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

Yue Buqun knew what his wife was thinking and shook his head.

“Ning’er is young, but he has his own ideas, so we don’t need to worry.”

Seeing her husband say this, Ning Zhongze had no choice but to nod.

……

After returning to his room, Jiang Ning placed the sword at his waist on the table.

The room was very simple. Apart from a bed, a table and chairs, there was only a wardrobe for storing clothes. The only eye-catching thing was the thick pile of books on the table.

squeak~

Jiang Ning went to the window and opened it to let the air out of the room. As soon as he opened the window, he saw the distant, continuous green mountains. The clouds covered the mountaintops, and the peaks appeared and disappeared. The wooden house was covered with ivy, and it was full of spring.

After opening the window, Jiang Ning sat down at the table by the window, gazing intently out the window.

He has been in this world for twelve years.

Twelve years ago, he transmigrated into the body of a three-year-old child in a village. At that time, bandits entered the village and massacred the entire village. His birth mother hid him in a secret place, but he was eventually found by the bandits when they were searching for survivors. At that time, he was the only survivor left in the village.

Just as the bandits were about to kill him, Yue Buqun happened to be passing by the village and rescued him.

Jiang Ning will always remember the face reflected on the snow-white blade.

Yue Buqun killed the bandits and then took him back to Mount Hua, where he remains to this day.

Chapter 6: Realm Division

Before going up Mount Hua, Jiang Ning had no idea what kind of world this was. It was only after learning the names of Yue Buqun, Ning Zhongze, Yue Lingshan, and Linghu Chong that he realized this was the world of Swordsman.

He hadn't read much of The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, so he didn't have a deep impression of it. He wasn't interested in these kinds of stories, only knowing some general facts, including the death of Yue Buqun and the controversies surrounding Yue Buqun himself.

Was Yue Buqun a hypocrite?

Some say he was a treacherous and ambitious man who plotted to dominate the martial arts world and did not hesitate to persecute his wife and daughters and his disciples in order to obtain the Evil-Slaying Sword Manual.

Some say he was forced into a corner and took a risky move, even castrating himself to promote the Huashan School.

he does not know.

Since he came to Mount Hua, Yue Buqun had been teaching him to be chivalrous, to help the weak and punish the strong, and not to bully the weak, and had raised him to adulthood.

He didn't know if Yue Buqun was the hypocrite others described, but at least in his opinion, he had never seen Yue Buqun's hypocritical side in the past twelve years.

Does Yue Buqun want to dominate the martial arts world?

Jiang Ning didn't know.

At least over the past ten years, Jiang Ning had not seen any ambition in Yue Buqun. Although he never talked to his disciples about the difficulties of the sect, Jiang Ning could sometimes catch a trace of weariness in his eyes, and the candlelight that never went out in the deep night at the You Suo Bu Wei Xuan whenever Huashan was short of money.

Can someone who is struggling with the expenses of their family or sect still have the energy to dominate the martial arts world?

Jiang Ning still didn't know.

Humans are diverse, complex, and changeable.

Each stage of life, each experience brings new perspectives and new choices.

The difference between a gentleman and a hypocrite may be just a matter of a single thought.

Whether Yue Buqun was a gentleman or a hypocrite, Jiang Ning didn't care.

For him, Yue Buqun saved him and raised him, showing him kindness as if he were a second father.

He had to acknowledge Yue Buqun's kindness to him.

Therefore, Jiang Ning didn't care about these things. Since Yue Buqun's lifelong wish was to promote and develop Mount Hua, he would help Yue Buqun fulfill this wish.

Jiang Ning stared intently into the distance, and for some reason, he suddenly thought of a line that Zhuge Liang said to Liu Bei in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

"To fulfill the general's ambition..."

Jiang Ning's eyes glazed over, and he muttered to himself.

After regaining my senses.

Jiang Ning's thoughts returned to the present.

Since he came up the mountain, he has been practicing his skills diligently. Apart from reading books in his spare time, he has spent all his time practicing.

Lu Dayou, Yue Lingshan, and others did not understand why Jiang Ning practiced so hard. Only Jiang Ning himself knew that the reason he was working so hard was not only to repay Yue Buqun, but also for his own ideals.

Fortunately, he was quite talented, even Yue Buqun praised him. At such a young age, he had reached the strength of a second-rate master, and was ranked among the top in the second-rate masters. This was something that no one in the entire Five Mountains Sword Sect had achieved.

Linghu Chong is now twenty-four or twenty-five years old, and his strength is at the level of a second-rate master. Although the Huashan Sect is now in decline, Linghu Chong is the leading figure among the second-generation disciples of the Five Mountains Sword Sect.

With Linghu Chong as a reference, Jiang Ning was able to achieve a level comparable to him at the age of fifteen, which shows how high Jiang Ning's talent was. Even Yue Lingshan, who was at odds with Jiang Ning, said that Yue Buqun had picked up a treasure.

Although Yue Buqun didn't say it aloud, he would always mention Jiang Ning's name and strength whenever he visited the other Five Mountains Sword Sects, with a nonchalant expression on his face, as if he had plenty of disciples like Jiang Ning under his tutelage.

As a result, although the other members of the Five Mountains Sword Sects had never met Jiang Ning, they had long heard of his great name.

There are no specific classifications of martial arts levels in this world. I don't know if it's because these people in the martial arts world are uncultured and can't come up with one, or if it's just how it is from the beginning.

In the martial arts world, masters are generally categorized as unranked, third-rate, second-rate, and first-rate.

Originally, there was no category for "unordinary". It was mainly to take into account the feelings of those martial arts practitioners who lacked talent, so that they could reluctantly create an "unordinary" category to give them some sense of participation.

Otherwise, if someone traveling the martial arts world finds out that their strength isn't even third-rate, how can they claim to be a martial arts practitioner?

You can't even meet the basic requirements to enter this world, it's really shameful. Just leave the group yourself, don't make us kick you out.

"Unranked" refers to someone who has no internal strength whatsoever and relies entirely on martial arts skills to make a living in the martial arts world. They live on the fringes of the martial arts world, and if they are seriously injured by accident, they will basically die in tears in the martial arts world.

Representative figures: Lin Zhennan and those killed by Jiang Ning.

Third-rate masters are slightly better than no-name masters; they are still at the bottom of the martial arts world, but they are much stronger than no-name masters. For example, among the Four Heroes of Qingcheng Sect, Lin Zhennan is already a middle-aged man in his fifties, but he is no match for young people like Hou Renying and Hong Renxiong in terms of martial arts.

Third-rate martial arts masters have finally cultivated a little bit of internal energy, but their martial arts skills are average. They can only go out in groups and fight side by side. Going out alone will likely result in an accident.

Notable figures include Yue Lingshan, Lu Dayou, Gao Genming, and other second-generation disciples of the Five Mountains Sword Sect.

It was precisely because Yue Lingshan was a third-rate expert that Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze were so nervous after learning that she had secretly run away from the mountain.

Second-rate masters are those who have developed the ability to protect themselves in the martial arts world. They have cultivated their own internal energy, and their internal energy is not low. They can walk normally in the martial arts world. As long as they don't do anything reckless, they will not have any accidents. For example, Linghu Chong often travels alone in the martial arts world, but Yue Buqun is not worried about him.

However, even among those at the second-rate level, the skill levels of martial arts practitioners vary greatly. Some may be second-rate masters, but their actual combat strength differs greatly, and their battles may end in just a few rounds.

Representative figures: Jiang Ning, Linghu Chong.

Even if a martial artist at the second-rate level has cultivated internal energy, it doesn't mean that their internal energy won't diminish. If they become complacent and lazy after thinking they've cultivated internal energy, neglecting their training, then their internal energy will gradually dissipate, and they will eventually fall to the third-rate level.

First-rate masters are those who have already established themselves in the martial arts world. They are usually masters who have been famous for a long time. For example, the leaders of the Five Mountains Sword Sect, Yue Buqun of the Huashan Sect, Master Mo Da of the Hengshan Sect, the three Ding of the Hengshan Sect (Dingyi, Dingjing, and Dingxian), Tianmen Daoren of the Taishan Sect, Zuo Lengchan and Fei Bin of the Songshan Sect, as well as Yu Canghai, the head of the Qingcheng Temple outside the Five Mountains Sword Sect, Ren Woxing of the Sun Moon Sect, Fang Zheng of the Shaolin Temple, Chongxu of the Wudang Sect, etc. All of the above can be classified as first-rate masters.

However, although there are many top-notch masters in the martial arts world, the differences between them are greater than those between second-rate masters.

For example, compared to Ren Woxing and Fang Zheng, although Yu Canghai is also a first-class master, if Ren Woxing and Fang Zheng were to deal with Yu Canghai, Yu Canghai would be defeated or even killed in just a few moves. This is the difference between them.

Chapter 7: The Innate Realm

Although Yu Canghai was honored to be ranked among the top masters alongside the leaders of the Five Mountains Sword Sect and the Shaolin Temple, a pillar of the martial arts world, Yue Buqun was more than a match for him.

When Yue Buqun was lecturing to the disciples of Mount Hua, he explained the classification of masters in the martial arts world, and at that time he mentioned himself and Yu Canghai of the Qingcheng Sect.

Jiang Ning remembered Yue Buqun's exact words: "What I am about to say is for you to hear, but do not spread it around, otherwise Abbot Yu will cause trouble for my Huashan Sect. Although Abbot Yu is highly skilled in martial arts and is a first-rate master in the martial arts world, if I were to truly fight him, he would surely be defeated within fifty rounds. In a life-or-death battle, Yu Canghai would surely die by my sword within twenty rounds."

When he said this, Yue Buqun had a faint smile on his face, looking very composed.

Despite this, Yue Buqun said that his strength was inferior to Zuo Lengchan, the leader of the Songshan Sect, not to mention Ren Woxing, the former leader of the Sun Moon Sect.

If we use Yu Canghai as a comparison, Yue Buqun is equivalent to about three Yu Canghais, Zuo Lengchan is equivalent to five Yu Canghais, and Ren Woxing is equivalent to at least ten Yu Canghais.

As for Abbot Fangzheng of Shaolin Temple, Yue Buqun was unclear. He only said that Abbot Fangzheng's cultivation was profound, far surpassing Yue Buqun's.

Based on this, it seems that Fang Zheng must have at least fifteen Yu Canghai-level connections.

In fact, according to common sense, Ren Woxing and Fang Zheng can no longer be considered top-tier masters. They should be a level above them. However, there are only four levels in the martial arts world. The highest level is the peerless master of the Innate Realm.

The Innate Realm—what exactly this realm entails is unknown to anyone in the martial arts world, though some may have some knowledge of it.

It is said that masters who reach this level will never age, easily live to be a hundred years old, and still move with incredible speed. Their inner strength is so powerful that it can be released to form a protective aura. Martial arts masters at this level can no longer be described as mortals. In short, they are as mythical as can be, like immortals. But no one knows if this level is really like that. Nowadays, people in the martial arts world also call this level the "Land Immortal Realm".

However, no one in the martial arts world today has reached the Innate Realm. The only known master to have reached the Innate Realm is the founder of the Wudang Sect, who lived two hundred years ago.

Zhang Sanfeng.

The founder of the Wudang School was the last known person to have reached the Innate Realm. Legend has it that this immortal figure lived to be 120 years old and still looked as youthful as ever, with white hair and a baby face.

However, when Zhang Sanfeng was 120 years old, he said he wanted to go down the mountain to travel the world. After that, he never returned to Wudang Mountain. No one knows his whereabouts, whether he is dead or alive, or whether he has attained enlightenment and ascended to heaven as in the legends.

Since him, no one in the martial arts world has reached the Innate Realm, and even now, the overall strength of the entire martial arts world has declined.

Even Fang Zheng of Shaolin Temple, a leading figure in the righteous path, still laments the difficulty of breaking through to higher realms in the martial arts world today.

Perhaps only one person has a sliver of hope.

Dongfang Bubai.

The current leader of the Sun Moon Cult is the greatest in the world.

No one knows what level he has reached. Ever since the rumors spread that Dongfang Bubai had mastered the Sunflower Manual, he had been staying at Blackwood Cliff to cultivate diligently and had not shown his face in the martial world since. No one in the martial world knew what level he had reached or whether he had entered the Innate Realm. The Sun Moon Sect also did not reveal anything about it, and this matter became a legend in the martial world.

Although it is unknown whether Dongfang Bubai has broken through to the Innate Realm, people in the martial arts world tacitly do not include him in the list of first-class masters, but instead single him out as a unique existence.

This is the current situation among top masters: Dongfang Bubai is the undisputed leader, while other top masters are flourishing in their own way.

Although there are fewer masters in the martial arts world now than before, there are still many first-class and second-class masters. Even though Jiang Ning's strength has now reached the level of a second-class master, he has not relaxed at all, but has worked even harder.

But it wouldn't be enough for Jiang Ning to become stronger on his own. Yue Buqun's idea was to revitalize the Huashan Sect and give it a second spring, so the strength of the sect's disciples had to catch up.

This is not a fantasy world where one's personal power can pluck stars from the sky and seize the moon, or turn the world upside down with a flick of the wrist.

A sect is a collective; individual strength is secondary. For a sect to become powerful, it must first have a deep foundation.

The foundation of a sect lies in its disciples, its leader, and its martial arts techniques.

Disciples represent the backbone and core strength of the sect, while the sect leader represents the top strength and pillar of the sect. Martial arts techniques are the most important thing for a sect. Without a good martial arts technique, there will never be a chance to reach the top of the sect.

Just like the Huashan Sect in Jiangning now, although Yue Buqun is a first-class master and ranks quite high in strength among the Five Mountains Sword Sects, the overall strength of the sect is too weak, which seriously drags down Yue Buqun. Yue Buqun is now carrying a heavy burden.