The Jade Swordsman

The sun was still shining bright in central Tibet. The rays of light reflected off the roof of a fancy old religious building and scattered towards the ground illuminating both the green grass on the lawn and the building itself. The building is known by many as the Great Sun Pagoda, appropriately named because of its bright illumination from the sun. It is the home of the revered and mysterious people known as “The Prophets”. Rumors say that the building was constructed 700 years ago by the famous Indian monk Bodhidharma, founder of Zen Buddhism. An old monk sat on the dirty steps near the entrance of the Great Sun Pagoda watching the rays of the sun scatter throughout the courtyard. His face was wrinkled with age and lacked facial hair save for his long distinguished white beard. He was dressed in a colorful red and yellow Tibetan Buddhist robe and was carrying a small mysterious golden box. He stared at the bright golden box then back at the sun, pondering the hard days that lay ahead on his journey to China. He was entrusted by The Prophets to deliver a small golden box to the monks in Shaolin temple. He was instantly reminded of Bodhidharma’s journey where the great kung-fu manual “Yigun sutra” and the Zen Buddhism teachings were brought to Shaolin temple. Throughout the years many sects and organizations have both risen and fallen but Shaolin temple has always maintained its reputation and power. This was primarily due to the Yigun sutra, which effectively made Shaolin temple the greatest martial arts school in the world. Taking his eyes off the sun and staring back at the golden box, the old monk thought about the powerful kung fu manual secretly kept inside. The manual contained techniques even more powerful than the ones found in the Yigun sutra. Just a mere thought of this sent a shiver down his spine. Gathering his himself again, the old monk thought about the dangers that lay ahead: thieves, members of the Evil Lunar cult, power-hungry martial artists, and anybody else who wanted to get their greedy hands on the box. He then smiled confidently. Nobody will be able to steal the box from his hands, not a single soul. For he was known as the Great Tibetan Monk Kull, one of the most powerful martial artists in the world. Most fighters will not even last a minute against his Flaming Palm technique. Nobody that he knew could even match his great inner power, save for the head of Shaolin temple Abbot Song himself. As the evening approached and the illuminated courtyard started to turn to a shade of gray, the old monk Kull got up from the steps and started on his long and arduous journey.