Peerless

Su Qin continued to answer a few more questions from the temple court head before he then took his leave. Before he left, Su Qin nonchalantly asked the temple court head if he had things that he still wished to achieve. He intended to gently remind him of those things. This was because Su Qin could see that the Miscellaneous Court head was nearing the end of his life. 

In the martial arts world, a martial artist's lifespan was longer than most ordinary people but a martial artist who had not yet achieved the level of a Martial Arts Legend or the Luohan status would only be able to live up to 200 years. That was true even of a first-rank grandmaster.

Moreover, 200 years was the highest limit of their lifespan as in reality, most first-rank grandmasters were not able to live up to that age. That was because all martial artists would be sure to incur injuries, whether small or severe. That inadvertently ended up shortening their lifespan.

'People change while the world stays the same…' thought Su Qin somewhat sadly as he walked slowly along the green trails of the Shaolin temple. 

The Miscellaneous Court head was his mentor. If it were not for him, Su Qin might not have been able to enter the Shaolin temple as a disciple. However, 10 years went by and the Miscellaneous Court head was close to the moment of his last breath. 

'It's said that if a martial artist achieves Luohan status or becomes a Martial Arts Legend, they'd achieve eternal youth and their body would return to the state when it was at its peak. When this is attained, they can live up to over 500 years.'

Su Qin suddenly recalled some notes from scripture that he read. In that regard, the Shaolin temple deserved praises. As one of the greatest sects in the martial arts world, a lot of top-secret information about the Jianghu martial arts world could be found in the Shaolin temple. That is especially true regarding the information on the Luohan status.

The Luohan of Buddhist martial arts was equal to the Martial Arts Legend of Jianghu. There was barely any information regarding the Martial Arts Legend and all of it was top-secret. 

'500 years lifespan…' Su Qin admired it as he thought. Even though Su Qin mastered the Impenetrable Armor technique and his physical body was currently maintaining its peak state, he was still in the category of a first-rank grandmaster that could have lived up to 200 years.

That was quite an impressive lifespan. Yet, if 200 years were compared to 500 years, the latter would have been far more superior. 

'To achieve Luohan status…' Su Qin went deep into thought. Even since he attained first-rank, he sensed that the speed of his training advancement had slowed down. 

'It's fine, I can take it slow. After all, I'm only twenty right now and still have 180 years to live. I don't believe that I won't be able to train until I achieve it,' thought Su Qin to himself.

At that moment, he arrived at the Scripture Pavilion. He walked in and silently said, "System, sign-in."

[Congratulations, host! Your sign-in is successful. You have obtained the Peerless Life-Snatcher technique.]

'Peerless Life-Snatcher1 technique?' Su Qin was elated. Out of all the Shaolin temple's great martial arts techniques, the Peerless Life-Snatcher technique was considered the best killing technique. Once the technique was mastered, a person could wield unparalleled power and be able to kill people using air.

Buzz!

Instantly, a huge amount of knowledge in the Peerless Life-Snatcher technique gushed into Su Qin's consciousness. The Peerless Life-Snatcher technique could not be compared to the amazing Buddha Palm technique. Hence, with the power of a first-rank grandmaster, Su Qin immediately mastered the Peerless Life-Snatcher technique as soon as the system inputted it into his mind.

'Without shape or form, yet it has the power to kill. I wonder what the elder who created this technique thought of,' wondered Su Qin. 

Su Qin smiled as he felt the killing power between the joints of his fingers. All he needed to do was to think about it and he could use the Peerless Life-Snatcher technique to kill a person who was more than thousands of meters away.

All of a sudden, Su Qin's expression froze. 

'Someone has managed to infiltrate the Shaolin temple!'

*****

Right at that moment, a dark shadow secretly arrived outside the Scripture Pavilion. 

"Sect Master's having a Qi Deviation and is struggling to recover from it. It's said that the Shaolin temple's Muscle Strengthening Manual had miraculous properties and can cure almost all injuries! As long as I follow Sect Master's instructions and manage to steal the Muscle Strengthening Manual, I'll receive a huge reward when I'm back!" mumbled the Dark Shadow to himself.

The Shaolin temple was a great martial arts sect but as it weakened in power over the last few decades, that attracted the interest of various powers in Jianghu. It included the Evil Sect that the Dark Shadow was from. 

That particular time, time the Sect Master of the Evil Sect allowed the dark shadow to infiltrate the Shaolin temple not only to try and obtain the Muscle Strengthening Manual to treat his injuries but also to test the Shaolin temple.

'Apart from the Muscle Strengthening Manual, the Seventy-Two Arts of Shaolin are famous across the martial arts world. If I could get a few of them, wouldn't that give me the chance of advancing in rank?'

A glint of greed flashed across the eyes of the dark shadow. With martial arts training, apart from needing to undergo brutal training daily and possessing a natural aptitude for it, a martial artist also relied on sufficient external opportunities to advance.

For the Dark Shadow, that moment there in the Scripture Pavilion was a great opportunity for it. Just as it was about to take a look around the Scripture Pavilion, he suddenly noticed a temple sweeper dressed in a gray monk robe stroll casually toward it. 

"A temple sweeper? Such bad luck that he appeared at this moment!" The dark shadow frowned but all he could do was endure it in silence. He planned to wait until the temple sweeper eft before it sneaked into the Scripture Pavilion.

The dark shadow had a special martial arts skill. When he spun with all its might, he merged with the shadows so well that even a martial artist of the Upper Realms might have missed it if they did not look closely.

That was the reason the Evil Sect Master chose the dark shadow for that mission. It possessed untold potential in stealth skills and outside of those in the Upper Realms, the Dark Shadow was among the top disciples in the sect.

The Dark Shadow waited for over half an hour but discovered that the temple sweeper did not leave. Instead, he started sweeping nearby. 

'This temple sweeper didn't discover me right?' The dark shadow started to grow anxious in his doubt. If it were as he suspected, he could not have spared the temple sweeper. If the temple sweeper blabbed his mouth and gained the attention of the Shaolin temple abbot, that would have ruined his plan to steal the Muscle Strengthening Manual! 

When the Dark Shadow thought about that, he decided to act immediately and prepare to end the temple sweep. Then, he wanted to head to the Scripture Pavilion. Suddenly, he heard a sigh next to his ear. 

"Since this is an important area in the Shaolin temple. You've violated the rules by sneaking in here without authorization!"

"Who's speaking?" The dark shadow only heard the words that rumbled next to his ear. He fell out of its stealth state and looked shocked out of his mind. He never imagined that someone would have been able to force it out of its stealth state with just their voice. 

'What power is this? Third-rank? Second-rank? It might even be…' The Dark Shadow feared to continue his thought.

The other thing that surprised him was at that moment, the temple sweeper dressed in gray robes swept in a distance. He slowly looked up and his gaze landed directly on him.

"So it's you!?" spluttered the Dark Shadow as his expression froze. He stared at the temple sweeper. 

According to the senses of the Dark Shadow, that temple sweeper was an ordinary person. There was no resemblance of Internal Force swirling within him. He was an ordinary person through and through.

A moment ago, the dark shadow would have believed that, but then, he did not agree with his senses at all. How could a normal person have seen through his stealth skill? How could an ordinary person have forced him to appear with just a sentence?

A chill ran down the dark shadow's back, and he was so frightened that he nearly fled right then and there. 

Su Qin felt a little exasperated. If the dark shadow went straight into the Scripture Pavilion, he would have pretended that he did not see that happen. As long as the other party did not destroy the Scripture Pavilion, Su Qin would have minded his own business. 

However, Su Qin did not expect that even though he had no desire to get involved, that dark shadow made up its mind to kill him...