Chapter 41
Agong's voice, shouting at the top of his lungs, calling for Xi Xichang, echoed throughout the tavern.
The Taoist Lingbao hurriedly stretched out his hand, but Agong was not easily caught this time either.
Swoosh!
He changed the movement of his hands dizzily and avoided all of the Taoist Lingbao's ghostly hand movements.
"You brat... your Nine Palaces Divine Steps has improved quite a bit."
"Do you think I've just been playing around?"
Behind the grinning Agong, the door burst open.
"Senior Sword Immortal!"
At the sight of Xi Xichang, who had run in, panting, Agong was triumphant, and the Taoist Lingbao seemed flustered, but he tried hard to maintain his composure.
"What's wrong?"
"The young lady has misunderstood... this brat sometimes does such crazy things."
The Taoist Lingbao composed his posture and sat down again.
The True Man Lingbao quickly rolled his head and eyes, picked up the half-burned book on one side of the table, and held it out to Xi Xichang.
"This is the remaining sword manual you were looking for."
"This is?"
Xi Xichang, startled, took the book.
But as she opened the book, her expression, which had been filled with joy, soon changed to bewilderment.
"This... what happened to it?"
"There was an accident."
"An accident?"
Xi Xichang's expression was serious.
The sword manual, the treasure and hope of her sect, was damaged. She had to know the reason, no matter what.
"Actually, it was my disciple."
"What did I do! Cough!"
Agong was about to say something, but he was subdued by the noble finger technique of the Taoist Lingbao, which even Xi Xichang could not notice, and he plopped down.
"That brat has a fever, so he sometimes has seizures like that."
Agong, who had been triumphant just a moment ago for having blocked the Taoist Lingbao's hand, was in a living hell.
He didn't know what martial art he had displayed, but he had been hit by a lightning-fast strike.
"How could the sword manual be like this..."
Xi Xichang had no time to care whether Agong had fallen or not. What was important to her right now was the reason why the sword manual had been damaged like this.
"Actually... since it was an important sword manual, I was carrying it, but in fact, my disciple accidentally damaged this sword manual."
"That...!"
The angry Xi Xichang glared at Agong.
If the Taoist Lingbao's words were true, it meant that Agong had been feigning ignorance even after hearing all the stories about the sword manual of the Ten Thousand Sword Master.
Agong was truly at his wit's end.
Had he not suddenly become an irreconcilable enemy to Xi Xichang with such a ridiculous lie?
"How could you do this? This sword manual is no different from the life of our Qingcheng Sect."
"I have nothing to say... my sin of not teaching my disciple properly is too great."
Since the Taoist Lingbao, a martial arts elder who was several ranks higher than her, was apologizing, Xi Xichang could no longer press the Taoist Lingbao.
"Since it has already happened, there's nothing to be done. But... I can't forgive him."
At the look of betrayal in Xi Xichang's eyes, Agong was frustrated, but he could not answer because his acupoints had been pressed.
As Agong remained silent without even making an excuse, Xi Xichang naturally thought that Agong was not speaking out of guilt.
"What more can I say? The disciple's fault is the master's fault... Since I am planning to leave the Hermit's Valley as you requested, please don't hold too much of a grudge against this child."
"Senior Sword Immortal..."
Xi Xichang, thinking that it was indeed the magnanimity of a great senior of the martial world, felt her resentment and anger from before melt away like snow.
But just as a shadow deepens when the light becomes brighter, her disappointment in Agong's actions grew even greater.
"Thank you for your kindness, senior. But..."
"In any case, didn't you need the Ten Thousand Sword Master more than the sword manual of the Ten Thousand Sword Master? If so, since the situation has flowed as you wished, you shouldn't resent my disciple either."
A blue light flashed in the Taoist Lingbao's eyes.
The Taoist Lingbao's momentum was too powerful and terrifying for Xi Xichang to receive.
Naturally, it was impossible for Xi Xichang, who was not even of age, to have the strength to receive the energy of the Taoist Lingbao, who had trained for decades.
"No, senior..."
Xi Xichang, at the Taoist Lingbao's energy, which seemed as if she would die at any moment, opened her mouth with difficulty.
"Then rest well for one night and let's leave early tomorrow morning."
"Then, senior..."
"Do you think I would lie? I need to prepare to leave the Hermit's Valley, so I will follow soon."
"Yes..."
Xi Xichang left the room with a contorted expression.
As Xi Xichang left, the Taoist Lingbao leisurely released Agong's suppressed acupoints again.
"Ugh. My goodness... how can a Taoist be like this..."
"Disciple, sit down."
The Taoist Lingbao was planning to persuade Agong as gently as possible.
Since his young disciple had a habit of talking back to his master like a rebellious colt, it was important to calmly soothe him.
"You're really too much. What will Miss Xi think of me?"
Seeing Agong, who was taking a defensive posture with eyes full of distrust, the Taoist Lingbao said gently.
"What did I do? In fact, you were the one who was too much, weren't you?"
"How can you sell your own disciple like that? And to give me such a dishonor."
"Then would you be satisfied if I, an old man, were covered in filth?"
"That's not what I mean. How am I supposed to see Miss Xi from now on?"
"In any case, she is a child who is different from you from birth. Will you ever see that young girl again?"
"That's..."
As the Taoist Lingbao had said, if Xi Xichang left the Hermit's Valley, she was a person whom Agong would never meet again.
Even if the Taoist Lingbao hadn't reminded him, Agong knew that well.
"Moreover, this is also my punishment for you, who brought this trouble here. Because of you, I have broken my seclusion and am leaving the Hermit's Valley, so I have to do this much for my anger to subside a little."
"Even so."
"For now, what has happened has happened... if I leave this place, there will be no one to manage a thunderbolt like you, so it's a big deal."
"Manage? And when did I ever act like a thunderbolt..."
"You've learned the number one divine art in the world, yet you're lazy in your practice, and you're always getting distracted or doing other things with the techniques of the evil heretical path. If you're not a thunderbolt, what are you?"
"That's...!"
"Didn't you want to get revenge on the Slender Moon Squad? Or have you become so accustomed to your life that your desire for revenge has faded?"
Agong, at the thought of the Slender Moon Squad, felt his blood boil for a moment.
Could he really get revenge on the Slender Moon Squad who had deceived him with his current skills?
Agong was still not confident.
In Agong's memory, the Slender Moon Squad was imprinted as a greater master than even the Taoist Lingbao in front of him.
"If you don't make an effort even after obtaining an opportunity, how can you achieve greatness? Keep that in mind."
At Agong's words, a blue light flashed in the Taoist Lingbao's eyes.
"Although I have broken my seclusion and are going out into the martial world, if you are lazy in your practice of the Nine Gates True Scripture in the meantime, I will give you more lumps on your head than you can imagine."
"That's tyranny!"
"Then just don't be lazy, right? If I'm gone, you'll cling to that evil old monster Tongtian and practice martial arts. If you do that, you'll instantly become a demon of the demonic cult and bring shame to my face."
The fact that the Taoist Lingbao had made Agong practice the cultivation method of his unique divine art, the Nine Gates Harmonious Art, was also largely due to his power struggle with the Tongtian Cult Master, who was teaching Agong the moves of the Manifest Demon True Art.
If he left the Hermit's Valley, the time Agong spent with the Tongtian Cult Master would be even longer. If so, his Nine Gates True Scripture would naturally be forgotten, and if that happened, the Taoist Lingbao, who had been competing over one disciple, would naturally be defeated by the Tongtian Cult Master.
"And someday, you will also go out into the martial world, but if you are lazy in your practice of this divine art or practice something like the martial arts of the demonic cult, you will surely be defeated. If that happens, you should say that you are not my disciple, but a disciple of the Tongtian Cult Master."
"Where is such a thing! And to be honest, I don't even know if it's a really great martial art..."
"You brat! If you reach even the six gates of the Nine Gates True Scripture, it will be difficult for even the sect leaders of each sect or the Twelve Honored Ones to guarantee a victory!"
It was a truly frustrating thing that he still didn't believe it even after being taught a martial art that looked down on the world.
"To be honest, there's no reason for you to teach me something so great."
"Do you think human relationships go as I please?"
"Then if I practice the Nine Gates True Scripture diligently, will I also become a peerless master?"
"Are you some kind of Yang Jian, the Guanji Erlang Sword of the Four Unrivaled Swords? Don't have empty dreams and work hard. That's how you'll get the revenge you so desire."
At the Taoist Lingbao's words, who was reprimanding Agong as if he were pathetic, Agong frowned as if his feelings were hurt.
"Just as there is no tree without roots in the world, the Nine Gates True Scripture is a divine art that will become the root of your martial arts. If the Nine Gates True Art reaches the sixth stage, you will be free to use and withdraw your internal energy, and the use of that true energy will continue without end."
"Then when will I reach that?"
"If you keep asking such useless things, forever!"
Crack!
As the Taoist Lingbao stretched out his hand, Agong did a somersault in the small room and avoided the palm force that was displayed at him.
In the end, the innocent door was shattered into pieces.
"Ack! What are you doing, making a hole in the tavern door!"
"It'll be nice and airy. What's with the long face?"
"The Old Ancestor will scold me when he comes back."
"Now that your master is going out into the martial world, are you making a long face because a door is a little broken, in a situation where you don't even know if you'll be able to see him again?"
"What?"
Agong opened his eyes wide at the Taoist Lingbao's unexpected words.
"You're not coming back?"
"Then did you think I could come back as simply as leaving home and coming back?"
Agong only then realized that the atmosphere was not as light as he had thought.
Since the Taoist Lingbao was tormenting him and making a fuss as usual, he had just thought that he was leaving the valley for a short time.
"Why, are you happy?"
"No... can't you just come back?"
Agong, no matter how much he was a rival master who tormented him, was distressed at the thought that he might not be able to see him for good.
"That will be difficult. Even without looking, the Sichuan Alliance will be in a state of being famous but having no substance, and Mo Guangdi of the Black Contemplation Fortress is not an easy opponent. And now the Black Qilin is also there."
"Why are you setting the mood like this?"
Agong shuddered at the Taoist Lingbao's words, which were setting the mood as if it were the last, not hitting him as usual.
"That's why I'm telling you not to be lazy in your training. Can you promise?"
"Yes... then please promise that you will come back when you finish your work, master."
"It will be faster for you to go out into the martial world and find me than for me to make that promise."
"Me?"
"Then are you going to stay here forever?"
"No."
"It was fun to have a blockhead like you as a disciple in my later years."
The Taoist Lingbao stood up from his seat before even hearing Agong's answer.
Agong, for some reason, felt a sense of anxiety at the Taoist Lingbao's back, but he followed him.
"Thanks to you, I'll have to say something unpleasant to Hongjun."
The Taoist Lingbao looked at Agong, who had followed him out of the tavern, once more, and then smiled and shook his body.
[Watch carefully.]
The Taoist Lingbao's body swayed and slowly floated up into the air.
The Taoist Lingbao's body, which was climbing as if stepping on stairs in the air, swayed as if it were dancing, and soon, a sharp energy flowed around the Taoist Lingbao, and the warm air became sharp.
It wasn't just the air.
The sky and the earth, the dirt and the water, everything that was reflected in Agong's eyes was like hundreds, thousands, no, tens of thousands of swords that were exuding a sharp energy.
Do nothing and be natural.
It is the way of the world to bloom, fall, and then bloom again.
The body withers, but the heart never dries up.
It returns and circulates through the blue spring, the red summer, the white autumn, and the black winter.
The beginning and end of the strike follow the teachings of nature.
The true energy returns to the four seasons and is always new.
The sword is contained in the heart and contains the greatness of a person.
Nine Gates Harmonious Heart Art.
Nine Gates Ten Thousand Sword Adjustment.
In an instant, the sky turned yellow, and Agong could not breathe.
A tremendous pain assailed him, and his head was so hot that it felt like it would burn.
Agong, unable to fully take in the Taoist Lingbao's final appearance with his two eyes, fainted on the spot.
(End of Chapter)