The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, becoming a disciple of Yue Buqun.

At this moment, he looked at Jiang Ning opposite him with a solemn expression, his brows furrowed tightly.

Suddenly, Linghu Chong felt a chill on his collar. He subconsciously reached out and touched it, feeling a dampness on his fingertips.

Linghu Chong looked down and found that his fingertips were stained with blood. At the same time, he felt a slight stinging pain in his throat. When he reached down to touch his throat, the wetness on his hand became even stronger.

His throat was lacerated, and although his trachea was not injured, blood was still seeping from the wound.

Upon seeing the blood on his hands, Linghu Chong felt a chill run down his spine.

Jiang Ning on the opposite side wasn't in much better shape. A cut appeared on his cool cheek, and his left index and middle fingers were bleeding profusely, with drops of bright red blood falling to the ground.

"Junior brother, are you alright?"

Linghu Chong looked at Jiang Ning opposite him and asked.

Jiang Ning shook his head and looked at the bloodstains on Linghu Chong's neck.

"I'm fine, but is your wound serious, Senior Brother?"

Linghu Chong smiled nonchalantly.

"It's nothing, just a superficial injury."

Yue Buqun frowned as he looked at the two men and rebuked them, "How could you two be so reckless? If I had been any slower, you would have been seriously injured at best, and at worst, beheaded."

Although he was blaming her, Yue Buqun did not actually mean to blame her.

Swords and blades have no eyes, and battles are inherently unpredictable. Even in a duel, sometimes when things get heated, you can't just stop whenever you want. That's when a third party like him is needed to intervene.

Nevertheless, he still had to verbally reprimand him a few times.

"Senior Brother!"

"Junior Brother."

At this moment, all the Huashan disciples who were at the edge of the training ground rushed over.

Jiang Ning and Linghu Chong were fighting fiercely just now. They watched with bated breath, thoroughly enjoying the spectacle. They held their breath, afraid of disturbing the two fighters. The final scene was so sudden that they didn't have time to react. Only now did they come to their senses and quickly gathered around.

"Senior Brother!"

Yue Lingshan rushed to Linghu Chong's side, looking anxiously at the wound on his throat, tears welling up in her eyes.

Lu Dayou wanted to join in, but Yue Lingshan had taken his spot, so he could only stand aside and watch Linghu Chong with a worried expression on his face.

The main thing is that the bloodstains on Linghu Chong's throat are quite frightening.

"Junior sister, don't worry, I'm fine."

Linghu Chong smiled gently.

Although there was a blood in his throat, it was nothing serious, just a superficial injury.

Yue Lingshan glanced at him, then at the bloodstains on Jiang Ning's face and hands not far away, and scolded, "You two are really something. You're both fellow disciples, why are you fighting so seriously? Do you have to decide a winner before you can fight?"

Linghu Chong looked embarrassed.

He didn't expect things to get so dangerous.

"Junior Brother Jiang Ning, are you alright?"

On the other side, Liang Fa asked with concern, and Du Lanyin, who was not far away, also looked concerned.

Jiang Ning gently shook his head.

"Thank you for your concern, senior brother. I'm fine."

Yue Buqun then spoke up, saying, "The purpose of a martial arts competition between fellow disciples is not to determine a winner or loser, but to discover one's own shortcomings and thus improve. You two should remember this and not do it again."

Ning Zhongze frowned and said, "Your master is right."

"Yes."

"Yes."

Jiang Ning and Linghu Chong both nodded in agreement.

Yue Buqun nodded and then said to his disciples, "Although your master's wife and I have been away from Mount Hua for several months and have not had time to oversee your training, it seems that you have all been training diligently and have not been lazy. You have all done a good job."

He acknowledged the disciples' diligence over the past period, and then said to Jiang Ning, "Ning'er has been diligent in his cultivation without the slightest slackening, and has made remarkable progress. You have passed the test."

After making his assessment, Yue Buqun turned to look at Linghu Chong, but did not speak immediately. He first frowned, then regained his composure.

His reaction made Linghu Chong nervous.

After a while.

Yue Buqun spoke slowly.

"Although Chong'er is mischievous, he has indeed worked hard. Although he lost the initiative and was at a disadvantage at the beginning of the match, he adjusted and made the right choice to turn the tide. Overall, his performance was good, especially his last counterattack, which was very beautiful. He passes."

Linghu Chong breathed a sigh of relief, and his face lit up with joy when he heard Yue Buqun's last words.

“Master, the last move is a sword technique that I painstakingly created, and it is called Linghu Wushuang Sword.”

That was a move he painstakingly researched to deal with Jiang Ning, and he had refrained from drinking alcohol for a while because of it.

"Hmm, not bad."

Yue Buqun nodded; that move was indeed quite good.

Then Yue Buqun said to his disciples, "Today's sect assessment is over. The result of the duel between Linghu Chong and Jiang Ning is a draw."

Another draw.

The disciples of Mount Hua had no objection to this, and Linghu Chong didn't think there was anything wrong with this ending.

Jiang Ning accepted the result.

In that last move, although he seemed to have caught Linghu Chong's sword and was about to pierce Linghu Chong's throat, there was still some distance between the tip of his sword and Linghu Chong. The wound on Linghu Chong's throat was caused by the internal force attached to the sword, and the injury was not serious. At that time, the opponent still had time to react.

Moreover, even if he had killed Linghu Chong and won, Linghu Chong would have had plenty of time to retaliate. Even if they couldn't die together, he could at least have taken a few of Linghu Chong's fingers.

Moreover, Jiang Ning did not believe that he could kill his opponent by sacrificing just a few fingers.

The outcome remains uncertain until the very end.

Yue Buqun gave the assessment of a draw precisely because of this consideration, and did not intend to favor either Jiang Ning or Linghu Chong.

The assessment inside the sect had ended, and everyone was ready to leave after their master gave the order.

Yue Lingshan did not participate in the assessment.

This wasn't because she was the sect leader's daughter and had special privileges that exempted her from the assessment. Rather, all the disciples present had already completed their assessments, and there was no one who could team up with Yue Lingshan. Yue Buqun simply decided to have Ning Zhongze assess her alone later in the day.

"Alright, you can go now and get ready for breakfast."

Yue Buqun waved his hand, signaling his disciples to go eat.

Although it was an internal assessment, with the disciples practicing in groups, it didn't take much time at all, and it was only just dawn.

Perhaps this is one of the advantages of having fewer people in a sect.

"Yes."

The Huashan disciples bowed and said yes before leaving.

"Master, your disciple wishes to go down the mountain to gain experience."

At this moment, a voice rang out, causing the Huashan disciples who were about to leave to stop and look at the source of the voice. The next second, they were all stunned.

Chapter 19: Did Yue Buqun suddenly become rich?

Yue Buqun was also taken aback, somewhat surprised.

Because it was Jiang Ning who said that.

Why did you suddenly decide to go down the mountain for training?

Yue Buqun was very curious.

Why did this homebody suddenly want to go out for a walk?

Linghu Chong also looked surprised.

Faced with Yue Buqun's question, Jiang Ning calmly replied, "Recently, I have encountered a bottleneck in my cultivation, and I have been unable to make any progress for a long time, resulting in half the results for twice the effort. Therefore, I am restless and think about moving around. I feel that simply practicing hard is inefficient. Going out to gain experience may help me. Moreover, it can broaden my horizons, so that I don't just stay on Mount Hua and know nothing about the outside world. In the end, I will be like a frog at the bottom of a well, only able to see the sky from the bottom of the well."

Jiang Ning's words were reasonable and well-founded, causing Yue Buqun to nod repeatedly. Linghu Chong couldn't help but nod along, and he wrote down all of Jiang Ning's words.

Yue Buqun smiled and nodded, saying, "Ning'er is right. Blindly cultivating is not the solution. Only by combining work and rest, seeing more of the outside world, and improving one's state of mind can one make great progress on the path of martial arts."

After saying that, Yue Buqun waved his hand and said to his disciples, "Since Ning'er has this idea, and you have all stayed on Mount Hua for quite a while, in order to reward you for your hard work over the past few months, your master has decided to take you down the mountain for a trip so you can relax."

The disciples of Mount Hua cheered loudly.

"Good!"

"Finally, we can go down the mountain and have some fun!"

"I'm about to suffocate on this mountain."

"Master is wise!!!"

Lu Dayou, Gao Genming, and other Huashan disciples cheered loudly, and even the female disciples jumped for joy, some even shouting "Long live the junior brother!" in an exaggerated manner.

Linghu Chong's eyes lit up.

He hadn't had enough fun outside, but Yue Lingshan was a little scared because they had beaten up Hou Renying and Hong Renxiong of the Qingcheng Sect, so she urged Linghu Chong to come back.

It's wonderful to be able to go out and have fun again right after getting back.

Well done, junior brother!

Linghu Chong silently gave Jiang Ning a thumbs up in his heart.

Looking at his lively disciples, Yue Buqun smiled and did not stop them from behaving.

Jiang Ning looked surprised; how had things developed like this?

Did Yue Buqun have the money to take his family on a trip?

Since he entered Mount Hua, the entire sect has only gone on two major trips: once when he was ten years old, and another time when Yue Buqun thought he was too much of a homebody and wanted to take him down the mountain for a trip. There have only been these two trips in total, not even one more.

Jiang Ning didn't go the first time, but the second time he had no choice but to be dragged and pulled out by Gao Genming and Liang Fa.