From Wushuang City, even if one rode the fastest horse, it would take half a month to reach the Soaring Cloud Cave. The main reason was that it wasn't a straightforward route. There were many mountains and lakes on the way that one had to bypass, which increased the original journey by seven to eight folds.
It was impossible for the people of Wushuang City to be like Tang Lin, to simply cross a small river by stepping over, and to cross a big river by a run and a skip. He reached the top of a hill by stretching his legs and he crossed a mountain on all fours, within minutes.
Therefore, they were not too anxious at first. This was a relatively long journey. However, not long after they left Wushuang City, they discovered a strange situation.
Along the way, they saw many people praying and kowtowing towards the north, in the direction of the Great Leshan Buddha. Initially, the warriors of Wushuang City thought that these were devout Buddhists performing the three step one bow pilgrimage. However, after walking for 20 to 30 miles, they realized that this situation was more and more common.
"When did so many Buddhists appear?" Shi Wuzun, the leader of the team, asked curiously.
Shi Wuzun was a Dhuta monk and could be considered a member of the Buddhist Sect. He was most proficient with the Gautama Divine Palm, and he could be considered an expert in the martial arts world. At this moment, Shi Wuzun was still a subordinate of Dugu Yifang of Wushuang City and he had yet to part ways with Dugu Yifang.
(P.S. According to the plot of the movie, when Shi Wuzun first came onto the scene, he was against Dugu Yifang's son, Dugu Ming. However, in the manga, Shi Wuzun was the number one fighter in Wushuang City. Therefore, applying some imagination, Shi Wuzun was originally Dugu Yifang's subordinate and later fell out with him. Purists please do not take it to heart.)
Shi Wuzun was a member of the Buddhist sect, but he really didn't know that there were so many people near Wushuang City who believed in Buddhism, and that they were such devout Buddhists?
After sending someone out to ask around, Shi Wuzun heard a ridiculous piece of news. There was actually a rumor that the Great Leshan Buddha had come to life and he had climbed the mountain and waded through the water to reach Wushuang City.
What kind of nonsense was this? The legend of Fire Qilin in the Soaring Cloud Cave was already a little far-fetched. To say that the Great Leshan Buddha had come alive was rubbish, wasn't it?
However, no matter how ridiculous the rumors were, Shi Wuzun felt that he had to personally investigate. Someone was playing tricks in Wushuang City's territory. This was a provocation to the City. Moreover, these people said with so much conviction that the Great Leshan Buddha had come to life. There must be some connection here.
Dugu Yifang had asked Shi Wuzun to investigate the Great Buddha of Leshan, and something strange had happened here. It would be difficult to answer him if he failed to go take a look. In any case, that dense forest wasn't far. It was only ten miles, and they would arrive in a short while if they sped up.
As the group approached the forest, the surrounding trees began to become denser. The horses that were originally galloping slowed down to a trot, almost as if in trepidation.
Shi Wuzun began to circulate the energy between his ears, carefully listening to the movements around him. As soon as he entered the dense forest, he began to sense that something was wrong. He had a vague sense of unease, but he couldn't tell what exactly it was.
This was the sixth sense of humans. It came from the subtle changes in the surroundings. Perhaps one could not remember every detail accurately, but these subtle changes would gather to form an obvious sense of discord, which would make people feel uneasy.
The more observant a person was, the stronger their sixth sense would be. Shi Wuzun was a martial arts expert, so his observation skills were naturally much keener than ordinary people. Therefore, he was the first to sense this unusual feeling.
"Be careful!" Shi Wuzun ordered the others.
There were ten people from Wushuang City on this expedition. Shi Wu Zun was the leader, and the others also had strong martial arts skills. All of them were proficient in archery and horse riding, and their swordsmanship were true to the heritage of Wusuhang City. They could be considered experts in the martial arts world. After hearing Shi Wuzun's reminder, they all drew their swords and carefully controlled their horses' advancement.
As they went deeper, Shi Wuzun observed that there were many traces left behind by wild beasts. It seemed that many wild beasts had gathered in the mountains. The footprints they saw on the way were all going in the same direction.
Shi Wuzun was certain that something unusual must have happened in the depths of this dense forest! It seemed that it was the so-called Living Buddha Giant. However, he did not know what tricks it was playing to lure these wild beasts.
Could it be that he really wanted to imitate Buddha and expiate the hundred beasts?
Throwing this implausible thought out of his mind, Shi Wuzun continued to lead the warriors of Wushuang City forward. Soon, they arrived in front of a huge trench.
"Someone actually dug a river here?"
Shi Wuzun looked at the nearly 100-feet wide trench in front of him and asked curiously.
Just as he was wondering, he heard a roar. Shi Wuzun looked up and saw a huge tiger — that was four to five times larger than an ordinary tiger — roaring at him.
What stunned Shi Wuzun even more was that this tiger actually had a pair of small wings on its back. Its wings looked a little disproportionate in size, but he instantly understood that this was not a tiger, but a demonic tiger spirit.
Shi Wuzun decided to strike first. Without waiting for the tiger spirit to pounce on him, he had already struck out a palm at it. Dozens of golden rays flew out from his palm and shot towards the tiger like cannonballs.
The martial arts in the world of The Storm Riders were all very cool. This Gautama Divine Palm was like fireworks, illuminating the dark forest.
Although the winged tiger had already become a demon, its foundation was too weak. Facing this powerful palm technique, it could only jump and dodge. Who would've expected that these golden balls of light would actually turn around and chase the winged tiger. It smashed the winged tiger, sending this two to three-thousand kilogram beast flying.
Although the winged tiger bore the brunt of the blow, it only rolled on the ground and didn't seem to have suffered any serious injuries. Its physique had been completely transformed by the Blood Bodhi elixir, and its resistance to beatings had also increased greatly. Although it was still far inferior to Fire Qilin, it was not something Shi Wuzun could kill instantly.
Shi Wuzun frowned slightly. To think that this demon could be unscathed after taking a palm strike that deployed 50% of his power! When did such a monster appear outside Wushuang City? He had never heard of it before.
Just as he was about to continue his pursuit, he suddenly felt his vision darken, as if a dark cloud had suddenly covered the sky.
Shi Wuzun looked up and saw a giant so huge that its face was almost indiscernible. The sun in the sky was blocked by the giant, and the shadow cast down covered everyone in Wushuang City.
Tang Lin snorted and said loudly to Shi Wuzun and the others, "I'm backing this tiger."
The huge sound wave was like thunder, making Shi Wuzun's ears ring. He couldn't hear what the other party was saying at all.
However, he also instantly understood that the appearance of this demonic tiger spirit was definitely related to this mountain-like giant. It was no wonder that the passersby said that the Great Leshan Buddha had come to life. Such a tall giant was indeed about the same size as the Great Leshan Buddha.
Shi Wuzun wouldn't put his life at the mercy of the giant. Hearing his roar, it was obvious that he was angry. Shi Wuzun didn't treat Tang Lin as a human, mainly because his appearance was too strange. He looked more like some kind of mythical monster.
Therefore, Shi Wuzun had no intention of communicating with Tang Lin either. He hurriedly used his Qinggong technique and jumped into mid-air. Ten golden Gautama Divine Palms struck towards Tang Lin. Strictly speaking, they were aimed at his knees.
There was no helping it. Shi Wuzun had already done his best to jump off his horse to this height.
The martial arts masters in this world were all highly skilled. It was not a problem for them to break mountains and shatter rocks with a single palm strike. However, Tang Lin still chose to take the strikes head on. In any case, he had the healing power of the Earth Child. He didn't believe that Shi Wuzun could break his leg with a single palm strike.
With a series of crackling sounds, the golden palm strike hit Tang Lin's knees, exploding into balls of dazzling golden light. Tang Lin indeed felt a series of impacts, probably similar to the bullets fired from an air gun.
The knees took a series of ten strikes, it hurt even if they were BB bullets.
However, the damage was only so-so. Shi Wuzun's full-power attack did not even pierce through Tang Lin's pants. It only left bruises on Tang Lin's knees.
Initially, Tang Lin didn't want to kill people indiscriminately, but Shi Wuzun's completely angered him by attacking him unreasonably. Just like in the previous world, Tang Lin was about to flee, but Apocalypse and the others came up and slashed Tang Lin's calves. How could he tolerate this!
"What the f*ck, attacking just like that, are you all crazy!" Tang Lin raised the weapon in his hand angrily and aimed it at Shi Wuzun and the rest.
This was a prop similar to a toy pistol. It had a yellowish-black shell and a pointed muzzle that looked like a nozzle. This was the weapon that Tang Lin had specially prepared to deal with the tiny people — a salt gun!
It was a weapon invented by others to hit flies. It used air pressure to spray out large amounts of salt to shoot flies one by one.
Tang Lin aimed at the Wushuang City warriors and pulled the trigger. Countless salt particles flew out from the muzzle, creating a loud sound of air being torn apart. They landed on the Wushuang City warriors like hailstones.
In this alternate world, the power of the salt gun had also been extremely upgraded, to an exaggerated level. The salt particles that were shot out actually broke through the sound barrier. Moreover, the range was extremely large, giving them no chance to dodge. These salt particles were bigger than fists for the warriors of Wushuang City. When they landed on their bodies at such a high speed, they were immediately severely injured and crippled.
Even though they were all elites of Wushuang City and each of them had extraordinary martial arts, half of them were seriously injured and were vomiting blood. It was unknown how many bones in their bodies were broken. The remaining half fared even worse. They were directly beaten into a ball so horrific that their images needed to be pixelated.
Shi Wuzun didn't feel good either. Tang Lin had been aiming at him to begin with, so even if his Qinggong technique was superb, he could not dodge. Every salt particle was like the powerful palm force of a martial arts expert. Although Shi Wuzun had already exercised his martial arts force with all his might to defend himself, he was still hit till he spat blood and couldn't even keep his footing.
"Hmph, no matter how good your martial arts is, you can be taken down by one shot! Great monk, times have changed!" Tang Lin said smugly to Shi Wu Zun.
Unfortunately, this person could no longer hear him. He had been seriously injured. He was seeing stars and his ears were buzzing. He passed out soon after.