The Sect's Secret Manual

Wang Ming's medicinal ingredients were running low again. As usual, he was carrying a bamboo basket in the mountains, searching everywhere for useful herbs. This was a skill he had to learn after arriving in this world, as his cultivation consumed too much energy.

Suddenly, he heard a shout from around the corner ahead.

"Who's there? Come out."

Wang Ming was startled. Upon listening closely, he recognized it as Yue Buqun's voice, and his heart gradually calmed as he walked forward.

"Greetings, Master!"

As Wang Ming emerged, he saw Yue Buqun, fully on guard with his sword half-drawn.

"Ming'er! What are you doing in the back mountains?" Yue Buqun gradually lowered his guard upon seeing Wang Ming.

"Reporting, Master! Your disciple came to the back mountains to gather some medicinal ingredients," Wang Ming replied respectfully.

Yue Buqun glanced at the herbs in the basket on Wang Ming's back and believed his words.

"While gathering herbs in the back mountains, did you find anything unusual?" Yue Buqun asked.

"Unusual! I don't know if this counts?" Wang Ming took out a piece of torn cloth from his person.

Yue Buqun took the torn cloth from Wang Ming's hand, then took out an identical piece of cloth from his other hand. He then looked at them in silence, seemingly lost in thought.

"Master! What's going on?"

"Alas! Someone is trying to find the successor of the Sword Sect in the back mountains," Yue Buqun said worriedly.

"Didn't the Sword Sect die out?" Wang Ming asked, feigning ignorance.

"A centipede dies but never goes stiff. There are always some who slip through the net. Don't concern yourself with this. Don't come to the back mountains recently; it's not very safe."

Yue Buqun gave his warning and then walked ahead towards the Mount Hua Branch Courtyard.

Along the way, Yue Buqun occasionally asked about Wang Ming's cultivation progress. Wang Ming answered each question accordingly. Before long, Wang Ming and Yue Buqun arrived at the Mount Hua Branch Courtyard. Just as they were about to part ways, Yue Buqun suddenly called out to Wang Ming.

"Go and gather all the disciples. Go to Siguo Cliff and wait for me."

"Yes! Your disciple will go now."

Wang Ming returned to his own courtyard, put down his basket, and went to notify all the disciples to head to Siguo Cliff.

"Of the Mount Hua Nine Arts, Purple Haze is first."

"To better pass down our sect's highest martial arts, we need to first assess Linghu Chong's progress," Yue Buqun said from a high vantage point.

Wang Ming stood among the disciples, quietly watching Yue Buqun's performance.

Yue Buqun had gone to great lengths for Linghu Chong.

Directly teaching Linghu Chong the Purple Haze Manual would not be opposed by anyone.

However...

Doing so could easily lead some disciples to believe that Linghu Chong's position was purely due to Yue Buqun's favoritism, not his own ability. This would be detrimental to Linghu Chong's future leadership of the Mount Hua Sect.

It could be considered a painstaking effort.

Therefore, he deliberately arranged for Ning Zhongze to be a stepping stone, boosting Linghu Chong's reputation.

Just as Ning Zhongze and Linghu Chong were about to spar, "Wait a moment, Madam. Wang Ming, you go spar with your senior brother," Yue Buqun interrupted their movements, as if a sudden idea struck him.

Ning Zhongze did not understand Yue Buqun's intentions, but she had always been unwilling to defy Yue Buqun in public and embarrass him. Thus, she stepped back and used her Qinggong to fly onto the rock where Yue Buqun was standing.

Wang Ming obediently stepped onto the stage to spar with Linghu Chong, walking opposite him amidst the watchful eyes of many disciples.

"Senior Brother! Please guide me," Wang Ming said, bowing with his sword.

"Junior Brother! Please!" Linghu Chong returned the bow.

As Wang Ming was the junior brother, he made the first move.

Wang Ming used the most basic Mount Hua foundational swordplay. Linghu Chong also used the foundational swordplay. Neither of them had any killing intent, and they sparred on the stage as if going through the motions, exchanging moves one after another.

In a short while, they had exchanged thirty moves. The junior disciples cheered continuously, but Old Yue's face was turning dark. He could tell at a glance that they were just going through the motions.

"Both of you, get serious!" Yue Buqun shouted.

Hearing Yue Buqun's words, Wang Ming and Linghu Chong knew they couldn't slack off anymore. They exchanged glances, knowing they had to get serious.

Linghu Chong's swordsmanship was no longer the rigid, unchanging Mount Hua Swordplay from before. It became incredibly agile, with various unexpected moves being employed casually, fully showcasing the peculiar and dangerous characteristics of the Mount Hua Swordplay.

Wang Ming was suppressed in terms of swordsmanship by Linghu Chong. Linghu Chong's talent in swordsmanship was undeniable. One only needed to look at the original work to know how talented Linghu Chong truly was. Before he learned the Nine Swords of Dugu, among the younger generation, only Ren Yingying could completely defeat him. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him "the foremost young master of the righteous path."

Wang Ming felt it was about time and decided to casually use a move, pretending to be defeated by Linghu Chong.

Linghu Chong, perhaps getting carried away during the spar, suddenly used the moves that countered the Mount Hua Swordplay from the cave.

Linghu Chong thrust his sword straight towards Wang Ming's chest. Wang Ming knew this move from the sword inscriptions on the stone wall. The demon sect elders had specifically created these moves to counter the Mount Hua Swordplay, and each move was ruthless, aimed at taking a life.

Linghu Chong had used it unintentionally while getting carried away. With Linghu Chong's cultivation, he absolutely couldn't retract this move; it would definitely injure Wang Ming.

"Clang."

Wang Ming had no choice. He channeled the Primal Chaos Technique, forcefully changing the direction of his sword, making it slash towards Linghu Chong's sword against the inertia of physics.

"Crack!"

Instantly, the scene fell silent.

Yue Lingshan's mouth hung open, her expression one of disbelief. In her memory, her fifth senior brother was only good at studying; everything else about him was ordinary, and he was rather unsociable, like a commoner on Mount Hua.

That he had actually defeated the senior disciple today was utterly incredible.

Linghu Chong also stood frozen, staring blankly at the broken sword in his hand.

On one hand, he regretted almost injuring Wang Ming just now; on the other, he couldn't believe he had lost, and so decisively.

Yue Buqun and his wife above were equally astonished, but their expressions were perfectly managed, showing almost no change, only a hint of confusion in their eyes.

Ning Zhongze was fine, merely puzzled as to how her fifth disciple's martial arts had improved so much.

In that short time, Yue Buqun had thought of many things.

Seeing Wang Ming cut Linghu Chong's sword, he knew Wang Ming had been hiding his strength. His first thought was that Wang Ming was a spy from another sect. But upon reflection, he dismissed that possibility. Wang Ming was an orphan he had personally brought back; he knew the boy's background thoroughly. Moreover, the disciple hadn't left the mountain since arriving, so there couldn't be any issues.

Yue Buqun didn't have time to ponder further. Looking at the scene before him, he felt both pleased and angry.

He was pleased that Mount Hua had another disciple capable of standing out, but angry about Linghu Chong's swordsmanship.

Yue Buqun collected himself.

He proceeded to heavily criticize Linghu Chong, and then Yue Buqun began to tell a story.

Wang Ming listened, understanding that this was the dispute between the Sword and Qi Sects, and the reason Mount Hua had fallen from its position as Alliance Leader of the Five Mountains to the lowest among the Five Mountains.

Afterward, just as in the original plot, Yue Buqun did not pass down the Purple Haze Manual and instead led all the disciples down the mountain.

As dusk settled, just as Wang Ming was about to fall asleep.

Suddenly, a figure in black appeared in Wang Ming's room and struck at him with a palm.

Wang Ming was startled. He had spent these years carefree on Mount Hua, so he had very little sense of caution.

The black-clothed figure's palm force grew stronger and stronger. Wang Ming had already channeled the ninth layer of internal energy from the Primal Chaos Technique, but he was still no match.

Seeing that the black-clothed figure showed no signs of his internal energy waning, just as Wang Ming felt the Primal Chaos Technique likely wouldn't hold and was about to channel the internal energy of the Indestructible Vajra Body from his middle Dantian.

The black-clothed figure suddenly stopped, creating distance between them.

He removed his mask, and upon a closer look, it turned out to be Yue Buqun. Then, Ning Zhongze also appeared.

Instantly, Wang Ming understood, thinking to himself, "I suppose breaking Linghu Chong's sword must have aroused their suspicion. No wonder they didn't ask me anything during the day; they were waiting for me."

As expected of the ultimate schemer from the true The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, his methods were indeed deep. He almost exposed my deepest secrets.

"Master! Mistress! What is this?" Wang Ming didn't think for long before collecting himself and immediately asking.

He wanted to test their intentions to gauge his response.

"You took over a dozen of my palms just now, not bad!" Yue Buqun walked around the room, stroking his beard.

"Your Primal Chaos Technique must have reached the ninth layer by now, right?" Yue Buqun asked.

"Master has a discerning eye. Your disciple has indeed reached the ninth layer." Since the exchange had already revealed it, Wang Ming saw no need to deny it.

"Mm! Very good! Mount Hua has successors, hehe!!!" Yue Buqun said with a very good mood.

"Junior Sister!" Yue Buqun called out to Ning Zhongze, who stood beside him.

"Memorize the manual and return it to your master immediately. Do not leak it under any circumstances." Ning Zhongze handed a booklet to Wang Ming.

Wang Ming looked down and saw the title on the book: Purple Haze Manual. This caught Wang Ming off guard. By the time he reacted, the Yue Buqun couple had already left the room far behind.

"Farewell, Master! Mistress!" Wang Ming quickly said.

Returning to his room, he soon understood Old Yue's intentions. It was as if his main account was ruined, so he decided to cultivate a secondary account.

But...

Regardless, the benefits he received were tangible. Looking at the manual on the table, his thoughts became somewhat jumbled.

On the other side.

Yue Buqun and his wife walked along the small paths of the Mount Hua Branch Courtyard at night.

"Junior Sister! Bring out my treasured wine later. We'll have a good drink tonight," Yue Buqun said with great enthusiasm.

"Alright, Senior Brother! How was your test just now?" Ning Zhongze asked.

Yue Buqun turned to look at Ning Zhongze and smiled, "By clashing palms with him, I tested that Ming'er's Primal Chaos Technique is very pure, with no trace of practicing other sects' martial arts. His swordsmanship during the day against Chong'er was a bit mediocre, but it doesn't matter. I imagine all his focus went into his internal energy."

If one practiced other internal energy techniques, their internal energy would become somewhat mixed, which Yue Buqun could sense. Unfortunately, what Old Yue didn't know was that Wang Ming's Indestructible Vajra Body resided in his middle Dantian, a separate system. When using the Primal Chaos Technique, it wouldn't draw upon the internal energy of the Indestructible Vajra Body.

"Ming'er! Why did he hide his cultivation?" Ning Zhongze asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Ming'er has always been someone who doesn't like to fight for anything. I imagine he didn't want to conflict with Chong'er," Yue Buqun said casually.

"It must have been difficult for him all these years," Ning Zhongze agreed with his answer.

"Junior Sister! Ever since I became the sect leader, I've lived every moment as if walking on thin ice, fearing that Mount Hua would be ruined in my hands. Now that the younger generation has finally grown up, I can finally relax a bit."

"Yes!!!" Ning Zhongze said, gazing at the sea of clouds on the distant horizon with emotion.