80s Shaolin Abbot

The glowing dots spun rapidly, and Huo Yuanzhen stared intently, hoping to detect a pattern in their rotation. Unfortunately, he couldn't discern any, not even after watching the dots spin for several rounds.

He had always hoped that he could figure out the pattern of their movement. If he could calculate how many times the dots spun and which patterns they formed, then in the future, he could use this data to extract the items he desired.

When he clicked "Start," he could choose any pattern to begin with, and today, he had chosen the pattern of the triad of glowing dots.

But the dots were spinning too fast. They were so fast that Huo Yuanzhen couldn't even track them properly.

Gradually, the dots began to slow down.

As soon as he noticed this, Huo Yuanzhen felt disappointed. The slowing down of the dots was in the opposite half of the triad's large prize area, so it was likely that they would stop after four or five more steps. It was clear that the grand prize was out of reach now.

If the steps of the dots followed a predictable pattern, then Huo Yuanzhen could be sure that if he clicked on this pattern, he would not win the item inside it.

Though he had not expected the grand prize, watching it slip away still left him feeling a bit dejected. He forced himself to focus and continue watching.

"Has my luck run out?"

But then something caught his attention. Even though the dots were unlikely to reach the grand prize, one of the prizes ahead was actually a "Lion's Roar" manual!

The "Lion's Roar" was placed between the White Horse and the Incense Burner.

It seemed the dots would land in this area!

Huo Yuanzhen's disappointment quickly turned into excitement.

The "Lion's Roar" was one of the key skills that every Shaolin Abbot must master!

After over twenty days of continuous practice, the "Pure Boy Skill" within him had become stronger. Using his internal energy, he could now exert a much more powerful force when headbutting a wall.

With the internal energy boosting his abilities, the "Lion's Roar" would be significantly stronger, making it a terrifying weapon.

Even if the grand prize was out of reach, the "Lion's Roar" was still within grasp!

Huo Yuanzhen clenched his fists and stared at the system, waiting for the glowing dots to stop.

Gradually, the dots came to the White Horse's location.

Even though it wasn't the grand prize, Huo Yuanzhen didn't take this lightly. This White Horse was undoubtedly a fine steed. He was eager to have it, but for now, his life was the priority.

He couldn't just grab the White Horse and flee.

The dots seemed to stop right at the White Horse. Huo Yuanzhen held his breath, and his fists creaked with tension.

"One step at a time."

The words echoed in his mind, and they felt almost desperate.

"It's moving! Yes!"

Huo Yuanzhen exhaled in relief and cheered aloud.

The dots finally landed on the "Lion's Roar" and stayed there, not moving again!

"Extraction complete!"

The cold, emotionless voice of the system echoed, and Huo Yuanzhen's heart finally settled.

He had received the "Lion's Roar" manual.

After taking the manual, Huo Yuanzhen didn't rush to practice it. It was midnight, and practicing in the temple at such an hour would be too conspicuous. It was better to go to the back mountain.

He told no one and lit a torch before heading toward the back mountain.

The summit of Yuzhai Mountain spanned over several miles. The front part was relatively flat and had been enclosed by Huo Yuanzhen with a wall. The back mountain, however, was rugged and steep, especially beyond the Drinking Horse Lake, where strange rocks dotted the landscape. Flying birds would find it difficult to pass through. Huo Yuanzhen had never bothered with this area. There was no need for a wall here—it was impossible to scale unless one was a master of lightness skills.

Huo Yuanzhen walked all the way to the Drinking Horse Lake.

Tonight, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse. Upon arriving, he extinguished the torch. With the moonlight, he could clearly read the words on the manual.

He opened the book and began to read. The knowledge quickly flooded into his mind.

About half an hour later, Huo Yuanzhen had completely mastered the essence of the "Lion's Roar."

The "Lion's Roar" was one of the seventy-two Shaolin secret techniques, the most powerful and formidable one. Very few people were able to truly master it. This technique was driven by the internal energy in the body's dantian, and when used, the tongue would unleash a sound like spring thunder, capable of traveling over ten miles. Anyone who heard it would feel their hearts freeze with fear. Without internal energy to resist, the sound could even kill.

The effects were devastating—severe cases would cause blood to seep from the eyes, while lighter cases would cause weakness in the limbs and a temporary loss of combat ability.

In essence, the "Lion's Roar" was a long-range technique. If the user's internal energy was strong enough, it could become a large-scale weapon, causing devastating effects when used against large groups of enemies.

The only downside was the massive internal energy consumption required to use this technique.

While Huo Yuanzhen had completely grasped the essence of the "Lion's Roar," he couldn't yet unleash its full power due to his insufficient internal energy.

Internal energy was the foundation of any martial artist. Without sufficient internal energy, one could never become a true master.

Although the "Pure Boy Skill" was a solid internal cultivation, it was still in its early stages, and Huo Yuanzhen's dantian was practically empty, with only a small amount of energy.

Nevertheless, now that he had mastered this skill, Huo Yuanzhen was determined to try it out.

He turned around, facing the back mountain.

The direction of the roar depended on where the practitioner faced. By directing it toward the back mountain, Huo Yuanzhen figured the sound wouldn't disturb anyone in the temple.

After all, the back mountain was probably home to nothing more than birds and snakes. He wasn't worried about disturbing anyone.

After circulating his internal energy for a while, Huo Yuanzhen opened his mouth and let out a loud roar!

There were two types of roars: one that involved shouting a single word or a few words, such as "Stop!" or "Halt!" and another type—the true roar of a lion, a powerful sound that could reverberate.

Huo Yuanzhen unleashed the latter—a forceful, lion-like roar.

A powerful shockwave erupted from his mouth, and Huo Yuanzhen instantly felt his internal energy drain away, his vision blurring as he nearly fainted.

He barely managed to stay standing, his dizziness clearing enough for him to see that the grass before him was actually bent backward by the force of his roar. The shockwave was so strong that even the trees around him shook, and the birds in the trees took off in a flurry, some of them even flying erratically, as though they might fall at any moment.

Remember, Huo Yuanzhen was still over a mile away from the forest!

It took him a while to recover from the dizziness.

Once his head cleared, he realized that his dantian was completely drained. All the meager internal energy he had vanished in that one roar!

The consumption was absolutely terrifying!

However, Huo Yuanzhen had given his all in that roar. If he controlled the intensity, perhaps he wouldn't have felt faint afterward.

Even with controlled force, though, his current internal energy could only produce about two roars at most, and even those would not be as powerful as the one he just released.

In theory, if his internal energy were three times stronger, that same roar could have sent the birds flying without ever getting off the ground.

But even so, it was enough!

Huo Yuanzhen was thrilled. Although he couldn't perform any martial arts yet, now he had mastered the Buddhist "Lion's Roar" technique. If he could acquire another internal cultivation technique in the future, with this sound-based attack, he would be invincible against anyone who didn't understand internal energy.

Just shouting or cursing in all directions would be enough to overwhelm most opponents. Thinking about this made Huo Yuanzhen excited.

Of course, for true masters of internal energy, the "Lion's Roar" would lose much of its power.

For now, though, if Huo Yuanzhen caught someone off guard with his roar, he could easily stun them, even those with a strong physique. If they were unprepared, they would certainly experience dizziness.

As he was about to head back to the temple, a faint voice suddenly came from the back mountain.

It wasn't loud, but Huo Yuanzhen was certain that it was a person's voice!

The voice seemed to say: "Who dares... disturb me... die."

The words were unclear, almost as if they came from beneath the ground, giving a faraway feeling.

Yet, Huo Yuanzhen could tell it was a person speaking, and it sounded as though the person was reproaching him for his loud roar and threatening to kill him.

A cold sweat broke out on Huo Yuanzhen's back. Was there someone else on the back mountain?

He had never known about anyone else being here. The back mountain, while not huge, was dangerous, filled with treacherous rocks. Huo Yuanzhen had never ventured beyond the Drinking Horse Lake. He'd never seen anyone here before. How could there be another person?

Moreover, over all this time, neither he nor his senior brothers had seen anyone else. How could someone survive back there?

One thing was certain: whoever this was, they were a formidable expert.

Otherwise, how could their voice reach his ears so clearly?

Why the expert hadn't appeared yet, Huo Yuanzhen didn't know.

But he didn't care. Right now, he was too weak, and his priority was survival. Whatever the person in the back mountain was up to, it had nothing to do with him.

He hurried back to the temple, and no further sounds came from the back mountain.

"Forget it. Whatever's back there, I'll deal with it later. I'll focus on what's right in front of me first."

Huo Yuanzhen forced himself to forget about the mysterious figure on the back mountain, focusing on preparing for the impending confrontation with Niu Er and the others.