Why do I have so many masters?-Chapter 481 - 140: Hong Luoyu, Dodging Death’s Edge! (1/2)

In Jianghu, there are countless lads practicing swordsmanship, each with their own famed techniques.

If one were to rank them, they'd have to fight a bout first, lining up all these sword-toting killers from start to finish. Roughly a dozen types of swordsmanship could be accounted for, and then it would be realized that there's no clear hierarchy among these dozen types.

Each has its own brilliance, its own excellent method.

However, no matter what the ranking method, the Taoist on Mount Wudang, who watches the clouds and lies in the snow indifferent to these matters, is surely among the top five.

Others wield swords at most seeking the speed and might of thunder, but the only ones who can genuinely summon heavenly lightning with their swordsmanship to strike down an opponent are from this one place alone, without any subdivision.

Atop Mount Wudang stands Tianzhu Peak, and atop Tianzhu Peak is a bronze gilded hall.

This Golden Summit Hall was cast in sections in the Capital City by the emperor, transported from the Grand Canal through Nanjing, up the Yangtze River and then carried by five hundred laborers up to the peak of Mount Wudang for assembly.

Every summer and autumn, during thunderstorms, lightning rolls over the Golden Summit Hall in a display known as Thunderfire Refining the Hall. The thunderous rumbling can be heard tens of miles away, and at that time, the Taoist sleeps soundly in his bed amidst the thunder.

Only in a place where heavenly lightning can be harnessed and refinement achieved could such swordsmanship be born.

The Ancient Taoist looked at Wang Anfeng with a warm smile, hands folded behind his back.

Scholar Ying seemed reluctant to argue and casually remarked before turning away, his sleeve flicking as he left. With one step, he had already disappeared from sight.

Hong Luoyu smacked his lips, glanced at the Ancient Taoist and Wang Anfeng, then at the now-vanished Scholar Ying, and with a sigh, said:

"Forget it, forget it, the interesting one has left, no more show to watch."

This content is taken from fгeewebnovёl.com.

"Young madcap, just follow this scruff and learn proper."

"His swordsmanship is premiere in Jianghu, top-notch goods."

As Hong Luoyu uttered "premiere," he lay lazily on the back of his horse.

By the time the last word fell, there was no longer any trace of him on the horse's back.

At this point, the skinny red horse realized that something was missing from its back, neighed, and leapt up, looking around to the left and right. Its pitiful whinnies filled the air, and its equine eyes brimmed with panic and confusion.

Ci lifted his hand to stroke Wang Anfeng's black hair, his tone gentle and low, saying:

"Learn well..."

He too turned and left with Wu Changqing, leaving behind this inexplicably created flat ground. In just a short moment, only Wang Anfeng and the young Taoist claiming to be the Ancient Taoist remained.

The Taoist retracted his gaze, his eyes narrowed, and he looked Wang Anfeng up and down. With a gentle voice, he asked:

"What's your name, child?"

Wang Anfeng hesitated before raising his hand in a salute, saying:

"Junior..."

"Wang Anfeng."

...............

Atop the solitary peak.

A scholar in green leisurely reclined in his bamboo chair, beside him a stone table bearing a pot of freshly steeped fragrant tea, its aroma wafting through the air. The scholar's eyes gazed indifferently at the void ahead, watching the boundless expanse before him.

At the summit, there was a hush of stillness and silence.

A ripple suddenly flashed in his eyes, and his right hand's fingers flexed lightly, tapping on the back of the chair as he indifferently said:

"You dare to come here now."

There was no one on the peak other than him.

After a moment of silence, a sigh of resignation echoed. From the seemingly empty peak emerged a figure who, despite lacking arms and legs, eerily hovered midair, his face full of defiance. He spat out the blade of grass from his mouth with a "pfft" and spoke discontentedly:

"On any other day, you would never have noticed me!"

"I, beep beep beep—"

"Why is it you, you old fart, who got that kind of power? I don't accept it!"

Scholar Ying frowned with irritation in his heart, yet restrained himself and simply said indifferently:

"Are you here to cause trouble?"

Hong Luoyu arched an eyebrow, his incessant chatter coming to an abrupt halt. He looked at the slightly straightened scholar in green across from him with a light chuckle, seemingly leaning back in the air, and took his time to respond:

"No..."

"I was merely idling and came to have a look, to see a certain coward."

"That's all."

Hong Luoyu's eyes held a teasing glint as he watched Scholar Ying.

A fleeting fury crossed the scholar's eyes, and with a snort, he vanished from his bamboo chair. Simultaneously, behind Hong Luoyu, another person appeared, one hand holding a bamboo scroll behind his back, the other outstretched with fingers splayed forward, reaching out in a weighty and formidable stance, as if the heavens themselves were about to topple.

Hong Luoyu, with his movement technique, oddly didn't try to dodge. The young man, too lazy to look back, had eyebrows that transitioned from teasing to a serene and distant expression. His robe fluttered, and he said lightly:

"What, can't even have a conversation now?"

"Indeed, a coward."

The hand that was almost gripping Hong Luoyu's neck stopped in its place.

The scholar in green stood behind him, silent for a long time before he finally spoke hoarsely:

"You don't understand."

Hong Luoyu chuckled twice, saying leisurely:

"Don't understand?"

"Is it I who don't understand?"

"Or is it you who don't want to understand?"

At the moment when these words were spoken, his state of mind conjured up countless towering waves, yet in the next instant, his unyielding state of mind thoroughly suppressed them, restoring the tranquil surface of an ancient well.

Mr. Ying withdrew his palm, brushed off his sleeves, and flicked the hem of his robe, saying indifferently:

"The Divine Thieves Sect pursues the philosophy of Zhuangzi, seeking freedom and ease."

"Hong Luoyu, when did you learn the sophistry of the famous philosophers? That is indeed rare."

Hong Luoyu raised an eyebrow and snorted with laughter, saying:

"Distracting by talking about something else."

"Ridiculous."

Mr. Ying's eyes narrowed slightly, but he treated the incident as a breeze rippling the water's surface. Even the faintest ripples were suppressed by him, unable to shake his state of mind as they had just before. He indifferently turned and made his way toward the bamboo chair.

With the vastness of Heaven and Earth, so long as that one face doesn't appear before him...

There is virtually nothing that can induce even a slight hesitation in his heart.

But that ripple had indeed appeared once.

So, in the end, he didn't rise in anger and send Hong Luoyu soaring into the sky, to be spun round and round until he was dizzy and fell back to the ground as he had done in days past.

Hong Luoyu chuckled lightly, then turned around, his back to Mr. Ying. Almost at the moment he turned, the indifferent expression on his face twisted instantly—

His mouth stretched into a strange shape, his complexion turned pale, and his eyes bulged as if a person who had nearly drowned had just climbed ashore, clinging to a slim, slippery straw. If he had hands, they would surely be constantly patting his chest in an effort to calm the violently beating heart that couldn't be ignored.

That was damn close, too damn close...

Hong Luoyu's eyes were filled with terror, his breathing rapid.

He almost wanted to shout at the top of his lungs.

Damn it, that was close to not ever waking up again!

Freaking tiger tails... they really can't be touched...

Using his Inner Strength to control his breathing and heartbeat, he pretended to be nonchalant, slowly making his exit.

However, soon the terror in Hong Luoyu's eyes turned into smugness. He pondered in his mind, aside from himself, who else had managed to piss off Long Daokui, the former leader of the Jianghu, to the point of real anger and yet escaped unscathed, without losing a single hair?

It was worth showing off big time!

Although he didn't know if there would be others after him, he was certainly the first of his kind.

Impressive.

If he ever met those friends again, he would have much more to boast about over drinks. This scare had been well worth it, definitely worth it...

Ci and Wu Changqing had not, like Mr. Ying, used Qinggong; they had simply walked on foot and had only now reached the top of this solitary peak.

They were greeted by Hong Luoyu, who was pale-faced but wore an exaggerated smile of pride as he floated outwards, giving Wu Changqing, a man of venerable age, quite a shock, almost making him think he had encountered a ghost.

Once he calmed down and recognized the identity of the newcomer, he couldn't help but feel a mix of laughter and helplessness. The old man raised his hand to stroke his white beard, saying somewhat helplessly:

"Luoyu, what's gotten into you?"

"Laughing strangely; it's quite unsettling to look at. What happened, did you take a big advantage of someone today?"

The smile on Hong Luoyu's face stiffened slightly.

He didn't need to look back; just by sensing the flow of air atop the solitary peak, he had 'seen' that the Scholar in the blue robe who appeared to be absorbed in a book slowly lifted his gaze. In an instant, it was as if the whole world darkened, and two substantial beams of light locked onto him.

Hong Luoyu shivered and chuckled dryly:

"Ha ha ha, nothing much, what laughter?"

"Old Medicine Pot, you've taken too much medicine, your old eyes are blurry, right? Ha ha ha..."

Wu Changqing was somewhat puzzled and said:

"But you just now clearly..."

"Let's not talk about this, let's not talk about this. I still need to go see how that young madcap is learning swordsmanship from the Ancient Taoist..."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Hong Luoyu sensed the chill from the bamboo chair on the solitary peak suddenly intensify. His heart shuddered, realizing he had spoken out of turn and wishing he could slap himself, but it was nothing more than wishful thinking at that moment.

Stretching a grin, he said no more and directly applied Qinggong to head toward the back mountain.

But just as he leaped, the wind that usually obeyed his will like an extension of his limbs no longer heeded his command. It was as if it had been frozen within amber, and Hong Luoyu himself was like an insect trapped and immobilized within amber, suspended in midair, unable to move.

Atop the solitary peak, Mr. Ying lazily lifted his gaze.

His right hand's slender fingers gently tapped on the armrest of the bamboo chair, as he looked toward Hong Luoyu.

On his handsome face, a chill began to grow, his voice unusually mild.

"Quite a thief..."

............…

Behind the Shaolin Temple·In the bamboo forest.

Not only had an inexplicably large and flat area appeared here, but also a lush bamboo forest. Within this forest, there were several bamboo houses forming a small courtyard enclosed by green bamboo.

The Taoist who called himself the Ancient Taoist sat beside the stone table, a slight frown on his face with a hint of surprise as he looked at Wang Anfeng and said:

"What did you just say?"

Wang Anfeng, neither humble nor arrogant, replied:

"Junior states, I do not wish to learn the Taoist's swordsmanship."

PS: Here is the first update of the day...…

Thanks a lot to tdsj for the huge reward, much appreciated…