The destiny of all heavens begins in the Red Chamber

At this moment, dozens of young people were practicing Hengshan sword techniques in the drizzling rain at the training ground.

Hengshan swordsmanship emphasizes agility and illusion, much like the continuous drizzle before one's eyes, or the beautiful landscape near Hengyang imbued with a unique charm.

Dozens of standard longswords from the Hengshan School gleamed in the misty rain, their light flowing continuously, conveying a sense of dynamism reminiscent of undulating mountains and rivers, seemingly blending seamlessly into the surrounding environment.

At this moment, two figures, one tall and one short, emerged from the front courtyard corridor. They stood on the corridor, which was sheltered by eaves, and quietly gazed at their disciples who were diligently practicing their skills in the misty rain.

The two men, one of whom seemed to have endless sorrow on his face, were none other than Master Mo Da, the leader of the Hengshan Sect.

The other short, stout middle-aged man was Liu Zhengfeng, the master of the Liu family and the second-in-command of the Hengshan School.

If the two of them were standing together so quietly when the story of The Smiling, Proud Wanderer began, it would definitely attract special attention.

At this point, there were still about ten years before the story began, and there were no rumors of discord between the two in the martial arts world, so this scene was not surprising.

"Not bad, not bad at all. The martial arts skills of these dozens of disciples under my junior brother are quite good!"

After watching for a while, Mo Da was the first to comment: "Their Returning Wind and Falling Wild Geese sword technique has already reached the advanced level. With another two or three years of hard work, they will be able to master it!"

"Hey, isn't it all because they were provoked by the ranking of the arena competition set up by the Yuezhou branch of the Beggars' Sect?"

Liu Zhengfeng couldn't help but sneer, saying disdainfully, "If they don't work harder, they'll be at the bottom of the rankings. How will they survive in the martial arts world then?"

"Rankings in the arena battles?"

Mo Da asked in confusion, "What is that?"

“That’s it!”

Liu Zhengfeng took out a small, exquisitely printed booklet from his pocket and handed it to Mo Da, explaining, "Several years ago, Jia Huan, the leader of the Yuezhou branch of the Beggars' Sect, also known as the famous Heroic Beggar in the martial arts world, suddenly came to visit!"

"On one hand, they discussed jointly eliminating bandits in Hunan Province and cooperating to deal with the possibility of notorious bandits wanted by the government; on the other hand, they proposed that his Beggar Clan brothers regularly exchange and spar with the formal disciples of the Hengshan Sect!"

"At that time, my senior brother was not at the sect, and Junior Brother Lu had some prejudice against the Beggar Hero, so it was difficult to mobilize other formal disciples in the sect. Therefore, he asked my disciples to test the waters first!"

"I originally thought this was just a minor incident involving a chivalrous beggar, but I was wrong!"

"Oh, look at the rankings in this book, even the formal disciples of Wudang are listed!"

While listening, Mo Da carefully flipped through the booklet in his hand. He was soon attracted by the contents of the booklet and casually remarked.

The booklet's contents are actually very simple; there's nothing difficult to understand—it's just a pure ranking.

The first place winner is a formal disciple of the Wudang Sect, who is somewhat famous in the martial arts world, and Mo Da has only occasionally heard of him.

The second to fifth place winners were all formal disciples of the Wudang Sect. Some of them were well-known, while others were quite unfamiliar to them.

There's nothing wrong with that. After all, he's a formal disciple of the Wudang Sect, one of the most prestigious martial arts schools in the world. It's normal for him to have such strength.

But the following rankings surprised him, and even seemed unbelievable.

From sixth to twentieth place, most of them were actually members of the Beggars' Sect!

Although some of them were formal disciples of the Wudang Sect, and a couple of guys from small gangs and sects, they were already quite remarkable.

When did the value of being a member of the Beggars' Sect become so high?

In particular, when he saw that his junior brother Liu Zhengfeng's disciple Xiang Danian was only ranked ninth, Mi Weiyi was ranked fifteenth, and his third disciple Li Pingfang was at the very bottom, ranked twentieth.

As for the ranking of the other disciples, let's not discuss it.

"I never expected that the Beggar Hero would actually persuade the Wudang Sect!"

Liu Zhengfeng sighed, "In the beginning, the Beggars' Sect disciples and the formal Wudang disciples sparred separately, and my disciples sparred and exchanged ideas separately, without any outsiders participating!"

"But as time went on and the number of times increased, coupled with the emergence of these ranking lists, their fame gradually grew!"

"I don't know what the beggar was thinking. After sparring with my disciples twice, he took the initiative to come to my door to discuss whether the arena competitions for sparring with the official disciples of Wudang could be merged?"

"I didn't think much about it at the time. I felt that it was a good way for my disciples to improve themselves by regularly exchanging and sparring with the formal disciples of Wudang. At least it would broaden their horizons!"

"I just didn't expect that with the widespread circulation of the ranking list, coupled with the participation of other outstanding martial arts talents of the same age, the exchange and competition among members of the Beggars and Heroes Organization would become increasingly popular!"

At this point, Liu Zhengfeng chuckled and said, "Especially the widespread circulation of the ranking list has greatly stimulated the disciples, forcing them to work hard to cultivate!"

He pointed to his disciples diligently cultivating in the light drizzle and chuckled, "Losing to a formal Wudang disciple is one thing, but to be defeated even by a Beggar Clan disciple, these guys are holding a grudge!"

"The beggar's skills are truly remarkable!"

Mo Da closed the ranking list and sighed, "With just such methods, he forced his ambitious disciples to work desperately to improve themselves!"

As the head of the Hengshan Sect, although his performance was not quite up to par, his judgment was not bad.

"Yes, the speed at which the Beggar Hero rose to power was truly astonishing!"

Liu Zhengfeng exclaimed repeatedly, "Not only is he passionate about chivalry and has an excellent reputation in the martial arts world, but his own strength has also improved remarkably rapidly. He is the youngest first-rate master in the martial arts world!"

"He severely injured the four great men of the Salt Gang within a hundred moves, and could even fight the old man of the Yellow River Gang to a draw. His martial arts skills are probably not much worse than mine!"

"That's nothing!"

He paused here, then said helplessly, "This fellow's methods for training disciples and followers are quite remarkable. Just the establishment of the martial arts arena and the ranking list alone have brought many of his Beggar Clan brothers to the forefront!"

Taking the ranking list handed to him by Mo Da, he patted the cover and said leisurely, "In my opinion, anyone who can rank in the top twenty of the ranking list will at least achieve a second-rate level in the martial arts world in the future!"

Mo Da nodded silently, agreeing with Liu Zhengfeng's statement.

"Senior brother, let the other disciples of Hengshan Sect join in too!"

Liu Zhengfeng said seriously, "Holding it every six months is a good opportunity to compare their strengths and also to give these guys a good whack!"

With the Demonic Sect withdrawing its claws and ceasing its fierce battles with the Five Mountains Sword Sect, the Five Mountains Sword Sect enjoyed a rare period of peace.

The problem is that during this rare period of peace, apart from the Songshan and Taishan sects, the other three of the Five Sacred Mountains Sword Sects are experiencing a clear shortage of capable successors.

For example, Liu Zhengfeng, as the second-in-command of the Hengshan School, was actually the leader. He had many disciples, but none of them were capable of taking on the main responsibility.

The eldest disciple, Xiang Danian, is calm and honest, and also quite talented in martial arts.

But now he's in his early twenties, and his strength has only just reached the late stage of the third-rate level in the martial arts world!

Such strength is far inferior to that of the previous generation of contemporaries.

It should be noted that Liu Zhengfeng, at the same age, had already reached the second-rate level of martial arts.

Even though Lu Lianrong was disliked by everyone, at this age, his strength had reached the peak of the third rank in the martial arts world; otherwise, he would never have dared to go down the mountain.

At that time, the threat from the Demonic Sect weighed heavily on my mind like a boulder, and I dared not be negligent in the slightest.

When traveling the martial world, one could easily lose one's life, dying at the hands of the ruthless villains of the evil cult.

Although the Hengshan Sect at this time only has Mo Da, Liu Zhengfeng, and Lu Lianrong, who barely reaches the first-class level of the martial arts world, to maintain its reputation, it still has quite a few elders with second-class martial arts strength below.

However, by the next generation, their progress in strength was clearly too slow.

In the story of The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, Liu Zhengfeng's disciples were practically just doing odd jobs, with few outstanding achievements, except for their loyalty and righteousness, which were worthy of praise.

Now that there's a platform that can help his disciples quickly improve their strength, he's naturally happy to give it a push.

In addition, the rapid rise of the Heroic Beggar has put considerable pressure on Liu Zhengfeng, the hidden leader of the Hengshan Sect.

The Beggars' Sect headquarters was in an awkward geographical location, but as a neighbor, the Hengshan Sect naturally kept a close eye on the Beggars' Sect.

If the Beggars' Sect becomes too powerful, it will definitely not be a good thing for the Hengshan Sect!

Right now, Liu Zhengfeng is feeling the pressure!

Otherwise, he certainly wouldn't have readily agreed to the idea proposed by his rival, the Beggar Hero.

We can't refuse. If things go wrong, the Hengshan Sect will fall behind. How can that be allowed?

"it is good!"

Mo Ziran was unaware of Liu Zhengfeng's inner thoughts, and simply nodded in agreement.

He is not actually a qualified leader. His personality is too indifferent, and his management skills are quite average, or even terrible.

Otherwise, the dignified leader of the Hengshan Sect wouldn't have such a great reputation in the martial arts world, and his first impression wouldn't be very good either. He would seem more like a wretched old man who makes a living by playing the erhu.

Given this image and these actions, the Hengshan Sect has been able to maintain its position in the middle of the Five Sacred Mountains Sword Sects, and Liu Zhengfeng, the second-in-command, deserves a great deal of credit.

Mo Da was also self-aware, and at the same time quite annoyed by the sect's internal trivial affairs.

Therefore, he usually doesn't easily refuse Liu Zhengfeng's suggestions, let alone when it's a good thing.

If the strength of his disciples could improve rapidly, or even if outstanding talents emerged who could stand on their own, Mo Da would be more than happy to do so and would definitely relinquish the position of sect leader at the first opportunity.

Even if no such outstanding talent emerges, the improvement in the strength of his disciples will save him a lot of trouble and lighten his burden considerably.

Liu Zhengfeng and Mo Da were well aware of these things, but they had no intention of bringing them up.

Actually, the current model of the Hengshan School is not bad. If it can remain stable for another 20 or 30 years, the Hengshan School will definitely be able to pass on its legacy steadily.

Of course, they also know that such an idea is not very realistic!

The martial arts world is a place of fame and fortune. A brief period of peace does not mean that such peace can be maintained indefinitely; that is impossible.

Just then, Xiang Danian, Mi Weiyi, and other disciples also came to an end with their cultivation. They sheathed their swords and quickly walked towards the two big shots.

"Master, Sect Leader, what are you doing here?"

"I saw you were practicing so diligently, so I didn't want to disturb you!"

Chapter 431 Reaction (Please Subscribe)

"Master, Senior Uncle, I have a question that I need to ask you!"