Seeing Wuyazi suddenly fly out, Li Qiushui and Tianshan Tonglao's expressions shifted drastically, and they hurriedly diverted their palm force to the side.
Li Qiushui was fine; she was proficient in the White Rainbow Palm, whose power could curve or straighten at will. With a flick of her right hand, her palm force curved into an arc, bypassing Wuyazi.
Tianshan Tonglao's palm force, however, was domineering in the extreme; altering its trajectory was no simple feat.
Just as the strike was about to hit Wuyazi, he spread his arms wide as if riding the empty wind. Borrowing momentum from the incoming force, he propelled himself upward, letting the palm force sweep beneath his feet before floating gracefully down to the ground.
"What exquisite lightness skill!"
In the crowd, Jiumozhi's eyes were filled with shock. This lightness skill stemmed from the same origin as Ding Chunqiu's, yet it was vastly superior!
With delight on her face, Tianshan Tonglao looked at Wuyazi, who appeared barely thirty years old. Beating Li Qiushui to the punch, she stepped forward and said, "It has been many years, Junior Brother, yet your elegance is undiminished! And I, your Senior Sister, have broken through the death seclusion and restored my normal stature!"
Wuyazi was astonished. Cupping his hands, he took in the sight of the tall Tianshan Tonglao and said, "Congratulations, Senior Sister!"
Li Qiushui, on the other hand, spoke with eyes full of murderous intent: "Wuyazi, did you organize this bride-seeking martial contest just to provoke me?"
Wuyazi gave a wry smile. "Do not wrongfully accuse me. I only learned half a month ago that I was supposedly holding a bride-seeking martial contest. Thirty years ago, that villainous disciple Ding Chunqiu plotted against me and knocked me off a cliff. My lower body lost all feeling, and it was only half a month ago that Qin Zheng healed my legs, allowing me to walk on the ground again. Even if I truly wanted to hold a bride-seeking martial contest, I would have had neither the strength nor the means..."
"Ding Chunqiu!"
Tianshan Tonglao's murderous aura surged as she barked, "Men! Bring Ding Chunqiu forth!"
Shortly after, several Lingjiu Palace disciples emerged from the crowd, escorting a battered and disheveled Ding Chunqiu forward. His outer garments were tattered into rags, and his face was covered in bloody gouges clawed open during the agonizing torment of the Life and Death Talisman.
Brought before Wuyazi, Ding Chunqiu immediately dropped to his knees, weeping bitterly. "Master, spare me! Martial Aunt, have mercy..."
Looking upon this treacherous disciple, Wuyazi let out a heavy sigh. "Alas, it was your master who failed to teach you well and guide you onto the righteous path..."
Thirty years ago, Ding Chunqiu had secretly practiced unorthodox poison arts. Perceiving his wicked inclinations and practice of evil arts, Wuyazi had already intended to clean house.
Ding Chunqiu had sensed this coming and felt he would inevitably be punished, so he decided to strike first, ambushing Wuyazi and casting him off the cliff.
Seeing Wuyazi now alive and well before him, his fear was beyond measure; had it not been for his internal energy propping him up, he would have wet himself in terror long ago.
With mixed emotions, Wuyazi looked at Ding Chunqiu and said, "I took you in as a child and raised you with my own hands. If there is a next life, I will surely teach you properly how to be a person and never let you stray down an evil path again."
With that, he raised a hand and struck Ding Chunqiu's forehead. Ding Chunqiu's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed to the ground, his breath extinguished forever.
A moment later, Jiumozhi pounced before Ding Chunqiu's corpse like a madman, shaking the dead man's head and screaming, "Get up! Don't you know the Northern Darkness Rebirth Art? Resurrect for me right now!!"
Wuyazi looked utterly baffled. "Where did this lunatic monk come from? What rebirth art? Can a dead person come back to life?"
With bloodshot eyes, Jiumozhi cried, "Aren't you Ding Chunqiu's master? How could you not know the Northern Darkness Rebirth Art? Isn't it an ultimate manual of your Xiaoyao Sect?"
Wuyazi's brows furrowed slightly. "Pardon my ignorance, but I truly have never heard of it."
Jiumozhi immediately began to question his entire existence. "Impossible! That's utterly impossible! Qin Zheng, that day when you spoke with Duan Yu at the Longmen Inn, didn't you say the Northern Darkness Rebirth Art was a Xiaoyao Sect manual capable of regrowing severed limbs?"
Qin Zheng thought back earnestly for a moment, then slapped his forehead. "Ah, my mistake! I mixed up a tale from a storybook with the Xiaoyao Sect's manuals!"
Jiumozhi instantly froze. "..."
*You damned bastard!*
*One memory slip from you made me run hundreds of thousands of li chasing Ding Chunqiu, sleeping rough and eating dust for over a year! Do you have any idea how much agony I suffered?!*
Recognizing Jiumozhi, Tianshan Tonglao pulled out the Sunflower Manual and returned it to him, saying, "I'm returning this manual to you. The arts within are extraordinary beyond compare. Even having mastered merely half of it, I have reaped boundless benefits. Possessing such divine martial art, why bother searching for any rebirth art?"
Holding the Sunflower Manual, Jiumozhi fell to his knees, tears uncontrollably streaming down his face. "Duan Yu mastered it, and you mastered it too. Why can't I master it...? This manual is too difficult! I don't know how to practice it—!"
Watching Jiumozhi weep one second and laugh the next in manic delirium, Tianshan Tonglao shook her head slightly. "Sigh, how did a perfectly sound man go mad just like that? Junior Brother, if you say this bride-seeking martial contest wasn't your doing, then who could be audacious enough to act under your name?"
Hearing this, Wuyazi glowered darkly at Qin Zheng. "Who else could it be? Naturally, our esteemed Hero Qin standing right before us!"
Tianshan Tonglao and Li Qiushui turned their gazes onto Qin Zheng at the same time, hints of murderous intent surfacing in their eyes.
Undaunted, Qin Zheng retorted, "What are you staring at? Seeing Wuyazi all alone and miserable, I kindly tried to find him an old companion. Did I do something wrong? It really is tough being a good person. What has the world come to?!"
Wuyazi ground his teeth. "Indeed. I only secluded myself on Leigu Mountain for thirty years, so how on earth has the world become like this...?"
Seeing true qi surging through Tianshan Tonglao and Li Qiushui as they readied to strike,
Qin Zheng sneered. Exuding an aura that looked down upon the entire world, he puffed out his chest and boomed, "Old fiends and petty clowns, you cannot withstand a single blow! Come at me, all three of you together—what has Qiao Feng to fear?!"
As soon as his voice fell, everyone present turned in unison to look at Qiao Feng.
Qiao Feng was instantly dumbfounded: *Who am I? Where am I? What did I come here for again?*
After a long pause, Qiao Feng pointed at himself in utter bewilderment. "Me?"
Just as Qiao Feng regained his senses and was about to step forward to fight in Qin Zheng's stead, a figure suddenly flew onto the arena stage and roared, "Xuanci, I know you're here! Where on earth did you take my son?!"
Looking up, the crowd saw Xiao Yuanshan, his tiger eyes wide with fury, radiating ferocious hostility as though ready to devour someone alive.
Right behind him, Murong Bo also leapt onto the stage, shouting, "Xuanci, come out and tell me: is Murong Fu really my son or not?!"
Immediately following, Xuanci took off his hat, revealed his true face, and stepped onto the stage. Looking at Xiao Yuanshan, he said, "This poor monk also wishes to ask Benefactor Xiao: where did you send my son after you stole him all those years ago?!"
Seeing the trio suddenly emerge, the crowd beneath the stage erupted into an uproar.
"Xiao Yuanshan!"
"Murong Bo is here too! Judging by his words, is it possible Murong Fu isn't even his son?!"
"Even that arch-devil Xuanci is here!"
Looking at the three men on the stage, Qin Zheng sighed with a face full of sorrowful compassion. "Alas, why can none of them find their own sons? How did this jianghu descend into such utter chaos?"
Duan Yu shot him a deeply complicated look: *Indeed, whoever could have caused all of this? What a truly difficult puzzle!*
Chapter 57