A journey through the world of martial arts

Chapter 27 The Ascetic
Song Yuanqiao felt that this matter was of great importance and guessed that it might be related to the actions of the Yuan court. So he summoned Yu Lianzhou and others and then decided that Yu Daiyan would stay in Wudang and the other six would go down the mountain to deal with the ill-intentioned martial arts people who had infiltrated Hubei.

According to intelligence provided by the branch headquarters, there are seven people staying at Zuihelou. Judging from their clothing, they don't seem to be from the Central Plains, but rather from beyond the Great Wall. Moreover, they all look fierce and menacing. If it weren't for that, it would be very difficult to spot them.

After three days of travel, Song Yuanqiao and his group of thirteen arrived at Zuihelou Restaurant. In the northeast corner of the main hall, seven people were eating. They were rugged-looking, with half-exposed arms and iron rings on their bald heads, resembling ascetic monks.

One of the monks, who was eating, seemed to notice Song Yuanqiao's gaze. He looked over directly, his eyes lighting up. He whispered something to the person next to him, and the person nodded repeatedly.

Song Yuanqiao withdrew his gaze, ignoring him, exchanged a glance with Yu Lianzhou, nodded, and then called everyone to eat.

Meanwhile, the monk on the other side glanced down at the Wudang group after going upstairs.

Late at night, Song Yuanqiao, who was always on guard, heard a noise outside the door. He waved his hand, and the candle on the table burst out of the door, catching the other person off guard. By the time Song Yuanqiao went out to check, the person was gone.

Hearing the commotion, Yu Lianzhou and the others quickly gathered around. Just then, a dart with a note attached flew up from downstairs. Worried that the dart might be poisoned, Yu Lianzhou blocked it with his sword, and the dart stuck into a wooden pillar. He then carefully used a cloth to remove the note, unfolded it, glanced at it, and handed it to Song Yuanqiao.

The note read: "Three miles outside the city, at the rocky slope, awaiting your arrival."

Song Yuanqiao pondered, "It seems this is a premeditated plan. They must have deliberately leaked the news to lure me out."

“Since they have already issued a challenge, we should meet them. Second Brother, instruct the disciples to be careful and avoid falling into traps,” Yu Lianzhou nodded and gave some instructions. Then, the group followed Song Yuanqiao out of the inn and headed southeast.

The night was deep and silent, except for a few bright spots of light moving rapidly.

When the Wudang group arrived at Luanshi Slope, they found that several bonfires had been lit, illuminating an area of ​​several feet. Song Yuanqiao looked over and saw seven monks lined up in a row, each holding a weapon. He told everyone to be careful and then went up first.

"What conspiracy do you have infiltrating Hubei Province? Who sent you?"

“No need to worry, Master Song. I will tell you after you have descended to the Yellow Springs.” The monk holding the vajra could speak fluent Chinese, which surprised Song Yuanqiao. The intelligence said that they came from a foreign land, but it seemed that the intelligence was not accurate.

The monk with the vajra pestle took the lead, running a few steps and striking Song Yuanqiao with his vajra pestle. The other six also rushed to their opponents, separating the six heroes of Wudang and preventing them from using the True Martial Seven Intercept Formation.

Although the Six Heroes could not use formations, the seven elite disciples who came with them used the Seven Star Sword Formation, a simplified version of the True Martial Seven Intercept Formation. Although its power was far less than the former, it was still enough to trap the Wheel-Holding Monk.

The Pestle Monk was the strongest of the seven. Not only was his external martial arts skill already mastered to perfection, but he had also mastered the Maha Twelve Vajra Pestle passed down from his master. When Song Yuanqiao first took him over, he felt that this man's martial arts were no less than those of the Hejian Duo.

Seeing the Vajra pestle closing in, Song Yuanqiao dodged to the side, his longsword slashing towards the opponent's wrist. The Vajra-wielding monk continued his practice, channeling his inner strength to push Song Yuanqiao far away, distancing himself from the others.

Just as the two were locked in a stalemate, Yu Lianzhou also clashed with a monk wielding a Buddhist knife. His knife skills were unpredictable and ruthless, and when he swung the knife down, the sound of it cutting through the air was deafening, demonstrating his considerable skill.

Yu Lianzhou realized that his opponent was using a fierce and aggressive style, so he immediately used a soft and gentle sword technique to entangle with him. It was difficult to distinguish between the two styles for a while, but Yu Lianzhou was confident that he could defeat his opponent within a hundred moves.

Zhang Songxi, Zhang Cuishan, Yin Liting, and Mo Shenggu were engaged in fierce battles with the Ring-Holding Monk, the Staff-Holding Monk, the Sword-Holding Monk, and the Shield-Holding Monk, respectively. Each side had its own strengths, and the clash of weapons was deafening, making it difficult to determine a winner in the short term.

The only one at a disadvantage was the Wheel-Holding Monk. He was the weakest in terms of skill, and he was facing a sword formation set up by elite disciples. After barely surviving ten moves, he had several wounds on his body. The sword wounds made the Wheel-Holding Monk extremely ferocious, and he spun his Vajra Wheel and smashed it around.

The howling wind made the Wudang disciples dare not take it head-on. They changed their formation, temporarily avoiding the sharp edge, and took the opportunity to find a weakness. This bought the Wheel-Holding Monk a little breathing space. However, it was not long before he could not maintain such a fierce offensive and his momentum began to decline.

Seeing an opening in his opponent's formation, Cheng Xu shouted and changed formation, switching from defense to offense. The relentless attacks overwhelmed the Wheel-Holding Monk, who was hit by seven or eight swords in his chest and back after a few muffled groans. Blood was flowing freely from his body, quickly turning him into a blood-soaked figure.

The monk wielding the staff, who was fighting Zhang Cuishan, glanced at the scene and realized he was in trouble. He was the closest to the enemy and wanted to get out of the way to help, but Zhang Cuishan wouldn't give him the chance. He swung his weapon upwards, and the monk wielding the staff dared not let him get close. He swung his staff and pressed a mechanism in his hand, sending a section of the staff toward the Seven Star Sword Formation.

Seeing this, Zhang Cuishan hurriedly tried to pull away to block him, but the monk continued to pester him.

The Wheel-Holding Monk in the formation had become a lamb to the slaughter. Just then, a dark shadow, carrying force, crashed into a Wudang disciple. Cheng Xu, who was next to him, hurriedly drew his sword and slashed at it, only to feel a tingling sensation. Fortunately, the direction was deflected, and the dark shadow flew into the dark forest and disappeared.

Cheng Xu's movement created a huge opening in the formation, and the Wheel-Holding Monk seized the opportunity to break through the blockade. Knowing that his life was nearing its end, he used his last strength to smash the Vajra Wheel in his hand at Zhang Cuishan. Then, Cheng Xu pierced his heart with a sword and called for everyone to rush towards the battlefield where Zhang Cuishan was.

The flying wheel whistled as it gradually approached Zhang Cuishan. The monk with the staff used all his strength to keep Zhang Cuishan in check. If he was hit by the flying wheel, he would be seriously injured even if he didn't die, and then the monk could finish him off.

Knowing that once he was seriously injured, the situation would spiral out of control, Zhang Cuishan hardened his heart and, disregarding the incoming flying wheel, decided to take his opponent away even at the cost of his life. With his life and death in disregard, Zhang Cuishan unleashed the power of his Judge's Pen and the cold light of his Tiger Head Hook. Both sides exerted their full strength, and the wind swirled around them, raising dust and sand.

The four people, including Cheng Xu, who rushed over, were blocked by the gale and could not provide assistance. Just as they were getting anxious, a sword light flew from the southwest like lightning and struck the flying wheel. With a few crisp cracking sounds, the flying wheel shattered into pieces and fell onto the two combatants.

The longsword continued its trajectory, embedding itself directly in a large tree, shaking off many of its leaves.

"Flying Dragon in the Sky"—every Wudang disciple recognized it. Cheng Xu used his lightness skill to take down the longsword and, upon examining its appearance, realized it belonged to his second senior uncle.

He worried that his second senior brother might be at a disadvantage since he didn't have a sharp weapon, and since the other heroes didn't seem to need help for the time being, he quickly led his men towards Yu Lianzhou's direction.

The sudden turn of events threw the staff-wielding monk into disarray. In a duel between masters, there could be no room for carelessness. Zhang Cuishan unleashed a flurry of attacks with both hands, closing in on his opponent. The staff-wielding monk, whose weapon had failed to break the formation, was forced into a disadvantageous position. The longer the fight dragged on, the more disadvantageous it would be for him. Comparing internal strength with the Wudang people was foolish. "It seems that the only way is to use that method, but the price is a bit high," the staff-wielding monk hesitated.

Seeing that his opponent's expression was a bit off, Zhang Cuishan guessed that his opponent must have a backup plan. So he secretly used his Pure Yang Wuji Gong and quickly threw out two weapons. The monk holding the staff didn't have time to think. He swept the staff away and knocked the flying weapons away, but he was not prepared to be attacked by a pair of fleshy palms.

With the staff held horizontally to his chest, Zhang Cuishan's face flushed red as he unleashed his full power. The copper roller snapped in two, and his bare palm struck his opponent. The surging internal force overwhelmed the staff-wielding monk, who died on the spot before he could react.

After the monk with the staff died, Zhang Cuishan turned pale, collapsed from exhaustion, and leaned against a tree, panting heavily.

When Cheng Xu and the others arrived at Yu Lianzhou's battlefield, they saw that he had already gained the upper hand. His opponent held a broken sword and looked at him with apprehension. It was a sword that Yu Lianzhou had cut off with his sword light. If it weren't for his eagerness to save people, the sword-wielding monk would still be alive. However, he was not in much better shape now.

Seeing that the enemy had reinforcements, the monk with the knife considered retreating, but he had not heard a signal. If he retreated, it would be desertion in the face of battle, and the imperial court would not forgive him. So he forced himself to continue fighting the enemy.

Yu Lianzhou was still able to fight the knife-wielding monk with ease. When he saw Cheng Xu and the others coming, he didn't care about being outnumbered. He shouted for them to form a formation, and Cheng Xu and the other seven quickly surrounded the two of them. Yu Lianzhou then used the formation to keep pressing and killing them. In a short while, Yu Lianzhou crushed the heart meridian of the knife-wielding monk with Wudang Cotton Palm and he fell to the ground with a miserable scream.

Not far away, the three monks who were fighting Zhang Songxi and others heard a scream and the last thing they saw was the corpse of the monk with a knife. They broke out in a cold sweat. The monk with a knife was second only to the monk with a pestle in skill. The fact that he was killed like this made the three of them lose their composure. Seeing this, Zhang Songxi and the other two quickly formed a formation and surrounded the three of their opponents.

The True Martial Seven Intercept Formation formed by the three was still a force to be reckoned with. No matter how the three Ring-Holding Monks struggled, they could not break through the blockade. The sword circle continued to shrink, and their defeat and death were only a matter of time.

After Yu Lianzhou killed the knife-wielding monk with a palm strike, he took the longsword handed to him by Cheng Xu and instructed them, "Go and take care of the other senior uncles. Be careful not to make any mistakes. I'm going to find your eldest senior uncle." After saying that, he used his Cloud Ladder technique and headed towards the direction where Song Yuanqiao was fighting.

After running for a while, they saw that the grass and trees were broken and sword marks were everywhere. A huge rock was even split open by brute force, which showed that the person's martial arts were no less than Song Yuanqiao's. Yu Lianzhou was worried that his senior brother had encountered a formidable enemy, so he ran towards the sound of fighting.

Since Song Yuanqiao fought with the Pestle Monk, although he had a slight advantage, it was not easy to kill his opponent. The key was the opponent's Vajra Body, which was difficult to harm with ordinary weapons if the opponent's weakness was not known. He wondered where the Yuan court had found such a master.

The monk with the pestle was also in great distress. Originally, the group planned to use the strategy of Tian Ji's horse racing, but he rejected it himself. The monk with the pestle had lived in the borderlands for a long time and wanted to see the masters of the Central Plains martial arts world. Now that he had already fought with Shaolin, the one named Kongxing was quite good at using the Dragon Claw Hand, but he still couldn't break his Vajra Body, so he became a lump of rotten flesh.

He originally thought that Wudang Song Yuanqiao and Kongxing's martial arts were not far apart and that he could easily defeat them. Who would have thought that his opponent would be so troublesome, especially his superb internal strength, which was extremely flexible and continuous. Every time he clashed with him, he had to forcefully neutralize the attack with his body. On the surface, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but over time, his weakness would probably be discovered by Song Yuanqiao.

After forcibly forcing Song Yuanqiao back again, the Pestle-wielding monk clasped his hands together, held the pestle across his chest, took a deep breath, and shouted. The pestle hummed continuously. The Pestle-wielding monk pushed back, and the weapon flew away from his body, spinning towards Song Yuanqiao. The strong wind swept in all directions, and Song Yuanqiao only felt a stinging pain.

This move is called "Hidden Edge of Heavy Mountain," a subtle and exquisite technique that uses heaviness to lightenness. The vajra is inherently heavy, but the airflow generated by its rotation, controlled by internal force, transforms into sharp needles that shoot towards the opponent. If the opponent cannot block them, they will be pierced through the body by the needles and die. The vajra-wielding monk used this move to kill Kongxing before, and now he is using the same technique again.

The force of the attack swept over him, completely sealing off the surroundings. Song Yuanqiao's expression turned solemn, knowing that this move was no ordinary attack. He immediately focused his energy and unleashed his pure Yang true energy. His long sword held tight to defend his position, weaving an impenetrable sword net. The hissing sound could be heard incessantly in his ears. Song Yuanqiao actually hoped that his opponent could continue. With his experience, he could tell that this method must consume a lot of internal energy. The longer the fight went on, the more advantageous it would be for him. After all, Wudang kung fu was known for its long-lasting internal energy.

Seeing that this move was also ineffective against his opponent, the monk with the vajra quickly withdrew his strength, took the vajra in mid-air, and in just a short while, he had already exhausted half of his internal energy. Just as he was about to continue to fight, his body suddenly dodged to the side and turned around to see Yu Lianzhou standing next to Song Yuanqiao with a long sword in his hand.

The monk with the pestle realized something was wrong. Without a doubt, something must have happened to someone else. He had already exhausted much of his internal energy and was no match for the two experts. He hurriedly tried to retreat, but Song and Yu were not about to let him go. They both came to take him with their swords.

The monk with the vajra body relied on the most, but he never expected that Yu Lianzhou had actually cultivated the sword light. No matter how indestructible your Vajra body is, it is all broken copper and scrap iron under this ultimate skill. In a short while, his body was covered with sword wounds.

Staring at Yu Lianzhou in utter horror, the monk with the pestle was terrified, while Song Yuanqiao was overjoyed. With the help of the sword light, there was no need to look for any weak points; he could directly strike with his sword.

The two attacked with their swords in quick succession. The monk with the pestle dared not let Yu Lianzhou get close to him. His precious pestle was constantly being slashed away by the sword light, leaving only a piece in his hand. After a few more moves, the opponent lost his weapon and could no longer make any moves. He was then pierced through the heart by Song Yuanqiao's sword.

"Senior brother, judging from his martial arts, it seems somewhat similar to the Indian man that Third Brother killed. They both practice external martial arts," Yu Lianzhou speculated.

Song Yuanqiao sheathed his longsword, glanced at the corpse, and slowly said, "This person is definitely connected with the imperial court, but it doesn't matter. The imperial court is currently focusing on the Ming Cult, and this move is just to prevent us from helping the Ming Cult."

Worried about the safety of the others, the two hastily buried the bodies and hurried back. The silent, rocky slope was left with only a strong smell of blood, which would surely attract hungry wolves soon.

When the two returned, all the remaining monks were dead. It was already dawn. Song Yuanqiao gave a shout and had someone carry the unconscious Zhang Cuishan back to the inn.

The next day, Zhang Cuishan, who had been unconscious for a day, woke up. Cheng Xu, who had been taking care of him, hurriedly sent someone to inform Song Yuanqiao.

"Fifth Brother, how are you feeling?" Song Yuanqiao checked on him and found he was just exhausted, but he still asked.

"Senior brother, I'm fine, just a little hungry." Zhang Cuishan had just finished a fierce fight and hadn't eaten all day, so his stomach was empty. Upon hearing this, Song Yuanqiao quickly ordered someone to prepare food.

After the meal, Song Yuanqiao checked again and found that there was nothing seriously wrong. After resting for a while, the group headed towards Wudang.

Meanwhile, Yu Daiyan on the mountain received a series of messages by carrier pigeon. He Taichong and his wife had been attacked by four masked men in black. Although they killed four of them, Ban Shuxian was seriously injured and six disciples died, making it an exceptionally tragic scene. Master Kongxing of Shaolin lay dead in the wilderness, his body already badly decomposed. If it weren't for his staff and prayer beads, it would have been difficult to identify him. The Golden Summit of Emei was set on fire, but fortunately, it was discovered in time, otherwise it would have been a wasteland.

Holding the last piece of paper, which read: Bright Peak has fallen.

(End of this chapter)