Chapter 5

Xiao Ran raised the basket and smiled, saying, "Of course, I should treat the eldest master brother with good wine and good food when he comes to visit. Master Uncle Feng, why don't you join us for a meal too!"

Feng Qingyang had appeared beside them at some point, and Xiao Ran poured wine for the two of them, saying, "This is a family-secret recipe, the strongest liquor... Red Star Erguotou. I guarantee you've never tasted such a strong liquor before."

Xiao Ran, who could open a restaurant, naturally had some special things up his sleeve, including distilled spirits. He had stored a lot of this liquor in the system's space!

The scent of the wine immediately made Linghu Chong's thirst for alcohol surge, and he picked up the wine glass and drank it in one gulp. The strong liquor burned his throat, and it felt like a fire was burning in his stomach. He exclaimed, "Indeed, it's a good wine. I, Linghu Chong, have never tasted such a strong liquor before."

Hearing this, Feng Qingyang took a small sip and also felt the benefits, saying to Xiao Ran, "Indeed, it's a good wine. I didn't expect you to have this skill besides telling stories and deceiving little girls!"

"Indeed... you pervert..." Xiao Ran secretly despised him in his heart.

Linghu Chong, a bit embarrassed, said to Xiao Ran, "Junior Brother Xiao, don't blame Master Uncle Feng. I asked him to keep an eye on you. Because... the murals in the cave are very important, and I'm not familiar with you, so I'm afraid the sword techniques might leak..."

Xiao Ran waved his hand, "I understand! No need to say more, let's drink!"

The two of them drank another cup, and Linghu Chong's face turned a bit red. "Junior Brother Xiao, you don't look very old, but how do you know so much about martial arts lore?"

The story of "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber" was something Linghu Chong had heard a lot from the disciples who brought him food, and he was completely captivated by it.

Feng Qingyang also nodded, "I'm seventy-six this year, and I've been wandering in the martial world for decades, but I don't know as much as you do!"

Xiao Ran picked up a chicken leg and started gnawing on it, "I... it's all thanks to reading books! My family is a scholarly lineage, though it has declined. But my ancestors once produced a top scholar, and although he was a scholar, he also practiced martial arts. However, although his martial skills were not high, he loved stories from the martial world and collected many of them. Before he passed away, he left a will, instructing his descendants to write biographies of martial artists, just like Sima Qian did with the 'Assassins' Biography.' So, my ancestors have been collecting stories from the martial world. Over time, the stories collected grew, and by the time of my grandfather, he compiled these stories into several books. They are 'The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils,' 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes,' 'The Return of the Condor Heroes,' and 'The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber.'"

Mr. Jin Yong, I'm sorry!

Linghu Chong's eyes widened, "There are so many, why haven't I heard of any of them?"

Xiao Ran looked up at the sky at a 45-degree angle, "My grandfather said that martial artists should not flaunt their skills, and these books should be hidden deep in the mountains, not to be spread recklessly. It's normal that you haven't heard of them!"

"What a pity!" Linghu Chong rubbed his hands, "Junior Brother Xiao, I've only heard bits and pieces of the story of the Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber from my junior brothers. Since you're here, you must tell me the whole story!"

Linghu Chong was recently heartbroken, and it was only thanks to Feng Qingyang's guidance in sword techniques that he was able to shift his focus. Otherwise, he would have become a bitter and miserable person like in the original story!

Xiao Ran didn't refuse and started telling the story from Guo Xiang's arrival at Shaolin. When he described how Dharma Master Jueyuan used his internal energy to erase the chessboard on the stone with his feet, Feng Qingyang sighed, "What profound internal energy! Even Ren Woxing would be far behind. And the purity of this energy is far beyond that of the one who absorbs others' internal energy..."

When he heard that the Nine Yang Manual had been split among three people, losing its original power, Feng Qingyang sighed, "A world-class divine skill, and it's lost like this... I haven't heard of the Nine Yang Manual in the current Shaolin Temple, so it must have been lost! The predecessors created so many martial arts, but they are all lost... The descendants are not filial! What a pity, I really want to see such a divine skill!"

Xiao Ran took a sip of wine and said disdainfully, "They deserve it! There are many lost martial arts... The Six Pulse Sword Technique of the Dali Duan family, using fingers as swords, with invisible sword qi reaching three zhang away, cutting through anything in its path... The Beggar Sect's Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, when used by Qiao Feng, can layer palm force three zhang away, like waves of the sea, unstoppable... The Great Wheel Vajra's Flame Blade, with blade qi reaching one zhang away to injure... The Murong family's Star Shifting Technique, using force to counter force, unmatched in the world... The Free and Easy Sect's Lingbo Microstep, graceful and ethereal like a fairy... And... there are too many to mention! But, hehe... where are these martial arts now?"

Just hearing the names, Linghu Chong could feel the power of these skills, and he wished he could travel back in time to see how amazing these predecessors' martial arts were. But when he heard Xiao Ran say they deserved it, Linghu Chong was a bit unhappy, "It's our fault for not being diligent enough, how can you say they deserve it?"

Xiao Ran laughed out loud, tears streaming down his face, "If others don't teach you, how can you be diligent no matter how hard you try?"

Linghu Chong said, "Martial arts should not be taught lightly..."

Xiao Ran interrupted Linghu Chong, "It's because you're unwilling to teach more people, so they deserve to be lost!"

Linghu Chong was speechless for a moment, and Feng Qingyang drank his wine without saying a word, deep in thought!

Xiao Ran stopped laughing and continued, "From the lore of the martial world, we can clearly see that the development of martial arts is on a downward trend. According to my ancestors' records, starting from the Northern Song Dynasty, during the 'The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils' era, martial arts were so powerful that sword qi and palm force could reach several zhang away and remain coherent. By the Southern Song Dynasty, during the 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes' and 'The Return of the Condor Heroes' eras, such martial arts were no longer seen. The most powerful Five Greats of the world at that time could only channel their energy to make flowers and leaves deadly, with palm force dispersing upon leaving the body, and palm wind barely reaching one zhang. By the end of the Yuan Dynasty, during the 'The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber' era... The Seven Freaks of Jiangnan could fight Mei Chaofeng, and the Seven Freaks together could match Qiu Chuji. But the Seven Heroes of Wudang could not defeat Zhou Zhiruo, although she did ambush them! Zhou Zhiruo practiced the quick version of the 'Nine Yin Manual,' while Mei Chaofeng practiced the incomplete and evil version. In terms of versions, Zhou Zhiruo was stronger, but Mei Chaofeng had practiced the 'Nine Yin Manual' for a longer time and had deeper internal energy... So, at most, Zhou Zhiruo was slightly stronger than Mei Chaofeng. This suggests that the skills of the Seven Heroes of Wudang were not much different from the Seven True Men of Quanzhen. Therefore, the Five Greats of the 'The Return of the Condor Heroes' era and the top experts of the 'The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber' era, like Zhang Wuji and Zhang Sanfeng, should be about the same. But in our time, even the palm wind of the Shaolin Abbot Fangzheng can only reach two or three feet, and as for Dongfang Bubai..."

In Xiao Ran's view, Dongfang Bubai could fight four top experts because of his quick movements and rapid internal energy, catching them off guard. If they were prepared, it wouldn't be so difficult to deal with him. Like Linghu Chong, who could defeat Yue Buqun, who practiced the Evil-Dispelling Sword Technique. Therefore, Dongfang Bubai's true skills were at most slightly better than Ren Woxing, and Fangzheng's skills were also better than Ren Woxing, so Fangzheng's true skills should be about the same as Dongfang Bubai, or at least not much different.

Thinking about this, Xiao Ran continued, "According to the records, I estimate that after a hundred years, our era is even worse than the 'The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber' era... I don't think we are dumber than the ancients. I believe the decline of martial arts is due to the problems in the inheritance of various schools, lacking a sustainable and vibrant inheritance mechanism... Like Shaolin Temple, which dominates the world, even the Devil Sect dares not easily challenge it, because they have a complete inheritance mechanism, a scripture hall, and a specialized Dharma Hall for researching martial arts, so they lose very little inheritance. However, they haven't progressed further!"

Feng Qingyang looked at Xiao Ran and asked, "What do you think should be improved?"

Xiao Ran stood up, shrugged, and said with a hint of drunkenness, "How would I know? I only started collecting martial arts stories to fulfill my ancestors' will. Later, I joined the Hua Mountain Sect because I found that I really liked martial arts! I'm just a new disciple of the Hua Mountain Sect. Let the leaders of the various schools worry about these things! I just want to be a spectator, collect enough and exciting stories, and then follow my ancestors' will to compile them into a book!"

Most martial artists are rough and tough, and ordinary martial artists spend their days fighting, with no time or mood to read books! People like Wang Chongyang, Qiu Chuji, and Huang Yaoshi, who are both literate and martial, are very rare, and true scholars go for official careers! This is the mainstream value of this world. Yue Buqun only read a few books and didn't even get a degree, so he wouldn't dare to write a book. In the eyes of people of this era, writing a book is a very sacred thing. So when Xiao Ran said he would write a book about the martial world to fulfill his ancestors' will, Feng Qingyang and Linghu Chong were deeply respectful. Thinking that future generations could read about their deeds in a book, even the carefree Linghu Chong and the detached Feng Qingyang felt their breathing quicken. Martial artists are often obsessed with fame and profit. Ouyang Feng went crazy for the title of the strongest, and Huang Yaoshi, despite his independent and unconventional nature, also went to great lengths for the title, indirectly causing his wife's death. At the third Huashan Summit, Huang Yaoshi said to Old Naughty, "Dharma Master Yideng is indifferent to fame and profit, and you, Old Naughty, have no concept of fame and profit..." This shows that, except for a few, fame and profit are still what martial artists chase. Xiao Ran, with a hint of drunkenness, continued, "But if I were the leader, I would at least relax the restrictions on teaching. Even the sect's core techniques would be taught to more loyal disciples. This way, the middle-level forces would rise, and it wouldn't happen that one person supports the entire sect, and when that person dies, the sect declines. The middle-level forces are the foundation of a sect. Zuo Lengshan, for example, dared to directly exterminate the Liu Zhengfeng family not only because of his high skills but also because he had the Thirteen Protectors."

Feng Qingyang shook his head, thinking Xiao Ran's words were just the talk of a scholar. Feng Qingyang said, "If we do this, the sect's core techniques will no longer be a secret, and the techniques will easily leak, and people will find their weaknesses. Teaching the core techniques to many people can also cause instability within the sect."

Xiao Ran laughed out loud, "Master Uncle, if someone finds the weakness in your skills, isn't that a good thing? How can you improve if you don't know the weaknesses of your techniques? Moreover, if more people learn the core techniques, even with the same technique, each person's understanding is different. When these different understandings are combined, they can naturally make up for the weaknesses and push the technique to a higher level. If the leader lacks confidence in standing at the top when everyone practices the same technique, then the leader is not much of a leader!"

Feng Qingyang shook his head, "Although that's true, it can easily cause many casualties and even endanger the existence of the sect..."

Xiao Ran smiled sinisterly, "Which technique was created without bloodshed, and which sect that stands tall has not shed blood? There is the blood of enemies and the blood of one's own people. Not to mention, how many people have gone mad while practicing techniques? What I suggest is not perfect, and it might cause more deaths, put the sect at risk, and cause internal instability. But at least it's a system that can promote the development of martial arts. And if we don't do this, will the techniques not be broken? What are those murals in the cave? Yes, such a system will make the challenges the sect faces more brutal, but if it can stand tall, each generation will be stronger than the last. If it can't, the sect will decline anyway, and this just accelerates its decline. Sometimes, even if you stay at home, trouble can fall from the sky. If you're afraid of death, why join the martial world?"

Xiao Ran's words sounded like strange and incomprehensible talk to Feng Qingyang, but he felt there might be some truth in them. Feng Qingyang stood up and said to Linghu Chong, "Chong'er, today I will teach you the Nine Swords of Dugu." Then he turned to Xiao Ran, "After I finish teaching the sword techniques, you can tell us more about the lore. Who are Mei Chaofeng and Zhou Zhiruo? How could they defeat the Seven True Men of Quanzhen, one of whom was Ancestor Hao?"

Feng Qingyang then began to teach Linghu Chong, not actively teaching Xiao Ran but also not making him leave. In fact, Feng Qingyang didn't want his life to slowly fade from the memory of the martial world and wanted the Nine Swords of Dugu to be remembered for generations. That's why he was teaching Linghu Chong the sword techniques. Xiao Ran, by watching, could write about the wonders of the Nine Swords of Dugu more vividly. As Ren Woxing said, "It's a pity that future generations don't know my abilities!" Not knowing the amazing sword skills of a person is also a pity! Adding to Xiao Ran's earlier talk about lost martial arts and the inheritance of martial arts, although Feng Qingyang didn't agree, it deeply touched him. So, he decided to teach one more person, reducing the possibility of martial arts being lost. Fame and profit, no one can escape.