Chapter - 34 Snatching the Leadership (1/2)

The crowd was commenting on what they had seen when a loud and clear voice said, ”Huashan School, under the careful study of Mr. Yue has thoroughly understood the sword arts from Taishan, Hengshan, and Heng-Shan Schools. Not only has he understood them, he has actually perfected them and this really makes other people admire him. If Mr. Yue doesn't take up this headmaster position of the Five Mountains School, then there's no one else we can choose.” The person who spoke was wearing a ragged and soiled gown. He was the leader of Beggar Clan, Xie Feng. Fangzheng, Chongxu, and he had the same thought that harm would come upon Wulin once Zuo Lengchan merged the five mountains sword schools, and that sooner or later, trouble would come upon the Beggar Clan. He also thought that it was better for the refined gentleman Yue Buqun to be the Five Mountains School's headmaster than the wildly ambitious Zuo Lengchan.

Ever since Beggar Clan existed in Jianghu, they had always been very powerful. Hearing what the Beggar Clan's leader said, the common people didn't dare to rashly object to his words. Suddenly, a deep and cold voice said, ”Miss Yue is proficient in Taishan, Hengshan, and Heng-Shan Schools' sword arts. This is really commendable. If you can use Songshan sword art to win against my sword, then the whole Songshan School will accept Mr. Yue as the headmaster.” The one who said this was of course Zuo Lengchan. As he talked, he had walked up to the middle of the courtyard with his left hand gripping his sword's scabbard. With a ringing sound, his long sword jumped out of the scabbard, and with a flicker of light, the long sword hovered in mid air. He extended his right hand and grabbed the sword's handle. This move was extremely pleasing to the eye. With a grip of his left hand, he used his internal energy to force the long sword out. This kind of deep internal energy was rarely seen or heard of. Of course the disciples of Songshan School cheered loudly, and the heroes from the other schools also applauded thunderously.

”I... I'll only use thirteen moves. If within these thirteen moves I can't win against martial uncle Zuo...” Yue Lingshan replied.

Zuo Lengchan angrily thought, ”You little girl dare to openly receive my swordplay? How daring! You even put a limit of thirteen moves. So you regard me as if I'm nothing.” He then coldly said, ”If you can't best me within thirteen moves, then what?”

”How... How can I be martial uncle Zuo's match? I've only learned thirteen moves of Songshan School's sword art from my father. Martial uncle Zuo can verify this with your own hand.”

Zuo Lengchan snorted.

Yue Lingshan continued, ”My father said that even though these thirteen moves are Songshan School's brilliant sword art, when I use them, he's afraid that in just one move my sword would be shaken out of my hands by martial uncle Zuo, and it'll be impossible for me to even get to the second move.”

Zuo Lengchan again snorted and didn't express his opinion. When Yue Lingshan first started talking, her voice was trembling. Whether it was because her strength was depleted or because she was facing such a big hero in Wulin and became afraid, no one knew. But as she continued talking, her voice gradually calmed. She went on, ”I said to Dad: 'Martial uncle Zuo is without question Songshan School's number one master, but he's not necessarily the number one master in our five mountains sword schools. His martial art is high, but he may not necessarily be proficient in all the five mountains sword schools sword arts like you, Dad.' My dad then said: 'This word proficient, it's easier said than done. All I know is some basic skills only. If you don't believe me, you can fight against martial uncle Zuo once you've learned this kind of three-legged cat skills of Songshan School sword art. If you can fight against martial uncle Zuo's earth-shattering Songshan sword art for more than three moves, then I'll praise you as my good daughter.'”

Zuo Lengchan laughed coldly and said, ”If you defeat me within three moves, then you'll become an even better daughter for Mr. Yue.”

”Martial uncle Zuo's sword art is godly, and talent such as yours has rarely been seen in hundreds of years at the Songshan School. I had only learned a few moves of the Songshan sword art from my father and I just did that recently. How can I dare to think such wild thoughts? Father told me to receive three moves from martial uncle Zuo; but I am foolishly deluded to hope I can receive thirteen moves of martial uncle Zuo's Songshan sword art. However I don't know whether I can fulfil my wish or not.”

Zuo Lengchan thought, ”Don't say thirteen moves, if I let you go beyond three moves, then I already have no face to show anymore.” He lifted his left hand and extended his thumb, forefinger, and middle finger to grab the point of his sword. Holding the sword point, he then suddenly let go of the long sword from his right hand and like a string plucked, the sword handle shot forward and swayed. ”Make your move!”

With this stunt, Zuo Lengchan created a sensation throughout the crowd. Not only was he using his unfavoured left hand to use the sword, but he was also holding the sword by gripping the sword point with three fingers while the sword handle faced the opponent. Compared to fighting a naked blade with bare hands, fighting with a sword gripped at sword point by three fingers was ten times more difficult. Receiving a slight shake to the sword might slash his fingers, and if this happened, how would he still be able to hold onto the sword and use it?

It was obvious that Zuo Lengchan was greatly indignant and was showing complete disdain towards Yue Lingshan by using such method. In addition, he deliberately shocked everyone with this marvellous skill. Seeing him holding his sword this way, Yue Lingshan trembled. She thought, ”What kind of martial art is he using? Daddy didn't teach me anything like this.” And fear started to grow in her heart. She also thought, ”Since it has come to this, what's the use of being afraid?” With this last thought, she quickly glanced towards the crowd of Heng-Shan School's disciples. She saw they were still in a circle but she didn't hear any crying. She guessed that although Linghu Chong's injury was serious, his life wasn't threatened.

She raised her long sword above her head and bowed. This was the move called 'The Whole School Facing the Ancestors', which was an original sword art from Songshan. The meaning of this sword move was to show respect. Songshan's disciples burst into cheers feeling quite pleased. Whenever Songshan's disciples were about to trade moves with the school's seniors, they must use this move first. The meaning was they wouldn't dare to fight with the senior but were instead asking for some pointers from the senior. Zuo Lengchan nodded slightly and thought, ”How unexpected that you can use this move! Finally you're being clever in showing me this move. I won't let you be too shamed then.”

After Yue Lingshan had finished using the move 'The Whole School Facing the Ancestors', with a flash, her long sword changed into a white rainbow as it thrust towards Zuo Lengchan. This move looked really grand, and it was precisely the essence of Songshan School's sword art. Even though Zuo Lengchan was well educated in the Songshan School's sword art of 'Inside Eight Groups, Outside Nine Groups', and in these seventeen groups, he knew very well the length and speed of each sword art group, he had never seen this move before. He was greatly startled and thought, ”What move is this? From my Songshan School's seventeen sword art groups, it seemed none of them is higher in level than this move. This is strange.” Not only was he a great master in Songshan, he was also a great scholar of martial study of this generation. So once he saw his own school's grand and mysterious sword move, he wanted to see it clearly. He saw Yue Lingshan's attack was coming, but her internal energy wasn't powerful, so once her sword came to a few inches from his body, he could just shook it out of her hand. But if he did that, he wouldn't be able to see whether there were more strange changes in the moves after this one.

As soon as Yue Lingshan's attack came to a foot of his chest, she withdrew her sword, slanted her body, circled her long sword, and slashed down towards his left shoulder. This move looked like Songshan School's sword art called 'Wise Man Throughout the Ages', but 'Wise Man Throughout the Ages' was faster even though it was not as grand. It also looked like the move 'Floating Kingfisher', but lighter and not as grand as 'Floating Kingfisher'; It also looked a little bit like 'Jade Well, Heaven Pond', but 'Jade Well, Heaven Pond' looked more impressive and dignified. When this move was used by Yue Lingshan, it had an air of elegance about it.

Zuo Lengchan had keen eyesight and he had immersed himself in the study of Songshan School's sword art for his whole life. The fineness and the advantages of every move and every stance, the smallest details of every complicated point, were all engraved in his mind. Now that he suddenly saw how Yue Lingshan's move contained the strong points of the many big moves of the Songshan School's sword art, while looking like it covered the weak points of those swordplays, he couldn't help feeling excited, amazed, and happy, just as if he had seen a treasure falling down from the sky.

Years ago on Mount Huashan, the five mountains sword schools fought twice with ten elders from the Devil Sect and lost quite a number of masters. Many unique skills from the five schools' sword arts also died together with these masters. Later, Zuo Lengchan had gathered all the surviving elders from the Songshan School and recorded the sword moves from their memories irrespective of their fineness and completed a sword manual. In the last dozens of years, at Wucunjing, he had altered and improved moves which weren't fierce or grand enough to make the seventeen groups of sword moves perfect. Even though he didn't create any new swordplay, he had rendered a great service by his arrangement of the Songshan sword arts.

Now, seeing that Yue Lingshan had used Songshan sword art that was not from the school's sword manual and that seemed deeper compared to all the currently existing stances and moves of Songshan sword art, he couldn't help being joyful and sighing in praise. If this sword art was being executed by a strong opponent like Ren Woxing or Linghu Chong, or even Great Master Fangzheng or Priest Chongxu, Zuo Lengchan would have to concentrate completely on fighting his opponent. Even if his opponent's sword moves were wonderful, he would have to cope with it with all of his power that he would not have the leisure to look at the opponent's sword art. On the other hand, Yue Lingshan's shallow internal energy was nothing to be afraid of. In the event of a desperate situation, he could just shake the long sword out of her hand at any time and fight for real. For now, he continued observing the changes in her sword moves intently.

The crowd saw Yue Lingshan's long sword dancing about, each move a foot away from her opponent, looking like she was deliberately giving way and looking as if she was afraid. Zuo Lengchan, though, just stood still while his face sometimes registered happiness and sometimes worry as if he had lost his mind. This kind of martial art fighting had never been seen before. The crowd looked at each other amazed. Only the disciples of the Songshan School were observing the fight intently fearing they would miss seeing half a stance.

Yue Lingshan has learned these few moves of Songshan sword art from the engravings on the cave wall on the Cliff of Contemplation. Altogether, there were around sixty to seventy moves engraved on the cave wall. After Yue Buqun had studied them, he guessed that around forty of them were most likely already known and used by Zuo Lengchan while the rest looked brilliant but seemed insufficient to move Zuo Lengchan's heart. Only these thirteen moves were certain to awe him and make him want to see them no matter what. The stances engraved on the cave wall were definitely dead without possible variations and Yue Lingshan only used them according to the movements engraved on the wall. But when Zuo Lengchan saw them, he could imagine how all the moves could be used together, and as he thought more, the ways to use these moves seemed endless.

Yue Lingshan capably used up all thirteen moves and started from the beginning again for the fourteenth move. Zuo Lengchan thought, ”Should I take a look again, or do I shake her long sword off?” These two matters were very easy for him to do. If he wanted to continue watching, even if the level of Yue Lingshan's swordplay were higher, she still wouldn't be able to hurt him. If he wanted to shake her long sword off then all he had to do was lift his hand to do it. But to choose between the two choices was not easy at all. All of a sudden, many things popped up in his head, ”After this, I'm afraid there'd be no more chance to see these wonderful Songshan sword arts again. To kill this little girl is easy but where can I see these sword arts again? How can I ask Mr. Yue for a demonstration? If I let her continue, it'll seem as if I can't contend with this little girl from Huashan. How can I keep my face after that? Aiyo, she's done more than thirteen moves!” As he thought of the words 'thirteen moves', the thought of becoming the leader of Wulin overpowered the idea of studying these martial arts. He flicked the three fingers on his left hand and his sword shot up and hit Yue Lingshan's long sword generating a continuously cracking sound. Afterwards, Yue Lingshan was left only with a sword handle and an inch of her sword blade, while dozens of broken pieces lay on the ground.

Yue Lingshan jumped back and retreated for dozens of feet, then in a loud voice said, ”Martial uncle Zuo, how many Songshan sword art moves did I use?”

Zuo Lengchan closed both of his eyes thinking about those sword moves Yue Lingshan used. He recalled each move one by one, then opened his eyes and said, ”You used thirteen moves! Very good, it's not easy.”

Yue Lingshan bowed and cupped her fist. ”Martial uncle Zuo, thank you for your mercy in letting me show off my meagre skills in using thirteen sword moves of the Songshan sword art in front of you.”

The crowd sighed in admiration at the divine martial art Zuo Lengchan used to break Yue Lingshan's long sword. But Yue Lingshan had declared before that she was going to use thirteen moves of Songshan sword art in front of Zuo Lengchan. The majority of the crowd thought it wouldn't be an easy thing even to manage using three moves, let alone thirteen moves. But unexpectedly Zuo Lengchan had acted like a crazy person and let her execute up to the fourteenth move before striking out. Everyone was surprised, and there were people who thought wildly and believed Zuo Lengchan was a pervert because his mind seemed to have gone blank in front of such a beautiful young woman as an opponent.

From the Songshan School's cluster, a thin old person walked out. He was 'Crane Hands' Lu Bai and he said in a clear voice, ”Headmaster Zuo's divine martial art is unrivalled. Everyone can see how elegant and open minded he is. How absurd of this Miss Yue to show off some basic skills of my Songshan School's sword arts in front of him! Headmaster Zuo merely waited for her to exhaust her skills before subduing her. In the martial art study, it's quality over quantity, so no matter which sect's or which school's martial art you're using, you must practise them until you reach the pinnacle of that martial art and only then can you stand in Wulin...” He only said till here when the crowd started nodding their heads. These words had touched directly at the thoughts of each person there. These men of Jianghu, besides a few masters there, had actually only learned the martial art of one school. So when Lu Bai said it was quality over quantity in the study of martial art, they all approved of it. But whether these people actually had 'quality' enough in their own martial art, it was very difficult to say. On the other hand, it could certainly be said that these people did not know a large 'quantity' of martial arts.

Lu Bai went on, ”This Miss Yue is quite smart. When other schools were practising their swordplay, she secretly peeped in and stole some sword moves, then praised herself to be proficient in the five mountains sword schools' sword arts. Actually, each school's martial art has its own secret that's passed down personally by the masters. If you only peeped into the moves of each stance, then how can you say that you're 'proficient' in them?” The crowd again nodded their heads, and they all thought, ”Stealing other schools' martial art is Wulin's biggest taboo. The consequence of this will definitely fall on Yue Buqun's head.”

That old person continued, ”How can you praise yourself to be proficient in other school's martial art if all you did was peeked at other people's wonderful stances and learned it yourself? Did you teach yourself that school's martial art secret? If not, then how can that be a highly wonderful move? I steal yours, you steal mine, wouldn't that be chaotic?” Right after he finished saying this, many people in the crowd burst into laughter.

Yue Lingshan had used Hengshan sword art to defeat Mr. Mo Da and used Heng-Shan sword art to defeat Linghu Chong. However, in both fights, it looked as if they had given way to her. But when she used Taishan sword art to defeat Yuqingzi and Yuyinzi, she truly used real skills. She was actually proficient in the sword moves she used to fight Yuqingzi and Yuyinzi, and yet because she had attacked them when they were unprepared, it could still be said that she used her fine sword art in an opportunistic way to gain triumph. Even though she only pretended to know the move 'Daizong Way', besides the masters of Taishan School, no one else knew of the sham. However, the crowd wasn't willing to acknowledge that outsiders could be proficient in the martial art of another school. So when they heard what Lu Bai said, many people added their voice to the commotion created by the Songshan School's disciples. When Lu Bai saw his speech had gained the acknowledgement of the crowd, he looked pleased with himself, and raised his voice to say, ”So, for this position of headmaster of the Five Mountains School, there's no one better than Headmaster Zuo to occupy it. Also it should be known, to learn one type of martial art to its pinnacle is much better than learning a lot of martial art shallowly.” When he said these words, they were clearly pointed at Yue Buqun. Dozens of young disciples of Songshan School cheered loudly at this. Lu Bai said, ”Within the five mountains sword schools, if there's anyone who's confident of defeating Headmaster Zuo, then please come out and show us your skill.” He turned around but no one came up.

Originally, the Peach Valley Six Fairies would surely have come out to talk nonsense. But at this time, Yingying was worried about helping Linghu Chong, so she didn't have time to direct the Peach Valley Six Fairies in making trouble for the Songshan School. Peachtree Root Fairy and his five brothers were looking at each other, but they couldn't come up with an idea on what was best to do. 'Tower Holding Palm' Ding Mian shouted loudly, ”Since no one wants to challenge Headmaster Zuo, Headmaster Zuo is favoured by everyone here. Then we'll ask him to be our Five Mountains School's headmaster.”

Zuo Lengchan feigned humility and said, ”There's an abundance of talented people in the Five Mountains School, I have no virtue and no ability, I don't deserve to take up this heavy responsibility.”

Songshan School's seventh protector Tang Yinge said clearly, ”The position of headmaster of the Five Mountains School is a high position and has heavy responsibility, but we have to push Headmaster Zuo into taking this difficult job so that the thousands of Five Mountains School's disciples have good fortune, and we can contribute greatly to the orthodox path in Jianghu. Headmaster Zuo, please become our leader!”

Suddenly, gongs and drums reverberated loudly, while firecrackers went off in succession. All these had been prepared beforehand by the Songshan School's disciples. As the thunderous sound of firecrackers erupted, Songshan School's disciples along with the invited friends of Zuo Lengchan cried out, ”Headmaster Zuo, please ascend the throne! Headmaster Zuo, please ascend the throne!”

Zuo Lengchan leapt up and landed lightly on top of the place of worship. Just then, it was already dusk and the sun was about to go down the mountain. As the setting sun shone slantingly on Zuo Lengchan, the apricot yellow gown he was wearing glittered like gold and added to the grand atmosphere. He cupped his fist and turned his body around to greet the crowd below the place of worship. ”Since everyone is pushing me into it, if I don't agree to take on this difficult responsibility, it would seem like I was protecting my own reputation and was not willing to make a contribution to the orthodox path in Wulin.” Several hundred people from the Songshan School thunderously cheered and applauded.

Suddenly, a female voice interrupted, ”Martial Uncle Zuo, you broke my long sword. But just by breaking my sword, how can you become the headmaster of the Five Mountains School?” The one who said this was Yue Lingshan.

”All the realm's heroes are here. Everyone said before that it was a sword competition to take the leadership. If Miss Yue can break the long sword in my hand like that, then everyone will accept Miss Yue to be the Five Mountains School's headmaster,” Zuo Lengchan said.

”Of course I can't win over Martial Uncle Zuo. But within our Five Mountains School, it's not necessarily true that there's no one whose martial art is better than Martial Uncle Zuo,” Yue Lingshan replied.

From among the people in the Five Mountains School, Linghu Chong was the only one Zuo Lengchan was afraid of. Ever since Linghu Chong had gotten heavily injured after fighting against Yue Lingshan, Zuo Lengchan had felt relieved and confident. Now hearing Yue Lingshan's reply, he retorted, ”So according to Miss Yue's opinion, within the Five Mountains, there's someone whose martial art can defeat me? Is this person your father, your mother, or your husband?” Songshan School's disciples exploded in laughter.

”My husband is of a lower generation, so he must yield to Martial Uncle Zuo if he were to fight. My mother's sword art is well-matched with martial uncle Zuo's. While my father, I think his skills are slightly higher than Martial Uncle Zuo's,” Yue Lingshan said.

Songshan School's disciples jeered at this. Some whistled loudly while some stomped their feet on the ground.

Zuo Lengchan said to Yue Buqun, ”Mr. Yue, your daughter regards your martial art really highly.”

”My little daughter can't stop her mouth blabbering. Brother Zuo doesn't have to treat her seriously. My swordplay is nothing when compared to Shaolin School's Great Master Fangzheng, Wudang School's Priest Chongxu, and Beggar Clan's Leader Xie,” Yue Buqun replied.

Zuo Lengchan's face changed colour when he heard this. Yue Buqun had mentioned three names but his name was not one of them. Clearly, Yue Buqun was praising himself to be better than Zuo Lengchan in front of everyone.

Ding Mian said, ”How about compared to Headmaster Zuo?”

Yue Buqun replied, ”Brother Zuo and I have known each other for many years and we respect each other. Both Songshan and Huashan Schools' sword arts are strong, and in the last hundreds of years there has been no distinction on which one is higher. So it's very hard for me to answer Brother Ding's question.”

”Judging from Mr. Yue's tone, it sounded like you believe yourself to be stronger than Headmaster Zuo?” Ding Mian said.

”The master said: 'A gentleman has nothing to fight about but if it must be, he will fight'. Since ancient times, it's unavoidable to dispute over how high someone's martial art is. I've long harboured a wish to ask Martial Brother Zuo for pointers. But today is our new Five Mountains School's inauguration, and we haven't selected a headmaster yet. If Brother Zuo and I have a sword fight, then it'll look as if we're having a fight for the position of the Five Mountains School's headmaster. Then it'll be unavoidable for people to gossip,” Yue Buqun said.

Zuo Lengchan said, ”If Brother Yue can win against this sword in my hand, then Brother Yue will be the headmaster of the Five Mountains School.”

Yue Buqun waved his hand a few times and said, ”It's not necessarily true that a person with high martial arts will also have high moral behaviour. If I manage to win against Brother Zuo, it'll not necessarily be true that I'd be able to win against the rest of the masters in the Five Mountains School.” The way he said these words was very modest, but each meticulously said word proclaimed that he was a level better than Zuo Lengchan. Zuo Lengchan got angrier the longer he listened. He coldly said, ”Brother Yue's reputation as 'Gentleman Sword' shakes the whole world. The word 'Gentleman' is well known to everyone. But this word 'Sword', we've heard of it a lot, but have rarely seen it. Today, as the entire world's heroes have gathered here, I'll have to ask Brother Yue to show your brilliant sword art so as to let everyone here open their eyes!”

Many people called out, ”Go up and fight, go up and fight!” ”All talk and no action, what kind of hero is that?” ”Go and have a sword fight, decide which one is stronger, what's the use of boasting?”

Yue Buqun put both of his hands behind his back and stayed silent. His expression was solemn and respectful, and there was a hint of worry in his face. When Zuo Lengchan was planning to merge the five mountains sword schools, he had already known the martial arts of each master from the other four schools, and was confident that no one from those four schools would be able to win against him. So he did his utmost to push this merger through. Otherwise if there was someone with a more powerful martial art than him, then after the merger of the five mountains sword schools, this position of headmaster might be snatched by other people. If that happened, wouldn't that be benefiting other people instead? Yue Buqun's swordplay was brilliant and his attainment of the 'Divine Art of Violet Twilight' was also not low; both of these things were well known to Zuo Lengchan.

Thus, Zuo Lengchan incited Feng Buping, Cheng Buyou, and other masters from the Sword Branch to go up Mount Huashan, and he also sent more than ten other good fighters from other schools to attack Yue Buqun at the God of Medicine Monastery. Although they failed, they managed to gather in detail the level of Yue Buqun's martial art. After Zuo Lengchan personally saw Yue Buqun fighting against Linghu Chong at the Shaolin temple, he became even more at ease. Even though Yue Buqun's sword art was wonderful, he was still not Zuo Lengchan's match. When Yue Buqun kicked Linghu Chong, he even got his right leg broken. That showed his internal energy cultivation was just mediocre. But as for this little kid Linghu Chong, he seemed to have suddenly advanced greatly in his sword art, which was really beyond his expectation. But he couldn't always be afraid of this loafer, and just give up this big matter that he had been planning for tens of years already. Moreover, Linghu Chong's strong point was only in his swordplay, while his barehand martial art was very ordinary. If they were to fight for real and he couldn't win by his swordplay, then he would use his fist and palm at the same time and he could immediately take Linghu Chong's life then. However, all his anxiety left him completely when he saw Linghu Chong had gotten himself willingly injured under Yue Lingshan's sword.

Now, hearing the Yue father and daughter speaking so boastfully, he thought, ”I don't know how you did it, but you've studied the lost unique skills of the five mountains sword schools, and now got yourself deluded over this. If you, Yue Buqun, were fighting me, and suddenly use these moves, you would've intimidated me. But it was the wrong move to let your daughter use them first. Now I'm already prepared for these moves, so what's the use of using them again?” He also thought, ”This person is very calculating and careful, if I can beat him up good and proper in front of all the heroes here then he won't be cocky anymore. Otherwise, he'll remain in my Five Mountains School and be a big trouble the future.” So he said, ”Brother Yue, all the world heroes have already asked you to go up and show your skill, how can you not give them face?”

”Since Brother Zuo said it, I'll have to respectfully obey your order,” Yue Buqun replied, and then step by step he walked up the place of worship.

Thinking there was a good show to be seen, the crowd cheered happily.

Yue Buqun folded his hands in salute and said, ”Brother Zuo, we're now under the same school. So we'll just stop at skin-deep when comparing our skills. What do you think?”

”Brother, you must definitely be careful. I'll do my best not injure Brother Yue,” Zuo Lengchan replied.

The people from the Songshan School called out, ”You haven't fought yet but you are already asking for mercy! It's better not to fight then.” ”The blade isn't born with eyes. Once it moves, who can guarantee you won't be harmed or killed?” ”If you're afraid, then be clever and accept defeat and descend from the fight courtyard. It's not too late.”

Yue Buqun smiled and said clearly, ”The blade isn't born with eyes. Once it moves, it's difficult to avoid death or injuries. These words are right.” He then turned his head toward Huashan School's disciples and said, ”Disciples of Huashan, listen to me: Martial Brother Zuo and I are going to compare skills. There's no enmity in this. If Martial Brother Zuo slips and kills me, or heavily injures me, that's just because the battle is too fierce and it's not easy to stop an inch away. No one must hate Martial Uncle Zuo for this, and you must also not seek revenge on the people from Songshan School, so that you don't ruin the loyalty within our Five Mountains School.” Yue Lingshan and everyone else acknowledged him loudly. Zuo Lengchan didn't expect him to talk like this so he said, ”Brother Yue understands about righteousness very deeply. The loyalty within our school is most important. That's very good.”

Yue Buqun smiled and said, ”The merger of our five schools into one was the most difficult thing to do. If the peace of the Five Mountains School is harmed because of the two of us comparing our sword techniques and inner fighting between martial brothers in the Five Mountains School occurred, then that'll be counter to the original meaning of merging the schools.”

”Right!” Zuo Lengchan agreed, while he thought, ”This person is very timid. I should take advantage of this and subdue him now.” When masters fight, internal strength and movements were very important, but winning and losing was often decided by the strength of will. Zuo Lengchan secretly felt happy that Yue Buqun was showing a weakness. With a ringing sound, he drew his long sword out. When the long sword cleared the scabbard, the sound unexpectedly reverberated throughout the whole valley. Zuo Lengchan had moved his inner energy in a unique way so that the edge of the sword struck the inner wall of the sheath continuously as it comes out of its sheath and emitted a thunderous ringing sound. The people who didn't know the reason for this were astonished greatly. The people from Songshan School again cheered loudly.

On the other hand, Yue Buqun pulled out his long sword along with its scabbard from his waist. Then he freed the sword from its sheath, and slowly and silently pulled it out. Judging from the way these two people pulled their swords out, it could be said that this sword fight was between a master and a novice. It looked as if the outcome was already certain that there was no need for a fight.

Linghu Chong's shoulder blade was pierced by the long sword which penetrated all the way to the front and as a result, he suffered a really heavy injury. After witnessing Linghu Chong getting injured, Yingying became really worried and without caring about her disguise, she rushed forward with her long sword raised to protect him. Once the Heng-Shan School's disciples had surrounded him, Yihe took out the 'White Cloud Bear Gallbladder' pill and nervously spilled out five to six pills and put them in Linghu Chong's mouth. Yingying had already sealed the acupoints on his chest and on his back to stop the bleeding quite some time ago. Yiqing and Zheng E separately applied the 'Heavenly Connecting Glue' on his wound. When it was their headmaster who was injured, how could the disciples be stingy in using the medicine? They weren't afraid to apply ample amounts of medicine. In fact, they regarded this priceless medicine like it was just mud as they applied it thickly on his wound. Even though Linghu Chong's injury was serious, he was still clear-headed. When he saw how Yingying and the Heng-Shan School's disciples were deeply concerned for him, he felt apologetic, ”Just because I wanted to make little martial sister smile, I made Yingying and martial sisters from Heng-Shan School worried to death.” He immediately smiled and said, ”I don't know how, I got careless and got... got injured. Don't... don't worry. No need... no need...”

”Don't say anything,” Yingying rebuked. Even though she tried her best to sound coarse, it was still very hard to cover up her feminine voice. All the disciples of the Heng-Shan School were stunned to hear this bearded man having a tender and soft voice.

Linghu Chong said, ”Let me... have a look... have a look...”