Chapter 58

Yue Buqun, seeing the Hua Mountain disciples diligently practicing their internal skills, felt a great sense of satisfaction. The idea of creating a more suitable internal skill became increasingly strong in his mind. In recent days, he had already cultivated the *Evil-Dispelling Sword Manual* with Ning Zhongze, cultivating a yang-just true qi within his body. Although it did not greatly enhance his current strength, the yang-just nature of this true qi was quite compatible with the *Sunrise Qi Sword*. After deep contemplation, Yue Buqun felt more confident in creating a new internal skill.

Yue Fangxing also cultivated this yang-just true qi and had extensive experience in self-cultivating skills. After descending from the Repentance Cliff, he was pulled by Yue Buqun to help create the skill. The two of them had been busy with this for several days.

One day, while Yue Buqun and Yue Fangxing were deducing martial arts, Yue Fangxing suddenly said, "Father, after you cultivated the *Mighty Righteousness*, did you feel something was off?" He had been with Yue Buqun for some time, often seeing him practice the *Nourish My Sword Technique*. The more he watched, the more he felt something was amiss. He had already completed the *Mixed Yuan Sword Technique* but had not yet grasped the sword momentum. Puzzled, he finally asked.

Yue Buqun was a bit confused. He had cultivated the *Mighty Righteousness* based on the theory Yue Fangxing had mentioned, and the *Nourish My Sword Technique* had become much more powerful. Why was Yue Fangxing now saying there was a problem?

Yue Fangxing explained, "When I talked about sword momentum, it included not only one's own momentum but also the ability to draw on the power of heaven and earth, using the momentum of heaven and earth to pressure the opponent. Sword techniques are merely auxiliary means, and sometimes you can subdue the enemy without even using them. Now, although Father's sword momentum is strong, it is entirely generated by yourself, and what it draws on is just the air moved by the techniques. In combat, it relies more on the sword techniques. Although it is powerful, it is quite different from the sword momentum I envisioned."

Yue Buqun understood Yue Fangxing's true meaning after the explanation. Although he had cultivated the *Mighty Righteousness*, he had never drawn on the power of heaven and earth. Puzzled, he got up and practiced the *Nourish My Sword Technique* and found that the sword's momentum indeed came from himself. In combat, this momentum would have some effect on the enemy, but it was not significant, and it still relied on the techniques.

Seeing this, Yue Fangxing said, "This sword momentum, although somewhat effective, the more it looks powerful, the more it disperses the sword's force. It is merely superficial and can only intimidate second- or third-rate opponents. It would be better to concentrate it entirely on the sword, which might be more effective against skilled opponents."

Yue Buqun also felt this was true. After cultivating the *Mighty Righteousness*, the *Nourish My Sword Technique* had become much more powerful, but he was also puzzled. At his current level, few of the Hua Mountain predecessors had reached this point, and the path of sword momentum had not been mentioned by the ancients. Therefore, he could only rely on his own insights. After discussing with Yue Fangxing for a long time, they did not reach a conclusion and had to put it aside for the time being. However, in subsequent sword practice, Yue Buqun began to concentrate his own momentum, making the sword's momentum increasingly internal.

Fortunately, with the *Mixed Yuan Sword Technique* as a reference, the two did not doubt whether they could create a sword technique, so they continued to focus on creating a skill that would complement the *Sunrise Qi Sword*. With multiple martial arts as references, they had deduced the basic mental method of this skill after some time, naming it the *Sunrise Skill*, which, together with the *Sunrise Qi Sword*, was called the *Sunrise Sword Technique*.

This skill was of a yang-just nature, lying between the *Purple Mist Skill* and the yang-just true qi cultivated from the *Evil-Dispelling Sword Manual*. Although it did not progress as quickly as the yang-just true qi from the *Evil-Dispelling Sword Manual*, it did not cause lustful thoughts or fantasies, making it much safer. Moreover, this skill could be cultivated on its own or converted from the Hua Mountain basic mental method. When used with the *Sunrise Qi Sword*, its progress was no slower than the *Purple Mist Skill*, making it an invaluable internal skill. However, due to the limitations of Yue Buqun and Yue Fangxing, and the incompleteness of the *Sunrise Qi Sword*, this skill was only deduced to its basic part, allowing one to cultivate to the peak of the second-rate level.

Seeing the progress of deducing the skill slow down, the two had to focus on repairing the *Sunrise Qi Sword*. The techniques of the *Sunrise Qi Sword* were not difficult; its main power lay in each strike being stronger than the last, with the power stacking and increasing. Therefore, the most important thing was the understanding of the *Sunrise Momentum*. If one could grasp the *Sunrise Momentum*, the *Sunrise Qi Sword* would be easy to master, and the difficulties within it could be understood.

The difficulty lay precisely here. Yue Buqun had deduced the essence of the *Purple Mist Skill* from the sunrise, and the first thing he understood was the *Sunrise Momentum*. Although he had made progress over the years, he was always one step away from fully grasping it, and instead, the *Mighty Righteousness* had broken through first. As for Yue Fangxing, although he had proposed the concept of sword momentum, he had not yet grasped any sword momentum, let alone the *Sunrise Momentum*.

The two had to put it aside for the time being. Seeing that Yue Fangxing had completed the *Stabilize the Mountain Sword Technique*, Yue Buqun began teaching him the *Xiyi Sword Technique*. The *Xiyi Sword Technique* was one of the highest sword techniques of the Hua Mountain School, said to have been created by Chen Tuan. It was said that if one reached the highest realm of "as rare as the sound of the wind and as silent as the night," one could make the opponent unable to hear or see, making it invincible. However, in the hundreds of years of the Hua Mountain School, no one had reached this realm, so it was considered a legend. Even so, the *Xiyi Sword Technique* was quite powerful and was regarded by the Hua Mountain disciples as being on par with the *Nourish My Sword Technique*, or even superior.

The *Xiyi Sword Technique* was so powerful, but it was also extremely difficult to practice. Truly unleashing its power was very challenging, so among the Hua Mountain disciples, only Linghu Chong had inherited it, and now it was Yue Fangxing's turn. Fortunately, since Yue Fangxing had grasped the concept of "lightness in heaviness," the heavy sword in his hands felt weightless and silent, allowing him to somewhat unleash the "unheard" power of the *Xiyi Sword Technique*.

Yue Fangxing carefully felt the power of the *Xiyi Sword Technique* and thought that if he could truly master it, the characteristic of being silent and invisible would be an excellent assassination technique, far superior to the silent sword techniques in the martial world. He thought that if he passed this sword technique to Qu Feiyan, with her secretive movements and agile and swift body, it would be a perfect match. Therefore, he informed his father. Although Yue Buqun had not fully accepted Qu Feiyan, he considered her part of the Hua Mountain School and did not object. Yue Fangxing was delighted, thinking that this would increase Qu Feiyan's chances of avenging herself. Unconsciously, Qu Feiyan had become increasingly important to Yue Fangxing, but he had not yet realized this, only treating it as a responsibility to take care of her.

One day, someone from the Hua Mountain villa at the foot of the mountain reported that someone had come to seek discipleship as per a previous agreement. The person receiving them at the foot of the mountain did not dare to make a decision and reported it to the mountain.

Yue Fangxing happened to encounter this person and casually asked about it, learning the news and feeling puzzled: "I haven't heard of Father taking on disciples!"

"The person did not give their name, and we did not dare to make a decision, so we reported it to the mountain," the messenger said.

Yue Fangxing became curious. Could someone be impersonating to seek discipleship at Hua Mountain? This was quite rare. Since he had nothing to do, he decided to go down the mountain to check.

When he arrived at the foot of the mountain, Yue Fangxing saw the person and immediately understood what was happening.

It turned out to be Lin Pingzhi, whom he had mentioned a few days ago. In Hengshan City, Lin Pingzhi had asked Yue Buqun to take him as a disciple, but Yue Buqun had deferred, saying he needed to consult his parents. After his parents were rescued, they did not mention it again. He thought that after parting ways in Luoyang, there would be no further interaction, but now Lin Pingzhi had brought up the old matter and come to Hua Mountain to seek discipleship.

Lin Pingzhi was also anxious. He had learned that joining the inner circle of the Hua Mountain School was not easy, so he took the risk of saying that he had a previous agreement to seek discipleship. Although this was plausible, as Yue Buqun had neither agreed nor refused at the time, he was exploiting a loophole, which could leave a bad impression, so he was anxious.