The First Sword of the Universe

Chapter 337 Xu Xingchen: The Song Dynasty's Fate is Coming to an End
"If you two seniors have any concerns, why not listen to my suggestion?"

Xu Xingchen's few words silenced the entire scene once again.

Although Ouyang Feng was eager to make a move, he felt somewhat helpless when his gaze swept over Hong Qigong and Zhou Botong beside Xu Xingchen.

"If that kid had one less person by his side, and if I and the giant snake beneath my feet attacked together, we might have a chance of winning."

"Furthermore, we don't know what Huang Yaoshi is thinking; his actions seem to always favor me, but at crucial moments, who knows what other changes might occur? It's absolutely impossible to trust him."

Huang Yaoshi, standing in front of Jicui Pavilion, narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at Xu Xingchen.

He now found the young man surnamed Xu rather unpleasant, feeling that he was just as annoying as the young man's apprentice, Guo Jing.

Since these two arrived on his Peach Blossom Island, they have caused quite a few troubles.

For so many years, Peach Blossom Island has never been this lively!
Hong Qigong smiled and said, "Young brother, you see that neither Brother Yao nor the old poison master have said anything; why don't you speak up and let us hear your suggestions!"

Xu Xingchen nodded and said, "Alright, then I'll speak."

"I have read the Nine Yin Manual, and it truly deserves to be called the number one martial arts manual in the world; its contents are profound and all-encompassing, containing all the ultimate principles of martial arts in the world."

"Let alone me, even you gentlemen, after reading the contents above, will be able to further improve your martial arts skills."

"It's not impossible for them to even reach the level of Wang Chongyang, the Central Divine."

Upon hearing this, Ouyang Feng's eyes flickered slightly, and he unconsciously began to listen intently.

Huang Yaoshi frowned, his expression indifferent, thinking to himself, "I was already planning to marry my daughter off and then go to be with my wife. Now you're trying to tempt me with the Nine Yin Manual. Humph."

Xu Xingchen was aware of Huang Yaoshi's plan to perish at sea alongside his deceased wife.
But at that moment, I really didn't think of it!

He continued, "So, let's all learn from the scene of the five of you competing in the martial arts tournament at Mount Hua back in the day; let's find a place and have a good fight."

Seeing that Huang Yaoshi and Ouyang Feng didn't seem very interested in his suggestion, Xu Xingchen smiled slightly and said something that surprised everyone: "This time, regardless of who wins or loses, as long as they fight to their hearts' content, they will all be qualified to read the Nine Yin Manual."

"Is this really true?" Ouyang Feng's eyes flashed with lightning as he shouted in disbelief.

Huang Yaoshi, who was contemplating suicide, looked over with a surprised expression upon hearing this absurd suggestion.

Even the usually composed Hong Qigong widened his eyes in astonishment and asked, "Young brother, why would you have such a thought?"

"If we really followed your suggestion, why would we have bothered with that big battle?"

"Why don't we all sit down and relax, and take a look at the Nine Yin Manual in your hands?"

Zhou Botong, who had been hiding behind Xu Xingchen, thought he had misheard and kept picking at his ears with his fingers. Hearing Hong Qigong's words, he finally realized what was happening and shouted angrily, "What? How could you do this?"

"I gave you the Nine Yin Manual, how can you let that old poison master and Huang Yaoshi see it?"

"Those two are the worst. One trapped me on the island for over ten years; the other used snakes to scare me. Neither of them are good people."

Xu Xingchen waved his hand to stop Zhou Botong's commotion and said gently, "Martial arts manuals, even if they are the best in the world, are meant to be learned; why be so protective of them and hang them on a high shelf?"

"Wouldn't that be a disservice to Huang Shang, the author who created it?!"

Zhou Botong, his beard bristling and eyes wide, said, "When my senior brother died, he faked his death once to prevent the old poison master from obtaining the Nine Yin Manual, and used his One-Finger Divine Skill to break his Toad Stance."

"Now you're letting this old poisoner see the Nine Yin Manual? Hasn't my senior brother died in vain?"

Xu Xingchen shook his head and said, "As the saying goes, times change; your senior brother had his own concerns back then."

"But in my opinion, if a martial art cannot be learned by more people and cannot be promoted and developed, it will eventually be lost one day."

"This will be a tremendous loss for the martial arts world of the Central Plains."

"Moreover, if we study the Nine Yin Manual together, our martial arts skills will all improve."

"By then, won't the Four Great Martial Arts Masters or the Five Great Martial Arts Masters of the Central Plains be just a few of you?! Won't the power be as evenly matched as it is now?!"

"In this way, the Nine Yin Manual, this extraordinary book of the world, has also been passed down."

"Isn't this a win-win situation?!"

Zhou Botong crossed his two round arms over his chest, his eyebrows drooping, and said angrily, "If you let Huang Yaoshi learn the Nine Yin Manual, he will become even more evil; if you let that old poison master learn the Nine Yin Manual, he will harm even more people; this is not killing two birds with one stone, this is aiding and abetting evil."

Huang Yaoshi snorted coldly and said calmly, "Old rascal, it seems I've been too good to you all these years on the island; I truly regret not making you go hungry nine times in three days and only eat one meal in five."

Ouyang Feng sneered repeatedly: "I, Ouyang Feng, have roamed the world for decades, renowned not only in the Central Plains martial arts world but also in the Western Regions; even without the Nine Yin Manual, the world is still at my disposal."

Hong Qigong also disagreed with Xu Xingchen's approach, advising, "This matter is too important; we should consider it further."

Xu Xingchen sighed helplessly, "I can't wait that long, and neither can the Great Song Dynasty." "The Great Song Dynasty?"

Upon hearing Xu Xingchen suddenly mention those two words, Huang Yaoshi, Hong Qigong, and Ouyang Feng were all quite surprised.

Even Zhou Botong raised his long eyebrows, stared with his round eyes, and asked in confusion, "What does letting a few of them see the Nine Yin Manual have to do with the Song Dynasty?"

Xu Xingchen glanced at the group and then uttered a shocking statement: "The Song Dynasty's fate is sealed!"

"what?"

"how come?"

"This is impossible."

“Brother Xu, you can’t talk nonsense and scare us.”

Some frowned, some were surprised, and some were incredulous. The last sentence came from Zhou Botong's mouth.

Xu Xingchen sneered: "Since Zhao Gou fled from Bianliang in the north to Hangzhou in the south and renamed Hangzhou Lin'an, several decades have passed."

"At first, those people may have had the ambition to launch a northern expedition and recapture Bianliang, but as they stayed in Lin'an for longer, they gradually lost that spirit."

"Now, we are merely clinging to a small territory, barely surviving, and pinning our hopes on the Great Jin Kingdom to coexist peacefully and jointly govern the world."

"How could they not know that the Great Jin Dynasty has always harbored ambitions to annex the Southern Song Dynasty and achieve the unification of the Central Plains?"

"And in that grassland desert, a gray wolf is rising up at an astonishing speed, bloodily."

"If things go as expected, that wolf will do what the Great Jin Dynasty did back then: after unifying the borderlands, it will head south to attack the Great Jin Dynasty."

"First destroy the Jin Dynasty, then destroy the Song Dynasty."

"At that time, the entire Central Plains will be plunged into a bloodbath, countless lives will be lost, and countless tragedies will occur."

Hong Qigong, Huang Yaoshi, Ouyang Feng, and Zhou Botong were all stunned upon hearing these words.

Unlike Zhou Botong, who was solely focused on playing around and causing trouble, the other three not only possessed unparalleled martial arts skills but also frequently paid attention to world affairs.

Apart from Ouyang Feng, who came from White Camel Mountain in the Western Regions, both Hong Qigong and Huang Yaoshi were born in the Song Dynasty and have always considered themselves subjects of the Song Dynasty.

They were not unaware that the Southern Song Dynasty was too weak to recover, nor were they unaware that the Jin Dynasty had always wanted to annex the Song Dynasty.
However, they also saw that the Jin Dynasty had been at war for years, its people and horses were exhausted, its people longed for peace after a long period of chaos, and its officials had also fallen into a life of comfort and enjoyment.

Although wars between the two countries occurred from time to time, the situation remained at a stalemate and was never particularly intense.

In their minds, this stalemate might continue indefinitely, or perhaps one day the Song Dynasty's defenses would suddenly collapse, and the entire Song Dynasty would be utterly destroyed by the Jin Dynasty.
They had considered these situations, but there was nothing they could do!

National affairs are matters for the princes and nobles in the court to consider. Although these people from the martial arts world are willing to serve their country, they have no way to do so. Moreover, given their status and position in the martial arts world, they would not submit to the princes and nobles in the court and obey the orders of those good-for-nothings.
Similarly, the scholars in the imperial court, high above all others, always regarded these people from the martial arts world as uncouth and barbaric individuals who disrupted the peace of the world, and always looked down upon them.

Although the martial arts world and the imperial court are both located in the Song Dynasty, they are like two separate worlds, looking down on each other and having no way to cooperate.

The first half of Xu Xingchen's story, though somewhat alarming, was within their expectations; however, the second half left them somewhat bewildered.

In the vast grasslands and deserts, a wolf is rising up, destined to destroy the Jin and Song dynasties.

Such a prophecy comes out of nowhere and has no basis whatsoever!
Guo Jing, who had only grown up in the desert and grasslands, quickly realized what was going on and asked incredulously, "Master, you're not talking about Temujin Khan, are you?"

“That’s right, it is Temujin!” Xu Xingchen nodded and recounted the major events that would later occur under a fabricated pretext: “I have lived with you on the desert and grasslands for so many years. Besides teaching you to read and practice martial arts, I often traveled around and have a great understanding of the situation on the desert and grasslands.”

"I have traveled all over the desert and grasslands, met many tribal khans and chieftains, and assessed each of them. The vast majority of them are mindless conservatives."

"Only Temujin, with his ambition and aspirations, sought to unify all the Mongol tribes and contend with the Jin Dynasty."

"The Jin Dynasty constantly instigated discord among the Mongol tribes, causing them to kill each other and preventing them from uniting as one, which was a way of guarding against them."

"Unfortunately, none of the other Mongol tribal khans were a match for Temujin; they would eventually be conquered and annexed by him."

"When that day comes, Temujin will surely lead the Mongol army into Shanhaiguan and fight the Jin Dynasty to the death."

"The Great Jin Kingdom has enjoyed peace for a long time and is no match for the Mongol cavalry that have just emerged from bloodshed; its demise will likely be faster than anyone expects."

"And with the fall of the Jin Dynasty, next up is our Great Song Dynasty."

"Our Great Song Dynasty couldn't even withstand the attack of the Great Jin Dynasty, let alone the Mongol cavalry."

"If nothing changes, the day when the Great Song and Great Jin dynasties are destroyed is probably not far off."

(End of this chapter)