I was exposed for adding my female boss to my group of female friends.

"..."

Xiao Qing's claim that he would get his hands on the ancient cage was clearly just a joke.

She sat down on the ground with a carefree air and said to the people next to her, "You guys, seeing so many versions of Gu Long's book, you should realize his identity. Why make such a fuss? Aside from the author himself, ordinary people wouldn't buy books like this."

Gu Yuanzhen said blankly, "But Jin Yong's books are like that in his house too, a whole bunch of them?"

"what?"

He Shiying opened another cabinet, revealing all of Jin Yong's books to Xiao Qing.

"Ah, uh... haha, I didn't expect Gu Long to be a fan of Jin Yong." Xiao Qing said awkwardly.

She hadn't hung up the phone yet; Xi Wendian had overheard their conversation on his phone.

"Wait, you're saying he has all of Jin Yong's books at home?" Xi Wendian asked.

"what happened?"

Xi Wendian frowned and said, "Actually, I once suspected that Jin Yong and Gu Long were the same person..."

"what?!"

Gu Yuanzhen was the first to jump up.

Xiao Qing's expression also changed.

In terms of sales volume, influence, and social evaluation, Jin Yong is superior to Gu Long.

And it's much higher.

Deep down, she always regarded Gu Long as an evenly matched opponent, while she could only look up to Jin Yong.

And now Xi Wendian actually says that Jin Yong and Gu Long are the same person?

"Is there any evidence?" He Shiying asked, clenching her fists.

Xi Wendian hesitated for a moment, then relaxed his brows and said, "It's nothing, just think I was overthinking it, haha..."

Xiao Qing sat up defiantly and said into the phone, "Old Xi, are you hiding something?"

"Haha, no way..."

Liu Ruyan gathered her skirt and squatted down in front of the cabinet full of Jin Yong's works, reaching inside to rummage through it.

Previously, everyone's main suspect was Gu Long, so Jin Yong's cabinet was not thoroughly searched.

After searching for a while, Liu Ruyan found two small boxes inside.

He Shiying, with her sharp eyes, was the first to notice Liu Ruyan's movement: "What is this?"

Xiao Qing, holding her phone, also looked over: "What is that?"

When the phone camera was pointed at the boxes, Xi Wendian's eyes widened and he said urgently, "Bring them here so I can take a look!"

Chapter 19 The World of Geniuses, Incomprehensible to Ordinary People

"Let me see it!"

After saying that, Xi Wendian realized that he had done something inappropriate.

This is someone else's house, and it's very impolite of him to be so eager to see their things and keep urging them on.

He calmed down a bit and said softly, "Could you open those two boxes and let me take a look? This is very important!"

Everyone looked at Liu Ruyan, who nodded slightly and opened the box with the words "Sword Debate" written on it with some difficulty.

Lying in the box were a dozen or so iron badges.

"This is……"

Xi Wendian, standing in front of the screen, pushed his glasses up even higher and squinted as he said:

"Bring me that badge, the one in the middle, the one with the small sword. Yes, the one on the left, let me see..."

After Liu Ruyan took out the badge he mentioned, Xi Wendian's breathing became noticeably rapid.

"Please take out the badge from that throwing knife again, um, the one in the top left corner."

"Then there's that farewell hook... no, the one with the curved hook."

"And that Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms... uh, you know, the one shaped like a hand."

...Xi Wendian selected a total of 6 badges, and Liu Ruyan placed them all on the floor in a row.

From left to right, the badge features a throwing knife, a small sword, a black knife, a fist, a parting hook, and a small deer with its antlers raised.

"No, no way..."

Xiao Qing sat on the ground, her long legs, covered in thin stockings, lying askew on the floor, her lips trembling, her gaze trembling.

Her voluptuous body slumped limply, as if all her strength had been drained away.

Clearly, she had realized something.

As a fellow writer, she knew the meaning behind those little badges.

However, the others were confused and bewildered by the shock shown by Xi Wendian and Xiao Qing.

Gu Yuanzhen clenched her fist and said, "Teacher Xi, stop keeping me in suspense! What are these badges for?"

Xi Wendian tried hard to suppress his voice and keep it from trembling as he slowly said:

"The reason I asked you to open the box is because I recognize it."

"More than a decade ago, 'The Sentimental Swordsman and the Ruthless Sword' and 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes' emerged, sparking a craze for martial arts novels and creating a brand new genre of novels."

"To fuel this trend, several publishing houses and some authoritative magazines joined forces to hold several 'battle forums'."

"The Sword Debate Tournament?" Qin Yun Chu repeated the name.

She felt it was somewhat familiar, but her memory of it was not very clear.

"Oh! I remember now," Gu Yuanzhen clapped his hands, "It's for martial arts novelists!"

Xi Wendian nodded and said, "This award is to recognize outstanding martial arts novelists, and it has been held for seven sessions."

"The first edition was in 13. There was a strong public demand for Jin Yong and Gu Long to win the award. In the end, the judging panel withstood the pressure and awarded the prize to Gu Long's 'The Sentimental Swordsman and the Ruthless Sword' to recognize him for pioneering the martial arts genre."

Gu Yuanzhen nodded and said, "I remember! Back then, this award caused a lot of controversy! People on the forum wrote 3 posts just to argue about whether Jin Yong or Gu Long was more deserving of the award!"

A nostalgic look appeared on Xi Wendian's face, as if he were recalling the golden age of martial arts novels.

Then, he slowly said:

"In the second edition, Gu Long had already won an award. If we didn't give an award to Jin Yong, the authority of the award would be lost. So, we gave the award to Jin Yong's 'The Return of the Condor Heroes' instead."

"In the third edition, Gu Long's 'Meteor, Butterfly, Sword' and 'The End of the World, Bright Moon, Blade' were truly outstanding, making great breakthroughs in the achievement of novels. In particular, Fu Hongxue's blade was very impressive. Therefore, Gu Long was the winner of this edition."

"The fourth edition was a breakout year for Jin Yong. Both 'The Smiling, Proud Wanderer' and 'Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils' came out that year, making him the undisputed winner."

"In the fifth edition, Gu Long announced his retirement from writing. In his memory, everyone agreed to award him the prize. The badge was engraved with a farewell hook, which was an indication of their desire to keep him—although he had left, everyone wanted to hook him back."

"Who would have thought that by the sixth edition, Jin Yong would leave behind a copy of 'The Deer and the Cauldron' and disappear without a trace. The theme of this year's medal is the deer, which in 'The Deer and the Cauldron' refers to all living beings and common people."

The more Xi Wendian spoke, the more shocked the listeners became.

They have all realized the problem.

Whether Gu Long or Jin Yong won the award, the controversy of that year has now faded into a faint memory.

The medals, which encapsulate all those controversies, are like solidified history, lined up side by side on the ground.

The ancient cage and the golden bell, their medals, are now all in the same box, working together in harmony, their paths leading to the same destination.

Gu Yuanzhen asked in a trembling voice, "Teacher Xi, are these medals... real?"

“I have seen and touched every single one of them myself, how could they be fake?” Xi Wendian said.

He Shiying and Gu Yuanzhen looked at each other, then said in unison:

"Jin Yong... is that the Koro?"

"Is the ancient cage the same as the golden bell?"

They suddenly felt powerless.

They argued back and forth, trying to figure out who was better, and they were so engrossed in it that they almost broke their heads.

Surprisingly, the two people were the same person.

"No, Jin Yong is Jin Yong, and Gu Long is Gu Long," Qin Yun Chu corrected them. "They are both Chen Ya's aliases."

The room remained silent for a long time, with only the whispering of the sycamore leaves in the wind outside the window.

Why?!

He Shiying stood up.

She looked very unwilling.

"Why... no, why did he use an alternate account to fool us?"

Xi Wendian let out a long sigh.

"Now it seems that the pseudonym 'Gu Long' was used to explore new writing styles and new realms, while the pseudonym 'Jin Yong' was used to consolidate the position of the number one author," Xi Wendian said.

"A person of extraordinary talent, with boundless potential, used two identities and reached the pinnacle with both identities. I have never seen such a genius."

Upon hearing the compliment, "Overflowing with talent and boundless ambition," Xiao Qing was speechless.

That's what she thought too.

If he hadn't used two aliases and had only used one pen name, wouldn't he have been even more famous than he is now?

But he deliberately used two different identities, making things incredibly difficult for himself.

There is no other explanation other than being indifferent to fame and fortune.

Xiao Qing had met many writers who claimed to be indifferent to fame and fortune, but compared to Chen Ya, they were so despicable.

Thus, Xiao Qing sighed, "We don't understand the world of geniuses."

Xi Wendian also said, "Yes, how could we possibly understand the world of geniuses?"

Xiao Qing grabbed Qin Yun Chu, a smile of admiration mixed with ulterior motives on her face: "Gu Long and Jin Yong... no, Chen Ya, they're in your company now, right?"

"Um...yes." Qin Yun Chu was a little taken aback by the question.

"You absolutely must introduce him to me," Xiao Qing said. "You absolutely must, you must introduce him to me! I want to meet him! This is my lifelong request!"

Qin Yun Chu almost laughed, then nodded and said, "Yes, definitely."

Xi Wendian was still reminiscing about the days when martial arts novels were at their peak.

He recalled the 6th Sword Debate Tournament, which was also the penultimate tournament.

After Jin Yong wrote "The Deer and the Cauldron," a "wuxia" novel that seemed unrestrained and not at all like a wuxia story, the judging committee was in a dilemma about whether to award him the prize.

Everyone says that the protagonist of "The Deer and the Cauldron" is not only bad at martial arts, but also lewd and vulgar. He relies on money, flattery, and smooth-talking to accomplish things that even martial arts masters cannot do.

This is not martial arts, it's anti-martial arts.

Giving him the award would be a slap in the face to himself.

However, The Deer and the Cauldron is indeed a masterpiece in the entire martial arts novel world, and it would be unreasonable not to give it the award.

Only Xi Wendian had a different opinion.

He believes that Jin Yong, in "The Deer and the Cauldron", has not only focused on those royal relatives and martial arts masters.

He began to truly focus his attention on those insignificant figures who would not make their mark on history.

Therefore, he firmly believes that Jin Yong is still young and will write more groundbreaking works, elevating the entire martial arts novel genre to its peak.

After that, Jin Yong disappeared from public view, and he suffered for a long time.

It now appears that Kim Yong did not disappear; only his online persona has vanished.

The person behind the disguise has already broken through that disguise and ascended to another realm.

After that, the martial arts world he left behind paled in comparison because it lost two (actually one) of its brightest stars.

After that, the Sword Tournament was only held once more before it ended in a lackluster fashion.

In retrospect, it wasn't martial arts novels that propelled Jin Yong and Gu Long to fame, but rather Chen Ya who single-handedly carved out the genre of martial arts novels.