Poor Taoist Qiu Chuji

Chapter 65 His Time
Dugu Qiubai was eager to fight, and he dragged Qiu Chuji to fight for hundreds or nearly a thousand moves, from day to night, and from night to dawn. When the early morning frost and fog rolled in the woods, the two finally stopped fighting.

After fighting for almost a whole day and night, it was the first time that Qiu Chuji encountered an opponent who could outlast him.

Although the previous fight with Huang Yaoshi, Ouyang Feng and others took quite a while, they also took medicine to restore their energy and replenish their strength in the middle.

The fight with Dugu Qiubai was truly non-stop, and every second was quite thrilling.

Whether in terms of physical strength, endurance, or the depth of his inner energy, Dugu Qiubai does not look like a man in his seventies or eighties at all.

Perhaps if he could go one step further, he could live longer and maintain his peak state for a longer period of time.

"The little Taoist has good physical strength! You Taoists have good endurance. I have fought with a Taoist before. We fought for three days and three nights. In the end, I annoyed him so much that he lost to me." Dugu Qiubai led Qiu Chuji to his residence and said as he walked.

After a hearty sword fight, the distance between the two was shortened a lot, and Dugu Qiubai's words became more humorous.

At least from Qiu Chuji's perspective, he doesn't seem like a very eccentric person, and... Gudu Qiubai is most likely just living in seclusion rather than completely withdrawing from the world. He should occasionally go to the nearby city to hang out and exchange mountain products for some survival supplies.

If he hadn't communicated with anyone for thirty years, he wouldn't be able to speak so fluently.

"I still have to thank you for your help!" Qiu Chuji said with a bow.

During the day and night of fighting, Dugu Qiubai demonstrated to Qiu Chuji more than sixty first- and second-rate sword techniques in the martial arts world, which broadened Qiu Chuji's horizons and increased his knowledge.

"Hey! Don't say such polite words. I am willing to show you because you are worthy. If you were a mediocre person, I would knock you out and throw you out of the valley directly to prevent you from being a nuisance and an eyesore."

Dugu Qiubai waved his hand and ignored Qiu Chuji's thanks.

Upon hearing this, Qiu Chuji said, "Okay! Then I won't be polite to you, Senior!"

"By the way, how did you find me here?"

"Before I chose to retire, I did leave two sword manuals in the martial arts world, and also noted where I was going to live. I wanted someone to learn my swordsmanship and then come here to find me and duel with me."

"But he didn't inherit my sword skills, and he came here on his own." Dugu Qiubai asked the question in his mind.

"I just happened to hear some stories about you, so I came here with the mentality of giving it a try. Fortunately, I had the chance to meet you." Qiu Chuji explained vaguely. He couldn't say that he came here because he read the original novel!

Then, in order to change the subject, he said, "However, I don't know much about the world you once roamed in. I wonder if you are interested in talking about it?"

"Many years ago, in the same arena, were there those famous figures?"

According to Qiu Chuji's inference, the era when Dugu Qiubai was active was exactly the 20 to 30 years after Tianlong. At that time, Fang La had not yet rebelled and Liangshan Shuibo had not yet become powerful. Otherwise, Dugu Qiubai and Huang Shang might have met each other.

"Are you interested in these?"

"This doesn't seem like a man of the world." Dugu Qiubai said.

"Then what does it mean to be a man of the world?" Qiu Chuji asked.

"Drink while you can, and make a breakthrough when you can. Let the past be the past, why bother about so many things." Dugu Qiubai replied.

Qiu Chuji smiled and said, "Then I can only be considered half a Jianghu person, with one foot in the world and one foot outside it."

Dugu Qiubai laughed again: "Then you are a half-immortal!"

The two men walked to the depths of the valley where Dugu Qiubai lived in seclusion, brought out firewood and lit it in front of the wooden house. With a long roar from Dugu Qiubai, the eagle that had been circling overhead dropped a wild deer whose blood was still warm.

"I have a few jars of good wine here. Little Taoist priest, would you like to have a drink with me?" Dugu Qiubai asked Qiu Chuji.

Qiu Chuji nodded: "Of course! I'm happy to accompany you!" Dugu Qiubai went back to the house, took out a few jars of wine, and placed them by the campfire.

The two men sat around the fire, roasting venison.

Qiu Chuji opened a jar of wine, clinked glasses with Dugu Qiubai, then tilted his head back and drank.

As the wine entered his throat, it instantly turned into a ball of flame, burning his chest and abdomen.

It then transformed into a warm current, which not only strengthened his already strong bones and muscles, but also enhanced his essence, allowing the 'thirsty' four-core true qi to have nutrients that could be plundered quickly and increase his internal strength.

"Good wine...I'm afraid this wine is not simple!" Qiu Chuji sighed.

Dugu Qiubai said, "I had some adventures when I was young and raised some 'Bosuqu snakes'. After I lived in seclusion here, I raised and herded snakes in the mountains. Sometimes I also took some snake gallbladders to make wine. For this jar of snake gallbladder wine, I used the gallbladders of twenty-year-old snakes. The effect should be very good."

When Qiu Chuji heard this, he was suddenly surprised and enlightened.

He really had not expected that the snake gall opportunity that was often talked about in the deep mountains near Xiangyang City was actually created by Dugu Qiubai.

"If you want to know about my life in the martial arts world back then, you must know Dugu Tianfeng, Bai Chengzhong, Liu Aoshuang, and Leng Ziyan..."

By the campfire, sipping wine and eating meat, Dugu Qiubai talked about his past.

That was once a vast and magnificent world, but the world that Dugu Qiubai talked about actually ended in his youth, and after that... he was invincible.

Invincible loneliness, invincible loneliness, and then a boring retreat.

By the time daybreak, Dugu Qiubai had fallen asleep leaning against a tree stump, relaxed and snoring loudly, as if he was not worried at all about Qiu Chuji's ill intentions.

Maybe he didn't trust Qiu Chuji, but he really didn't care.

He had already touched the boundary between life and death, and now he was just waiting.

Wait for this boundary to come to him.

Qiu Chuji sat cross-legged on a wooden stool beside him, took a deep breath, his eyes deep and bright.

He felt that he saw that line in Dugu Qiubai.

The 'limits' carved by this world.

Dugu Qiubai has supernatural powers, talent, good fortune, and plenty of Bosuqu snakes as nutrients. His real strength at this moment is definitely stronger than Qiu Chuji, the nominal "number one in the world".

After a day and a night of fighting, Qiu Chuji realized that even if he used several hidden magical skills, he could at most fight Dugu Qiubai to a draw. If it really came to a life-and-death battle, his chances of winning were less than 30%.

If he didn't take it seriously, how could Dugu Qiubai be of any use?

Thinking back on it, the so-called Four Great Dragons are at most on par with Dugu.

But a person like him still cannot escape the will of heaven and cannot fight against the shackles of time that binds people.

When Yang Guo broke into the valley decades later, all he saw was a strange eagle that could no longer fly, a strange snake roaming in the mountains and forests, and a sword tomb with a few lines of words engraved on it.

Gulu!
After taking another sip of snake gall wine, Qiu Chuji made up his mind.

Flowers may bloom again, but people can never be young again, so why not be bolder... even bolder, touch that limit, break that limit, otherwise the starry road that he has already stepped on will only die at the starting point, wouldn't that be such a pity?
(End of this chapter)