The First Sword of the Universe

Chapter 304 Is the Nine Yin Scriptures hidden in the palace?
Although the drizzle has stopped, the dark clouds in the sky have not yet dissipated.

The sky and the earth were still shrouded in fog, and the mountains and rivers in the distance were blurred into a hazy ink painting.

A two-story, ten-meter-long pleasure boat, with carved beams and painted rafters and fluttering white gauze, slowly glided towards the nearby lakeside amid the sound of stringed instruments and the silver bell-like laughter of women.

Finally, it stopped twenty feet away from the shore.

A group of young men dressed in silk and satin clothes and wearing exquisite jade pendants around their waists came to the second-floor observation deck, surrounded by a group of young women who were lightly dressed and had sweet smiles.

On the open grassy lawn beside the lake.
The battle between Xu Xingchen and Qiu Chuji was in full swing.

The Seven Freaks of Jiangnan and others stood in the distance and watched.

Seeing the painting boat approaching on the lake, everyone frowned.

The reason why they came to such a remote place outside the city to compete was that they didn't want too many people to watch. Who would have thought that there would be such a group of guys coming out at this time to travel around and recite poems.
Since the two parties met by chance, they should just keep calm!
Unexpectedly, the pleasure boat actually came closer to watch, which was a bit inappropriate.

Moreover, the group of guys on the painting boat did not just come to watch the fight, they also started to comment on and reviewed the battle between Xu Xingchen and Qiu Chuji.

"The martial arts of these two men, one only pursues the swiftness of swordsmanship; the other's punches and kicks are crude like farming techniques, without a trace of beauty at all."

"Haha, isn't the martial arts of vulgar people all like this? They only use it to be brave and aggressive, to be competitive; little do they know that martial arts is actually a kind of art, which requires beauty, melody, and charm."

"This is the difference between us scholars and these wild men. The realms of the two are incomparable."

This time, the pleasure boat was closer, and almost everyone on the shore who had some martial arts skills heard what they said, and their faces turned grim.

Even Guo Jing, a simple and honest boy, frowned when he heard this: "These people are so unreasonable!"

Huang Rong inherited her character from Huang Yaoshi, the East Evil. She always looked down on the rules of those poor and pedantic scholars. She sneered and said loudly, "Brother Jing, don't pay attention to the comments of those chatterboxes who are no different from rats. Just treat what they say as farts, which are stinky and self-righteous!"

Ke Zhenwu said loudly: "Miss Huang is right, they are all rats who are not worthy of being on the stage."

Han Baoju was even more vicious. He squinted at the people on the pleasure boat and shouted in a rough voice, "Those rats are the most cowardly. They travel around the mountains and rivers on weekdays and write some sour and smelly poems that are useless. When the Jin soldiers came south, they ran faster than rabbits. They are all cowardly rats!"

When the official students on the pleasure boat heard the taunts from the "vulgar people" on the shore, they immediately became angry and started cursing loudly. They were punctilious in their choice of words and sentences, and their cursing was like the sky falling to the ground and golden lotuses emerging from the ground. They didn't even use any dirty words but still made their curses sound very fancy.

On the shore of the lake
Ma Yu and Wang Chuyi, two wise men from the Quanzhen Sect, frowned and tried not to utter any foul language.

A group of women including Bao Xiruo, Li Ping, Mu Nianci, as well as other maids and brothel girls, all had ugly expressions on their faces. Some even gnashed their teeth in hatred, but they didn't dare to curse back.

But the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan grew up in the market. Except for the taciturn Nan Xiren and the shy Han Xiaoying, the others' skills in verbal battles are no less than those scholars on the pleasure boat.

It’s just that the five of them had read less, so their insults were more down-to-earth, and they were on par with the other side.

"Let's stop it!"

Xu Xingchen and Qiu Chuji stopped what they were doing helplessly and turned to look at the pleasure boat on the lake.

He listened expressionlessly as the verbal battle between the two sides lasted for nearly half an hour, until both sides were so exhausted that they ended the fight in anger.

Watching the pleasure boat slowly going away, Xu Xingchen frowned and asked, "Why did you just talk and not do anything?"

Qiu Chuji on the side shook his head and said: "We are all from the Song Dynasty after all, it is not good to fight among ourselves"

"Besides, we, the people of Jianghu, are not the same as those government students. We have disliked each other for many years."

"In the past, there were indeed conflicts and confrontations."

"Later, the situation became quite serious, and both sides came to an agreement to ignore each other in the future. Even if they were dissatisfied, they were only allowed to talk, not to take physical action."

"Over time, this rule has been passed down."

Xu Xingchen thought for a long time and asked again: "So, there are also martial arts masters among these scholars and officials' children?"

Qiu Chuji nodded and said, "Of course, those scholars just look down on us, the common people, not martial arts." "They think that after learning martial arts, we will only become a group of brave and fierce guys, extremely vulgar; while for them, practicing martial arts is an art, a kind of cultivation, and a convenient way to listen to the secrets of their own flesh and blood."

"This is normal. In the world of martial arts, anyone with ability and connections would want to learn the skills of flying high." Xu Xingchen's mind flashed with thoughts, and he asked curiously, "Why have I never heard of any of these scholars becoming famous?"

Qiu Chuji said: "They are not the same as us. They are scholars who are more interested in fame and fortune in the court. They only want to show their talents in the court. They despise scholars who hang out in the rivers and lakes. If anyone makes a name for himself in the rivers and lakes, he will be despised by all of them."

At this point, he glanced at Zhu Cong, a brilliant scholar among the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan: "Brother Zhu is a poor boy from a declining family, who grew up in the streets and rivers. Therefore, even though he has read a lot of books, he is still not recognized by those scholars!"

Zhu Cong, who was wearing an oily and tattered black robe and waving a black paper fan in his hand, smiled at Xu Xingchen and said frankly: "Master Qiu is right, that's the case."

At this time, Ke Zhenwu suddenly said: "There are scholars who are famous in the martial arts world."

"More than a hundred years ago, there was a scholar named Huang Shang who was ordered by the emperor to lead troops to attack a group of rebels. However, the officers and soldiers were incompetent and the rebels escaped. Later, in order to avenge him, the rebels killed his entire family."

"In order to seek revenge, Huang Shang studied the countless Taoist scriptures in the palace for decades, and thus comprehended a peerless martial arts called "Nine Yin Manual"."

"When he came out of seclusion, he found that all his enemies had been killed or died of old age. Even the youngest woman had turned into a white-haired old woman."

"Later, Huang Shang left the Nine Yin Manual he created in the imperial palace, and it became the imperial magic skill used by the masters of the imperial palace of the Great Song Dynasty."

"When someone in the martial arts world heard about this, he sneaked into the palace and stole the Nine Yin Manual, which led to a bloody period in the martial arts world."

"Later, the Nine Yin Manual suddenly disappeared, and the martial arts world finally calmed down."

Xu Xingchen was somewhat surprised to hear Ke Zhen'e suddenly say this.

He thought to himself: "Nine Yin Manual was created by Huang Shang, there is nothing wrong with that."

"But in the world of the book, the middle-level supernatural power Wang Chongyang defeated the other four masters and took the Nine Yin Manual into his possession, and only then did he put an end to the chaos in the martial arts world."

"After Wang Chongyang passed away, he passed the Nine Yin Manual to his fellow apprentice Zhou Botong."

"But in this world, Huang Shang left the Nine Yin Manual in the imperial palace and it was stolen by someone."

".That's not wrong. Huang Shang was originally a scholar serving as an official in the imperial court. After he created the magical skill, it was normal for him to keep it in the imperial palace."

While Xu Xingchen was pondering these things, Qiu Chuji, Ma Yu and Wang Chuyi looked at each other, and a strange look flashed in their eyes.

They also knew that the Nine Yin Manual was eventually taken away by their master.
Later, when their master Wang Chongyang was about to die, he knew that the Western Poison Ouyang Feng was obsessed with the Nine Yin Manual, so he faked his death to deceive Ouyang Feng, and then used the Xiantian Gong to activate the One Yang Finger, abolishing Ouyang Feng's Toad Gong, thus eliminating the trouble.
These things were all kept secret, and no one knew about them except the Four Great Masters of the Martial Arts World, their seven disciples, and their uncle Zhou Botong.

If the people in the martial arts world knew that the Nine Yin Manual was hidden in their Quanzhen Sect, they would not be afraid, but there would always be some scoundrels who would sneak in and search for it in the future.
Once the Seven Quanzhen disciples were no longer in Zhongnan Mountain, who could stop the martial arts masters who rushed there after hearing the news? !

The other four masters were not worried about being leaked because of the agreement and oath they made with their master during the Huashan Sword Contest.
Over there.
Xu Xingchen was still thinking about the ins and outs of the Nine Yin Scriptures and did not notice the eye contact between Qiu Chuji, Ma Yu and Wang Chuyi.

However, even if he noticed it, he would not take it seriously, because he knew more and more comprehensively than the Seven Masters of Quanzhen.

After thinking for a long time, Xu Xingchen asked again: "The Nine Yin Manual was lost in the Imperial Palace. Didn't they send experts to retrieve it?"

Zhu Cong smiled and said, "Why not? I heard that some extremely powerful masters were sent to track it down, but as the whereabouts of the Nine Yin Manual became unknown, the matter gradually fell into obscurity."

"But it doesn't matter. There are rubbings of the Nine Yin Manual in the Imperial Palace anyway."

"Since that incident, the guards in the palace have become stricter than before, and the storage location of the Nine Yin Manual has become more secretive. Later, many people sneaked into the palace, but no one could find it."

Hearing this, Xu Xingchen secretly exclaimed: "So, in this world, there are many people in the Southern Song Dynasty imperial palace who know the martial arts in the Nine Yin Manual?"

".Is it really that exaggerated?"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, it's unimaginable."

(End of this chapter)