Sword Roaring in the Sky

Chapter 367 The Big Boss

The two leaders of the Thirty-Six Friends were both at the Innate Realm when they were captured. One was from Shaochan Temple and was of the same generation as the Great Ku Zen Master and the Empty Cicada Monk. He called himself the Bitter Monk. The other called himself Fu Zaofei and had a mysterious background. However, Zhou Shuyou told Sun Yanwan that this person possessed the Hu family's martial arts skills, which were both refined and pure, almost on par with Hu Qingdi in his prime. They suspected that he was an illegitimate son of the Hu family.

The monk, as his name suggests, had a perpetually bitter face. Having been imprisoned for so many years, even if he didn't originally have this face, he would have developed it from being imprisoned.

Fu Zaofei is different. Although he is not young, he probably entered the Innate Realm very early. He looks very young, but he also has a bit of a down-and-out and vicissitudes, which are mixed into a very charming flavor. He must have been very popular with the female knights and heroines in the martial arts world when he was young.

Having acquired the complete set of martial arts from the Hu family, Sun Yanwan was well-versed in the mysteries of Hu family martial arts. Just by looking at this person's walking posture, he knew that what his Grandmaster Uncle Zhou said was correct. This person's martial arts from the Hu family were extremely pure, and he had probably already mastered the Hunyuan Sword Scripture.

Sun Yanwan had "never met" Hu Qingdi, nor did he know who was better at martial arts, but all the Hu family members he had met, even if tied together, were no match for this self-proclaimed Fu Zaofei, the head of the family.

The Bitter Monk, Fu Zaofei, and Gu Shenggong are considered the three giants of the Thirty-Six Friends, although Gu Shenggong's martial arts skills are slightly inferior and he is not yet a Grandmaster.

Upon seeing Sun Yanwan from afar, the monk chanted a Buddhist prayer, clasped his hands together in greeting, and exclaimed, "The monk greets Scholar Sun. We all thank Scholar Sun for killing the tyrant and rescuing us from this sea of ​​suffering."

Although the former emperor of Dalang was killed by Yang Wuji and the blame was nominally placed on Alanto, these people were released by Zhang Xianwei himself. It is quite obvious that the Thirty-Six Friends attributed all the favors to Sun Yanwan.

After escaping, the monk did not return to Shaochan Temple, clearly harboring resentment towards his sect for failing to rescue him for decades. Therefore, it is not surprising that he had such goodwill towards Sun Yanwan.

Although Fu Zaofei had also been imprisoned for many years, he remained elegant and graceful. He bowed deeply and said, "I am also grateful to Scholar Sun for traveling so far to find us and wish to lift the restrictions."

It was no exaggeration for Sun Yanwan to remove all the restrictions on Gu Shenggong, Shi Tianxing, and others along the way. As a result, the Thirty-Six Friends gradually lost their suspicions. Moreover, Zhou Shuyou was a fellow prisoner who had been imprisoned with them, so he naturally felt closer to Sun Yanwan.

Sun Yanwan returned the greeting with a cupped hand and said, "You seniors are too kind. This is only what I should do."

"Moreover, my Uncle-Master Zhou from the Songyang Sect is also imprisoned in the Tianwu Prison. Ancestor Feng tried to break into the Tianwu Prison dozens of times but failed. Later, he repeatedly instructed us, his juniors, to rescue Uncle-Master Zhou. Yan Wan is merely following the late ancestor's dying wish."

These words, coupled with their undeniable achievements, led everyone present to the same conclusion: "The Songyang Sect is truly a remarkable sect!"

Some of them had been imprisoned for twenty or thirty years, while others had been imprisoned for more than fifty years. While in the Tianwu Prison, they had hoped that some relatives or friends would come to rescue them, but they never did. In the end, it was the disciples of the Songyang Sect who broke into the Tianwu Prison, which caused their mentality to become somewhat "distorted".

However, even if it were Sun Yanwan herself, she would have to say that the Songyang Sect is truly a good sect. Her master, senior brother, and all her fellow disciples are all good people.

Sun Yanwan, Zhou Shuyou, Shi Si, Yang Diao'er, and others were all invited to the lair of the Thirty-Six Friends. They had just been released, and decades had passed. Most of their old relatives and friends had lost contact, and many did not want to contact their old friends, so they seized a mountain stronghold and settled down temporarily.

When Sun Yanwan arrived at the mountain stronghold where they were hiding, she learned that the Thirty-Six Friends were not actually thirty-six people, but more than a hundred. However, the rest of them were either physically disabled or had their meridians destroyed, so they had lost all their martial arts skills and could only hide and could not go out.

The more these people hated the Zhang family of Tianwu, the deeper their gratitude towards Sun Yanwan became. Especially after they heard that Sun Yanwan had come to remove the restrictions on everyone, and that there was already a precedent for this, so she did not make any demands or threats. Almost everyone had an overwhelming sense of goodwill towards Sun Yanwan.

Upon arriving at the mountain stronghold, Sun Yanwan immediately began treating the injured. In truth, the Taiyi Azure Spirit Fan was not a panacea. The Heavenly Martial Dragon-Trapping Nails of the Zhang family of Heavenly Martial were manageable, as he had received the Heavenly Martial Six Arts from his senior brother and, even without practicing them, understood their mysteries, making removal easy. However, the methods employed by those from Ningbi Cliff were "colorful and varied," with many restrictive techniques that were unheard of and unseen. Even though Sun Yanwan's martial arts had reached the level of a grandmaster and he was familiar with countless divine skills, he still had to put in a great deal of effort.

Each time he encountered a new method of restricting true energy, he would ponder it as if solving a math problem, racking his brains while simultaneously exclaiming how exciting it was, as if he had discovered something fascinating.

Sun Yanwan stayed in the mountain stronghold where the Thirty-Six Friends were hiding for more than a month, discussing martial arts with these seniors in the martial arts world every day. Putting aside other benefits, she compiled a book called "Heavenly Punishment Scroll" which included thirteen methods of imprisoning true qi. She also specially studied a universal method that could be used with any true qi, without being restricted to any particular school or sect. She also included methods for breaking the restrictions.

Sun Yanwan did nothing, but Zhou Shuyou was unwilling to give up. He originally thought that he was alone and could only ask Sun Yanwan to go with him. However, he met the Thirty-Six Friends. He knew that these people knew some of the secrets of Ningbi Cliff, and their martial arts were all profound. Moreover, they had spent decades together in Tianwu Prison, so they knew each other well. Therefore, he made connections everywhere and invited these people to go to Ningbi Cliff together.

The monk Ku, Fu Zaofei, Gu Shenggong, and others hated the Zhang family of Tianwu first and Ningbi Cliff second. Although the Zhang family of Tianwu was still the emperor of Dalang, they all believed Zhou Shuyou's statement that Zhang Qingxi was no longer a true descendant of the Zhang family and that he had not even learned the Tianwu Divine Skill. This slightly alleviated their hatred, but their hatred for Ningbi Cliff was irreconcilable.

Even if Zhou Shuyou hadn't encouraged them, these people would still have wanted to go to Ningbi Cliff to seek revenge. However, they were all bound by restrictions. Normally, they could kill a few officials from Dalang in a short time without much trouble. But if they went to Ningbi Cliff, there would inevitably be a series of battles. How could they possibly withstand that?

I fear that after a dozen or so moves, before the enemy is even defeated, my internal energy will be thrown into disarray, leaving me no choice but to be captured again and suffer further humiliation.

Now that Sun Yanwan has stepped in and removed the restrictions on them, many of the thirty-six friends have become quite cunning. In fact, if they hadn't already become prisoners, they wouldn't be afraid of the people of Ningbi Cliff in terms of martial arts alone.

These people practice martial arts in a way that is not the right one. They absorb the internal energy of others in the hope that they can achieve quick success. Such cultivation is bound to have hidden dangers. Their true understanding of martial arts is too weak. At the same level, their martial arts skills are definitely not as good as those of martial artists who have progressed step by step.

(End of this chapter)