A journey through the world of martial arts

Chapter 2 Coming out of seclusion
After the three entered the main hall, they saw a refined man standing by a table, holding a wolf-hair brush and writing with it. Upon hearing the sound of a wheelchair, Song Yuanqiao immediately put down the brush, Yu Daiyan greeted him as "Senior Brother," and Gu Xu stepped forward to bow respectfully.

Song Yuanqiao looked at Gu Xu, a glint of light flashing in his eyes, and said with a smile, "It seems that my junior nephew's cultivation has made further progress. He is truly extraordinary. In the future, the heavy responsibility of Wudang will still have to be placed on your shoulders."

Gu Xu solemnly replied, "This disciple has never forgotten the kindness of my master, and will certainly take it upon myself to glorify Wudang in the future." Song Yuanqiao was even more pleased to hear him say this, and said to Yu Daiyan with envy, "Junior brother has taken on a good disciple. With Gu Xu here, Wudang will have no worries for the next hundred years."

Song Yuanqiao is the second-generation leader of Wudang, so the weight and significance of his words are completely different. He is clearly grooming Gu Xu to be the next leader. Yu Daiyan also looks proud of this, and he can't hide the smile on his face.

Watching the three talk, Song Qingshu originally planned to slip away, but Song Yuanqiao caught him red-handed. Seeing the ink marks on Song Qingshu's face, Song Yuanqiao was both angry and amused. With a stern face, Song Yuanqiao said to Song Qingshu, "Look at the state you've become! You don't practice martial arts all day, all you do is run around the mountains. Your senior brother Gu Xu has already started practicing Qi cultivation and meditation every day at your age. Unlike you, don't let him become a real troublemaker in the future."

After saying this, tears welled up in Song Qingshu's eyes, and he was about to cry. Yu Daiyan quickly comforted him, and Gu Xu promised him various benefits, which made Song Qingshu stop crying and start laughing. He then happily went out of the hall to play, while Song Yuanqiao shook his head repeatedly.

A moment later, all of the Seven Heroes of Wudang except for Zhang Cuishan, who had gone missing, were in the hall. When Song Yuanqiao saw that everyone had gathered, he expressed his thoughts. Today was the fifteenth of August, the day his master emerged from seclusion. Since his third brother was injured and his fifth brother went missing, his master had not been able to open his heart. Why not take advantage of the festival to make him happy?

Yu Lianzhou and the others naturally had no objection. They immediately agreed that the group of seven would go to Zhang Sanfeng's secluded place, kneel down and kowtow outside the secret room, and Song Yuanqiao said to the inside, "Master, today is the fifteenth of August. We disciples invite you to come together for a reunion and respectfully invite you to come out of seclusion." The others also said in unison, "We respectfully invite you to come out of seclusion, Master."

A moment later, with a creaking sound, the wooden door of the secret chamber slowly opened, and a Taoist priest with an otherworldly air and holding a whisk appeared before everyone. Gu Xu raised his head slightly. The patriarch looked at him as unremarkable, seemingly without any martial arts skills, but there seemed to be a Taoist aura surrounding him, as if he were in harmony with heaven and earth.

Seemingly sensing Gu Xu's spying, Zhang Sanfeng glanced at Gu Xu, a look of satisfaction appearing in his eyes.

"Welcome back, Master!"

Zhang Sanfeng told them to get up quickly. Looking at his disciples, even though he was over ninety years old, he couldn't help but feel a surge of emotions. As he got older, what he longed for most was for the younger generation to gather around him. However, now that Cuishan was gone, it was inevitably a pity.

The thought of his beloved disciple being missing for five years filled Zhang Sanfeng with grief. Seeing the sorrow on his master's face, Zhang Songxi understood and said, "Master, although Fifth Brother is missing without a trace, this is also good news. Master should be at ease." Hearing this, Zhang Sanfeng smiled and composed himself.

Upon seeing Gu Xu, he was even more pleased. "I never expected Gu Xu to have such good fortune. It's truly remarkable." Gu Xu respectfully kowtowed. "Without the patriarch leading his disciples up the mountain, without the guidance of my master, and without the instruction of my senior uncles and masters, I would not be where I am today. I can only live up to everyone's expectations by diligently cultivating and practicing." "Get up quickly. If it weren't for your own hard work, even the best aptitude would be in vain. With you, Wudang has hope for prosperity."

"Master, today is the fifteenth of August. We disciples have invited you to a family reunion. We also want you to see the disciples we recently took in. They all wish to see you. Please grant us permission, Master."

Song Yuanqiao also had his own plans. He knew that Wudang was as prestigious as Shaolin in the martial arts world, largely because of his master. Since he took over as the headmaster, he had been thinking about how to make Wudang great. He worked hard and dared not slack off in the slightest, for fear that Wudang's great situation would be ruined in his hands.

He himself understood that the most important thing for promoting Wudang was gold, silver and talent. There used to be rented land at the foot of Wudang Mountain, but the harvest has been bad in recent years and the income is barely enough to make ends meet. Song Yuanqiao did not want his family to be ruined because of these things, so Wudang Sect could only maintain the status quo.

Later, at Gu Xu's suggestion, disciples were selected at the foot of Wudang Mountain. Those with good aptitude and a clean family background were taken under the wing as true disciples and taught unique skills, while those with mediocre talent were given an ordinary martial art and became outer disciples.

In addition, wealthy families at the foot of Wudang Mountain could send their children up the mountain to learn martial arts. Once they had mastered the skills, they could claim to be lay disciples of Wudang. The wealthy families would naturally agree to this. With such a powerful connection, they would not worry about their property being stolen by thieves. Of course, a fixed annual tribute of five thousand taels of silver was required, but they accepted it willingly.

In this way, Wudang had a sufficient number of disciples. In addition, Wudang's own brothers would occasionally go down the mountain to suppress the restless sects and bandits in the surrounding areas and maintain peace in Hubei. This caused some small sects to flock to Wudang. With no shortage of gold, silver and talent, Wudang then established Taoist temples in some important towns in Hubei and firmly controlled the entire Hubei martial arts world.

Most of the newly initiated disciples came because of Zhang Sanfeng, which is why Song Yuanqiao made this statement.

Zhang Sanfeng pondered for a moment, "Alright, let's go see those disciples first, and then we, master and disciple, can have a get-together. I also want to see how Yuanqiao has managed Wudang these past few years."

Song Yuanqiao was overjoyed and quickly led Zhang Sanfeng towards the Zixiao Palace with his fellow disciples.

(End of this chapter)