The Ten Thousand Buddhas Paying Homage to the Ancestor

There are many moments in life when, upon achieving the exact result one desired, a person finds themselves inexplicably unable to feel happy. Perhaps it is because the process was too arduous, the cost too great, or perhaps because by the time the goal was reached, it was already too late.

However, there is another possibility—the one Li Daniu was experiencing: he was unhappy simply because obtaining it had been too easy.

If Ah Xing knew of Li Daniu’s thoughts, he would undoubtedly say, "Lowly people are just being pretentious."

When Ah Xing successfully unleashed the Buddhist Palm, Li Daniu felt no joy in having learned the technique himself; he was truly devastated by Ah Xing’s heaven-defying natural talent. As a transmigrator, who among them does not view themselves as the protagonist of the world? And what should a protagonist be like? Li Daniu had always believed that a protagonist should soar to the clouds, that all things in the world should revolve around them, and that they should be able to take whomever they pleased under their wing and flaunt their power before anyone they chose.

Yet, before his "Dragon Overlord" temperament could even fully develop, he had been battered and bruised by Ah Xing’s talent. Even with the opportunity to travel through countless cinematic worlds, Li Daniu lacked the confidence to ever surpass Ah Xing’s aptitude. It seemed that although the plots of these worlds mirrored the movies, he could no longer treat them with the detached mindset of a spectator. He could not underestimate the characters within these worlds, and he would have to be far more cautious in the future.

"Master, I just did as you said—I forgot about my internal energy and focused solely on the forms. As a result, I discovered that the energy within me began to circulate on its own, and that was how I struck that palm," Ah Xing explained earnestly.

Li Daniu composed himself. Despite the blow to his ego, the Buddhist Palm still had to be learned. "Then, have you memorized how your internal energy circulated just now? Can you strike with that same force again?"

Ah Xing thought for a moment and replied, "I remember it. Let me try." He raised his hand, preparing to strike another blow.

"Stop! Are you trying to hit me again?"

"Heh, Master, it’s not like it would hurt you anyway."

Li Daniu was indeed fine; no matter how formidable the Buddhist Palm was, Ah Xing only possessed the third level of the Nine Yang Divine Skill, which was far inferior to Li Daniu’s level. But even if he wouldn't be hurt, why should he endure being struck? Li Daniu grabbed Ah Xing by the collar and leapt out of the window.

"Whoa!" Ah Xing let out a startled cry. This was the sixth floor, and although he had internal energy, he had not yet learned light-body techniques, so the wonders of such maneuvers were beyond his comprehension.

They landed lightly on the ground. Before Li Daniu could speak, Ah Xing clung to his leg. "Master, is this a light-body technique? I want to learn this!" Ah Xing was already imagining himself leaping over walls and scaling roofs.

"Master the Buddhist Palm first. Don't you know that the greatest taboo in martial arts is to learn too many things at once? If you dabble in everything, you end up mastering nothing," Li Daniu refused sternly. It wasn't that he didn't want to teach Ah Xing; the fate of this world was irrelevant to him, and no matter how powerful Ah Xing became, it wouldn't affect him. Li Daniu simply didn't want to be demoralized by Ah Xing again. If he could learn the Nine Yang Divine Skill so quickly, surely a technique like the Cloud-Ladder Step would be a trivial matter for him?

After being rejected, Ah Xing trusted Li Daniu’s logic implicitly. He dropped the request to learn light-body techniques and began practicing the Buddhist Palm against the empty air. With nothing around to destroy, Ah Xing practiced without restraint, and the power of the Buddhist Palm began to manifest before Li Daniu’s eyes.

After completing about half the forms, Ah Xing stopped and said to Li Daniu, "Master, I can only successfully execute these few palms for now; I haven't been able to figure out the rest."

The Buddhist Palm Ah Xing was learning consisted of only nine forms, the strongest being the ninth, "Ten Thousand Buddhas Return to the Sect." It differed from the comic version, which included a tenth and eleventh form, but Li Daniu was indifferent; nine forms were enough. As for the legendary tenth and eleventh forms, they were simply too exaggerated. Li Daniu remembered reading about those final two forms in the comics—techniques like "Buddha's Birth" or "The Universe Collapsing"—which transcended the scope of mere martial arts and ventured into the realm of gods and demons. Their effects were likely comparable to the palm strike seen in *Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons*.

Li Daniu suspected that Ah Xing’s inability to perform the remaining forms was due to insufficient internal energy. In the original movie, the two palm strikes Ah Xing unleashed were likely the ninth form, but at that time, he had already unblocked his Governor and Conception vessels, which was equivalent to the ninth level of the Nine Yang Divine Skill. According to the movie's logic, unblocking those vessels meant unlocking one's full potential, reaching the pinnacle of internal energy. As for the so-called "connecting the bridge between heaven and earth," Li Daniu’s current level was too limited to even find the path.

To confirm his hypothesis, once he obtained the energy-channeling methods for the first three forms, Li Daniu immediately began helping Ah Xing push toward the ninth level of the Nine Yang Divine Skill. Li Daniu spent his days and nights channeling his energy to help Ah Xing progress, and when the process became too tedious, he would make Ah Xing practice his literacy.

Four days passed, and Ah Xing finally reached the ninth level of the Nine Yang Divine Skill. At this point, his internal energy was no less than Li Daniu’s.

One must realize that Li Daniu had been at this level for over four months; the total amount of energy he had gained in those four months was not even equal to what Ah Xing had just achieved. This realization was a blow Li Daniu found hard to accept. Fortunately, he had successfully learned the full set of the Buddhist Palm.

While Ah Xing was practicing, Li Daniu secretly went to a desolate place, mimicked Ah Xing’s posture from the movie, leaped into the air, and struck the ground with all his might using the "Ten Thousand Buddhas Return to the Sect." The strike consumed half of his internal energy, but the result was immensely satisfying: he had left a palm print fifteen meters long and one meter deep in the earth. It was practically identical to the strike Ah Xing had delivered from the sky in the movie.

Li Daniu smacked his lips in satisfaction at the destructive power. It was worth the hard work he had put into training Ah Xing. If he hadn't used the Buddhist Palm and had instead tried to smash the ground with raw power, he could have achieved a similar result, but it would have taken far more time and energy. It was like an engine: if you put the same amount of fuel into a tricycle, it would top out at eighty kilometers per hour, but in a Bugatti, it could go from zero to one hundred in 2.3 seconds and reach a top speed of 460.

However, seeing such terrifying destructive power made Li Daniu admire the strength of the Beast even more. The Beast had taken Ah Xing’s first palm strike head-on and was still able to jump up and launch a sneak attack.

Calculating the time, the Beast should be getting released soon. Even without Ah Xing to act as the lock-pick, the Shanghai Bund was not short on such talent. The Axe Gang would only need a bit more time to get the Beast out. But now, Li Daniu had no concerns regarding the Beast. Not to mention the Landlady and her husband, who had nearly finished him off at the start, or the newly mastered Ah Xing and himself—even without ganging up on him, they could exhaust him through a series of duels until he was incapacitated.

Whenever Li Daniu thought of the Beast’s reaction upon discovering so many experts, he couldn't help but chuckle. Brother Sum, do not disappoint me.

Meanwhile, at the Axe Gang headquarters, Brother Sum and his henchmen were welcoming a man wearing a vest and slippers with great ceremony.

"In the world of martial arts, only speed is unbreakable."

Just as in the movie, the Beast caught a bullet in his hand, instantly stunning everyone in the room.