Chongming Xianzong

Chapter 401 Farewell
Sitting in front of the Taoist priest in black shoes was a middle-aged monk. He wore a felt hat and had no hair or beard, but it did not affect his handsome face at all.

The monk's attention was not focused on the fierce competition going on below. Instead, he occasionally turned sideways to look at the ice jar in front of him, with an indescribable look in his eyes.

Seeing the black-shoe Taoist looking back, the monk turned around and spoke in an unexpectedly old voice: "Did Kang's disciple win?"

"Well, Mr. Shan has a keen eye," the Taoist in black shoes responded respectfully.

"Oh, no, I haven't even looked down at it. I just thought that Kang's disciple has more experience, so he should be able to win." Yin Shangong's tone revealed a hint of self-mockery, as his face had changed.

After he finished talking to the Taoist Black Shoes, he turned to look at the Ice Mirror in front of him and said softly with a hint of sigh: "I didn't know before that I would look like this when I get old.

I haven’t taken a photo in the mirror since I was young, thinking it was too girly. After the misfortune, I don’t know how many years it has been since I last took a photo. I suddenly took a photo in the past few days, and I feel that I can’t get enough of it.”

"Shan Gong," the Taoist in black shoes wanted to say something, but there was something stuck in his throat and he couldn't say anything.

"Nothing, this is a scene I have never dreamed of. In the past hundred years, these few days are the only ones that make me happiest." Shan Gong adjusted his brocade robes and subconsciously reached his hands to his ears, but his hands were empty.

Only then did he realize that the vine by his ear had withered and fallen after he shed his demon body.

Shan Gong smiled again. Even though he knew he was going to die, there was no fear on his face. He looked at the black-shoe Taoist again and said softly, "Come, I'll play another round with you."

"Yes,"

The Black-Shoe Taoist put down his chess set, and Shan Gong sat opposite him with great interest. As expected, in just a few minutes, the Black-Shoe Taoist was defeated and his army was in disarray.

"Your chess skills are not even a fraction as good as your swordsmanship." The victorious Yin Shangong felt bored. He tapped the chessboard, and the chaotic chess pieces fell back into the chess pot in an orderly manner.

"Be cheerful. If I want to see you in such a sad state, why not choose to die at the hands of Qin kid?"

After this, the Taoist Heishi remained silent, but Yin Shangong laughed out loud: "Boy, your character is really bad. I think you must have some luck. Otherwise, with your talent, it would be impossible for you to cultivate to such a level."

This was a harsh statement, but the Taoist Heishi did not show any anger after hearing it, he just bowed his head in agreement. Yin Shangong smiled again and said, "You have become a prominent figure in Yunjiaozhou. As an old man, I have no right to talk to you about cultivation."

Having said this, Yin Shangong paused for a moment, and after a while, he asked again, "You still remember Chen Ye, right?"

How could Heishi Daoist forget this name? Although he didn't know why Yin Shangong mentioned this evil, he still responded respectfully, "Of course I remember it."

After Yin Shan Gong nodded, the smile on his face suddenly faded: "Even if this beast has a thousand faults, his sincerity and truthfulness in the heart of Taoism are indeed beyond words."

The Taoist Hei Lu thought about Chen Ye's actions for a while, then nodded and said, "I understand, kid."

"Just knowing it is not enough," Yin Shangong shook his head and said:
"Even children in elementary school can explain these eight words, 'Perseverance can carve metal and stone', but even among practitioners, there are still very few who can truly do it.

I have been practicing for many years and have seen many monks. But to be fair, only Chen Ye can be considered one of them. "

The black-shoe Taoist was stunned again, and after a period of silence, he spoke again: "I think you can do it, kid."

"That's fine." Yin Shangong had no intention of arguing with the black-shoe Taoist. He just turned his head and looked at the ice mirror again. When he spoke, he looked much more mature: "Boy, you have to promise me that you will not become the next Chen Ye."

The black-shoe Taoist's expression suddenly changed, and he shouted hurriedly: "It won't happen!"

"That's good," Yin Shangong's mouth curled up again, and the self-mockery on his face became even stronger. He didn't rush to look back, but just whispered to himself in the ice mirror:

“Some people cultivate to the level of Golden Elixir or Nascent Soul and live for a thousand years. But at the end of their cultivation, they don’t know if they are still themselves. Although I am old and useless, fortunately, I can still be myself for a few days before I die.”

The Taoist Black Shoes wanted to speak, but Yin Shangong waved his hand to stop him. The latter stared at the Ice Mirror and his tone became much more indifferent: "I really don't have time. You can go and watch the competition downstairs and come back to tell me. I really can't take my eyes away."

----

Kang Changyi had never thought that his opponent in the fourth round would be Jin Shilun, who had just fought Song Cheng and was still injured. The latter looked a little embarrassed, and even the willow-leaf long sword in his hand had a chip on it.

Kang Changyi was not in a hurry to take action. He first exchanged pleasantries on the stage: "Brother, are you seriously injured?"

Jin Shilun just grinned, with some relief in his words:
"It's nothing, just a superficial wound. I miscalculated before. I haven't seen Junior Brother Song for a long time. I didn't expect that he would be so powerful after being promoted to the true teaching. This is why I suffered a little loss. But if you Junior Brothers want to defeat us old guys, I'm afraid you still need to practice for a while."

Kang Changyi's expression relaxed when he heard this. Just as he was about to say something more, Jiang Qing, the referee, urged him, "A loud drum doesn't need a heavy hammer. I've already said no more idle talk. Let's get started!"

Few of the younger generation in the sect were not afraid of this cold-faced uncle. After hearing his words, Jin and Kang dared not disobey.

Jiang Qing casually gave the order, and Kang Changyi said nothing more politely. He took out the trident first and said in a deep voice: "Then Junior Brother will take advantage of you today, and this victory will not be fair."

Jin Shilun did not answer, but just chuckled, and the scimitar in his hand danced quickly, ignoring the broken blade. Some fragments of spiritual iron were thrown off during the swing, and he rushed straight towards the trident.

For a while, the sound of metal and iron was heard continuously, and the flashes of halberds and swords collided with each other with great pleasure.

Kang Changyi gathered his strength and was in high spirits; Jin Shilun fought again despite his injury and did not lose the upper hand, making the defeated disciples who gathered around to watch sigh that it was such a lively and exciting scene.

The competition between the two made the disciples happy, but the senior masters of the sect did not approve of it very much.

Zhou Yixiu had a trace of worry on his brows. He came close to Kang Dabao and said bluntly, "Master, this Yi Ge is not as good as Shi Lun."

Even Zhou Yixiu, who was not good at fighting, could see some signs, so Pei Yi must be able to see it more clearly.

After thinking for a while, he continued, "Yes, the resources that sister-in-law has spent on Changyi over the years are enough to cultivate a bunch of late-stage cultivators. But Changyi couldn't even defeat Shilun, who only had 60% of his strength left after a hard battle. The latter didn't even have a backup plan..."

This was something that no one else needed to explain. Sect Master Kang also sighed in a low voice, "This kid's cultivation of the Hong-level cultivation method is not bad, and he has also spent a lot of effort in nurturing the magic weapon in his hand, so he is quite capable. It's just that he has experienced fewer battles, so he is not as experienced as Shi Lun."

Zhou Yixiu has seen a lot of big scenes over the years, and he boasts that he has good eyesight. He also agreed and said, "Well, in my opinion, it won't be long before Brother Yi is at a disadvantage."

The head of Kangda shook his head again and said:

"I've long said that jade cannot be made into anything without being polished, but my wife couldn't bear to see her child suffer. She even argued that as long as she cultivated herself, the ability to fight would come naturally. Rather than wasting hard work on Qi training, it would be better to become a true practitioner early on."

As soon as he heard about Fei Shuhe's matter, Zhou Yixiu spoke tactfully. Even though he did not agree with the meaning, he changed his tone and said:
"Sister-in-law Fei is from a noble family, so she is much more knowledgeable than us. If you think about it carefully, what she said makes sense."

Compared to Zhou Yixiu, Pei Yike was much more direct. After hearing Kang Dabao's words, he still said: "If you hold on to this idea, I'm afraid you will raise a spoiled brat."

"Who said it wasn't true?" Sect Leader Kang also sighed after hearing this. "But she still had something to say. She only said that if a descendant of a high-level cultivator had to fight with a worthless casual cultivator for a little cultivation resource, it would be irrational."

Pei Yi was also stunned after Kang Dabao's words. After all, to be fair, Fei Shuhe's words were not without reason. Even he began to reflect on whether it was because he was too shallow that he could not see through the truth.

Seeing that Pei and Zhou had actually started to ponder over this, Sect Leader Kang coughed a few times and drew their attention.
"Of course this doesn't make sense. If a person who was useless during Qi training becomes a true cultivator, won't he still be useless? Otherwise, how could a person like me, an outsider, win the first place in the competition for those under 150 years old in the Sheshan Hall?"

This was a rare moment of glory in the life of Kang Dabao. The two junior brothers also thought his words made sense. Pei Yi had prepared a plan in his mind and was about to say something, but as soon as Kang Dabao finished speaking, the winner was decided on the stage.

But Kang Changyi found Jin Shilun's weakness and locked the latter's scimitar with his trident. This top-grade magic weapon was really good. Even though Kang Changyi's spiritual power was much worse than Jin Shilun's, he was able to lock the murderous scimitar so that it could not move.

However, as soon as he felt a little proud, changes occurred in the situation.

But Jin Shilun actually released his finger gestures and let Kang Changyi lock the magic weapon. He moved swiftly, like a white ape, and ran over as fast as the wind following a shadow.

"White Ape Step? Or it was improved by my second uncle?!" Kang Changyi did not expect that Jin Shilun could use this as a backup, but he was not too panicked.

He knew that his cultivation was not strong enough. Once he used the defensive magic weapon in front of him and fell into the latter's continuous attack, he would not be able to hold on for long and would be exposed, which would fall into Jin Shilun's calculations.

"Then let's attack back!" Kang Changyi made up his mind, and when he saw that Jin Shilun had approached him, he suddenly raised his hand and stabbed out with a short spear, aiming at the vital point between Jin Shilun's eyebrows.

The dagger Kang Changyi used was obviously of high quality, and judging by his movements, he must have put in a lot of effort. His speed was so fast that even Jiang Qing on the sidelines raised his eyebrows.

However, he did not move. He did not care even though Jin Shilun was in danger. When the short thorn was one inch closer to Jin Shilun's forehead, Jiang Qing whispered softly, "Defeated."

"What?!" Kang Changyi saw Jin Shilun, who was running towards him, suddenly stop and use the White Ape Steps to turn easily, changing direction and avoiding the short stab that Kang Changyi suddenly launched.

"Brother Jin, did you deliberately try to entice me to do this? But what's the point of doing this?"

Kang Changyi was just about to have this thought when he saw a vine covered with thorns suddenly grow out from under his feet. In just a breath, it grew to the height of a person and then tied him up tightly and unreasonably.

"It was those knife flowers that Senior Brother Jin swung after Third Uncle gave the order!" Kang Changyi reacted too late. No matter how frustrated he was, the thorns on the vines still pierced the fairy clothes mercilessly, and blood seeped out, dyeing the fairy clothes red.

"It hurts!" Kang Changyi, who had never suffered any hardship since childhood, cried out in pain, and the fingers controlling the trident couldn't help but loosen.

Jin Shilun had been waiting for this moment. He muttered to himself, and the finger gestures in his hand changed several times. The scimitar that was originally tightly clamped by the trident suddenly shook.

"Bang", a small piece of the scimitar blade broke off, but it was able to be pulled out.

Jin Shilun had already rushed out before the scimitar was damaged again. The white ape walked very fast and took the broken scimitar back in his hand in a breath. At this time, Kang Changyi could not sit and wait for death. He used his spiritual consciousness to take out several fine talismans from his storage bag.

"Bang!" A ball of lightning and fire fell on Kang Changyi, but the vines on his body were only half burned and could not be freed. The top of his throat was hit by the strong wind, leaving a white mark.

Jin Shilun placed the broken knife across Kang Changyi's throat and whispered, "Junior brother, I'm sorry!"

"Jin Shilun wins!" Jiang Qing said in a low voice with no expression on his face. Kang Changyi looked a little regretful and said, "Junior brother is convinced."

"No, no, when I was your age, I could... Hey, Third Uncle, don't hit me. I and your brother will go down now!"

The two people who didn't learn their lesson were driven away by Jiang Qing for exchanging pleasantries. Kang Dabao on the stage sighed, "If it was a life-and-death fight, my stupid son would have been killed three times by Shi Lun."

Zhou Yixiu also sighed: "I thought my eyesight was blurry due to old age and I was wrong this time."

Pei Yi tried to comfort him, "If Brother Yi had more experience and had discovered the vine seeds that Shi Lun had planted at the beginning, he wouldn't have been defeated so quickly."

After hearing this, Sect Leader Kang's mood did not improve. He just shook his head again and thought to himself, "I really can't let her raise this son like this any longer."

The three of them were speechless for a moment and continued watching.
In the fifth round, Jin Shilun easily defeated an inner disciple who had good luck. In the sixth round, he defeated the carefully refined Fantasy Heart Array by Wei Gu, the top array cultivator of his generation. In the seventh round, he fought hard with his old rival Ye Yaoling and won a narrow victory. However, in the eighth round, he was unable to fight again and was easily knocked off the stage by Duan Anle.

The two opponents in the last round were just as expected. Duan Anle met Kang Rongquan, who had just defeated Mingzhe. These two foundation-building seeds favored by the top leaders of Chongming Sect were definitely better than the other disciples.

Thus began a competition that, in the eyes of the lower-level disciples, was earth-shattering.

After Jiang Qing gave the order, Kang Rongquan's wood-based techniques emerged in an endless stream and varied greatly; Duan Anle had a solid foundation, and he controlled the Gray Spirit Falcon to provide support, advancing steadily and without any sign of decline.

There were exclamations from the audience, and some of them were so credulous that they had even started recording the entire fight, preparing to compile it into a book afterwards in order to make the two brothers famous.

Although the reactions of the people on the stage were somewhat gratifying, they could hardly be called excited.

Because so far, the performance of the two disciples is nothing more than the normal foundation-building seed level. Even this performance is still far from being as amazing as Tie Xishui back then, not to mention Jiang Qing who fought against Taoist Fire Dragon.

After fighting for about a quarter of an hour, Duan Anle was still one move behind and was defeated along with the Gray Falcon.

Kang Rongquan's temperament has obviously become much more stable. If he had won the first place in the competition earlier, he would have been very proud on the spot.

But at this time, he just bowed his head to Duan Anle, and then ignored the pseudo spiritual weapon and reed flower pill that were close at hand, and turned to look in the direction of the pavilion.

At this moment, on the stage he was staring at, Sect Master Kang was smiling at Pei Yi, who looked very pleased, and said, "In the end, Junior Brother Pei's apprentice won over my apprentice. Rong Quan is really good."

Pei Yi, who always upholds the demeanor of a gentleman, did not say anything modest at this time. He just smiled and said, "Junior brother, go and call him up now."

"No hurry," Taoist Heishi spoke first, and then stepped in from outside the pavilion and said to everyone, "I will take Rongquan, the top winner of the competition, to see Mr. Shan."

Everyone agreed. After hearing this, Sect Leader Kang wanted to follow, but was stopped by the Taoist Black Shoes. Although Kang Dabao was surprised, he did not ask any questions. He just watched the latter and the slightly confused Kang Rongquan run to the pavilion at the other end.

Kang Rongquan followed the Taoist priest in black shoes, confused, and saw a handsome middle-aged Taoist priest on a high platform.

"This is."

"It's me." Yin Shangong turned his eyes away from the mirror, looked at Kang Rongquan's surprised expression, and asked with a smile: "Is this the winner of Chongming's competition this time?"

The Taoist priest in black shoes responded respectfully, and after briefly describing Kang Rongquan's performance along the way, he added, "It's average, but a little lacking in talent."

"Hey," Shan Gong glared at the black-shoe Taoist, then pulled Kang Rongquan and said, "You are already preparing to build a foundation at such a young age. You are young and promising, and your potential is limitless."

"Junior does not deserve the praise from Shan Gong!" Although the Taoist's face was unfamiliar, Kang Rongquan could easily guess his identity by looking at the Taoist's attitude and facial expressions.

"Okay, the next generation of Chongming Sect still has to build the foundation. Even if there are changes in the middle, it should still be able to ensure peace in Ping and Jin counties." After Shan Gong laughed, he looked at Bingjian again.

He had been looking at the body of the person in the mirror for so long that he almost forgot what the monkey's body looked like after carrying it for a hundred years. The joy in his eyes was almost unable to be contained and almost burst out.

"Boy, boy! I, Yin Hongying, came here as a human being and will leave here as a human being. I have no regrets, no regrets! Don't forget what you promised me. I'm dead, so go, go!"

"Shang Gong! Shan Gong! Shan Gong!!" Kang Rongquan, who had just entered this place, saw Yin Shang Gong fall down suddenly and immediately went to help him. He was so panicked that he kept shouting.

The Taoist priest in black shoes stood there in silence, but his lowered jaw was already red. As Kang Rongquan's voice became more and more urgent, he finally couldn't hold back and shouted loudly: "Let Kang Dabao roll over here!!"

(End of this chapter)