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

Qu Yang bowed to Ren Yingying.

"Uncle Qu, there's no need for that."

Ren Yingying quickly said, "You are also an elder of the Divine Cult. Although others call me Holy Maiden, I am actually your junior. Moreover, Feiyan and I have a very good relationship. Uncle Qu, there is no need to be so formal. Just call me Yingying."

"Yes."

Qu Yang stood up.

Ren Yingying continued, "Uncle Qu, today you asked me to remove the others from monitoring Liu Zhengfeng, and I agreed. But you also agreed to monitor Liu Zhengfeng's every move. Did Liu Zhengfeng do anything unusual when he went out with you today?"

Qu Yang replied, "No, Liu Zhengfeng did nothing unusual today except to pay respects to his wife and daughter."

Ren Yingying frowned upon hearing this and asked again, "Has Liu Zhengfeng ever left your sight?"

Later, Ren Yingying learned from those who had been monitoring Liu Zhengfeng that Liu Zhengfeng had been out of their sight for a short period of time the night before he planned to take action against the Golden Saber Sect. Although the time was very short, it still aroused Ren Yingying's suspicion, and now she couldn't help but ask if there had been a similar situation.

Qu Yang paused for a moment, then said.

"No."

Chapter 608: Going Up the Mountain

There's none?

Ren Yingying frowned.

She originally thought Liu Zhengfeng was the traitor who tipped off the Huashan Sect, but she couldn't find any evidence. That's why she agreed when Qu Yang said he would withdraw the people monitoring Liu Zhengfeng. But at the same time, she asked Qu Yang to monitor Liu Zhengfeng so that he would lower his guard.

Unexpectedly, Liu Zhengfeng did not make any unusual moves today.

"Uncle Qu, I still suspect that Liu Zhengfeng is still in contact with the Huashan Sect. I will need you to keep a close eye on him. If he does anything unusual, be sure to inform me immediately."

Ren Yingying said to Qu Yang.

Qu Yang nodded.

"Yes."

……

"Junior brother, today is your birthday. I wish you many happy returns of the day."

Linghu Chong cupped his hands in congratulations to Jiang Ning.

Yue Lingshan, who was standing to the side, complained.

"Senior Brother, why do you only know this one line? Every year on the birthdays of our senior brothers and sisters, you only say this one line. Can't you come up with something different?"

"hey-hey."

Linghu Chong laughed: "You know your senior brother doesn't have much knowledge, so the meaning is enough."

As he spoke, Linghu Chong handed the gift he had prepared to Jiang Ning.

"It's just a small token of my appreciation, junior brother, please don't find it offensive."

Linghu Chong gave him a wooden carving, but it wasn't a human figure; instead, it depicted Mount Hua.

Jiang Ning accepted the gift with both hands and smiled, "Thank you, Senior Brother."

Yue Lingshan seemed to remember something at this moment, and looked at Linghu Chong and kept laughing.

Linghu Chong looked completely bewildered.

"why are you laughing?"

"Senior Brother, do you remember what gift you gave Junior Brother when he was nine years old?"

Upon hearing Yue Lingshan's words, before Linghu Chong could even speak, the other Huashan disciples couldn't help but smile.

When Jiang Ning turned nine, Linghu Chong gave him a jar of wine for his birthday, saying that Jiang Ning was old enough to start learning to drink. As a result, Linghu Chong was severely beaten by Yue Buqun that year.

Linghu Chong looked completely bewildered.

How could he not remember? Of all the years, that was the time Yue Buqun beat him the most severely, breaking several rulers in the process, a memory he still vividly recalls.

"Junior brother, I prepared this for you."

After making fun of Linghu Chong, Yue Lingshan also took out the gift she had prepared: a sword tassel.

“I noticed that your sword doesn’t have a tassel, so I’ll prepare one for you.”

Jiang Ning accepted the gift and thanked her, saying, "Thank you, Senior Sister."

After Linghu Chong and Yue Lingshan presented their gifts, the other Huashan disciples also offered their blessings and prepared gifts.

Jiang Ning accepted each thank you, until Du Lanyin was the last.

"Junior brother."

Du Lanyin gave her another piece of clothing, the same as last year.

The clothes are light brown, with exquisite embroidery and high-quality fabric, showing that Du Lanyin put a lot of thought into them.

"Thank you, senior sister."

Jiang Ning accepted the clothes and thanked him.

Du Lanyin smiled faintly.

Qiao Jun, a disciple of Mount Hua, stepped forward and said, "Junior brother, Junior Sister Du spent a month embroidering this dress, sometimes until midnight. She worked so hard."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ning quickly replied, "Thank you for your kindness, Senior Sister."

Du Lanyin waved her hands repeatedly, saying, "It's nothing, it's nothing."

What are you all talking about?

At this moment, Yue Buqun walked over.

"Master."

"Master."

Upon seeing Yue Buqun's arrival, all the disciples of Mount Hua bowed respectfully.

"Ah."

Yue Buqun nodded and walked up to Jiang Ning.

"Ning'er, today is your birthday. Your teacher is giving you a jade belt."

Yue Buqun also took out his own gift.

As expected of the patriarch of the Huashan family, Yue Buqun prepared a gift that was far superior to the strange and unusual gifts his disciples had given him.

"Thank you, Master."

Jiang Ning solemnly accepted it with both hands.

"Go to your teacher's wife's place later; she has also prepared a gift for you."

Yue Buqun casually remarked, and then moved on to another topic.

“A few days ago, Master Wang from the Golden Saber Sect wrote a letter saying that he wanted to visit us in Shaanxi. He should arrive in the next couple of days.”

When Jiang Ning left Luoyang, Wang Yuanba said that he would visit the Huashan Sect after he had settled his affairs. Jiang Ning originally thought it would be at least a few months later, but he did not expect that it would come so soon.

"I'm preparing to go down the mountain, and I don't know how long it will take. I might not be there when Old Master Wang comes, so you'll have to receive the Golden Saber Sect."

Jiang Ning was surprised to hear Yue Buqun's words.

"Where is Master going?"

Yue Buqun said, "I am preparing to go down the mountain to Xi'an and Hanzhong to hire a few teachers."

This time, more than 400 disciples were recruited, all of whom were children. Although they could not officially join the sect for the time being, it did not mean that Yue Buqun would let them grow up freely before they were formally accepted.

Yue Buqun planned to hire tutors from various prefectures to teach the children on Mount Hua to read and write from a young age.

Yue Buqun did not want the next generation of Huashan disciples to have the same extremely low level of cultural literacy as this generation.

Apart from Jiang Ning himself, the other disciples of Jiang Ning's generation were not very well-educated; they were only at the level of being able to recognize and write characters. This was always a knot in Yue Buqun's heart.

In Yue Buqun's mind, Huashan disciples should not only be skilled in martial arts, but also have knowledge. Even if their martial arts skills are not outstanding, they should at least have knowledge and literacy. This is what a disciple of a major sect should have.

But we can't blame Linghu Chong and the others. They didn't have the means before. The Huashan Sect was dirt poor back then, and only Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze taught them to read and write. Yue Buqun himself had to find ways to cover the sect's expenses, so he naturally couldn't take care of them most of the time. But now that they have plenty of money, they can't do things the way they used to.

Moreover, such things should be done early, and education should start from childhood. Yue Buqun deeply understood this point.

Besides this matter, Yue Buqun also planned to purchase some houses and land in each prefecture as future residences for the Huashan Sect in each prefecture.

Although the Huashan Sect only has a few people who are truly useful right now, and the remaining few hundred are all children, we still need to get things organized and make preparations as soon as possible.

Hearing Yue Buqun's plan, Jiang Ning nodded and said, "Don't worry, Master."

"Oh, right."

Yue Buqun seemed to remember something else and asked, "Do you still remember Chen Lanjin?"

Jiang Ning paused for a moment, then thought for a moment before saying, "Is she the granddaughter of Dean Chen of Lingfeng Academy in Luoyang?"

Jiang Ning had some impression of this person. He remembered that when he took Lin Pingzhi to Meijian Manor to cause trouble for Zhao Tianlai, Chen Lanjin followed along to watch the fun. Later, she wanted to join the Huashan Sect.

"Ah."

Yue Buqun nodded: "Now that Abbot Chen and Old Master Wang have come together, and his granddaughter is with them, if his granddaughter insists on joining my Huashan Sect, you can just give her a few perfunctory replies."

Jiang Ning laughed.

"Yes, Master."

"Alright, I'm going down the mountain now. Your master's wife will take care of the affairs of the sect from now on, so you don't need to worry too much. Just focus on practicing your skills."

After giving his instructions, Yue Buqun went down the mountain.

Two days later.

As expected, Wang Yuanba of the Golden Saber Sect has arrived.

"Nephew Jiang, it's been a long time."

Jiang Ning smiled and said, "Sect Leader Wang looks quite well."