Chapter 14

At this moment, Yue Fangxing's ears perked up, as if he heard the sound of the wind, knowing that someone was coming up. He thought it must be his father, Yue Buqun. He hurriedly walked to the cave entrance, his admiration for Feng Qingyang growing even more. He thought that Feng Qingyang must have also sensed Yue Buqun's arrival and did not want to meet him, which was why he retreated. It was not entirely because of the difference in their swordsmanship. From this, it could be seen that Feng Qingyang's internal skills were likely far deeper than Yue Buqun's, and this level of skill was truly beyond reach.

Yue Buqun, carrying several torches, climbed up the cliff. Seeing Yue Fangxing standing at the cave entrance, he said, "Xing'er, follow me inside and take a look. Be careful inside." With that, he lit a torch and crawled into the cave.

Hearing this, Yue Fangxing followed closely behind and also crawled in. By this time, most of the foul air in the cave had dissipated, but the remaining part could not be cleared immediately. However, it had little effect on the two of them.

After Yue Buqun and Yue Fangxing entered, they saw a narrow passage. Yue Fangxing looked down by the light of the torch and was startled, breaking out in a cold sweat.

They saw a skeleton lying at their feet. Bending down to look at the skeleton, they saw that its clothes had rotted into dust, revealing white bones. Next to the skeleton were two large axes, which still gleamed brightly in the torchlight.

Yue Buqun picked up one of the axes, which was heavy, weighing about forty pounds. He raised the axe and struck the stone wall beside him, and with a "chah" sound, a large piece of stone fell off. He was slightly taken aback and pondered, "This axe is so sharp, far from ordinary. It must be a weapon of a martial arts predecessor. However, our Wuyue Sword Sect has no famous experts who use axes, so it must belong to the Cult of Devils."

"However, since its owner is dead, it can be used as material to forge a few sharp swords," Yue Fangxing said from the side. He was well-prepared mentally and was not startled by this scene; instead, he was thinking about how to maximize the value of the things in the cave.

Yue Buqun was satisfied and smiled slightly without responding. Then they saw that the places where the axe had struck the stone wall were very smooth, as if cut by a knife. After a moment of thought, he was somewhat stunned and held the torch, walking down the passage. He saw that the entire cave was marked with axe cuts. Yue Buqun was greatly shocked: "It turns out this passage was cut out by this person with an axe. Yes, he was imprisoned in the mountain and used the axe to cut through the mountain, intending to break out. Unfortunately, he failed at the last moment, just a few inches from the exit, and died of exhaustion. What a tragic fate."

After walking for more than ten yards, the passage had not yet reached the end. He thought, "This person's perseverance and martial arts skills are truly rare in history. I might not be able to do the same now." He could not help but admire this person's great perseverance.

Yue Fangxing felt the same way. Although he knew this from the original book, seeing it in person still filled him with admiration.

After a few more steps, they saw two more skeletons on the ground, one leaning against the wall and the other curled up. After walking a few more yards and turning left, they came to a large stone cave that could hold a thousand people. Inside the cave were seven more skeletons, some sitting and some lying down, each with weapons nearby. A pair of iron plates, a pair of判官笔 (judicial pens), an iron staff, a copper rod, a shield-like weapon, and a three-edged double-bladed knife with wolf teeth, as well as a weapon that was neither a knife nor a sword, which he had never seen before.

Seeing this, Yue Buqun said to Yue Fangxing, "The people who used these external weapons and the sharp axe are definitely not disciples of our sect." Not far away, there were about ten long swords on the ground. He walked over, bent down, and picked one up. The sword was shorter than a regular sword but twice as wide, and it was heavy. He said to Yue Fangxing, "This is a sword used by the Taishan Sect."

After saying this, Yue Buqun picked up the other long swords and explained them one by one to Yue Fangxing. Although the Wuyue Sword Sect all used long swords, they were different: some were light and flexible, used by the Hengshan Sect; some had curved blades, used by the Hengshan Sect; some had blunt edges but sharp tips, used by the Songshan Sect; and there were three swords that were the standard length and weight of the Huashan Sect. He explained the usage and characteristics of these swords, and Yue Fangxing listened attentively.

Yue Buqun held the torch and examined the cave walls. On the right wall, a few yards above the ground, there was a large stone protruding, like a platform. Below the stone, the wall was carved with sixteen large characters: "Wuyue Sword Sect, shameless and despicable, unable to win in a fair fight, resorting to underhanded tactics." Each line had four characters, and there were four lines in total. Each character was about a foot square and deeply carved into the stone, clearly with a very sharp weapon, several inches deep. The sixteen characters had sharp edges, giving a sense of tension. Next to the sixteen large characters, there were countless small characters, all curses like "vile and despicable," "extremely shameful," "incompetent," "cowardly," and so on, covering the entire wall with abusive language.

Yue Buqun was very angry and said to Yue Fangxing, "These people were trapped here by our Wuyue Sword Sect, full of anger and unable to vent it, so they carved these abusive words on the wall. This is truly the behavior of small people, despicable and shameful."

After saying this, he raised the torch and looked at the wall again. He saw a line of characters carved: "Fan Song and Zhao He broke the Hengshan Sword Technique here." Next to this line were countless human figures, each pair consisting of one person with a sword and one with an axe. A rough count showed there were at least five or six hundred figures, clearly showing the axe-wielder breaking the sword-wielder's technique. Next to these figures, there was another line of characters: "Zhang Chengfeng and Zhang Chengyun completely broke the Huashan Sword Technique."

Yue Buqun was furious and said, "Shameless rats, extremely bold and arrogant. The Huashan Sword Technique is subtle and profound, and there are few in the world who can withstand it. Who dares to claim to have 'broken' it? Who dares to claim to have 'completely broken' it?"

After saying this, he drew his long sword from his waist, exerted his strength, and struck the line of characters. There was a "clang" sound, and sparks flew. The character "completely" was cut off. From this strike, he also realized that the stone was very hard, and it would be very difficult to draw pictures or write on the wall, even with a sharp weapon.

He then focused and examined the figures. The sword-wielder's figure, though roughly sketched with a few lines, was very simple, but from the posture, it was clear that it was the basic sword technique "Phoenix Comes to the Hall" of their sect. The sword moved gracefully and lightly. The figure opposite held a straight weapon, which could be a staff, stick, or spear, but the tip of the weapon pointed directly at the sword tip, with a very clumsy posture.

Yue Buqun sneered and thought, "This 'Phoenix Comes to the Hall' move of our sect has five follow-up moves. How can this clumsy move break it?" But as he looked at the figure, he saw that the clumsiness contained a sense of endless and continuous power. Despite the five follow-up moves of "Phoenix Comes to the Hall," the staff seemed to contain six or seven follow-up moves, which could effectively counter the various follow-up moves of "Phoenix Comes to the Hall."

Yue Buqun stared at the simple figure, amazed. He thought, "This 'Phoenix Comes to the Hall' move of our sect is very common, but its follow-up moves are very powerful. An opponent who knows the trick will block or dodge, but if they try to break it, they will suffer a great loss. However, this staff can indeed break our 'Phoenix Comes to the Hall' move. This... this... this..."

Gradually, his surprise turned to admiration, and deep down, he felt a sense of fear.

He stared at the two figures, thinking, "If the staff-wielder has the same level of skill as our disciples, our disciples will be at risk of injury. If the staff-wielder is slightly more skilled, the two moves will meet, and our disciples will die immediately. Our 'Phoenix Comes to the Hall' move is indeed broken. If this is known by outsiders..."

He then looked at the second set of figures, where the sword-wielder used the move "Pine Welcomes Guests." He was immediately invigorated, but also slightly anxious, fearing that this move would also be broken. Looking at the staff-wielder, he saw that he held five staffs, striking five different parts of the sword-wielder's lower body. He was stunned: "Why are there five staffs?" Then he saw the posture of the staff-wielder and understood: "These are not five staffs, but five strikes in a split second, targeting five different parts of the lower body. If I am fast, he may not have time to strike five times. This 'Pine Welcomes Guests' move cannot be broken." He was somewhat pleased, but then he thought, "He is not striking five times, but can strike from any of the five positions. How can I avoid it?"

He raised his long sword and performed the "Pine Welcomes Guests" move, then carefully examined the figures on the wall, imagining the staff striking. If he knew from where the staff would strike, he could counter it, but the staff could strike from any of the five positions. By the time his sword was extended, it would be too late to retract it. Unless he could kill the opponent with this strike, his lower body would be hit. But since the opponent was a skilled martial artist, he could not expect to kill him with one strike. Seeing the opponent's posture of lowering his shoulder and sliding his step, he knew that the opponent could avoid his strike in a split second. Once his strike was avoided, the counterattack would be unavoidable. In this way, the Huashan Sect's ultimate move "Pine Welcomes Guests" would be broken again.

Yue Buqun was increasingly shocked, and cold sweat dripped from his forehead. He muttered to himself, "No, no, no!" He continued to look at the wall, and the sword techniques carved were all the ultimate moves of their sect, and the opponent had broken them with extremely clever and ruthless moves. When he saw the move "Endless Falling Leaves," the opponent's counter with the staff was weak and purely defensive. He sighed with relief, thinking, "You can't break this move." This "Endless Falling Leaves" move was one of his best, with which he had defeated many opponents. Looking at the staff-wielder, he saw that he was curled up, with an ungraceful posture, as if he had no way to defend. Yue Buqun felt a chill down his back and his hair stood on end. He stared at the staff in the figure's hand, and the more he looked, the more he realized that the position of the staff was extremely clever. Each of the nine, ten, eleven, twelve... strikes of "Endless Falling Leaves" would hit the staff. The staff, which seemed clumsy at first glance, was actually extremely clever, appearing weak but actually very strong, truly reaching the pinnacle of "using stillness to counter movement, using clumsiness to counter cleverness."

Yue Buqun stood there for a long time, then continued to look at the wall. The sword techniques carved became increasingly strange and sophisticated, with the last few dozen moves being unpredictable and profound, some of which he had never seen before, likely lost to time. But no matter how powerful the sword techniques were, the opponent's staff always had a more powerful counter. At the end of the Huashan Sect's sword techniques, the figure of the sword-wielder was shown discarding the sword, bowing, and kneeling before the staff-wielder.

Looking at the other figures on the wall, he saw that the sword techniques of the Songshan, Hengshan, Taishan, and Hengshan Sects were also completely broken, with no hope of salvation, and they all ended by kneeling and surrendering.