Chapter 36

After returning to their residence and settling down, everyone went to rest. Yue Fangxing followed Yue Buqun to his room to have a conversation. It had been over a year since they last saw each other, so there was naturally much to talk about.

Yue Buqun knew that Yue Fangxing had gone to the seaside to practice martial arts and was curious about his progress. He asked first, "Xing'er, did you gain anything this time? How is your Hunyuan Gong?"

Yue Fangxing felt somewhat proud: "This time, I benefited greatly from various martial arts. Although my Hunyuan Gong is not yet perfect, I have grasped its essence." As he spoke, he recounted his experiences over the past year and demonstrated a few moves of the Hunyuan Sword Technique with his fingers.

Yue Buqun was surprised. He hadn't expected that after just over a year, Yue Fangxing's martial arts had reached such a high level. If it weren't for his breakthrough in the Zixia Divine Skill a few years ago and the significant improvement from the partial Nine Yin Manual in the past two years, he might have been outdone by his son, which would have been embarrassing. Thinking about how much his current strength owed to his son's assistance, he sighed deeply: "To have a son like this, what more could I ask for!"

They then discussed some martial arts insights. Due to the inconvenience of being away from home, they only touched on the basics.

After a while, Yue Fangxing changed the topic and asked, "Father, do you know about the *Pixie Sword Manual*?"

Yue Buqun replied, "I had some idea, but I didn't expect the Qingcheng Sect to act so ruthlessly, leading to so many changes." He then recounted what he knew.

It turned out that after Yue Fangxing left the mountain, Linghu Chong, while handling affairs in Hanzhong, encountered several Qingcheng Sect disciples who were boasting and speaking disrespectfully about Huashan. Remembering the words he had heard in Chang'an, Linghu Chong was enraged and kicked each of them down, feeling quite satisfied. However, when he returned, he faced consequences. Yu Canghai personally wrote a letter of apology, and Yue Buqun, in a fit of anger, made Linghu Chong kneel for a day and a night. He then wrote another letter of apology and sent Lao Denuo to deliver it. Lao Denuo suffered greatly in the Qingcheng Sect and reported back that they were practicing the *Pixie Sword Technique*. Yue Buqun, recalling that the *Pixie Sword Technique* seemed to have some connection with Huashan according to the sect's records, was worried about their intentions. He sent Lao Denuo to Fuzhou to gather information. Yue Lingshan, who had become skilled in martial arts, insisted on going along. Yue Buqun, unable to refuse, gave her instructions and sent her with Lao Denuo to Fuzhou under a false identity. This led to Lin Pingzhi's encounter and his rescue from the Qingcheng Sect.

Yue Fangxing, who had already read the original story, was not surprised. He listened carefully and asked, "Are there records about the *Pixie Sword Manual* in the Huashan archives? I have never seen them." He had grown up on Huashan and had read through all the archives but had never seen any records about the *Kuihua Manual* or the *Pixie Sword Manual*. He had been puzzled about this, and now, hearing Yue Buqun's words, he realized there was more to the story.

Yue Buqun said, "These are secret transmissions from the sect leader, so you naturally wouldn't know. The records state that when the ancestor of the Lin family was still a monk, he once studied the *Kuihua Manual* with our Huashan ancestors, Yue Su and Cai Zifeng. After returning to secular life, he founded the Fuyi Escort Agency and became famous for his *Pixie Sword Technique*, which made him invincible in the martial world. I remember when I first joined the sect, my grandmaster once analyzed the *Pixie Sword Technique* with the Qingcheng Sect's Changqingzi. They studied it for several months but could not figure it out. Later, Changqingzi challenged them and was defeated. I didn't expect that after so many years, the Qingcheng Sect would bring up the old matter, and the Fuyi Escort Agency, which once had a large fortune, would lose everything. Alas!"

He sighed, thinking about the state of Huashan. Since the dispute over the Sword and Qi, Huashan had fallen from its former glory. If it weren't for its reputation, it might have ended up like the Fuyi Escort Agency. The Lin family had the *Pixie Sword Manual* and was targeted, but there were also many people in the martial world who coveted the Zixia Divine Skill.

Hearing this, Yue Fangxing asked urgently, "Does our Huashan Sect still have the *Kuihua Manual*?"

Yue Buqun replied, "How could it still be here? Later, the news of our sect obtaining the manual somehow leaked out, leading to the attack by the ten elders of the Cult of Devils. At that time, our Huashan Sect had already formed the Five Mountains Sword Sect with Taishan, Songshan, Hengshan, and Hengshan. The other four sects came to our aid, and a great battle took place at the foot of Huashan. Most of the ten elders of the Cult of Devils were severely injured and retreated, but our ancestors Yue Su and Cai Zifeng died in that battle, and the manual they had recorded was taken by the Cult of Devils."

"Five years later, the Cult of Devils returned, and the ten elders had greatly improved their martial arts. Our Five Mountains Sword Sect's experts fought to the death, and their remains are in the cave on Siguai Cliff, which you have seen. Over the years, I have thought that although the ten elders of the Cult of Devils were highly skilled, they must have benefited from the manual to break through our Five Mountains Sword Sect's exquisite sword techniques in such a short time. The manual is truly extraordinary," Yue Buqun said, glancing at him.

"At the time, the two ancestors had some differences in their understanding of the manual and did not yield to each other, so there was only one copy. After they both died, our Huashan Sect no longer had the manual. What a pity! If the manual had been passed down, our Huashan Sect would not be in its current state!" Yue Buqun sighed.

Yue Fangxing, who already knew the evolution of the *Kuihua Manual* and the *Pixie Sword Manual*, asked Yue Buqun to confirm whether the Huashan Sect still had any remnants of the *Kuihua Manual* to decide whether to reveal the *Pixie Sword Manual*. After hearing his father's words, he knew that the Huashan Sect no longer had the manual and felt relieved.

He asked again, "The news of the two ancestors obtaining the manual was so secret. How did it leak out? Could there be someone in Huashan who knew about the manual, or did the ancestor of the Lin family have ulterior motives to harm our Huashan by using others?"

Yue Buqun replied, "Our Huashan predecessors had many theories about this. Although we benefited from the manual, it was only through the insights of the two ancestors. They did not directly pass the manual to anyone. The news only spread after rumors began to circulate. Therefore, it was impossible for the news to leak from our Huashan Sect. As for the ancestor of the Lin family, although our predecessors suspected him, he was already highly skilled, and we had lost many skilled practitioners. We did not go to question him. Moreover, he mostly operated in the underworld, which was controlled by the Cult of Devils. The righteous sects were concerned about their reputation, while the Cult of Devils had no such concerns and was powerful. It made no sense for him to help the Cult of Devils gain strength. After so many years, the matter has become a cold case."

Yue Fangxing, still not giving up, asked, "Besides the two ancestors and the ancestor of the Lin family, who else knew about the manual?" He added, "Where did the two ancestors obtain the manual?"

Yue Buqun thought carefully and suddenly remembered something, jumping up from his chair. His expression changed rapidly: disbelief, shock, anger, sorrow, and finally resignation. After a long time, he said, "Shaolin Temple! The two ancestors obtained the manual from the Shaolin Temple's branch in Quanzhou, Fujian."

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