Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 181 The Ruined Taiyue Sword Sect

It's actually quite excessive.

When Murong Zhen received the memorial, his face darkened.

Back then, he left a verbal instruction for Murong Ruyan to "act as she sees fit" and also left people at the villa at the foot of Baishi Mountain. It was all just polite talk. Who would have thought that she would actually dare to cause trouble under his guise!
She even disposed of the entire county—no princess in history has ever had this power!

Isn't this just throwing away the dignity of an emperor like myself?!

What infuriated him the most was that he actually had to cover up what Murong Ruyan had done and bear the blame for it!

What absurdity!

But the crux of the matter lies in the fact that this matter is related to the Empress Dowager...

The power struggle between Empress Dowager Baishan and Murong Zhen has been going on for quite some time.

Firstly, before ascending the throne, the late emperor left a will instructing Empress Dowager Baishan to "take care of the new emperor's ascension and prioritize the well-being of the nation," which gave her the confidence to invoke the late emperor's name to pressure Murong Zhen. Secondly, Empress Dowager Baishan was Murong Zhen's biological mother, and Murong Zhen was never one to act too ruthlessly; he was only annoyed by the two imperial uncles who stirred up trouble in front of the Empress Dowager and took the opportunity to seize power.

If Murong Ruyan's memorial this time truly classifies the Pingding County incident as treason, then...

Thinking of this, Murong Zhen breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that Murong Ruyan had become considerate again.

She's a princess, and she cultivates some ruthless path, so she has no descendants. If she wants to occupy a small county, so be it. But Weize Pass can't be granted lightly. I'll have to order Heshi Lie to send troops to guard it in rotation.

As for the matter of allocating merit fields...

Murong Zhen sneered and began to write swiftly on the silk cloth.

……

Just as a period of turmoil was brewing in the Xiao Kingdom's court, on the other side, Chang Ping'an and Qu Zhiweng had already arrived at the foot of Mount Taiyue.

Unlike Baishi Mountain, which is characterized by its towering stone peaks, Taiyue Mountain is a continuous range of mountains.

Because it is located further south than Baishi Mountain, it is not as cold. The mountain is covered with flowers and plants and has abundant vegetation. The Taiyue Sword Sect is not built on the mountaintop, but in a valley, so it is not difficult to come and go.

Taiyue Mountain is not actually home to only the Taiyue Sword Sect. There are seven or eight sects of varying sizes throughout the mountain range. The smallest sect consists of only two or three people. The largest is naturally the Taiyue Sword Sect. Other sects with some reputation, such as the Mianshan Sect and Hongya Valley, are far inferior to the Taiyue Sword Sect.

The neighboring Gujishan area has even more sects. Jin is a region with many merchants and bandit strongholds, so the sects in these areas are mostly shady. Apart from Fangshan Sect and Zijing Sword Sect, which are relatively upright, sects such as Shenlong Village, Longmen Village, Zhangjiashan Village, and Wenjia Village are all formed by collecting "tolls" and "protection fees".

Heading southwest from Jinyang, after passing Mianshan Mountain and Hongyagu Valley north of Taiyue Mountain, and continuing for a while, you will reach Qiliyu, the location of the Taiyue Sword Sect.

Qiliyu is nestled against the mountains and beside the water, with a waterfall nearby. The climate is pleasant and the scenery is picturesque. However, the Taiyue Sword Sect is a sect here...

It looks rather hasty.

Upon entering the mountain gate, one sees a gray, dusty archway bearing the four characters "Taiyue Sword Sect," with peeling paint on the vermilion pillars.

Looking further inside, the paving stones in the plaza at the entrance are uneven, and the pillars in front of the main hall are the same type with peeling paint. Even the door and window frames are identical in their "rustic" style.

It's almost as good as the thatched house my master casually made back then, except that the tiles are still intact, so it still looks like it's habitable.

Is this how a prestigious sect of the Zhou Kingdom is...?

Perhaps... the disciples of the Taiyue Sword Sect don't care much about these material possessions...

Chang Ping'an was somewhat disappointed, but he wisely pretended not to see the dilapidated state of the place, and just thought to himself.

Along the way, Qu Zhiweng enthusiastically boasted about the glory days of the Taiyue Sword Sect, repeatedly bringing up the deceased Sword Saint to recount the sect's history. Well, judging from the current situation, it seems only history can still provide that much to boast about.

Soon, after passing through the main hall, Qu Zhiweng led Chang Ping'an to a side courtyard.

Although the houses in the courtyard were simple, they were quite clean, clearly indicating that they were cleaned regularly.

Qu Zhiweng then instructed, "Young Immortal Chang, you'll have to stay here these days. If you need anything, just tell Dai Liang and Fang Tang. They are my two founding disciples, and they are meticulous in their work, so feel free to ask them to do anything!"

In the past few days, Chang Ping'an had become acquainted with several disciples of the Taiyue Sword Sect and recognized all the Taiyue Sword Sect disciples who had accompanied him along the way.

As the eldest and second eldest sister, Dai Liang and Fang Tang are cousins, only half a year apart, and they entered the Taiyue Sword Sect at the same time.

At that time, the Taiyue Sword Sect was at its most declining, almost on the verge of collapse. It was only with the arrival of the cousins ​​from wealthy families in these two places, who brought a large sum of money, that the Taiyue Sword Sect gradually recovered.

One of them is meticulous and conscientious in his work, while the other is generous and cheerful; both are people worth befriending.

One of them was a little odd; he always liked to talk to himself, and it's said that he even slept with his sword, which he named "Hero"...

Fang Tang slapped Chang Ping'an on the shoulder, her palm stinging as if she'd hit a lump of iron, but she only showed a change in expression before enduring the pain. Then she coughed lightly and said boastfully, "Don't worry, Senior Brother! We may not have much else here, but we'll provide plenty of food and drink! And plenty of wild game! Once you're settled, I'll take you hunting roe deer!"

Dai Liang nodded in agreement, saying, "Absolutely! After hunting a roe deer, we can go to the disciples of Red Cliff Valley to have a stew. They are experts at stewing roe deer meat with medicinal herbs. The stewed meat is fresh, fragrant, tender, and juicy, with no gamey smell at all. It tastes even better than mutton!"

Seeing his two disciples looking completely foolish, Qu Zhiweng immediately puffed out his beard and glared at them, scolding, "Alright, how many times have I told you, you should address Chang Xiaoshenxian as 'Immortal,' how can you be so disrespectful and unruly!"

Chang Ping'an hurriedly said, "Sect Leader Qu, you flatter me. Let's each talk our own way. You two are several years older than me, yet you call me Senior Brother. I already feel ashamed!"

"Oh, how can that be! There's a sequence to learning the Dao, and now we're here to learn the Dao of Immortality from you!"

As Fang Tang spoke, she couldn't help but ask again and again, "Senior Brother Chang, how long does it take to cultivate the immortal path and become like you, flying through the sky and disappearing into the earth? I heard that Immortal Bai Shi can even walk on clouds, is that true?"

Qu Zhiweng stroked his beard, looking quite disdainful of his two disciples' naive and unsophisticated manner. He said, "Hmph, flying and escaping are nothing compared to what you two saw recently. The thunderclouds above Jingzhao Prefecture were so dense that even the Thunder God and Lightning Goddess had to obey the White Stone Immortal's orders. What are flying and escaping compared to that? You two should settle down and focus on cultivating with Chang Xiaoshenxian. If you really manage to gain some immortal fortune, hmph, that would be a unique opportunity in the Great Zhou Kingdom. Be happy about it!"

"This... Sect Leader Qu is too kind. Although my master's magical power is profound and I can hardly hope to reach his level, there are probably very few cultivators in the world who can reach my master's level of cultivation. In this world, my master is probably the only one."

"As for cultivation level... people have different temperaments and aptitudes. For example, my second junior sister has extraordinary aptitude. She was able to draw Qi into her body overnight and is now at the seventh level of Qi Refining. In about half a year, she will be able to establish her foundation. At that time, she will naturally be able to learn the Wind Control Technique and the Five Elements Escape Technique."

"As for my third junior brother, he is also an outstanding person. He is only at the Qi Refining stage, but he can create his own spells. With his move 'Rain of Flowers,' he uses chess pieces as blades to kill hundreds of them at once. He is extremely skilled!"

Chang Ping'an spoke of his master and junior brothers and sisters with pride, which made Fang Tang and Dai Liang yearn for it. However, he quickly changed the subject and sighed when talking about the outer disciples recruited by the Immortal Destiny Conference: "But if their aptitude is too poor, like those disciples recruited during the Immortal Destiny Conference, some of them are even worse than me. It took them a month or two just to draw in Qi. If we wait for them to establish their foundation, I'm afraid it will take at least three to five years."

The two had heard Chang Ping'an talk about concepts like "qi induction," "qi refining stage," and "foundation building stage" quite a bit along the way, so they already had some understanding of them. They had also heard him praise his junior brothers and sisters more than once. However, they had never heard about the outer disciples recruited by the Immortal Fate Conference before, so they were a little curious: "Senior brother, how long did it take you to induct qi into your body?"

Chang Ping'an replied with a look of shame, "My aptitude is only average. It took me three whole days to draw Qi into my body. I am ashamed, I am ashamed."

"That's still impressive. How can you call that mediocre talent? I heard that those who passed the trial array of the Immortal Destiny Conference were all outstanding individuals. Wasn't it said that the Emperor of Xiao sent hundreds of people from the Imperial Academy and the National University, and only one person passed? We are probably far from being able to match them. If we really started cultivating, we would be content if we could draw Qi into our bodies in ten days or half a month!"

As Dai Liang spoke, he led Chang Ping'an into the house.

In fact, before Chang Ping'an and the others arrived at Taiyue Sword Sect, Qu Zhiweng had sent his disciple back ahead of time to prepare his own courtyard for Chang Ping'an. He himself planned to shamelessly squeeze in with Zhuang Wansong—his courtyard was more than twice the size of his own, and he could easily accommodate three more people.

It wasn't that Qu Zhiweng was being subservient; rather, after the incident in Pingding County, he finally witnessed just how formidable a mere disciple of the White Stone Immortal Sect could be after only half a year of training—a hundred times more powerful than his own martial arts, which he had cultivated for half his life!
The White Stone Immortal Sect's cry of "Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Sect," summoning ten thousand swords into formation and drawing in rolling thunder, shattered the entire martial arts world's pursuit of martial arts and also spread it far and wide.

It's almost foreseeable that in the near future, the White Stone Immortal Sect will dominate the world...

If he can even plot against the state, what else can't the White Stone Immortal do?
Just as the White Stone Immortal said, martial arts... are about to disappear!
(End of this chapter)