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墨書 Inktalez
"Are you the one who knows everything in the Jianghu? Is there anything that happens in the Jianghu that you don't know?"
Bai Tang humbly replied, "Not much, I can only know a little bit here and there. For example, the conflict between the Huashan Sword Sect and the Seven Sects, as well as the reason why Senior Feng chose to live in seclusion at the Cliff of Reflection."
"I'd like to hear what you know," Feng Qingyang said, his expression a mix of displeasure and curiosity. How could this young man know about him and even his place of seclusion? What was his purpose?
"...Back during the internal strife of the Sword Qi, Senior Feng was deceived by the Qi Sect into leaving for another place to marry. That bride was a con artist specially sought out by the Qi Sect. Senior Feng missed the duel of the Sword Qi Sect, which led to their defeat. When he returned to Huashan, he found that the situation had changed drastically. Feeling deep remorse, he lost heart and chose to live in seclusion at the Cliff of Reflection, vowing never to involve himself in Jianghu affairs again..."
"Enough!" Feng Qingyang shouted. He didn't want another person revealing his past mistakes; he felt utterly embarrassed.
Bai Tang fell silent, having said what needed to be said.
The old man’s face darkened as he asked, "What do you want from me?"
Bai Tang straightened his expression and spoke seriously, "The Huashan Sect originated during the Southern Song Dynasty and has undergone hundreds of years of inheritance, yet it has declined due to the conflict over Sword Qi. Doesn't Senior Feng feel sad about this? Now that Huashan's leader Yue Buqun is dedicated to revitalizing Huashan, as an elder, why not lend a hand?"
Feng Qingyang snorted coldly, "He is a disciple of the Qi Sect; I am from the Sword Sect. You think I would help him? Dream on!"
Bai Tang replied, "The conflict over Sword Qi has caused many disciples of Huashan to fall; Huashan has declined—can't you see that? Clinging to this conflict over Sword Qi? You must understand that while strong inner strength is necessary, it requires high-level swordsmanship to unleash its power; conversely, high-level swordsmanship without profound inner strength greatly diminishes its effectiveness. Only when both complement each other can one unleash their maximum potential."
Feng Qingyang fell silent after hearing this. He had already realized that the conflict over Sword Qi was meaningless; otherwise, he wouldn't have later taught sword techniques to Linghu Chong, a disciple of the Qi Sect.
"I have already chosen seclusion and do not wish to see outsiders," he said, his tone softening slightly.
Bai Tang smiled and said, "You don't need to meet with Huashan's juniors; all you need to do is write down the techniques of the Dugu Nine Swords for me. I will arrange for everything else."
"You even know that I can use the Dugu Nine Swords?" Feng Qingyang was surprised. The origins of his swordsmanship were unknown even to those within his own sect. How could this young man be so well-informed?
A thought flashed through Bai Tang's mind. He smiled and said, "Of course I know. Senior is living in seclusion at Thinking Cliff, seeking tranquility, but this place ultimately belongs to the Huashan Sect. If you don't want to meet other members of the Huashan Sect and cannot avoid it, why not let me recommend a secluded spot for you, Senior?"
"No need, I'm fine at Huashan." Feng Qingyang coldly rejected. Huashan was his home. No matter how vast the world was, where else could he find a place to belong?
"Really not going?" Bai Tang smiled slightly. He pretended to sigh and said, "Then I won't disturb Dugu Qianbei's tranquility."
Feng Qingyang's ears perked up: "Dugu Qianbei? Dugu Qiubai?"
"That's right!" Bai Tang replied. "I originally wanted to introduce Senior to a secluded valley where Dugu Qianbei spent his later years, but Senior is unwilling!"
"Where is that valley?" Feng Qingyang asked urgently, throwing aside all pretense of composure. The valley where Dugu Qiubai lived in seclusion must contain many insights into swordsmanship that Dugu Qiubai had gained. If he could see them, it would surely enhance his own sword skills significantly. For a moment, Feng Qingyang felt restless and wished Bai Tang would take him there immediately.
"It's in Xiangyang," Bai Tang said. "Once we resolve the matters at Huashan, I'll take you to Xiangyang."
"No need, just tell me the address and I'll go myself."
"I don't know the exact location either; I only know that the valley is located outside Xiangyang City. There is a peculiar snake in that valley called the Poshqu Snake, which emits a faint golden light all over its body and has fleshy horns on its head. It moves like the wind and is extremely difficult to catch. Its gallbladder is deep purple; consuming it will instantly refresh your spirit and greatly enhance your strength. If Senior finds this snake, he will be able to locate Dugu Qiubai's secluded valley."
Feng Qingyang carefully noted what Bai Tang said: "Do you have paper and ink? I will write down the sword techniques of Dugu Nine Swords for you."
"Yes, yes!" Bai Tang rummaged through his bag and handed paper and ink to Feng Qingyang. Feng Qingyang wrote and drew, producing more than ten sheets of paper which he handed to Bai Tang. Bai Tang took out needle and thread to bind these papers into a booklet.
"Your bag seems quite full!" Feng Qingyang casually remarked, not realizing that Bai Tang's bag held more than meets the eye.
Bai Tang smiled and used the system's function to make a copy of Dugu Nine Swords.
"Are you not going to send the sword technique to Yue Buqun?" Feng Qingyang asked curiously as he saw Bai Tang tapping on the stone wall of the cave.
"Just wait a moment. If you're too impatient, you can take a look at these three martial arts Secret Manuals to pass the time," Bai Tang said, pulling out three booklets from his pocket and tossing them to Feng Qingyang.
Feng Qingyang caught the booklets and saw that the covers of the three books were titled "Nine Yin Manual," "Complete Truth Sword Technique," and "Jade Maiden Sword Technique."
"You, how do you have the 'Nine Yin Manual' and 'Complete Truth Sword Technique'?" Feng Qingyang's voice trembled with excitement. The founder of the Huashan Sect was Hao Datong from the Quanzhen Seven Disciples, and most of Huashan's martial arts originated from Quanzhen skills, but their brilliance could not match that of Quanzhen. In Huashan's records, the "Nine Yin Manual," being an extraordinary martial art, was highly regarded by its founding ancestor. Seeing two lost supreme martial arts at once, even Feng Qingyang couldn't help but lose his composure.
"Before coming to Huashan, I first went to Zhongnan Mountain and obtained the relics of Patriarch Chongyang in Dead Man's Tomb!" Bai Tang said while continuing to tap on the stone wall.
"Since the Quanzhen Sect moved away from Zhongnan Mountain, all the Taoist temple texts on the mountain were destroyed. Are there still relics of Patriarch Chongyang left?" Feng Qingyang asked in confusion. "What is Dead Man's Tomb?"
"Ah, Dead Man's Tomb was built by Wang Chongyang, but later he lost to his beloved..." Bai Tang stopped tapping on the stone wall and sat down in front of the old man, excitedly recounting the entanglement between Lin Chaoying and Wang Chongyang, eagerly sharing stories about Divine Eagle and his partner with Feng Qingyang.
"...After Zhongnan Mountain, Dead Man's Tomb, Divine Eagle, vanished from the Jianghu!"
Feng Qingyang sighed deeply: "So it turns out that the hero of Divine Eagle is also a descendant of Dugu!"
After finishing the story, Bai Tang jumped up again to continue tapping.
Feng Qingyang was curious and asked, "What are you doing?"
"I found it!" Bai Tang exclaimed upon hearing an unusual sound. He suddenly punched the stone wall where the sound came from, creating a large hole.
Feng Qingyang stared in astonishment at the big hole: "There’s another cave behind Thinking Cliff; I had no idea."
Bai Tang took out a luminous pearl and turned to ask, "Senior Feng, do you want to go in and take a look together?"
"Of course, let's go," Feng Qingyang straightened up. "I want to see what secrets are hidden in this mountain wall!"
The two of them crawled into the cave, where there was a narrow passage. Looking down, they saw a skeleton lying there, its clothing already decayed to dust. Beside it were two large axes, which still gleamed brightly under the light of the torch.
"This passage was actually carved out by this person using sharp axes," Feng Qingyang observed as he examined the surroundings. "He was imprisoned in the belly of the mountain and used his axes to try to break free. However, he was only inches away from escaping when he exhausted all his strength and died. Alas, what a tragic fate."
As they continued along the path, they discovered several more skeletons. Following the passage, they reached a vast cave that could accommodate thousands of people. On the right side of the cave wall, several feet above the ground, there was a large stone that resembled a platform. Below this stone, on the wall, were inscribed sixteen large characters: "Wuyue Sword Sect, shameless and despicable; if defeated in combat, resorting to treachery." Each four-character phrase was arranged in rows, totaling four rows. Each character measured about a foot square and was deeply carved into the rock with an extremely sharp weapon, reaching several inches deep. The sixteen characters had sharp angles and appeared very imposing. Next to these sixteen characters were countless other words inscribed that included curses such as "despicable," "shameless," "lowly," and "cowardly," filling the wall with insults. When Bai Tang raised the luminous pearl to illuminate the stone wall further, she saw another line of text: "Fan Song Zhao He broke Hengshan Sword Technique here." Beside this line were numerous human figures, each pair consisting of one wielding a sword and the other wielding an axe. Roughly counting, there were at least five or six hundred figures, clearly depicting those with axes countering the sword techniques of those with swords. Next to these figures appeared another line of text: "Zhang Chengyun and Zhang Chengfeng completely broke Huashan Sword Technique."
Finally finding what they were looking for, Bai Tang held up the luminous pearl and carefully examined the engraved Wuyue Sword Techniques. These techniques were not particularly useful to her but could be recorded in the system as backup skills to teach others in the future.
"Ridiculous!" Feng Qingyang suddenly spoke up. "Techniques are dead; people are alive. Just because you can break techniques doesn't mean you've completely dismantled my Wuyue Sword Sect's methods—it's truly laughable."
He sighed again: "These elders of the demonic sect are indeed remarkable individuals with great intelligence; they have managed to completely dismantle some of our high-level techniques from the Wuyue Sword Sect. However, what they don't realize is that the most powerful techniques in this world are not found in martial arts but rather in schemes and traps. If one falls into a cleverly arranged trap by others, no matter how skilled your martial arts are, they will be rendered useless..." He lifted his head, his gaze distant as if recalling countless old events.
Seeing his bitter expression filled with immense indignation, Bai Tang chose not to disturb him and instead dug a pit in a corner, setting it up as a mechanism that could be accidentally discovered by someone else. She placed four supreme martial arts manuals—"Dugu Nine Swords," "Nine Yin Manual," "Quanzhen Sword Technique," and "Jade Maiden Sword Technique"—inside.
After completing all this, Feng Qingyang had regained his composure: "I hope everything you’ve done will be worthwhile; may Yue Buqun bring glory to the Huashan Sect!" (To be continued)
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