Chapter 55 Reaching the Peak
“Every word in this Zixia Secret Book was written by our sect’s 14th generation ancestor and master. I practiced it sentence by sentence and found it to contain infinite wonders. The last sixteen words are exactly the same as the rest of the book, so they are definitely not false.”

Yue Buqun looked solemn and said, “I have been inquiring about this matter for many years. This “Sunflower Manual” suddenly appeared in the world about a hundred years ago, causing a bloody storm in the martial arts world. It was finally obtained by Master Hongye of Putian Shaolin Temple, who burned it before his death.”

“I just mentioned this to Mu Gaofeng on purpose to test him. But, judging from his expression, he obviously didn’t know about this, and he was even less clear about the connection between the Sunflower Manual and the Purple Cloud Divine Art. These should just be coincidences.”

Seventy years ago, there were two major battles between the Demon Cult and the Five Mountains Sword Sect.

Both sides suffer losses.

The Five Mountains sword sects, especially the Huashan Sect which was the leader of the Five Mountains and the main battlefield, suffered heavy losses.

Yue Su and Cai Zifeng, the two future founders of the Sword and Qi sects, and the two most outstanding successors of the Huashan Sect at that time, were killed on the spot, and the rest of the disciples were countless.

This resulted in many of the Huashan Sect’s martial arts and secrets not being passed down.

In addition, due to reasons such as respecting respected figures, the few that have been passed down have gradually become distorted.

In the following decades, the Demon Cult and the Five Mountains Sword Sect each rested and recuperated. Although there were constant frictions during this period, no major conflicts occurred.

Relying on its reputation of leading the Five Mountains Sword Sects to severely damage the Demon Sect, the Huashan Sect grew rapidly and became the second most famous sect in the world after Shaolin and Wudang.

As a result, another battle of sword energy broke out.

An internal conflict directly wiped out two generations of the Huashan Sect, consuming all the foundation that the Huashan Sect had accumulated with great difficulty.

Yue Buqun, a disciple who was not particularly outstanding, survived by chance and became the only candidate for the leader of the Huashan Sect.

The previous leader was seriously injured in the battle of sword energy, and was plagued by injuries and illnesses in the last few years before his death. He only had time to hastily teach Yue Buqun the sword techniques and martial arts he knew, especially the Zixia magic skills. He had no time or energy to tell Yue Buqun anything else.

As a result, Yue Buqun was unaware of many secrets of the martial arts world, and his understanding of “The Sunflower Manual” was limited to just one sentence: “The Sunflower Manual, the pinnacle of perfection.”

Afterwards, Yue Buqun began a more than ten-year-long search, hoping to use this “Sunflower Manual, the Pinnacle of Perfection” to help Huashan Sect regain its position as the leader of the Five Mountains.

But the harvest was minimal.

Yue Buqun thought of the hard work he had put in over the past decade and could not help but sigh slightly. When his eyes swept over Shi Potian, he became excited again.

He didn’t find the martial arts secret book “Sunflower Manual”!

But he has found his own Sunflower Book!

In less than three months, relying on his own talent and understanding, he jumped from a second-rate master in the world to a top master in the world!
With disciples like this, the Huashan Sect will soon reach the pinnacle!

Ning Zhongze asked again: “Brother, seventy years ago, the Demon Cult besieged our Huashan twice. Could it be that they really wanted to take away the Sunflower Manual?”

Yue Buqun said: “It may be, it may not be. Our Five Mountains Sword Sect and the Demon Sect have a deep hatred for each other. We may fight for any reason. It may not be because of the Sunflower Manual, but it may not be.”

Ning Zhongze frowned and said, “This rumor is already difficult to dispel. Now, won’t it be even harder for us to explain it clearly?”

Yue Buqun said: “Why should we explain to them? The Sunflower Manual is ownerless. Even if it is really in the hands of our Huashan Sect, what does it matter?”

“Junior sister, the key to this matter is not the Sunflower Manual, but the fact that they dared to cause trouble to our Huashan Sect for this rumor that we don’t know whether it is true or not.” “If we don’t solve this matter, even if we solve this trouble, there will be other troubles coming to us in the future.”

Yue Buqun looked grim, with a fierce look in his eyes. He said, “At this time, the more we explain, the more they will think we are easy to bully. Only by cutting off their claws and letting them know the pain, fear and power, will they listen to us seriously. Even if they don’t believe us, they dare not say another word.”

Ning Zhongze suddenly understood and nodded repeatedly, saying, “Brother is right, I thought things were too simple. We must take this opportunity to let them know how powerful we are, so that they will not dare to touch the tiger whiskers of our Huashan Sect in the future.”

Shi Potian asked: “Master, Master’s Wife, is there anything I need to do?”

Yue Buqun said: “You don’t have to do anything. You don’t have to take it too seriously. Just do what you need to do every day.”

“If you hear any noise at night, or if you encounter sneaky people like Mu Gaofeng again, just catch them and hand them over to me and your master’s wife. Your master’s wife and I will take care of the rest.”

Yue Buqun handed the Zixia Secret Book to Shi Potian and said, “Chong’er, you were illiterate before, and you only learned the Zixia Divine Art by following the movement routes of the Zixia Divine Art. Now you can take a look at the contents of this book, maybe you can gain something.”

As they were talking, there was a sound of hurried footsteps outside, followed by Lu Dayou’s voice: “Master.”

The three of them walked out and saw Lu Dayou covered in blood, kneeling on the ground with a plop.

Ning Zhongze was startled and said hurriedly: “Dayou, didn’t you go to see Mu Gaofeng off the mountain? What happened?”

Lu Dayou said: “I have violated Master’s orders, and I have come to apologize to Master.”

Yue Buqun asked: “What did you do?”

Lu Dayou said, “I followed Master’s order to escort Mu Gaofeng down the mountain, but he kept swearing all the way. I couldn’t hold back my anger, so I killed him with a sword. I disobeyed Master’s order and I am willing to accept the punishment.”

Ning Zhongze looked at Lu Dayou in surprise and suddenly felt that he was a little strange.

It is true that Mu Gaofeng is vulgar and mean, and he will definitely bear a grudge against Huashan because his martial arts were abolished, but he is also a person who bullies the weak and fears the strong and who takes advantage of the situation. It is absolutely impossible for him to insult the Huashan Sect on his way down the mountain.

What Lu Dayou said could only be excuses he made up.

Lu Dayou noticed Ning Zhongze’s gaze and lowered his head even more, but he did not regret it. All his regrets had been used up in the first few days when he learned that his senior brother had soul-leaving syndrome.

During those days, he recalled countless times what happened in the Hanzhong Restaurant that day.

If he could handle everything cleanly and prevent the identity of the eldest senior brother from being discovered by the people of Qingcheng Sect, then the eldest senior brother would not be punished and would not suffer from the soul-leaving syndrome.

Yue Buqun sighed and said, “Although you violated my order, you were sincere. I will punish you to copy the Huashan Sect’s rules a hundred times. You can practice sword skills only when you have finished copying them.”

Lu Dayou was overjoyed and kowtowed vigorously: “Disciple respectfully accepts the punishment.”

Ning Zhongze was stunned and suddenly understood something. He turned to look at Shi Potian, and seeing the reluctance on Shi Potian’s face, he became more convinced that his guess was correct.

This disciple of mine is extremely talented and has great martial arts skills, but he is too kind-hearted and is unwilling to even hurt others, let alone kill them.

He needs someone who can stand behind him unwaveringly and do for him the things he is unwilling to do.

Lu Dayou has been following him since he entered the sect, and he was the one who taught him all the martial arts, so it was perfect for him!
(End of this chapter)