Lao De Nuo's sword pointed diagonally upwards, leaving the center wide open; it was both incredibly strange and swift.
It was none other than the first move of the Qingcheng Sect's "Pine Wind Swordplay," titled "Azure Pine Greets Guests."
"How do you know my Qingcheng Sect swordsmanship!" The Man surnamed Yu drew another sword from his waist. His already short figure shrank back, dodging Yue Lingshan's sword strike. At the same time, he slashed at Yue Lingshan's shoulder with his left sword and pressed his right sword on top of his left sword. He raised his arms high and used his strength to block Lao De Nuo's killing move.
For a time, he fought the two men on equal footing, wielding two swords alone.
The long-faced Long-faced man surnamed Jia, after joining the group, suddenly gained the upper hand.
Even though this is related to the fact that Lao De Nuo and Yue Lingshan did not use their preferred kung fu, it also shows that Yu Renyan fu skills are quite impressive.
Lao De Nuo was not surprised. The Qingcheng Sect's "Pine Wind Swordplay" was best suited for dual swords, and the palm techniques performed with the left hand were also suitable for wielding a sword.
After being defeated by Lin Yuantu, Chang Qingzi was furious and went to Yue Buqun's master to dissect the Bixie Swordplay. Yue Buqun served him tea and water and memorized most of the Evil- Bixie Swordplay and the Pine Wind Swordplay.
When Lao De Nuo came to Fuzhou, he and Yue Lingshan were taught these two sword techniques.
They naturally have some understanding of it.
Moreover, Yu Renyan is the son of Yu Canghai, the leader of the Qingcheng Sect. Although he is not listed among the Qingcheng Four Beauties, he must have passed on more secrets.
Li Lin was not surprised.
In the original timeline, Yu Renyan died because he didn't use his sword, was focused on humiliating Lin Pingzhi, and was careless.
Firstly, no one expected that Lin Pingzhi had hidden a dagger in his boots.
Secondly, they did not expect Lin Pingzhi to have the strength to resist.
The latter was entirely due to Lin Pingzhi using the "Disarming" technique from the "Heaven-Turning Palm," which prevented the full force from hitting him, even though Lin Pingzhi possessed great strength.
The "Heaven-Turning Palm" and "Silver Feather Arrow" were originally top-tier martial arts that Lin Yuantu sought out because his descendants had failed to inherit his "Bixie Swordplay."
If Lin Zhennan hadn't mistaken a fish eye for a pearl, focusing solely on the "Bixie Swordplay," and hadn't misunderstood the "Fuwei" in "Fuwei Escort Agency" as "Fuwei" above and "Wei" below, mistakenly believing that reputation accounts for 20%, skill for 20%, and the remaining 60% depends entirely on the favor of friends in both the legitimate and illegitimate worlds, only knowing how to use money and the reputation left by Lin Yuantu to pave the way, without putting effort into skill, only making the business extremely successful, without any means of protection...
With his skills in his youth, such as the "Heaven-Turning Palm" and "Silver Feather Arrow," which could win applause from both the righteous and the wicked, he would never have ended up like he did in the original timeline.
Even if Yu Canghai surpasses his master and his martial arts are superior to Chang Qingzi's, it doesn't matter.
"I'll do it."
Li Lin had already studied the complete sword techniques of all four men.
He made a sword with his hands.
Before the word "ba" even landed, three loud slaps were heard.
Yu Renyan and Jia Renda coughed up blood, their spines breaking into three pieces, Sword: One.
"You"
Unlike Jia Renda fainted from the pain, Yu Renyan still had the strength to utter a single word.
"No need to thank me," Li Lin said. "Considering that Abbot Yu is already old and it would be right for him not to bury his children, I should spare your lives."
It would be better to die than this, even the escort chiefs who looked at the scene with average kung fu skills felt this way.
With this kind of injury, he is destined to be bedridden for the rest of his life, unable to move his limbs.
It's not just their limbs that will be affected; they might even be unable to continue their lineage.
As a martial artist, Yu Renyan understood this point and fainted instantly from anger.
"Why didn't you even say thank you? You must be really overjoyed," Li Lin said seriously. "So happy your pants are soaked."
That was incontinence. Fortunately, they hadn't had lunch yet. Lao De Nuo thought to himself, but on the surface he was very respectful. "What you say is very true, young master."
Yue Lingshan was busy removing the traces of her disguise. When she stepped out from behind the desk, her fair and pretty face, which matched her graceful figure, was revealed.
A pair of round eyes scrutinized Li Lin, filled with amazement and admiration. "Young Master's martial arts are extraordinary, almost like those of a deity. Lingshan and Second Senior Brother have been showing off their limited skills before you."
"I was wrong too. The noodles are so-so, the meat is so-so, but the person is extraordinary," Li Lin replied with a smile.
"May I ask where these two people come from?" Lin Pingzhi asked anxiously.
In his eyes, the martial arts skills of Yue Lingshan and the other three were already incredibly high, comparable to his father's, not to mention Li Lin, whom he couldn't even catch a glimpse of. He really mustered up his courage to ask this question.
Judging from the fact that these two knew his name and what they had said before, it seems they had been keeping an eye on him for a long time.
"Yu Canghai's son from the Qingcheng Sect, and his disciple, one of the Qingcheng Four Beauties," Li Lin replied.
He was willing to be patient with Lin Pingzhi, who refused to steal from others even when he was hungry, who upheld his principles, and whose life was full of hardships.
"How is that possible?" The first escort interjected, "Lao Zhang just went to Hunan to send gifts to Master Yu. Although the letter has not yet arrived, it is said that Master Yu has accepted the gifts from our escort agency."
The other escort leader also looked shocked, "In order to open the road to Sichuan, our escort agency has sent generous gifts to Emei and Qingcheng during the Spring and Autumn Festival for three consecutive years. Even if they don't accept it, we have never stopped. It's a breach of etiquette."
Because her father insisted on gentlemanly conduct, Yue Lingshan, who had none of the airs of a noble lady, put aside her displeasure at being interrupted and clicked her tongue in amazement. She thought to herself, "No wonder Lin Zhennan's martial arts are clearly mediocre, yet his generation has built a empire that surpasses even his grandfather and great-grandfather, conquering six provinces: Shandong, Hebei, Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, and Guangxi. Why doesn't this escort agency send gifts to our Huashan Sect? Do they look down on us?"
Little did she know that in Lin Zhennan's eyes, she was not worthy of associating with the leaders of the Five Peaks Sword Sects, such as Yue Buqun, and dared not even offer them gifts.
Furthermore, Lin Zhennan's understanding is not wrong. Even Yu Canghai, when he learned that Yue Buqun personally attended Liu Zhengfeng's Golden Basin Hand-Washing, could not believe that a mere Liu Zhengfeng could persuade Yue Buqun to attend.
Even Mu Gaofeng, upon hearing the name of the Mount Hua Sect, immediately fled.
The reputation of the Five Peaks Sword Sects was earned through its fierce battles with the Sun Moon Holy Cult. In the eyes of most people in the martial arts world, it is now no different from ancient sects like Shaolin and Wudang.
Not to mention Mount Hua, which was once the foremost of the Five Sacred Mountains.
Furthermore, only when the Sichuan region, which belongs to Qingcheng, is opened up can one travel north to Shaanxi and south to Yunnan and Guizhou.
"It's all because Lin Zhennan is too stupid," Li Lin said. "Lao De Nuo, when did the Qingcheng Sect start practicing the [Bixie Swordplay]?"
Lin Pingzhi's face flushed red, but he dared not show his anger.
Lao De Nuo was startled when his name was called, but then replied respectfully, "Just in the last few months."
"In the end, martial arts reign supreme in the martial world," Li Lin said. "Without superior martial arts skills, no matter how big your business is, you'll just be at the Merpeople. If Lin Yuantu hadn't been invincible in both the legitimate and underworld circles back then, he wouldn't have been able to build such a large business."
He thought it was because he was good at interpersonal relationships and knew how to navigate Human Relationships.
Little did they know, this clearly revealed their true nature.
In the original timeline, even at the very last moment before storming the Fuwei Escort Agency, Yu Canghai was still testing the waters.
From the very beginning, he sent his disciples to scout the location and discovered that Lin Zhennan was not a martial arts practitioner at all. He taught his son martial arts not inside the house, but only through the courtyard wall, and found that his martial arts skills were mediocre.
Then he only attacked the escorts and subordinates.
It wasn't until Lin Zhennan and his wife fled that he realized the Lin family had no experts, so he only sent three disciples to capture them.
If Lin Pingzhi hadn't mistakenly killed Yu Canghai's son...
Yu Canghai, after exchanging a few pleasantries, personally visited the place to inquire about the situation.
"This is actually also related to Linghu Chong."
"What does this have to do with my senior brother?" Yue Lingshan asked.
Although Li Lin is there as a comparison, Linghu Chong, who is so addicted to alcohol that he would drink even when a beggar was spitting out phlegm, is nothing compared to him.
However, Linghu Chong's position in her heart is still similar to that of an older brother who is not related by blood.
"Lao De Nuo, you went to Qingcheng because Linghu Chong beat up Hou Renying and Hong Renxiong of the Qingcheng Sect for no reason, right?" Li Lin asked.
This was not a baseless slander by Li Lin.
This was said by Lu Dayou, who admired Linghu Chong the most. He said that Linghu Chong would get angry just by hearing their names. While drinking, he would shout loudly, "Bear, wild boar, the four beasts of Qingcheng!" and kick the two who approached him angrily off the restaurant.
The two didn't even know who kicked them, let alone why they were being beaten for no reason.
Only Lu Dayou, who understood Linghu Chong's heart perfectly, knew that Linghu Chong thought their names were too arrogant, such as Renying and Renxiong, and they even had the title of "Heroes and Heroes, Qingcheng Four Beauties" in the martial arts world.
Linghu Chong, the senior disciple of Mount Hua, had nothing.
It should be noted that the Qingcheng Sect and the Mount Hua Sect have a very good relationship, even closer than Huashan's relationship with the other four sacred mountains.
When it was later discovered, Yu Canghai personally wrote a letter, which was quite polite. He said that he had not disciplined his disciple properly and had offended Linghu Chong. In return, Yue Buqun punished Linghu Chong with thirty strokes of the rod and made him kneel for a day and a night, which was actually quite lenient.
Lao De Nuo nodded. "Last December. You mean?"
Li Lin nodded. "Yu Canghai mistakenly believed that Huashan was going to attack Qingcheng. Although the Mount Hua Sect has declined and is no longer as prosperous as it once was."
"But Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze are both top-notch masters in the martial arts world."
"Qingcheng is far inferior."
"It is still a piece of fat meat that can make Huashan, a poor household, drool."
In this world, although there is an official government on the surface, when it comes to the martial arts world, each region has its own leader.
Sichuan is known as the Land of Abundance. Since Emei Mountain is not in charge here and people only know how to eat vegetarian food and chant Buddhist scriptures, the people in the martial arts world here naturally recognize the name of Qingcheng Mountain.
If Qingcheng is captured, it also means that this area belongs to Huashan.
Countless people like Lin Zhennan would rush to pay protection money.
This is why, even though the Five Peaks Sword Sects are scattered all over the country, Songshan Sect has already established a foundation worthy of the other four, they still want to unify the Five Sacred Mountains.
Mount Song belongs to Shaolin, the uncrowned king.
Even though Zuo Lengchan trained the Thirteen Taibao, Mount Song was still overshadowed by Shaolin.
What he wanted was the prestige of uniting the Five Sacred Mountains, and the benefits that came with it.
The benefits are not just financial, but also a wider network of apprentices.
This is why Yue Buqun was still called a hypocrite even though he hadn't turned evil in the early stages.
Despite having a formidable reputation and a strong leadership, unlike the Fuwei Escort Agency which lacked resources, they operated Huashan as a small family business. To protect their reputation, they refused to accept gifts or protection fees, and only took on a limited number of apprentices.
If this isn't hypocrisy, what is it?
You're the leader of a faction, not a lone wolf!
Moreover, the Songshan Sect Huashan were only discovered when Yue Buqun found out that Lao De Nuo was an undercover agent.
Although Lao De Nuo is the second senior brother and was discovered to be an undercover agent by Yue Buqun as soon as he entered Huashan, he actually did not join Huashan for very long. He joined Huashan twelve years later than Linghu Chong.
He was ranked second because he already had skills when he sought out a master, and he was also older.
Because of Mount Song, it wouldn't be right to not expand and just stay in seclusion to practice martial arts.
Yue Buqun was indeed devoted to Mount Hua, but it was for his own sake.
Even though Linghu Chong made mistakes, caused trouble, couldn't distinguish between good and evil, and lacked a sense of responsibility.
However, Yue Buqun was also jealous of talent and ability.
In his heart, only he could restore Mount Hua.
Even if this person were replaced by Linghu Chong, who was practically raised by him since childhood, it wouldn't work.
Aside from his exceptional martial arts skills, any other option besides reclaiming the Five Peaks Command Token through force is an evil path he neither would nor wanted to take.
Therefore, he had time to cultivate his reputation, not collect protection fees, and eliminate the heretical sects around Mount Hua without compensation, but he had no time to manage his own sect.
This is truly remarkable for the ordinary people living around Mount Hua.
However, for powerful and wealthy landowners who wanted to climb the social ladder, they were troubled by the lack of connections to do so.
Furthermore, this unwavering commitment to leading by example, emphasizing righteousness and chivalry over sectarianism, influenced Linghu Chong.
This is the origin of Linghu Chong's early act of risking his life to save Yi Ping and his feigning friendship with Tian Boguang, disregarding his own and Huashan's reputation.
His lack of responsibility and excessive emphasis on chivalry are exactly what he learned from Yue Buqun.
The later transformation into a chaotic justice stems from the realization that his master and the martial world are not as he imagined, that his own life is nearing its end, that he has been expelled from his sect, and that his junior sister has fallen in love with someone else—a series of blows that lead him to give up entirely.
At that time, when he saw innocent passersby being killed by Xiang Wentian, he was only slightly annoyed and didn't take it to heart.
Yue Lingshan had no idea that the man she had fallen for was talking about her father and her senior brother. "He is really judging others by his own petty standards. Are we from Mount Hua not as unable to distinguish right from wrong as those from Qingcheng?"
Lin Pingzhi believed Li Lin's words to a large extent. "You mean the Qingcheng Sect came for my family's [Bixie Swordplay], but..."
Having witnessed the martial arts skills of several people, he had lost confidence in his own.
Li Lin looked at Lao De Nuo.
Lao De Nuo understood instantly and drew his sword in a flash.
Moves such as "All Evils Repelled", "Zhong Kui Selects Eyes", "Flying Swallow Pierces Willow", and "Meteor Chases Moon" were practiced one by one.
"You, you..." Lin Pingzhi seemed to be seeing the most terrifying scene in the world.
"I see." Li Lin understood the mystery after only reading it once.
This is not because Master Yue Buqun incompetent, Chang Qingzi is not.
Rather, it's because they can't achieve that kind of sword speed.
Phew——!
A crane's cry—this is the extraordinary phenomenon of the [Crane Cry Nine Heavens Divine Skill] circulating through the meridians and bones.
The reason this martial art is difficult to learn and master is that it requires integrating the internal energy (qi) into the bones.
The sword that Yu Renyan had dropped on the ground flew out of thin air and into Li Lin's hand.
He began to practice each move of the Bixie Swordplay.
These moves, which were not particularly unusual, suddenly gained several extremely wonderful variations.
It was like the finishing touch on a painting.
Lin Pingzhi staggered, unable to stand steadily.
He was young and believed that fortune was below and power was above, so he diligently practiced the Evil- Bixie Swordplay and had already mastered every move.
Furthermore, Li Lin's sword speed has not yet reached its limit, in order to demonstrate its secrets.
Therefore, he was also able to glimpse its subtleties.