I am a prince in Zhutian Films

Chapter 578 Li Chungang Passes on the Sword, Opening the Heavenly Gate with a Single Sword
"So, what do you think of Cao Guanzi, who is ranked third in the world?"

The first thing Li Chungang asked the two upon their return was this question.

Zhou Cheng'an's answer was also concise: "Not as good as the old sword god."

Li Chungang laughed heartily and looked at Xu Fengnian beside him, saying, "Xu boy, look at Master Zhou. You should learn from him."

Xu Fengnian smiled, paused for a moment, and said seriously, "Senior, if you want to leave, I won't stop you."

Having spent so much time together, Xu Fengnian naturally knew that Li Chungang's only thought now was to find a successor for his swordsmanship.

Although Zhou Cheng'an learned Li Chungang's swordsmanship, he not only had his own teacher but also his own path of swordsmanship, so he cannot be considered Li Chungang's successor.

Therefore, the only one qualified to be his successor is Jiang Ni, and Li Chungang has always regarded Jiang Ni as his successor.

If possible, Xu Fengnian would certainly hope that Li Chungang could stay.

But if Li Chungang wanted to leave, he wouldn't force him to stay.

Li Chungang was probably taken aback by Xu Fengnian's sudden remark. He then laughed and said, "I promised to send you back to Beiliang alive. How could I break my promise?"

In fact, he had already accepted Xu Fengnian along the way, but he was too proud to admit it. After all, everyone knew that he had looked down on Xu Fengnian at the beginning, and if he admitted it now, wouldn't he be contradicting himself?

"Besides, I really am a little reluctant to part with Cheng'an."

"And what about me?" Xu Fengnian asked, somewhat humiliated.

Li Chungang patted him reassuringly, then turned and got into the carriage.

Xu Fengnian, with a touch of Ah Q spirit, comforted himself, saying, "It seems the senior still likes me."

Zhou Chengan didn't say a word, patted him on the shoulder, and got into the carriage as well.

But unlike the others, he got into a different carriage.

Xu Fengnian remained silent, then instructed everyone to set off before boarding the carriage where Li Chungang was.

Four people were sitting in the carriage: Xu Zhihu, Pei Nanwei, Li Chungang, and Qingniao, plus Xu Fengnian, making the small carriage seem a bit crowded.

"Sister, let's go to Longhu Mountain next to see Huang Man'er."

As Xu Fengnian spoke, he seemed to be thinking of something and before Xu Zhihu could react, he added, "However, before going to Longhu Mountain, I guess we should go to Huishan first."

"Going to Huishan?"

Xu Fengnian nodded and smiled, "I heard that Xuanyuan Dapan's power has increased greatly recently and he has entered the Great Celestial Phenomenon Realm. Moreover, I also heard that the old man has found a secret technique from somewhere and has a cannon again. He is so crazy that he wants to cultivate with Xuanyuan Qingfeng."

"Cannon?" Li Chungang asked, somewhat puzzled.

“Cheng’an said that Xuanyuan Dapan is a cannon armor,” Xu Fengnian said with a smile.

Li Chungang instantly understood and laughed, "Master Zhou always has some witty remarks."

"No."

Xu Fengnian smiled and looked at Pei Nanwei, saying, "Speaking of which, I've heard Cheng'an mention before that he knows things like 'Child Worshipping Buddha' and 'Guanyin Sitting on a Lotus,' which sound like extremely profound and superior martial arts. Sister-in-law, did Cheng'an teach you any of them?"

"Bah, shameless!"

In the past, Pei Nanwei would have been mindful of Xu Fengnian's status, but now... all I can say is that she's well-mannered by not taking action.

Almost simultaneously, Zhou Chengan's voice rang out.

"Xu Fengnian, get out here!"

Xu Fengnian was startled and looked at Li Chungang for help, but Li Chungang just smiled and then kicked him away.

Immediately afterwards, the sound of fists striking flesh echoed outside the carriage.

And then there were the Crown Prince's screams...

The sound was extremely mournful, and Xu Zhihu looked worried upon hearing it.

Just as he was about to speak, Li Chungang laughed and said, "Don't worry, Cheng'an knows what he's doing. It's not harmful to him. Besides, Xu is just asking for a beating. He wants to use Master Zhou's hands to temper his Vajra Realm physique."

Xu Zhihu was taken aback, his expression somewhat complicated, but overall he was mostly happy.

"Feng Nian has reached the first rank?"

"Having been beaten all this way, if that kid can't even reach the first rank, then it would be better for Cheng'an to just kill him, so he won't embarrass me and Cheng'an in the future."

"Thank you very much, Senior Li!" Xu Zhihu said gratefully.

Li Chungang waved his hand and said nothing more.

After an incense stick had burned, Xu Fengnian climbed onto the carriage with a painful groan.

Li Chungang chuckled immediately: "Xu kid, this time it's been quite long."

Xu Fengnian ignored him and was still blaming him for being disloyal earlier.

Li Chungang kicked him directly: "You shameless thing, get up right now and tell me about Cheng'an and Xuanyuan Dapan."

Xu Fengnian immediately perked up when this was mentioned.

He recounted Zhou Chengan's trip to Huishan with great enthusiasm. After listening, Li Chungang couldn't help but exclaim, "That kid is really bold. He dared to cause trouble for Xuanyuan Dapan back then."

Xu Fengnian curled his lip: "From what you're saying, you think Xuanyuan Dapan is very powerful?"

"Awesome my foot! I was so annoyed by him back then that I just casually gave him a sword strike, and that old guy never dared to practice swordsmanship again. Useless thing!"

Li Chungang snorted coldly, then changed the subject: "However, as useless as he may be, most people are no match for him. At least for you now, that old guy could crush you as easily as crushing an ant."

Xu Fengnian grumbled and saw Pei Nanwei get off the carriage and walk towards Zhou Chengan. He called out, "Chengan, you heard it too, didn't you? That old bastard Xuanyuan Dapan got some secret technique and has cannons again. Do you want to go and teach him a lesson? If you don't want to go, we'll go straight to Longhu Mountain."

"Go, I have something to discuss with Xuanyuan Jingcheng."

……

A month later, the group entered the territory of Jianzhou.

Jianzhou was split in two by the Shejiang River; in Jiangxi there is Longhu, and in Jiangdong there is Xuanyuan.

The former is the ancestral home of Taoism. The Zhao family, a Taoist sect with the same surname as the emperor, has been a hereditary lineage for more than 60 generations, upholding the mandate of heaven for 1,600 years. Longhu Mountain, within a radius of 100 li, is the founding mountain of the Celestial Masters sect, with the Celestial Master's Mansion as its core.

The peaks stand facing each other like dragons and tigers vying for supremacy, with red mountains and green waters, and purple mist rising from them, creating a breathtakingly beautiful scene.

In a broader sense, the Longhushan Taoist area is even more vast, with almost half of the land west of the Shejiang River belonging to this Taoist paradise.

Together with the Zhang family in the north, who produced a sage and teacher for all ages, they are known as the Zhang family in the north and the Zhao family in the south, the Master in the north and the True Man in the south, shining brightly for a thousand years.

Speaking of this Master Zhang, he is even more remarkable. He has occupied most of the Confucian fortune and has lived for eight hundred years. He can be said to have truly made his words law.

Perhaps the Confucian spirit was too dominated by this Master Zhang, which is why none of the Confucian sages in the snow lived for long.

Cao Changqing and Xuanyuan Jingcheng both died as soon as they reached the level of Confucian sages...

As for Jiangdong Xuanyuan, although it is not a Taoist sect, it occupies most of Huishan Mountain, and thus possesses Tianmu Cen, the sixth blessed land among the blessed lands, with infinitely beautiful scenery.

In particular, the main peak, Guniu Dagang, is a huge blue stone that resembles a blue ox lying quietly with its head held high.

At the foot of the mountain are six tiered sister waterfalls. Every summer, thousands of carp leap upstream, creating a spectacular sight, much like the Tingchao Lake in the Northern Liang King's Palace where thousands of carp emerge from the water.

Because of the legend that a dragon king is imprisoned at the bottom of the pool, it is also called the Dragon Gate or the Heavenly Gate.

Li Chungang once caused six waterfalls to flow backwards with a single sword strike, even washing away the gate of the Xuanyuan Mansion built on Guniu Hill. This is the origin of Li Chungang's legendary sword strike that opened the gate to heaven. This sword strike was, in Li Chungang's words, just a casual gesture.

After Zhou Cheng'an's disturbance last time, the Xuanyuan family's influence in the martial arts world diminished considerably. In recent days, Xuanyuan Qingfeng had heard about the ancestor's desire to cultivate with her.

Rumors were spreading like wildfire within the family, and having no other choice, she took Yuan Tingshan with her to Longhu Mountain to search for three spiritual items.

These three magical creatures are the giant salamander, the red-backed newt, and the black-footed snow fox.

The latter two are relatively easy to find, and giant salamanders are not uncommon, but jiao salamanders with horns on their foreheads are extremely rare, so giant jiao salamanders are something you can only encounter by chance.

Ancient books say that giant salamanders grow horns after living for a hundred years, and can transform into mountain dragons after another five hundred years. Xuan Yuan Qingfeng did not expect to succeed on the first try. She had already searched tirelessly in the mountains dozens of times.

Yuan Tingshan stayed by her side, ostensibly to protect her, but in reality to monitor her.

He originally wanted to marry Xuanyuan Qingfeng, but after learning that Xuanyuan Dapan had decided to take action against Xuanyuan Qingfeng, he did not hesitate to cut off all his thoughts.

He's like a jackal, he knows best what's edible and what kind of prey is absolutely unthinkable.

After being nearly killed by Zhou Chengan's punch last time, he put away his arrogance and focused on practicing his swordsmanship.

He has made great progress over the years and has already entered the first-grade realm.

The two returned empty-handed. As they approached the foot of the mountain, Xuan Yuan Qingfeng asked, "Yuan Tingshan, do you think that Taoist priest was a master?"

On their way down the mountain, the two encountered a middle-aged Taoist priest who claimed to be fishing for dragons in the lake. He seemed like an ordinary Taoist priest, but Xuan Yuan Qingfeng had a strange feeling about him.

Yuan Tingshan pondered for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "Whether you're a master or not, I dare to kill you with a single blow."

"Then Zhou Cheng'an, can you kill him with one strike?"

"No," Yuan Tingshan said calmly. "But Ancestor Xuanyuan can!"

Xuanyuan Qingfeng smiled and said nothing more.

However, what the two were unaware of was that the middle-aged Taoist priest they were talking about was standing not far away watching them.

To be precise, it was looking at Xuan Yuan Qingfeng.

"You've grown so big already!" the middle-aged Taoist priest remarked with some emotion.

He was Zhao Huangchao, an ancestor of the Liyang Dynasty. In his early years, for the sake of the Zhao family's fortune, he abandoned his country and beautiful women and entered Longhu Mountain to cultivate, maintaining the Zhao family's fortune through the solitary and secluded Taoist practice of wild fox Zen.

Back then, when Xu Xiaobing besieged Longhu Mountain, he arrived with an imperial edict to stop the Northern Liang army. He made a bet with Zhao Xuansu that the one who ascended first would lose a seal. He also had a past romance with Xuanyuan Qingfeng.

He is one of the Thirteen Jia of the Spring and Autumn Period, possessing the ability to deduce the rise and fall of dynasties using Yin-Yang numerology, and has been raising a dragon-like creature for a thousand years in the Difei Mountain.

the other side.

Xu Fengnian looked up at Mount Kuanglu, the highest mountain in Jianzhou, and laughed, "We'll rest on the mountaintop tonight. There's a thousand-foot waterfall cascading down the mountainside behind Jianya. It's said that if you're lucky, you can see the waterfall turn golden at sunrise from the mountaintop."

Zhou Cheng'an glanced at Mount Lu and a sense of Taoist philosophy arose spontaneously within him.

Li Chungang glanced at him in surprise, but didn't ask any further questions.

As evening approached, the group reached the mountaintop and began setting up camp.

Seeing Xu Fengnian head towards the highest point, Li Chungang followed.

Zhou Cheng'an strolled around, his steps graceful and unintentional, setting up an array.

By the time he went up to set up the array's core, Li Chungang had already finished talking with Xu Fengnian and was gazing in the direction of Longhu Mountain, while Xu Fengnian was flipping through a booklet, looking somewhat dazed.

A moment later, a Daoist aura rose up, then suddenly disappeared.

However, this still brought them both back to their senses.

Li Chungang withdrew his gaze from the direction of Longhu Mountain and sighed: "When I use my sword, the ultimate sword intent far surpasses that of the Two Green Snakes. It is the one that strikes the Heavenly Bell, opens the Heavenly Gate, and kills the Heavenly Beings. A senior swordsman once mocked me, saying that since there are no dragons in the world, your swords are just a joke, even if they are dragon-slaying techniques."

Upon hearing this, Xu Fengnian put away the booklet in his hand.

"Senior Li, what kind of celestial being are you referring to?"

Li Chungang slowly said, "The doctrines of the three religions are different, but their foundations are the same."

"The ancients said: The Book of Changes is in accordance with Heaven and Earth, therefore it can encompass the Way of Heaven and Earth."

"This is the threshold between heaven and man. Confucian sages, Taoist immortals, and Buddhist living Buddhas are all like this. This is the origin of the saying that immortals on land are immortals."

"The first rank has four realms: Vajra worships Buddha, pointing to the mystery and praising the Dao, celestial phenomena praise Confucianism, only the terrestrial immortals are beyond the three religions. Upon reaching this realm, one becomes an immortal, a celestial being!"

Xu Fengnian nodded thoughtfully, while Zhou Chengan remained calm.

Suddenly, Li Chungang unleashed a torrent of sword intent.

"I practice swordsmanship with the ambition to kill even the celestial beings with a single strike."

"That move, in terms of swordsmanship, sword techniques, and even sword intent and sword energy, is not top-notch. But I stumbled upon it by chance, and every time I use this move, I strive to kill the enemy with one strike."

"Imagine that I reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship at the age of twenty. For the next twenty years, I roamed freely throughout the world. Every time I unleashed this sword technique, I charged forward without hesitation and no one ever survived."

As he spoke, Li Chungang thrust out a sword.

This sword strike didn't land in his eyes, but in his heart.

One sword strike, and the world trembled!
Heaven and earth split open, and the gate to heaven appeared.

This sword strike was Li Chungang's "Opening the Heavenly Gate".

Xu Fengnian stood there stunned for a while before he came to his senses and said blankly, "I think I just vaguely saw something."

"That was me influencing you with the true meaning of opening the gates of heaven with a single sword strike. What you saw was the secret of that sword strike," Li Chungang explained.

"You can make me see illusions?" Xu Fengnian asked in surprise.

Li Chungang curled his lip: "What's so surprising about making people see hallucinations? Don't you know that Master Zhou can do that?"

"I know, it's called 'Inner Demon Summoning,' but you don't know that kind of skill, do you?"

"When martial arts reach their peak, it's only natural that they can influence both the body and mind, from changing reality to affecting the spirit. That's why some masters can make you feel fear and back down just by standing there. The fundamental reason is that their spirit overwhelms you."

Li Chungang withdrew his sword intent and continued, "Back then, I lost to Wang Xianzhi, and the wooden horse and ox were broken. It wasn't that I couldn't defeat Wang Xianzhi at that time, but that I cherished his talent and didn't deliver this sword strike. Otherwise, there would be no second place in the world for Martial Emperor City today."

Later, I went to Longhu Mountain to seek medicine and talked with Qi Xuanzhen for most of the day. He spoke of his Dao of Heaven, and I spoke of my Dao of the Sword. As you all know, in the end, I lost; I couldn't save her.

"Senior..." Xu Fengnian opened his mouth, wanting to offer some comfort, but he didn't know what to say.

Because he now understands somewhat the feeling of losing a loved one.

It can only be said that for someone who has lost a loved one, any words of comfort seem so pale and powerless.

“It’s all in the past. Cheng’an said it very well: as long as you have her in your heart, she will live on in your heart regardless of life or death.”

Li Chungang laughed heartily and tossed the talisman in his hand to Xu Fengnian: "Before Jiang left, she told me to find an opportunity to give this talisman to you, boy. I was reluctant but had no choice, so I'll give it to you today."

Xu Fengnian held the divine talisman, lost in thought.

As Li Chungang turned to leave, he couldn't help but mutter something to himself.

"One gave away a divine talisman, and the other gifted a Great Liang Dragon Sparrow. They're both damn spendthrifts."

(End of this chapter)