Chapter 180 Secrets of the Coffin Sect

The situation at the ancestral stone gate is similar to that of the Ghost Door! But, who is pulling the door inside?

The fierce creature sealed by the Strange Coffin Gate?

I don't think so. Why would a fierce creature, after breaking out of its coffin, want to prevent outsiders from entering instead of trying to escape?

Too bad I don't have the skill of the Spirit Probe Hand, otherwise, I could have determined what secrets were hidden behind the stone gate.

While I was still pondering, Nie Xiaochun had already returned: "I found Xie Bangui. He said: The affairs of the Strange Coffin Gate are difficult to explain."

"What do you mean?" I immediately understood Nie Xiaochun's meaning: she wasn't guarding against Lin Zhao and Lin Xian, but was embarrassed to talk about the rights and wrongs of their sect in front of them.

Lin Zhao said: "Xiaochun, just say what you have to say. We've been together for so long, what can't be said?"

Nie Xiaochun thought for a moment and said: "Xie Bangui said: The Strange Coffin Gate was once the core sect of the Coffin Sect's nine branches."

"Daoist Jiu Guan initially created the *Fengguan Jue* (Coffin Sealing Art), which is the foundation of the Coffin Sect's secret techniques. From this point of view, the Strange Coffin Gate should be the main branch of the Coffin Sect."

I didn't understand for a moment: "I don't get it!"

Ye Yang responded: "Think of Bodhidharma's Eighteen Arhat Fists, and you'll understand."

Then I suddenly understood.

Legend has it that Bodhidharma sat in meditation in a cave on Mount Song for nine years. During that time, in order to stretch his muscles and bones, he created the "Eighteen Arhat Fists" – some say "Eighteen Arhat Hands". Later, the Shaolin disciples used the Eighteen Arhat Fists as a foundation to develop the world-renowned "Seventy-Two Supreme Arts of Shaolin."

As the starting point of Shaolin boxing, the "Eighteen Arhat Fists" became the entry-level martial art of Shaolin, and its reputation was not as prominent.

The Coffin Sect should have initially been based on sealing ghosts with coffins. Later, the role of coffins began to weaken, and even in some schools, the symbolic meaning was higher than the actual role.

Nie Xiaochun said: "That's what Xie Bangui meant!"

"Although the secret techniques of the Strange Coffin Gate are profound, they are not very efficient. The Strange Coffin Gate needs to first determine what kind of ghosts they need to deal with, then find materials that can restrain the target to make a coffin, and then find a way to get the ghost into the coffin before they can seal the coffin and suppress the evil."

"This process is like a doctor seeing a patient, needing to prescribe the right medicine. If the cause of the disease is misjudged, not only will it not cure the disease, but it may even cause irreversible consequences."

"In the middle and later stages of his secret techniques, Daoist Jiu Guan gradually weakened the role of the Strange Coffin secret techniques and began to emphasize the unity of martial arts and magic. That is, combining secret techniques with martial arts to directly confront ghosts and gods."

"Among them, the Po Jun and Qi Sha branches have brought the unity of martial arts and magic to perfection, becoming the leaders of the Coffin Sect's nine branches."

Nie Xiaochun added: "Po Jun, the correct name should be the Coffin Removal branch, and Qi Sha is the Coffin Carrying branch."

I understood that the secret techniques of the Strange Coffin Gate emphasized planning, while Xie Bangui's unity of martial arts and magic was simple and crude. No matter what kind of ghosts he encountered, he would draw his saber and fight head-on. If he could win, he would fight; if he couldn't win, he would run first.

Wang Hun, although he inherited the *Bai Guan Pu* (Register of Hundred Coffins) from his adoptive father, weakened the role of carrying coffins to suppress ghosts after following his master, Bei Lang, to cultivate, and instead chose the unity of martial arts and magic.

I even suspected that Wang Hun's carrying coffins to suppress ghosts was just to commemorate his adoptive father and master.

I nodded and said, "Anything else?"

Nie Xiaochun looked at Lin Zhao and said, "The reason why Daoist Jiu Guan, Ye Qianyang, retained the Strange Coffin branch was actually… actually to leave a path for disciples with poor aptitude."

"The disciples of the Strange Coffin Gate in successive generations have had mediocre talent in martial arts, or even were not suitable for martial arts."

Lin Zhao not only did not refute Nie Xiaochun, but agreed: "That's indeed the case. There have never been top experts in the Strange Coffin Gate. We spend most of our time making money and researching coffin secret techniques."

"The reason why Lin idiot and I can be among the top experts is entirely because we have the Huang Quan Twin Lotus supporting us. Otherwise, with our cultivation, we would only be able to reach the second or third-rate realm at most."

No wonder the Strange Coffin Gate elders are all so weak. It turns out that they themselves are not suitable for martial arts!

Many people have debated talent and diligence. I am more inclined to my master's saying: Diligence can only make up for clumsiness. People who rely solely on diligence and hard work can become famous, but cannot become masters. Because they lack something innate in their bones, called "talent."

Talent plus diligence is a necessary condition for a person to become a master.

Nie Xiaochun said: "Ye Qianyang, Daoist Jiu Guan, left the Strange Coffin branch, probably for a disciple of his with poor aptitude. That disciple, for psychological reasons, continued to recruit disciples who were similar to himself, which caused the Strange Coffin Gate to always be at the bottom of the Coffin Sect's eight branches."

"However, the Strange Coffin Gate branch has always believed that it is the orthodox branch of the Coffin Sect. It is unwilling to contact other branches, and has not even attended the Coffin Sect's gatherings for many years."

"Gradually, it has become detached from the core of the Coffin Sect, and wanders outside the eight branches."

"In a sense, the connection between the Strange Coffin Gate and the eight branches is not even as close as that of the Yin Yang branch."