Yan Wushi clasped his hands behind his back. “I’ve already seen the battle between Qi Fengge and Hulugu,” he said, tone indifferent. “Shen Qiao and Kunye are their disciples, and they are still young. No matter how strong they are, they can’t surpass the grand spectacle of that year’s Qi-Hu match. I brought you here because of the fast-flowing waters and the treacherous terrain, which connects to the energies of the sky and the spirits of the earth. This makes it most suitable for training and enlightenment. While I was in seclusion, I had no time to look after you, but now that I’ve left, I cannot leave you to loiter and stagnate at your current level of progress. Before you comprehend the fifth stage of the Fenglin Scriptures, you shall stay here.”
Yu Shengyan suddenly felt a bit wounded. Though he had spent these past ten years traveling here and there, he hadn’t dared to neglect his training, not even for a day. Now he was only in his early twenties but had already attained the Fenglin Scriptures’ fourth stage. In the jianghu, he was considered one of the few martial experts of the younger generation, so he’d been quite satisfied. But now it seemed his shizun saw no merit in any of this.
As if sensing his disciple’s emotions, the corner of Yan Wushi’s mouth tugged up in a mocking smile. “When I was your age, I had already broken through the sixth stage. What do you have to be proud of? Instead of comparing yourself to those small fry, why not compare yourself to me?”
Although the hair at Yan Wushi’s temples was peppered with white, it didn’t detract from his charm. In fact, that shadow of a smile made it even harder for anyone to avert their eyes from his handsome face.
His white robe, long and loose, flapped and rustled in the blustering wind, but he remained as stalwart and unmoving as ever. He simply stood there with his hands behind his back, but radiating from him was an invisible aura of all-encompassing disdain, both intimidating and crushing.
As Yu Shengyan stood opposite him, a suffocating pressure engulfed him from the front, forcing him two steps back. “Shizun is a heavenly talent, how can this disciple dare to compare himself with you?” he said, reverent and fearful.
“Greet me with the most powerful attack you can think of. I want to see how far you’ve progressed over the years.”
Yu Shengyan had not been tested in martial arts since he’d left seclusion. The order left him a little hesitant, although somewhat eager as well. But when he saw the flash of impatience on Yan Wushi’s face, his single trace of hesitation vanished.
“Then, please forgive this disciple’s rudeness!” As the words fell from his lips, his body moved as he willed it and his sleeves rose. Moving too swiftly to be seen, he was already in front of Yan Wushi.
Yu Shengyan raised an arm, his palm striking forth. To a bystander, it would appear there was no force behind this movement—it looked as gentle as if he were plucking flowers on a spring day, or whisking away dust on an autumn night—airy and light, without a wisp of firepower.
Only those in the thick of things would feel that palm’s might. In a meter-wide radius around him, the grass and trees bowed, the river waters reversed, waves swelled, and foam leapt as massive air currents erupted, and all this power surged towards Yan Wushi!
These were currents capable of suspending rivers and overturning seas, yet when they reached Yan Wushi, they seemed to be blocked by an invisible barrier. The hurtling current split into two and veered off to either side.
He still stood in the same spot as before, completely unmoved. Only when Yu Shengyan’s palm was right before his eyes did he indifferently extend a single finger.
Only one finger, and no more.
And with just this finger, Yu Shengyan’s attack was frozen in midair.
Yu Shengyan felt the winds from his palm strike suddenly reverse and roar towards him in a counter-current many times more powerful than his own. Alarmed, he used the current’s momentum and hastily retreated.
With this one retreat, he reeled back ten steps.
Only after he’d found his footing upon a rock did he finally speak, still a bit shocked and shaky. “This disciple thanks Shizun for his mercy!”
Yu Shengyan had been quite confident when he used his palm strike—few people in all the jianghu could withstand it.
And yet, with just one finger, Yan Wushi forced him to withdraw his palm to protect himself.
Fortunately, his shizun was merely testing his progress and hadn’t pressed his advantage. If it had been an enemy…
Yu Shengyan broke out in a cold sweat at the thought; he couldn’t help it. He didn’t dare to be so self-assured anymore.
Yan Wushi had achieved his goal. Now that he’d given Yu Shengyan a wake-up call, he didn’t bother saying much more. “Don’t waste your superb talents. In a few days I will travel to the Göktürk Khaganate. Once you’ve mastered the fifth stage here, if you have nothing to do, go and find your shixiong.4 Don’t wander about traveling too much.”
“Yes,” Yu Shengyan said reverently.
“The scenery here is sculpted by nature and is seldom visited,” said Yan Wushi. “I wish to take a tour around, so you need not…”
Before he could finish, a series of noises came from a short distance overhead. The two of them followed the sounds and looked up to see a man plummeting down, as if he’d fallen from high above. He hurtled through layer after layer of branches before finally crashing to a stop at the bottom of the cliff. Even Yu Shengyan had to gasp at the muffled thump of his landing.
Surely even a Xiantian expert would be hard-pressed to survive a fall from a mountain peak that high?
What was more, this man certainly wouldn’t have fallen off the cliff for no reason. He must have been seriously injured, even before the fall.
“Shizun?” Yu Shengyan looked to Yan Wushi for instructions.
“Go over and take a look,” he said.
The man’s Daoist robe was slashed through in many places, probably because it tore against the branches and rock face during his fall. His flesh was a mosaic of overlapping bloodstains and fresh wounds, making it hard to even discern his appearance.
He had lost consciousness already, unable to keep hold of the sword in his hand. When he’d hit the ground, the sword followed suit and had landed nearby.
“The bones all over his body have probably been shattered.” Yu Shengyan frowned and inspected him for a while, clicking his tongue in sympathy. Then he went to check his pulse. There, he felt what seemed like a glimmer of life.
But even if you could save a man in this state, he would probably be better off dead.
Yu Shengyan was from a demonic sect after all—he might have been young, but his kindness was limited. So, even though he had a Pill of Great Revival on hand, he had no intention of giving it to this injured man.
It was just…
“Shizun, today is the date of the duel between Shen Qiao and Kunye. This man fell down from above, where the duel is being held, could he be…”
Yan Wushi walked over. Instead of looking at the man, he picked up the sword.
The blade was as cold as autumn water and wholly undamaged. As it reflected the river and the mists, subtle ripples seemed to dance across its surface. Near the hilt were four small characters, carved there in seal script.
Yu Shengyan came over to take a look. “Ah, the Shanhe Tongbei5 sword! It’s the sword of the Xuandu Violet Palace’s sect leader. This man really is Shen Qiao!”
He looked back in disbelief at the grievously injured man, so close to death—Shen Qiao. “Qi Fengge’s abilities were the best in the world. Shen Qiao was his personal disciple, and he rose to lead Xuandu Mountain. How could he lose so completely?”
Yu Shengyan squatted in front of Shen Qiao and frowned. “Could Kunye’s martial arts have grown to surpass even his master Hulugu’s?”
If any other person from Xuandu Mountain had fallen, Yan Wushi wouldn’t even give them a second glance. But Shen Qiao, the sect leader, was a special case.
He tossed the sword Shanhe Tongbei to Yu Shengyan, then looked at Shen Qiao’s unrecognizable countenance for another moment. Finally, an enigmatic smile crept across Yan Wushi’s face.
“First, take out the Pill of Great Revival and give it to him.”