Chapter 45

Every afternoon, Bai Xiaosheng would compete with Zhou Botong. Zhou Botong, a true martial arts prodigy, made visible progress in just three days.

In today's fight, Zhou Botong even entered the realm of mixed techniques, showing no weakness in his moves. His rapid improvement made Bai Xiaosheng feel a rare sense of defeat.

It's the same with Linghu Chong and Zhou Botong; how can these characters in the story be so amazing? Is there no place for ordinary people to live!

To be fair, Zhou Botong's intelligence is no less than anyone else's in the world. In fact, no one can match him. Wang Chongyang pretended to be dead, Ouyang Feng went to the Quanzhen Sect to snatch the Nine Yin Manual, and defeated Zhou Botong in just thirty to forty moves. Later, on Peach Blossom Island, Zhou Botong was even injured by Huang Yaoshi, which shows that he was far behind these people.

However, sixteen years later, Zhou Botong caught up with the other four, and even surpassed them. This also demonstrates his extraordinary intelligence.

Zhou Botong is a playful old man with no desire to win, but his obsession with martial arts has given him boundless potential. In his matches with Bai Xiaosheng, they inevitably discussed their understanding of martial arts. Zhou Botong mostly talked about what Wang Chongyang had said, which greatly inspired Bai Xiaosheng, while Bai Xiaosheng mainly discussed his understanding of techniques.

This understanding naturally enlightened Zhou Botong, after all, he is not a novice.

Bang!

In the forest, Bai Xiaosheng and Zhou Botong's palms clashed, the surging force blew up countless withered leaves from the ground, scattering them in all directions. The two men looked at each other, their eyes smiling. Suddenly, Zhou Botong's expression changed, and he said, "Senior Brother..."

Bai Xiaosheng was slightly taken aback, immediately realizing that Wang Chongyang had arrived. He exerted force, breaking away from Zhou Botong, and quickly leaped onto a nearby branch, looking in the direction Zhou Botong was looking. There, an old Taoist priest stood, with a transcendent aura, holding a duster in one hand and a sword in the other, like a celestial being descended to the mortal world.

Seeing such a Wang Chongyang, Bai Xiaosheng felt a rare admiration.

"Senior Brother, why did you come?" The old child laughed and immediately walked to Wang Chongyang, his expression like a mouse seeing a cat. Wang Chongyang smiled and looked at Zhou Botong, saying, "Did you think I didn't know you were sneaking out every afternoon these past few days?" After saying this, he ignored Zhou Botong's embarrassed expression and turned to Bai Xiaosheng, praising, "This young brother is truly remarkable!"

"Master Wang Chongyang is too kind!" Bai Xiaosheng bowed in return.

Wang Chongyang said, "Not at all. If it weren't for this young brother's help, my junior brother probably wouldn't have reached his current level. I see that this young brother is only about twenty-three or twenty-four years old, yet has such remarkable cultivation, which is truly rare, far surpassing me when I was young."

"I dare not accept such praise!" Bai Xiaosheng bowed again. Wang Chongyang nodded, admiring the young man's manners.

"Botong, have you forgotten that today is the day we go up the mountain?" Wang Chongyang looked at Zhou Botong again, somewhat annoyed.

Hearing this, Zhou Botong's smile became even more awkward. He said, "Senior Brother, you didn't tell me, how could I remember..." His voice grew softer as he spoke. This morning, Wang Chongyang had just told him, and by the afternoon, he had forgotten all about it. Once the fight started, he didn't even think about it. "Senior Brother, Senior Brother, don't blame me, let's go quickly. Brother Bai, come with us up the mountain."

Zhou Botong's words were exactly what Bai Xiaosheng wanted. He looked at Wang Chongyang, who nodded and said, "That's best!"

"Then I won't be polite!" Bai Xiaosheng said.

Immediately, the three left the forest and headed for the foot of Huashan Mountain. There, they saw the Seven Masters of Quanzhen waiting. After Bai Xiaosheng greeted each of them, the ten people began their ascent to the peak of Huashan.

It was the dead of winter, and the mountain was covered in snow, as if dressed in a white wedding gown.

From the mountain, the dense black dots below were walking on the white gown, leaving one footprint after another, some deep, some shallow. The ten people, including Bai Xiaosheng, left very different footprints. Wang Chongyang, though he couldn't achieve the realm of walking without leaving a trace, left very shallow footprints, almost invisible to the untrained eye. Next was Bai Xiaosheng, whose footprints were much deeper than Wang Chongyang's but much shallower than Zhou Botong's and the Seven Masters of Quanzhen.

In terms of lightness of body, Bai Xiaosheng was not inferior. He knew many techniques and had practiced diligently with the help of the system, making rapid progress. If it weren't for his insufficient cultivation, Wang Chongyang might not have been able to match him in lightness of body.

When they reached halfway up the mountain, Bai Xiaosheng felt a cold wind blowing from behind, as if a large creature was rapidly approaching. He turned back and saw a person climbing the mountain at an incredible speed.

This person looked to be in his thirties, dressed differently from the others, in Western Region attire. Seeing his lightness of body, Bai Xiaosheng immediately thought of a name—Ouyang Feng!

He carefully observed the person, who was also staring at the ten people, his gaze finally landing on Wang Chongyang. He took large strides and quickly reached the group, his eyes coldly fixed on Wang Chongyang.

"Is that Wang Chongyang..." It sounded like a question, but his tone was full of certainty, his eyes never leaving Wang Chongyang, his face filled with hostility.

Wang Chongyang smiled at him, but before he could speak, he turned to look behind. The others, puzzled, followed his gaze. Soon, Ouyang Feng's expression changed, and Bai Xiaosheng and Zhou Botong's gazes also became focused. Below, three figures moved slowly but quickly, covering over a hundred meters in the blink of an eye, reaching the group.

The first was a handsome man in a green robe, his black hair flowing over his shoulders, his eyes sharp and his face exuding a sinister charm that would captivate any woman. Behind him was a middle-aged man in a splendid brocade robe, exuding an aura of authority, his steps like a tiger's, his presence like a king. The last was a beggar with a large red gourd, holding a green bamboo stick, looking disheveled but exuding a righteous aura that commanded respect.

Huang Yaoshi, Duan Zhixing, and Hong Qigong, these three had also arrived. Goodness, the Five Greats were all here.

The five seemed to have a telepathic connection, standing side by side, their auras fluctuating, looking quite strange. They walked with large strides, and before Bai Xiaosheng and the others noticed, they had already fallen behind by about ten meters.

Bai Xiaosheng and Zhou Botong exchanged glances and immediately exerted force, speeding up to catch up. The five in front also walked faster, their figures like illusions, rapidly heading for the peak.

In terms of lightness of body, Huang Yaoshi was undoubtedly the best. His technique involved the I Ching and the Eight Trigrams, making his movements extraordinary. Next was Wang Chongyang, whose lightness of body was not necessarily the best, but his deep internal cultivation made him formidable when he exerted force.

Of course, while there were differences in their lightness of body, the five were evenly matched, making it difficult to distinguish who was the best. However, it was tough for Bai Xiaosheng and Zhou Botong, who were far behind in internal cultivation and the skill of exerting and changing force. They could only trail far behind.

Fortunately, the peak was not far away, and it took only a few minutes for everyone to reach the summit.

After running all the way, Wang Chongyang seemed to have been stirred to compete. He laughed loudly, his voice resonating for a long time. The other four all changed expression, and Ouyang Feng's face turned sour as he grunted.

"Are the four of you Huang Yaoshi of Peach Blossom Island, Duan Zhixing of Dali, Ouyang Feng of White Camel Mountain, and Hong Qigong of the Beggar Sect?" Wang Chongyang greeted each of them, and they all returned the greeting. However, they were all proud people and did not say much more, only looking at each other, their auras colliding, creating a cold wind.

Finally, Bai Xiaosheng and Zhou Botong leaped onto the summit!