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

Page 111

Feng Qingyang chuckled: "Yue Buqun? I'm afraid he doesn't want to see me, and I don't want to see him either, much less you."

“I have sworn never to see anyone from the Huashan Sect. If it weren’t for you constantly coming here and bothering me, I wouldn’t have seen you either.”

"what?"

Upon hearing this, Linghu Chong assumed that Feng Qingyang was resentful about the Qi Sect's victory over the Sword Sect back then.

He was unaware of the matter concerning Feng Qingyang that Yue Buqun and Jiang Ning had discussed last year.

Linghu Chong then wanted to tell Feng Qingyang that the Sword and Qi sects had merged, but Feng Qingyang waved his hand, not wanting to hear any more.

"Alright, enough of that. You should just stay here and face the wall properly. Stop howling like a banshee. I can hear you from far away. It's driving me crazy. When your time is up, hurry up and go down the mountain. Don't mention my existence to anyone, especially your master, or I won't let you off the hook."

Linghu Chong wanted to continue persuading him, but he was embarrassed after hearing those words.

Every time he made a breakthrough in his training at the Cliff of Contemplation, he couldn't help but shout out his joy to express his feelings, but unexpectedly, Feng Qingyang heard everything.

However, when he heard Feng Qingyang think that he had been punished by Yue Buqun to face the wall again, he corrected him: "Grand Uncle, I was not punished by Master to face the wall at the Cliff of Contemplation. I did it voluntarily."

Upon hearing this, Feng Qingyang looked at him with a strange expression: "Are you out of your mind?"

Who in their right mind would willingly come to this godforsaken place to face the wall without having committed any wrongdoing?

"of course not!"

Linghu Chong blushed and offered a defense, then said, "I just felt that it was quiet here, which would allow me to practice my skills without any distractions."

Upon hearing this, Feng Qingyang's expression softened slightly; he was indeed making a considerable effort.

Then he looked at him again and said, "I see that your strength has reached the threshold of the first-class level. You must be the number one among the second-generation disciples of the Huashan Sect. Moreover, the internal energy you just used was the Zixia Divine Skill, right? The Zixia Divine Skill is a technique that only the sect leader of the Qi Sect can practice. It is not passed on to anyone but the next generation of sect leader. The future sect leader of the Huashan Sect will also fall into your hands. Why are you still working so hard?"

Upon hearing this, Linghu Chong couldn't help but smile wryly and said, "Grandmaster Uncle, I'm not the most powerful."

"Oh?"

Feng Qingyang raised an eyebrow and asked curiously, "Even you're not one of the most powerful second-generation disciples? Then who is it?"

"Junior Brother Jiang Ning."

Linghu Chong replied.

"Jiangning?"

Feng Qingyang frowned and remained silent.

He doesn't know this person.

He used to rarely go to the main peak, thinking that out of sight, out of mind, and he didn't care about the current situation of the Huashan Sect. Among the current Huashan Sect members, he only recognized Yue Buqun, Ning Zhongze, and Linghu Chong.

"He's the junior brother who came with me to Siguo Cliff the year before last to discover the lost sword techniques of the Five Mountains Sword Sect hidden in the stone wall."

Linghu Chong reminded him.

Since Feng Qingyang had been living in seclusion on Jade Maiden Peak, he must have known about the commotion when Jiang Ning and he broke through the stone wall last time.

"The year before last? When?"

Feng Qingyang asked.

Linghu Chong said, "April."

Feng Qingyang frowned and remained silent.

He wasn't on Jade Maiden Peak during that time; he had gone down the mountain. When he returned, he discovered that the secret of the stone wall in the Cliff of Contemplation had been discovered by someone. He thought that Linghu Chong had discovered it himself, but he didn't expect it to be like this.

At this moment, Feng Qingyang became curious and asked, "Is your junior brother stronger than you?"

Linghu Chong gave a helpless smile and nodded: "Yes."

Feng Qingyang was even more surprised.

He originally thought that the Huashan Sect was already incredibly fortunate to have a disciple like Linghu Chong, but he never expected there to be someone even more powerful.

How old is he this year?

"eighteen."

"eighteen?"

Feng Qingyang's eyes narrowed, somewhat disbelieving.

Seeing Feng Qingyang's expression, Linghu Chong felt helpless.

"Yes, it's eighteen."

Feng Qingyang remained silent.

He knew Linghu Chong's strength; at his age, he was already quite remarkable to be comparable to a top-tier master. Among the second-generation disciples of the Huashan Sect, there was someone even more powerful than him, and he was only eighteen years old.

After a while.

Feng Qingyang found a rock to sit on, beckoned to Linghu Chong, and said, "Tell me all the details about your junior brother."

He became genuinely curious.

Seeing this, Linghu Chong recounted everything he knew about Jiang Ning from childhood to adulthood, in great detail. However, Feng Qingyang did not interrupt but listened attentively.

"Junior Brother Jiang Ning killed Yu Canghai and his disciples from the Qingcheng Sect in Sichuan. After returning, he encountered the Holy Maiden of the Demonic Sect in Hanzhong Prefecture. He chased her for three hundred miles, seriously injured her, and also killed two of her top-notch masters."

Linghu Chong recounted Jiang Ning's achievements, which weighed heavily on his heart, making it hard for him to breathe.

After Linghu Chong finished speaking, he couldn't help but sigh.

Feng Qingyang fell into deep thought, frowning and remaining silent.

At this age, with this level of skill, even the once-powerful Huashan Sect had never produced such a genius.

Yue Buqun must have had incredible luck to have stumbled upon such a treasure.

Chapter 159: Those with extraordinary talent will be envied by the heavens.

"you……"

Feng Qingyang finally came to his senses and looked at Linghu Chong.

"So you're working so hard because your junior brother is putting too much pressure on you?"

Linghu Chong smiled helplessly.

It wasn't just pressure; it felt like a mountain was pressing down on his heart.

Feng Qingyang looked at him with a half-smile: "You want to surpass him?"

Linghu Chong gave an awkward smile.

Feng Qingyang looked at him again and asked, "Is it because he has affected your status?"

Linghu Chong's expression changed, and he fell silent as if his secret had been exposed.

In the past, he was the eldest disciple of the Huashan Sect, the senior brother of his junior brothers, and the one with the highest martial arts skills. Within the sect, he was admired by all his junior brothers and doted on by his master's wife. When he went out into the world, as long as people in the martial arts world knew his identity, they treated him with respect and flattery, regarding him as the future leader of the Huashan Sect.

At first, he might not have cared, or even felt uncomfortable, but as time went on, he came to believe it himself. He gradually got used to the admiration of his junior brothers and the flattery of others, accepted the admiration and flattery, and naturally believed that he was the only candidate for the next sect leader, and that Yue Buqun would definitely choose him as the sect leader.

But all of this changed because of Jiangning.

As Jiang Ning's strength grew stronger and stronger, even surpassing his own, the Huashan disciples began to look at Jiang Ning with admiration.

If these things only made him feel a sense of urgency, what truly frightened him was Yue Buqun's change.

Although Yue Buqun was very strict with him in the past, much stricter than with his other disciples, the look in Yue Buqun's eyes when he was disciplining him always gave him a sense of security.

Now Yue Buqun is no longer strict with him, he cares about him more and more, and he no longer punishes him at the drop of a hat. Linghu Chong is also immersed in this fatherly love. But later, Yue Buqun's eyes no longer have that meaning. Later, that meaning only appears when Yue Buqun looks at Jiang Ning. The sense of security in his heart is gradually fading away, replaced by a sense of emptiness.

He realized that something was slipping away from him, and no matter how hard he tried to grasp it, he couldn't hold onto it; he could only watch helplessly as it slipped through his fingers.

Every time he saw Yue Buqun praising Jiang Ning with a satisfied expression, he felt extremely uncomfortable. He wanted to practice his skills hard, to get Yue Buqun's attention, and to get the gaze that Yue Buqun originally only had for him back on him. He wanted to prove that he was no worse than anyone else, but Jiang Ning's speed of growth made him despair.

Countless nights Linghu Chong dreamed that one day Yue Buqun would suddenly announce that Jiang Ning would become the leader of the Huashan Sect and betroth his daughter Yue Lingshan to Jiang Ning. Every time he dreamed of this, Linghu Chong would wake up in a fright, his forehead covered in cold sweat.

Whenever Linghu Chong thought about the possibility of such a thing happening in the future, he felt an indescribable sense of fear.

When he realized that no matter how hard he practiced, he could not catch up with Jiang Ning, Linghu Chong subconsciously chose to escape and came to the Cliff of Contemplation. Although this was a place that Yue Buqun used to punish him to, it made him feel a long-lost peace.

Seeing the dejected look that Linghu Chong unconsciously showed on his face, Feng Qingyang frowned. He guessed what Linghu Chong was thinking and couldn't help but scold him.

"You're so young, yet you become discouraged at the first sign of setback, and you get anxious and insecure over the slightest disappointment. With a mindset like yours, how can you expect to achieve anything great in the future!"

Feng Qingyang's expression was stern as he rebuked, "What kind of expression is that? What kind of look is that? Do you think Yue Buqun will pay attention to you again just because of that expression? Do you think he will hand over the position of sect leader to you?"

"Since others are more hardworking and stronger than you, then you should work harder, even harder than before, and become stronger than them, instead of wallowing in self-pity like this, coming here like a coward to escape!"

Feng Qingyang's rebuke was like a thunderbolt, leaving Linghu Chong utterly shocked. He hadn't expected Feng Qingyang to see through his thoughts. Before he could even defend himself, Feng Qingyang's next words jolted him awake, and he immediately knelt down and said...

“Master Feng is right, I will remember this.”

Seeing that Linghu Chong had taken his words to heart, Feng Qingyang's expression softened.

"Get up."

Upon hearing this, Linghu Chong stood up.

Feng Qingyang glanced at him, then turned back and said, "Although your junior brother is exceptionally talented, in my opinion, he probably won't live long."

"what?"

Linghu Chong was stunned, a look of tension appearing on his face, his tone anxious.

"Why do you say that, Grandmaster Uncle? Why won't my junior brother live long?"

Upon hearing his question, Feng Qingyang looked at him with a hint of surprise, noticing that Linghu Chong's expression seemed genuine. He paused for a moment before replying.

"Although I have never met your junior brother, I have a general understanding of his personality from what you have said. Although he hates evil as if it were his enemy, he is ruthless and cannot tolerate any wrongdoing. He will intervene in anything he thinks is wrong, no matter how strong the other party is. He will go all the way and does not know the meaning of the word 'backing down'. He is also very bloodthirsty. I'm afraid that countless people have died at his hands by now."

Linghu Chong nodded repeatedly, agreeing that Jiang Ning was indeed like that.

“Such people are often the quickest to die in the martial arts world, easily killed by others. But your junior brother is exceptionally talented, possessing such strength at only eighteen years old. With his current strength, there are probably not many people in the martial arts world who can kill him.”

Linghu Chong asked in confusion, "Then why would my grandmaster uncle say that my junior brother won't live long?"

Feng Qingyang smiled and said, "Because he stole the secrets of heaven."

Linghu Chong was stunned.

Feng Qingyang paused for a moment, then continued, "Your junior brother has too much bloodlust. You should know that killing too many people is not a good thing. It will damage your karma. Some people gradually become addicted to the pleasure of killing, thus losing themselves, and their inner demons will arise, eventually leading them to fall into the demonic path."

"Moreover, he was too deep in thought. People with deep thoughts think more than ordinary people, which consumes more of their mental energy. They grow gray hair early and die earlier than ordinary people."

"Those who are exceptionally gifted often incur the envy of the heavens."

"Birth, aging, sickness, and death are the laws of all things, and no one is an exception. We can only follow these laws. However, we martial arts practitioners practice martial arts and cultivate our qi to strengthen our bodies in order to delay the laws of birth, aging, sickness, and death, or rather, to defy these laws. In essence, we are going against the will of Heaven."

"Among most martial arts practitioners, some have practiced martial arts for decades without making any progress, yet they are able to die peacefully in their old age. Others, despite their high level of martial arts skills, die prematurely due to a relapse of an old illness, being killed by others, or for various other reasons. Why is this? Because they have defied their own destiny."

Chapter 160: My Heart is Bright

"For example, a person may be able to live to seventy, but if he is exceptionally intelligent and practices martial arts to prolong his life, he can extend his life to eighty, which goes against his destiny and causes his lifespan to be shortened."

"Everyone has their own destiny, and most people can only accept it. However, some people are exceptionally gifted and skip their original destiny. But the consequence of this is that they do not live to their original lifespan. Otherwise, why would there be the saying that the heavens are jealous of talents and that some people die young?"

Feng Qingyang spoke calmly, his face devoid of joy or sorrow, leaving Linghu Chong stunned.

These words were too mystical, making him somewhat skeptical.

"He is too murderous, too talented, and too cunning. These three things are all related to the secrets of heaven, which will shorten his lifespan. If he has just one of them, his lifespan will be shorter than that of an ordinary person. Unfortunately, he has all three. He won't live long."

……

"Death? Of course I will die. No one is immune to death."

Jiang Ning laughed.

inside the house.

Liu Zhao and Lin Pingzhi sat on the other side of the table.

Since becoming Jiang Ning's disciple, Liu Zhao had always wanted to learn more about Jiang Ning. Jiang Ning rarely talked about himself, which made Liu Zhao very curious. He saw that Lin Pingzhi respected Jiang Ning more than the other Huashan disciples, so he finally couldn't suppress his curiosity and asked Lin Pingzhi about Jiang Ning's deeds. However, after learning about Jiang Ning's actions, Liu Zhao was stunned and couldn't help but ask, "Doesn't Jiang Ning worry about dying if he does this?"

"Life is a long journey of several decades, and in the end we all have to die. Since we will all die eventually, why not die for our ideals?"

Liu Zhao and Lin Pingzhi stared blankly at Jiang Ning.