Like lightning and thunder, a black dragon came charging down the main street. A young man dragged a demonic blade, transforming into a black dragon as he raced wildly along the road. Wherever that black shadow passed, all the lanterns on both sides of the street swayed and were extinguished, showing that this person’s footwork was swift as flight, with fierce winds striking like blades.

After tonight’s great battle, Wu Chongqing was severely injured. Not only was his throat wounded, but his chest and abdomen were also full of bruises, as if he might collapse at any moment. However, he still held the ‘Karma Fire Demonic Blade’ in his hand. Each time he was about to fall, he would grip the blade’s handle, which would surge his strength again, making his feet run even faster. In the blink of an eye, he had run several hundred feet.

Swoosh, swoosh! Countless hidden weapons shot from all directions. The roads on both sides were ambushed by countless black-clothed men. There were cross darts, golden coin darts, iron bodhi seeds… all kinds of hidden weapons came like a rain of flowers covering the sky, creating quite a spectacular sight.

Wu Chongqing’s movement technique was extremely fast. Although the hidden weapons were dense, not one could hit him. But Lu Yun behind him suffered terribly. He was chasing closely behind Chongqing, and the barrage of hidden weapons that missed their target all took him as their target instead. Lu Yun dodged left and right, in unspeakable misery.

Suddenly, a sharp ‘caw’ sound rang out. Two divine eagles soared up from the horizon, circling and flying, actually watching Chongqing from the sky.

Lu Yun was secretly alarmed: “They’re pursuing again.”

As soon as this thought arose, he heard the sound of heavy footsteps behind him. A large group of black-clothed men had already caught up. In an instant, the street was filled with ghostly shadows, and there were also figures moving on the rooftops, jumping like fleas. No one knew how many masters had come.

Lu Yun closely pursued Wu Chongqing while thinking as he chased. Tonight’s strange events came one after another. He had originally gone to Wanfu Tower to watch a play, but unexpectedly was first taken notice of by a ‘Miss Qi,’ getting a free meal and drinks. Later, he encountered Su Ying and Wu Chongqing fighting each other. Finally, all the black-clothed ghost crowd emerged, allowing Lu Yun to see the ‘Grand Shopkeeper.’

Thinking of that Grand Shopkeeper, Lu Yun naturally shuddered. This person’s martial arts were not only superb but also extremely precise. In competing with him in wit and strength, he had completely fallen behind. What made Lu Yun most suspicious was that person’s manner of speaking. Although his words were plain and calm, he spoke with complete confidence. That appearance seemed very familiar, remarkably similar to an old friend.

Lu Yun took a deep breath and couldn’t help thinking of that iron-footed big man again.

During the chaotic battle at Wanfu Tower earlier, the scene was disordered and no one had a chance to speak. But Lu Yun could see clearly that the iron-footed big man was precisely ‘Qin Zhonghai.’ Only this arrogant old friend would have the audacity to directly storm Wanfu Tower and beat the black-clothed ghost crowd until their souls scattered. It seemed he really was like that legendary ‘Angry King.’ With such brave and imposing presence, how many people in the world could match him?

The Angry King, the Grand Shopkeeper… these people were all top figures in today’s world. Their appearances seemed familiar yet made people feel they were unreachable. Suddenly, Lu Yun felt a slight melancholy. Thinking about it, he had truly been away from the mortal world for a very long time, so long that he could no longer recognize anyone.

He had been absent for a full ten years. Now Lu Yun had finally returned. At this moment, desperately chasing Chongqing was like chasing after that lost period of time. He wanted to know what exactly had happened in the past ten years that had made these familiar people become so strange and unrecognizable.

All the changes in the human world originated from that jade seal. Tonight, Lu Yun was determined to find Chongqing and get to the bottom of things.

While he was pondering, horse neighing came from behind—pursuers had arrived. Lu Yun snapped back to attention and hurriedly looked back. He saw snow and mud flying on the street as nineteen fine horses lined up in formation, creating an extremely imposing scene that couldn’t help but startle people.

Rumble… rumble. The horses galloped down the main street. Looking at these nineteen fine horses, all snow-white with deep black hooves, they were clearly famous Western Region breeds. Sure enough, Lu Yun had only been watching for a moment when seventy-six hooves trampled the ground with thunderous sounds, having already caught up not far behind him.

Lu Yun’s heart tensed. He hadn’t expected these nineteen riders to come so quickly. Just as he was about to quicken his pace to flee, suddenly one rider pressed close to his side and in an instant was running alongside Lu Yun. Looking at the rider, he wore a golden finger ring—it was Jin Lingshuang himself.

Lu Yun was fully on guard and was about to gather his energy for protection when Old Jin didn’t draw his sword to attack, but only turned his head to examine Lu Yun, as if he had something to say.

These two were actually both Kunlun masters. Jin Lingshuang was the junior brother of ‘Sword God’ Zhuo Lingzhao, while Lu Yun was the sole inheritor of the ‘Ancient Sword Manual.’ The connection between them could be said to be extremely deep. Lu Yun didn’t know what the other intended. Just as he was becoming suspicious, he saw Jin Lingshuang extend his golden finger ring and point toward Lu Yun’s chest.

Lu Yun’s heart tensed: “He… what does he want to say? Why is he pointing at my chest? Could it be… could it be I’m carrying something?”

Suddenly remembering he still carried a letter, Lu Yun couldn’t help but gasp, thinking silently: “Lingyan Xuanzhi… is he talking about this letter?”

Lu Yun remembered that he still had a letter hidden in his chest, which Hu Mei’er had delivered, claiming to be entrusted by Yang Suguan to pass on to him specifically. He still hadn’t opened it.

Remembering that Hu Mei’er also had that brand on her body, Lu Yun’s breathing couldn’t help but quicken. Back when he and Hu Mei’er fled south together, they had encountered an ambush on the road, and it seemed to be Jin Lingshuang and Tu Lingxin who had attacked. If so, could it be that ten years ago, this ‘Nation-Stabilizing Iron Guard’ was already hidden in the court? He just didn’t know what abilities this ‘Grand Shopkeeper’ possessed that even Hu Mei’er had turned to serve him.

Lu Yun took a deep breath. Seeing Jin Lingshuang driving his horse in wild gallop not far ahead, he wanted to catch up and ask for clarification. Suddenly, a loud sound rang out on the street, a purple light flashed, and Wu Chongqing’s body suddenly turned, forming a right angle as he headed straight for Xuanwu Gate Street.

Wu Chongqing had turned without any prior indication. As soon as this True Dragon Movement Technique was revealed, a row of black-clothed men immediately fell over. Jin Lingshuang and the others, riding horses, were even more caught off guard. In their panic, they could only hastily pull the reins. The horses neighed and reared up on their hind legs. Although these people had excellent martial arts, quite a few still fell from their horses.

Lu Yun had also overshot. When Wu Chongqing turned slightly, he stumbled and rushed into Liuli Fang Street. Seeing a shop approaching directly ahead, he pressed his feet firmly to the ground, generating sticky energy, and swayed his hands back and forth, finally managing not to smash everything in the shop to pieces.

Lu Yun looked completely disheveled and was gasping for breath. He hurriedly looked back and saw figures flying about on Xuanwu Gate Street. Jin Lingshuang and the others had reorganized and began pursuing Chongqing again. In the lead was Chongqing himself, followed by Jin Lingshuang leading eighteen riders, then a large group of black-clothed men either running on rooftops or racing on the ground. Everyone’s movement techniques were extremely fast, clearly having practiced supreme lightness skills.

Lu Yun’s martial arts were mixed, having learned many famous masters’ techniques, but he hadn’t practiced true lightness skills. To compete in speed with this group of martial arts masters was naturally inferior. Seeing everyone running farther and farther away, knowing he couldn’t catch up, he simply slowed his pace and stared at Wu Chongqing’s retreating figure.

Tonight, at this moment, regardless of the cost, he must face Chongqing and get his questions answered.

Once Lu Yun made up his mind, his chest immediately swelled as he slowly inhaled. He felt his spiritual platform become clear, forgetting both self and objects, as if he were standing back on the waterfall island waiting for the next great wave to come crashing toward him.

“Uncle Lu…” Suddenly, he seemed to hear Chongqing’s low call in his ear, saying “Save us…”

In an instant, his strength exploded. Lu Yun stamped his foot down with a force of ten thousand pounds, truly heavy as Mount Tai’s might, moving like martial thunder roaring. Stone debris flew from the blue stone pavement beneath his feet as Lu Yun began to fly forward.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Left leg up, right leg down. When Lu Yun lifted his feet, he invariably stepped so hard that the blue stone pavement cracked under the pressure. Using this great force, his body was like being propelled by gunpowder. While his body was still accelerating, his other foot would heavily stamp down again, doubling his speed. In the blink of an eye, he had covered dozens of zhang and caught up to the black-clothed men’s formation.

This wasn’t lightness skill but leg strength, precisely what he had trained in the waterfall.

True energy poured into both legs, condensing like mountains. Lu Yun’s legs were like spears and lances. Every step used full strength. In no time, he had overtaken the large group of black-clothed men. Several people tried to intercept Lu Yun, but his steps were extremely heavy. The stone slabs beneath all shattered and flew in all directions like hidden weapons, forcing the black-clothed men to dodge left and right. Not one could get within three feet of him.

The fierce wind struck his face like blades. After about another li, he could already see the large cavalry formation. Lu Yun was overjoyed, knowing Chongqing was not far away. He gathered all his strength and stepped even harder. In an instant, he overtook the fast horses and could already see the blade marks burned into the ground.

Wu Chongqing dragged iron chains with his hand, carrying the grinding blade as he flew forward. Lu Yun took a deep breath and was about to approach to speak when he heard Chongqing exhale and call out. A burst of purple light flashed, and his body suddenly leaped right, actually darting into a narrow alley.

This time Lu Yun was prepared. He also summoned his leg strength and fiercely shifted his body right to follow in pursuit.

The alley was extremely narrow, only wide enough for one person to pass. Jin Lingshuang and the others, riding horses, were all blocked outside. Only Lu Yun and Chongqing remained in pursuit. However, Lu Yun hadn’t practiced the True Dragon Movement Technique. When entering the alley, his force was too great and he immediately crashed into a civilian house with a loud crash. Dirt and sand showered down as his shoulder hit another stone wall. He stumbled for more than ten steps before finally stabilizing his form, only to have a bamboo pole come striking down at his head.

Lu Yun was greatly startled and hurriedly ducked to avoid it, but saw pots, pans, ladles, water buckets, and chamber pots all thrown over by Wu Chongqing.

This place was behind civilian homes where all sorts of things were placed in the back door alley, dirty and chaotic. Looking at Wu Chongqing, how detestable—whatever he grabbed, there was excrement, urine, and countless stinking sewage, all sent to Uncle Lu. Poor Lu Yun only had this brown robe—how could he not protect himself? For a time, he could only leap high and crouch low in complete embarrassment.

“Chongqing! I have something to tell you, Chongqing!”

Lu Yun was both alarmed and anxious, not knowing why this young man was avoiding him.

He suddenly leaped up, flying over the debris. His right hand shot out toward Wu Chongqing’s back, shouting: “Chongqing, stop running!”

With a ‘hey’ sound, Wu Chongqing dove forward, purple electricity bursting from his body, dissolving the sticky energy in Lu Yun’s palm. Then his body turned at a right angle and darted into another narrow alley. Lu Yun smiled bitterly, knowing he couldn’t match his superior movement technique. In an instant, he used the desperate technique of ‘dog eating shit,’ striving to leap forward and finally managed to grab Chongqing’s calf, shouting: “Stop!”

Just as he was about to exert himself to pull him down, suddenly he heard the loud clanging of iron chains. The demonic blade flew through the air, and in an instant, the blade handle was gripped tightly—man and blade united. Lu Yun’s heart cried out in alarm, and indeed, a dominating force came through, shaking Lu Yun’s palm numb and forcing him to let go. The ‘Purple Robe Energy’ was activated by the demonic blade. That energy’s fierceness and power’s strength were like the ‘Grand Shopkeeper’ and ‘Angry King’ personally attacking. Although Lu Yun’s internal energy was deep and profound, wanting to subdue him was easier said than done.

“Hey!”

Wu Chongqing’s entire body was covered in purple electricity as he leaped upward, flying out from among the civilian houses. Lu Yun also gave a ‘ha’ sound, summoning his leg strength to spring up from the ground.

The two leaped one after the other. Lu Yun reached mid-air and saw civilian house rooftops beneath his feet. As far as his eyes could see, he couldn’t spot Chongqing’s shadow, not knowing where this young man had hidden. Just as he was becoming suspicious, he suddenly heard sharp ‘caw caw’ sounds overhead, like raptor calls. Lu Yun turned his head to look urgently and only then realized behind him was a tall city wall with the inscription: Daming Gate.

On the city wall, two divine eagles circled. At the wall, a young man was climbing—it was Chongqing, flying up toward the city wall.

Looking at Chongqing’s excellent lightness skill, he was actually running up along the city wall. Each time his toes touched the smooth city wall, his body immediately rose a zhang, as if walking on level ground.

Beijing was divided into inner and outer cities. The outer wall’s south gate was the famous ‘Yongding Gate,’ while the inner wall’s south gate was this ‘Daming Gate.’ Yang Suguan’s old home had been in this area. Lu Yun had no time for detailed thought. With a leap and bound, he also reached the city wall. After a deep breathing exercise, sticky energy emerged from his palms, and like a gecko climbing walls, he began scaling upward.

Although Lu Yun didn’t have the ‘True Dragon Movement Technique,’ he had his own wall-climbing skills. Years ago, when heading west through Yang Pass, he had carried a princess climbing and escaping on ten-thousand-ren cliffs. Now his skills were far superior to those days. His climbing was extremely fast—with each exertion of his hands, he rose seven or eight feet. However, though his hands and feet were fast, Chongqing was even faster. After several bounds, he was about to flip over the wall.

Lu Yun was secretly anxious, knowing he was about to lose track of the person. He was still thinking about how to intercept when suddenly he heard a ‘whoosh’ of breaking air. Someone from below the city had shot an arrow straight at Wu Chongqing’s back. Lu Yun’s heart tensed: ‘The pursuers have arrived.’ The arrow shot toward his back, but Wu Chongqing didn’t even turn his head, merely extending two fingers to lightly catch the hidden arrow, as if he had eyes in the back of his head. Lu Yun silently applauded: “Good lad, you’ve really got it.”

Wu Chongqing, confident in his superior movement technique and with the demonic blade in hand, naturally didn’t take this arrow seriously. He was about to exert force with his feet to flip over the city wall in one effort when he heard “whoosh, whoosh…” continuous sounds. The sky was full of breaking air sounds—hundreds of flying arrows descended from above.

Wu Chongqing was suspended in mid-air with nothing to rely on. He gave a ‘hey’ sound, his energy slightly loosened, and his body was forced to sink downward, sliding more than twenty feet. The strong bows and hard crossbows lost their target and all shot into the city wall. Sparks flew everywhere as the stone wall was shot full of holes, with stone flowers and debris falling down.

The main force of the ‘Nation-Stabilizing Iron Guard’ had arrived. Lu Yun hurriedly turned to look and saw a large group of black-clothed men hidden in the small harbor, each drawing bows and shooting arrows continuously at the city wall, not allowing Chongqing to climb up.

Lu Yun stared in amazement when suddenly arrows came like rain. The black-clothed men had also noticed him and shot at him as well.

Lu Yun cried out in alarm and hurriedly released his sticky energy, climbing east and west like a gecko to escape, not forgetting to shout to Chongqing: “Come over here quickly! Let’s go from below the city!”

In the rain of arrows, Lu Yun repeatedly urged, but Wu Chongqing paid no attention. He took a deep breath and lifted the iron chain upward. With a loud ‘clang clang’ sound, a karma fire swept across the sky. The demonic blade, connected to the chain, swept out and knocked down all the arrow rain.

The night sky was full of fire light. Wu Chongqing’s imposing figure truly seemed like the incarnation of the ‘Northern Dragon King,’ looking around proudly. Seeing no more interference, he immediately kicked against the wall, his form rising more than two zhang, about to fly over the city wall in one leap, when suddenly another ‘whoosh’ sound came—another arrow breaking through the air.

This arrow had deep skill. Looking at it in the night sky, the arrowhead faintly glittered with captivating light. Lu Yun’s heart awakened: ‘Jin Lingshuang has arrived.’

The incoming arrow broke through the air urgently. This was precisely the ‘Nation-Stabilizing Iron Guard’s’ ‘Fourth Boss’ Jin Lingshuang personally attacking—how could the power be ordinary?

At this time, Wu Chongqing was in mid-air, only a few feet from the city wall. If forced down by this arrow, wanting to ascend to heaven again would be extremely difficult. At once, he didn’t dodge either. With a clang sound, Chongqing lifted the iron chain, and the demonic blade flew up to the sky again.

He reached out to grab the blade handle in mid-air, about to strike down the flying arrow, when he heard Lu Yun shout loudly: “Not good, Chongqing, you’ve fallen into a trap!”

Wind sound suddenly rang. A second golden light shot up from below the city, cutting through the night sky. Jin Lingshuang shot another arrow. Looking at the direction of this arrow, it was aimed precisely at Wu Chongqing’s palm.

This was a ‘feint and capture’ strategy. The second arrow came extremely fast, actually ten times faster than the first arrow. That arrow was wrapped in brilliant golden light with extremely alarming momentum. In an instant, it would overtake the first arrow and arrive first, about to nail Wu Chongqing’s right palm to the wall.

Jin Lingshuang’s mind was meticulous, having calculated Chongqing’s movements crystal clear. The first arrow shot earlier used only about twenty percent of his strength, specifically to lure Chongqing to draw the blade. Little did he know the second arrow was at full strength—that was the essence. Seeing Chongqing reach out to grab the demonic blade was equivalent to sending his palm forward, just right for Jin Lingshuang to hit the target.

The situation was extremely dangerous. Two arrows came from below the city, one after the other. If Wu Chongqing wanted to escape and protect himself, he would have to withdraw his hand. But once his palm dodged, the incoming arrow would shoot through the iron chain on the blade. Then the demonic blade would fall below the city and naturally be snatched back by the black-clothed men. But if Chongqing stubbornly refused to let go, wouldn’t his right palm be nailed dead to the wall? When ten thousand arrows came from below the city, wouldn’t he be shot into a porcupine?

Ginger is spicier when old. Wu Chongqing could neither advance nor retreat, neither go up nor come down—he was already in a dilemma. Grinding his teeth, he suddenly gave a strange roar but still reached out to grab the demonic blade.

Lu Yun was greatly anxious. Unfortunately, he wasn’t carrying weapons and couldn’t save anyone. In desperation, he could only channel his true energy. White light emerged from his palms as he struck the city wall heavily with his backhand. With a thunderous crash, a bowl-sized deep hole broke in the wall. The force rebounded, also sending Lu Yun flying up.

The distance between them was considerable. Lu Yun stretched out both hands in mid-air, urgently lunging toward Chongqing, shouting: “Chongqing! Drop the demonic blade! Jump over here!”

Wu Chongqing absolutely wouldn’t withdraw his hand. He hung on the wall with his left hand supporting his body while his right hand reached directly for the demonic blade. In this critical moment, suddenly a pair of snow-white hands appeared from the city wall with a clear voice calling: “Wu Chongqing! Grab my hand!”

The voice was clear and melodious, indescribably pleasant. Lu Yun couldn’t help but open his mouth wide, thinking: “A girl?”

A girl had indeed come to the city wall. She leaned down and reached out, letting down a head of beautiful hair. In this crucial moment, she pulled the person up. With a long whistle, Wu Chongqing used his left hand to bring his body up more than a zhang, and the demonic blade also flew up to the sky.

Clang, clang—two sounds rang out. Fire light suddenly appeared on the city wall—the situation was dangerous to the extreme. One arrow hit the city wall, was damaged and broken, and fell below the city. The other arrow was nailed into the city wall, penetrating completely to the feathers, showing how profound the arrow’s true power was.

“He escaped again!”

The black-clothed men below the city jumped with fury. Seeing Wu Chongqing had escaped, having anger with nowhere to vent, they took Lu Yun as a living target and shot arrows wildly. Those two divine eagles also lost their temper and pecked and struck at Lu Yun wildly, as if wanting to vent their heart’s hatred.

Lu Yun had always been unlucky. Pressured by two divine eagles, he fell several zhang again. A large group of flying arrows shot from behind, forcing him into extreme danger.

Lu Yun clung to the city wall in complete embarrassment, but his heart was both alarmed and angry. The demonic blade wasn’t on him—why were these people causing him trouble? He could only crawl around on the wall dodging the incoming arrows. The black-clothed men below the city were equally bored, shooting arrows east and west, mixed with crude curses about fathers and mothers, actually treating Lu Yun as a living target for hunting entertainment.

Lu Yun cried out in suffering. While dodging east and hiding west, he heard sharp whistling from below the city. Jin Lingshuang’s distant shout came: “All troops listen to orders! Advance into the inner city!”

As soon as his words fell, a cannon fired into the sky from the distance, exploding and making the night sky brilliant as day. Black-clothed men far and near, seeing the signal, all stopped their hands and gathered toward where the fireworks came from. Lu Yun’s heart relaxed, thinking: “Jin Lingshuang is still reasonable—they’re withdrawing.”

Looking at this ‘Nation-Stabilizing Iron Guard,’ no one knew their origin. Their actions were extremely secretive yet extremely arrogant. Seeing them release cannons in the middle of the night—weren’t they afraid of attracting patrolling officials to investigate? Lu Yun clung to the wall, focusing his gaze on Jin Lingshuang’s figure, thinking again: “Right, should I tell him that Zhuo Lingzhao’s ‘Sword Manual’ is in my hands?”

Over ten years, the ‘Ancient Sword Manual’ had long been thoroughly familiar. Only that day when he left the waterfall, knowing it was a matter of life and death, he had left the scripture in the Water Curtain Cave and hadn’t taken it with him. But regardless, his entire martial arts came from Kunlun’s teachings. Thinking of Zhuo Lingzhao’s kindness, he still owed the Kunlun sect a debt of gratitude.

Thinking of Guizhou’s ‘Little White Dragon,’ Lu Yun’s heart suddenly felt warm. At that time, when he fell into the waterfall, he had saved a little blind boy on the waterfall island and passed the ‘Sword Leopard’ technique to him, adding a new person to the Kunlun sect.

He suddenly had a strange thought: “Right, if in the future I can persuade Jin Lingshuang and Tu Lingyi to reform and turn toward good, then go to Guizhou to find Little White Dragon, wouldn’t Kunlun Mountain reopen?”

These many thoughts came and went. Though it seemed like a long time, it was actually just an instant. While thinking, Daming Gate in the distance actually opened. A large group of black-clothed men followed Jin Lingshuang and filed into the inner city.

It was the fourth watch. Daming Gate still had more than an hour before it should open, but the Nation-Stabilizing Iron Guard truly had connections, actually able to make officials open the gate an hour early—truly having vast supernatural powers. Lu Yun had no mind for much thought. Seeing the other side withdraw and go far away, he also hurriedly climbed up the city wall, shouting: “Chongqing! The pursuers have come from inside the city. Come with me quickly!”

The moon was setting in the west, and the long night was nearly over. The city wall was pitch black with no guards visible, naturally not showing Chongqing’s figure either.

Lu Yun wasn’t discouraged and still kept shouting. Looking left and right, he suddenly saw a stretcher placed at a street corner below the city. A man lay on it, breathing rapidly, clearly injured, but holding a black blade in his hands—who else could it be but Chongqing?

Lu Yun was overjoyed, knowing he had found the person. Only this city wall was really too high. He absolutely couldn’t jump down in one go. Seeing stone steps by the city, he leaped far over, touched his feet on the stone steps, then bounded to a large tree. His body flipped as he jumped onto a civilian house, then tumbled down to the ground and ran wildly.

“Chongqing! Chongqing!”

Though the distance between them was quite far, Lu Yun was too impatient and began calling out loudly.

While shouting, suddenly the stretcher was dragged away. Lu Yun was startled and looked intently. He saw a woman gasping for breath, striving to drag the stretcher—presumably the woman he had seen on the city wall earlier. Lu Yun hurried forward in direct pursuit, shouting: “Wait! Wait for me!”

That woman seemed deaf to his calls and only urgently dragged the stretcher to a wall. Tree shadows gradually obscured the view, and the person could no longer be seen.

Lu Yun was both alarmed and anxious. He hurriedly ran with all his might. When he reached the wall, he saw an empty stretcher on the ground. In just the blink of an eye, Wu Chongqing had disappeared again. Lu Yun made a sound of surprise, not knowing why it was like this. He looked around and suddenly saw a gap by the wall just wide enough for one person to pass through. His heart immediately awakened, knowing Chongqing had gone through here.

Lu Yun didn’t waste words and hurriedly passed through the wall gap. Just as he was about to call out again, he couldn’t help but make another sound of surprise.

Chongqing had disappeared again. Inside the wall was an empty wasteland with some timber and stone materials placed by the wall, apparently for building a new house. But strangely, no one could be seen. Lu Yun was completely puzzled and could only call out again: “Chongqing! Chongqing! Don’t hide from me! Come out quickly!”

This empty lot was extremely large with no place to hide or take cover. No matter how fast that woman’s movement technique was, she couldn’t possibly vanish into thin air. Lu Yun wouldn’t give up and was urgently searching when suddenly he saw a figure flash in the courtyard, moving with extraordinary swiftness, heading straight for a corner of the empty lot.

“Chongqing!”

Lu Yun hurriedly pursued. That person’s movement technique was quite fast, but this time Lu Yun was faster. He strove to leap forward, about to catch that black shadow, when unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, that black shadow completely disappeared.

Lu Yun was extremely astonished. Looking down, he saw a well in front of him—that black shadow had actually jumped down into it. Lu Yun was greatly alarmed. He hadn’t expected Chongqing to fear him to this extent. He hurriedly crouched by the well edge and called down: “Chongqing! Are you down there?”

That person just now must have been Wu Chongqing. Otherwise, the movement technique wouldn’t have been so fast. Lu Yun called several times, but only heard faint echoes. The well was pitch black with no visible bottom—who knew how deep it was. Seeing that Chongqing didn’t answer for a long time, Lu Yun feared his injuries were too severe and he had fallen and been hurt in the well. He found a tree branch in the courtyard, then lit a fire stick to make a torch. He called into the well: “Chongqing! I’m coming down! Don’t be afraid of me! Uncle Lu won’t harm you!”

While calling, he had already stepped over the well rim and leaped down.

If this had been ten years ago, Lu Yun definitely wouldn’t have dared to rashly go down a well. But at this time, his divine skills had been perfected, and there weren’t many people in the world who could trouble him. Even if he encountered the ‘Grand Shopkeeper’ or ‘Angry King,’ as long as both sides competed with true martial arts skills without using cunning schemes, he had nothing to fear.

Whoosh whoosh… whoosh whoosh… Darkness engulfed his body as Lu Yun fell all the way down, seemingly without end.

This well was deeper than imagined. Lu Yun had gone down more than ten feet and still hadn’t seen the bottom. He channeled the sticky energy in his palms, pressing against the well wall and striking repeatedly to stabilize his form. Then he called: “Chongqing!”

Hee hee…

Lu Yun heard laughter and couldn’t help but feel his heart tense. He hurriedly called again: “Chongqing! Are you laughing?”

Immediately releasing his hands, he fell dozens more feet. With a bang, mud splattered below and moss overturned. Lu Yun gave a shout, spreading his hands as his whole body filled with energy. Lu Yun stood on solid ground and looked around. He saw the well bottom was dry with no water, only moss and mud everywhere. Other than that, there was nothing. Lu Yun was stunned for a long while, then roared loudly: “Wu Chongqing!”

The sound shook the well bottom, creating great echoes, but naturally no one answered him.

Lu Yun sighed and thought: “Look at me being confused all night—don’t drive myself crazy.”

Having pursued all night with nothing to show for it, Lu Yun couldn’t help but smile bitterly. Actually, thinking about it, why did he need to be so anxious?

This Wu Chongqing wasn’t some wandering stranger—he was Wu Dingyuan’s son and must live in the Grand Commander’s mansion. If he wanted to see him, he could just visit the residence. At that time, he surely couldn’t escape through the door, could he?

Although this was so, thinking about having to meet the Wu couple, Lu Yun couldn’t help but sigh deeply, feeling greatly troubled.

Since witnessing this group of ‘Nation-Stabilizing Iron Guards,’ Lu Yun’s heart had gradually become clear, knowing that Liu Angtian’s death had other hidden circumstances and might not be related to Wu Dingyuan. But the trouble was, even if Wu Dingyuan didn’t know, what if Yan Ting was actually involved? What should he do then?

Yan Ting’s suspicions were really too heavy. That jade seal was given to Wu Chongqing by her—this crime definitely couldn’t be washed away. But if she really intended to harm the Marquis, what should he do? Could he possibly beat his wife to death in front of Wu Dingyuan and cut out her heart to sacrifice to Liu Angtian?

Lu Yun was a sentimental person who had feelings for Liu Angtian, but equally, he had true feelings for Wu Dingyuan.

He wasn’t keen on revenge and didn’t want to judge life and death for his old friends. However, no matter how much he yielded, he had to find out the truth of what happened back then. This was his duty and couldn’t be shirked or avoided.

Lu Yun stood alone in the well with a dejected expression. He sighed silently, knowing Chongqing wasn’t in the well and he would have to climb back up the original way. Suddenly, his gaze swept and he saw a cave hidden in a corner of the well bottom, about five feet long and wide.

Lu Yun’s heart tensed, realizing this dry well had other mysteries. He hurriedly crouched down and used the torch to illuminate that cave. He saw it was pitch black ahead with no visible bottom. He pondered slightly, then found a small stone and shot it into the cave. He heard the sound of breaking air echoing far away, never touching the bottom. Lu Yun’s heart tensed as he thought: “Could this be underground waterways?”

According to elder tradition, Beijing was built by Emperor Yongle, following the inspiration of ‘National Master’ Liu Bowen and the blueprints of ‘Celestial Master’ Yao Guangxiao, creating this ‘Eight-Armed Nezha City’ that henceforth controlled China’s dragon veins. In the past, Lu Yun didn’t believe in this feng shui theory, thinking it was nonsense. But now it seemed this dragon vein actually existed—it was China’s waterways.

Underground waterways connected the five lakes and four seas. Presumably, when people dug wells in the past, they reached this point and touched underground water sources, causing well water to flow endlessly. Only in recent years, with great droughts, the well water dried up, revealing this deep hole.

Lu Yun thought: “Perhaps Chongqing is hiding in the cave—that’s also possible.”

He held the torch and was about to crawl into the cave when suddenly a terrifying thought appeared in his mind, making him shudder slightly.

This scene seemed familiar. Back then, hadn’t Qin Zhonghai and Yang Suguan fallen into an underground cave during their great battle at Shaolin? Afterward, the court angrily waged war, Jingtai fell, Zhengtong was restored—all the great misfortunes in the world came from that unknown secret passage…

Qian Long… Back then, a person was imprisoned in that underground cave—the first military strategist of the Angry Cang, ‘Qian Long,’ held captive by Master Tianjue…

Inexplicably, Lu Yun became afraid. Since leaving the waterfall, although he had been dejected and confused, he had never felt afraid.

But at this moment, it seemed as if once he crawled into this black hole, he would never be able to return alive.

He hesitated internally, not knowing whether he should go in, when he suddenly thought of Liu Angtian. His spirits immediately lifted as he mused: “Perhaps I also bear some responsibility for the Marquis’s death back then. If I can do my utmost for him, how can I refuse?”

With this thought, he had no more hesitation. Taking up the torch, he prepared to find a way into the cave.

The waterway was narrow. Lu Yun first extended both legs, raising his hands high, slowly letting his lower body enter. Suddenly the torch touched wet mud and was extinguished. Lu Yun didn’t care about this. Seeing his lower body had entered the water cave, he slowly let his shoulders enter as well. He gradually released his hands, and in an instant, his body slid down rapidly.

This waterway was far more slippery than imagined, but Lu Yun relied on his perfected divine skills. Having come this far, he would make the best of it. As long as he had made up his mind, he feared nothing. For now, he would just go with the flow—as for how to leave this place later, it wasn’t too late to think about that.

His body slid down all the way at great speed. This waterway seemed endless. Just as he was becoming worried, suddenly his breathing became smooth—he was about to reach the bottom. He hurriedly extended both palms, striking the cave walls repeatedly as his form gradually slowed. In no time, his feet found empty space and his body flew out of the waterway. Lu Yun performed several somersaults in mid-air to dissipate the sliding force, then spread his palms and stepped on solid ground.

Everywhere around was dark—nothing could be seen. Lu Yun stared at the pitch-black area ahead, gathered his energy, and shouted: “Chongqing!”

Chongqing… Chongqing… Chongqing…

Everything was pitch black ahead, but he heard echoes reverberating all around. This cave bottom seemed extremely vast and spacious. Lu Yun picked up flint and struck sparks. Suddenly he saw a person with bleeding eyes and protruding tongue standing by the cave wall.

Lu Yun was greatly alarmed and immediately leaped backward. With a bang, he had already crashed into the cave wall. Just as he was horrified, an iron tube pressed against the back of his head, and he heard someone whisper in his ear: “Don’t move.”

“Firearms?”

Lu Yun was greatly alarmed and was forced to stand still. In a moment, his back and waist were each pressed by guns—his whole body was already targeted by four guns. The person behind him still thought it wasn’t enough and immediately said: “Raise your hands high.”

Seeing firearms arrive actually made Lu Yun’s heart relax—he knew those behind him were people, not ghosts. As long as the opponents were living people, he wasn’t worried about not being able to kill them. He raised both hands high over his shoulders and asked calmly: “Who are you, sir?”

“Righteous and brave people.”

As soon as these words came out, Lu Yun suddenly flipped forward. Continuous clanging sounds rang out as his legs spun and kicked, shaking off all the firearms behind him.

Lu Yun’s attack was extremely fast. Following the source of the voice, he went to counter-grip the opponent’s pulse point, when suddenly that person’s palm turned and exchanged a palm strike with him.

When their palms met, the opponent’s palm force was surprisingly light and floating, showing extraordinary mastery. Lu Yun snorted but wasn’t afraid. In an instant, his right hand shot out, grabbing the opponent’s sleeve, about to pull him over, when suddenly with a snap, bright light appeared before his eyes.

Having been in darkness for so long, this light suddenly appeared, directly piercing Lu Yun’s eyes with tears. He hurriedly closed his eyes.

Retreating a zhang, he felt the air currents around him were strange, as if something was approaching.

Lu Yun was a qi cultivator. If there was any killing intent or unusual conditions around his body, even if his eyes couldn’t see and ears couldn’t hear, he could still sense and guard against it. He closed his eyes tightly, waiting for the foreign object to approach, but his ears couldn’t hear any sound of breaking air for a long time. The more puzzled he became, suddenly a silent air current pressed toward his face at great speed—it was clearly a sharp blade coming!

Lu Yun was greatly alarmed and hurriedly opened his eyes, but before him was complete darkness—he couldn’t see anything. Yet that sharp blade made no sound of breaking air, only bringing a faint air current, seemingly aimed at his throat. Lu Yun’s heart was horrified. This blade was invisible and silent—he really didn’t know how to parry it. He could only leap backward more than a zhang to avoid the killing move.

With a ‘clang’ sound, a fast blade indeed struck the cave wall, creating sparks that flashed briefly before everything returned to darkness again. Lu Yun was secretly horrified. Such a fast-coming blade should logically have produced excited breaking air sounds, but he had heard nothing. If not for his deep internal energy allowing him to detect unusual air currents around his body, he would probably have been killed already.

Everywhere was pitch black and dim. Lu Yun couldn’t see anything, like a blind man, while the opponent’s blade technique was strange, attacking silently—he had become caged prey. He knew he had encountered a major ambush. Immediately, he pressed his back tightly against the cave wall to at least guard one direction, then gathered his internal energy and called out loudly: “Who is hiding here? Please come out to meet—how about it?”

Ha ha… ha ha… ha ha… Suddenly great laughter came from the cave, as if countless people were hiding in the dark laughing. For a time, thunderous echoes filled the cave with frightening momentum. Lu Yun himself was also a person with deep internal energy—how could he fear these tricks? He gathered his internal energy and suddenly gave a wild howl: “Scoundrels! Come out!”

Lu Yun’s internal energy was rare in the world. This roar could truly change heaven and earth. In an instant, the cave seemed to ring with thunderclaps, drowning out the opponent’s laughter.

Echoes clashed and reverberated in the cave like heaven collapsing and earth splitting. The opponent, hearing Lu Yun’s howl, fell silent again. Lu Yun became increasingly annoyed. He gathered his dantian energy and was about to howl madly when suddenly the surroundings brightened with great light, making him cry out “Ah!” as his eyes hurt greatly and he couldn’t see anything. Just as he was panicking, he suddenly felt air currents beside him shake urgently—another sharp blade was coming. This time Lu Yun was prepared. He pressed his left foot to the ground, his body spinning like wind as he swept out a flying kick—precisely the ‘Peerless Continuous Fist’ personally taught by Lu Guzhan.

He hadn’t used this move for a long time. Today’s Lu Yun was no longer the same person. When he used this ‘Whirlwind Kick,’ how could its power be compared to before? With a whooshing sound, this kick swept in a large circle, protecting his whole body so no one could approach. But hearing light footsteps, the opponent had already dodged far away. Lu Yun closed his eyes and landed, raising his palms to protect himself, saying in a deep voice: “Friend, what blade technique are you using exactly?”

“Wudang…” Suddenly a laugh came from the distance. “Night Walking Blade.”

Lu Yun’s heart jumped in alarm and he hurriedly opened his eyes to finally see the scene before him.

All the lights in the cave were bright. He saw himself in a spacious cave with a large stone in front. Two feet stood on the stone wearing straw sandals. Following up from the ankles, he saw a waist blade, then gradually saw a fat, strong body. Finally, he saw a face—green-faced with fangs and a bloody mouth, with the character ‘Greed’ on the head. This directly scared Lu Yun into crying out “Ah!”

“Ha ha ha!”

That ghost-like creature laughed loudly, saying: “What? Are you scared now? If you were to see my true face, wouldn’t you cry? Ha ha! Ha ha! Ha ha ha!”

Great echoes filled the cave like thunder. Gradually, more than ten people walked out of the cave, each wearing ghost masks, holding iron flutes in their left hands and Kongming lanterns in their right hands, but not one carried firearms.

Lu Yun made a sound of understanding, finally realizing where the earlier ‘firearms’ had come from—they were actually several iron flutes that had fooled him.

He didn’t like the opponent’s pretense of ghosts and spirits, so he said in a deep voice: “Who exactly are you people? Why are you gathered here?”

That person laughed: “Didn’t I tell you? We are righteous and brave people.”

Lu Yun pondered slightly, feeling ‘righteous and brave people’ sounded very familiar—he must have heard it somewhere. After pondering for a long while, he sighed and said: “Are you… are you Chongqing’s friends?”

That person chuckled: “Truly enemies but not friends, truly friends but not enemies. When the world is unsettled, sometimes enemies and friends are indistinguishable, sometimes enemies and friends are hard to tell apart.”

Lu Yun heard him speaking without getting to the point, feeling even more impatient in his heart. He said in a deep voice: “Is Chongqing here or not?”

That person laughed: “Why should I tell you? Are you the Buddha?”

Lu Yun shook his head: “No.”

That person laughed heartily: “There you have it. You’re neither the Jade Emperor nor the Buddha—why should I listen to you?”

All the people in the cave found his words amusing and burst into loud laughter, again shaking the cave full of echoes.

Lu Yun snorted. He knew these people must have some connection with Chongqing. Before the situation was clear, he didn’t want to cause any killings. He said: “Friend, I am surnamed Lu, named Yun, and I’m an old acquaintance of Chongqing’s father. Please do me a favor and let me see him.”

That person laughed: “You’re an old acquaintance, and I’m also an old acquaintance. Everyone knows each other—that’s fine. In remembrance of our acquaintance, I can do you a favor.”

Lu Yun was an honest gentleman and was immediately overjoyed to hear this: “Thank you so much. May I ask where Chongqing is now?”

That person said: “Don’t rush. If you want to see Wu Chongqing, you must first clear the poison from your body.”

Lu Yun was astonished: “Poison? I have poison on me?”

That person said: “That’s right. Greed, anger, and ignorance—these are the three poisons in your heart.”

Lu Yun awakened to understanding, knowing that in Buddhist doctrine there were the so-called seven sufferings: “birth, old age, sickness, death, meeting with hate and resentment, separation from beloved, and not obtaining what one seeks,” and also saying “all troubles lie in greed, anger, and ignorance.” If one could wash away the three poisons, one could escape the seven sufferings and thus achieve great enlightenment.

Lu Yun frowned: “Friend, are you joking with me? You want to help me cleanse the three poisons from my heart?”

That person said: “That’s right. You are too deeply poisoned, sick throughout your body. If you can’t break the three poisons in your heart, even if you see Chongqing, it will be in vain.”

Lu Yun heard there was meaning beyond his words, as if he wanted to enlighten him about something. He neither agreed nor disagreed: “Very well. You want to help me cleanse the three poisons, but how exactly will you cleanse them?”

That person waved his hand. Only footsteps were heard as two men turned out from the cave. One wore an angry vajra mask with the state of ‘anger,’ while the other had a white face and red lips with a blank open mouth—naturally, he must be an ‘ignorant person.’

Lu Yun made a sound of understanding: “What cleansing of three poisons—it looks like we’re going to fight, right?”

That person said: “You’re right. The first obstacle you need to break through is the greed in your own heart.”

Lu Yun said calmly: “Lu has been empty-handed all his life—what exactly have I been greedy for?”

That person said: “Still saying you’re not greedy? Look at you, empty-handed and self-satisfied, so proud and pleased with yourself—if this isn’t greed, what is?”

Lu Yun said calmly: “What do you mean?”

That person said: “When the great Way is abandoned, there are benevolence and righteousness. You are more ‘righteous’ than anyone, so you’ve been blind and sightless all your life, unable to see anything. For your own good, I’m now going to beat you to great enlightenment, so you’ll abandon sainthood and wisdom and break the three poisons.”

After saying this long speech, he raised his steel blade, spinning it like a disk without making half a sound—truly the ‘Wudang Night Walking Blade.’

Lu Yun sighed: “Fighting in the dark again?”

That person chuckled: “Of course.”

Waving his hand horizontally, in an instant all eight Kongming lanterns were extinguished simultaneously, and the scene immediately became pitch black.

Few people knew that Wudang hid an extremely formidable practical blade technique—this set of ‘Night Walking Blade.’ This blade technique was created by a blind Taoist a hundred years ago. Because his eyes were inconvenient, when dueling with people he mostly chose nighttime, so following the ‘Soft Palm’ principles, he created seventy-two moves of ‘Night Walking Blade.’ Because the force used when attacking was gentle and flexible, even when chopping like lightning, not a sound could be heard. In night battles, this naturally gave great advantage.

At this time, Lu Yun was trapped in darkness, unable to see with his eyes or hear with his ears. If ordinary people experienced this situation, they would certainly be extremely panicked and terrified. However, Lu Yun had experienced many adversities in his life. Although he was now in a dangerous place, he hadn’t lost his composure. After all, he was already the inheritor of the ‘Sword God,’ with deep internal energy and senses far superior to ordinary people. Although the opponent had small cunning tricks, what was there to fear?

Lu Yun raised his palms protectively and was about to listen for the enemy’s footsteps when he was shocked to discover his hands were glowing with phosphorescence. He was greatly startled and hurriedly looked at his body, seeing himself covered in phosphorous powder—he didn’t know when it had gotten on him.

Looking at the pitch-black surroundings, Lu Yun was glowing all over his body, clearly like a living target. He snorted and slowly retreated to the wall, pressing his back against it and circulating energy throughout his body, waiting for the opponent’s sudden attack.

The current situation was critical, more dangerous than encountering the ‘Kunlun Sword Shadow.’ Although this ‘Sword Shadow’ could hide the sword’s path, at least one could still see the opponent’s wrist. But now Lu Yun couldn’t see anything—not only was everything pitch black, he couldn’t hear even the slightest sound, as if he were both blind and deaf.

The foundation of Wudang Night Walking Blade was all in the Soft Palm. Lu Yun secretly pondered countermeasures, thinking: “This person’s blade makes no sound—could it be his walking is also soundless?”

Just as he was thinking, indeed a slight sound came from the northwest corner—someone was approaching. Lu Yun was secretly pleased and remained motionless, waiting for the opponent to get close. While waiting, he suddenly had a strange feeling: “Not right! This is a diversion!”

As soon as this thought arose, Lu Yun was greatly alarmed and crouched down. Indeed, something swept over his head. With a loud clang and sparks flying, it was the ‘Night Walking Blade’ coming.

The opponent’s one strike missed but scared Lu Yun into a cold sweat. This person had such deep scheming—one diversion nearly cost him his life. Just as he was thinking, air currents moved faintly in the darkness, and something else was urgently coming toward his throat.

Lu Yun gave a shout and hurriedly turned his head to avoid it, striking forward with a palm but hitting no one. He knew his situation was too dangerous. In an instant, he shortened his palm distance to close-body defense, using palm wind to resist the blade edge, putting full strength into every move. Suddenly, palm wind clashed and he had indeed struck something. Lu Yun was overjoyed and immediately flew forward, attacking urgently with move after move. Just as he was excited, he suddenly heard leisurely flute music by his ear, then grabbed a rope in his hand.

Lu Yun stared blankly, extending his hand to touch an iron flute tied to the rope. He smiled bitterly twice and suddenly performed a backward somersault. Indeed, air current rushed past his waist—this move was the real ‘Wudang Night Walking Blade.’

With a loud clang, the steel blade again struck the stone wall with great sparks. Lu Yun landed and rolled away in complete embarrassment. That person, seeing through his evasion pattern, struck down with another blade. The opponent had taken advantage of everything—timing, location, and people—using every scheme and method, sometimes ‘diverting east to strike west,’ sometimes ‘luring the snake out of its hole.’ This blade was soundless and traceless, without wind or shadow. Lu Yun was already unable to avoid or retreat. Seeing his life was about to be taken, he suddenly raised both palms and gave a long howl to the sky: “Thousand Rays of Dawn Light!”

Brilliant light filled the cave. Lu Yun’s hands were full of phosphorous powder. His palms emitted light, and the phosphorous powder seemed to be burned by the sun, all producing piercing bright light. Taking advantage of this instant, Lu Yun not only saw the opponent’s ‘Night Walking Blade’—the energy from his palms shattered the opponent’s steel blade to powder. After a ‘hey’ sound, Lu Yun’s right hand shot out and had already gripped that person’s pulse point.

With the pulse point controlled, victory was decided. With a ‘snap,’ the Kongming lanterns in the cave lit up. This time Lu Yun was already prepared, only squinting his eyes as he faced the newcomer.

The two were only three feet apart. The person opposite had a large, fat form with a green-faced, fanged ghost mask on his face, like an actor performing ‘Nuo opera’ or the ghost Zhong Kui on stage. Only the eyes under the mask carried some humor, indescribably strange.

Although Lu Yun already knew that person wore a ghost mask, seeing it again still inevitably scared him into a cold sweat. He snorted several times, then calmed down and said: “Friend, I’ve already won. Can you let me see Chongqing now?”

That person laughed: “Look at you—I just earnestly advised you not to be so greedy for achievement and victory. How have you relapsed again?”

Lu Yun said coldly: “I’ve already gripped your pulse point. If you won’t admit defeat, what else do you want?”

That person said calmly: “Like this.”

Before his words finished, his wrist turned with gentle force, actually making Lu Yun flip in mid-air into a head-down, feet-up position. Lu Yun was greatly alarmed. His fingers pressed on the ground and his body immediately flipped back, his movement technique extremely agile. That person laughed: “Hey, quite nimble moves.”

Cold sweat poured down Lu Yun’s face. He thought to himself that after ten years of bitter training in the waterfall, even floods couldn’t knock him down—how could this person flip him over with just wrist strength? His eyes turned, and he suddenly awakened: “Wudang Pushing Hands?”

That person laughed heartily: “Good eyesight.”

Speaking, sticky energy emerged from his palm—using stillness to control movement, using leisure to await labor—clearly the ‘Taiji Pushing Hands’ of Wudang Mountain.

‘Pushing Hands’ is neither grappling nor wrestling, but a technique of yin-yang movement and stillness, hence called ‘Taiji.’ When competing with an enemy, one absolutely never uses force first, but waits for the opponent to exert strength before using momentum to guide and borrow force. Often with one move, the opponent can be made to take a great tumble—this is the essence of the internal school’s ‘controlling others after they act.’

Lu Yun took a deep breath and thought: “Excellent, I’ve encountered an internal arts master.”

Thinking that throughout his life wandering the martial world, he had countless times been mistakenly recognized as a Wudang disciple, but speaking of actually fighting Wudang masters, this was the first time in his life. Indeed, he was caught completely off guard.

The two men gripped hands and stood motionless again. That person channeled extremely strong sticky energy from his palm, absolutely refusing to let Lu Yun withdraw his hand. However, Lu Yun was also a person of this path—how could he fear him? He took a deep breath and said: “Friend, be careful. I’m not afraid of Pushing Hands.”

That person clicked his tongue and laughed mockingly: “Look at you—just said that, and now you’re being competitive again.”

That person was calm and composed, completely relaxed. Lu Yun also calmed his heart. He raised his hand forward, lightly touching the opponent’s palm—seeming tight but loose, wanting to be loose but tight—this was also the essence of Taoist martial arts: ‘Taiji.’ Seeing Lu Yun use Taiji mental methods with complete spirit and sufficient energy, he truly seemed like a Wudang disciple. The ghost-masked strange guest praised: “No wonder you’re so arrogant—turns out you also understand some internal arts principles.”

This person was quite generous. Seeing Lu Yun’s palm withdraw backward, already enticing him to exert force, he immediately pushed forward with his hand, releasing his strength.

Pushing Hands is the technique of ‘using emptiness to control substance.’ Seeing that person exert great force without any reserve, he had already committed the great taboo of Pushing Hands.

Lu Yun inhaled slightly, then let his palm inward, creating a gap to let the opponent advance naturally. The ghost-masked strange guest made a sound of surprise, unknowingly lifting his heels with his body leaning forward—his center of gravity was already lost.

“Fall down.”

Lu Yun spoke calmly, his palm naturally withdrawing backward urgently with sticky energy, about to make that person take a great tumble.

“Fall down?”

The ghost-masked strange guest’s eyes held humor as he said: “Who do you think you’re talking to?”

Lu Yun’s heart tensed. Looking intently, he was shocked to see that although his right palm had indeed been pulled over by himself, his left hand had actually lifted upward toward the sky, moving slowly. With hands one up one down, one moving one still, one yin one yang—though it seemed his center of gravity was lost, in reality he had already harmonized the momentum of yin-yang movement and stillness. Lu Yun was greatly alarmed: “Finished! Now it’s my turn to fall.”

The one truly exerting force wasn’t the opponent but Lu Yun himself. He had urgently withdrawn his palm backward, using force solidly. For a moment, when the palm moved, the arm moved; when the arm moved, the foot moved; when the foot moved, the whole body moved. His strength was already expended with no reserve left.

That person chuckled and extended his little finger, lightly pushing Lu Yun’s palm. With an “ah” sound, Lu Yun’s body leaned backward and was about to fall. Just as he was about to take a tumble like a dog eating dirt, he roared loudly: “Steady!”

With this sharp shout, all his true energy poured into both legs. Relying on his deep internal skills, Lu Yun actually managed to hold steady.

That person clicked his tongue in praise: “Remarkable, remarkable! Such brute strength throughout your body.”

Lu Yun’s heart was annoyed. With a sound, he used his waist strength to straighten his body again and said: “Wuji?”

That person was slightly startled, then burst into hearty laughter: “Good scholarship! Good scholarship! But unfortunately, you’re just reading dead books.”

The essence of Taoist martial arts: Taiji gives birth to two principles, two principles give birth to four phenomena, four phenomena give birth to the eight trigrams, mutually generating and beginning. What is closer to the great Way than ‘Taiji’ is ‘Wuji.’

Wuji is the mother of heaven and earth, precisely what is meant by ‘When the great Way is abandoned, there are benevolence and righteousness; when wisdom appears, there is great artifice.’ This heart of ‘Wuji’ requires people to abandon concepts of good and evil, break the heart of right and wrong, making black and white return to chaos to reach ‘nothingness.’

Lu Yun was absolutely not ‘nothing’—he was ‘something.’ Although he, like Taoist disciples, was equally skilled at cultivating energy, what he cultivated was the ‘righteous spirit’ of Confucian scholars, also called ‘upright energy.’ Once this word ‘upright’ appeared, it was like a treasured sword swinging out, splitting the world in half. From then on, black was black, white was white—right and wrong could not be ambiguous. Even willing to sacrifice one’s life for righteousness, die for the correct path, not hesitating to kill oneself to achieve benevolence. This seemed magnificent and stirring, but in the eyes of Taoist disciples, Confucian scholars had long fallen to a lower level.

When ordinary people have the Way in their hearts, they distinguish between righteous and evil. The righteous like Lu Yun, the evil like Zhuo Lingzhao—they all have their own swords and their own Way. Wherever their Way passes, people in the world are either enemies or friends, either friends or enemies. However, no matter how they exhaust their hearts and efforts, even dying for their Way, they are actually just delusionally trying to impose their own ‘Way’ upon all things, unable to escape ‘victory and defeat, right and wrong,’ ‘strong and weak, high and low’ their entire lives. ‘Wuji breaks Taiji’—when all things return to chaos, there is no black or white, no high or low, no strong or weak. This is the ultimate realm of Taoism: ‘Wuji.’

Seeing Lu Yun’s lifetime obsession with right and wrong, distinguishing black and white, splitting yin and yang—if he still wanted to compete in ‘Pushing Hands’ with others, wasn’t that asking for humiliation?

With this thought, Lu Yun’s heart sank straight down. He lowered his face, his expression both sad and depressed, as if embodying thousands of years of Confucian scholars’ frustration. That person mocked: “Stop putting on that expression. Speaking of bitter fate and heartache, it’s not your turn to talk.”

Hearing the opponent’s arrogant tone, Lu Yun gritted his teeth fiercely and suddenly exerted force, pulling urgently. This time he used full strength with truly the power of nine oxen and two tigers—quite formidable. However, comparing Pushing Hands inevitably led to seeking his own death. He heard that person laugh heartily: “Strength to uproot mountains, spirit to cover the world… but time is unfavorable and my horse won’t advance… Lu Yun, Lu Yun… what can you do?”

Seeing Lu Yun possessed extraordinary brave strength, no matter who fought him in raw power couldn’t win. Since they couldn’t win, why fight?

Better to go with the natural flow. That person smiled slightly, relaxed his muscles and bones, and fell backward into Lu Yun’s embrace. Poor Lu Yun’s ten thousand pounds of tremendous force was completely wasted. For a moment, using too much force, his body leaned backward and could fall at any time.

That person giggled and extended his little finger, lightly pushing down on Lu Yun’s palm. With just this push, he immediately supported his own fat, large body. Poor Lu Yun was at the end of his strength—the opponent’s one finger of force was enough to make him fall with all fours pointing skyward.

Victory was about to be decided. That person’s finger also touched Lu Yun’s palm, but suddenly felt his finger slip, as if pushing against a large round wheel. In an instant, his whole body’s center of gravity leaned forward, strength discharged, flipping in mid-air to become an inverted flying man with head down and feet up.

That person cried out in alarm, about to take a tumble like a dog eating dirt, but saw Lu Yun’s palm move, actually making him flip another circle and stand properly in front of him.

That person was covered in cold sweat and said in panic: “You… what kind of martial arts is this?”

Lu Yun said calmly: “Righteous Seventeen.”

That person was startled: “Righteous Seventeen? What thing is that?”

Lu Yun said: “Righteous Seventeen is square seventeen, which is also round. It seems square but isn’t square, appears round but isn’t round, thus ’round contains square, square contains round,’ hence it’s said: ‘Drawing round as square is the way of the benevolent.'”

That person listened for a long while but didn’t understand a single word, couldn’t help but become furious: “Damn it, are you practicing martial arts or chanting sutras? Are you crazy?”

Lu Yun said calmly: “I figured you wouldn’t understand. Let me put it this way: you Taoists have ‘Wuji,’ and we Confucians also have our own benevolent heart. When it comes to playing Pushing Hands, we might not necessarily lose to you.”

That person was furious: “You stinking brat, how dare you speak so…”

Before the word ‘arrogantly’ came out, Lu Yun’s wrist turned slightly and that person’s fat, large body was spun another circle. He asked: “Another circle?”

That person was furious: “You stinking…” Before the word ‘brat’ came out, he was spun another circle.

‘The benevolent consists of two people’—Confucian scholars exhaust their lifetime energy with white hair, actually just pondering this character ‘benevolence.’ In a two-person world, clear and bright, there can be mutual contention or mutual yielding. All boundaries between self and others lie on one line—this is ‘benevolence.’ If one wanted to apply this principle to Pushing Hands, it was certainly possible.

Righteous Seventeen, the martial arts of the benevolent. ‘If you wish to establish yourself, help others establish themselves; if you wish to be prominent, help others be prominent.’ Earlier, Lu Yun had been badly handled by this person. Now having gained the upper hand, he naturally wanted to ‘repay resentment with directness.’ He hummed a little tune and happily played Pushing Hands, spinning that person seventeen circles in a row, not forgetting to ask: “Want to continue competing?”

That person was spun dizzy and angrily said: “Let go quickly! You… you’ve already passed!”

Lu Yun frowned: “So quickly passed already? Have I stopped being greedy?”

That person cursed loudly: “Greedy your grandmother! Let go quickly!”

Lu Yun heard him insult his grandmother and made another sound, about to spin two more circles when he heard a cold, stern voice behind him: “Let go.”

As soon as the words fell, he heard muffled wind sounds behind him, as if some blunt object was swinging over. Lu Yun listened carefully, feeling the wind behind him was heavy and slow—the newcomer was either carrying a golden melon hammer or wielding two large iron axes.

Lu Yun, confident in his excellent martial arts, heard this sound but didn’t take it seriously. Suddenly that sound quickened, transforming into fierce wind with breaking air sounds that were quite harsh to the ears. Lu Yun was slightly alarmed and thought: “Strange, how did the wind sound change?”

The wind sound behind him was unusual—seeming heavy yet sharp, like blades and swords but not blades and swords, like axes and hammers but not axes and hammers. Just as he was astonished, the breaking air sound became even more powerful, reaching within inches of his back with momentum as fast as flying darts. Lu Yun was greatly startled and hurriedly released the ghost-masked strange guest’s hand, turning around. With a ‘whoosh,’ fierce wind struck his face. Although Lu Yun had dodged in time, his face was still scraped by the wind, causing burning pain. He squinted his eyes and was about to look carefully at the incoming object when suddenly he saw dozens of black shadows flash by, sweeping toward his face.

The black shadows came too fast—Lu Yun couldn’t clearly see what hidden weapons they were. He could only retreat urgently. Those dozens of black shadows didn’t relax at all and actually pursued him in circles. Looking at their speed, they were like flying knives, but the wind sound was extremely heavy, like a large iron hammer. What exactly were they? He still couldn’t figure it out. Lu Yun retreated while secretly activating the ‘Sword Leopard’ mental method, his wrists drawing inward, five fingers forming palms, beginning to inhale and exhale energy.

“Hey!”

Seeing dozens of black shadows flying over, Lu Yun channeled internal energy and struck out dozens of palms, urgently grabbing toward the black shadows.

Kunlun’s fastest sword was the ‘Sword Leopard.’ As long as one held a long breath, one could use dozens of swords in an instant. Back when Lu Yun and Hu Mei’er fled in distress, he had first glimpsed this path. Now with greatly increased skill, his attacks were naturally more swift and accurate. With a loud ‘snap,’ Lu Yun finally caught the hidden weapon, but he cried out “Ah!” in pain, feeling tremendous pain in his palm as if cut by a blade. Before he could let go, his chest felt another dull pain as if struck by a large iron hammer.

After one painful cry, Lu Yun’s chest ached faintly. He hurriedly retreated three steps to discharge the force on his body and avoid internal injury.

With difficulty exhaling a breath of turbid air, Lu Yun hurriedly raised his head and finally saw clearly the formidable enemy’s appearance.

Before him stood a large man with long hair over his shoulders, thick arms and strong legs, at least eight feet four or five inches tall. His face wore an angry vajra mask—presumably the great general of the second trial of ‘greed, anger, and ignorance.’ Lu Yun took a deep breath and hurriedly looked at that person’s hands to see what weapon he was actually holding.

The newcomer had a mighty bearing. His left hand was on his waist, right hand raised in a fist, lightly gripped with calluses covering his knuckles. Other than that, there was nothing.

Lu Yun cried out in sudden realization: “Fists.”

In the world, the weapon heavier than iron hammers and sharper than blades and swords was naturally born fists. If external arts masters could practice to the peak, when attacking they could be as fast as flying darts, with momentum like lightning, and could break stone tablets and split rocks, capable of anything.

Under the light of eight Kongming lanterns, below the large man’s long hair and shoulders was actually dazzling brightness, shining like pure silver with extraordinary imposing presence.

Lu Yun didn’t dare be negligent and hurriedly cupped his fists in greeting: “I am Lu Yun from Shandong. May I dare ask your distinguished surname and great name?”

That tall, large man wore the angry vajra mask with a terrifying expression, taciturn and silent. He didn’t respond to the words, only inserted his left hand into his pocket, then raised his right fist and with a boom struck toward Lu Yun’s face.

The opponent’s fist was extremely fast, forcing Lu Yun to dodge sideways urgently. Before he could steady his footing, he heard several more whooshing sounds as several black shadows struck consecutively, each move probing toward Lu Yun’s face, forcing him to retreat continuously. However, that person was tall with long strides, easily closing distance again. Suddenly he gave a ‘hey’ sound and fist shadows came covering the sky, forcing Lu Yun to retreat urgently.

That person’s fist speed was inconceivable—in one breath he struck more than ten punches. In terms of fists, it was countless times faster than Zhe’er Dan’s ‘Great Black Fist.’ In the world, besides the Wu father and son’s ‘True Dragon Body,’ Lu Yun had never seen such fast fists. Especially this person was not only fast with his fists—his punch withdrawal was even more exceptional. When he punched, it wasn’t straight in and straight out, but faintly like hooks. At the moment when the fist edge was about to touch, he would take advantage of the momentum to withdraw inward, thus creating such fierce wind with power like real blades and swords.

The opponent’s dozen or so punches used only his right hand throughout. That left hand remained inserted in his pocket—whether it was disabled or injured was unknown. However, just this one right hand already made Lu Yun extremely hard-pressed. Cold sweat poured down as he thought: “Good fellow, what exactly is the origin of these ‘righteous and brave people’? How can they recruit so many martial arts masters?”

Tonight’s encounter with the ‘Nation-Stabilizing Iron Guard’ had already made Lu Yun greatly alarmed. Who would have thought this ‘righteous and brave people’ was also gathering masters, not inferior to the ‘Nation-Stabilizing Iron Guard’ at all? Just as he was thinking, suddenly the opponent’s fist quickened. With a boom, a black shadow flew before his eyes, forcing Lu Yun to lean back and dodge.

Clusters of black shadows floated down. Lu Yun’s evasion was slightly slow and his forehead was scraped off a piece. He heard two more booming sounds as black shadows struck left and right, directly toward his nose bridge. Every move was dangerous to the extreme, showing no mercy.

As the saying goes: “When hitting people, don’t hit the face; when cursing people, don’t damage their reputation.” These moves were too domineering, inevitably making Lu Yun greatly annoyed.

Although he was advanced in years and no longer the handsome young man of the past, why was the opponent’s every punch aimed at his face? If he was careless and his nose bridge was actually broken, leaving him with a crooked mouth and slanted eyes that people would hate to see, how could he have the face to see Gu Qianxi in the future?

Just as he was angry, the opponent struck another punch toward his face, still aimed at his nose bridge. Seeing this person being so rude, Lu Yun couldn’t help but become truly angry, thinking: “This person looks down on me too much. I need to give him a show of strength.”

The newcomer’s fist edge was like a blade and couldn’t be blocked with bare palms. Having the previous example of suffering a loss, this time Lu Yun first carefully observed the opponent’s punch path, carefully avoiding that person’s fist edge. Then his left palm reached out, touching that person’s arm. With force discharged and energy rotating, that person involuntarily flipped over and was actually thrown by Lu Yun in a great tumble.

Using borrowed force, nothing surpassed ’roundness.’ This time Lu Yun’s force discharge and neutralization was precisely the ‘Righteous Seventeen’ he had used before. Seeing that person’s feet leave the ground with head down and feet up, defeat was already apparent. Lu Yun was about to pin him to the ground when he heard that person calmly warn: “Be careful—’Pushing Hands’ doesn’t work on me.”

While speaking, his left hand moved slightly and withdrew from his jacket pocket.

Lu Yun didn’t care what he said and was about to pin him to the ground when suddenly he heard a buzzing loud sound. That person’s left hand emerged, and his left half body became a gray haze—nothing could be seen. In an instant, Lu Yun felt dizzy and squinted his eyes tightly, feeling a violent fierce wind directly striking.

Lu Yun was greatly alarmed and thought: “This person is left-handed.”

People regard right as correct and left as secondary—this is universal. Originally thinking this person’s right fist had reached this level was already rare in the world, who would have thought this person’s left hand strength was far superior to his right hand, with fist speed exceeding his right fist a hundredfold.

The force attached to this fist must certainly be extraordinary.

Buzzing sounds filled the air. This fierce wind hadn’t yet approached but breathing was already uncomfortable. If this fist’s speed struck his body, it would certainly be a disaster of torn belly and spilled intestines. Lu Yun flipped backward and urgently avoided. That large man adapted even faster, supporting himself on the ground with his right hand, standing up as his left fist struck directly again.

The opponent’s fist speed was rarely seen in the world, and the weight of his punches was even more terrifying. Now his left hand was far superior to his right hand. Unfortunately, Lu Yun was empty-handed and couldn’t block or parry. Seeing this fist about to break his straight nose again, Lu Yun’s angry expression appeared as he sternly said: “Do you really think I can’t beat you?”

Lu Yun was a modest gentleman who had never used heavy techniques since entering. This wasn’t because he feared the opponent but because he didn’t want to determine life and death. Seeing the opponent press forward step by step without giving him any way to live, in great anger his palm swiftly waved, also bringing out a stern fierce wind. His palm secretly harbored silent, soundless internal energy—precisely Tu Lingxin’s most skilled martial art: ‘Sword Gu.’

“When Kunlun sword emerges, blood flows like an ocean.” Once Lu Yun became truly angry, he revealed his full wrathful appearance. That angry expression was so intense that even his beard and hair stood up, more terrifying than the angry vajra.

In the thunderous crash, both sides’ fists and palms met. Lu Yun made a sound as his palm felt sharp pain, but in his rage, what did this amount to? In an instant, he used force in his hand without yielding. Where his palm energy passed, he forced that person to flip backward in the air, turning a great somersault. That person’s martial arts were also excellent—his body flipped down with his heel lightly touching the ground before his second punch swung out.

The opponent’s recovery was extremely fast—striking whenever he said so, each punch stronger than the last. Lu Yun also didn’t avoid at all, raising his palm to strike directly as he sternly said: “Fall down!”

Fist and palm met. This time Lu Yun immediately grabbed the opponent’s fist, no longer letting him punch. Both sides’ strength contended as both their bodies shook violently. Lu Yun only felt the opponent’s fist force was extremely domineering, one wave stronger than the next, seemingly endless. He couldn’t help but snort, thinking: “I don’t believe I can’t pressure you down.”

He opened his mouth and inhaled deeply, then suddenly expelled palm force, counterattacking with fierce energy.

When Lu Yun used the ‘Sword Gu’ technique, he could condense true force to penetrate the opponent’s energy barrier. No matter how the enemy exerted force, they definitely couldn’t suppress that needle-point stabbing attack. Indeed, that large man’s teeth chattered, apparently sensing the power of ‘Sword Gu.’ His throat hissed as he breathed, then suddenly took a deep breath with energy condensing, followed by a vajra thunderbolt lion’s roar.

The roar thundered and shook with echoes clashing all around. This person seemed like a true angry vajra descended to earth. After the angry roar, a mountain-overturning, sea-toppling force emerged, surging forward like a flood. Lu Yun wasn’t afraid at all. In an instant, he howled to the sky with beard and hair standing up, his face full of anger. Both sides met anger with fury, wrath with indignation. Roars and howls clashed with each other as observers were forced to cover their ears.

Both sides relied purely on strength. This battle couldn’t take any shortcuts. Suddenly the cave seemed to collapse as both men exerted fierce strength, their bodies separating together. That tall man retreated two steps to discharge the force and was about to straighten up when suddenly his foot loosened and he fell two more steps. About to channel his dantian energy, he felt pain and stumbled a total of more than ten steps before finally discharging the energy Lu Yun had transmitted.

The observing men were all secretly horrified and unanimously turned their heads to see Lu Yun standing perfectly fine, not having retreated a single step.

Only then did everyone realize Lu Yun’s internal energy was incomparably deep. His feet had extremely strong adhesive energy—once his lower body was planted on the ground, even ten thousand pounds of tremendous force couldn’t push him over. Yet his hands harbored many magical methods—whether ‘Righteous Seventeen’ or ‘Sword Gu,’ he could stick, stab, strike, and neutralize. This person’s martial arts were strange and varied—truly no one knew where he had learned them.

Only Lu Yun himself knew that his solid horse stance was to enable him to stand atop the white water great waterfall, his fierce hand energy was to dissipate the great water’s impact, and the adhesive energy in his palms that moved as he wished was to catch fish to eat. Speaking of it, the white water great waterfall was both his enlightening teacher and a strong enemy in sparring. That Lu Yun could be revered by Little White Dragon as the ‘Water God’ was definitely not by chance.

At this moment, Lu Yun had activated his divine skills with beard and hair standing up, looking very frightening. Seeing both sides’ victory decided, he slowly regulated his breathing, put away his full wrathful appearance, and returned to his refined scholarly face. Cupping his fists, he said: “Big brother, have I passed?”

“Don’t rush… you’re very strong, frighteningly strong…” The tall man rolled up his sleeve, revealing an extremely robust left arm, saying: “You’re qualified to receive my final punch.”

Lu Yun was a bit annoyed: “Still want to fight?”

That person didn’t speak, only tightly clenched his fist, then slowly relaxed. Soon he clenched tightly again. After repeating this several times, several blue veins appeared on his left arm like flying dragons coiling around a fire pillar, making his arm faintly red. Lu Yun was slightly startled: “What kind of skill is this?”

The tall man said: “This is the energy of anger and resentment.”

Lu Yun frowned: “Anger and resentment? What do you resent, sir?”

That person’s tone was calm as he said softly: “I resent myself.”

Lu Yun frowned: “Resent yourself? Could it be you… you’re very ugly?”

That person said: “My appearance is wrong.”

Lu Yun was even more surprised: “Wrong? How can a person’s appearance be wrong?”

That person said softly: “I am an unfortunate person, born at the wrong time and in the wrong place. So from the moment I was born, everything about me was wrong. My surname was wrong, my appearance was wrong, my clothing, customs, and preferences were all wrong. In the end, even the hand I use to eat was wrong. Do you think I would hate myself?”

Lu Yun cried out in realization: “Yes, you’re left-handed, right?”

That person said: “That’s right. From birth, my left hand was very skillful with tremendous strength. But from childhood, whenever I used it to eat or write, my teachers would become furious and definitely beat me severely. To make me practice with my right hand, they tied up my left hand and wouldn’t let me use it anymore. But for some reason, no matter how I practiced with my right hand, my left hand was always stronger than my right hand. Even I don’t understand why.”

Lu Yun listened and suddenly said: “Friend, I know the reason.”

That person sighed: “Why?”

Lu Yun said gently: “Because you were born this way—even gods and Buddhas can’t force it.”

Trees are trees, flowers are flowers—things born this way cannot be changed by any force in the world. The large man before him was destined to be left-handed. No matter how much futile effort was expended, his left hand would definitely be stronger than his right hand.

With these words, the tall man felt a slight sense of melancholy. He reached back and removed his mask, revealing his original true face.

Under the lamplight, this person had a very straight, high nose bridge with extremely handsome features. However, his expression was full of anger. Compared to the previous angry vajra, his eyes held more of a faint sadness, making the angry expression on his face even more intimidating.

Lu Yun examined the opponent’s face and suddenly smiled: “Friend, actually you don’t need to wear that contraption at all—you’re more wrathful than that mask.”

The tall man said: “Don’t talk about me. Actually, your expression is also full of anger and resentment—do you know that yourself?”

Lu Yun smiled mockingly: “I know.”

People become angry due to injustice, but when fate’s injustice reaches its extreme, the heart no longer feels anger but sorrow. The two men stared at each other, and that person continued: “I won’t hide it from you. This left hand of mine is usually concealed and never used, never unsheathed. Using just ten percent of its strength can kill a fierce lion from Tianzhu; using twenty percent can kill a white bear from the North Sea. It’s rare to meet someone like you. To show my respect, I will use one hundred and twenty percent of my strength in this move.”

Lu Yun was somewhat horrified: “One… one hundred and twenty percent?”

That person said: “Precisely. After listening to your words, I’ve suddenly seen the light. This move contains my lifetime’s accumulated skill.”

Speaking thus, he channeled force and energy. That left arm began to swell faintly, looking extremely strange.

Lu Yun’s scalp tingled as he watched, not knowing why this group of fierce demons had targeted him. With things having reached this point, he no longer remembered looking for Chongqing and hurriedly said: “How about this—I… I still have some matters to attend to. Please excuse me as I take my leave first.”

He turned around and was about to urgently look for an escape route when he heard someone say calmly: “Magistrate, please stay.”

Hearing the words ‘Magistrate’ inevitably made Lu Yun slightly tense. He turned back to look and saw a man sitting among the crowd wearing an octagonal cap and gray robe, resembling a scholar. His face wore a blank white mask with a dull expression—presumably the ‘ignorant person’ among ‘greed, anger, and ignorance.’ Lu Yun heard this person address him by his former official title and was immediately alert: “You… you recognize me?”

That scholar smiled slightly: “Of course. Among the Four Young Masters of the Liu School—Guan, Hai, Yun, Yuan—who in the world doesn’t know them?”

While speaking, he rose from his seat.

With three diagonal steps, he had already arrived before Lu Yun.

The opponent was lean and carried no blade or sword. His hands were also pale and tender, as if he didn’t know martial arts. Lu Yun pondered slightly, observing that person for a long while but couldn’t quite make out his background. He slowly looked down toward that person’s feet, and this glance inevitably made his expression change greatly.

The opponent’s standing position was too perfect. He was positioned exactly four feet in front of Lu Yun—eye to eye, heart to heart. From the印堂 (center of forehead), philtrum, to the energy sea, everything was perfectly aligned without even an inch or fraction of difference. Even if drawn with an ink ruler, it probably wouldn’t be this precise.

Cold sweat poured down Lu Yun’s body. Having been trapped by the waterfall for several years, he had spent his time drawing to relieve loneliness. His eyesight’s sharpness and precision could be said to be rare in the world—he could tell at a glance how many feet and inches the opponent was from him. Seeing this scholar walk over in just a few steps was equivalent to telling Lu Yun that his martial arts were the highest among everyone present. Whether the ghost-masked man or the tall man, everyone else was far behind.

Seeing he had encountered a peerless master, Lu Yun was secretly horrified and hurriedly retreated two steps: “You… who exactly are you?”

That scholar was very polite. He slightly bowed and cupped his hands: “My humble surname is Lin.”

‘Lin’ was one of the thirty-six surnames of Fujian people, an ancient Chinese surname. Lu Yun muttered to himself: “You… you say you recognize me?”

That scholar smiled: “Yes. Not only do I recognize you, but you also recognize me.”

Lu Yun was even more surprised. In his life, although he had known several people surnamed ‘Lin,’ they were either noodle sellers or cooks, mostly small vendors. When had he ever seen such masters with profound martial arts? He coughed several times: “Very well. I wonder what you intend, sir? Why are you lying in ambush here in the middle of the night?”

That scholar said: “I won’t hide it from the Magistrate—we were entrusted by someone to come here and test your martial arts. We don’t mean to offend.”

Lu Yun was slightly stunned: “Someone wants to test my martial arts?”

That scholar said: “That’s right. This is arranged by the leader of the righteous and brave people.”

Lu Yun was even more astonished and wanted to ask further, but heard a cold, stern voice behind him: “Can you start fighting now, sir?”

That tall man was coming again. Lu Yun turned back to see this person walking along, continuously opening and clenching his palm, clenching and opening his fist, making his left arm swell frighteningly as if on fire.

Lu Yun cried out in despair. This group of people possessed extraordinary skills, each having the abilities of contemporary masters. Now they were stubbornly pestering him—what did they want? When he thought about breaking out and escaping, the three great masters in the field surrounded him in a tripod formation: behind him was the tall man, to his left was the ghost-masked strange guest, and in front was this scholar who claimed to be surnamed ‘Lin’—they had actually encircled him with a surrounding strategy. With these three people’s martial arts, if they joined hands to attack, the momentum would be extraordinary.

That scholar pressed his palms together, bowed slightly, and smiled: “Magistrate, don’t worry. We’re all friends and will be measured in our actions. Please enter the arena quickly.”

Lu Yun smiled bitterly, knowing his luck was terrible tonight. He could only steel himself: “Very well. Let’s stop when we touch—just exchange martial arts skills without determining life and death.”

The tall man was quite courteous, crossing his hands before his chest and performing a salute: “Sir, please don’t be polite.”

He showed courtesy before hostility. After the salute, he immediately strode forward with great steps, not forgetting to wave that left fist, seemingly pondering where on Lu Yun’s body he should strike to feel most satisfying.

The three most masculine fist techniques in the world: first was the Tianshan martial arts’ ‘Dragon God Gathering Light Fist,’ relying on speed for strength; second was the Mobei exclusive ‘Great Black Heaven Fist,’ with mystery within strength; the third was Hunan’s Hao family’s ‘Dragon Locking Divine Fist,’ strong but not domineering. These three fist techniques all had earth-shattering power that people recognized. However, this tall man could gather the strengths of various schools—his fist speed was comparable to Chongqing’s, his striking accuracy was like the Dragon Locking Fist, and his force’s weight surpassed the ‘Great Black Heaven.’ Now wanting to use his lifetime’s skill in one move—how could it be ordinary?

The two sides were about a zhang apart, but that tall man retreated three more steps and raised his left arm high. The drifting fist wind made everyone smell a burning scent. Lu Yun knew the opponent’s fist force was unusual and didn’t dare be negligent. He looked up to the sky, opened his mouth, and slowly inhaled as if about to dive into the sea. Gradually, he clenched his right hand into a fist, but concealed a white light in his palm.

Both sides faced each other motionlessly. Suddenly, dust and sand flew as that tall man charged forward wildly. With a ‘hey’ sound, his body leaned forward, his footsteps stopped urgently, and his left arm swung straight out. Lu Yun said nothing and immediately opened his palm to meet it.

Before fist and palm met, separated by several inches, the air currents from both sides slightly converged, and dust on the ground continued to drift and swirl, creating quite a spectacle. Watching the two forces draw closer, the pressure also became more intense. Suddenly, fist and palm touched, air currents repelled each other—these two forces were naturally incompatible and forcibly deflected each other, striking the opponent’s body.

The moment of mutual defeat arrived. The entire field was shocked and dismayed. In the thunderous crash, Lu Yun had already been hit, but his palm had also struck out smoothly, hitting the tall man’s shoulder. The energy from his palm was like a blade or sword entering the body. That big man’s body flew backward rapidly. With a bang, his back struck the cave’s rock, causing a large stone to flip backward. That big man still hadn’t stopped—his body rolled backward, hitting the cave wall and shaking wet earth and soft mud to peel off in layers.

Seeing the tall man lying on the ground, the ghost-masked man immediately stepped forward to check his pulse, but that scholar said: “Don’t worry—he has ancestral protection.”

The men were slightly stunned and hurriedly looked at that big man’s chest. They saw his outer shirt had been torn by the bright light, revealing an inner layer of armor. That golden armor, after receiving the sword light, actually glowed colorfully and spread slightly, also dissipating the energy Lu Yun had transmitted.

Seeing their companion had a protective treasure, everyone felt relieved. In an instant, everyone unanimously looked toward Lu Yun.

Everyone was worried in their hearts, fearing to see a corpse lying on the ground. Fortunately, looking intently, Lu Yun’s head was still there with all five features intact. However, his horse stance was squatting extremely low with both palms spread open—one palm toward the sky, one palm naturally downward. His palms were like moon wheels or water wheels, creating one after another straight shadows. This seemingly round but not round palm technique had actually set up a defensive formation in front of him like a shield.

The mysteriously unpredictable shield palms, no matter from which direction attacks came, would first encounter his palms, actually dissipating the fierce, unmatched fist force. The entire field stared with mouths agape, unable even to shout approval. The ghost-masked strange guest said in astonishment: “What… what kind of martial arts is this?”

That scholar said: “The Benevolent Sword’s Resonant Sound.”

Everyone was greatly surprised: “Benevolent Sword? Isn’t Ning Bufan’s Benevolent Sword a ‘circle’?”

That scholar said calmly: “Circles cannot be drawn. Even if Zhang Sanfeng were here, he wouldn’t dare claim to have drawn a perfect circle.”

The men were astonished: “Can’t be drawn? Then… what should be done?”

That scholar smiled: “The method is very simple—draw circles as squares.”

Everyone looked at each other in astonishment: “Draw circles as squares? How does one draw that?”

That scholar pointed toward Lu Yun: “Count how many sides he drew altogether.”

The ghost-masked strange guest counted and said in astonishment: “Seventeen sides.”

That scholar smiled: “Do you understand? There are no truly perfect circles in the world, only things that look like circles.”

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. That scholar didn’t explain further, only gazed at Lu Yun with a smile.

The circle is something that contains ultimate rigidity within ultimate softness, ultimate greatness yet ultimate vastness. Therefore, the rounder something is, the better it can borrow force. If one could draw the ultimate circle, one could naturally achieve the ultimate soft form. However, circles are endless—even the bright moon in the sky and the pupils in eye sockets can only be said to resemble circles, but aren’t truly round. Even if Zhang Sanfeng came personally or Patriarch Bodhidharma were here, no one would dare claim they could draw a matchless perfect circle.

Precisely because of this, someone realized one thing: ‘circle’ is actually just imagination. Like the character ‘benevolence,’ it has no real answer. If one wants to find this illusory thing, one must search bit by bit like Kuafu chasing the sun, endlessly.

The men were all puzzled. That ghost-masked strange guest came from Wudang and deeply understood the mysteries of Taiji. Hearing these words, he somewhat guessed the meaning and immediately said: “So his palm technique is actually square?”

That scholar showed an approving expression: “Correct. Seventeen straight lines can actually form a circle too. This is the meaning of ‘drawing circles as squares.'”

The ghost-masked strange guest pondered: “Then why is it ‘Righteous Seventeen’ and not ‘Righteous Eighteen’ or ‘Righteous Nineteen’?”

That scholar said: “They can’t be drawn.”

The men were astonished: “Can’t be drawn? Why?”

That scholar said: “If you want to draw circles by hand without rulers and compasses, there’s a rule: three sides, five sides, seventeen sides, two hundred and fifty-seven sides… can all be drawn by hand… continuing upward, they become more and more like circles. When reaching sixty-five thousand five hundred and thirty-seven sides, you absolutely can’t tell it was originally square.”

The ghost-masked strange guest was startled: “So the Huashan Sect’s Benevolent Sword is actually ‘square’?”

That scholar smiled slightly and nodded: “Correct. Huashan’s founder ‘Tianyin’ actually wasn’t a Taoist—he was just a scholar proficient in the principles of the Book of Changes and mystical learning.”

Righteous Seventeen is round, and Righteous Seventeen is also square. It transforms square into round and round into square. Therefore, it seems round but is actually square, seems square but appears round. When striking, with the slightest touch, it can find corresponding angles. Seventeen straight lines rotating can handle all strong forces, actually gaining the beauty of yin softness. Therefore, it appears smooth on the surface but is actually internally strong. Lu Yun’s practice time was too short, with excessive rough traces. Given time, he would become more and more like a circle. However, no matter how smooth this circle became, its essence would forever remain square.

Su Ying had taken the wrong path. His nature was too clever. In this lifetime, when mountains don’t turn, water turns; when roads don’t turn, people turn. Having turned too much, he had long forgotten that one should be fundamentally square in establishing oneself in the world. How could he know the beauty of harmonious roundness?

For a long, long time, Lu Yun finally stopped moving his hands. He was completely uninjured, having actually resolved the opponent’s earth-shattering punch, seemingly still having energy to spare. That scholar walked a few steps, cupped his hands, and laughed: “Admirable, admirable! Master Lu seeks roundness through squareness, deeply embodying the benevolent way. Among Guan, Hai, Yun, Yuan—the Four Great Masters have now emerged.”

‘The Four Young Masters of the Liu School—Guan, Hai, Yun, Yuan’—except for Lu Yun, everyone else had earth-shaking fame. Though Lu Yun was praised by that person for a while, he didn’t become conceited. He coughed forcefully: “Friend, who exactly are you?”

That scholar smiled: “An old friend.”

“Old friend?”

Lu Yun frowned: “If you’re an old friend, why don’t you dare show your true face?”

That scholar said: “This is the intention of the leader of the righteous and brave people. He knows the Magistrate is a person who values old relationships. If we revealed our appearances during our martial arts contest, would you fight with full strength?”

Earlier, this person had given his surname as ‘Lin,’ yet wore a mask, appearing very secretive and mysterious. Lu Yun pondered: “From your manner of speaking, it seems I do know you?”

That scholar laughed: “Allow me to boast a little—if my title were spoken, probably not many people in the world wouldn’t recognize it.”

Lu Yun said: “So it sounds like you were formerly a great personage?”

Mister Lin laughed without answering, becoming even more mysterious. Lu Yun snorted: “Very well, take off your mask. For others, I might consider old friendships, but for you, that’s not necessarily true.”

That scholar was very generous. He laughed heartily: “Very well then,” and casually removed his mask, revealing his true appearance.

Upon seeing that person’s features, Lu Yun made a sound of surprise. This person had handsome looks and seemed quite familiar, but for a moment he couldn’t remember this person’s background. He frowned and thought hard: “You’re surnamed Lin?”

That scholar smiled: “Leaving home young and returning old, the local accent unchanged but temples graying. West of Yang Pass, everyone calls me ‘Mister Lin.'”

Lu Yun was surprised: “West of Yang Pass? You… you came from the Western Regions?”

Mister Lin smiled: “Children seeing me don’t recognize me, laughing as they ask where this guest comes from?”

He recited He Zhizhang’s “Returning Home” but severely mocked Lu Yun.

Lu Yun wasn’t a forgetful person. Tonight when he encountered Su Ying, although they had only met once with no deep friendship more than ten years ago, after being reminded by those young ladies like Haitang and Mingmei, he had also remembered the opponent’s name. This scholar was calm and composed with outstanding appearance—he should be a hero famous in his time. How could he not recognize the opponent’s identity?

Lu Yun repeatedly examined and guessed, then said: “Mister Lin… do you… have any courtesy name?”

That scholar laughed: “I call myself an ‘ignorant person.'”

Lu Yun was astonished: “Ignorant person?”

That scholar said: “Only ignorant people have foolish hopes. For this foolishness, I made myself destitute and wandering in foreign lands, forced to hide my name and bury my identity.”

Speaking thus, he pointed at that tall man and said gently: “Even this friend of mine doesn’t know my true background.”

Lu Yun looked carefully and saw that tall man’s thick eyebrows move slightly—apparently this wasn’t false.

This Mister Lin before him had black beard and hair with elegant features. He appeared to be over forty years old, seemingly several years older than himself. He also claimed to be a great personage who came from the Western Regions, yet his appearance was very familiar and clearly not a foreigner. This was extremely strange beyond description, inevitably leaving Lu Yun completely puzzled.

Mister Lin said: “I think Master Lu should stop guessing. How about this—our final contest won’t compare brute strength. If Master Lu can guess my background within three moves, you win. How about that?”

Lu Yun frowned: “Three moves? Isn’t that a bit rushed?”

Mister Lin smiled faintly: “Master Lu has achieved the benevolent way and is invincible under heaven. Giving you a three-move limit is already too generous.”

No matter how much one praises, flattery never fails. Indeed, these few compliments left Lu Yun speechless. He coughed: “Very well. If I can guess your background, you’ll let me see Chongqing?”

Mister Lin shook his head: “More than that. If the Magistrate wins, you’ll be able to know ten years of secrets from the Zhengtong court—who restored whom, who staged coups, who killed Liu Angtian—everything will be in your grasp.”

Lu Yun cried out and his eyes widened. His purpose in pursuing Chongqing was precisely to investigate those past secrets. Hearing Mister Lin make this proposal, he inevitably felt his heart race. He heard Mister Lin continue: “However, I’ll say the ugly words first—if the Magistrate loses this match, please turn around and leave. Don’t inquire further about past matters and don’t disturb Young Master Wu. Can Master Lu keep his word?”

Lu Yun frowned: “Why so?”

Mister Lin said: “This agreement is for your own good.”

Lu Yun was puzzled: “For my good? What do you mean?”

Mister Lin said calmly: “Before coming here, you already fought with the ‘Grand Shopkeeper,’ right?”

Lu Yun’s expression changed greatly. After a long, long time, he finally nodded.

Mister Lin stared at him: “Master Lu, do you now understand why we need to test your martial arts?”

Lu Yun took a deep breath: “I understand.”

Mister Lin said: “Good that you understand. Master Lu, among the three poisons of greed, anger, and ignorance, ignorance is the worst. If you can’t become the world’s number one ignorant person, then you’d better learn to be shrewd and at least understand self-preservation.”

Speaking thus, he opened his cloud sleeves: “Within three moves, you must see through my background. Please give your all, Master Lu.”

Lu Yun felt slightly nervous: “I’ll do my best.”

The two men saluted each other, both moving slowly. Suddenly, Lu Yun’s figure shook urgently. One step forward brought him to Mister Lin’s front. This step was calculated extremely precisely, landing exactly four feet and one inch before the opponent, not a fraction off. That Mister Lin was originally composed, but seeing this step, his expression changed urgently. His figure flashed as he darted left like a rabbit. Lu Yun’s footwork was even faster. With a sudden dash to the front, his arms spread wide, already encircling Mister Lin. Lu Yun’s arm span was eight feet and two inches. With both sides four feet and one inch apart, this was a semicircle. This step had already blocked all of Mister Lin’s escape routes. Just as he was about to attack fiercely, that Mister Lin was also quick to react, stepping forward half a step. The distance between them shortened by seven inches.

Lu Yun made a sound of appreciation: “Brilliant.”

In an instant, both great masters leaped back, separating far from each other.

On the ground remained a perfectly straight line.

This line was very straight—the first half was left by Lu Yun, the second half was stepped out by Mister Lin. Even drawing with an ink line wouldn’t be this precise. The observing crowd were all knowledgeable, and immediately thunderous applause erupted.

Among the three trials of ‘greed, anger, and ignorance,’ this ‘Mister Lin’ guarded the final trial, and indeed his martial arts were superior to the previous two. Both sides tested moves slightly and were evenly matched. Everyone watching the two exchange moves understood in their hearts: Lu Yun was eight feet two inches tall with an arm span also of eight feet two inches. Once he was four feet one inch from his opponent, he would be in an invincible position. Then he could focus purely on attack without defense, his hands falling like violent wind and rain—anyone would find it difficult to reverse the disadvantage. Speaking of it, Mister Lin’s only chance was to step forward seven inches to break out of the encirclement.

Mister Lin was six feet eight inches tall. If Lu Yun let him seize the three feet four inch position, his inner circle would be immediately broken, and he would be at the opponent’s mercy. Therefore, he had to retreat and restart his formation, otherwise defeat would come like a landslide.

What so-called peerless masters compete for is not the speed of moves or the size of strength, but momentum. If momentum is lost, it’s equivalent to losing more than half. Unless one’s martial arts far exceed the opponent’s or one has some unexpected ultimate technique hidden, it’s extremely difficult to reverse the situation.

Mister Lin smiled: “Does this count as one move?”

Lu Yun cried out and felt slightly hesitant. Mister Lin was generous and smiled: “Very well, since we didn’t actually exchange hands, it doesn’t count.”

With their three-move agreement, if this were forced to count as one move, wouldn’t he be forced into a dead end? Lu Yun rarely got such a bargain, but he felt no joy in his heart—instead, he was even more alarmed. Seeing this ‘Mister Lin’s’ profound martial arts foundation, he must be familiar with all schools of thought. Once they truly fought, he would inevitably use everything from south to north. If he wanted to see through this person’s background, he would have to force him into a desperate situation before he would reveal his true protective ultimate arts.

The cave quieted down. Kongming lanterns illuminated the shadows of both men, and neither moved. Thinking of Liu Angtian’s death, Lu Yun exhaled gently, raised both hands, and faint energy emanated from his palms—precisely the ‘Kunlun Sword Gu.’

The observing crowd felt their hearts tense and unanimously fell silent, knowing Lu Yun was about to fight with full strength.

Since leaving the waterfall, among the strong enemies Lu Yun had encountered, the ‘Grand Shopkeeper’ was the strongest, followed by this ‘Mister Lin.’

Rarely encountering such a peerless master, if Lu Yun didn’t use the ‘Sword God’s’ lifetime martial arts, what was the point of having practiced these divine skills?

If Ning Bufan’s martial learning was “following heaven, respecting people, naturally embracing unity,” then Zhuo Lingzhao did the exact opposite. All his martial arts and mental methods went against heaven. If others could be fast by one point, he wanted to be fast by two points, three points, ten points. He wanted to know how fast a human body could become, how strong it could reach—this was called “at Kunlun’s peak, no human footprints reach.”

A strong wind flickered in the field, and Lu Yun had already approached in an instant, coming as fast as a startled swan. Reaching exactly four feet one inch, he suddenly used sticky energy to stop and halt his force. Everyone saw his movement swift as a startled rabbit, his stillness like a virgin—his strong internal energy was displayed without reserve, and immediately thunderous applause filled the field.

Before the applause ended, cries of alarm rose again. Lu Yun’s movement technique froze, and suddenly he attacked empty-handed. His right hand was raised high, about to fall but not yet fallen. Though he held no sword, his palm momentum swayed like ocean waves, as if surging giant waves were striking the face—the momentum was extraordinary.

This move wasn’t palm technique but sword technique—precisely one of the ‘Kunlun Thirteen Swords’: “Sword Waves Churning, Yaochi’s Broken Waves.”

Looking again at his palm, dark energy was concealed, cold and sharp—precisely the famous ‘Heart-Piercing Sword Gu.’ As for his feet, continuous hooks were hidden—this was the whirlwind kick derived from the ‘Peerless Continuous Fist.’

Three moves combined into one, perfectly natural, coordinating seamlessly with each other. Lu Yun didn’t strike lightly—once he struck, he forced his opponent into a desperate situation. The observing crowd was greatly amazed, and the applause became even louder. Everyone widened their eyes, waiting to see how Mister Lin would counterattack.

In an instant, the entire field was in uproar. Before anyone could see what had happened, the figures in the field had already separated. Lu Yun’s face was full of alarm—he had already urgently retreated a great step, leaving more than five feet between him and Mister Lin.

All wonderful moves ceased. Lu Yun’s face was iron-blue as he breathed slightly. The observing crowd was full of surprise and doubt, not knowing what immortal techniques Mister Lin had used to have such power. Everyone stared blankly and saw Mister Lin in a horse stance with his left fist at his waist, like an old martial arts master performing in the streets. He simply held his right fist level at his chest—it was a move called ‘Straight to the Point.’

The entire field was stunned. Everyone looked at each other, and not one person applauded.

The most mediocre move in the world was this ‘Straight to the Point.’ This fist technique was like the ‘Three Character Classic’ or ‘Hundred Family Names’ in martial arts—enlightenment exercises for children learning martial arts. But somehow, when Mister Lin used ‘Straight to the Point,’ he forced Lu Yun back. If he hadn’t retreated quickly, his chest would probably have been hit long ago.

This wasn’t ‘Wisdom Sword Pacifying Eight Directions’—this was just the standard ‘Straight to the Point.’ Who knew that this unremarkable move, when it came to Mister Lin’s hands, would produce such inconceivable power? The entire field was silent as a tomb, everyone filled with surprise and uncertainty.

Lu Yun himself was also full of astonishment. He understood in his heart that Mister Lin’s ‘Straight to the Point’ hadn’t used any internal force. When striking, the positioning wasn’t ingenious, and the timing wasn’t perfectly timed. But somehow, when Mister Lin opened the gate, it was like a mountain flying from beyond the heavens, as if divinely inspired. When Lu Yun touched it with the ‘sword waves’ in his palm, he was deflected by him. The fist then struck toward his face, actually breaking through Lu Yun’s various ultimate techniques and forcing him to retreat.

With their three-move agreement, the first move had already passed, but Lu Yun had gained nothing. After all, this ‘Straight to the Point’ was commonplace—who in the martial world couldn’t use it? To deduce Mister Lin’s background from this was absolutely impossible. He sighed and cupped his hands: “Mister Lin’s skills are divine and enlightened, profound and extraordinary. This student admires you greatly.”

A most mediocre ‘Straight to the Point’ actually earned the praise of ‘profound and extraordinary.’ The observing crowd found it laughable and ridiculous. But thinking back to that ‘Straight to the Point’s’ mysterious aspects, no one could laugh.

Mister Lin showed no joy, only pressed his palms together and bowed: “Magistrate Lu, please don’t be polite. Please proceed with the second move.”

Before the word ‘move’ was finished, suddenly dust flew in the cave as Lu Yun pounced again. This pounce used powerful leg strength with speed that could no longer be followed by the naked eye. Even Wu Dingyuan and Wu Chongqing would have to greatly admire it.

Even so, Lu Yun’s hand techniques were strangely slow. His palms swayed obliquely, light and gentle—it was ‘Righteous Seventeen.’

Fast approach but slow strikes, tight movement but loose force—Lu Yun learned quickly. This move combined movement and stillness, hardness and softness, mixing Taiji yin-yang and already having the appearance of ‘Wuji.’

Looking at Mister Lin, he still slowly threw out a punch—still that ‘Straight to the Point.’

Lu Yun’s heart was annoyed: “This person is so bold! I’ve already brought out my lifetime’s ultimate arts—how can he be so negligent? Does he really think Lu wouldn’t dare use heavy techniques?”

Without hesitation, he raised his palm and struck, immediately touching Mister Lin’s fist. Just as he was about to use force to make his opponent take a tumble like a dog eating dirt, he found that the ‘Righteous Seventeen’s’ rotating technique felt extremely heavy and couldn’t be turned at all.

This shock was truly extraordinary. One must know that ‘Righteous Seventeen’ seemed round but was actually square, soft outside but hard inside. As long as the opponent had the slightest shake when exerting force, even if the fist contained millions of pounds of fierce power, Lu Yun could discharge the force. This was why the tall man had been thrown in a great tumble.

Who knew Mister Lin’s punch was so gentle and slow, yet couldn’t be turned at all?

‘Straight to the Point’—unmovable as a mountain. Since ‘Righteous Seventeen’ was perfected, this was the first time it was broken. But Mister Lin’s fist edge still steadily advanced, ready to strike vital points at any moment. Lu Yun made a sound, and in helplessness, could only be forced to withdraw his technique and retreat.

Looking at Mister Lin, he still had his left fist at his waist and right fist level at his chest, and had finished that ‘Straight to the Point.’

The entire field quieted down. Lu Yun really couldn’t contain himself and immediately asked: “How is your fist force so heavy, sir? Could you have practiced some secret method?”

Mister Lin withdrew his fist, pressed his palms together, and shook his head: “Master Lu has misunderstood—this fist of mine hasn’t used any internal force at all.”

Lu Yun’s heart tensed: “You didn’t use force? Then… then why can’t I move you?”

Mister Lin said calmly: “Because I am more upright than you, so you cannot move me even a fraction.”

With a cry of “Ah!” this one sentence awakened the dreamer. The entire field was in uproar as they awakened, and Lu Yun was also dripping with cold sweat, finally knowing the secret.

Someone once said that no matter how fast or strong world-class masters were when they moved and struck, as long as their moves could be followed, they would inevitably have flaws. However, this statement was completely wrong. What has flaws isn’t actually the moves but the person making the moves. This ‘Mister Lin’ before them had not one flaw. Even if Ning Bufan struck or Tianyin Daoist came personally, they couldn’t break his ‘Straight to the Point.’

Back straight, unmovable as a mountain—this ‘Mister Lin’ before them had his left half-body withdrawing his fist to his waist with empty force waiting, while his right fist advanced straight through the center palace. From the center of the forehead, philtrum, energy sea, to dantian, a straight line descended. All major vital points of eyes, ears, nose, throat, and heart were guarded by his right fist. Especially when his fist moved, his stance still faced Lu Yun’s center line—eye to eye, heart to heart. Between the two seemed to be an invisible straight line. This line not only completely matched Mister Lin’s fist path but had not a fraction of deviation or sway when striking. So he used momentum and positioning to first break ‘Sword Waves,’ then break ‘Righteous Seventeen.’ All reasons came down to one word—he was more upright than Lu Yun.

How remarkable was this one word ‘upright’? This flawless ‘Straight to the Point’ was truly unique in heaven and earth. Even if Patriarch Bodhidharma came to use it, it probably wouldn’t exceed this.

All the masters in the field understood. Qin Zhonghai cultivated the heart, Wu Dingyuan trained the body, Lu Yun practiced qi, Ning Bufan studied techniques—but this Mister Lin practiced ‘momentum.’ When he struck, his methods were precise and rigorous, his movement technique so upright it was as if copied from a book. Because of this word ‘upright,’ every move and every style of Mister Lin’s had its center of gravity connected with heaven and earth. Although Lu Yun had practiced the ‘Righteous Seventeen’ mental method, how could he move all of heaven and earth?

Lu Yun sighed slightly and thought: “Tonight I’ve been too overconfident. If I had brought a long sword, would I have fallen into such helplessness?”

While hesitating, he heard Mister Lin smile: “Magistrate Lu, we’ve reached our final move. Do you still want to try?”

Lu Yun was silent for a long while: “Lu will exhaust himself completely until death.”

Among the ‘Five Great Masters of the World—Heart, Body, Qi, Technique, Momentum,’ the rarest was this ‘momentum.’ Like this ‘Mister Lin’s’ way of striking moves, even if others had deeper internal force or faster fists and feet, they might not necessarily defeat this person. Even so, Lu Yun still expressed his determination. He came here tonight to fight not for any ‘number one in the world’ but to find out the cause of Liu Angtian’s death. Precisely because of this, he absolutely couldn’t give up, or he would be troubled by his conscience for life.

With this thought, Lu Yun’s eyes slightly reddened. Clenching both fists, he strode toward Mister Lin.

Among the observers were many masters. That ghost-masked strange guest was proficient in internal arts, while the tall man was an external hard fighter. Both stared at Lu Yun’s movement technique, guessing how he would strike.

Lu Yun’s martial arts were extremely mixed. In his early years, he had created mental methods from a health manual by Wudang’s sect leader Yuan Qing. Later, he received Lu Guzhan’s transmission of ‘Peerless Continuous Fist’ and self-studied Zhuo Lingzhao’s ‘Ancient Sword Manual.’ He could be said to have gained the strengths of several schools. In middle age, he comprehended the wonderful transformation of heaven and man at the waterfall and created the mental method of ‘Righteous Seventeen,’ thus integrating all his lifetime learning. If he couldn’t even handle a mere ‘Straight to the Point,’ how could he walk in the martial world in the future?

With this thought, Lu Yun roared wildly and charged at his opponent again. This pounce used his lifetime’s skill and was truly faster than flying birds. But Mister Lin only shook his head: “Master Magistrate, no matter how fast something is, it has a direction. Even if you were ten times faster than me, it would be the same.”

This was indeed true. No matter how fast a head runs, if it hits a long sword, it will still die. As long as the direction is calculated correctly, everything is in vain.

Though his opponent gave good advice, Lu Yun seemed to have swallowed a weight and made up his mind, continuing to charge forward wildly. Mister Lin smiled, slightly bent his knees, placed his left fist at his waist, and just as he was about to throw his right fist, suddenly Lu Yun’s feet stopped urgently. His long robe swayed, left fist at waist, and his right fist had already struck toward the face. Everyone watching from the side immediately shouted: “Straight to the Point!”

‘Straight to the Point’ against ‘Straight to the Point’—when facing something flawless, the only way to break it is ‘flawlessness.’ Both sides fist to fist, heart to heart. Magistrate Lu versus Mister Lin—who was truly ‘flawless’ would be immediately apparent.

You’re upright, I’m also upright; you’re strong, I’m stronger. With a ‘hey’ sound, Lu Yun exhaled and called out. His waist, neck, chest, armpits, and four limbs were upright. Mister Lin also had his foot, eye, body, heart, and five aspects precise and rigorous. Both threw right fist against right fist, each using their lifetime’s accumulated skill. Whoever’s composure broke first would suffer great defeat.

Both sides’ fist edges faced each other—neither could take shortcuts. The moment of mutual defeat approached. With a ‘chi’ sound, Mister Lin’s robe sleeves swelled as he used internal energy to protect his fist. Lu Yun’s heart was overjoyed: “Splitting Air Sleeve Energy! No wonder such skill! So it’s you!”

Mister Lin was forced to change moves. Thus, opening the gate was no longer a mountain but water. Lu Yun sternly said: “Abbot! You’ve been exposed!”

The opponent’s fist edge had already deviated—the opportunity couldn’t be missed. In an instant, Lu Yun transformed fist into palm, touching his arm. With circular energy cutting and turning, Mister Lin was finally forced to sway.

‘Straight to the Point’ was broken. Though Mister Lin lost only by a hair’s breadth, his momentum was completely ruined. Lu Yun leaped up, taking advantage of ‘Mister Lin’s’ unsteady footing, his hands falling like violent wind and rain.

Crackling sounds continued endlessly. Lu Yun brought out all his lifetime learning—sticky energy, circular energy, hard energy, yin energy—truly using orthodox and unexpected methods together, combining hardness and softness. From time to time, he added several return-wind kicks. Poor Mister Lin had lost momentum and could only hope to stand steady—how could he still maintain his dignified appearance and calm bearing? Both fought fast with fast, meeting moves with counters. Seeing Mister Lin’s frantic hands and feet, he could no longer support himself. At this time, he could no longer use any ‘Straight to the Point’—every move was profound and rare Splitting Air Fist. However, the more exquisite the moves, the less he could block Lu Yun.

Suddenly, the two figures in the field separated. Lu Yun withdrew his moves, stopped his force, and retreated a great step, cupping his hands: “Thanks to Abbot Lingzhi’s yielding. Please forgive any offense.”

Lingzhi’s reputation was so resounding that everyone in the field made sounds of surprise when they heard it. That tall man also coughed quietly, but only the ghost-masked strange guest remained unmoved—apparently, he had long known ‘Mister Lin’s’ true identity.

Since Mister Lin had been exposed, he no longer hid anything. Pressing his palms together, he smiled: “Magistrate Lu is a rising star with truly extraordinary martial arts. This humble monk admits defeat.”

Lu Yun shook his head: “The Abbot intended to enlighten, not to seek victory. Why speak of winning and losing?”

These words came from his heart. This encounter with Lingzhi had given him deep appreciation of the world’s martial arts profundity—his benefit was truly immense.

Actually, Lu Yun should have thought of it earlier. In the world, if not this Shaolin abbot, who could use an ordinary ‘Straight to the Point’ with such divine skill? Only Lu Yun wasn’t very familiar with this abbot in the past, and with more than ten years passed without meeting, seeing him suddenly, even if he broke his head thinking, he couldn’t figure it out.

After many years, Abbot Lingzhi had become more handsome. Seeing him returned to lay life with hair grown and wearing an octagonal cap, he was truly both young and good-looking. Seeing Lu Yun repeatedly examining him, he only smiled and took Lu Yun’s hand: “Master Magistrate, let me introduce you to some friends…” Speaking thus, he took the tall man’s hand and smiled: “This is the current number one master of the Western Regions, General Timur Mieli. The angry vajra who guarded the second trial earlier was him.”

Lu Yun examined the opponent’s appearance. This person had thick eyebrows and angry eyes with bold features, even several inches taller than himself. Remembering their earlier encounter, he couldn’t help but feel sympathetic and hurriedly said: “That palm earlier didn’t injure the General, did it?”

Mieli smiled: “Nothing serious. I’m naturally durable—the more I’m hit, the more spirited I become.”

They say you don’t know someone until you fight them. Lu Yun saw his bold and forthright manner and felt even more admiration. Just as he was about to speak, he heard Mieli say: “Staff Officer Lu, actually we’ve met before. Do you remember?”

Lu Yun was surprised: “We’ve met?”

Mieli smiled: “If Staff Officer isn’t forgetful, you should remember.”

Lu Yun heard him address him as ‘Staff Officer’ and couldn’t help but be startled again. In his lifetime, he had held many positions—shop assistant, noodle boss, top scholar, and all sorts of things. But being called this ‘Staff Officer’ only happened during the Western Regions marriage alliance escort mission. His thoughts stirred, and he suddenly realized: “Yes! I saw you in Yangzhou! You… you’re one of Her Highness the Princess’s guards, right?”

On New Year’s Eve in Yangzhou, during the night crossing when the demonic blade appeared, black-clothed men had poured out to surround a magnificent sedan chair. At that time, Lu Yun had seen a tall, large man—presumably this ‘Timur Mieli.’ Mieli, seeing his good memory, was pleased: “Staff Officer is correct. I am indeed a guard envoy of the Timurid Khanate. This time I came on the Khan’s orders specifically to escort the Princess home to visit her parents.”

Lu Yun was surprised: “Visit parents?”

Timur Mieli smiled slightly: “The Princess misses her parents, so she came home.”

Lu Yun cried out in surprise. He had risked his life ten years ago to safely deliver Princess Yinchuan to the Western Regions, letting her marry peacefully and live a happy, fulfilling life from then on. Who would have thought that ten years later, Timur Mieli would bring her back to the Central Plains? But seeing that the current Zhengtong Emperor had been restored and the court and Angry Cang were still in constant warfare, coming back at this time—wasn’t this asking for trouble?

Thinking of Princess Yinchuan’s kindness, Lu Yun couldn’t help but feel nostalgic and sighed: “How… how is Her Highness lately?”

Mieli coughed, and Lingzhi immediately gave him a look: “This matter is a long story. But there’s still an old friend here waiting to see you.”

Hearing an old friend had come, Lu Yun couldn’t help but stir slightly. He urgently turned to look and saw that ghost-masked strange guest—presumably this ‘old friend’ referred to him. Lu Yun frowned: “This person is…” That person laughed cheerfully: “Really! After hearing my voice for most of the night, how can you still not recognize me? Have you forgotten everything about the Marquis’s mansion?”

Lu Yun’s whole body was struck as if by lightning as he tremblingly said: “The Marquis’s mansion? You… who exactly are you…”

Mister Lin walked up and whispered in his ear: “His surname is Wei.”

Lu Yun opened his mouth wide, feeling his brain buzzing. He suddenly reached out and tore off the ghost-masked strange guest’s mask. This sight not only shocked his heart greatly but also startled Timur Mieli.

A twisted, ugly face burned by fire beyond human recognition, hideous and fearsome—it actually looked more frightening than the previous ghost mask. Lu Yun said sadly: “Guard Wei, you… your face…”

The ghost-masked strange guest sighed: “That night at the Yongding River, a fire burned me into this state.”

With a thud, Lu Yun fell to his knees, hugged that person’s legs, and began crying loudly. The observing crowd was full of bewilderment, not knowing why he was so distressed. But Abbot Lingzhi waved his hand, signaling everyone to step away.

No one knew that ten years ago, after the final parting at the Yongding River bank, the Liu family had fallen apart completely, never to meet again.

Now ten years had passed, and the lonely traveler had finally found his companion. In life’s final journey, he would no longer be alone.