Film and Television World Life Record

Chapter 524 I Cultivate My Righteous Spirit

The next morning, Li Mu arrived at the back mountain, where Yue Buqun was already there, practicing a sword technique.

This sword technique was quite unique, unlike other sword techniques, with the sword thrusting in an arc. Li Mu instantly recognized it as the Iron Wire Sword Style, the sword moving like an iron wire.

Despite its ordinary name, this sword technique is one of the Five Swords of Mount Hua and has a great reputation in the martial arts world. It is a truly superior sword technique.

It seems that Yue Buqun intends to teach me this sword technique today.

After Yue Buqun finished demonstrating his swordplay, he nodded and said, "Here it comes!"

"Your basic swordsmanship has been established, and your internal strength has also improved. Today, I will formally teach you one of the superior sword techniques of our Huashan School, the Iron Wire Sword Style."

After saying that, he had Li Mu pick up the pine sword and began to formally teach him.

Time flies, and the end of the year is approaching. With the help of the learning card, I have finished learning the Iron Wire Sword Style and have already gained some proficiency.

That morning, Li Mu had just finished breakfast when Bai Er arrived, looking travel-worn.

"Young Master Escort, the Chief Escort has delivered the New Year's gifts he prepared for you. There are also gifts for Mr. and Mrs. Yue and your fellow disciples. They are currently at the foot of the mountain. When would be a good time to deliver them up?"

Li Mu was taken aback, not expecting that the New Year was approaching so soon, and that Lin Zhennan had already prepared New Year's goods. They must have set off from Fujian to Huashan about two months ago.

Thinking back, I spent more than half a year in Huashan, practicing asceticism every day, and never even came down the mountain once.

"No rush, let's go down the mountain first and see if the escort agency's branch office at the foot of Mount Hua has been built yet."

Bai Er bowed and replied, "It's finished. It was just finished last month. This time, the chief镖头 (bodyguard/escort) sent镖头 Shi (bodyguard/escort) and镖头 Zheng (bodyguard/escort) to deliver New Year's goods. The two镖头 will not be leaving from now on. They will stay here in Huashan. Besides managing the镖局's business here, they will also run errands for the young镖头."

Li Mu nodded and said, "I haven't seen Chief Escort Shi and Chief Escort Zheng for a long time. It's a good opportunity to meet them and also to get to know our territory."

As they talked, the two descended Mount Hua.

The escort agency was located in a nearby town. Bai Er led the way, and they soon arrived at the agency's gate.

However, a crowd had gathered there, and no one knew what had happened.

Li Mu was not yet thirteen years old and was not tall, so he could not see what was happening inside. He said to Bai Er, "Let's go over and ask what happened."

Upon hearing this, Bai Er quickly squeezed into the crowd, then emerged a moment later, his face flushed, and said, "Young Master Escort, it's a local escort agency from Huayin County. Seeing that we're from out of town, they invited experts from the Iron Sword Sect to challenge us. Escort Master Shi and Escort Master Zheng are no match for them."

"Young Master Escort, why don't we go back to Mount Hua?"

Li Mu waved his hand and said, "Don't rush, take me inside and have a look."

Bai Er hesitated for a moment before clearing a path ahead, allowing Li Mu to finally squeeze in.

The first thing that catches the eye is a young man in his twenties, carrying a sword on his back, standing there with his head held high and a lonely air about him. This is probably the so-called master of the Iron Sword Sect.

On the other side, Chief Escort Zheng and Chief Escort Shi lay half-reclined on the ground, with several bodyguards bravely protecting them.

Seeing Bai Er lead Li Mu in, Chief Escort Shi and Chief Escort Zheng slowly got up, clutching their chests: "Young Chief Escort."

"Greetings, Young Master Escort!"

"Young Master Escort, you've arrived."

"Young Master Escort, please return to Mount Hua first. We'll handle things here."

……

Li Mu nodded to them without speaking, then turned to look at the Iron Sword Sect expert. The Iron Sword Sect expert happened to be looking over at that moment, and said with a mocking expression, "You're their young head镖师 (bodyguard/escort)?"

Li Mu did not answer, but slowly drew his longsword and asked, "Did you hit him?"

When the Iron Sword Sect expert saw Li Mu draw his longsword, he laughed so hard he almost fell over: "How old are you, little brat? Do you want to fight me? Have you been weaned yet?"

Li Mu's Iron Wire Sword Style had gradually reached a high level, and he was itching to test his sword against someone when he heard this and his longsword trembled.

"Enough with the nonsense, are you in or not?"

The Iron Sword Sect expert felt insulted, as if he had been looked down upon by a child. His face was filled with anger as he drew his longsword and said, "I'm not afraid of you."

Li Mu sneered: "That's good."

After speaking, he took a deep breath, calmed his complicated thoughts, and focused his mind. Gradually, his mind became clear, without sadness or joy, and the "Iron Wire Sword Style" flowed through his mind.

With a flick of his wrist, he thrust out his sword, which hummed with a clear, resonant sound.

The Iron Sword Sect expert was startled and hurriedly swung his sword to defend. Li Mu's purpose was to test the Iron Wire Sword Style in actual combat and he did not intend to end the battle in one or two strikes.

Once the sword techniques were worn out, there was no need to force injury. With a flick of the wrist, the sword spun back in a semi-circle.

Next, another straight thrust was delivered, which the Iron Sword Sect expert once again blocked in a sorry state. The long sword in Li Mu's hand drew a long arc in the air and then spun back.

Next, Li Mu unleashed a series of sword strikes, each faster than the last, creating a continuous buzzing sound as his longsword left arc-shaped trails in the air.

The Iron Sword Sect expert dodged and weaved, when suddenly he felt a chill on his body. Li Mu also sheathed his sword and stood there at that moment.

Just as the Iron Sword Sect expert was about to say something to bolster his image, a gentle breeze blew by, and his clothes suddenly turned into strips of cloth, fluttering down with the wind.

Only then did he realize that his body was covered with arc-shaped lines of blood. Although the wounds were not deep and were just superficial injuries, they were still quite horrifying.

With so many lines of blood on his body, slitting his throat wouldn't be difficult at all.

Thinking of this, and feeling relieved, he no longer cared about saving face, let alone making any threats. He even abandoned his sword, covered his head, rushed into the crowd, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

The surrounding crowd was shocked, never expecting that someone so powerful would be defeated by a teenager.

Chief镖师 Shi, Chief镖师 Zheng, Bai Er, and a group of镖师 all looked at Li Mu with shocked and surprised eyes.

They didn't quite understand before why a perfectly good young master would give up a life of luxury and comfort to go to Mount Hua to learn martial arts and endure hardship. Now they do.

They were even more excited. With the young镖头's martial arts skills being so powerful, not only would the Fuwei镖局 have a successor, but with the young镖头 in charge, the Fuwei镖局's reputation in the martial arts world would also rise, and they would be honored.

After exchanging greetings, surrounded by the crowd, Li Mu entered the escort agency and saw the New Year's gifts that Lin Zhennan had sent from thousands of miles away. First were two boxes of new clothes, including brocade robes and martial arts uniforms... enough for all four seasons.

Then there were various Fujian specialties, some novel trinkets from overseas, and a snow-white foal, said to be a purebred Ferghana horse. There were also two Qingfeng swords crafted by skilled artisans. Li Mu drew one, and with a clang, its cold light was sharp, much better than the standard longswords used by the Huashan disciples.

Furthermore, because he is not yet an adult and his hand shape is different from that of an adult, the sword hilt was specially made to fit him perfectly.

In addition, there are five ginseng roots that are over a hundred years old, and a box of precious medicinal herbs.

Besides these miscellaneous items, the escort agency had several thousand taels of silver specifically set aside in its accounts for his use, which could be replenished at any time if needed.

I also took a look at the New Year's gifts that Lin Zhennan gave to Yue Buqun and his wife, as well as his fellow disciples. They were very thoughtfully prepared and were quite substantial gifts.

Li Mu also prepared a return gift for Lin Zhennan and his wife. It was a letter urging them to have another child while they were still young so they could keep the child by their side and fulfill their filial duties.

Lin Zhennan is 35 years old this year, and his wife is 32 years old. They are in their prime, so it would be perfect for them to have another child.

I wonder how the two of them will react to this letter, but Li Mu truly hopes they will have another child, so that Lin Pingzhi can fulfill his filial duty in his place.

After spending two days at the foot of the mountain, Li Mu toured around Huayin County and also visited the escort agency that had caused the trouble. This time, the other party was very polite and immediately yielded upon meeting him. This was not only because of his martial arts skills, but also because of his status as a disciple of Mount Hua.

According to Lin Zhennan's principles for the development of Fuwei Escort Agency, it's better to make friends than enemies. Li Mu was too lazy to pursue the matter and left it to Head Escort Shi and Head Escort Zheng to handle.

However, after this incident, Li Mu gained considerable fame in the area, and everyone knew that among the disciples of Mount Hua, besides Linghu Chong, there was another junior disciple with superb swordsmanship.

Many martial arts practitioners in the vicinity sighed with admiration, saying that Huashan, which once rivaled Shaolin and Wudang, had a profound foundation and had only been in decline for a short time before a new generation of disciples rose up.

In the future, the martial arts world in Shaanxi will still belong to Mount Hua.

He returned to Mount Hua again, this time not alone, but with a group of people, followed by two horse-drawn carriages.

After Chief Escort Zheng, representing Lin Zhennan, delivered the New Year's gifts one by one, Mount Hua was already filled with a festive and lively atmosphere.

Some of the disciples, in particular, came from impoverished backgrounds and had never received such a valuable gift in their lives; they were all beaming with joy.

Li Mu continued to cultivate diligently, but this time he had an additional task: reading, especially Taoist classics.

Mount Hua originated from the Taoist lineage. When one's martial arts skills are still basic, it's fine, but when one's martial arts skills reach a high level, one must delve into some Taoist classics.

During his trip down the mountain, he also bought many related books in Huayin County, such as "Huangting Waijing Jing", "Huangting Neijing Jing", "Yushu Jing", "Taishang Laojun Neiguan Jing", "Dongxuan Lingbao Dingguan Jing", "Taishang Ganying Pian", "Chongyang Lijiao Shiwu Lun", and "Taishang Laojun Shuo Chang Qingjing Jing".

However, these books are a bit difficult to read, and he often found them confusing and incomprehensible.

Fortunately, there are also many books on Mount Hua, especially Taoist classics, many of which have handwritten annotations by the predecessors of Mount Hua.

Li Mu planned to start by reading some basic introductory books. Yue Buqun was also a learned man, so he wouldn't be without someone to ask him if he encountered anything he didn't understand.

……

The year passed quickly. Li Mu grew a year older, and Yue Buqun attended the Five Mountains Alliance. After returning, he didn't smile for several days, but he became even stricter with his disciples.

Especially his two most talented disciples, Li Mu and Linghu Chong.

Li Mu was alright; he had exceptional talent in both internal energy cultivation and swordsmanship, with no weaknesses. He could learn anything quickly and understand it immediately.

Whether it's the Embracing Yuan Skill, the Huashan Introductory Sword Technique, or the Iron Wire Sword Style, they have all mastered it and made rapid progress.

Even the Huashan Body Technique, which had just been taught to him, was learned by Li Mu extremely quickly.

Linghu Chong, on the other hand, was a prodigy with an exceptional talent for swordsmanship, mastering any sword technique with ease. While his aptitude for internal energy cultivation wasn't bad, it paled in comparison to his swordsmanship talent.

Li Mu then realized that Linghu Chong's internal energy cultivation was also the Baoyuan Gong, at the third level. Three years ago, when Linghu Chong was only sixteen, he broke through to the third level of Baoyuan Gong. Now, three years later, Linghu Chong was nineteen and still at the third level, showing no signs of breakthrough, which greatly angered Yue Buqun.

In fact, the transition from the third to the fourth level is a major hurdle that cannot be overcome overnight. Take Lin Zhennan, for example; he had been practicing Zhengyang Gong for seven or eight years at the third level but still hadn't broken through to the fourth level, which is actually normal.

However, for Yue Buqun, Linghu Chong, as the eldest disciple of Mount Hua, represented the face of Mount Hua to a certain extent. The third and fourth levels also marked a dividing line in strength; for ordinary martial artists, reaching the third level was essentially the limit.

Those who can cultivate their internal skills to the fourth level are basically the direct disciples carefully trained by major sects.

Although Mount Hua is now in decline, it used to be one of the most powerful sects in the world. Linghu Chong, as the eldest disciple, has not even reached the fourth level of internal strength. He is not even far behind ordinary people in the martial arts world. How can Yue Buqun be happy about this?

Although Linghu Chong relied on his superb swordsmanship, and when he fought, even those martial arts practitioners who had cultivated internal energy to the fourth level were no match for him, Yue Buqun was still very angry.

The Huashan School prioritizes internal energy (qi) and emphasizes controlling the sword with qi, with qi preceding the sword. Linghu Chong, however, is better at swordsmanship than internal energy. In a sense, as the eldest disciple representing the Huashan School, he has deviated from the school's principle of prioritizing qi.