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

Not seeing anyone, Jiang Ning decided to wander around. After a while, he walked into a garden and happened to run into Yue Buqun.

At this moment, Yue Buqun stood with his hands behind his back not far away, looking ahead with a calm expression.

Jiang Ning followed the gaze and saw a person practicing swordsmanship.

It was Lin Pingzhi.

Jiang Ning's gaze darted back and forth between Yue Buqun and Lin Pingzhi before he walked over.

"What is Master thinking about?"

Yue Buqun had already been aware of the commotion behind him. Upon hearing Jiang Ning's words, Yue Buqun remained motionless, his expression unchanged, and he did not answer Jiang Ning's question.

Lin Pingzhi's grandfather was Lin Yuantu. Back when Lin Yuantu was still the Zen Master Duyuan, he played a significant role in instigating conflict between the Huashan Sword Qi faction.

Now that Yue Buqun knows about this matter, it's hard for him to judge what his attitude towards Lin Pingzhi is now.

Should we kill Lin Pingzhi? Or expel him from Mount Hua?

After a long while.

"Never mind."

Without responding to Jiang Ning, Yue Buqun sighed inwardly and simply said, "Never mind."

"Let bygones be bygones."

Upon hearing Yue Buqun's words, Jiang Ning knew that Yue Buqun would not take his anger out on Lin Pingzhi.

"Master, after I left last night, Master's wife..."

Jiang Ning hesitated for a moment, but still decided to ask.

Given Ning Zhongze's personality, she would definitely get angry if she found out that Yue Buqun was hiding so many things from her.

Yue Buqun turned his head and looked at him with dark circles under his eyes.

“Your master’s wife is a reasonable person. At first, she was indeed angry when she found out that I was hiding something from her, but after my persuasion, she is no longer angry.”

Chapter 459: Sword Dance (18/26)

He listened to Yue Buqun's words and then looked at his expression.

The dark circles under her eyes, which were somewhat dark, were so noticeable on her fair skin.

Clearly, things were not as simple as Yue Buqun had described.

However, since Yue Buqun did not intend to elaborate, and Jiang Ning did not insist on knowing, he did not ask any further questions.

"Master, senior brother."

At this moment, Lin Pingzhi, who was practicing his sword not far away, also put away his sword and walked towards Yue Buqun and Jiang Ning.

In fact, Lin Pingzhi had already seen Jiang Ning coming over, but because Yue Buqun was also watching him practice swordsmanship, he did not stop halfway and only put away his sword after he finished practicing.

"Ah."

Yue Buqun nodded slightly and said to Lin Pingzhi, "Ping'er, your martial arts have indeed improved quite a bit during this period, and you have also become very proficient in the swordsmanship of Mount Hua. However, there are still shortcomings. Your swordsmanship is not coherent, and you have not yet figured out how to use the sword."

Lin Pingzhi, unaware of Yue Buqun's previous thoughts, bowed respectfully after Yue Buqun finished speaking. "Please guide me, Master."

Yue Buqun laughed. “I was indeed going to instruct you just now, but since Ning’er is here, let Ning’er instruct you instead. It just so happens that you two have a deep bond, and you haven’t had a proper chat since Ning’er returned yesterday.”

Lin Pingzhi nodded happily. "Thank you, Master, and thank you, Senior Brother, for your guidance."

Jiang Ning had no objection to the task Yue Buqun gave him. "Yes, Master."

After saying that, he nodded to Lin Pingzhi.

"Alright, Ning'er, you stay here and instruct Ping'er in sword practice. I'll be leaving now."

After Yue Buqun finished speaking, he left.

After Yue Buqun left, Lin Pingzhi looked at Jiang Ning with a joyful expression.

"Senior brother, it's so good to know you're alright."

When Lin Pingzhi heard the news of Jiang Ning's death, it was as if the sky had fallen. After that, he trained day and night, just to avenge Jiang Ning one day.

Jiang Ning smiled. "I'm sorry to have worried Junior Brother Lin."

Jiang Ning didn't say much about this, but instead began to instruct the other party on the Huashan sword technique.

“Junior Brother Lin, the way of swordsmanship is not about rote memorization or fixed moves, but more about change. The Huashan swordsmanship is extremely profound. Each move is the result of the life's work of countless predecessors. But we don’t learn swordsmanship by following the sword manual move by move. Instead, we need to connect them and combine countless moves to form ever-changing swordsmanship. If you can’t do this, even the best swordsmanship is useless.”

Jiang Ning first explained this point to the other party, and then said, "You have already memorized the sword moves, so I won't go into detail. Next, I will demonstrate the Huashan sword technique, and you can watch from the side. I hope it will be helpful to you."

Upon hearing that Jiang Ning was going to demonstrate the Huashan sword technique, Lin Pingzhi's expression turned serious, and he said solemnly, "Thank you for your guidance, Senior Brother."

Jiang Ning came out without a sword, but after taking the sword from Lin Pingzhi, he went to the open space where they had been before to practice his swordsmanship.

It was almost December, and heavy snow fell on Mount Emei, turning the entire world into a vast expanse of white.

Jiang Ning is practicing swordplay in the snow.

……

"Senior brother, we have arrived at Shunqing Prefecture and are not far from Mount Emei."

Fang Sheng said to Fang Zheng.

They started their journey from the Shaolin Temple in Henan in November, and now it's December, and they've entered Sichuan province.

They are still several hundred miles away from Mount Emei, and will arrive in a while.

At this time, the Shaolin monks stayed at one of the inns in Shunqing Prefecture.

"Ah."

Hearing his junior brother's words, Fang Zheng nodded slightly and then asked, "How's your investigation into the Emei Sect going?"

When the conversation turned to business, Fang Sheng's expression became serious. "The investigation is almost complete. Before the Emei Sect women launched their attack on the lineage of Master Jin Guang, one of the Emei disciples visited Mount Hua. A few months later, a civil war broke out at Jin Ding Temple. I think those who now control the Emei Sect must have formed an alliance with the Mount Hua Sect around that time."

Fang Zheng's expression remained unchanged. After listening, he asked, "Are there no survivors from Jin Guang Shangren's lineage?"

Fang Sheng nodded. "Yes, but most of them are disciples from below. Almost all the top experts above are dead, with only one, Daoist Songwen, managing to escape."

Fang Zheng inquired, "Where is he now? Can we find him?"

Fang Sheng shook his head. "Song Wen disappeared after escaping from Mount Emei that night. My junior brother has been searching for him all this time, but to no avail."

Upon hearing his junior brother's words, Fang Zheng fell into deep thought.

Fang Sheng suddenly asked, "Has that Pine Pattern Daoist arrived...?"

Before he could finish speaking, Fang Zheng looked up at him.

Fang Sheng shut his mouth and remained silent.

After a long while.

"It seems they went into hiding after escaping down the mountain decades ago. It's quite surprising that they now have the strength to wipe out the Emei disciples of the Golden Light Master's lineage in one fell swoop."

Fang Zheng spoke slowly, his face expressionless and his tone unwavering, leaving no one knowing what he was thinking.

Fang Sheng looked at him. "Senior brother, now that those people from Emei have returned, could it be that they know what happened back then...?"

Fang Zheng shook his head. "No."

"After that senior from the Emei Sect returned to Emei, there was no news of her, and the Emei Sect did not react. It is likely that they did not know about it, otherwise it would not have been kept quiet for so many years. Later, no evidence was found from her after her death, so it is unlikely."

Fang Sheng frowned. "But those nuns were rather cold towards Shaolin before, it's hard to say what they might do..."

Fang Zheng was also puzzled, but still shook his head. "They probably think that Master Jin Guang is on good terms with Shaolin, which is why they are somewhat disgusted and wary of Shaolin."

Upon hearing this, Fang Sheng still felt that something was amiss.

"Junior brother, I understand what you mean."

Fang Zheng looked at him and said, "No matter what, things have already come to this point. Whether they know or not, it won't affect us. We just need to pay more attention to Emei from now on."

Fang Sheng's brows relaxed, he nodded, and then brought up another matter. "Senior brother, we previously contacted the Hengshan and Hengshan sects, trying to win them over to our Shaolin. However, although Master Mo Da's words were full of praise and flattery for our Shaolin, he had no intention of getting close to us, and the same was true for Abbess Dingxian."

Fang Zheng thought for a moment and then said, "They probably haven't been separated from the Five Mountains Sword Sect for long and haven't gotten over the idea of ​​the Five Mountains Alliance yet. Once the pressure from the Demonic Sect is put on them, they will know what to do."

"We can talk about this later. There's no rush to win over both factions. There's plenty of time later."

Planning something or a plan is never something that can be accomplished overnight; it requires sufficient patience and time.

Fang Zheng was very clear about this.

Chapter 460: Heaven and Earth Are Impartial

"Ok."

Fang Sheng nodded.

This is something that certainly cannot be accomplished in a short time.

"Any news from the Demonic Sect?"

Fang Zheng brought up this question again.

Upon hearing this, Fang Sheng put aside his thoughts and replied, "At present, we still don't know exactly how Ren Woxing escaped, but it should be that Xiang Wentian and Ren Yingying rescued him secretly."

Fang Zheng nodded.

Fang Sheng frowned. "Logically speaking, since Dongfang Bubai has trapped Ren Woxing, he shouldn't have been rescued so easily by Xiang Wentian and Ren Yingying. This doesn't fit his methods."

Fang Zheng was also unaware of Dongfang Bubai's thoughts.

Fang Sheng sighed. "Since Dongfang Bubai became the leader of the Demonic Sect, the sect has been much more peaceful. However, Ren Woxing has returned to the martial world. Judging from his character, the martial world is about to face another catastrophe."

"There's no need to worry too much now."

Fang Zheng then said, "Although Ren Woxing has escaped, the Demonic Sect is now divided. Ren Woxing must hate Dongfang Bubai the most right now. Ren Woxing has countless followers, and the two sides have an irreconcilable hatred. I think they will fight each other soon, which may not be a bad thing for our righteous path."

"What you say is true, senior brother."

Fang Sheng nodded, then sighed.