The Guandi Legend: Temple of Triumph

Chapter 3: The Appearance of the Ancestral Temple of Guan Di

In the ancestral land of Guan Yu, within Yuncheng City, stood the Ancestral Temple of Guan Di. This temple was not only a 5A tourist attraction and a key cultural heritage site, but also the earliest-built, largest, highest-grade, and best-preserved temple dedicated to Guan Di, earning the reputation as the "Ancestor of Guan Temples" and the "Crown of Martial Temples."

The Ancestral Temple of Guan Di was a pilgrimage site for tourists and believers from both home and abroad, a place for sightseeing, spiritual connection, and tracing ancestral roots.

The temple Zhang Xun saw before him was magnitudes larger than any he had encountered in his previous life, spanning roughly four million acres. It stood majestically in the center of the space, its imposing aura emitting a power that inspired awe and submission.

Zhang Xun was completely baffled as to how the Guan Di Temple, where he had worked, had followed him and existed within this space. After some thought, he concluded that if the Ancestral Temple of Guan Di could exist in this space and had brought him here, there must be a reason.

Once he regained his composure, Zhang Xun tried to move in the air, discovering that he could walk in the air just by using his thoughts. However, he found he could only approach the front gate of the temple. Any attempt to near other areas made him feel an overwhelming, terrifying force.

Uncertain whether this formidable power of the temple would harm him, Zhang Xun didn’t dare to act recklessly. After some exploration, he found that most of the temple was shrouded in black mist, obscuring his view.

"Then, I'll start at the main gate," he decided.

As Zhang Xun slowly descended in front of the main gate of the Ancestral Temple of Guan Di, the entire space started rippling. Suddenly, a magnificent square appeared in front of the gate, flanked by twelve huge bronze sculptures. In the center stood a hundred-meter-tall golden stele.

The stele, supported by sculptures of the four divine beasts – the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Black Tortoise, and Vermilion Bird – was a sight of mystical wonder. The presence of such a magical object and the Guan Saint Cultural Square, which was built later and unrelated to the main temple, left Zhang Xun profoundly astonished.

His gaze fixed on the golden stele, and his expression changed drastically as he read the inscriptions on it.

The entire golden stele was inscribed with ancient characters that Zhang Xun had never seen before. Each character resonated with an aura of antiquity, depth, and reverence, compelling an involuntary desire to kneel and worship.

As Zhang Xun looked again, he surprisingly found himself understanding the meaning of the inscriptions.

"Emperor Guan, the Great Demon-Subduing Emperor of the Three Realms."

"Divine Might, Celestial Venerable Emperor Guan."

"Since ancient times, he has wielded the power of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. He controlled the talents of heaven, earth, and humanity, overseeing the thirty-two celestial stars. Under his command were the seventy-two lands, inspecting all Buddhas and gods, supervising immortals and official duties, governing the three realms and ten directions, the emperor of Buddhas, immortals, humans, and ghosts."

At this point, Zhang Xun's eyes began to hurt intensely, his mind felt swollen, and the subsequent characters blurred, becoming indecipherable.

The golden characters on the stele flickered and transformed into a beam of golden light that shot rapidly towards Zhang Xun, directly entering his mind.

Zhang Xun felt a fragmented scene emerge in his mind. He saw a terrifying and majestic figure standing above the universe. With a mere movement, the figure wielded power so immense that heaven and earth could not withstand it, teetering on the brink of collapse.

Before this figure knelt countless celestial, Buddhist, and demonic powerhouses, their auras completely retracted, daring not to make any rash moves.

The scene ended there, and a technique named "Demon Dispelling Fist" was imprinted in his memory.

The appearance of this mysterious stele and the fragmented scene dramatically altered Zhang Xun’s understanding of the Ancestral Temple of Guan Di. Guan Yu might indeed be the true sovereign of the Three Realms, the progenitor of Buddhas, immortals, humans, and ghosts.

The scene was beyond description, and while the figure's face was not clear, Zhang Xun felt certain it was him.

When Zhang Xun regained his senses, he found himself back in his room. He tried to reconnect with the space in his mind, sensing that he must break through to the level of a Martial Artist to gain the eligibility to re-enter.

Following his experience, Zhang Xun devoted his full attention to the "Demon Dispelling Fist" technique. Upon careful examination, he realized just how formidable this technique was.

The "Demon Dispelling Fist" was at least of the Terrestrial grade, according to Zhang Xun's knowledge. He knew that techniques were categorized into six grades: Celestial, Terrestrial, Mystical, Imperial, Mortal, and Common.

Simply by entering the Ancestral Temple of Guan Di, he had acquired a Terrestrial grade technique.

Zhang Xun was confident in classifying the "Demon Dispelling Fist" as a Terrestrial grade because of its unique properties. This technique allowed the practitioner to absorb the essence of any creature they killed, using it to continuously temper their own qi and blood with minimal limitations. However, converting the absorbed essence into qi and blood was a requirement.

The "Demon Dispelling Fist" was straightforward, encompassing a set of fist techniques and cultivation methods.

Demon Dispelling Fist: Only upon reaching the Quasi-Martial Artist level could one barely qualify to practice the true Demon Dispelling Fist. A single punch could unleash nearly ten thousand jins of force, unmatched by any, feared by demons and monsters alike, truly unleashing the might of dispelling demons.

However, at the Martial Apprentice level, one can only simply imitate the Demon Dispelling Fist to slightly increase one's punching power.

Cultivation Method: It allowed for the substantial absorption of external true qi each day, consistently tempering four to five strands of blood qi, with the quantity increasing as one's strength improved.

Comparing the "Demon Dispelling Fist" with the "Body Tempering Technique" he had been practicing, Zhang Xun saw a vast difference. The "Body Tempering Technique" required intense concentration and a significant amount of medicinal aid for cultivation.

Breaking through to the first level of Martial Apprentice with his talent was already a struggle, and frankly, he hadn’t held much hope of advancing to the Martial Artist level. Just advancing to the second level of Martial Apprentice required a hundred strands of qi and blood. With his previous ointment and the "Body Tempering Technique," it would take at least two months to break through, depending on the efficiency of the ointment absorption.

Despite not understanding why the Ancestral Temple of Guan Di appeared in his mind, Zhang Xun decided to prioritize cultivating the "Demon Dispelling Fist" to enhance his strength first.

Standing in the center of his room, Zhang Xun began to practice the "Demon Dispelling Fist" technique, circulating the qi and blood within his body according to the method.

As he operated the technique, it covered every meridian in his body, and the true qi from the external world gathered around him. With each cycle of the "Demon Dispelling Fist," the absorption rate of the true qi from the heavens and the earth was at least dozens of times faster than that of the basic "Body Tempering Technique."

In practicing the "Body Tempering Technique," the covered meridians were limited, and the absorption of true qi from the world was exceedingly slow, with only half a strand of qi and blood being tempered in a week.

Perhaps because it was his initial practice of the "Demon Dispelling Fist," each cycle of the technique required an hour to complete. After three days of cultivation, leveraging the residual medicinal power in his body and the high efficiency of the "Demon Dispelling Fist" in absorbing true qi, Zhang Xun quickly gathered a hundred strands of qi and blood, breaking through to the second level of Martial Apprentice, significantly strengthening his qi and blood.

Unfortunately, the medicinal power in his body had been exhausted. However, the "Demon Dispelling Fist" could still temper four to five strands of qi and blood daily. As his strength continued to increase, the number of qi and blood strands tempered by the technique would also steadily rise.

Comparing the two techniques, the "Demon Dispelling Fist" was far superior to the "Body Tempering Technique" in terms of daily qi and blood tempering, and it had the potential to increase the quantity further.

The cultivation effect of the "Demon Dispelling Fist" was incredibly exaggerated and must be kept secret from others. After breaking through to the second level of Martial Apprentice, Zhang Xun's punching power was around two hundred jins, and he could throw dozens of punches without problems. Normally, reaching such strength would require advancing to the third or fourth level of Martial Apprentice.

To execute the Demon Dispelling Fist, he had to gather all the qi and blood in his arms, as the force was too great for the arms to withstand otherwise, risking fractures.

After exhaling softly, Zhang Xun decided it was time to test the true power of the "Demon Dispelling Fist" in the Yunlu Mountains and experience the effect of absorbing life essence. But first, he planned to inform Uncle Chen and inquire about the situation in the Yunlu Mountains.

With Uncle Chen’s experience, he would undoubtedly know the locations of prey, making Zhang Xun's search much easier.