By now, Daoist Wanshi had taken hold of his Pine Wind Sword, and this peerless divine weapon, famed throughout the world under Wudang's name, slowly slid from its scabbard.
The Fading Sun Spear was a dazzling weapon. Once its blade was stained with blood, the cold glint reflected crimson, resembling the gorgeous glow of the setting sun. Yet that beauty had been painted at the cost of countless lives. When Zhao Cheng charged up Buping Mountain with it, the entire peak had reflected crimson, as if bathed in the dying light of dusk, staining the slopes in a layer of vivid scarlet...
That day, the bandits across Buping Mountain were scared out of their wits, so terrified that ever since, the mere sight of sunset would make them wet their pants.
The Pine Wind Sword, however, was a dull, aged, cracked blade, its faint grain scattered like wind-scratched pine branches... In any ordinary blacksmith's shop, this sword would not fetch even three taels of silver.
Holding it, one might struggle to chop through a simple broomstick.
Yet as that sword was drawn, Chan Master Kongming, standing opposite Daoist Wanshi, could not help planting his nine-ringed monk's staff before him. When Liang Dou had faced Zhao Cheng—the chief escort of Changfeng Escort Agency and the renowned Fading Sun Spear—he had relied on his profound protective gang qi and turned his back on him. But confronting Daoist Wanshi, a man of even greater renown and deeper respect, Kongming could not help bringing his divine weapon up to block the line of the blade, despite facing a trusted ally.
This was the instinct of a true martial artist!
That was why Chan Master Kongming was a great grandmaster, while Liang Dou was merely a Grandmaster.
"Hah!" Zhao Cheng bellowed. The shaft of the Fading Sun Spear snapped ramrod straight, and its snowy blade shook off myriad points of chilling light. That awe-inspiring frost sent a shiver through the throats of every onlooker,
as if an icy blade were pressed flush against their flesh.
The Pine Wind Sword pressed down abruptly. Held in Daoist Wanshi's hand, this profoundly blunt divine weapon slashed upward at an angle. If one phrase could describe Zhao Cheng's feelings, it was that his heart was sinking like a stone...
Brilliant! What this unremarkable divine weapon traced was a strike of consummate perfection, utterly devoid of flaws, seamless and ungraspable.
By now, Qian Chen had seen through the divine weapon's supernatural power. The Pine Wind Sword possessed an uncanny talent for perceiving qi dynamics. In the wielder's hands, every movement of the enemy and every subtle shift in their qi was laid bare, clear as the lines on one's palm.
Possessing such a blade not only made it effortless to break through into the Sensing realm, but in battle, one could seize upon the faintest flaw in an adversary's shifting qi with unbelievable precision. Even a crude novice, blessed with such enhancement, could wield swordsmanship of divine caliber and crush an enemy with ease. Thus, despite lacking a keen edge or the power to command the world's primordial qi, it stood proudly among the peerless divine weapons.
For it was a sword in pursuit of the Dao—the Martial Dao, the Heavenly Dao, the Dao of the Sword...
Zhao Cheng thrust his spear, but despair was steadily pooling in his chest, pulling him down... He had already calculated that within eighteen moves, every variation of his spear art would be unraveled, and he would die beneath this blunt blade.
Yet on the very next exchange, the Pine Wind Sword ran straight into Zhao Cheng's chest.
For Chan Master Kongming had shaken his nine-ringed monk's staff. The melodic jingling carried deep Zen intent, striking Zhao Cheng like an enlightening blow to the skull and dazing him for a fraction of an instant... Seeing this, Qian Chen could only retract his Azure Phosphor Five Poisons in silent regret.
*Kill-stealer!*
Only then did Chan Master Kongming sigh. "'Blotting out sun and moon, the Flying Yellow Lord!' So Patron Zhao was the Flying Yellow Lord all along.
"Years ago, Buping Mountain was merely a small hill set across the mountain pass of Juelong Ridge, dividing north from south. Because it commanded the vital northern and southern trade routes, eighteen bandit strongholds had entrenched themselves there, each a band of notorious outlaws in the greenwood. The trade along that pass brought vast fortunes, prompting them to form an alliance, watching over one another.
"The righteous sects launched repeated encirclements, but none bore fruit.
"Yet Zhao Cheng rode up the mountain with his Fading Sun Spear, sweeping through all eighteen linked strongholds in just eight days. That day, Buping Mountain looked as though painted by the red glow of dusk... From then on, Buping Mountain was renamed Mount Taiping, and the passing merchants flourished. Because of that deed, Zhao Cheng was respectfully hired by Changfeng Escort Agency, the 'Foremost Under Heaven,' as their chief escort... Who could have imagined such a heroic knight would sink to such depths?"
Drawing his final breaths, Zhao Cheng sneered, "Chief escort, my foot... Am I not just... a dog kept by others?
"Why shouldn't I... forge a great... legacy of my own? Even if... my name reeks for ten thousand years... the jianghu... will still know... that I came!"
The chief escort of Changfeng Escort Agency, the Flying Yellow Lord, breathed his last, clinging to his pride of infamy.
Having missed out on the kill, Qian Chen had already wandered over to inspect Eldest Master Tang's corpse. Unlike Liang Dou's tragic, indignant end, this standout of the Tang Sect, Tang Zhen—known far and wide as Eldest Master Tang—bore a serene expression, looking as though he had simply fallen asleep, having perished without feeling much pain. Yet precisely because of this, the killer appeared all the more terrifying.
The two men who had wrapped Tang Zhen's remains a short while ago had both been poisoned without even realizing it.
With a brief search, Qian Chen confirmed that Tang Zhen's body harbored at least seven or eight varieties of hidden weapons and over a dozen lethal poisons. Had those two martial artists not reacted swiftly and abandoned their task, they might never have held on long enough for Chan Master Kongming to save them with Shaolin's secret medicine.
Having helped the gathered heroes lay out the Flying Yellow Lord's body, Chan Master Kongming turned toward Xu Xiaoyang, the master of Righteous Qi Manor. "Bearded Lord, your companions are all dead. Do you still intend to conceal your identity?"
Xu Xiaoyang's lips trembled, and he whispered, "Master, what are you saying? How could I possibly be one of the Twelve Yuan Chen? I have stayed at the side of the great grandmasters the entire time!"
"That is because this old monk has kept his eyes on you, never affording you the slightest opening," Chan Master Kongming said, meeting Xu Xiaoyang's gaze.
Laughing Maitreya squeezed his way out with a jolly grin, chewing on a vegetarian drumstick from the splendid feast prepared by Four Seas Hall as he mumbled, "I didn't spend all that time undercover in the Twelve Yuan Chen doing nothing. I managed to uncover at least one person's identity. And that is the Ram Aspect, the Bearded Lord... Manor Lord Xu, the distinct traits of your family's Five-Colored Stone are simply too conspicuous!"
Xu Xiaoyang's face twitched, and he slumped limply into a chair.
Lacking the courage to resist, he merely stammered, "Fellow... fellow brothers of the martial world, I only hope... I hope you will show mercy in your words... show mercy..."
With those words, his head slumped forward. He had already severed his own heart pulse and died.
Watching intently from the side, Qian Chen curled his lip in disdain... Great. This time, he hadn't even managed an assist.
Having exposed two of the Yuan Chen hidden among the righteous path in rapid succession, Chan Master Kongming showed no joy. He saw to Manor Lord Xu's body, and after confirming that breath had indeed left him, he sighed. "The Xu family of Righteous Qi Manor truly sacrificed much for the righteous path. I still recall Manor Lord Xu's father, the old manor lord, who led the heroes outside the capital for the glory of the righteous path, blocking the former cult leader of the Demonic Cult as the demons marched north. In that battle, the old manor lord and more than half the gathered heroes gave their lives, holding out until the major sects arrived to relieve them. Even their divine weapon, the Five-Colored Stone, fell into the hands of the Demonic Cult.
"It was only later, when Wudang's sect leader, Perfected Qingxu, led several grand champions to strike at the Demonic Cult and bested eight fiends with his sword, that the treasure was reclaimed and returned to the old manor lord's descendants. On that day, our brothers of the martial world unanimously chose this old monk to present the plaque of Righteous Qi Manor to the Xu family... Who could have foreseen things would come to this?"
Hong Sihai sighed. "We must leave some dignity for the martyrs of the righteous path. If the rest of the Xu family knows nothing of Manor Lord Xu's true identity, then... let us speak no more of this!"
The Flying Yellow Lord's head was severed, but since Xu Xiaoyang had chosen not to resist, his corpse was kept intact, to be sent back to Righteous Qi Manor.
Seeing Qian Chen continue his examination of Tang Zhen's remains, Chan Master Kongming stepped up beside him. Gazing down at Tang Zhen's corpse, he said, "Truth be told, it shames us that we still have not determined how Hero Tang was murdered. I originally assumed it was poison, and that the Mist-Riding Lord of the Twelve Yuan Chen had infiltrated our ranks.
"Earlier, when I named you the successor of the Medicine King, I still harbored some doubt in my heart... Little did I expect that Patron Qian's martial arts... had long surpassed any need to join the Twelve Yuan Chen, nor would you ever need to resort to poison."
Qian Chen smiled faintly. "Poison is very convenient, and my cultivation is not as high as everyone imagines."
Qian Chen was telling the truth. In this world, a Grandmaster was equivalent to someone who had broken through to the Sensing realm, while a great grandmaster wielding a divine weapon was comparable to a cultivator at the Spell Comprehension stage. Qian Chen was still merely a minor cultivator at Foundation Building, not yet across that threshold.
Yet over the past few days, he had felt his body growing increasingly clear and unburdened, and the sensation given by heaven and earth grew warmer, like a mother nurturing her child.
He believed that once he returned to the Divine Continent of the Central Lands, he would smoothly break through to the Sensing realm.
The Sensing stage required one to resonate with heaven and earth; it was best to make that breakthrough back in the Central Lands. After all, the Central Lands were one of the Heavenly Realms, whereas this world was merely a minor realm among the myriad worlds, its origin thin and fragile.
General and Chancellor Elder Li Qianqiu also came before Qian Chen and said with a smile, "This old man must thank Mister Qian for clearing my name..." Looking down at Tang Zhen's corpse, he sighed as well. "Eldest Master Tang's death is truly a pity. Were the timing of his passing not so delicate and abrupt, I would have assumed he died suddenly of some illness."
Chan Master Kongming added worriedly, "Tang Zhen remained with us in Five Lakes Hall to provide support. Present at the time were Daoist Wanshi, Hero Xu, Heroine Shen, myself, and several others... If someone struck from the shadows, would the killer not be among us? At the time, the Flying Yellow Lord had accompanied Hero Liang to face the enemy in the east... There was no way he could have acted."
"Tang Zhen was rather fond of women, wasn't he?" Qian Chen remarked with a grin. "He shows subtle signs of practicing dual-cultivation harvesting arts."
Trailing behind like an eager lackey, Kang Qiandeng spoke up somewhat awkwardly. "There have always been rumors in the jianghu... but one should respect the dead... Brother Qian, perhaps you should keep your voice down."
Qian Chen shook his head. "Speaking of a corpse bearing no outward wounds, I have heard a tale from my homeland. A renowned divine detective, a master constable, was passing by a household on official business when he heard a woman weeping inside. The house had arranged a mourning hall, clearly holding a funeral.
"As the detective listened to the widow weep, he found no grief in her cries; instead, her sorrow seemed laced with joy, suspended between tears and laughter.
"Suspecting foul play, he made discreet inquiries among the neighbors and discovered the widow had ample motive to kill. Yet when they unsealed the coffin for an autopsy, they found no external injuries whatsoever. At that moment, the detective recalled an ancient piece of lore..."
"Driving an iron nail through the nostril into the brain leaves the body without a single mark on the surface!"
Chan Master Kongming shuddered at the words and dropped to his knees at once to inspect Tang Zhen's nostrils. Li Qianqiu remained skeptical, murmuring, "Who under heaven could drive an iron nail into Tang Zhen's nostrils? He was known as the Thousand Hands and Thousand Eyes... He could catch hidden weapons flying from behind his head, let alone at a vulnerable spot like the nose!"
Watching Chan Master Kongming examine him, Qian Chen shook his head. "Testing it is simple enough." Qian Chen propped Tang Zhen's body up and tapped the back of his head with a gentle pat. Instantly, two streams of murky clotted blood, mingled with yellowish-white matter, flowed slowly from Tang Zhen's nostrils... It was brain matter mixed with coagulated blood.
Chan Master Kongming felt a chill run through him.
Kang Qiandeng was even more horrified. "Who could possibly drive an iron nail into Tang Zhen's nostril and kill him like this?"
The one man among the heroes of the righteous path least likely to be struck by a hidden weapon had died by one, and in such a manner...
Chapter 26