First-Rank in Ten Years

The biggest difference between a martial artist of the Middle Realms and the Upper Realms was their Internal Force.

The physical body of an Upper Realm martial artist could withstand the purification of heaven and earth vitality which resulted in a transformation of their Internal Force. Under normal circumstances, the Internal Force of an Upper Realm martial artist was enough to suppress the Internal Force of a hundred Middle Realm martial artists.

In simple terms, even a martial artist that recently achieved a breakthrough into the Upper Realms could have easily defeated a hundred opponents of the Middle Realms.

Apart from the Internal Force transformation, the physical body of the Upper Realms martial artists also underwent a similar extent of improvement. Of course, the improvement could not be compared to that of the Impenetrable Armor technique.

"So this is what it's like to be a third-rank martial artist?" muttered Su Qin to himself. He was elated.

Su Qin felt that every move he made in his state seemed to faintly draw on the powers of heaven and earth surrounding him. Su Qin threw a punch but the power it exploded from was not his energy. Instead, it turned out to be more vigorous heaven and earth energy. 

'This explains why only those who attained third-rank could become a temple head of various courts within the Shaolin temple.

Su Qin was deep in thought. As he experienced the Internal Force that swirled unceasingly within his body, he thought, 'The third-rank is vastly different from the fourth-rank.' He was extremely surprised by the result. That was because the power that a third-rank martial artist wielded was not merely his own but also the power of heaven and earth.

When he thought about it, Su Qin truly understood how amazing it was to have achieved mastery of the Impenetrable Armor. He knew that there was no connection between the Impenetrable Armor technique and the power of heaven and earth. 

The Impenetrable Armor technique was an external martial art technique that purely focused on training the physical body. However, the fact that it could have trained the body to a level where it challenged a martial artist of the Upper Realm was tantamount to using one's power to contend with the power of heaven and earth. It was simply unthinkable.

'It's about time, I should head back.'

Su Qin swiftly concealed his aura. With his amazing control over his physical body after achieving mastery of the Impenetrable Armor technique, no one would have been able to detect his aura unless he deliberately chose to expose it. Not even a first-rank grandmaster would have been able to detect anything out of the ordinary.

Whoosh!

Su Qin's body became a shadowy figure and he disappeared in a flash. If any other Shaolin disciples saw him do that, their jaws would have dropped in shock. They would have surely thought they saw a ghost.

*****

The Shaolin temple was simplistic and tranquil. It was completely detached from the outside world. Su Qin was close to the Miscellaneous Court when he saw someone stare blankly in the direction of Rear Mountain.

"Zhen Xing?" 

Su Qin recognized the person. It was the star disciple of the Luohan Court that entered the Shaolin temple at the same time as him.

'Why does he seem a little strange?' Su Qin felt that Zhen Xing seemed to look a little dazed and distracted. He looked like he just suffered a setback.

When Zhen Xing saw Su Qin approaching, he immediately ran off. 

'Did something happen?' wondered Su Qin to himself.

Despite that, Su Qin did not plan on asking Zhen Xing about it. He was not close to Zhen Xing even though they both belonged to the Zhen generation of disciples and even became Shaolin disciples at the same time. They barely interacted in the temple.

Zhen Xing was the star of the Luohan Court and had the potential to become a temple court head one day. His future was bright. As for Su Qin, he was merely a temple sweeper.

Even though the Shaolin temple taught its disciples to leave all their worldly concerns and desires behind, it seemed that Zhen Xing had not attained the ability. As soon as Su Qin returned to the Miscellaneous Court, he heard the other disciples discussing something softly.

"I heard that the entire family of Zhen Xing of the Luohan Court was killed by an evil martial artist…"

"I heard that too, rumor has it that the abbot went over personally to console him."

"Console him? His entire family's dead! What good can consoling him do?"

"Oh, poor thing…"

'So that's the reason!' Su Qin thought as he connected the dots.

'The outside world's so dangerous.' He was emotional as he became more determined about his intention to stay in the Shaolin temple.

Time passed slowly. 

Su Qin continued to fill his days by sweeping and signing-in. Each day he rotated between the Scripture Pavilion, the Bodhi Court, and the Mystical Village Tower. 

During that time, as his power greatly increased since he advanced to the Upper Realms, he started to explore the restricted areas that he had never been to in the Shaolin temple.

In the blink of an eye, four-and-a-half years had passed. Su Qin stood outside the Scripture Pavilion holding a broom as he leisurely swept up the continuously falling leaves.

Over the past four-and-a-half years, Su Qin obtained countless treasures and valuable items, spiritual pills, and magical tonics from signing-in daily. His power grew in leaps and bounds. He had already achieved the realm of the first-rank grandmaster!

A first-rank grandmaster!

In the Jianghu Martial Arts world, a first-rank grandmaster was a top-tier martial artist. Among the Legends of the Martial Arts, the first-rank grandmaster was the strongest. 

The number of first-rank grandmasters in the world could be counted with one hand. For example, the master of the Menyuan Dynasty in the North who had the power to crush the world or Zhang Zhenren of the Wudang clan... 

Even though the Shaolin temple was one of the greatest martial arts sects in the world, they did not have a Divine Master Abbot that resided in the temple in that generation. 

Without their strong foundations, the Shaolin temple might have lost its position among the great martial arts sects due to that. However, since a first-rank grandmaster was extremely rare, even a single one could have greatly affected the situation by shifting the power balance.

'Ah, it's been ten years…' Su Qin stretched his body and he was at peace.

It had been ten years since he entered the Shaolin temple. He started as an ordinary person who was not even a ninth-rank martial artist and ended up as a powerful first-rank grandmaster that could have inspired awe worldwide.

He was secretly the most powerful person in the Shaolin temple. Even second-rank abbot Hui Wen or the third-rank temple court heads could not be compared to a first-rank grandmaster like Su Qin.

Su Qin was confident that with his powers, he was able to beat abbot Hui Wen and all the other temple court heads combined, with just one hand. 

'Ten years passed. There have been many new faces that joined the temple and also many geniuses were discovered…'

Su Qin sighed softly. The Shaolin temple accepted a huge number of disciples each year to maintain their heritage. Over ten years, Su Qin saw many new faces. Regardless of what happened, Su Qin remained the same as always. He was a faithful temple sweeper. His dedication never wavered and was the same as it was all those years ago.

Even if the Miscellaneous Court head wanted to promote him, Su Qin would have vehemently rejected the promotion. He knew from the start that only the temple sweepers could freely traverse around the Shaolin temple ground.

If Su Qin was a disciple of the Luohan Court and spent his days running around, he would have surely aroused a lot of suspicions. Whether it was the Luohan Court or the Martial Arts Court, the disciples of any of the various courts would have been under the close watch of the court heads and even the abbot. 

Su Qin had too many secrets to keep. How would he have explained himself if he was caught? The role of a temple sweeper was perfect for Su Qin's purpose. He perfectly concealed all his secrets with his job.

Su Qin was quietly sweeping outside the Scripture Pavilion when suddenly a loud shout rang from the Dharma Court.

"How dare you, you wicked animal!"

The next moment, a loud whooshing sound could be heard!

All Su Qin could see was a dense cloud of evil energy that spread wildly through the sky at a rapid speed. It covered over half of the Shaolin temple in seconds.

The might of the evil energy was extremely powerful. 

"Hahahahahaha! Hui Wen, you ignorant fool! You're old and weak, both in body and spirit. How does it feel to experience the wrath of the Demon Buddha?"

In the center of the swirling evil energy, stood a young man with an evil glint in his eyes. He sneered coldly.