Mount Hua's Finest

Several days had passed since the people from Fuwei Escort Agency came bearing gifts.

The New Year was drawing closer, and Mount Hua was filled with festive cheer, lanterns and decorations hanging everywhere.

This year, Mount Hua would finally enjoy a prosperous New Year.

Lin Zhennan had indeed sent over a great deal of gold, silver, and treasure.

For the declining Mount Hua, it counted as a windfall fortune.

Yue Buqun's good mood was plain for all to see.

Ji Boying reckoned inwardly that Old Yue had likely developed other thoughts as well.

Now that he himself was rising, Old Yue would no longer seek the Bixie Sword Manual from Fuwei Escort Agency.

But he had set his sights on something else from the Fuwei Escort Agency.

Money!

After Mount Hua declined, it was not that Yue Buqun did not want to take in more disciples; the truth was, he could not afford to support them.

A poor scholar, a rich martial artist.

Whether practicing external arts or internal arts, one had to eat well.

The disciples' food, clothing, lodging, and travel all had to be provided by Mount Hua.

Even the weapons in their hands had to be bought with money.

Thus, money was something Mount Hua could not avoid if it wished to rise again.

With Yue Buqun's former temperament and character, he would never have accepted such wealth from Fuwei Escort Agency.

Yet during this time, he had calmly accepted others' gifts, displaying at least some of the bearing that came with confidence.

It was already the end of the twelfth lunar month.

Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze summoned all the disciples together, gathering them in one place to lecture on martial arts.

Everyone watched Yue Buqun practice his swordsmanship without blinking.

Yue Buqun had likewise achieved success in internal cultivation, so even amid the heavy snow, his clothes were not bulky.

Already known as the Gentleman Sword, he carried himself with elegant grace.

Now, as he performed the strange and exquisite Mount Hua Swordplay amid the falling snow, his figure appeared even more carefree and unrestrained.

After demonstrating the swordplay once for the disciples, he focused on explaining the move Boundless Falling Leaves.

Yue Buqun's figure drifted through the heavy snow.

When his longsword unleashed Boundless Falling Leaves, it truly possessed the majestic force of endless falling leaves rustling down.

Sword light flashed again and again, each strike faster than the last. The tip of every sword landed with perfect precision at the heart of a snowflake, shattering countless flakes beneath Yue Buqun's point.

Such majestic momentum, controlled with such exact precision, showed all the more clearly how exceptional Yue Buqun's skill was. The disciples cheered in unison.

Watching Yue Buqun's martial arts, Ji Boying also found them beautifully executed, but he did not feel that awe of gazing up at a towering mountain.

Over the past few days, Ji Boying's martial arts had improved again. He now truly seemed able to sense that Yue Buqun's skills had already fallen beneath his own.

Name: Ji Boying

Skills: Purple Mist Technique: Beginner (134/300), Nourishing Self Swordplay: Proficient (693/800), Primordial Chaos Technique: Proficient (647/900), Stone Splitting Jade Breaking Fist: Mastered, Rising Sun Vitality Sword: Mastered, Golden Wild Goose Technique: Proficient (901/1000), Mount Hua Breathing Technique: Mastered, Mount Hua Swordplay: Mastered

Talent: Skill Simplification. Spend Simplification Energy Points to simplify skills.

Energy Points: 0. The system automatically restores 1 Energy Point every month. Automatically resets at midnight on the first day of each month.

Of the martial arts he was currently practicing, Nourishing Self Swordplay and Golden Wild Goose Technique were nearing mastery.

Judging by its current proficiency, the Primordial Chaos Technique was not far from mastery either. According to the realms recorded in the manual, he had already broken through to the eighth level.

Only the Purple Mist Manual was truly difficult to cultivate, though he had now entered the second level.

Naturally, this difficulty was only in comparison to ordinary martial arts—the kind Ji Boying could cultivate to mastery within a month, flawless and wondrous beyond imagination.

If Yue Buqun learned of Ji Boying's progress in the Purple Mist Manual, he would surely want to find a block of tofu and smash his head into it.

"Boying, come spar with Master."

Yue Buqun sheathed his sword and stood still. Spotting Ji Boying standing to one side, he invited him into the field with great interest.

Ji Boying smiled and did not refuse. With a light leap, he arrived in the field and stood together with Yue Buqun amid the snow, letting the heavy flakes drift down around them.

"What skill does Master wish to test this disciple on?"

Yue Buqun smiled warmly as well. Naturally, what concerned him most was still Ji Boying's internal cultivation.

He slung his longsword behind his back and extended his right palm toward Ji Boying.

Understanding immediately, Ji Boying took two steps forward and extended his own right hand, standing palm to palm with Yue Buqun.

Ning Zhongze, Yue Lingshan, and all the senior sisters widened their beautiful eyes as they watched curiously.

The many male disciples were equally eager.

Yue Buqun and Ji Boying both gently circulated their power into their palms and began comparing internal strength.

Yue Buqun first summoned thirty percent of his inner strength.

It felt like a clay ox sinking into the sea. Ji Boying's expression remained unchanged, and Yue Buqun smiled as he slowly increased his strength to fifty percent.

When Yue Buqun saw that Ji Boying's arm did not so much as tremble and his expression remained the same, he was somewhat astonished.

He secretly praised him in his heart. Truly extraordinary talent.

He gradually raised his inner strength to seventy percent.

At this level of exertion, even Yue Buqun's breathing could not help growing heavier.

Ning Zhongze and Linghu Chong saw clearly that the white mist issuing from Yue Buqun's mouth and nose had become slightly disordered.

Looking again at Ji Boying, two streams of white vapor emerged from his nostrils, still as thin and unbroken as before!

The sight deeply shook mother and son.

They scarcely dared believe the thought in their hearts. Could it be... could it be that the young disciple's inner strength had already surpassed that of Yue Buqun, the sect leader?

At last, Yue Buqun could no longer hold back and unleashed one hundred percent of his strength.

Seeing that Ji Boying's breathing seemed to have grown somewhat labored as well, he could not help feeling a little pleased with himself.

Brat, it's not so easy anymore, is it?

Where their palms met, heat continuously steamed from above Yue Buqun's head.

The goose-feather snowflakes falling around them melted in an instant, turning into clear water that dripped onto the ground.

Before long, a damp ring of water had melted around their bodies.

Yue Buqun had been excited at making his young disciple look a little discomposed, but as he poured out his strength at full force, he soon began to feel utterly exhausted. In the end, he was the one who lacked endurance and was first to yield.

The disciples all watched the two in the center with worshipful eyes. Seeing the heat steaming from their bodies, they were profoundly shaken.

This left Yue Buqun both gratified by his young disciple's strength and somewhat embarrassed.

His breathing only grew heavier, his chest rising and falling as his strength began to fail him.

No, this cannot go on.

A flash of purple qi flickered across Yue Buqun's face. At first, it was only a faint haze, but it gradually grew richer and denser.

It was as though his face had been veiled in a cloud of purple mist.

He pushed the Purple Mist Divine Skill's fourth level with all his might. Ji Boying felt Yue Buqun's inner qi, which had originally posed no threat, suddenly become fierce and domineering, as though it were sweeping down upon him and covering heaven and earth.

For a moment, he too felt considerable pressure.

But seeing Old Yue's face flushed purple, he naturally knew that Old Yue had already exhausted every last ounce of strength.

Meanwhile, he himself had used only seventy percent of his power.

Without further delay, he expelled the inner strength from his palm and, following Yue Buqun's force, sent them both flying apart.

Ji Boying staggered back three steps before steadying himself.

As for Yue Buqun, his face was a tumult of shock, gratification, desolation, and tangled emotions.

On Mount Hua's bluestone ground were five footprints pressed into the deep snow.

"Boying, you are now Mount Hua's strongest!"

Yue Buqun let out a long, complicated breath, though joy outweighed everything else.

Ji Boying now had the confidence to leave Mount Hua and descend the mountain to roam the martial world.