Chapter 136: The Dharma Cave and the Eighteen Bronze Figures

As a skilled expert with a good mindset and character, Shangguan Lian, realizing there was no hope of seizing the treasure, simply left without further entanglement, leaving a positive impression on Kai Xin.
If Shangguan Lian had been as unscrupulous as the leader of the Tianba Sect, clinging stubbornly due to his strength, he might have posed a serious threat.
Noting the other person’s name, Kai Xin promptly sent a friend request.
“Friends are made in battle—how about becoming friends?”
“Hehe, great! Good luck on your journey!”
The other person responded quickly. At his request, a homing pigeon with snow-white wings flew over to Kai Xin, carrying a simple note that exuded the carefree spirit of a heroic swordsman.
Putting away the note, Kai Xin smiled slightly before picking up the nearby brocade box. After checking the map, the ease on his face gradually vanished, replaced by a slightly solemn wry smile.
There are always gains and losses—true indeed.
The departure of Master Xuan Kong meant he no longer had a shelter. Solving the Zhenlong Chess Puzzle and obtaining the “True Dragon Ten Styles” was indeed a pleasant surprise, with rewards even beyond what was in the brocade box. Yet giving up this box, which he had planned to obtain for so long, was hard for him to bear.
Moreover, with hundreds of thousands of martial arts experts from all over the world gathered at Mount Song’s Shaolin Temple, once word spread, those mountains would surely be ravaged by players.
Concealing his departure from Mount Song would be extremely difficult…
“Sigh, I’m becoming more and more greedy,” Kai Xin joked to himself.
In his past life, after three years wandering the martial world, he hadn’t even obtained a single superior martial art. Yet now, he had luckily solved the Zhenlong Chess Puzzle and gained Master Xuan Kong’s unique skill, the “True Dragon Ten Styles.” He also had plans to acquire the Murong family’s rare skill, “Stars in Motion,” in half a year. Logically, his situation was a thousand times better than before… yet he still couldn’t bear to give up the unknown treasures inside that small brocade box—truly insatiable!
But human curiosity knows no bounds…
Additionally, in his past life, during a mission plagued by bandits, he had missed such an opportunity without showing any merit. Now, with a second chance, he also wanted to prove himself and stand out even more.
And…
“Stars in Motion” grew stronger against stronger opponents and was better suited for group battles, unlike the “Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms,” which was inherently powerful and aggressive from the start.

Additionally, “True Dragon Ten Styles” currently only has one move, which is not enough to dominate the martial world, so he absolutely refuses to give up this ornate box!!
With the ornate box in hand, where can he go to safely avoid his pursuers for the last half day?
Kai Xin flew away from the spot while quickly scanning the Songshan region on the map, trying to find a hidden place that is also difficult for others to approach.
As someone who had spent several years at Songshan Shaolin, Kai Xin was well-accustomed to most of the tasks here and knew many places very well.
So…
Kai Xin quickly identified two areas suitable for him at the moment.
One was the “Damo Cave,” which not even the disciples of Shaolin Temple dared to approach closely…
The Damo Cave!
Also known as “Cliff of Reflection.”
It was located in a remote and treacherous area, difficult even for birds to cross, extremely desolate and harsh. Legend had it to be the place where Master Damo meditated and practiced. The walls inside were inscribed with the supreme martial arts techniques he created, “Damo Mind Art” and “Damo Sword Art.”
Kai Xin remembered that after the Damo Cave was discovered, it caused quite a stir. Especially after the elders of the temple confirmed the existence of Master Damo’s martial arts, countless Shaolin disciples flocked there, almost turning the cave upside down. But later they realized that to find the true murals left by Master Damo, several extremely strict conditions had to be met.
One had to achieve a high level of enlightenment of 99 points, master Buddhist scriptures and meditation rituals, and also possess a kind heart and perseverance—only then could one hear Master Damo’s teachings left in the cave and discover his martial arts!
However…
The Damo Cave was located on “Peak of Punishment”!
It housed many evil monks who had committed atrocities and shed blood yet refused to repent. These monks were not only cruel but also highly skilled in martial arts, most of them being strong fighters at a certain level.
A group of these monks was separated from the Damo Cave by a chain bridge. While some hoped that Master Damo’s teachings would reform these monks, others hoped they would instantly achieve enlightenment, lay down their weapons, and repent on their own.
Since these monks were all at or above the Mysterious Realm level, and the chain bridge was easy to defend but hard to attack, it naturally became one of Kai Xin’s potential shelters.
The other location was the independent Eighteen Bronze Men Formation on the back mountain of Shaolin Temple.
This was one of Shaolin Temple’s most famous challenge-based reward tasks. Of course… it was also extremely difficult, with more generous rewards as the challenge level increased.
Three years in his past life…

The highest record for Shaolin monks is eleven levels of bronze statues. Since passing each pair of bronze statues raises their internal energy level by one, thereby doubling their combat strength, the difficulty increases with each pair passed—making the statues more powerful and harder to deal with as the challenge progresses. By the eleventh level, the monks’ internal energy reaches the legendary “Wuwei Realm,” where they are free from desires, able to execute moves effortlessly, turning the ordinary into the miraculous, and their bodies become as hard as diamond. Even the most powerful martial arts techniques cannot shake them.

However… The bronze statue array is open to Shaolin monks as a reward for completing tasks, but it serves as a defensive system for outsiders. Following the same process, Shaolin monks who succeed receive rewards, while those who fail are at most beaten out of the array. But outsiders who lose in the array face no mercy from the eighteen bronze statues—they are killed without hesitation to deter those who dare challenge Shaolin’s array. Thus, after considering this, Happy gave up. After some thought, he resolutely abandoned the idea of entering the bronze statue array behind Shaolin and instead headed toward the most treacherous cliff in Songshan—Pinnacle of Punishment!

…Not long after Happy left, a group of people appeared at the spot where he had disappeared. Li Heng, the deputy leader of the Tianyin Gang, led a dozen men to the clearing at lightning speed. From afar, they saw corpses of players at the “Creation Realm” scattered everywhere! Noticing the corpses of over a dozen players lying in a circle, Li Heng frowned slightly but showed little surprise. Since he had deliberately let them go first, he surely had a plan to find the person who stole the brocade box.

“Whoosh!” A snow-white homing pigeon appeared on Li Heng’s shoulder. Without hesitation, he took it down, glanced at the message, then looked in the direction Happy had gone. “Chase!!” At his command, the group rushed into the woods.