Chapter 115: The Buddhist Sect speaks of putting down the butcher's knife, but my Shushan does not

While Wang Qinghe was still evaluating things in her heart, the images of 【Mie Changsheng】 in her mind continued to advance.

Wang Shengxuan, who had just tossed a head aside, swept his gaze lightly over the faces of these people and cupped his hands, saying: "Master, how do you intend to deal with these people?"

These nine people no longer possessed their former composure; they had initially thought that by coming together in a group, as long as they prioritized seeking peace, Shushan would have to give them some face regardless of the circumstances.

Yet, as soon as things began, Lu Fangjue, who could be called the leader of Huainan, was killed, and even the benefactors of the Huainan Lu family—people from the Xie family whose abilities were far beyond their own—had been dealt a heavy blow; with such an obvious disparity in strength, anyone with a shred of discernment knew that the general trend of the Huainan Hundred Families had already passed.

"We, the Huainan Xue family, are willing to submit to Shushan."

Before long, one person took the lead to cup his hands and knelt on one knee on the ground, "From now on, the place where the Xue family resides shall be under the jurisdiction of Shushan, and the Xue family is willing to offer up thirty percent in tribute."

The others all looked at one another in dismay; they truly had not expected this old dog of the Xue family to be so shameless—seeing that the situation was unfavorable, he surrendered the moment he could.

This thirty percent tribute was enough to show his sincerity.

But Xue Muju clearly did not consider it a disgrace; in his view, those who understand the times are outstanding, and if such an approach could preserve the family, why bother competing with others?

"That set of ways you noble families have does not work here at Shushan."

The world of martial arts is not inherently about fighting and killing, but rather about human relationships and worldly wisdom.

"Good." Gu Jiangming walked to the front of Xue Muju and added: "I can choose not to hold you accountable for the matter of you hunting down my Shushan Disciple."

"If someone injures me by a finger, I will surely break their ten fingers; this is the retribution of Heaven, this is the cycle of cause and effect."

"You recklessly discuss the Shushan Dao, and you conflate public grievances with private ones; do you really think there is a way out for you in my eyes?"

"Only the Buddhist Sect speaks of putting down the butcher's knife, but my Shushan has never spoken of such things."

"Because this is a private feud, this is a matter of my own family."

"Are the nine of you coming together, or one by one?" Wang Shengxuan twisted his neck, emitting a series of crisp cracks.

"You say you won't fight, and so you can just not fight?" Gu Jiangming's gaze leveled onto Xue Muju, "Do you think such a principle exists?"

Wang Shengxuan spoke woodenly: "This disciple does not know; it is best if Master decides everything."

"This disciple, obeys—"

Seeing Wang Shengxuan speak this way, Gu Jiangming gently sheathed his sword.

Xue Muju's expression changed slightly, "Honored Lord, what else do you need to consider regarding this matter? Could it be that the conditions we offered you are not good enough?"

"If this disciple may speak bluntly, these people are not necessarily any cleaner than those demons."

Xue Muju was struck as if by lightning; he leaned forward and knelt on the ground, saying repeatedly: "The matter of hunting down the Shushan Disciple was plotted by the Central Plains Hundred Families, and we were merely echoing their sentiments; this was forced by the situation, and I hope the Honored Lord will see clearly."

"And what of it?" Xue Muju immediately said in a low voice: "Could it be that the Shushan Venerable Master intends to become our absolute enemy just because of these lowly people?"

"Can a grievance of nine generations still be avenged? A grievance of a hundred generations can still be avenged!"

Things like backbone are useless anyway.

Dealing with these spineless people would indeed dirty his sword.

Wang Shengxuan's previously dull expression vanished, replaced by an incomparably joyful smile.

"However... Master, having you take action against these people is really overestimating them."

With Xue Muju having gone first, the others had no so-called reserve; after all, such a disparity was laid out on the table.

A look of celebration and welcome for Shushan's arrival in this place.

"The Huainan Hong family is willing to submit to Shushan; the Hong family is likewise willing to offer thirty percent in tribute, and my Hong family's descendants can listen to the Honored Lord's call at any time."

"You say you surrender, and so you can just surrender?"

The silent Wang Shengxuan walked out and cupped his hands: "Reporting to Master, the deeds of these great clans are all recorded in these dossiers; having walked this path, I have seen most of it clearly."

"And if our nine Huainan families submit to Shushan... we can help bolster the power of Shushan; using Huainan as a foundation, it is not impossible to sweep across the world."

"It is you who wish to be my enemy." The sword in Gu Jiangming's hand left its sheath once more, standing straight before him.

Let alone the Shushan Venerable Master Gu Jiangming, even his disciple Wang Shengxuan seemed capable of easily dealing with them, so why bother putting on a show of fighting to the death?

Wang Shengxuan's lips trembled slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but after a moment of silence, he waited quietly for Gu Jiangming's consideration.

"Since ancient times, those who submit prosper and those who resist perish; as long as we have the help of our nine families, Shushan will surely prosper." Xue Muju raised his hands in celebration, picking up where the former had left off.

Who is this posturing meant for?

"Shengxuan, you have been in Huainan for so long; tell your master whether these people are clean or not."

"Everyone, there is no need to hold back; if you want to leave here alive, bring out your family's Unique Learning and fight them with your lives."

"I alone am enough to deal with them."

As Wang Shengxuan's voice fell, the expressions of the people from the nine families darkened once again; they had originally thought Shushan would speak of human relationships and worldly wisdom, but they had not expected this to be a group of total lunatics.

Gu Jiangming chuckled, "Shengxuan, you tell me, should I accept or not accept the 'goodwill' of these nine families?"

"Shengxuan, there is no need to be polite with them; whoever wanted your life, you take theirs first."

"However, you keep talking about offering incense to Shushan, but do you not know in your hearts where these offerings come from?"

Seeing Gu Jiangming's action of sheathing his sword, Xue Muju gritted his teeth and said: "Since you of Shushan are unwilling to give us a way to live, then do not blame us for fighting you to the death."

"At the time... who gave the order to hunt down my Shushan Disciple?" Gu Jiangming suddenly roared, and the Spirit Qi within his body surged uncontrollably.

Wang Shengxuan shouted loudly, "Return to Heaven Body Source."

"Come, let me see just how strong you noble family people really are."

The headband atop his head fell away with the wind, and his long, pitch-black hair danced in the sky, appearing uninhibited and wild.

Xue Muju brought his hands together, and black, tattoo-like incantations seeped onto his face, "Past Life Buddha."

His right hand suddenly magnified several times over, turning into a giant hand resembling a black Arhat; he lifted his thick arm, and this power, vast beyond imagination, surged out and smashed fiercely toward Wang Shengxuan's face.

"Boom—"

Wang Shengxuan did not retreat; he stood right there and took the punch head-on, bright red blood seeping from his forehead.

"So refreshing." Wang Shengxuan reached out his own hand and pinched the giant fist Xue Muju had manifested.

Then, he tossed it away.

A breath later, Wang Shengxuan's figure immediately followed up, and his body, tempered through years of bitter cultivation, appeared beside the tossed-away Xue Muju with astonishing speed.

With a shake in the air, he suddenly exerted force from his shoulders to violently hammer Xue Muju toward the sky.

Then, he raised his fist to elbow Xue Muju in the abdomen, smashing him fiercely toward the ground, and at the very moment before he landed, Wang Shengxuan delivered a whip kick.

Accompanying this was a crisp sound of snapping.

Xue Muju, along with the tree he was holding, sank deep into the center of a giant tree in the distance.

Wang Shengxuan's fighting style was just this rough and wild, unrestrained and thorough; what he pursued was extreme satisfaction and violent offensives.

Seeing Xue Muju suffer a setback, the people of the Huainan Hundred Families also followed suit and launched an attack; the head of the Huainan Hong clan roared and transformed into a warrior with the appearance of a lion-man.

"I have long heard that you, Wang Shengxuan, are an extreme warrior; let me see just how strong your physical body is compared to mine."

"Those who rely on external objects are not worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as me." Wang Shengxuan roared toward the sky, and with blood streaming down his head, his smile appeared ferocious.

He raised his hand and threw a punch, colliding once again with the lion-man transformed from the Hong clan.

The two figures were like two different lights, constantly exchanging blows, but under the continuous offensive, Wang Shengxuan instead appeared to have more than enough energy, enjoying the fight more the longer it went on.

After a dozen or so rounds.

The lion-man's movements grew slower as they fought, while Wang Shengxuan's fierce-to-the-extreme power, with every punch hitting flesh, had already pierced dozens of fist-sized bloody holes into the lion-man's body.

Those who were assisting, who had previously been near Wang Shengxuan using various Unique Learnings in an attempt to interfere, found that the two main combatants could not hold their ground at all.

After they fell one after another, the morale of the army dissipated in an instant; some had already wanted to flee in advance, but how could Gu Jiangming let these cowardly people leave so easily?

With a sword strike delivered with closed eyes, he easily slashed through the throats of those fleeing.

Driven by the Heavenly Perception Eye divine ability, Gu Jiangming's sword became faster, more accurate, and steadier.

And the people of the Huainan Nine Families had not personally fought them before; although they knew there was a gap between the two sides, they clearly did not know that the gap could be exaggerated to this extent.

The hard power of these two was almost comparable to those Named Great Demons, those demons and evil spirits with noble bloodlines.

They were so strong that they had absolutely no room to resist.

"Are you human or demon?!!"

Someone could not help but roar.

"We are, of course, human." Wang Shengxuan said earnestly: "And we are more like humans than you are."

The image in Wang Qinghe's mind stalled once again.

When the image appeared again, these heads of the Huainan Hundred Families were already lying helter-skelter at Wang Shengxuan's feet.

A brand new piece of information popped up.

【In the seventh year of Shanghe of Northern Wei, May, Gu Jiangming and Wang Shengxuan broke the alliance and blockade of the Huainan Hundred Families; the Huainan Hundred Families lost their respective heads, and their strength was greatly reduced.】

【Not long after, Wang Shengxuan personally went to challenge them, making the crimes of the Huainan Hundred Families public and bringing out evidence of crimes too numerous to record.】

【All those who were guilty were slaughtered, and then a great fire burned away the sins of the Huainan Hundred Families, while the wealth, grain, and land they left behind were gifted by Wang Shengxuan to the local people.】

【In the process of suppressing the remnants of Huainan, Wang Shengxuan's "Return to Heaven Body Source" became famous; those noble families who possessed Unique Learnings discovered that the power of "Return to Heaven Body Source" far exceeded their understanding.】

【This was definitely above the level of Unique Learning, and could be discussed as a divine ability technique.】

【And Wang Shengxuan was generous, teaching the "Return to Heaven Body Source" he had realized to those pitiful commoners.】

【Alas, the vast majority of people had shallow comprehension and could not grasp the profoundness of "Return to Heaven Body Source," so they could only treat it as an ordinary technique for fitness and strengthening the body.】

【Some people from the Hundred Families obtained the "Return to Heaven Body Source" cultivation method by chance, only to find that their comprehension and natural talent were completely unable to grasp its profound mysteries; furthermore, the most arduous part of "Return to Heaven Body Source" was its extremely harsh training method for the physical body, requiring ten years of bitter cultivation like one day to be qualified to accumulate even a little bit of results, which made people even more inclined to keep their distance.】

【"Return to Heaven Body Source" was gradually regarded as the best Body Cultivation technique of the current age.】

Gu Jiangming's 【Mie Changsheng】 quietly began to record his subsequent actions.

【In the seventh year of Shanghe of Northern Wei, July, the divine abilities possessed by the six disciples of Shushan once again attracted the attention of the world; their frequent entry into the world and their various miraculous methods were astonishing.】

【The world collectively called the divine abilities on these six disciples of Shushan the Shushan Six Divine Skills.】

【In the seventh year of Shanghe of Northern Wei, August, after the major Daoism and Buddhism sects entered the world, the methods of cultivation gradually became common, and Daoist traditions everywhere began to recruit disciples from among mortals.】

【The cultivation system of this world was extremely chaotic; you proposed the cultivation system you had once established here again, and because of Shushan's lofty status, the cultivation system you laid down was immediately recognized by Daoism.】

【Body Refining, Foundation Establishment, Spirit Cleansing, Sheng Qi.】

【These are the cultivation realm distinctions you temporarily divided under the support of the existing Spirit Qi.】

【In today's Heaven and Earth, Spirit Qi is sparse and ordinary, even somewhat rotten; wanting to cultivate with the Qi Refining method is truly difficult, and by comparison, Body Refining is easier.】

【And Foundation Establishment is the basic cultivation consolidated under Body Refining, with further progress in physique and spiritual power.】

【This Spirit Cleansing realm is to purify the quantity within the body, elevating quantity into the purest quality, thereby transforming it into great power; it is a derivative realm of technique for transforming spiritual power cultivation.】

【Sheng Qi is the culmination of the previous three realms, but in this realm, whether it is the quality of spiritual power in the body, the quantity of spiritual power in the body, the power of spiritual power in the body, or even the physical body, everything is tempered to an extreme.】

【This is also the peak of Human Race cultivation you once reached in such an era of Spirit Qi scarcity.】

【And these four realms actually correspond to the family cultivation system—Scholar Member, Master, Hero, World Honored.】

【Through seven years of diligent cultivation, you had long since reached the Sheng Qi realm, and with the blessing of Merit, the power of the divine abilities you displayed could far exceed the understanding of ordinary people.】

【In the seventh year of Shanghe of Northern Wei, October, you and the Central Plains Hundred Families launched a battle that was bound to happen; the moral principles of Shushan and the foundation of the Hundred Families had long since reached the point of being incompatible like fire and water.】

【The name of the One Venerable Six Heroes thoroughly resounded throughout this world.】

【The divine abilities of your six disciples could be said to have each shown their unique features in this battle, and the name of Shushan became known to the whole world after this battle.】

【From then on, the Hundred Families could no longer stir up waves, and from then on, the Hundred Schools Rebellion reached its end.】

【In the seventh year of Shanghe of Northern Wei, December, the Hundred Families gradually withdrew from the historical stage, and among the emerging insurgent armies, a peasant army successfully established a capital in Nanjing, with the state name Dajing.】

【They used the south as a base, constantly expanding and suppressing the old nobles of Northern Wei.】

【In the eighth year of Shanghe of Northern Wei, March, you found the place where Shushan was once established in the Chuanshu region, rebuilt Shushan again with this as the foundation, and lived in seclusion, focusing on cultivation, ignoring worldly affairs.】

【After more than twenty years of fighting in the north and south, Dajing finally unified the entire Northern Wei and established itself in the world; although Shushan had long since retired and was no longer in the Jianghu, the Jianghu was filled with legends of Shushan.】

【Soon, the Dajing Dynasty sent envoys, wanting to establish Shushan as the state religion and inviting you to be the Great Jing Imperial Preceptor.】

【You politely declined this matter, with everything contained in a laugh.】

【In the first year of Gongwei of Dajing, June, your father Gu Zhangqing passed away; you raised a glass to reflect on the impermanence of the world, as a tribute to your father in this life.】

【In the first year of Gongwei of Dajing, December, the Dajing Dynasty visited the thatched cottage three times, wanting to invite you to come out of the mountains to become the Great Jing Imperial Preceptor again, and you declined once more.】

【However, you helpfully proposed the system for the Imperial City Division, and also perfected as much as possible some of the problems that had previously existed within the Imperial City Division.】

【In your view, it is best for the Imperial City Division to support the children of commoners, slowly cultivating these children—who were originally mortals—into cultivators, so they may defend their own country and their own people, and also better deal with those Demon Race members who harbor ulterior motives, or even those with crooked minds within Daoism and Buddhism.】

【In the third month of the second year of Gongwei of the Dajing Dynasty, you incorporated the doctrine of Great Revenge into the Shushan guidelines, emphasizing the attitude that those who enter Shushan are protected by Shushan.】

【In the seventh month of the second year of Gongwei of the Dajing Dynasty, a woman sought out the mountain gate; her name was Jiu Jiu, and as soon as she entered the mountain, she positioned herself as the master's wife.】

【This time, she was determined to succeed, trying her best to understand Shushan, and she was also quite friendly toward these Shushan Disciples.】

【However, good times did not last long; soon another woman also tracked her way to the door, and her name was Long Xi.】

【In the ninth month of the second year of Gongwei of the Dajing Dynasty, the Dajing Imperial City Division was officially established, and the Dajing Dynasty dispatched an envoy to present you with a Token.】

【And with this Token, one could command the Dajing Imperial City Division.】

【In the tenth month of the second year of Gongwei of the Dajing Dynasty, you decided to go into seclusion to cultivate and resolve existing family matters; you originally intended to pass the position of Shushan Sect Leader to Xu Qingyun, but the majority of Shushan Disciples supported Wang Shengxuan as Sect Leader, and Xu Qingyun also felt that his own abilities were insufficient and he could not shoulder such a heavy responsibility, feeling that the senior brother Wang Shengxuan had a more profound understanding of Shushan, and was the only disciple among the many Shushan Disciples who truly achieved the unity of knowledge and action.】

【In Xu Qingyun's view, he was the best successor for Shushan.】

【You thought it over and over, believing that Wang Shengxuan had also done extremely well over these years, and you could not forget Wang Shengxuan's contributions and hard work just because Xu Qingyun had a deeper past-life master-disciple connection with you.】

【In the eleventh month of the second year of Gongwei of the Dajing Dynasty, Wang Shengxuan became the Second Generation Sect Leader of Shushan, and the One Venerable Six Heroes ushered in an era where the Six Heroes jointly governed Shushan.】

【The remaining five of the Shushan Six Heroes—Zhang Chengfeng, Xu Qingyun, Chang Muchun, Yu Chengping, and Mo Yu—became Shushan elders according to their respective seniority.】

【Then one morning, a Shushan Disciple heard a dragon's cry, and when they looked up again, they saw a silvery-white divine dragon circling Shushan, letting out an incomparably angry roar at a strange bird above the firmament.】

【Looking closely, this strange bird confronting the divine dragon was the divine Jingwei, which had already disappeared since the ancient era.】

【And soaring into the firmament, caught between the two, was the Shushan Dao Venerable Gu Jiangming, who seemed to be trying his best to find a way to explain something.】

【From then on, the news that divine beings had appeared on Shushan soon spread throughout the entire Heaven and Earth.】

【And over these hundreds of years, you traveled everywhere, constantly waiting for the day when your own lifespan would come to an end and you would ascend as an immortal.】

【Reincarnation ended, officially entering the settlement screen.】

【And from this life onward, the world will remember Gu Jiangming's glorious past as the Shushan Dao Venerable!!!】

【Shushan was also able to be rebuilt once again, returning to the world.】

【This reincarnation score: 95 points.】

【Historical image: A shining dawn in the dark age.】

【Comprehensive evaluation: With your own strength, you created the renowned Shushan Dao, spread the concept of the unity of knowledge and action throughout the entire Heaven and Earth, and completed a transformation of the era from evil to righteous, full of awe-inspiring righteousness; you can be called—a hero of three generations, a venerable of one lifetime.】

【Your performance in this reincarnation was simply impeccable!】

(End of this chapter)