Mount Hua Zhengqi Hall,
Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze sat squarely in the two chairs placed in the exact center of the Zhengqi Hall.
Below them, Wang Ming and Linghu Chong sat in the first chairs on the left and right sides respectively.
The four people inside the room sat facing each other in silence, the atmosphere quite oppressive.
Although Lu Bai had been sent scurrying away from Mount Hua in disgrace during the day, old Yue knew this matter was far from over.
As soon as the Songshan disciples descended the mountain, Yue Buqun gathered Ning Zhongze, Linghu Chong, and Wang Ming in Zhengqi Hall for a meeting.
They discussed how to handle the impending retaliation from the Songshan Sect.
"The Songshan Sect is coming with great force this time. Today, Lu Bai used the identity of a Sword Sect disciple to forcefully seize the position of Mount Hua Sect leader, then further control our Mount Hua, and finally turn the Mount Hua Sect into a Mount Hua branch hall of the Songshan Sect."
"It seems Zuo Lengchan has completely stopped hiding his evil intentions; he is no longer willing to even maintain superficial harmony." Yue Buqun said worriedly to the few people present.
"Master-brother! We have detained the descendants of the Sword Sect. Without the Sword Sect as a pretext, they cannot continue to legitimately meddle in the internal affairs of our Mount Hua Sect. As long as Zuo Lengchan does not want to be cast into the ranks of the Demonic Cult, he will not dare to act recklessly. Why does master-brother need to worry so much?" Ning Zhongze felt that Yue Buqun was being somewhat overly pessimistic.
"Junior sister! You don't understand!" Old Yue shook his head and said.
"Allowing the Sword Sect people to come up our Mount Hua this time means the harmony between Zuo Lengchan and me is broken. After this, no matter what I do, he will never feel at ease with me. Based on my understanding of Zuo Lengchan, after this gentle method of using the Sword Sect to subdue Mount Hua has failed—" Yue Buqun swept his gaze across the crowd.
He sighed heavily and continued, "Mount Hua will inevitably welcome even more fierce targeting from Zuo Lengchan."
"Really?" Ning Zhongze doubted whether Yue Buqun was overthinking it.
"Zuo Lengchan is a true villain; he will definitely make a move. If we do not plan ahead and are even slightly careless at that time, the Mount Hua Sect will be ruined in my hands. Zuo Lengchan will not let this rest. The only plan for us now is to take our disciples and evacuate Mount Hua to preserve our members and keep our heritage from being extinguished." Yue Buqun said.
Wang Ming thought to himself, Old Yue's guess is indeed accurate!
People's hatred for hypocrites surpasses their hatred for true villains.
The reason is that hypocrites deceive their emotions.
Yet,
the reality is that the disgusting nature of a true villain far exceeds that of a hypocrite.
For example, if a true villain and a hypocrite are your neighbors at the same time.
Neither of you can do anything to the other, but the hypocrite greets you every day and maintains superficial harmony.
As for the villain, he ridicules you to your face and slanders you behind your back.
Tripping you up today, stealing a stick of firewood from you tomorrow, cutting off your water supply the day after...
He is scheming against you and making things difficult for you at every moment.
"Master! Why fear them? The Songshan Sect's Thirteen Taibaos' Lu Bai was chased away without master even making a move, it's nothing big. We kill one for every one that comes." Linghu Chong stood up and said.
"Alas! Two fists cannot match four hands, how many can you kill? Let's retreat!" Old Yue said helplessly.
Linghu Chong also understood the logic in what old Yue said. With the Nine Swords of Dugu, he might be able to hold off two Taibaos, but the others had thirteen! There was no winning.
"Master, this disciple actually thinks it is better not to evacuate, just as senior apprentice-brother said." Wang Ming voiced his own thoughts.
"Ming'er, speak your mind." Ning Zhongze said.
"Since Lin Pingzhi was taken into our Mount Hua Sect, the pugilistic world has already been circulating news that master obtained the Bixie Sword Manual. Now that senior apprentice-brother used a set of advanced swordplay not belonging to Mount Hua to defeat the Sword Sect seniors, it has made this rumor even more real. If we go down the mountain, we will be surrounded by a pack of wolves, and in an unfamiliar environment, we will be even more passive facing the enemy."
"Master, this wasn't the Bixie Swordplay I—" Linghu Chong explained.
"Shut up, listen to your fifth junior-brother." Old Yue cast a glance at his stammering, hesitant eldest disciple. If it wasn't Bixie, then what was it? When asked, he wouldn't say, and old Yue didn't even want to bother with him anymore. If it weren't for having raised him for so many years, he would have wanted to split this good-for-nothing in two with a single sword stroke.
"Before the age of thirty, our Qi Sect disciples have not perfected their internal cultivation, making us the weakest in combat among the Five Mountains. Among all the disciples, only senior apprentice-brother, second senior-brother, myself, and junior sister have the strength to fight. When facing a joint assault then, protecting our heads while neglecting our tails, we cannot protect our numerous martial brothers and sisters, and casualties will easily occur, resulting in a defeat and demise all the same."
Wang Ming's words happened to touch upon the worry deep inside Yue Buqun's heart. He had thought of this point too, but had subconsciously avoided it and refused to face it. Now that Wang Ming had pointed it out, the sorrowful look on his face grew even heavier.
"But if we stay on Mount Hua, relying on the geographical advantage of the most perilous place under heaven, with myself, senior apprentice-brother, master, and mistress guarding Mount Hua's mountain ascent path, it will basically be that one man guards the pass and ten thousand cannot get through. Unless they use several thousand human lives to pave the way, they will never be able to storm up the mountain."
Mount Hua was steep, and since ancient times there had only been one path.
Although this was a martial arts world, it was merely a low-level martial arts world.
You couldn't find a hundred people whose internal energy could leave their bodies, and flying five or six meters with lightness skill was considered high.
Besieged and cut off from food?
You're thinking too much. To say nothing of whether Songshan even had that many people, even if they did, they wouldn't dare publicly besiege the place for a few months unless they didn't want to mingle in the righteous path anymore.
Mount Hua's old Yue had prepared plenty of supplies; they wouldn't have to worry about running out of food for half a year.
"Hm! Ming'er's words make sense. Then we won't evacuate. We will take turns guarding the perilous paths of Mount Hua and not let the enemy sneak up." Yue Buqun ultimately adopted Wang Ming's suggestion.
Old Yue didn't take everyone and leave Mount Hua like in the original story, mainly because Linghu Chong wasn't injured this time, and with Wang Ming present, the strength of the two of them was no less than Ning Zhongze's. Four experts taking turns guarding the perilous path gave them a very high chance of success.
This way, it was indeed much safer on the mountain.
At night,
"Who goes there, daring to break into our Mount Hua Sect by night?" A shout came from afar.
Wang Ming, who had just finished handing over the duty of guarding the Mount Hua path with Linghu Chong, had returned to his room and lain down to rest when he was startled awake by the commotion outside.
With no time for idle thoughts, Wang Ming got up, grabbed the long sword at his side, and quickly left the room, joining up with Linghu Chong and Ning Zhongze along the way.
After a short while,
the three of them arrived to find that Yue Buqun was standing tall with a sword on the mountain path, blocking a group of people dressed in black and masked.
"Yue-xiansheng, our brothers have come here solely to borrow the Bixie Sword Manual for a look, and harbor no malice. Since Yue-xiansheng has already mastered the Bixie Swordplay anyway, what harm is there in lending it to us for a look? Don't be so stingy!"
The masked leader said in a mocking yet arrogant tone.
"You are mistaken. Yue has never possessed the Bixie Sword Manual, nor has he ever practiced the Bixie Swordplay."
"Yue Buqun, the pugilistic world is already spreading that your eldest disciple has learned the Bixie Swordplay, yet you still try to deceive us. You truly are an absolute hypocrite without a single honest word." The man in black said with a tone of derision.
"That eldest disciple of yours, Linghu Chong, couldn't even defeat that lecher Tian Boguang down at Mount Heng, yet in such a short time his progress has been so rapid that the Sword Sect experts had no power to parry in his hands. If he hasn't practiced the Bixie Swordplay, then what is it? Are you treating the likes of us like idiots to be played with?" This leading man in black was dripping with contempt in every word, as if looking down upon the Gentleman Sword Yue Buqun who dared not admit what he had done.
Actually,
in the original work, the Bixie Swordplay was not all that world-renowned.
From the start, not everyone treated it like some precious treasure.
It wasn't to the extent that every person in the martial world wanted it.
If it were truly that famous,
how would it ever be Yu Canghai of the Qingcheng Sect's turn to make a move?
Zuo Lengchan and the Sun Moon Holy Cult would have made their moves first.
When old Yue sent his second disciple and daughter to Fuzhou, it was only because he discovered unusual movements from the Qingcheng Sect and sent them to gather intelligence out of fear it might prove disadvantageous to him.
If it were truly for the Bixie Swordplay, it would have been impossible to send his second disciple.
He was crystal clear on Lao Denou's identity.
Could it be to let Zuo Lengchan know that he wanted to usurp the Bixie Swordplay, and thereby draw Zuo Lengchan in?
Lin Yuantu was formidable!
Many people knew it, but basically none of the people he defeated set their hearts on the Bixie Swordplay.
After all,
large sects like Shaolin, Wudang, and Songshan had also produced heroes who dominated an era.
Their first thought would only be to consider themselves incompetent, and that they simply hadn't practiced the martial arts left by their ancestors well.
They disdained to forcefully snatch other people's martial arts, as doing so easily invited a joint attack from their peers in the pugilistic world.
The Bixie Swordplay only truly began to attract attention after Yu Canghai exterminated the Lin family, whereupon everyone turned their gazes toward this swordplay.
Subsequently,
Linghu Chong defeated Sword Sect seniors with his sword, and blinded numerous righteous and unrighteous masters on a rainy night...
It instantly caused everyone's interest in the Bixie Sword Manual to surge.
For a time, all wanted to obtain it.
What Linghu Chong practiced was the Nine Swords of Dugu.
However,
few people in the martial world knew of the Nine Swords of Dugu.
At the same time, Linghu Chong had never announced the name of his martial arts, occasionally only shouting out a few phrases of the sword-breaking posture.
Yet all the news regarding the Bixie Swordplay pointed directly at him, so they immediately concluded the Nine Swords of Dugu was the Bixie Sword Manual.
This also kept the Mount Hua Sect constantly in the spotlight and given no peace.
"Brothers, slaughter this hypocrite." Among the group of men in black, there was an impatient one who didn't want to listen to the leader continue to dawdle with old Yue.
Originally, Yue Buqun wanted to offer some explanation in the hope that they would voluntarily back down, but this group clearly only believed what they assumed to be true. Before they could exchange many words, they started fighting.
Although there were many of these masked men in black, unfortunately the mountain path of Mount Hua was far too narrow, making it completely impossible for two people to attack Yue Buqun at the same time.
Relying on the advantage of the terrain, Yue Buqun displayed the imposing momentum of one man guarding the pass and ten thousand failing to get through. The men in black were basically lining up to deliver their heads to old Yue.
Looking at this group of people from behind, Wang Ming estimated there were about forty or fifty of them. Judging by their movement skills, many possessed the strength of Songshan's Thirteen Taibaos' Lu Bai, which explained why these people were able to take down Yue Buqun in the original plot.
The composition of this group was extremely complex.
The largest number were greedy people attracted by the news that Mount Hua possessed the Bixie Swordplay, followed by Songshan Sect experts mixed in to fan the flames, and at the same time underworld assassins hired by the Songshan Sect.
The men in black hurled garbage talk while squeezing forward.
This narrow path made it impossible for them to form a complete encirclement around Yue Buqun. In single combat, basically none of them were a match for Yue Buqun, and within a short time three or four of them were already cut down.
"Brothers, don't be afraid. I refuse to believe Yue Buqun's internal Qi is inexhaustible; we'll use a wheel war to wear this hypocrite to death."
Sure enough, under the command of this leading man in black, the situation changed from the previous one where they went up one by one to throw away their lives. Now, they basically went up one at a time to unleash a full-power strike against Yue Buqun before retreating to swap in another man in black.
Half an hour later,
Yue Buqun was also gradually running low on stamina. After all, every opponent used a strike against him that disregarded the consumption of internal energy, which forced him to use an equivalent amount of internal energy just to catch it, consuming even more internal energy in the process. The internal energy in his dantian was nearly emptied.
Seeing this from behind, Ning Zhongze was also anxious, constantly cursing these people for being shameless enough to use a wheel battle.
Fearing that Yue Buqun would suffer too much depletion and be injured by failing to match the men in black, Ning Zhongze called out to Linghu Chong in advance to go up and replace Yue Buqun's position, blocking this gang at the mountain path entrance.
This was something they had discussed beforehand: taking turns resting and recovering, otherwise they wouldn't be able to hold out.
Yue Buqun stepped back, waved a hand to stop Ning Zhongze who wanted to come over and show her concern, and sat cross-legged on the spot to recover his internal energy; he didn't dare waste time.
At this moment, rain began to fall from the sky, gradually growing heavier and making the mountain path even more slippery. A single careless slip could easily lead to a fall, making the combat environment all the more hostile.
The Nine Swords of Dugu were quite fierce, killing the enemy even faster than old Yue, and over a dozen were slain in a short period.
"Don't match moves with this brat, clash internal energy with him directly." The leading man in black made a tactical adjustment at the opportune moment.
Not every stance and form used by people in the martial world was imbued with internal energy, as the internal Qi in their bodies would never be enough to sustain that; thus, the vast majority of the time they still used external martial arts techniques to kill enemies.
Sure enough, not five moves passed before Linghu Chong's long sword was sent flying by a man in black using immensely formidable internal energy.
Without his sword, Linghu Chong's combat effectiveness plummeted manifold. Fortunately, Ning Zhongze stepped in promptly to block the incoming attackers, and with a lazy donkey roll, Linghu Chong wretchedly broke away from the battlefield.
The retreating Linghu Chong didn't waste breath either, quickly finding another sword and also beginning to sit cross-legged in meditation to recover.
Wang Ming extended a hand to catch a falling raindrop, casting a complex gaze at the group of men in black. Having lived three lifetimes, today he was about to break his vow against killing; there was a trace of reluctance and resistance in his heart, but the current situation clearly meant that if they didn't die, he was finished.
He sighed, helplessly drew the standard long sword of the Mount Hua Sect, casually tossed the empty scabbard aside, and walked step by step toward the combat area. If he didn't go up now, Ning Zhongze wouldn't be able to hold on.
At the sight of Wang Ming coming up from the rear, Ning Zhongze immediately retreated, returning to Yue Buqun's side to begin recovering her internal breath.
Facing the men in black charging over, Wang Ming simply thrust forward with a straightforward sword strike, whereupon the man in black collapsed to the ground dead, followed by the next victim—ahem! The next man in black bumping into his sword.
Wang Ming's sword looked simple, but in reality, this strike was extremely complex.
Before moving, he first used the Nine Swords of Dugu to calculate the weaknesses and flaws in the opponent's moves.
While moving, he secretly employed the instant-speed method of Illusion Sword, while also utilizing the visual blind spots caused by differences in light and direction to temporarily make his long sword vanish or appear as phantoms.
After moving, he had to rapidly calculate the flaws and light-and-dark conditions of the next opponent before instantly thrusting out that lightning-fast sword.
This was likely Wang Ming's first time killing someone. Although his heart felt somewhat squeamish, he didn't feel much of anything else. He had seen plenty of dead people, and had died twice himself; what was there to be afraid of?
Wang Ming didn't have any extra time to dwell on the anomalous emotions in his heart.
As soon as one man in black died, another would immediately take his place and continue charging at Wang Ming.
There is a great terror between life and death. At this moment, Wang Ming's concentration was heightened to the utmost, constantly calculating without a shred of extra energy to experience the guilt of killing.
Wang Ming's philosophy was that if a blow could kill, it should never just wound. In a life-and-death battle surrounded like this, injuring ten fingers was inferior to breaking one.
With Wang Ming disregarding consumption, it was basically one man per sword, and before long he had slain nine of the opponents. Seeing how the situation stood, Wang Ming stepped back to let Yue Buqun take over; he was also nearing his own limit. It wasn't that Wang Ming lacked internal energy, but rather that his body couldn't take it anymore.
Maintaining high-intensity calculations in his brain had already caused a dull ache. His arms were also trembling faintly; using a cultivation technique to artificially boost hand speed had side effects, and using it too frequently would leave permanent damage.
The moment Wang Ming stepped back, he began to recover his internal breath while also easing the grogginess in his brain and the soreness in his arm muscles.
The battle continued for several rounds, leaving everyone physically and mentally exhausted.
At this point, Ning Zhongze was responsible for intercepting the men in black. In truth, she was the weakest in martial arts among the four, and compounded by having weathered several rounds of consumption, her spirit and body were no longer in peak condition.
With a moment of inattention, she was approached by a masked man in black who struck her acupuncture points. Just as a staff was about to sweep down and hit Ning Zhongze, she was rescued by Linghu Chong, but the defensive line they had established was also breached.
A group of masked men in black broke out of the narrow mountain path and entered the spacious platform.
Wang Ming had no time to rest or recover his internal Qi. A chaotic melee had now broken out, and being besieged by more than a dozen people was extremely perilous. Fortunately, Yue Buqun and Linghu Chong were both considered among the very top tier in this world, and their combat power was not weak, allowing them to hold their ground amidst this chaotic fight.
Seeing that Ning Zhongze was struggling to hold on and flaws began to appear in her stances under the joint assault, she was injured in the span of a split second; fortunately it was merely flesh wounds and not too serious.
"Sword-breaking posture!"
Linghu Chong erupted amidst the heavy rain. Employing the Nine Swords of Dugu, with a single thrust he blinded seven or eight masked men in black, clearing a massive area around him.
"Ah!!! Bixie Swordplay! Everyone, be careful."
Mistaking Linghu Chong's Nine Swords of Dugu for Bixie Swordplay, this group grew somewhat fearful of Linghu Chong's long sword and dared not advance, but the pressure on Ning Zhongze, who was not far from Linghu Chong, grew even greater. The persimmon is picked where it's soft, and she was the weakest in strength among the four.
Wang Ming had already unleashed the acceleration technique of Illusion Sword, cooperating with Purple Mist True Qi to rapidly slaughter the enemy.
"Master! Mistress! Senior apprentice-brother, quickly retreat!"
Hearing Wang Ming's voice, the few of them swiftly retreated toward the elevated slope ahead.
"Haha! Brothers, that hypocrite is done for! Kill him." Catching sight of the four people scrambling in a panicked retreat, the man in black subconsciously judged that, fearing their encirclement, they were running away, and excitedly led men charging toward the elevated slope where the Mount Hua crowd had retreated.
Just as he was about to scale the elevated slope, he raised his head for a look and was instantly startled.
"It's a trap, run!"
Alas, they realized it far too late. They only saw two-meter-wide boulders being pushed down one after another from the top of the small slope by someone.
Boulders tumbling from top to bottom would cause injuries with a mere graze and knock down anyone they touched, leaving them to be crushed to death by the stones behind them. Though this stone platform was wider than the mountain path—which was so narrow only one person could pass—it was still only a platform seven or eight meters across.
They couldn't even escape, and slowly died beneath the crushing weight of those giant rocks.
The rainwater falling from the sky and the blood on the ground flowed down the mountain together.
Wang Ming looked with a complex expression at the men in black who lay dead beneath the slope.
"No matter how good martial arts are, they can't withstand schemes and plots!"
To be safe, Wang Ming had arranged for all the martial brothers to prepare a massive quantity of rolling boulders on the slope along this sole route up Mount Hua—this was also the foundation of confidence behind Wang Ming's assertion that Mount Hua could be defended.
And it was fortunate that the preparations were sufficient; in the original plot there were only fifteen underworld experts at the Medicine King Temple, but this time there were actually as many as forty or fifty, each with a strength between Tian Boguang's and Lu Bai's.
He glanced at the people beside him: Ning Zhongze had injuries on her left leg and right shoulder, though they shouldn't be severe, and Linghu Chong also had some superficial wounds. Neither Wang Ming nor Yue Buqun were injured, but the consumption was heavy, and both old Yue and Wang Ming were panting slightly.
Wang Ming was better off, putting up a bit of a disguise; after all, there was still Indestructible Vajra Body true Qi within his body. This disguise was simply to avoid making old Yue's face look too difficult—if he showed no fatigue at all, wouldn't that make old Yue look utterly useless?
Before you continue