The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, becoming a disciple of Yue Buqun.

It's noon now, time for lunch.

"Yes, Master."

Liu Zhao nodded and bowed, then followed Jiang Ning away.

Watching his disciples and grand-disciples leave, Yue Buqun stared at Jiang Ning's retreating figure, a thoughtful expression on his face.

……

"Master."

On the way to the cafeteria, Liu Zhao looked up at Jiang Ning.

Is Master not in good health?

Liu Zhao's face showed worry.

Jiang Ning looked at him and said, "Don't worry, your master will get better."

Liu Zhao asked worriedly, "When will Master be better?"

Yue Buqun has been very good to him for the past month or so, and he doesn't want anything to happen to Yue Buqun.

A smile appeared on Jiang Ning's face.

"Then it depends on when your master wants to."

When I arrived at the cafeteria, I found that all the tables around me were already full; it was lunchtime.

"Senior brother."

Lin Pingzhi beckoned to Jiang Ning, who then sat down with Liu Zhao.

"Senior brother, I'm planning to go home for a visit."

As soon as he sat down, Lin Pingzhi told Jiang Ning about his thoughts.

His enemies were Mu Gaofeng and the Qingcheng Sect, but now all his enemies are dead. He wants to go back to pay respects to his ancestors and also go to Hengshan City to move his parents' graves back to their ancestral home, so that his parents' spirits in heaven may hear his tale.

Moreover, the Lin family's valuables that Jiang Ning brought back from the Qingcheng Sect were mostly mutton fat jade artifacts. Although they were quite valuable, they were only for display and not for use. There were a lot of them, and they all needed to be disposed of. It would be best to take them back and deal with them.

He had been thinking about this matter for a long time, but the distance from Mount Hua to Mount Heng and then to Fujian was not short, and his trip might take a long time. He was afraid that Yue Buqun would not agree, so he wanted to discuss it with Jiang Ning first.

Jiang Ning nodded after hearing Lin Pingzhi's idea.

"It's only right that you want to do these things."

Upon receiving Jiang Ning's affirmation, Lin Pingzhi smiled and felt relieved.

After quickly finishing his meal, Lin Pingzhi left first to go to Yue Buqun's residence, where Yue Lingshan was practicing her sword in the courtyard.

"Senior sister."

Upon seeing Yue Lingshan, Lin Pingzhi bowed respectfully.

He was older than Yue Lingshan, but he still called her "Senior Sister".

Yue Lingshan sheathed her sword and looked at Lin Pingzhi curiously, asking, "Junior Brother Lin, is there something you need?"

Lin Pingzhi said, "I want to go back to my hometown, so I came here specifically to ask my master for permission. Is my master in?"

"Oh."

Yue Lingshan nodded and then said, "My father is not here. He and my mother went to the Righteousness Hall to talk with Uncle Feng and the others."

Upon hearing this, Lin Pingzhi cupped his hands and said, "In that case, junior brother will take his leave and will not disturb senior sister's sword practice any longer."

"it is good."

Yue Lingshan nodded.

Lin Pingzhi turned and left, his steps hurried.

Upon arriving at Zhengqi Hall, Lin Pingzhi discovered Yue Buqun discussing matters with Feng Buping and Cheng Buyou, while Ning Zhongze listened quietly from the side.

Seeing this, Lin Pingzhi did not go in, but waited outside until they finished talking before going in to ask for instructions.

"Junior Brother Feng, isn't it a bit too fast to make this decision?"

main hall.

Yue Buqun picked up his teacup, took a sip, and then smiled.

Feng Buping frowned and said, "Senior brother, Zuo Lengchan's wolfish ambitions are obvious. He failed to merge with the Huashan Sect last time, and I'm afraid he will soon target the Huashan Sect again. We must strengthen our strength as soon as possible, accelerate the recruitment of disciples, and develop the Huashan Sect so that we can fight against Zuo Lengchan's conspiracy."

"Ah."

Yue Buqun nodded, affirming Feng Buping's statement, but then said, "I know Zuo Lengchan's ambition, and I agree that we should develop the Huashan Sect as soon as possible, but isn't it a bit too hasty to set the time for recruiting disciples once a year?"

At this moment, Yue Buqun and Feng Buping were discussing the specific time for the Huashan Sect to recruit disciples in the future.

Feng Buping felt that the Huashan Sect was too weak and had too few disciples. He suggested that the pace and number of disciples should be accelerated, ideally recruiting three hundred at once. Yue Buqun, however, felt that haste makes waste.

"Why is Junior Brother Feng in such a hurry?"

Since recruiting disciples some time ago, the Huashan Sect has gained more than a hundred disciples, which is much more than before, and it is no longer considered to be dwindling in number.

Keep in mind that the Hengshan Sect only has nearly two hundred members.

Feng Buping shook his head and said, "Senior Brother Yue, it's not that I'm in a hurry, but the strength of my Huashan Sect is far inferior to that of the Songshan Sect."

"Senior brother, you are unaware of this."

Feng Buping paused for a moment, then continued, "The Songshan Sect is very powerful now, with nearly eight hundred disciples."

These numbers were given to him by people from the Songshan Sect.

When he and Cheng Buyou were living in seclusion in the deep mountains, Cong Buqi brought people from the Songshan Sect to him and persuaded him to seize the Huashan Sect and merge it into the Songshan Sect. At that time, he mentioned the strength of the Songshan Sect.

Among the Five Sacred Mountains Sword Sects, the Songshan Sect currently has the largest number of members and the most masters.

Secondly, there is the Taishan Sect. Apart from Tianmen Daoist, there are also some highly skilled martial artists among the other members of the Yuzi generation in the Taishan Sect. There are more than 400 disciples.

The Hengshan Sect has about three hundred disciples, followed by the Hengshan Sect, and finally the Huashan Sect.

Upon hearing the number of disciples of the Songshan Sect, Yue Buqun's expression couldn't help but turn serious.

"If Zuo Lengchan really wants to annex the Huashan Sect, we can't defeat him."

Feng Buping said, his expression somewhat worried.

Yue Buqun frowned.

“Junior Brother Feng, there’s no need to worry too much. You and Junior Brother Cheng may not know that the Hengshan Sect has decided to join forces with our Huashan Sect.”

Yue Buqun then recounted his conversation with Abbess Dingyi.

"Master Dingxian, the head of the Hengshan Sect, already knows about the Songshan Sect's plot to annex the Five Mountains Sword Sects. Some time ago, she sent a message through someone, saying that the Hengshan Sect and my Huashan Sect would watch over each other and jointly resist the Songshan Sect."

Two months after Abbess Dingyi returned to Hengshan, a letter from the Hengshan Sect arrived; it was a personal letter from Abbess Dingxian.

In the letter, Abbess Dingxian expressed her deep gratitude to Yue Buqun for selflessly returning the lost sword techniques of the Hengshan Sect. At the same time, she was shocked and furious about the Songshan Sect's plot to annex the Five Mountains Sword Sects. Finally, she stated that the Hengshan Sect would stand together with the Huashan Sect to fight against Zuo Lengchan's conspiracy.

"what?"

Feng Buping was surprised, then delighted.

Although the Hengshan Sect has fewer members than the Songshan Sect, their Hengshan Sword Formation is very famous. Seven female disciples working together can fight against highly skilled martial arts masters.

Yue Buqun laughed and said, "Although Zuo Lengchan has already made a move against our Five Mountains Sword Sect, and now many people in the Hengshan and Taishan Sects are secretly siding with the Songshan Sect, I think Master Mo Da and Daoist Tianmen will not agree to his merging of the sects."

(PS: I'm taking a day off tomorrow; I'm having serious writer's block.)

I've created a group; feel free to join if you'd like. Just click on my profile.

Chapter 162: An Old Friend Visits

"Although the Songshan Sect is stronger than my Huashan Sect, since he wants to merge the sects, the other three sects will not stand idly by."

After forming an alliance with the Hengshan Sect, Yue Buqun planned to contact Master Mo Da and Daoist Tianmen. As the sect leaders, they would certainly not agree to Zuo Lengchan merging the sects, making them Yue Buqun's natural allies.

Feng Buping's idea was for the Huashan Sect to fight against the Songshan Sect alone, but Yue Buqun felt it was unnecessary. No matter how rapidly the Huashan Sect developed, it could not catch up with the Songshan Sect in a short period of time. Rather than strengthening the Huashan Sect, he should unite with the other three sects.

Although Yue Buqun also wanted the Huashan Sect to grow rapidly, he knew that such things could not be rushed. The development of a sect could not be accomplished overnight; otherwise, the Huashan Sect would not have only had a few dozen disciples after more than twenty years.

Feng Buping was persuaded by Yue Buqun.

"So, senior brother, how often do you think it would be best to recruit disciples?"

Yue Buqun frowned and thought for a moment, then said, "Let's set it to once every three years, and the number of recruits each time will be determined based on the actual situation."

This timing was carefully considered. Some of the disciples we recruited recently are almost ten years old, and in three years they will be thirteen. In ordinary families, they would be old enough to get married at that age.

Three years is enough time for this group of disciples to grow up, and it won't be too late to recruit more disciples then.

The Huashan Sect now has more than 100 disciples. Excluding the newly joined children, there were originally 38 Huashan disciples, but Lao Denuo died heroically in the bandit suppression and his grave is still in the back mountain. Now there are only 37 left. Including the five disciples brought by Feng Buping and Cheng Buyou, there are a total of 42 disciples with combat power.

Among these forty-two disciples, Jiang Ning and Linghu Chong are already top-tier in strength, while the others, such as Lu Dayou and Yue Lingshan, have made rapid progress after nearly a year of training.

After last month's internal assessment, Ying Bailuo, Shu Qi, Yan Songnian, and Gao Genming Qiaojun had already made some progress in practicing Hunyuan Gong by May of this year. Their internal strength had reached the second-rate standard. In addition, with the Five Mountains Sword Technique they had mastered, their actual combat strength was above average among the second-rate.

These five people progressed faster than other disciples when practicing Hunyuan Gong, and their improvement was naturally faster as well.

Secondly, Yue Lingshan, Lin Pingzhi, Du Lanyin, Tao Jun, Liang Fa, Lu Dayou, and Shi Daizi also recently reached the second-rate standard in terms of internal strength.

To date, the Huashan Sect has six top-tier masters and twelve second-tier masters.

Although the remaining twenty-eight disciples were still at the third-rate level, they were also working very hard in their training, getting up early and working late every day, and their progress was not slow.

Moreover, these twenty-eight Huashan disciples are not just third-rate fighters; they all possess the sword techniques of the Five Mountains Sword Sect, which elevates their actual combat strength to a higher level.

For example, Feng Buping's two disciples looked down on their luck when they first arrived at Mount Hua, but their combat strength was by no means weak. After all, they were disciples of the Sword Sect, which followed a quick-learning method, emphasizing swordsmanship over internal energy. Although their internal energy was a bit weak, their actual combat strength was comparable to, or even able to defeat, some second-rate masters.

This is the current strength of the Huashan Sect. Although it has fewer disciples than the other five major sword sects, their quality is higher than that of the other four sects. You should know that the second-generation disciples of the other four sects are all third-rate. Up until the year before last, the other four sects couldn't even produce a single second-rate second-generation disciple.

Moreover, the Huashan Sect has now taken in dozens of children, and its strength will rapidly increase once they grow up.

"Ok."

Feng Buping thought about it and realized that his previous once-a-year schedule was indeed a bit too hasty.

Seeing that Feng Buping and Cheng Buyou finally had no objections, Yue Buqun smiled and then looked towards the door.

"Ping'er, come in."