“Your Highness, your words on fame and fortune are quite insightful. If a scholar seeks only reputation and honor, though appearing indifferent to profit, he is in essence no different from a merchant.”
“A refined scholar indulging in abstract discussions that harm the nation is no true scholar. One who clings to his scriptures while laughing at the starving outside his door is not truly studying; he merely reads a heavenly book devoid of propriety, benevolence, and righteousness.”
“Xuan Yuan Jingcheng of Huishan, on behalf of Zhi Zhang Xun Ping, who was both mentor and friend, pays homage at Your Highness’s ancestor’s tomb with wine and offerings.”
“Xuan Yuan Jingcheng, representing Wang Yangming, a Confucian scholar of Xiangfan, assists the King of Beiliang in eliminating corruption, and offers another bow.”
“Finally, Xuan Yuan Jingcheng bows once more on behalf of all impoverished scholars for the King of Beiliang!”
Xu Fengnian widened his eyes, staring at the approaching scholar in green robes, completely unaware that this man had been eavesdropping or that he possessed any martial prowess at all. When the man, who claimed to be Xuan Yuan Jingcheng, bowed three times in succession at thirty paces distance and then ceased advancing, Mu Rong Wu Zhu, who was squatting beside the prince picking hawthorns, dropped them all upon hearing the surname Xuan Yuan. Mu Rong Tong Huang remained somewhat composed, though his fingers turned white with tension, betraying his inner turmoil. To this brother and sister, the Xuan Yuan clan atop Gu Niu Ridge were no mere wandering martial cultivators enjoying earthly pleasures, but devilish figures who toyed with the entire Jian Province. Still, Mu Rong Tong Huang yanked his sister, who had tried to grasp Xu Fengnian’s sleeve, away quite forcefully, almost helping her stand before moving to a distance. Though seemingly unwilling to be caught in the crossfire, both Xu Fengnian and Mu Rong Tong Huang had nearly identical smirks on their lips once separated, clearly sharing an unspoken understanding.
Since someone from the prestigious Xuan Yuan family had dared to break ranks and descend from Huishan to Longhu, knowing full well Xu Fengnian’s identity, even if it were the notorious Xuan Yuan Jingcheng, Xu Fengnian couldn’t afford to relax. Three reverent bows from the man were strange and suspicious. Rising with his twin sabers in hand, he glanced sideways to see Huang Man’er and Qing Niao approaching, forming a pincer movement. He smiled and asked, “Master, your three bows moved heaven and earth and brought ghosts to tears. This humble youth feels unworthy indeed. But I wonder, would you dare perform such acts atop Gu Niu Ridge?”
Xuan Yuan Jingcheng replied calmly, “If I had any fear, Your Highness seems not to believe so. If I had no fear, would Your Highness draw swords right here?”
Xu Fengnian fixed his gaze on this eldest grandson of the Xuan Yuan family, a laughingstock within his clan. A weasel paying New Year’s greetings to a chicken! Tired of the man’s pretentiousness, he said impatiently, “Speak plainly. What do you want from me? If it weren’t for your connection with Master Xun, why would I waste words with you?”
Xuan Yuan Jingcheng went straight to the point, remaining composed. “Your Highness, do you know why my daughter, Xuan Yuan Qing Feng, opposed you back in Wu Prefecture?”
Xu Fengnian tightened his grip on the Spring Thunder in his left hand.
He focused on delivering a fatal blow with his left blade. I haven’t gone up Huishan to confront your nest of snakes and rats, yet you dare descend the mountain to provoke me? Since when did the Xuan Yuan clan produce a scholar concerned with the state of the nation?
Xu Fengnian exhaled lightly, his internal energy surging like a great river, while smiling on the outside. “Master, please continue.”
Xuan Yuan Jingcheng spoke in a calm tone. “You resemble someone quite closely. In appearance, you’re only about forty to fifty percent similar, but in spirit, you reach eighty or ninety percent…”
Xu Fengnian’s Spring Thunder exploded forth, reaching Xuan Yuan Jingcheng in an instant. Borrowing the famous technique “Overthrowing Armor” from spear expert Wang Xiu, the Spring Thunder slashed downward, entering from Xuan Yuan Jingcheng’s neck and exiting at his waist, aiming to cleave him diagonally in two with one strike.
Xuan Yuan Jingcheng furrowed his brow slightly. His left foot remained still while the tip of his right foot spun on the ground, drawing a half-circle. With his left hand holding a book behind his back, he extended his pale fingers to grasp the Spring Thunder, skillfully redirecting the force of Xu Fengnian’s fierce blade downward. The middle-aged scholar uttered a slight exclamation, showing some surprise.
The sleeve holding the blade stirred without wind.
Xu Fengnian twisted the blade, and Xuan Yuan Jingcheng released it and stepped back, his feet lightly tapping the ground, his movements exuding an unusual lightness and grace. He continued, “This man was someone whom Qing Feng’s mother could never forget. Had he not died of illness, she would never have married into Huishan. Qing Feng learned calligraphy and painting from her mother. There has been a portrait hanging for twenty years. After seeing you at the lantern festival, she inevitably lost her composure. I beg Your Highness for forgiveness.”
Xu Fengnian strode forward, thrusting the Spring Thunder straight at the whale.
Xuan Yuan Jingcheng struck the Spring Thunder with his book in his left hand, deflecting it.
As Xu Fengnian attempted to draw his Xiu Dong with his right hand, Xuan Yuan Jingcheng, who had restrained himself repeatedly, let out a cold snort. His figure suddenly surged forward, one hand pressing onto Xu Fengnian’s shoulder, gently pushing him. Xu Fengnian was forced to turn his body, but still managed to draw the Xiu Dong, sweeping it upward diagonally.
It was the posture of uprooting a mountain!
Xuan Yuan Jingcheng sneered, “Unaware of advance and retreat, what a domineering prince!”
Xu Fengnian inexplicably sheathed both the Spring Thunder and Xiu Dong. Because Huang Man’er laughed and said, “Last time outside Zhi Zhang city, at the grave, there were several wine cups. Were they yours, Master?”
Xuan Yuan Jingcheng nodded gloomily and asked, “Why did you suddenly withdraw your blade?”
Xu Fengnian pointed to Huang Man’er squatting in the distance and smiled, “My younger brother knows whether someone has ill intentions.”
Xuan Yuan Jingcheng, filled with mixed emotions, said, “Born with the Diamond Realm.”
Xu Fengnian, puzzled, asked, “May I ask a bold question? Master, though you are obviously a martial arts expert, why have you fallen into such a situation atop Gu Niu Ridge?”
Xuan Yuan Jingcheng calmly revealed a shocking truth, “Qing Feng’s mother practiced dual cultivation with Xuan Yuan Da Pan to take revenge on me. Now this venerable ancestor wants Qing Feng to enter Gu Niu Ridge again.”
Xuan Yuan Jingcheng’s voice remained steady; he did not deliberately lower it to hide the disgrace.
Mu Rong Tong Huang and Mu Rong Wu Zhu looked at each other in shock.
Even Xu Fengnian, known for his thick skin, was stunned beyond words. In all the world, could there be such a shameless old lecher who would even go after his own family? That was his eldest grandson’s wife, and now he wouldn’t even spare his great-granddaughter? Was he willing to kill rather than risk letting anything slip? Compared to this shocking revelation, attempting to abduct the Mu Rong siblings was hardly worth mentioning.
Xuan Yuan Jingcheng said bitterly, “This venerable ancestor isn’t particularly obsessed with beauty; he merely seeks the Immortal Dao’s longevity cultivation through a crooked path.”
Xu Fengnian cursed, “Nonsense! Whether it’s Taoist sexual cultivation or the esoteric Buddhist union practices, Xuan Yuan Jingcheng, are you even a man anymore?”
Xuan Yuan Jingcheng replied calmly, “For twenty years, I have mastered all the secret techniques and martial arts from Huishan’s Wending Pavilion.”
“I have taken a path with no return.”
“I fear not death.”
“I only seek the safety of mother and daughter.”
Xuan Yuan Jingcheng spoke slowly, coughing a few times, covering his mouth with his hand, revealing bloodstained fingers, a shocking sight.
Xu Fengnian struggled to follow this sickly scholar’s seemingly erratic thoughts and asked, “Can you really engage Xuan Yuan Da Pan in a life-and-death battle? I’ve heard this old monster is extremely formidable.”
Xuan Yuan Jingcheng, already holding a Taoist scripture stained red, placed it behind his back and smiled faintly at Xu Fengnian. “Yes.”
“He seeks the Great Immortality, and I shall show him what my Immortal Dao cultivation has achieved. But the Immortality I have attained is not true immortality, so the outcome is uncertain, fifty-fifty.”
“But after I die, what will become of mother and daughter? I have been pondering this question constantly, which is why I have been waiting for Your Highness.”
“I came to see Your Highness today. Your first strike was excellent, not only displaying skillful swordsmanship but also ruthless precision. Xuan Yuan Jingcheng humbly implores Your Highness to lend your aid.”
“There is only one person in this world who can save them both.”
Xu Fengnian was shocked yet again.
Xuan Yuan Jingcheng continued on his own. “Once Xuan Yuan Da Pan is dead, the only real threats in Huishan would be my father, Xuan Yuan Guo Qi, and my younger brother, Xuan Yuan Jing Xuan. If those two also perish, as long as Your Highness can ensure Qing Feng’s safety, you can use her as a puppet to control Gu Niu Ridge.”
Xu Fengnian asked, “Are you and your Xuan Yuan family trying to set a trap for me?”
Xuan Yuan Jingcheng shook his head. “No.”
Helplessly, Xu Fengnian shook his head and said, “If what you say is true, it’s not hard for me to help, but you must assist me in eliminating either Xuan Yuan Guo Qi or Xuan Yuan Jing Xuan. Otherwise, with only the vulnerable Qing Feng, trying to swallow something so much larger would be too difficult.”
Without hesitation, Xuan Yuan Jingcheng replied, “Fine. I shall ascend the mountain and kill Xuan Yuan Jing Xuan first.”
Xu Fengnian was left speechless.
This man—had he gone completely mad?
Gazing at the distant, dark-blue Gu Niu Ridge, Xuan Yuan Jingcheng murmured softly, “I am coming.”
This man from the mountains was ascending to kill.
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