Chapter 90: The Beginning of Changing Fate

Why was this so? The reason was simple: while superior martial arts were tremendously powerful, they consumed an enormous amount of internal energy. It was like a cannon with a wider bore, which naturally devoured more ammunition. If Yue Buqun were to wield a blue steel sword and use Mount Hua swordsmanship to duel with Feng Qingyang, setting victory or defeat aside, he could at least hold out for ten or twenty exchanges.

If Yue Buqun were even more ruthless and challenged Feng Qingyang in lightness skills, he might be able to keep it up for half a day. However formidable the Dugu Nine Swords might be, you still had to catch your opponent and land a blow. If Yue Buqun truly fought a war of attrition, Feng Qingyang might not necessarily outlast him.

Yet now Yue Buqun was using the Divine Wind Leg, the Cloud-Riding Palm, and even put on an act by employing the Six Styles of Proud Frost. His internal energy had long since been exhausted; if Yang Xin had not bestowed upon him a vortex physique, Yue Buqun would already have collapsed.

“Senior Feng, has the misunderstanding about me been cleared up?” Yue Buqun asked calmly.

Though Feng Qingyang found Yue Buqun distasteful, he was not so petty as to refuse to distinguish right from wrong, and so he nodded and said, “This old man misunderstood you.”

“Senior Feng, I am the master of Mount Hua. Is it really so hard to call me sect master?” Yue Buqun said coldly.

“You!” Feng Qingyang was furious, but this was the trend of affairs, an open stratagem.

Looking at Yue Buqun, who wore a faint smile and appeared to have everything under control, one felt anger rise at his composure. Yet the momentum was with him. No matter how unwilling Feng Qingyang was, he could only grit his teeth and say, “Sect Master Nephew.”

“Senior Feng, please come inside.” Yue Buqun folded his hands with perfect composure.

Yang Xin smiled soundlessly. Schemes, indeed schemes. Everything was firmly within Yue Buqun’s grasp, and now it seemed Feng Qingyang would be drawn into Yue Buqun’s web as well.

People of the modern world were thoroughly familiar with this sort of feint and withdrawal. If anyone dared use such a tactic on them, they would already be tearing into one another in a public brawl, and if they did not shred each other until the sky went dark and the earth unlit, they would be too ashamed to call themselves civilized. Yet in the world of martial artists, this very trick worked all too well, Feng Qingyang no exception.

What Feng Qingyang did next was also exactly as Yang Xin had predicted.

“How dare you deceive me, brat!” Feng Qingyang roared in fury.

“Why is Senior so angry?” Yue Buqun looked utterly innocent.

“Must you force this old man to leave behind the Dugu Nine Swords?” Feng Qingyang said coldly.

“No. The Dugu Nine Swords were obtained by Senior Feng through a chance encounter; they belong to your own fortune and are not part of Mount Hua’s inherited martial arts. Naturally, there is no need to leave them behind. I invited Senior Feng inside to speak in detail about the Bi Xie Sword Manual that has caused such rumors throughout the martial world.” Yue Buqun shook his head.

“Then why did you just now try to force this old man to leave behind the Dugu Nine Swords?” Feng Qingyang was somewhat bewildered.

He was merely forcing the senior martial uncle to strike at full strength.

“Why?” Feng Qingyang truly could not follow Yue Buqun’s thought process.

“It is simple enough: to gain the right to speak. In the martial world, strength rules; within a sect, it is the same. No matter how brilliant your mind is, without martial force it is useless. I know that in your heart, Senior Martial Uncle, you look down on me and think me vile beyond measure. You do not understand that I have only resorted to such measures because I had no other choice; you would merely assume I act without regard for any means. Why? Is it not because I am weak?”

“Today, by the blessing of the immortals, I have received divine manuals and achieved a small measure of success. By compelling Senior Martial Uncle to act, I mean to tell you this: within Mount Hua, I am the sect master, and everything is decided by me. I do not expect Senior Feng to devote himself to our sect, but neither do I wish you to point fingers at me, much less ‘help’ with good intentions and make a mess of things.” Yue Buqun spoke with complete candor.

He made clear the origins of his divine arts, and he also made clear his intentions: within Mount Hua, he was the sect master, and now his martial skills were no weaker than Feng Qingyang’s. He did not ask for help; so long as Feng Qingyang did not interfere, that would already be a blessing. Yue Buqun understood deeply that a pig-like ally was more terrifying than a god-like enemy.

In his heart, Feng Qingyang looked down on Yue Buqun, and Yue Buqun likewise looked down on Feng Qingyang. Feng Qingyang might indeed possess extraordinary martial talent, but intelligence was a hard requirement. Otherwise, he would not have been tricked south to Jiangnan by a mere scheme of the internal-school predecessors.

Being deceived was not the worst part; the worst part was the timing. At a time when the sword and energy schools were at daggers drawn, Feng Qingyang had abandoned the sword school for the sake of his own private matters. What kind of absence of the bigger picture was that?

Feng Qingyang’s face alternated between green and white. He had never before been so harried by a younger generation member, and especially not by one he profoundly disliked. He had originally wanted to fling his sleeve and return to the Cliff of Reflection, sitting in solitude to watch the clouds gather and disperse, ignoring all worldly affairs... But now the martial world was about to descend into chaos; one small misstep could bring annihilation upon the sect. Helplessly, Feng Qingyang let out a long sigh, sheathed the sword in his hand, and followed Yue Buqun back to the Hall of Uprightness to hear the beginning and end of the calamity caused by the Bi Xie Sword Manual.

Once they arrived at the Hall of Uprightness and everyone had taken their seats again, Lao Denuo and Yue Lingshan recounted the entire affair from beginning to end, detail by detail. Of course, they omitted what had happened within the dream.

“So that is how it was! Why did it come to this?” Feng Qingyang’s expression changed drastically.

Still, Feng Qingyang did not slam the table or glare at Yang Xin with hostility. Though his intelligence was not exactly high, he was not stupid either. He knew that anyone who casually gave away such profound manuals could not be taken lightly, which meant he must possess even better divine arts; only then would he be able to distribute manuals such as the Frost Fist so freely.

Moreover, though Feng Qingyang looked down on Yue Buqun’s methods, he did acknowledge Yue Buqun’s wisdom. Though he would not admit it aloud, Feng Qingyang did not think Yue Buqun had exaggerated in his description of Yang Xin, nor did he believe Yue Buqun had been deceived. In Feng Qingyang’s view, with Yue Buqun’s intelligence, there was truly no one in the martial world who could trick him.

“Why did it come to this? For no other reason...” Yang Xin lifted a cup of tea and took a gentle sip. Everyone strained their ears, especially Yue Buqun. Yue Buqun had spent sleepless nights wondering why Yang Xin would have given him these supreme arts for free, yet he had never found the answer.

If this were some conspiracy, Yue Buqun himself would not believe it, because he could not imagine what Yang Xin could possibly gain from him or from Mount Hua. Now that Yang Xin was about to reveal the answer himself, Yue Buqun hurriedly held his breath and listened.

“I simply wished to change all of your destinies.” Yang Xin said lightly. Then he set down the teacup and turned to look at Yue Buqun. “Sect Master Yue, do you still wish to repeat the fate from your dream?”

Yue Buqun shook his head repeatedly. The misery from the dream surfaced one after another in his mind. Drawing a long breath, he hardened his heart. The events of the dream would never happen again.

“And you?” Yang Xin looked one by one at Lin Pingzhi, Lin Zhennan, Lao Denuo, and Yue Lingshan.

The four of them also shook their heads repeatedly.

“If you do not wish it, then live well.”

“Immortal Master, I wish to bring Mount Hua to greatness. In my shamelessness, I beg Immortal Master to serve as the supreme elder of our Mount Hua sect and point us toward a bright road. All of Mount Hua, from me downward, shall take Immortal Master’s lead. Wherever your command points, none within Mount Hua will dare disobey.”

As soon as Yue Buqun finished speaking, he swept his robe aside and knelt to the ground.

Lao Denuo, Lin Pingzhi, and Yue Lingshan were all directly involved and knew all too well Yang Xin’s marvel and might, so they too quickly followed Yue Buqun in kneeling and pleading.

Seeing their master act thus, Yue Buqun’s disciples followed the tide and knelt as well. Yue Lingshan gently tugged at Ning Zhongze’s sleeve, and Ning Zhongze, in wife’s harmony with her husband, also knelt to beg.

Feng Qingyang’s eyes went wide with astonishment, fear, and shock.

Yang Xin looked at everyone expressionlessly, and at the hopeful light in their eyes. At last, he nodded...

Yue Buqun was overjoyed. He had finally latched onto a truly thick thigh. From now on, he could boast to the entire martial world: across the whole Great Ming, who the hell would dare lay a hand on me, Yue Buqun!

Yang Xin was likewise delighted. At long last, he could enter the world of Proud Smiling in the Rivers and Lakes openly and begin reaping fortune value without restraint.

The only one left unhappy was probably Feng Qingyang.

“Since I have now assumed the post of supreme elder of Mount Hua, and as this is my first visit, I offer a small token of esteem.” Yang Xin made a casual gesture through the air, and one crimson fruit after another, red as blood, appeared upon the table.

“What is this?” Yue Buqun stared wide-eyed.

“Blood Bodhi.”