have had access to that. 

Su Qin observed it for a while before he casually squeezed it. The broken pieces then turned into dust. He scattered it onto the ground and it flew with the wind.

The mysterious metal that was able to pierce through a martial artist's Internal Force was indeed real. However, as Su Qin mastered the Impenetrable Armor technique, his body was extremely powerful and tough. He was invincible. A piece of metal could not have injured him. 

Even if Su Qin did not master the Impenetrable Armor technique, his physical body along with the Internal Force of a first-rank martial artist would not have been something that the mysterious metal would be able to pierce through.

The mysterious metal could suppress the Internal Force of a martial artist but any type of power was relative. For example, water could put out a fire. However, could a small bowl of water be able to put out a monstrous fire? 

*****

After half a day passed, somewhere hundreds of meters away from the Shaolin temple stood a dimly lit large hall. The large hall was a base of the Evil sect and it was in an extremely remote location. There was not a soul in sight for miles.

At that moment, a group of people gathered inside the large hall. They looked like they were waiting for some news. All of the men there gave off a strong aura and it was clear that they were all martial artists who were very powerful. Each of them was at least of the Middle Realms and there were even a few martial artists of the Upper Realms among them.

"Sect Master, you might've made a hasty decision when you decided to send someone to the Shaolin temple to steal the Muscle Strengthening Manual. After all, the Shaolin temple's one of the greatest martial arts sects in the world..." said a plump woman with a frown.

"Huh? One of the greatest martial arts sects in the world?" An old man laughed coldly and continued, "After the last first-rank Divine Master Abbot passed away 60 years ago, the Shaolin temple hasn't had any first-rank martial artist presiding there. Without a first-rank warrior, they can't be called one of the great sects in the world!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the great hall rang with the sound of people chiming in to agree with him.

"That's right, what else can those Shaolin temple donkeys do apart from being able to read one or two manuals?"

"Our Sect Master may have just sent someone to steal the Muscle Strengthening Manual. However, even if he wanted to destroy the Shaolin temple, what could be so hard about that?" 

"Hmph, how can the Shaolin monks dare reject the Evil sect if we want something of theirs?" 

The large hall erupted with noise. After a moment, a man dressed in a purple robe who sat at the head of the hall opened his mouth to speak. "That's enough, everyone pipe down!"

As soon as the purple-robed man spoke, the entire hall quietened down. 

"I sent someone to infiltrate the Shaolin temple not only because I plan to use the magical properties of the Muscle Strengthening Manual to heal my injuries, but also to use this opportunity to test the Shaolin temple!"

The purple-robed man spoke up to that point then paused before he continued to speak, "If I managed to obtain the Muscle Strengthening Manual, this proves how weak the Shaolin temple has become. It also means that our Evil sect will be able to invade the Shaolin temple!"

As soon as he uttered those words, the entire crowd was stunned.

"The plans of the Sect Master are profound and all-encompassing!"

"That group of donkeys in the Shaolin temple won't know what hit them. All their actions will bring them walking into your trap, Sect Master!"

The purple-robed man smiled but he did not continue to speak.

Right at that moment, a dark shadow staggered into the large hall.

"So, you're back? Did you manage to obtain the Muscle Strengthening Manual?" asked the purple-robed man once he recognized that it was Dark Shadow. 

"Sect…Sect Master." Dark Shadow opened his mouth but struggled to get the words out. He looked as pale as a sheet. 

"Are you injured?" asked the purple-robed man with a frown. 

Everyone else present in the hall started to look displeased as soon as they saw what was happening. 

"How dare the Shaolin temple injure one of the members of our Evil sect?"

"Sect Master, give us an order and we'll join forces to break into the Shaolin temple right now and kill everyone! Their blood will flow like the river!"

"That's right, just give us the order, Sect Master!" chanted all the martial artists of the Evil sect. 

However, in contrast with the martial artists of the Evil sect, the purple-robed man on the found something odd about the situation. 

Whoosh!

The purple-robed man took a step out to stand in front of the dark shadow.

"Who hurt you!?" demanded the purple-robed man as he stretched out his right hand to examine the dark shadow's injuries. 

As expected, when the purple-robed man used his Internal Force to investigate within the Dark Shadow's body, he seemed to have discovered something.

Suddenly, a swirl of aura exploded and passed through Dark Shadow's body. It transformed into a pointing force1 and silently rushed toward the purple-robed man.

"What's this!?" The purple-robed man paled in shock. He subconsciously lifted his hand to block it.

Boom!

A terrifying shock wave blasted through the hall. 

The purple-robed man was pushed back forcefully and he took eight steps back. He spat out blood before he finally managed to recover with some difficulty. 

"Separated by hundreds of miles yet this force travels through the air and changes form at will. This is a first-rank grandmaster's message to us, warning the Evil sect!" 

As soon as he uttered those words, the large hall went deathly silent. All the Evil sect martial artists who had been clamoring to destroy the Shaolin temple wore expressions of horror. None of them dared to speak.