Chapter Twenty: The Path of the Fiend

"So, the 'Gentleman Sword' Yue Buqun and Lady Ning are truly the legendary couple of the martial arts world, admired by all. Under the leadership of such masters, the Huashan Sect is indeed extraordinary—so much so that they are terrified into immobility by mere demonic elements. Seeing it today, the reputation is truly well-deserved."

Amidst this mocking laughter, three figures stepped into the Hall of Righteousness.

The one in the lead had a sallow complexion and a sinister air. He appeared to be in his fifties or sixties, with a long sword tucked into his waist. The sword looked remarkably familiar to the Huashan disciples; upon closer inspection, it was unmistakably the unique sidearm of the Huashan school.

To his right stood a man dressed in the attire of the Songshan Sect, also around fifty years old. With his hands clasped behind his back and an arrogant expression, he possessed a remarkably ugly face.

The person in the middle, however, looked entirely ordinary. Clad in the blue-green short robe of the Hengshan Sect, he was neither tall nor short, neither fat nor thin, and his features were quite plain. Yet, his eyes were striking—even when he smiled, they remained阴鸷 (sinister and predatory), and they burned with an intense, piercing light.

They were Feng Buping of the Huashan Sword Sect, "Great Yin-Yang Hand" Le Hou of the Songshan Sect, and the "Golden-Eyed Eagle" Lu Lianrong of the Hengshan Sect.

Ren Yi had never met these three, but even if he had, it would make no difference.

"Too much chatter!"

Suddenly, a streak of sword light flashed—swift as lightning!

The flash of the blade struck terror into the souls of everyone present, and in that instant, the attacker vanished, as if he had never been there at all.

The light subsided as quickly as it had appeared. Ren Yi stood three feet in front of Lu Lianrong, his iron sword having pierced through the man’s throat from the front and emerged from the back of his neck.

No one could describe the speed of his movement! In that moment, distance itself had ceased to exist. Even less could anyone describe the speed of that strike!

Feng Buping and Le Hou were stunned. There was no fear in their eyes, only a confusing, hollow bewilderment; they had not even reacted yet. Lu Lianrong stood right beside them, the blade had flashed right before their eyes and pierced their companion's throat, yet they had not moved a muscle.

As the sword was withdrawn, Lu Lianrong clutched his throat, blood streaming through his fingers. He opened his mouth, but only a dry, rattling hiss escaped. Ren Yi did not even glance at him, and the man never uttered another word.

Ren Yi shifted his gaze, his tone flat. "And you, Songshan Sect—you deserve to die as well!"

Le Hou of the Songshan Sect finally snapped out of his shock. Seized by terror, he retreated in haste.

But no sooner had he moved than the sword light found him! He managed only three steps, while Ren Yi took but one. Before Le Hou could even exit the hall, the blade had already pierced his throat.

With a soft "shh," Feng Buping didn't need to turn around to know the outcome. At that moment, a lingering dread swept through his entire body, and a chill settled deep within his bones.

***

The iron sword returned to its scabbard, leaving two corpses on the floor. Ren Yi walked out of the hall and vanished from everyone’s sight.

Yu Danfeng cupped his hands and said, "Master Yue, we must take our leave as well."

Yue Buqun, unable to lift his right hand, replied with a pale face, "Then I shall not see you off. Please convey my regards to Daoist Chongxu."

The two nodded and immediately chased after Ren Yi. Feng Buping, having narrowly escaped with his life, also retreated quietly. Yue Buqun noticed him, but with his palm punctured and his internal energy disrupted by that single finger—suffering a backlash as he tried to circulate his qi—he had no strength left to deal with Feng Buping.

Once everyone had departed, Ning Zhongze helped her husband sit back down, and the Huashan disciples gathered around.

"Father, are you alright?"

The young girl was graceful, her face as fair as snow, and her beauty was striking.

Ning Zhongze said to her, "Lingshan, your father is fine." Yue Lingshan felt relieved, and the many disciples, by tacit agreement, did not mention the man again. The shock Ren Yi had left them with was simply too great.

Yue Buqun suddenly sighed. "That devil's swordsmanship has become even more terrifying..."

Ning Zhongze frowned. "What he used was not Wudang swordsmanship."

Yue Buqun nodded slowly. "When a person's swordsmanship reaches such a realm, further progress is incredibly difficult. Yet, in this short time, his style has changed again."

Ning Zhongze asked, "How can this be?"

Yue Buqun hinted, asking softly, "Do you think the swordsmanship he used could be something he has recently mastered?"

Ning Zhongze gasped. "How is that possible? There is nothing in this world so formidable..." Her voice trailed off. Yue Buqun sighed and took over. "It seems you have thought of it, too. Years ago, someone used a set of swordsmanship that shook both the righteous and the evil paths. Its fame spread far and wide, causing all walks of life in the martial arts world to respect and fear it."

Hearing this, Lin Pingzhi could no longer contain himself. "Master, do you suspect that man stole my Lin family's Bixie Sword Manual?"

Yue Buqun looked at him, his voice hollow. "A martial artist can only achieve such rapid advancement when they first begin to cultivate a new art, for all martial arts progress from easy to difficult. The refinement of his swordplay is truly mind-boggling."

Ning Zhongze nodded. "That is indeed very likely; otherwise, there is no explanation for it."

Lin Pingzhi was silent. Yue Buqun continued, "Pingzhi, think carefully: is there any possibility that the devil could have stolen your Lin family's Bixie Sword Manual?"

***

The two men were swift on their feet. In moments, they had traveled from the Hall of Righteousness into the mountain woods, but there was no sign of Ren Yi.

"Our junior apprentice brother’s talent in martial arts far surpassed that of any other Wudang disciple. By the age of twelve, none of the fellow disciples were his match. Even our master said his self-created 'Zongyi Xiaoyao Technique' was beyond imagination. If he wants to leave, how could we possibly stop him?"

After Yu Danfeng finished speaking, there was a long silence. Suddenly, Mu Yiniu exclaimed, "Senior brother, look at this!"

Yu Danfeng looked over to see his junior brother pulling several small booklets from his robes.

"What are these?"

Mu Yiniu gave a bitter smile. "They must have been left behind by our junior brother."

Yu Danfeng took a booklet and flipped through it. The characters "Ten-Stage Brocade Palm" caught his eye. They read on with curiosity. The Wudang Cotton Palm consisted of thirty-six moves, but the manual recorded only ten.

They saw the "shadows" of the Wudang Cotton Palm in those ten moves. It was as if the thirty-six moves they were familiar with had been largely stripped away, yet the result was more fluid, continuous, and connected.

The Ten-Stage Brocade Palm included the Dissecting Palm, the Sealing-Acupoint Palm, the Heart-Shattering Palm, and the Flower-Scattering Palm. After seeing these ten, the thirty-six moves of the Wudang Cotton Palm seemed redundant; the Ten-Stage Brocade Palm had distilled the essence, and both its momentum and power were three times greater.

They looked at each other, not knowing whether to be happy or worried. They picked up another book—it was the Heaven-Shaking Iron Palm, an improvement on the Mountain-Quaking Palm. They kept reading: the Nine-Palace God-Movement Palm derived from the God-Movement Palm, the Eight-Trigrams Wandering-Body Palm derived from the Eight-Trigrams Palm...

The Finger-Winding Soft Sword... the Finger-Winding Soft Sword!

The Soft Cloud Sword Technique... the Simple Sword!

The Thirteen God-Gate Swords... the Three God-Gate Swords!

There were also the Flowing Cloud Flying Sleeves and the Jade-Breaking Finger, totaling nine volumes of supreme arts. As they looked through them one by one, the two could not help but feel genuine joy at their junior brother’s genius, yet they deeply understood the implications of his actions.

They fell silent, not knowing how to express their thoughts. Finally, Yu Danfeng said, "Let us return to Wudang. We will report everything to our master and let him decide."

Mu Yiniu nodded and tucked the booklets back into his robes.