The Legend of the Condor Heroes: From Being Expelled from Peach Blossom Island

Chapter 421 Guo Jing Becomes an Apprentice
The Seven Heroes of Jiangnan exchanged glances, their expressions somewhat troubled.

People in the martial arts world are often prejudiced, and even the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan are not immune to this. Moreover, this involves their bet with Qiu Chuji from back then.

This is also the real reason why Wu Chengyu took the initiative to reveal that he had killed Shi Miyuan; it was definitely not for the purpose of showing off.

Few people in the world know about this, and Wu Chengyu deliberately kept it from the outside world.

Apart from Yue Fei's army, which knew the truth from the beginning, and the upper echelons of the rebel army led by his wife, Hong Niangzi, no one else in the world knew that the assassin who killed Shi Miyuan was a handsome young man in his early twenties.

Even among his clansmen in Wujiapo, his most trusted fourth uncle, Wu Zhengliang, probably never imagined that Shi Miyuan's death was caused by his good nephew.

Besides answering Zhu Cong's questions, Wu Chengyu's purpose in revealing his identity was to elevate his own status in the martial arts world.

When you're in the world of martial arts, your status and position will affect how others treat you. When it's time to show your true abilities, you can't hide them.

In the original novel, Guo Jing met Hong Qigong because of the delicious food Huang Rong made. However, if Hong Qigong didn't think much of Guo Jing, he would never have taught him the missing three moves of the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms.

The main reason why he didn't pass on all the Eighteen Palms was because Guo Jing had a lineage of masters. Hong Qigong himself said that if all eighteen palms were passed down, he thought that no one but Guo Jing would be his master.

Later, Guo Jing was only able to become Hong Qigong's disciple after obtaining the consent of the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan, and Hong Qigong was only then willing to accept him as a disciple.

Otherwise, if one already has a master, it would be a major taboo in the martial arts world to rashly accept someone else as a master. It's not that one can't accept a master, but one must obtain the consent of one's own master.

The most important reason why the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan agreed to let him become their disciple was that Guo Jing's master was Hong Qigong, the Northern Beggar, one of the Five Greats of the World.

The Seven Heroes of Jiangnan, who frequented the Jiaxing area, could not possibly have been unaware of the name of Hong Qigong, the leader of the Beggars' Sect. They knew he was a peerless master and a righteous hero, which is why they agreed to let Guo Jing study under another renowned master.

This is not only a wonderful story, but it also allows one's apprentice to learn advanced martial arts skills, so why not?

In other words, if Guo Jing's new master, whether in terms of martial arts or reputation, did not gain the approval of the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan, these guys would never agree due to their stubborn nature. Guo Jing, on the other hand, respected his teachers the most, and if his master did not agree, he would absolutely not become a disciple.

If Wu Chengyu didn't reveal that he had assassinated Shi Miyuan and let the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan know that he was the one who was the only one in the Nine Provinces, then to the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan he would always be a junior in the martial arts world. Even if his martial arts were better than theirs, they wouldn't give up their disciple.

If someone you've only met once, with whom you have no real friendship, suddenly appears on the Mongolian grasslands after many years and immediately asks to take Guo Jing as his disciple, regardless of others, just considering the foul temper of Ke Zhen'e, the Flying Bat, he would definitely turn on you on the spot.

Now things are different. The martial arts and reputation represented by Jiuzhou Buer are actually no less than those of Hong Qigong. Hong Qigong killed 231 villains in his lifetime, but all of them combined, in terms of status and harm, are not as bad as Shi Miyuan, who dragged down the Southern Song Dynasty.

Such a person now wants to take their foolish disciple as an apprentice and teach him superior martial arts; they really can't find a reason to object.

Moreover, the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan had just bowed to Wu Chengyu in unison, saying they would do anything for him, even at the cost of their lives. Now, instead of asking them to die, he wanted to take their disciples as his own.

The words had already been spoken, and the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan had essentially imprisoned themselves; they couldn't take it back now.

Seeing their expressions, Wu Chengyu knew that he could force Guo Jing to become his disciple by taking advantage of their words, but it would inevitably make them uncomfortable. He respected the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan very much, so how could he do such a thing?

"Please don't be embarrassed, seven of you. Let me explain. There are reasons why I want to take Guo Jing as my disciple, but I don't know how to say them. I don't want to lie to people, so I will just keep quiet. Let's just say that Guo Jing and I are destined to be together, and taking him as my disciple is to fulfill this destiny."

I only wanted to use the pretext of Guo Jing becoming my disciple to teach him some martial arts. I had absolutely no ulterior motives. How could the great righteousness that the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan showed to the Guo family be replaced by a mere act of passing on their skills?

From now on, no matter when or where, when talking about Guo Jing's mentors, the seven of you will always be listed first. Even without mentioning me, I, Wu, can never replace your place in Guo Jing's heart.

Wu Chengyu's statement immediately softened the expressions of the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan, which was tantamount to Wu Chengyu voluntarily admitting that he was inferior to the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan.

There is no first place in literature, but there is no second place in martial arts. Wu Chengyu has already humbled himself enough and given him plenty of face.

But that's not enough. To get the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan to agree, Wu Chengyu needs to give them a way out.

"When I taught Yang Kang martial arts, besides the next step in the game, I also had my own selfish reasons."

The martial arts I passed on to Yang Kang are extraordinary. There are still more than three years left in your eighteen-year agreement. This period is enough time for Yang Kang to make rapid progress, and in terms of skill alone, he may not be inferior to a first-class master. Judging from Guo Jing's current progress in martial arts, he will definitely not be a match for Yang Kang in three years.

This means I've already disrupted the balance of your bet, so it would be best if I also taught Guo Jing some kung fu; only then would it be fair.

This is just a little trick I played, nothing refined, so please forgive me, my seven esteemed heroes.

The Seven Heroes of Jiangnan now understood that if they didn't agree to Wu Chengyu accepting Guo Jing as his disciple after his intervention, the bet would be unbalanced, and they would inevitably lose. Therefore, to save face, they really needed Wu Chengyu to teach Guo Jing some martial arts as well. It was indeed a clever scheme, but the reason wasn't offensive, and it gave them enough face to agree to Guo Jing becoming his disciple.

Wu Chengyu humbled himself so much and gave him such a generous way out that even the Flying Bat Ke Zhen'e felt extremely comfortable. One doesn't hit a smiling face, especially one who had offered himself up to teach his disciple.

“Brother Wu is a great hero of our time, while the seven of us are just ordinary people. If we still disagree, we would truly be ungrateful and would cause Jing’er to miss an opportunity. Our pride is nothing; what matters most is that Jing’er can become a useful person.”

"Jing'er, why don't you kowtow to your martial arts master and formally become his disciple? To be able to become the disciple of the unparalleled master of the Nine Provinces is an immense blessing for you."

Guo Jing was bewildered and couldn't understand how he had gained another master in just a few words. But being the most obedient person, he went straight to Wu Chengyu, knelt down, and kowtowed three times.

Wu Chengyu was eager to take him as his disciple, so he readily accepted the three kowtows. He finally felt a sense of pride. This was Guo Jing, after all! Which time traveler wouldn't want to take him as their disciple? Now he had finally succeeded.

The Nine Provinces' Unparalleled Education has produced a great hero who serves the country and its people; this is what it truly means to pass on the torch.

After Guo Jing kowtowed three times, Wu Chengyu quickly helped him up, patted his head affectionately, and bowed to Li Ping, who was overjoyed.

"Sister-in-law Guo, I have a special connection with the Guo family. Now that I've become Jing'er's apprentice, we're all family from now on."

Li Ping nodded repeatedly, feeling somewhat sad, yet unable to speak. She had only roughly understood the conversation between the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan and Wu Chengyu, and did not know who Shi Miyuan was. However, she knew that if even the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan respected Wu Chengyu so much, he must be an extraordinary person, and it was an immense blessing for Guo Jing to become Wu Chengyu's disciple.

Wu Chengyu asked everyone to sit down. Guo Jing went around serving everyone milk tea. At this moment, Han Xiaoying, who was most concerned about Guo Jing, asked.

"What martial arts did Brother Wu teach Yang Kang that made him so skilled?"

"As for this martial art, it is indeed extraordinary. It can be considered the fundamental technique of the Quanzhen Sect, the Innate Skill used by Wang Chongyang, the Central Divine, to defeat all the masters in the world."

"Innate Skill?" The Seven Heroes of Jiangnan were actually from the bottom of the martial arts world. Wang Chongyang, the Central Divine, knew about it, but the Innate Skill had not appeared in the world for many years, and they had never heard of it.

However, they knew that Qiu Chuji was just one of Wang Chongyang's disciples, yet he had managed to defeat all seven of them. Moreover, Qiu Chuji's master was the best in the world, so his innate skill was definitely extraordinary.

Han Baoju asked anxiously, "Brother Wu, is the skill you're going to pass on to Jing'er also the Innate Skill?"

Zhu Cong was concerned about something else: "If Yang Kang's character is really as bad as we thought, wouldn't the higher his martial arts skills, the greater the danger he would face?"

"These two questions can actually be answered together. Wang Chongyang's innate skill is actually flawed. If Yang Kang's character is not up to par, the innate skill will only harm him. As for Jing'er, the skill I pass on to him depends on his choice."

"Jing'er, come here."

Guo Jing followed the instructions and came to Wu Chengyu's side. Wu Chengyu first carefully examined Guo Jing's bones and muscles as if he were touching bones. This was not as casual as when he took Yang Kang as his disciple. Instead, he carefully examined Guo Jing's bones and muscles from top to bottom.

At a crucial moment, he even carefully manipulated Guo Jing's tendons with a bone-dislocating grappling technique, causing slight pain, but Guo Jing endured it without uttering a sound.

Next, Wu Chengyu instructed Guo Jing not to resist, then channeled his internal energy into Guo Jing's body to check his meridians. He circulated all twelve regular meridians and eight extraordinary meridians.

After finishing, Wu Chengyu took another good look at the still-childish boy and was very satisfied.

What does it mean to be a gem unpolished? Guo Jing is a perfect example. He is by no means a late bloomer. This guy may have been a late bloomer. It is said that he could not speak properly when he was four or five years old. In terms of comprehension, he may not be as good as Yang Kang, but he is truly born with a good constitution. His tendons and muscles are superior from birth.

As for his meridians, saying that all meridians are unobstructed is a bit of an exaggeration, but 80% of the twelve regular meridians and eight extraordinary meridians are unobstructed. The rest can be opened up by cultivating internal energy over time. This is something that many people with naturally obstructed meridians cannot achieve even after a lifetime of practice.

Of all the people Wu Chengyu had ever met, only A Ku was better than him. But A Ku was a product of a transformation after training with the Bear. Feng Mofeng had better comprehension and his meridians were similar to Guo Jing's, but his natural aptitude was weaker than Guo Jing's.

Wu Chengyu had encountered a similar person in his previous life. One of his childhood friends, when they were learning the same thing at the same time since childhood, was inevitably faster for Wu Chengyu, while he found it extremely difficult to get the hang of it. However, once he got the hang of it, he became as proficient as if he had been classmates for many years, while Wu Chengyu was not as adept as him.

Wu Chengyu guessed that Guo Jing was the same type as his childhood friend. When he first learned the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms, he was so slow that even Hong Qigong was a little impatient. If it weren't for Huang Rong's delicious food, Hong Qigong would have run away long ago.

However, once Guo Jing mastered the technique, he was immediately able to fight against Ouyang Ke and Mei Chaofeng. These two men were far superior to Guo Jing in both experience and skill, yet they were completely helpless against his Dragon Subduing Eighteen Palms with three missing pieces.

In the thousand-year history of the Beggars' Sect, only three people truly carried forward the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms: Xiao Feng, Hong Qigong, and Guo Jing. So, anyone who thinks Guo Jing is lacking in talent should look at what kind of people Xiao Feng and Hong Qigong were.

Guo Jing's current martial arts foundation is so solid that it amazes Wu Chengyu, and there are some differences compared to the original work.

(End of this chapter)