‘Yan Wushi’ these three words had what kind of power, look at the reactions of the people present and you’ll know.
The five masters that ambushed Yan Wushi, pull out any one of them and they could steamroller everyone present, nevermind the Yan Wushi who after being ambushed by five masters, after news of his death, reappeared in the world jumping and very much alive, by all standards he should be considered a freak in the legends.
The shopkeeper was sharp, seeing that one sentence from Zhao Chiying produced such a incredible effect, immobilizing the scene momentarily, rushed to make amends: “It is I who forgot, I’ll go tell the kitchens right now and have it sent over, just wait a little longer, a little longer!”
Yan Wushi brushed his fingers along the rim of his cup, but Shen Qiao extended his hand over his and pressed once.
The latter with one glance had seen through his intentions, and was expressing his disapproval.
Although the group had been trying to steal a seat, they hadn’t caused any real harm, if Yan Wushi acted, then the other will surely die or be injured, at that time his companions will seek revenge, they were still in a rush to be on their way, why would they seek this trouble for themselves?
Yan Wushi through Shen Qiao’s eyes saw this train of thought, he smiled lazily: “Out of respect for you, this time I’ll spare him.”
He had only said half of what he was going to say, before being abruptly interrupted by this person, when he had the cup in his hand his killing intent had emerged, but now he changed his mind, the cup at his slight touch flew out, embedded itself into the front of Erde Ming’s half-raised foot.
Erde Ming hearing the three words Yan Wushi, his face froze, didn’t move another muscle, at this moment all the blood had drained from his face.
The friend standing behind him at least had some foresight, seeing this stepped forward hands folded in respect and said: “Yan-zongzhu, my younger brother is young and naive, he unintentionally disrespected you, where he caused insult I hope you’ll forgive him.”
Yan Wushi continued sitting, not moving an inch, an air of self-assured leisure, just by his demeanour alone, no one would doubt his identity.
To imitate Huanyue Sect zongzhu would require some bravery, after all there were not many people in the world like him who could offend all the major existing sects, and still no one could do anything about it.
Anyone seeing Erde Ming’s facebeard, and hearing the words “young and naive”, would have found it hard not to laugh.
“Young and naive?” Yan Wushi meaningfully repeated the phrase, “this venerable one sees his rough-hewn appearance, is his mind lacking, does he have a brain illness?”
Pu! Someone had burst out laughing.
“You…” Erde Ming looked like he was about to explode, but his older brother sealed his meridians, held his shoulder down so he couldn’t move.
The latter gave Yan Wushi an apologetic smile: “That’s right, my younger brother’s mind is not quite right, Yan-zongzhu your esteemed person doesn’t need to dwell on his level!”
This person happened to be the Taohuawu sect leader that had joined Hehuan Sect, currently his reputation in the jianghu was at its peak, but he understood who he could approach and who he couldn’t, although Huanyue Sect appeared to have been squashed by Hehuan Sect, its influence greatly diminished among the demonic sects, but a skinny camel was larger than a horse, if they upset Yan Wushi, never mind if Hehuan Sect would stick up for them on a later date, the two of them would lose their small lives here, today.
Yan Wushi seemed to see through his thoughts, shot the other a smile, but it made the Taohuawu sect leader’s hair stand on end.
“If there is something wrong with his mind, he would do well to stay at home, coming out to cause mischief, creating problems left and right for his older brother, you must be exhausted.”
Taohuawu sect leader forced a smile, couldn’t help but continue this conversation: “Yan-zongzhu is right, when we get back I will discipline him, I’ll be make sure he reflects, and make sure he doesn’t get out easily again!”
Saying this as if fearing Yan Wushi might regret his decision, ignoring his brother who at this moment was boring a hole into him with his eyes, rushed to drag him out and leave.
This group brashly entered, and shortly thereafter ran out in fear, the contrast, made everyone present look at each other.
Shen Qiao shook his head, few people could see it, but the moment Yan Wushi’s cup flew out, a small chip had split from the cup, and hit a meridian point on Erde Ming, the position was extremely tricky, they probably would not be able to undo it themselves, probably when the time came they will have to come back and beg Yan Wushi.
“If they come back to find you, will you really undo the meridian point block, why make more matters?”
Yan Wushi laughed: “They won’t come to me, but will go to Hehuan Sect to cry and complain, doesn’t this save me the trouble of finding them myself?”
As he said this, he stood up, before anyone could react, Yan Wushi had already made his exit, everyone thought he went to pursue the group from Taohuawu, and said a small prayer for Taohuawu, insult anybody but why would you insult this god-level terror!
Although it must be said, because Erde Ming had left a brazen impression on everyone, some secretly rejoiced in their hearts.
After the meal, Fan Yuanbai and Zhou Yexue these two young people couldn’t sit still, they informed Zhao Chiying that they were going to look around a bit, Zhou Yexue even came over to invite Li Qingyu, only to be cooly turned down by Li Qingyu, who said he wanted to meditate in his room, her pride hurt, she was still irritated when she left.
Zhao Chiying was not made aware of Yan Wushi’s plans, seeing that he had not come back, was surprised: “Where has Yan-zongzhu gone?”
Shen Qiao: “He had some other matters to attend to, will not be travelling with us any longer.”
Zhao Chiying nodded, she had other concerns on her mind, and did not ask further.
For now Hehuan Sect and the Buddhist sects were powerful, but there were many sects in the world, many of whom did not want to capitulate to them, Hehuan Sect had a bad reputation, and the Buddhist sects had Xueting-chanshi, and behind them the Zhou dynasty, but for the Daoist sects, in particular Chunyang Sect this renowned sect, was not willing to acquiesce, so the timing of the shijiandahui was just right, many people gathered after hearing the news, rushing forth from all directions, the young wanted to make their name, the older and more prudent of the sect leaders wanted to make an alliance with Chunyang Sect, lest they end up snuffed out like Zhongnan Sect.
After the turmoil of their calamity, Bixia Sect was greatly diminished, mostly powerless, Zhao Chiying had no ambition to stand above the other sects, but she was long encumbered by the lack of future talent in her sect, and wanted to impress during shijiandaihui, add to Bixia Sect’s reputation, resurrect the drums and flags, but how this wish would come to fruition may require a long road ahead.
Fan Yuanbai, Zhou Yexue, their wugong was average, as can be seen in comparison to Li Qingyu, although the latter was close to them in age, he had the makings of a first rank master, with time, can anticipate much, Zhao Chiying couldn’t help but envy Yi Bichen’s luck.
As a sect with some history, Bixia Sect was not lacking in highly-skilled wugong, but someone who could realize this highly-skilled wugong on their path.
A day’s worth of scenery passed like this under Zhao Chiying’s turbulent thoughts, the next morning, after everyone had washed up and had breakfast, they made their way towards Qingchengshan.
This time the group did not stop again, in one go arrived in Qingchengshan’s Qingcheng Town.
On account of shijiandahui, the town had already filled with wulin people, Chunyangguan also had sent its people here to oversee things, seeing newcomers, asked for their sects, by way of registration, and brought them up the mountain in groups. However the numbers of people arriving exceeded their expectations, so many people were now in line waiting.
Li Qingyu brought Shen Qiao and the rest of the group to the main gate, used his sword sheath to knock on the desk of the person who was furiously writing down names.
The other raised his head, said ah, rushed to get up: “Li-shidi, you’ve returned!”
Not only him, the other Chunyangguan disciples responsible for welcoming guests all came over to greet Li Qingyu.
Li Qingyu folded his hands in greeting: “Zhao-shixiong, Cong-shixiong, is shizun on the mountain?”
Zhao-shixiong: “Yes, Linchuanxuegong and Kuaiji’s Wang family are here, sect leader is personally hosting them.”
Li Qingyu nodded, didn’t say anything, brought the others towards the main gates.
Zhao-shixiong called after him: “Li-shidi, who are these people with you? Please tell me their sects, so I may write them down, it’s my responsibility, please pardon me shidi.”
Li Qingyu was very accomplished in the wugong path, could be considered a leader among the younger generation of Chunyangguan, even his two shixiong had to treat him with respect.
Although his wugong was accomplished, he was sometimes lacking in interpersonal skills.
Li Qingyu frowned: “These are guests shizun told be to bring.”
The meaning being, you don’t need to know more.
Shen Qiao saw that he was going to upset someone, and so volunteered: “This is Bixia Sect Zhao-zongzhu, behind her are her disciples, this poor one is Shen Qiao, a wanderer.”
Hearing Bixia Sect, Zhao-shixiong didn’t have much of a reaction, hearing Shen Qiao, his face changed, asked: “Can I ask if it is Xuandushan’s Shen-daozhang?”
Shen Qiao nodded: “Yes.”
Zhao-shixiong’s face glowed, immediately folded his hands in greeting: “It turns out to be Shen-daozhang, I meant no disrespect, Shen-daozhang and the rest of your group please come in, I’ll send someone right away to notify shizun!”
Li Qingyu: “Zhao-shixiong, I can bring Shen-daozhang and the group up the mountain.”
Zhao-shixiong smiled: “Li-shidi you might not be aware, shizun instructed us beforehand, when we see Shen-daozhang and Zhao-zongzhu, to go notify him at once, so that he himself may come greet them, you can take them along the main path, see the scenery along the way, I’ll send someone along the backpaths to report.”
Although he said “Shen-daozhang and Zhao-zongzhu”, everyone could see all of his formalities were directed towards Shen Qiao, Zhao Chiying had an open attitude, and was not upset by this small thing.
Hearing that it was shifu’s instructions, Li Qingyu didn’t say anymore.
The people in line seeing him go on ahead after speaking to the Chunyangguan disciples were vexed: “We’ve waited so long, are we not worth him who has inner connections, if you don’t know the logic of who arrived first and who arrived later, why would Chunyangguan bother organizing shijiandahui?”
Zhao-shixiong: “You are mistaken, Chunyangguan is not the organizer, just that we have lent our grounds for Liuligong to organize shijiandahui, we’re just here to maintain order, since you are here at Qingchengshan, you have to respect Qingchengshan’s rules. The group you saw just now, one of them was Xuandushan Shen Qiao Shen-daozhang, the other was Bixia Sect Zhao-zongzhu, and the other was our sect’s Li Qingyu shidi, Li-shidi was following shizun’s orders, to invite these guests to our door, if you are still dissatisfied, why don’t you wait until you see my shizun in person, and tell him about it then.”
Qingchengshan Li Qingyu, this one from the younger generation already had a big name, first was his fight with Xuandushan zhangjiao Yu Ai, losing by one move, thereafter wandering the jianghu, crossing paths with Duan Wenyang this first rank master, although he didn’t win one hundred out of a hundred matches, but to be evenly matched, given his age, was already something stunning, now in the jianghu Li Qingyu’s name was so famous, compared to the world’s top ten, probably wasn’t that far off, we don’t know how many young women from established jianghu families, considered this young disciple from Chunyangguan an ideal future husband.
If mentioning Li Qingyu shocked everyone, then hearing Shen Qiao’s name they all froze, at first they didn’t believe it, then after there were others like Zhao-shixiong whose eyes glowed, naturally no one else stepped forward to dispute further.
In this half year and a bit, after he killed the Huo Xijing who liked to use people’s faces as masks, and then on Taishan with his sword made Kunye part with his life, and then receiving Yuwen Xian’s dying wish, fighting his way out of the ambush with Yuwen Song, as well killing the two Hehuan Sect elders, as rumours spread, his reputation was not that far from Li Qingyu’s, in all likelihood more well known than when he was Xuandushan zhangjiao.
Although some doubted Shen Qiao’s abilities, felt these rumours were blown out of proportion, that day when Shen Qiao fought his way out of Chang’an, or in Tuyuhun’s capital city defeating Yu Ai and the rest, there were bystanders, and many who saw it with their own eyes.
Now that Hehuan Sect’s influence had grown, many sects and wandering xia couldn’t voice their difficult circumstances, towards Shen Qiao who had demonstrated both intent and ability to stand against Hehuan Sect they had a lot of respect, unbeknownst to Shen Qiao, during this time, his name grew daily, no longer in the dust of the past. Although Liuligong’s rank-list wasn’t out yet, but jianghu rumours already spoke for Shen Qiao’s recovery and that he would definitely be within the top ten.
These transformations, Yan Wushi exchanged messages back and forth with the outside world, of course knew about them, but Shen Qiao on Taishan, solely dedicated to training and teaching his disciples, as if he were in seclusion, of course didn’t.
Li Qingyu was a bad tour guide, along the way up the mountain, seeing a scenic point, will say something to try to explain, but speaking was not his strength, the explanation bland, in a dull, straightforward style, making his listeners want to cover their ears, even seeing it with their own eyes was more interesting.
Shen Qiao and Zhao Chiying, with their manners and experience, wouldn’t reveal any of this, when they finally reached Chunyangguan, Zhou Yexue and Fan Yuanbai couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
A middle aged man wearing daoist robes stood in the daoguan’s main square in front of the incense burners, his hair was black, his hands held a fuchen, behind him was a number of disciples, this formal welcome was not a small one.
The one standing in front, was of course Chunyangguan sect leader Yi Bichen.
Shen Qiao glanced around, and recognized a familiar face standing behind Yi Bichen, Linchuanxuegong’s Zhan Ziqian.
The latter also saw Shen Qiao, folded his hands in greeting, and smiled.
Shen Qiao also nodded and smiled at him.
Li Qingyu stepped forward, bowed all the way: “Shizun, this disciple has returned.”
“No need for formalities, Mingcheng, you’ve worked hard.” Yi Bichen called him familiarly by his courtesy name, helped this beloved disciple to his feet, then walked over, towards Shen Qiao and Zhao Chiying and the rest and folded his hands in greeting: “Shen-daozhang, Zhao-zongzhu have travelled a long way, allowing my sect to be granted your glowing presence, this poor one is very fortunate, please do come in.”
For someone of Yi Bichen’s standing to personally come out to greet them, was giving them a lot of face, Zhao Chiying was initially worried about an icier reception, her own reputation was of no significance, but Bixia Sect’s reputation was important, today seeing how well Yi Bichen managed things, in contrast to Li Qingyu’s coldness, secretly praised Yi Bichen’s magnanimity.
Everyone chatted, Yi Bichen also introduced them to Zhan Ziqian.
Zhan Ziqian’s position in Linchuanxuegong was not low, but the most cherished disciple Xie Xiang did not make an appearance, Ruyan Kehui only sent Zhan Ziqian as representative, this on its own expressed their stance.
Yi Bichen brought them inside.
They saw that there were some people already seated inside.
Yi Bichen said: “This is Kuaiji Wang family’s er-gongzi and san-gongzi.”
The two young men did not rise, just generally raised their sleeves in their direction.
They had been conversing with Yi Bichen here earlier, they heard of Shen Qiao and the others’ arrival, but only Zhan Ziqian went with Yi Bichen out to greet them, the Wang family clearly did not think Bixia Sect or Shen Qiao was worth making an acquaintance of, the irreverence was on full display.
‘Yan Wushi’ these three words had what kind of power, look at the reactions of the people present and you’ll know.
The five masters that ambushed Yan Wushi, pull out any one of them and they could steamroller everyone present, nevermind the Yan Wushi who after being ambushed by five masters, after news of his death, reappeared in the world jumping and very much alive, by all standards he should be considered a freak in the legends.
The shopkeeper was sharp, seeing that one sentence from Zhao Chiying produced such a incredible effect, immobilizing the scene momentarily, rushed to make amends: “It is I who forgot, I’ll go tell the kitchens right now and have it sent over, just wait a little longer, a little longer!”
Yan Wushi brushed his fingers along the rim of his cup, but Shen Qiao extended his hand over his and pressed once.
The latter with one glance had seen through his intentions, and was expressing his disapproval.
Although the group had been trying to steal a seat, they hadn’t caused any real harm, if Yan Wushi acted, then the other will surely die or be injured, at that time his companions will seek revenge, they were still in a rush to be on their way, why would they seek this trouble for themselves?
Yan Wushi through Shen Qiao’s eyes saw this train of thought, he smiled lazily: “Out of respect for you, this time I’ll spare him.”
He had only said half of what he was going to say, before being abruptly interrupted by this person, when he had the cup in his hand his killing intent had emerged, but now he changed his mind, the cup at his slight touch flew out, embedded itself into the front of Erde Ming’s half-raised foot.
Erde Ming hearing the three words Yan Wushi, his face froze, didn’t move another muscle, at this moment all the blood had drained from his face.
The friend standing behind him at least had some foresight, seeing this stepped forward hands folded in respect and said: “Yan-zongzhu, my younger brother is young and naive, he unintentionally disrespected you, where he caused insult I hope you’ll forgive him.”
Yan Wushi continued sitting, not moving an inch, an air of self-assured leisure, just by his demeanour alone, no one would doubt his identity.
To imitate Huanyue Sect zongzhu would require some bravery, after all there were not many people in the world like him who could offend all the major existing sects, and still no one could do anything about it.
Anyone seeing Erde Ming’s facebeard, and hearing the words “young and naive”, would have found it hard not to laugh.
“Young and naive?” Yan Wushi meaningfully repeated the phrase, “this venerable one sees his rough-hewn appearance, is his mind lacking, does he have a brain illness?”
Pu! Someone had burst out laughing.
“You…” Erde Ming looked like he was about to explode, but his older brother sealed his meridians, held his shoulder down so he couldn’t move.
The latter gave Yan Wushi an apologetic smile: “That’s right, my younger brother’s mind is not quite right, Yan-zongzhu your esteemed person doesn’t need to dwell on his level!”
This person happened to be the Taohuawu sect leader that had joined Hehuan Sect, currently his reputation in the jianghu was at its peak, but he understood who he could approach and who he couldn’t, although Huanyue Sect appeared to have been squashed by Hehuan Sect, its influence greatly diminished among the demonic sects, but a skinny camel was larger than a horse, if they upset Yan Wushi, never mind if Hehuan Sect would stick up for them on a later date, the two of them would lose their small lives here, today.
Yan Wushi seemed to see through his thoughts, shot the other a smile, but it made the Taohuawu sect leader’s hair stand on end.
“If there is something wrong with his mind, he would do well to stay at home, coming out to cause mischief, creating problems left and right for his older brother, you must be exhausted.”
Taohuawu sect leader forced a smile, couldn’t help but continue this conversation: “Yan-zongzhu is right, when we get back I will discipline him, I’ll be make sure he reflects, and make sure he doesn’t get out easily again!”
Saying this as if fearing Yan Wushi might regret his decision, ignoring his brother who at this moment was boring a hole into him with his eyes, rushed to drag him out and leave.
This group brashly entered, and shortly thereafter ran out in fear, the contrast, made everyone present look at each other.
Shen Qiao shook his head, few people could see it, but the moment Yan Wushi’s cup flew out, a small chip had split from the cup, and hit a meridian point on Erde Ming, the position was extremely tricky, they probably would not be able to undo it themselves, probably when the time came they will have to come back and beg Yan Wushi.
“If they come back to find you, will you really undo the meridian point block, why make more matters?”
Yan Wushi laughed: “They won’t come to me, but will go to Hehuan Sect to cry and complain, doesn’t this save me the trouble of finding them myself?”
As he said this, he stood up, before anyone could react, Yan Wushi had already made his exit, everyone thought he went to pursue the group from Taohuawu, and said a small prayer for Taohuawu, insult anybody but why would you insult this god-level terror!
Although it must be said, because Erde Ming had left a brazen impression on everyone, some secretly rejoiced in their hearts.
After the meal, Fan Yuanbai and Zhou Yexue these two young people couldn’t sit still, they informed Zhao Chiying that they were going to look around a bit, Zhou Yexue even came over to invite Li Qingyu, only to be cooly turned down by Li Qingyu, who said he wanted to meditate in his room, her pride hurt, she was still irritated when she left.
Zhao Chiying was not made aware of Yan Wushi’s plans, seeing that he had not come back, was surprised: “Where has Yan-zongzhu gone?”
Shen Qiao: “He had some other matters to attend to, will not be travelling with us any longer.”
Zhao Chiying nodded, she had other concerns on her mind, and did not ask further.
For now Hehuan Sect and the Buddhist sects were powerful, but there were many sects in the world, many of whom did not want to capitulate to them, Hehuan Sect had a bad reputation, and the Buddhist sects had Xueting-chanshi, and behind them the Zhou dynasty, but for the Daoist sects, in particular Chunyang Sect this renowned sect, was not willing to acquiesce, so the timing of the shijiandahui was just right, many people gathered after hearing the news, rushing forth from all directions, the young wanted to make their name, the older and more prudent of the sect leaders wanted to make an alliance with Chunyang Sect, lest they end up snuffed out like Zhongnan Sect.
After the turmoil of their calamity, Bixia Sect was greatly diminished, mostly powerless, Zhao Chiying had no ambition to stand above the other sects, but she was long encumbered by the lack of future talent in her sect, and wanted to impress during shijiandaihui, add to Bixia Sect’s reputation, resurrect the drums and flags, but how this wish would come to fruition may require a long road ahead.
Fan Yuanbai, Zhou Yexue, their wugong was average, as can be seen in comparison to Li Qingyu, although the latter was close to them in age, he had the makings of a first rank master, with time, can anticipate much, Zhao Chiying couldn’t help but envy Yi Bichen’s luck.
As a sect with some history, Bixia Sect was not lacking in highly-skilled wugong, but someone who could realize this highly-skilled wugong on their path.
A day’s worth of scenery passed like this under Zhao Chiying’s turbulent thoughts, the next morning, after everyone had washed up and had breakfast, they made their way towards Qingchengshan.
This time the group did not stop again, in one go arrived in Qingchengshan’s Qingcheng Town.
On account of shijiandahui, the town had already filled with wulin people, Chunyangguan also had sent its people here to oversee things, seeing newcomers, asked for their sects, by way of registration, and brought them up the mountain in groups. However the numbers of people arriving exceeded their expectations, so many people were now in line waiting.
Li Qingyu brought Shen Qiao and the rest of the group to the main gate, used his sword sheath to knock on the desk of the person who was furiously writing down names.
The other raised his head, said ah, rushed to get up: “Li-shidi, you’ve returned!”
Not only him, the other Chunyangguan disciples responsible for welcoming guests all came over to greet Li Qingyu.
Li Qingyu folded his hands in greeting: “Zhao-shixiong, Cong-shixiong, is shizun on the mountain?”
Zhao-shixiong: “Yes, Linchuanxuegong and Kuaiji’s Wang family are here, sect leader is personally hosting them.”
Li Qingyu nodded, didn’t say anything, brought the others towards the main gates.
Zhao-shixiong called after him: “Li-shidi, who are these people with you? Please tell me their sects, so I may write them down, it’s my responsibility, please pardon me shidi.”
Li Qingyu was very accomplished in the wugong path, could be considered a leader among the younger generation of Chunyangguan, even his two shixiong had to treat him with respect.
Although his wugong was accomplished, he was sometimes lacking in interpersonal skills.
Li Qingyu frowned: “These are guests shizun told be to bring.”
The meaning being, you don’t need to know more.
Shen Qiao saw that he was going to upset someone, and so volunteered: “This is Bixia Sect Zhao-zongzhu, behind her are her disciples, this poor one is Shen Qiao, a wanderer.”
Hearing Bixia Sect, Zhao-shixiong didn’t have much of a reaction, hearing Shen Qiao, his face changed, asked: “Can I ask if it is Xuandushan’s Shen-daozhang?”
Shen Qiao nodded: “Yes.”
Zhao-shixiong’s face glowed, immediately folded his hands in greeting: “It turns out to be Shen-daozhang, I meant no disrespect, Shen-daozhang and the rest of your group please come in, I’ll send someone right away to notify shizun!”
Li Qingyu: “Zhao-shixiong, I can bring Shen-daozhang and the group up the mountain.”
Zhao-shixiong smiled: “Li-shidi you might not be aware, shizun instructed us beforehand, when we see Shen-daozhang and Zhao-zongzhu, to go notify him at once, so that he himself may come greet them, you can take them along the main path, see the scenery along the way, I’ll send someone along the backpaths to report.”
Although he said “Shen-daozhang and Zhao-zongzhu”, everyone could see all of his formalities were directed towards Shen Qiao, Zhao Chiying had an open attitude, and was not upset by this small thing.
Hearing that it was shifu’s instructions, Li Qingyu didn’t say anymore.
The people in line seeing him go on ahead after speaking to the Chunyangguan disciples were vexed: “We’ve waited so long, are we not worth him who has inner connections, if you don’t know the logic of who arrived first and who arrived later, why would Chunyangguan bother organizing shijiandahui?”
Zhao-shixiong: “You are mistaken, Chunyangguan is not the organizer, just that we have lent our grounds for Liuligong to organize shijiandahui, we’re just here to maintain order, since you are here at Qingchengshan, you have to respect Qingchengshan’s rules. The group you saw just now, one of them was Xuandushan Shen Qiao Shen-daozhang, the other was Bixia Sect Zhao-zongzhu, and the other was our sect’s Li Qingyu shidi, Li-shidi was following shizun’s orders, to invite these guests to our door, if you are still dissatisfied, why don’t you wait until you see my shizun in person, and tell him about it then.”
Qingchengshan Li Qingyu, this one from the younger generation already had a big name, first was his fight with Xuandushan zhangjiao Yu Ai, losing by one move, thereafter wandering the jianghu, crossing paths with Duan Wenyang this first rank master, although he didn’t win one hundred out of a hundred matches, but to be evenly matched, given his age, was already something stunning, now in the jianghu Li Qingyu’s name was so famous, compared to the world’s top ten, probably wasn’t that far off, we don’t know how many young women from established jianghu families, considered this young disciple from Chunyangguan an ideal future husband.
If mentioning Li Qingyu shocked everyone, then hearing Shen Qiao’s name they all froze, at first they didn’t believe it, then after there were others like Zhao-shixiong whose eyes glowed, naturally no one else stepped forward to dispute further.
In this half year and a bit, after he killed the Huo Xijing who liked to use people’s faces as masks, and then on Taishan with his sword made Kunye part with his life, and then receiving Yuwen Xian’s dying wish, fighting his way out of the ambush with Yuwen Song, as well killing the two Hehuan Sect elders, as rumours spread, his reputation was not that far from Li Qingyu’s, in all likelihood more well known than when he was Xuandushan zhangjiao.
Although some doubted Shen Qiao’s abilities, felt these rumours were blown out of proportion, that day when Shen Qiao fought his way out of Chang’an, or in Tuyuhun’s capital city defeating Yu Ai and the rest, there were bystanders, and many who saw it with their own eyes.
Now that Hehuan Sect’s influence had grown, many sects and wandering xia couldn’t voice their difficult circumstances, towards Shen Qiao who had demonstrated both intent and ability to stand against Hehuan Sect they had a lot of respect, unbeknownst to Shen Qiao, during this time, his name grew daily, no longer in the dust of the past. Although Liuligong’s rank-list wasn’t out yet, but jianghu rumours already spoke for Shen Qiao’s recovery and that he would definitely be within the top ten.
These transformations, Yan Wushi exchanged messages back and forth with the outside world, of course knew about them, but Shen Qiao on Taishan, solely dedicated to training and teaching his disciples, as if he were in seclusion, of course didn’t.
Li Qingyu was a bad tour guide, along the way up the mountain, seeing a scenic point, will say something to try to explain, but speaking was not his strength, the explanation bland, in a dull, straightforward style, making his listeners want to cover their ears, even seeing it with their own eyes was more interesting.
Shen Qiao and Zhao Chiying, with their manners and experience, wouldn’t reveal any of this, when they finally reached Chunyangguan, Zhou Yexue and Fan Yuanbai couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
A middle aged man wearing daoist robes stood in the daoguan’s main square in front of the incense burners, his hair was black, his hands held a fuchen, behind him was a number of disciples, this formal welcome was not a small one.
The one standing in front, was of course Chunyangguan sect leader Yi Bichen.
Shen Qiao glanced around, and recognized a familiar face standing behind Yi Bichen, Linchuanxuegong’s Zhan Ziqian.
The latter also saw Shen Qiao, folded his hands in greeting, and smiled.
Shen Qiao also nodded and smiled at him.
Li Qingyu stepped forward, bowed all the way: “Shizun, this disciple has returned.”
“No need for formalities, Mingcheng, you’ve worked hard.” Yi Bichen called him familiarly by his courtesy name, helped this beloved disciple to his feet, then walked over, towards Shen Qiao and Zhao Chiying and the rest and folded his hands in greeting: “Shen-daozhang, Zhao-zongzhu have travelled a long way, allowing my sect to be granted your glowing presence, this poor one is very fortunate, please do come in.”
For someone of Yi Bichen’s standing to personally come out to greet them, was giving them a lot of face, Zhao Chiying was initially worried about an icier reception, her own reputation was of no significance, but Bixia Sect’s reputation was important, today seeing how well Yi Bichen managed things, in contrast to Li Qingyu’s coldness, secretly praised Yi Bichen’s magnanimity.
Everyone chatted, Yi Bichen also introduced them to Zhan Ziqian.
Zhan Ziqian’s position in Linchuanxuegong was not low, but the most cherished disciple Xie Xiang did not make an appearance, Ruyan Kehui only sent Zhan Ziqian as representative, this on its own expressed their stance.
Yi Bichen brought them inside.
They saw that there were some people already seated inside.
Yi Bichen said: “This is Kuaiji Wang family’s er-gongzi and san-gongzi.”
The two young men did not rise, just generally raised their sleeves in their direction.
They had been conversing with Yi Bichen here earlier, they heard of Shen Qiao and the others’ arrival, but only Zhan Ziqian went with Yi Bichen out to greet them, the Wang family clearly did not think Bixia Sect or Shen Qiao was worth making an acquaintance of, the irreverence was on full display.
