Chapter 40

Chapter 39: The Emei Sect Leader Fooled by a Child

Zhang Wudang, the leader of the Ming Sect, possessed the divine skill of the Great Shift of the Universe, which was marvelously powerful. In the past, he fought alone against the six major sects on Bright Peak. Compared to Zhang Wudang, your martial arts are still somewhat lacking." After pondering for a while, Master Kuruo made his judgment.

"Now, Master, do you understand why I still covet your Six Pulse Sword Technique?" Song Qingshu smiled bitterly. As soon as these words were spoken, he knew that the Six Pulse Sword Technique would never be his. However, he was the kind of person who, although sometimes acting despicably, always had his own integrity and pride. Sometimes, he was unwilling to be too despicable and even disdained lying.

Sure enough, upon hearing his words, Kuruo recited a Buddhist chant: "Your frankness shows that you are a straightforward person. However, our sect's Six Pulse Sword Technique is never taught to outsiders. I do not wish to become a sinner of the Duan family for centuries. I hope you can understand."

"I understand. I apologize for disturbing your meditation tonight." After saying this, Song Qingshu laughed and turned to leave.

The monks did not stop him. Watching Song Qingshu's departing figure, Benchen thought: From now on, the martial world will likely be more eventful...

After leaving Tianlong Temple, Song Qingshu secretly regretted it. He had almost convinced those old monks, so why did he have to act cool? However, this thought quickly vanished. If his mind was not clear, what use would the Six Pulse Sword Technique be? He consoled himself with a few words. There were still so many wondrous martial arts in the world; why should he be fixated on one?

Thinking of this, Song Qingshu's mood brightened, and he enthusiastically set out again to search for martial arts secrets.

The Northern Mystic Skill, the Lingbo Microstep, and the damned Six Pulse Sword Technique were out of reach. The remaining treasures he needed to think about. The Nine Yang Manual was hidden in the vast Kunlun Mountains, and finding it would not be easy. Moreover, he already possessed the Shenzhao Scripture and the Nine Yin Manual, so the Nine Yang Skill would not be of much help. Besides, it was Zhang Wujie's skill, which made him feel nauseous. Song Qingshu quickly ruled out the idea of going to Kunlun.

The White-Headed Supreme Scripture of the South China Sea was too vague. The vast sea would likely claim his life before he found the侠客岛. Shaking his head, he also ruled out this option.

The Evil-Subduing Sword Manual... Next!

In the Water Pavilion of the Mandala Manor, there seemed to be the Lesser Wu Xiang Skill, but since the Nine Yang Manual was of little help to him, what use would the Lesser Wu Xiang Skill be? He quickly ruled it out.

He could not learn the Jade Maiden Heart Sword Technique of the Ancient Tomb Sect, which required drawing a circle with one hand and a square with the other. After several attempts, looking at the irregular shapes in the sand, he grumbled. Despite his intelligence, he could not master the technique of using both hands simultaneously, so the Jade Maiden Heart Sword Technique was also out of reach. Besides, the delicate sword technique did not match his elegant demeanor...

Thinking of this, Song Qingshu's mood brightened. A man in white, a sword in hand, flying like a celestial being from the heavens—this was the heroic image all men aspired to!

It seemed that his current goal was the Lone Carving of the Divine Condor Valley and the Nine Swords of Dugu on Mount Hua.

Thinking of the legendary divine sword technique, Song Qingshu was filled with enthusiasm and set out on his journey that night.

At a deep valley outside Xiangyang City in Hubei, Song Qingshu looked at a pile of foul bird droppings he had accidentally stepped on, his face turning green. He spat out a mouthful of saliva: "That stupid big condor really can defecate!"

With this reference point, Song Qingshu quickly found the place where Dugu Qiudefei was buried. Looking at a pile of rocks and the powerful words on the wall, Song Qingshu was silent for a long time before cursing: "What's the use of just acting cool? Why didn't you leave a secret manual or something?"

Why could Yang Guo, with a heavy iron sword, go from being mediocre a few months ago to defeating Yin Kexi and Xiao Xiangzi and standing up to the Golden Wheel Dharma King? After searching the entire sword tomb, he found no divine skill manual.

"Thieves don't leave empty-handed; otherwise, it would be bad luck next time," Song Qingshu picked up Dugu Qiudefei's wooden sword and slung it on his back. Suddenly, he spat twice: "It must be Duan Yu's fault, stealing my luck. After the Jade Cave, I've always come up empty-handed!"

"I don't believe my trip to Mount Hua will be in vain!" Song Qingshu vowed and set out for Mount Hua with all haste.

Speaking of the White Horse Temple and Medicine King Manor by Dongting Lake, far away, Hu Fei and Cheng Lingsu looked at the beautiful woman in front of them with wide eyes: "Is this beautiful aunt really Brother Song's wife?"

Smiling, she said, "Yes, little boy, Qingshu is indeed my husband. He was severely injured and did not want to burden me, so he left to seek a cure. I have already visited Doctor Xue in Songzhou and Ping Yizhi in Kaifeng. I heard that Qingshu appeared near this Medicine King Manor, and I finally found him. Little boy and girl, can you tell me where he went?"

Zhou Zhiruo, unable to find Song Qingshu, finally arrived at the Medicine King Manor. However, she was deeply wary of the notorious Poison Hand Medicine King and did not dare to use force, so she resorted to trickery.

"Humph, I thought Brother Song was a righteous man, but it turns out he already had a wife. Why did he come to bother my mother!" Hu Fei snorted.

"Exactly, exactly. When I first met him, his eyes were all over me, and I knew he wasn't a good person," Cheng Lingsu clapped her hands in agreement.

"Can you tell Auntie where he went?" For some reason, hearing the children curse Song Qingshu, Zhou Zhiruo felt a sense of satisfaction.

"He heard from his master that a thousand-year-old ginseng could revive the dead and regrow flesh, so he foolishly went to Changbai Mountain to dig for ginseng," Hu Fei chuckled.

Cheng Lingsu's eyes lit up, and she added, "My master said that a thousand-year-old ginseng only existed in legends and told him not to be too obsessed, but he rushed to the northeast that night."

Learning Song Qingshu's whereabouts, Zhou Zhiruo was overjoyed. She thanked the children and hurriedly mounted a horse, heading northeast, determined to torture Song Qingshu to the point of despair.

Seeing Zhou Zhiruo ride away, Cheng Lingsu looked at Hu Fei with a smile: "Brother Hu Fei, why did you lie to that woman?"

Hu Fei crossed his arms, acting like an adult: "She thought we were children and easy to deceive. Although she claimed to be Brother Song's wife, the hatred in her eyes was obvious. I didn't dare tell her where Brother Song really went."

Out of sympathy, Cheng Lingsu frowned and asked, "What if she's telling the truth? What if Uncle Song abandoned her, and she just wants revenge?"

Hu Fei laughed awkwardly: "Since Brother Song is with my mother, if this woman has ill intentions, my mother, unaware of the situation, would protect Brother Song. If a fight breaks out, my mother might get hurt. Better safe than sorry, so I lied and sent her to the completely opposite direction in the northeast. Hehe..."

"Brother Hu Fei, you're learning to be bad," Cheng Lingsu said with a playful laugh.

"Uh, isn't it because of you..."

Our poor Emei Sect leader was thus tricked by two children into heading to the snowy northeast...

Chapter 40: The Black-Clothed Maiden

Returning to Song Qingshu, he had been traveling day and night and finally arrived at the foot of Mount Hua.

"Wind Qingyang probably won't pass on the Nine Swords of Dugu to me, so I'll look for the Golden Snake Manual on Mount Hua first. Xia Xueyi, the Golden Snake Hero, is someone I admire a lot, much more than that Yuan Chengzhi," Song Qingshu muttered to himself.

However, Mount Hua was vast, and finding the Golden Snake Cave would not be easy. Song Qingshu racked his brain to recall the plot of the original story but could not remember where the Golden Snake Cave was located.

"Yuan Chengzhi learned his skills on Mount Hua's Sun Peak. The Golden Snake Cave was discovered by his pet gorilla nearby. If everything goes as expected, the Golden Snake Cave should be near Sun Peak," Song Qingshu paced back and forth, organizing his thoughts. "However, during the sword and qi dispute of the Hua Mountain Sect, the qi faction was led by Yipuqun on Jade Maiden Peak, while many sword experts gathered on Sun Peak, forming their own faction, also called the Hua Mountain Sect, now led by the Divine Sword and Immortal Ape Mu Renqing. Sun Peak is the territory of the Hua Mountain Sword Sect, with many experts. Xia Xueyi must have been cautious, so the cave cannot be too close to Sun Peak..."

In the following days, Song Qingshu searched outward from Sun Peak, focusing on the steep cliffs. With his powerful internal skills and the Wudang Sect's Cloud Ascending technique, he leaped up and down the mountain walls, though dangerous, without much risk.

"Ha ha ha, I finally found it!" A few days later, an exaggerated and unrestrained laugh echoed through the mountains. Song Qingshu looked at the cave entrance, stroked his chin, and said with a proud expression: "That binary search method the software engineer from my company mentioned is quite efficient. But it's also my genius; I still remember what he casually mentioned years ago."

However, when he entered the cave and saw the tomb already buried, with a stone tablet inscribed "Tomb of the Golden Snake Hero Xia Xueyi, erected by Yuan Chengzhi and Xia Qingqing," he could no longer laugh.

He was too late again. Song Qingshu sat on the ground in despair, with no interest in searching further. After all, Xia Xueyi had left a fake manual filled with poison. Now that Yuan Chengzhi had clearly taken the real manual, what was the point of searching?

"Whatever is meant to be will be; if it's not meant to be, don't force it." Song Qingshu looked at the tomb of the Golden Snake Hero with a lingering gaze, sighed deeply, and came to the cave entrance. He leaped up, landed on a tree by the cliff, lay on a thick branch, and stared at the blue sky and white clouds, lost in thought.

"I was too naive," Song Qingshu laughed bitterly. "These treasures and secret techniques are destined for the original protagonist. I foolishly tried to compete with the main character for good fortune... Reality is cruel, and life is tough..."

At this point, Song Qingshu realized that the idea of collecting all the martial arts treasures in the world was unrealistic. Although fate was intangible, it was a powerful force.