Chapter 108: One Horse, One Sword, a Life's Ambition; Bearing All the Infamy for Fifteen Years!

【The rise of the Shushan orthodoxy, represented by you, in the south has attracted great local attention.】

【This so-called Change of the Five Sects is the deep fear held by the disciples of the five most prestigious families in Jiangnan toward the rise of the Shushan orthodoxy.】

【Because of the dissemination of cultivation techniques, this means ordinary people can break through inherent, closed-off channels; the reason family disciples can rule over mortals, in the final analysis, is that they possess abilities that ordinary people do not.】

【They need mortals, and even more so, they need mortals without the ability to resist, mortals who are willing to be driven by them.】

【Your actions, without a doubt, have destroyed the rules that have existed for thousands of years, and even the new order itself!】

【This is a provocation to the authority of the families.】

【It is even more a deep excavation of their very foundations!!!】

【Back then, in the face of the general trend, Daoism had to compromise; under the strong troops and sturdy horses of the family cultivators, they announced they would no longer enter the world. The Buddhist Sect bowed its head, similarly retreating to a corner, choosing to seal their temples to avoid the chaotic situation. They swore oaths to each other, promising the people of the Hundred Schools that they would only actively appear to resolve the situation when demons and monsters threw the world into chaos.】

【And now, a Daoist sect named Shushan is ignoring this standard, establishing a sect to teach the path of cultivation to mortals in the Heaven and Earth under the torrent of family rule.】

【You are surprised to discover that Wang Shengxuan has vaguely comprehended a new strange technique from the "Withered Wood Returning Yang Art"—the "Return to Heaven Body Source".】

【The Jiangnan Five Sects have to put aside their temporary pursuit to suppress the riots that are constantly breaking out.】

I think you few are the ones who have a path to death!

Ridiculous!

With me, Jiu Jiu, here, who dares to kill my husband?!

Previously, Jiu Jiu had been paying attention to Gu Jiangming's movements, and feeling there were no problems, she let him handle the things he wanted to do.

A path to death?

The scene of the Five Sects' disciples slaughtering their way out appeared in Jiu Jiu's mind.

【He is a crude farmer, knowing nothing about cultivation, yet he has a resilient nature and can Eat Bitter and Endure Labor; to vent the injustice in his heart, he exercises his physique with extreme effort.】

【Any method that uses the essence of Spirit Qi as a means of attack will be absorbed to a certain degree by the Return to Heaven Body Source within his body when it strikes Wang Shengxuan's physical body.】

Just as her Reincarnation cannot lack Gu Jiangming, Gu Jiangming's Reincarnation should not lack her either.

【Under your guidance, Wang Shengxuan has seen considerable results in two months, and the "Withered Wood Returning Yang Art" has made new progress.】

The image stalls.

【In the tenth month of the first year of Shanghe of Northern Wei, large-scale riots broke out in Jiangnan; with grievances accumulated for a long time, there were numerous instances of people storming government offices.】

【In the ninth month of the first year of Shanghe of Northern Wei, the Jiangnan Five Sects issued a kill order for Gu Jiangming of Shushan, but because Gu Jiangming had bestowed favors upon the people, slain demons and eliminated monsters, and rejoiced with the people all the way from Guanzhong down to Jiangnan, he had gradually accumulated fame.】

"But this time, I cannot listen to his words again."

【When the physical body reaches a sufficiently high state of strength, a qualitative change in the physical body's physiological form will occur.】

Jiu Jiu raises her hand, and a Flying Sword enters its sheath.

"Don't go." Long Xi suddenly reaches out and grabs Jiu Jiu, who is about to set off; her hand grips Jiu Jiu's.

"He always makes his own decisions, and when he encounters anything, he is unwilling to tell me."

He is in trouble, and if I do not go, that is unfaithfulness.

"Be obedient."

"You want to go find Gu Jiangming," Long Xi says calmly.

【The Jiangnan Five Sects brazenly launched a kill order against Gu Jiangming, carrying out an indefinite hunt for Shushan Disciples, regardless of casualties, with no need for survivors.】

【When you realize and perceive the change in the situation, the conflict between the local commoners and the Jiangnan Five Sects has already erupted; you want to intervene, but it is already too late.】

【In the eleventh month of the first year of Shanghe of Northern Wei, you know in your heart that if you want to change the status quo under the general trend, the current newborn Shushan is clearly not enough.】

"So you must also stay here; you cannot ruin his affairs."

"You want to stop me?" Jiu Jiu says with her back to her, her voice somewhat cold, "Do you know what I want to do?"

"He said this is his own tribulation," Long Xi continues in a cold voice, "and asked me to stay here and wait for him."

"No matter what happens, this should be something we carry together."

【The first level of "Return to Heaven Body Source" will increase physical strength by 3 points.】

【Is this not a declaration of war against their Hundred Schools?】

"Since you know, why stop me?" Jiu Jiu is becoming impatient; there are many things she can tolerate, but this matter is Jiu Jiu's bottom line, and she cannot possibly abandon even her bottom line.

【The third level increases physical strength by 12 points.】

But since it concerns Gu Jiangming's life, how could Jiu Jiu not keep it on her mind?

【"Absolutely cannot be tolerated—"】

Even if one dies, one should depart together.

Jiu Jiu's expression calms down, and she shakes off Long Xi's hand, saying, "But how is this not also my tribulation?"

【In the process of hunting down Shushan Disciples, the Jiangnan Five Sects also encountered great resistance due to public anger; local commoners spontaneously covered Gu Jiangming's tracks and whereabouts, and accused the people of the Jiangnan Five Sects of having corrupted morals, leaving corpses of the starved across a thousand miles while only knowing the pleasures of their own families.】

【"You already have a path to death."】

【The second level increases physical strength by 6 points.】

【The drought demon incident in Guanzhong further fueled Gu Jiangming's fame; when the starving people of Jiangnan were exhausted, Gu Jiangming pawned his family's "Listening to Water Pavilion" to exchange for some silver, buying grain from grain merchants to gift to the starving people.】

Moreover, these people are by no means her match.

【You need the support of more people, and you need more people to stand up and oppose this era's order.】

【And you are well-versed in the principle that those who follow the Dao have much support, while those who lose the Dao have little.】

【You don't even need to do too much, nor do you need to do too well; as long as you do what you should do, you can determine the outcome against these so-called people of the Hundred Schools.】

【Upon learning that the Jiangnan Five Sects were carrying out cruel and bloody suppression of the commoners who started the riots, faced with this situation, you absolutely cannot endure it any longer.】

【Because Xu Qingyun is still young, you cannot bear to see him fall into danger, so you temporarily entrust him to another true-transmission disciple, Wang Shengxuan, and decide to go to the meeting alone with a single blade.】

【Because of the death of the Baishou Yao, Xu Qingyun's parents did not die early; when you took this child from their hands, you had promised his parents to preserve Xu Qingyun's safety.】

【And the reason you took in Xu Qingyun is because of his inextricable fate with your Shushan orthodoxy; Xu Qingyun is even the sect leader successor you think most highly of.】

【But you did not expect that practicing this great Dao in Jiangnan, the act of lighting a spark to illuminate the world, would actually cause such a huge uproar, to the point of being besieged so vigorously by the cultivators of the Five Sects.】

【Looking back, you now do not wish for Xu Qingyun to be plunged into a turbulent and dangerous situation at such an age.】

【You know the dangers of this journey.】

【Settling these two disciples down is naturally also out of the hope that the spirit of the Shushan Dao can endure within them.】

【You have finally taken the first step toward practicing your ideals; you want to speak out against all the injustices suffered by the common people in this world!】

【One man, one sword, a lone horse, a long song, going to the appointment all by yourself!】

【In the twelfth month of the first year of the Shanghe era of Northern Wei, the Jiangnan Five Sects ordered the execution of Zhang Ming, the leader of the rebel army who had launched the uprising at the time.】

【Over the course of three months, the common people of Jiangnan rioted one after another.】

【The first reason was opposition to the brutal rule of the Jiangnan Five Sects in this region; the ever-increasing land annexation and the heavy, painful taxes made life impossible for the people here. The second was the propagation of the Shushan Dao, which gradually planted the seeds of rebellion in the hearts of the numb populace; a large number of aspiring individuals were unwilling to endure the status quo.】

【But alas, mortals are still mortals, and the extraordinary abilities possessed by the cultivators of the noble families were sufficient to deal with the vast majority of the riots.】

【"You three generations of lowly commoners, how can you oppose our generations of heritage?"】

【The noble family cultivators strictly prevented the spread of cultivation methods, precisely to avoid affecting their status in this world.】

【The reason why Shushan was once deeply besieged lay in the fact that they taught the path of cultivation to those who should not have received it, giving mortals the qualifications to challenge the powerful.】

【Gu Jiangming thus entered the fray with a three-foot-long sharp blade, wishing to kill to his heart's content! With the body of one man, he charged into Shangjiang City, where the Jiangnan Five Sects were based.】

【At the same time, you watched the tragic state of the rebel army resisting the armies under the Jiangnan Five Sects along the way; some spineless people, out of bullying the weak and fearing the strong, submitted to the Jiangnan Five Sects once again, instead picking up butcher knives to face the displaced people who were once like-minded with them.】

【You were furious and attacked them.】

【And this Shangjiang City that appeared slowly before your eyes had gathered tens of thousands of troops to defend against these "rioting" rebel armies, yet you were fearless and unconcerned, charging into the enemy formation alone on horseback with a sword.】

【To settle grievances with pleasure is what a true man should do!】

【Apart from those noble family cultivators, these armies with exquisite armor were also the capital upon which the Jiangnan Five Sects relied to hold their ground and even act with arrogance and tyranny.】

【Your sudden arrival caught the troops of the Jiangnan Five Sects off guard, but when they reacted, they still could not stop you from charging the formation alone on horseback.】

【"A single horse and a single sword for my whole life, bearing the reputation of madness for fifteen years—"】

【"Just watch that sword come!"】

【The sword carried on your back suddenly left its sheath, and as you raised your hand, you extended two fingers, gently wiping from the base of the precious sword upward, and a cold light arose.】

【Taking advantage of the momentum of the charge, you killed your way into the camp, where many cultivators of the Jiangnan Five Sects were gathering for a feast.】

【Meeting in such a scene, you were filled with heroic spirit, looking at these vermin who oppressed the common people right before your eyes; you only saw hands rise and swords fall, and the heads of several people at the banquet had already fallen to the ground.】

【"The one who avenges the masses is Gu Jiangming—"】

【You raised the warm wine from the banquet, drank it all, and said proudly: "I thought Jiangnan had many heroes, but they are just livestock who eat the flesh and blood of the common people raw, no different from demons; there is nothing remarkable about them."】

【The people of the Five Sects at the banquet were greatly alarmed.】

【"Bring out your usual skills and tell me about these grand, lofty principles."】

【Your voice fell.】

【One person said coldly: "Gu Jiangming, I know your Shushan Dao has extraordinary skills; you are willing to let your techniques flow into the hands of outsiders, so you are by no means an ordinary person."】

【"But do you know the principle of keeping secrets?"】

【"If everyone had some skills, wouldn't the world be in chaos?"】

【"The chivalrous use martial arts to violate prohibitions; if mortals can all learn your cultivation methods and attain the Dao, can they restrain their own behavior? If they can ignore the law by relying on martial prowess, and act with pleasure and vengeance like you, then the country will not be a country, and it should be destroyed!"】

【You threw your sword into the ground, burying it deep, and said indifferently: "So, you rely on your superior cultivation, you rely on your outstanding family background, and you use that mouth full of so-called Morality to constantly bully the people of the world—is that right?"】

【"You have no virtue and no faith; just because of your birth, can you stand above the mortals?"】

【"Cultivation lies in the person, not the background."】

【"This world is not the world of you alone or one family."】

【A cold gleam appeared suddenly.】

【This matter can be called deeply satisfying to the people, and your name became famous because of this battle.】

【In this world, Shushan finally ascended to the historical stage where it should have appeared.】

【"With heroic spirit and integrity, the cowardly are stirred to rise."】

【The history books of Northern Wei recorded this event as—"Jiangnan Incident".】

【The event of the Five Sects Incident ended here.】

【However, Gu Jiangming's shocking performance of going to the appointment alone on horseback with a single blade finally attracted the attention of many disciples of the Hundred Schools of Northern Wei.】

【People finally realized that this era should not be called the era of Shushan, but should be called—the era of Gu Jiangming.】

【And his era officially began from this moment—】

【After the "Jiangnan Incident", the influence of the Jiangnan Five Sects in the region declined sharply; the Pei family took over the government and dispatched new ministers to take over the various lands of Jiangnan.】

【Regarding Gu Jiangming's founding of a sect and establishing his teachings in Jiangnan, the Pei family chose to turn a deaf ear and maintained a silent stance.】

【"The substance of the mind is neither good nor evil; the movement of intent has good and evil. Knowing good and knowing evil is conscience; doing good and removing evil is the investigation of things."】

【Regarding the distinction between good and evil, Gu Jiangming always had his own understanding; he told those disciples who joined Shushan his understanding of good and evil.】

【Heaven and Earth and all things have no distinction between good and evil; in fact, it is all imposed by human will.】

【The drought should have been determined by Heaven, but it was attributed to the Drought Demon; this was wrong in itself, and precisely because of this, Gu Jiangming held kindness in his heart for the Drought Demon and received a good reward.】

【So what is true good, and what is true evil?】

【In the heart of each of us, there are moments of good thoughts and moments of evil thoughts, and knowing in our hearts what is a good thought and what is an evil thought—this is conscience, this is good.】

【This so-called good is precisely when you know that this is an evil act, to restrain and correct the improper things in your heart; that is true good.】

【You traveled around the Nine Provinces with your two disciples, slaying demons and eliminating monsters with your understanding of good and evil, and proving the Dao with your own body.】

【Xu Qingyun was deeply influenced by you.】

【In the Shushan Dao, he had a deeper understanding and awareness; you taught him the method of "unity of knowledge and action," which benefited him greatly.】

【You felt that someone was silently watching you, but that attention soon disappeared.】

【You guessed that it was mostly your wife, Jiu Jiu, and she seemed not to want you to be distracted from pursuing the truth of this world because of her.】

【After Wang Shengxuan, you gained a third Shushan personal disciple; that was a former disciple of yours, but you had been too focused on your own cultivation, and instead neglected many disciples who truly yearned for the Shushan Dao.】

【Now, they have gathered together once again because of your radiance.】

【You finally realized that what attracted these disciples was not necessarily the name of Shushan, but that aura of righteous energy that once appeared upon you.】

【Now, that mouthful of righteous energy of Heaven and Earth, the dazzling arc of light that once bloomed upon your body, has appeared once again.】

(End of chapter)