With a sword drawn, he laughs proudly, his martial prowess dominating the heavens!

Chapter 10: Please teach me, senior!

As night fell, the Cliff of Contemplation fell silent once more.

Li Che got up from the flat stone inside the cave, glanced at the three large characters "Feng Qingyang" on the stone wall, and then walked out of the cave.

Over the past month, he has noticed several times that someone is secretly observing him.

Whether it was just for amusement or because they didn't get along, Old Man Feng hadn't shown up at all.

Compared to Feng Qingyang, Li Che actually hoped that Lao Yue would return to the mountain sooner.

Now that he has mastered the Hunyuan Gong and laid a solid foundation, and has reached the point where there is nothing more to learn from the moves in the cave, he is eager to see the complete Zixia Divine Skill.

When asked about the nature of sword energy, Li Che stated that he did not have such concerns.

Once you've mastered some internal skills, Old Yue would be more than happy for you to learn more powerful moves to enhance the prestige of the Huashan sect.

After standing with his hands behind his back on the edge of the cliff and pondering for a moment, Li Che turned over and went into the cave. He went to bed very early tonight.

But the disciples of Mount Hua could not sleep peacefully, because—their eldest brother, Linghu Chong, had disappeared!

"Third Senior Brother, we've searched every mountain peak, but we haven't found any trace of Eldest Senior Brother."

"It's been seven or eight hours already, I hope Senior Brother hasn't gone down the mountain to drink again...."

"Lu Hou'er, don't talk nonsense. Senior Brother promised me he wouldn't get drunk again!"

Yue Lingshan limped into Zhengqi Hall, glaring angrily at Lu Dayou.

The little monkey he was holding covered its face in fear, which showed the imposing presence of the junior sister from Mount Hua.

With his master and mistress gone and his second senior brother still missing, Liang Fa scratched his head, feeling rather helpless.

"Since things have come to this, let's go down the mountain and search separately. Junior Sister is injured, so she shouldn't come along. Eighth Junior Brother, you stay on the mountain and watch the house."

If we can find our eldest brother, that would be best. If not, we must all return to the mountain by noon tomorrow at the latest, and then we can discuss our next steps.

Let's go!

"yes!"

The group rushed down the mountain after leaving the mountain gate. Halfway down, Liang Fa forced Lu Dayou to go with them, heading straight for the inn and tavern that their senior brother used to frequent.

Meanwhile, in Weilin Town, fifty miles away from Mount Hua.

A person was lying on an eight-immortal table against the wall on the second floor of Song Family Tavern.

The only two small dishes on the table were mostly empty, and a circle of empty wine jars, some standing upright and some lying down, surrounded them.

The tabletop was already soaked with wine, and water flowed down the corners of the table to the floor, then seeped into the gaps in the wooden planks.

A three-foot-long sword lay casually on the bench to the left. Linghu Chong, his face flushed and his speech slurred, lay on the table, muttering to himself as if drunk.

"Junior Sister... why... why have you fallen for Junior Brother Li again...?"

"What's so great about him...? We...we've been together since we were little..."

"Senior Brother... Senior Brother really... really..."

The tavern waiter tiptoed over, and after counting the wine jars, he sighed, turned, and went downstairs.

There were no guests on the second floor, and only one guest remained downstairs. He was tall and had gray hair, so he was quite old.

The tavern owner's abacus beads clicked rapidly as he glanced hatefully at the long sword leaning against the table beside the old man, then silently lowered his head.

Weilin Town is not far from the Huashan Sect, but that's probably not the case. More than that, people are annoyed by these martial arts figures who neither offer to stay at an inn nor leave, which is a real waste of time.

"Giggle—!"

A servant boy with a long cloth draped over his shoulder hurried downstairs. "Manager, I've checked. A total of twenty jars of wine were served, and two jars are still unopened."

"Then twenty jars!" the shopkeeper said, sounding rather annoyed.

Seeing the servant hesitate, the shopkeeper continued, "What are you afraid of? So what if you have a sword? We're neighbors with the Huashan Sect, and even Master Yue has patronized our little shop. What martial artist would dare to cause trouble?!"

"This... I think that young hero looks familiar, he looks like... like Young Master Linghu, the eldest disciple of the Huashan Sect!"

"Huh? Really?!"

The shopkeeper was startled upon hearing this, and immediately forgot all about the accounts he had just calculated.

"Do you still remember the bandit suppression last month? The Zhao, Qian, and Sun families hosted a grand banquet for Young Hero Linghu. I took a peek from afar, and I'm sure I'm not mistaken."

"Oh dear, this is not easy to calculate."

Before he finished speaking, with a thud, a full ten taels of silver slammed onto the counter. "Alright, I'll settle it for him!"

......

The sky gradually brightened.

Linghu Chong slowly woke up, the earthy smell mixed with the musty smell filling his mouth and nose, and the smell of alcohol rushed up, giving him a splitting headache.

"woke up?"

Linghu Chong was noticeably a beat slow to react, and it took him two breaths to open his eyelids and sit up.

Looking towards the sound, they saw an elderly man, over fifty years old, sitting cross-legged on the ground a few feet away. To his left, on a dusty, cobweb-covered, dilapidated table, leaned two standard-issue longswords.

Sunlight streamed through the hole overhead, making it somewhat dazzling.

Looking again, above the table was a stone statue of the Medicine King.

Linghu Chong stood up and cupped his hands, saying, "This junior is Linghu Chong. I don't know who you are, senior..."

Before he could finish speaking, the old man slapped the ground and stood up, hooking his longsword with his left foot, and the two swords were placed in the hands of the two men.

Upon receiving the sword, Linghu Chong felt a slight chill. The sword seemed to come quickly, but it turned into a soft force as it approached. With just this one skill, this person must be no nobody.

"senior?"

"Draw your sword!"

"Zzzzt—!"

The old man gripped his sword, his aura shifting abruptly. The man on the verge of death transformed in an instant into a force as powerful as a mountain and as turbulent as a tide, his sharp sword strikes causing Linghu Chong's hair to stand on end and cold sweat to pour down his back.

"Since you wish to spar, senior, I know I am no match, but I will gladly oblige!"

"As expected of the master, the apprentice is full of nonsense!"

Linghu Chong's face turned angry. Without hesitation, he shouted and drew his sword to stab.

He had long mastered the Huashan sword technique and this move, "White Clouds Emerging from the Mountain," was the opening stance of the Huashan sword technique.

With power emanating from his dantian and the sword emerging from his sleeve, Linghu Chong, who was originally aiming for the old man's vital acupoints on his shoulder and neck, deliberately deflected the attack by two points.

To everyone's surprise, the old man was not appreciative and instead sneered, "Overestimating yourself, hypocrite!"

Linghu Chong's sword strike was fast, but the old man's was even faster.

But then he flicked his wrist, and his aura suddenly gathered on the sword, which then pierced through the air with lightning speed.

Linghu Chong's vision blurred for a moment, as if he saw countless sword shadows. He couldn't distinguish which sword was real and which was fake, and exclaimed in his heart, "What a fast sword!"

"Clang!"

A crisp sound rang out in the Medicine King Temple, and then silence fell again. Inside the dilapidated temple, Linghu Chong's longsword had been knocked away and was stuck diagonally on the table.

His right hand was numb and trembling uncontrollably from the shock. A chill ran through his body from the tip of the sword below his neck. He stared at the old man in front of him with disbelief.

Just one move!

He didn't even know how he lost!

This man's swordsmanship is just as good as his master's!

The old man sneered and sheathed his sword. "Controlling the sword with internal energy, that's nothing special. If I channel my full power, my sword strikes can be three times faster. What will you do then?"

Hearing his words, he seemed quite pleased with himself, but made no mention of the other party being a junior who had just sobered up from a drunken stupor.

Linghu Chong was drenched in sweat from the shock, which completely sobered him up. His brow furrowed slightly. The old man's swordplay perfectly captured the essence of Huashan swordsmanship—its unpredictable and dangerous nature—yet it wasn't Huashan swordsmanship at all. Who was he?!

The two remained silent for a long time. The old man, carrying his sword, walked to the gate. In the distance, a majestic mountain rose from the ground, which was the location of the Huashan Sect.

After a long silence, the old man suddenly spoke again: "Young man, you have good talent, but unfortunately your moves are too poor. I have heard that the Huashan School uses qi to control the sword, and one must first cultivate qi before practicing swordsmanship."

But if you wait until you complete the sword, it will take at least thirty years.

In the cutthroat world of martial arts, life and death are unpredictable; who can guarantee living to sixty?

I am an old man nearing the end of my life. I created this swift and powerful sword technique a few years ago. I travel the world only to find a successor, so that I may leave my name for posterity.

Would you like to learn?

Linghu Chong was stunned. Heartbroken, he had unexpectedly encountered a master who imparted his sword skills? Could this be a case of losing one thing and gaining another...? What?!

My master taught us that qi comes first and swordsmanship second, which is quite different from what this senior said, but what he said... makes some sense.

Linghu Chong was still hesitating, unaware that the old man had already gripped the hilt of his sword with his right hand.

After a moment, Linghu Chong suddenly thought: "Master once said that stones from other mountains can be used to polish jade. It would be a real pity to miss such an opportunity."

"Once I become stronger and defeat Junior Brother Li, perhaps... perhaps..."

Thinking of this, he no longer hesitated, knelt down with a thud, clasped his hands in greeting, and said, "Please teach me, senior!"

......