The First Sword of the Universe

Chapter 516 Where did you go?

Li Qiushui also settled down in the villa, and like Wu Xingyun, she spent her days and nights in the ice cave at the back of the mountain, keeping her former lover company.

Wu Yazi's injuries were far more severe than Duan Yanqing's, so his recovery time was delayed considerably.

Xu Xingchen would go over to observe for a while each day, and then return to attend to her own affairs.

As for the occasional glares and verbal exchanges between Li Qiushui and Wu Xingyun, that was none of his business.

This is, after all, a matter within the "family" of the Xiaoyao Sect.

Wang Yuyan had no reason to interrupt.

Those were the grudges and feuds of the older generation; she had no right to offer advice.

Soon, she left Dayu Manor and once again joined the four great generals of the Murong family to travel the martial world and continue to search for Murong Fu.

The Big Fish Manor fell silent for a moment.

No, there was also the clanging of hammers striking chisels, the sound of chiseling through the mountain rocks.

The disciples of the Deaf-Mute Sect possess profound martial arts skills, great strength, and ample stamina. Coupled with their exquisite craftsmanship, the thirty-six ten-zhang-tall stone statues of Wu Xingyun are nearing completion.

Xu Xingchen would occasionally go to check on those stone statues. Each one was lifelike, with its own unique appearance and temperament, making them truly rare and exquisite works of art.

The disciples of the Deaf-Mute Sect, along with Mr. Congbian Su Xinghe, were all delighted and felt completely at ease looking at their masterpiece.

In this life, we hope to leave behind some of our own works for future generations to appreciate and admire.

Isn't this a wonderful and exhilarating thing?!
The sense of honor reached its peak when Xu Xingchen allowed them to carve their names on a stone wall near the statues.

Then, before Li Qiushui could speak, he asked Su Xinghe and the disciples of the Deaf-Mute Sect to "contract" the unfinished stone statues on the other side of the mountain.

After all, Li Qiushui was also Wuyazi's junior sister, and they had been husband and wife for a period of time, so their relationship was even closer than that of Tianshan Tonglao.

Li Qiushui is both Su Xinghe's martial uncle and Su Xinghe's martial wife.

Even if Li Qiushui didn't need to speak, Su Xinghe should still be more self-aware.

The disciples of the Deaf-Mute Sect had seen the Heavenly Child Granny Wu Xingyun, which is why they were able to carve those thirty-six stone statues so lifelike and realistic.

However, they didn't know much about Li Qiushui.

I had only watched her fight with Xu Xingchen and Wu Xingyun from a distance a month ago, and I didn't know much about her appearance, temperament, or figure.

To allow the disciples of the Deaf-Mute Sect to experience Li Qiushui's beauty and temperament, Xu Xingchen brought out the jade statue that had been placed in his study for them to appreciate.

The jade sculpture is the work of Wu Yazi, whose craftsmanship is superb, even among the most skilled craftsmen in the world today.

Su Xinghe was very excited to see his master's perfect work. He looked around the jade statue for a long time before leaving satisfied.

The disciples of the Deaf-Mute Sect also had their eyes shining with wonder. They circled the jade statue with great enthusiasm and admired it for a long time, feeling that they had gained a lot.

Soon, they began carving the thirty-six stone statues of Li Qiushui on the right.

The clanging sound rang out again.

The row of stone statues embedded in the mountain rocks gradually shed their rough forms, their skin becoming delicate and textured, their clothing folds light and exquisite, and their empty faces gradually revealing bright and beautiful features such as eyebrows, eyes, nose, lips, and ears.

When Li Qiushui's stone statues were completed, the thirty-six statues seemed to come alive, becoming lifelike.

even
After the disciples of the Deaf-Mute Sect finished carving the stone statue of Li Qiushui, they went back to work and meticulously recarved the stone statues of Wu Xingyun.

After viewing the jade statue and honing their skills with the Li Qiushui stone statue, their craftsmanship improved significantly.

Seeing that they were about to finish, Xu Xingchen left the manor and went to Suzhou City to find a lacquerer and buy a large amount of lacquer dyes to use on the stone statues.

If you're going to do something, do it to the best of your ability.

Stone statues without paint or dye are destined to be imperfect.

However, there are too many stone statues of various sizes behind the villa, requiring a lot of paint and dye.

The lacquerers in Suzhou exhausted all their resources, yet there were still many shortfalls.

Moreover, Xu Xingchen only wanted top-quality lacquer dyes; anything of even the slightest inferior quality wouldn't meet his standards.

He began spending large sums of money to have merchants purchase goods from various parts of the Song Dynasty and then transport them back.

Even rare lacquer dyes from distant places like the Liao, Western Xia, and Tubo kingdoms, he was willing to pay a high price to buy them as long as the merchants could bring them back.

For a top expert like Xu Xingchen, acquiring some money is incredibly easy.

Especially in the unique environment of the Song Dynasty, there were countless rebellious forces, treacherous mountain bandits, river overlords, and evil gangs.

Xu Xingchen only needs to make a slight move to wipe out those forces, and incidentally take the ill-gotten gains accumulated in their strongholds to rob the rich and help the poor.

Robbing the wealth of criminal gangs to alleviate their own poverty is one thing.

He also set aside most of his wealth to help the poor and needy people suffering from disasters.

Of course, he had no intention of establishing his own power in the martial arts world, so he found some representatives in the government and asked them to use the money for disaster relief.

He, like the Sword of Damocles, hung over the heads of those officials, secretly monitoring their actions.

For minor embezzlement, they turn a blind eye and let it go.

After all, he understood the principle that "if the water is too clear, there will be no fish."

However, if any official dared to embezzle large sums of money and put it into their own pocket, Xu Xingchen would cut off their head and hang it above the city gate to deter corrupt officials and serve as a warning to future generations.

This day.

Xu Xingchen handed over the last of his silver to the local government officials, instructing them to act as their magistrates and rescue the impoverished people who were suffering from disaster.

He then changed his appearance, wearing a straw hat and coarse clothes, and sat in a local restaurant eating and drinking.

A group of people suddenly walked in from outside.

Xu Xingchen glanced up casually, a hint of surprise in her eyes, thinking to herself, "Why are they here?"

The group consisted of the four great generals of the Murong family: Deng Baichuan, Gongye Qian, Bao Butong, and Feng Bo'e, as well as three women: A'Zhu, A'Bi, and Wang Yuyan.

Xu Xingchen did not go up to acknowledge them; instead, she ate and drank tea while secretly observing them.

Led by the waiter, Wang Yuyan and her group sat down at a table not far away.

We ordered several dishes and a jar of wine.

While waiting for the waiter to serve their food, the group chatted quietly.

“Miss, I’ve already inquired. Yesterday, someone saw someone resembling the young master in the nearby mountains.”

"Fourth Brother Feng, is the information accurate? We've traveled to so many places, but we're always one step behind our cousin and the others."

"It should be accurate. The hunter witnessed the young master's fierce battle with others. From his description, it seemed to resemble the young master's 'Star Shifting Divine Skill' and Xiao Feng's thunderous power."

"Let's finish our meal quickly, then head into the mountains to find my cousin."

"It's getting dark; I'm afraid we won't be able to leave the city in time tonight."

"Hopefully, the young master and his companions haven't gone far."

Xu Xingchen listened to their conversation and even remembered the mountain terrain and directions they mentioned.

He finished the last sip of tea in his bowl, got up, walked to the counter, dropped some loose silver, and turned to leave the restaurant.

Once you exit the east city gate, you'll see rolling green hills stretching for dozens of miles ahead.

Further in, one can vaguely see some majestic mountains that seem to connect with the sky.

By this time, it was getting late.

Xu Xingchen had just stepped out of the city gate when it creaked and slowly closed behind him.

Merchants and travelers on the main road outside were extremely rare, and even those who were there were mostly farmers living in nearby villages.

They go into the city during the day to sell things grown on their own land or wild game picked or hunted in the mountains.

As darkness fell, they would carry baskets, drive oxcarts, and hurry out of the city, dispersing to villages in all directions.

Xu Xingchen walked along the official road at a normal pace at first, but as the surrounding pedestrians gradually moved away, his pace quickened.

When there was no one else around for miles, he stomped his foot on the ground and leaped into the air. Wisps of white mist quickly emerged from every acupoint on his body, rapidly condensing into a swirling white cloud beneath his feet.

next moment.

The white clouds carried Xu Xingchen's figure, and they flew towards the distant mountains at lightning speed.

In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, he had crossed dozens of miles of plains and entered the mountains.

A sharp light, like lightning, focused in his eyes, allowing him to see the night as if it were daytime. He could clearly see everything, big and small, in the forest below, even the shadows hidden among the trees and rocks.

Even hunters skilled in martial arts cannot venture too far into the mountains.

"Therefore, the place where Qiao Xiaofeng and Murong Fu, the two pairs of fathers and sons, fought should be nearby."

As Xu Xingchen pondered, he rode the white clouds, circling above the mountainous area within a radius of dozens of miles, gradually surveying the situation below.

A moment later, his eyes lit up, and he quickly lowered his cloud and landed in a valley below.

White clouds rolled and surged, lifting Xu Xingchen's body three or four zhang (approximately 10-12 meters) into the air.

This valley seemed to have been struck by a calamity, an earthquake.

a mess!
Large amounts of rocks collapsed from the mountains and scattered all over the nearby grassland.

Hundreds of trees in the surrounding woods were broken and fell over.

Nearly half of the trees have decomposed into smaller stumps, blocks, planks, chips, and sawdust.
Many trees were charred black, as if they had been burned by a raging fire.
The ground was full of potholes and pits of varying sizes.

Some of the pits contained soil that was the color of fresh soil and exuded a fresh earthy smell.

Some pits are charred black, and inside you can find glass-like material formed from the melting of sand and gravel.

The battlefield in this valley was so vast and so devastating that it seemed as if hundreds of people had engaged in a fierce battle.

Xu Xingchen discerned from various traces that Xiao Feng had used the power of lightning to control the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms, and also saw the cracks and craters created by Murong Fu's use of the Star Shifting Divine Skill.

At the same time, there are also many martial arts techniques, some fierce and domineering, others gentle and silent, that have left their mark.

"They really did fight here."

"These traces are still fresh; they must not have gone far."

Xu Xingchen hovered and flew around the valley on white clouds, quickly finding some new traces, and immediately chased after them.

Those marks were not noticeable.

It should be the place where Murong Fu and his son, and Xiao Feng and his son, were affected by the aftershocks during their pursuit and entanglement.

The four moved very quickly, leaving behind scattered traces in places that were all far apart.

Or it could be a broken tree.
Or it could be collapsed rocks.
Or it could be a crater from an explosion.
Xu Xingchen followed the trails and flew deeper into the mountains.

But as he flew, his speed slowed down.

Those scattered traces became fewer and fewer, until finally they disappeared completely.

Xu Xingchen deliberately lowered the white cloud and carefully examined the mountains, rivers, plains, and cliffs below, but he couldn't even find the footprints left by their leaps and bounds.

This made Xu Xingchen wonder if those four people had already broken through to the Heavenly Realm and become top experts capable of flying with their own qi!

This is not impossible.

After all, the martial arts talent and techniques practiced by those four people were extraordinary.

In a prolonged and intense battle, it is entirely possible to unleash one's potential and achieve a breakthrough in the heat of battle.

However, this makes it extremely difficult for the four major families of the Murong clan and Wang Yuyan's group to catch up with their young master.

Even Xu Xingchen was scratching his head at this moment.

White clouds traced a faint, almost imperceptible path across the night sky, sweeping past the forests, rivers, and mountains below.

The bright moon in the sky clearly illuminated his swift figure, his billowing clothes, and his wildly flowing hair.

He expanded the scope of the search.

Round and round.
They searched the entire area within a radius of dozens of miles.

However, no new clues have been found.

He eventually arrived at the summit of a majestic mountain nearby.

Like moonlight spilling across water
The pine trees, bowing as if welcoming guests, and the boulders, neatly shaped like those cleaved by an axe, jut out from the cliffs of the mountaintop, together create an extremely vivid and tranquil scene.

Xu Xingchen dispelled the white cloud beneath her feet, landing on the cliff face, and gazed at the surrounding towering mountains.

Nocturnal animals and birds emitted eerie cries that echoed through the mountains and fields.

A waterfall roared down, reflecting the silvery moonlight, like a silver dragon hanging upside down on the mountainside.

Apart from that, there were no flames rising and leaping to illuminate the corners of the mountains and fields, nor were any sounds of fierce fighting heard.

The vast majority of the creatures living in these towering mountains have fallen into a deep slumber.

"Did we lose them?"

"Or did they just run too fast?"

"Forget it, I'll search again during the day tomorrow. Maybe I can find some traces that I wouldn't notice at night under the sunlight."

Xu Xingchen muttered to himself as he gathered some dry firewood and branches nearby and lit a bonfire on the leeward side of the boulder atop the mountain.

When night falls, people who spend the night in the wild like to light campfires to illuminate the surroundings, both to drive away wild animals and to warm themselves.

This habit is deeply rooted in people's genes and has been passed down for countless generations. Even though Xu Xingchen doesn't use the campfire for lighting, warmth, grilling food, or driving away wild animals, he still can't help but do it.

of course.

Lighting a bright campfire on the summit of this desolate mountain, visible to all living things within a radius of dozens of miles, is not a wise move.

However, who can blame Xu Xingchen for being so skilled and daring?
(End of this chapter)