Jiang Ning asked in surprise: “Help?”

A disciple replied, “After we came back from Xiangyang, those women and some Xiangyang people followed us back to Shaanxi. They built a village not far from the foot of the mountain. During this period of time, Master asked us to go down the mountain to help them reclaim wasteland and build houses.”

Jiang Ning nodded and asked, “Where is Master now?”

“There is nothing that cannot be done.”

After getting the answer, Jiang Ning bid farewell to these Huashan disciples and went directly to Yue Buqun’s residence.

After arriving at Yousuobuweixuan, Jiang Ning discovered that Yue Buqun was teaching a group of children holding wooden swords to practice sword skills in the open space in front of Yousuobuweixuan.

“You must exert your strength steadily and move quickly. The Huashan School’s swordsmanship is characterized by being strange and dangerous, and focuses on taking the opponent by surprise, so your movements must be fast. Otherwise, if your moves are slow, they will be seen through and easily counterattacked.”

Yue Buqun explained while looking at the group of children.

At this time, the young faces of these children were very serious, and they were practicing sword skills according to the method taught by Yue Buqun.

“Master.”

Yue Buqun, who was about to continue instructing this group of children, suddenly heard a familiar voice coming from behind him. Turning back, he saw the figure he hadn’t seen for a long time not far away, looking at him with a smile on his face.

“Ning’er?”

Yue Buqun first shouted in surprise, but after confirming the identity of the person, a surprised smile appeared on his serious face.

“You are finally back.”

Yue Buqun looked at the group of children practicing swordsmanship and said, “Today’s swordsmanship practice ends here. You can go and have a rest.”

“Yes, Master.”

When the children heard what Yue Buqun said, they all stopped what they were doing, saluted him and left. They also saluted Jiang Ning when they passed by him.

After they left, Yue Buqun looked at Jiang Ning carefully.

His appearance has not changed much from last year, but his facial features have become a little colder, making Jiang Ning’s temperament even more cold.

But only those eyes were like the stars in the sky, becoming brighter and brighter.

Yue Buqun then said, “You have been gone for a year without any news, not even a letter has been brought back. Your mistress is very worried about you.”

Jiang Ning said with a guilty look on his face: “I am an unfilial disciple. I am sorry to trouble the Master’s wife to worry about me.”

Yue Buqun shook his head and said with a smile: “Let’s not talk about this anymore. It’s good that you can come back safely. Have you slacked off in your training this time when you came down the mountain?”

Jiang Ning smiled and said, “Don’t be lazy for a day.”

Upon hearing this, Yue Buqun reached out and grabbed Jiang Ning’s wrist, and began to find out about Jiang Ning’s situation.

After a while.

Yue Buqun showed a hint of surprise in his eyes, looked at Jiang Ning and asked: “Have you entered the room?”

Entering the hall is the third stage of Xiantian Gong. Reaching this stage means entering the ranks of first-class masters.

Jiang Ning nodded and said, “Luckily, there was a breakthrough a month ago.”

In addition to traveling around, experiencing many things, and killing many people this year, his state of mind kept changing, and he was also constantly practicing. After leaving Xiangyang Prefecture in May, he had completed the refinement of his internal strength in July and entered the second stage with some success, which was a month faster than he expected. After another half a year, his strength continued to increase and reached the top second-rate level, but he had not been able to break through the bottleneck and enter the third stage.

Jiang Ning had originally anticipated that if he really wanted to break through the bottleneck, it would take him about two to three years unless something unexpected happened. However, a month ago, while practicing, he suddenly entered a mysterious state and his mind became clear. At that time, he naturally entered the third stage of Xiantian Gong and became a first-class master.

The feeling was very mysterious, exactly the same as Jiang Ning’s feeling when he was in Xiangyang Prefecture, which is what Taoists call the state of mind.

Jiang Ning has experienced so much in his journey, and his thoughts and insights have been constantly accumulating and changing. All the accumulation exploded that night, helping Jiang Ning enter the next level in one fell swoop.

If Jiang Ning had not traveled during this period of time and had been training hard in Huashan, it would take him an unknown amount of time to break through.

Yue Buqun was surprised: “Is it so miraculous for a pure Yang body to practice Xiantian Gong?”

It’s no wonder that Yue Buqun was surprised. He was also practicing Xiantian Gong himself, but his progress couldn’t be said to be slow, just not much better than a turtle. After nearly a year of practice, he had just entered the third stage, which was almost on par with Jiang Ning.

But he is different from Jiang Ning. Although he is not a pure yang body, he has practiced martial arts for decades and has deep internal strength. Only with this blessing can he make such progress.

How old is Jiang Ning now?

Less than seventeen.

He started practicing martial arts at the age of seven, and in less than ten years he had reached the level of a first-rate master.

What does it mean to be a top-notch master who is less than seventeen years old?

Looking at all the second generation disciples of the Five Mountains Sword Sect, no one can reach that level. Now Jiang Ning’s strength is the best among the second generation disciples of the Five Mountains Sword Sect.

This age, this talent, this strength, it’s simply terrifying.

Jiang Ning is not yet eighteen years old, and his peak period has not yet arrived, so he still has a lot of room for growth.

If he were given more time to grow, where would he go?

Yue Buqun began to get excited, and the hand he was holding on Jiang Ning’s was trembling slightly.

He looked at Jiang Ning, as if he saw the future scene of Huashan Sect reaching the top of the righteous path.

Chapter 61: I Can’t Stand It

Chapter 61: I Can’t Stand It

Yue Buqun really wanted to laugh out loud now.

My disciple Jiang Ning has the potential to become the leader of the righteous path!

Looking at Yue Buqun’s excited expression at this moment, Jiang Ning understood his feelings very well.

The Huashan Sect now not only has few disciples, but also lacks in high-level combat power. There are no more than forty Huashan disciples, and the only two masters in the sect are Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze.

On the other hand, the Songshan Sect is also one of the Five Mountains Sword Sects. Not to mention Zuo Lengchan, he has under his command the Thirteen Guardians of Songshan, including Ding Mian, Lu Bai, Fei Bin, etc., all of whom are first-class masters.

These are only the masters of Songshan Sect in the open. There is no telling how many masters are hidden in the dark among their subordinate branches. They are countless times stronger than the two or three big cats and small cats of Huashan Sect.

Now Jiang Ning not only recovered the lost sword skills for Huashan Sect, but also recovered the Xiantian Kung Fu for Yue Buqun. He himself has entered the realm of a first-class master at a young age. The impact Jiang Ning brought to Yue Buqun is more exaggerated than giving Yue Buqun an injection of stimulant in his aorta.

“Good! Good! Good!”

Yue Buqun held Jiang Ning’s wrist tightly, his expression excited, and kept saying this word.

After Yue Buqun calmed down, Jiang Ning asked, “Master, why didn’t you see Master’s Wife?”

Yue Buqun let go of Jiang Ning’s wrist and said with a smile: “Your master’s wife is in the kitchen cooking with Qiaojun and the others.”

Jiang Ning nodded, and asked with a hint of curiosity: “When I came back just now, I heard from other brothers that the eldest brother was punished to face the wall on the cliff again. I wonder what the eldest brother did to make the master unhappy?”

Yue Buqun, who had been smiling just now, suddenly frowned.

“Since you left, he has been slacking off in his training and has started drinking again. It’s no use even though I’ve warned him many times.”

Linghu Chong needs someone to keep him under control and prevent him from relaxing. It is difficult for him to be self-disciplined on his own. Jiang Ning has played this role before.

But Jiang Ning had been gone for such a long time. Without the pressure from Jiang Ning, Linghu Chong was able to practice diligently at first, but after a while his true nature was exposed again. He was often drunk and was not as diligent in practicing as before, and his progress was minimal.

Yue Buqun talked to him many times, but Linghu Chong only persisted for a few days and then went back to his old ways. No matter what he said, it was of no use.

Ning Zhongze was a kind and loving person who usually spoiled him. Yue Buqun was busy practicing Xiantian Kung and had no time to take care of him. After Linghu Chong disobeyed him many times, Yue Buqun finally got angry and punished Linghu Chong to face the wall on the Cliff of Repentance.

When mentioning Linghu Chong, Yue Buqun sighed repeatedly.

Jiang Ning smiled and said, “Big Brother has a free and easy personality and is extremely talented. Blindly practicing hard may not be suitable for him. Everyone has his own opportunities. Maybe Big Brother can lead our Huashan Sect to become famous in the martial arts world in the end.”

Yue Buqun shook his head and said, “I just hope he doesn’t bring shame to the reputation of our Huashan Sect and doesn’t make friends with people of questionable character.”

“Stop talking about this.”

Yue Buqun changed the subject and asked, “Where have you traveled this year?”

Jiang Ning said: “North.”

north?

Yue Buqun raised his eyebrows, he remembered that there was a drought in the north last year.

“How’s the disaster situation in the north?”

Hearing Yue Buqun’s words, Jiang Ning couldn’t help but shook his head: “The areas affected this time are mainly distributed in Shanxi. Huaiqing Prefecture and Luoyang are better off and have been less affected.”

After leaving Xiangyang, Jiang Ning traveled around incognito. His first stop in the north was Luoyang. Luoyang was slightly affected by the drought, but the impact was not great. Prices of goods and grain were relatively stable. Later, Jiang Ning arrived in Huaiqing Prefecture. The drought there was a bit serious and prices were high. In Shaanxi, one tael of silver could buy two shi of rice, but over there it took one tael and six cents to buy two shi of rice.

This is nothing. The prices in the places Jiangning went to later were even more serious. In Zhangde Prefecture, you need two taels of silver to buy one stone of rice.

If the prices in these places are still relatively high but still within controllable range, then the prices in Shanxi have collapsed and are out of control.

The price of grain in Taiyuan and Pingyang soared to five taels of silver for one dan of rice, and the price was rising at a terrifying rate every day. By the time Jiangning arrived there, the price had risen to eight taels and six cents per dan of rice. The people could no longer afford rice.

“so serious?”

Yue Buqun was astonished when he heard this.

Shaanxi also belongs to the northern region and is connected to Shanxi. Yan’an Prefecture has also been affected and prices are relatively high, but not as outrageous as Taiyuan and Pingyang Prefectures.

Jiang Ning shook his head and said, “Shanxi is the hardest hit area in this drought. In addition to the increase in prices due to the natural disaster, some rice and grain shops are hoarding food and driving up prices.”

In every era, there are always some people who make a fortune from national disasters. They put their own interests first. They don’t care if the country is in turmoil or there are refugees everywhere. They only care about whether food prices have risen and whether their own wallets have expanded.

Jiang Ning walked, watched, and killed along the way.

What Jiang Ning saw and heard along the way was shocking. He had seen too many people selling their children just to survive, and he had also seen people who were singing and dancing because of the huge fortune they made from the disaster.

Among the northern regions, Taiyuan and Pingyang Prefecture suffered the most severe disasters and had the highest prices, so Jiangning spent more time in these two places.

The place that impressed Jiang Ning the most was a street in Pingyang Prefecture, which was called Yinyang Road.

That street was where the mansions of dignitaries were located. Some hungry people could not bear the hunger anymore so they wandered outside those mansions, just to wait for the tightly closed big red doors to throw out some leftovers that the dignitaries did not want.

But Jiang Ning saw that the nobles from wealthy families would rather dump the leftover food in the backyard than give it away, especially in those mansions where prices were inflated. The smell of meat in the backyard hit Jiang Ning’s nose.

Those people were talking loudly in the mansion, discussing how much silver the next price increase would cost and how much money they could make after the increase. A child nearby spit out a bite of meat on the ground just for fun. Outside the mansion were starving people everywhere.

Seeing this scene, Jiang Ning took a deep breath and then started killing.

Those officials and businessmen who deliberately raised prices and disregarded the lives of the people were slaughtered one by one by Jiang Ning, including their families, from 70-year-old women to three-year-old children. They were all slaughtered by Jiang Ning without leaving a single one alive.

Yue Buqun was about to speak several times, but finally couldn’t help but said: “Ning’er, aren’t you too extreme? Those merchants who deliberately raised prices can be killed, but why should you be so merciless and not let go of their wives and children? The harm will not be spared to their wives and children.”

Yue Buqun hopes that his disciples will be strict with themselves and stick to the righteous path, but not like Jiang Ning, who is too righteous, extreme, evil, and frightening.

Jiang Ning looked at Yue Buqun and said, “Master, the premise of not bringing harm to your wife and children is that they will not benefit them. They drive up prices, hoard rice and grain, and make a fortune. They make money from the blood and tears of the people, drink the blood of the people, and eat the flesh of the people. Do those who starve to death, flee from famine, or sell their children have wives and children? Do they have any mercy?”

Some people want to make money, Jiang Ning understands, as long as it is normal and reasonable, Jiang Ning understands it. Even if they deliberately raise prices, as long as it is not too excessive, Jiang Ning will not intervene. When it came to Luoyang, Huaiqing and Zhangde Prefectures, although prices in those places were high, the people could at least survive, so Jiang Ning did not intervene. However, the miserable conditions in Pingyang Prefecture and Taiyuan Prefecture made Jiang Ning unable to bear it any longer.