Chapter 37: Down the Mountain, Stirring the Jianghu

【Heavenly mission accomplished, you may return to the Tianxuan Continent at any time.】 A line of text appearing in his mind made Lu Li pause.

He still remembered that the obsession he had chosen at the time was to restore Huashan and prevent Yue Buqun from turning evil.

Actually, this mission was easy to complete; it could be achieved as long as the crisis facing the Huashan Sect was eliminated.

Now, Lu Li had resolved the Sword-Qi Conflict and boosted the reputation of the Huashan Sect.

He had improved the Huashan sword techniques and taught them to the disciples, fundamentally enhancing the strength of the Huashan Sect.

On the other hand, six of the Songshan Thirteen Taibao had been slain by Lu Li.

To the Songshan Sect, this was a devastating blow.

It stood to reason that the Songshan Sect would no longer be able to take action against the Huashan Sect as they did in the original story.

By this calculation, he had indeed completed the mission.

Should he leave the Smiling Proud World now? Lu Li pondered for a moment and shook his head.

If everything he had done before was for the sake of the Huashan mission.

Then now, Lu Li wanted to do some things for himself.

Being able to come to this world to cultivate through the system was his golden finger.

Since he had transmigrated once, he must utilize this world to the greatest extent to improve his own cultivation.

As of now, he had only mastered the Taiyue Sword Momentum, but Lu Li was not yet satisfied.

"The Five Mountains Sword Sects, the Five Mountains Sword Technique—how can I not go and visit the other four sects?"

"Although my sword technique is powerful, my internal cultivation method is only first-rate.

How could I let the Yi Jin Jing of the Shaolin Temple or the Star-Sucking Great Art of Ren Woxing slip by? Even if there are higher-level cultivation methods in the Tianxuan Continent, I have no power or influence, so I fear it would be difficult to obtain high-level techniques at a low realm.

If I can collect the techniques here and integrate them into my Qi Refining Art, perhaps it will be more beneficial."

"Moreover, since Dongfang Bubai is the ceiling of combat power in this world, I must go and witness his martial arts."

He wanted to embroider with Dongfang.

He did not want to leave this world, but he had to leave Huashan.

Thinking of this, he called for Linghu Chong and force-fed him the entirety of the Dugu Nine Swords.

Back on Siguo Cliff, because Lu Li's performance was better than Linghu Chong's, the Dugu Nine Swords had been passed down only to Lu Li.

Now that Lu Li was about to leave Huashan, he would leave this opportunity at Huashan.

As for how much Linghu Chong could comprehend, that would depend on his own aptitude.

After handing the Dugu Nine Swords to Linghu Chong, Lu Li went to the Youbuwei Pavilion.

He respectfully offered a cup of tea to Yue Buqun, then kowtowed and said, "Master, your disciple wishes to travel down the mountain and specifically requests to take his leave."

Upon hearing this, Yue Buqun's hand holding the teacup trembled, and he said in a deep voice, "Why are you going?"

Yue Buqun knew that if it were just an ordinary trip down the mountain, he would naturally not request to take his leave so solemnly.

"To pay respects to the swords of the Four Mountains, to seek defeat from Dongfang; I go down the mountain to stir up the jianghu."

Back at the Liu Mansion, when Lu Li proposed taking Liang Fa to escort the Liu Family dependents, Yue Buqun had sensed the intention to leave that Lu Li revealed, but he had not expected this day to come so quickly.

Looking back over these past few years, Huashan had undergone earth-shaking changes.

Improved sword techniques, the disciples' cultivation, fame in the jianghu, and even taking on the business of the Fuwei Escort Agency, making the Huashan Sect earn gold by the day.

And all of this was inseparable from Lu Li.

Yue Buqun had wondered countless times in his heart: could it be that Heaven truly sensed the obsession in his heart and sent him a good disciple? He seemed to have foresight and was step-by-step improving the Huashan Sect in every aspect.

The Songshan Sect, Songfeng Temple, and the Sun Moon Holy Cult all seemed to be of no concern to him.

He stood as if on high ground, severing the crisis of Huashan with a single sword stroke.

Finally, this disciple was going down the mountain to explore his own martial path.

Yue Buqun pondered for a long time, then suddenly turned around and took a sword from behind him to give to Lu Li.

"Since you have already decided, then your master wishes you success in all things.

This sword is named Taiyue; take it with you."

"Many thanks, Master."

Lu Li took the long sword and turned to leave.

Yue Lingshan, who was hiding outside the door eavesdropping, saw Lu Li walk out and blinked, saying, "Strange, Second Senior Brother is just going down the mountain, why does it seem like he's never coming back?"

At the mountain gate, Lu Li strode forward.

On his back was the 'Taiyue', and hanging at his waist was the sword he had always used.

Suddenly, his footsteps stopped.

It was the third disciple, the earnest Liang Fa, standing before him.

"Senior Brother, can you pass on the title of the Asura Sword to me as well?"

Lu Li laughed, "To be the Asura Sword, it depends on whether your strength is hard enough."

Liang Fa gripped his sword hilt and said earnestly, "Please receive my sword, Senior Brother."

With a clear dragon-like roar, Liang Fa's long sword left its scabbard.

Liang Fa's expression was very earnest, and his sword was just as earnest.

An extremely earnest sword strike turned into a cold light in an instant, piercing toward Lu Li's chest with resolute and chilling killing intent.

"Good sword."

Lu Li shouted, a trace of praise flashing in his eyes.

He saw the long sword at his waist suddenly unsheathe; a flash of cold light, and Liang Fa's long sword snapped into two pieces, blood gushing from his shoulder.

A trace of dejection flashed in Liang Fa's eyes, and he lowered his head.

But the moment he lowered his head, he saw a sword stuck in the ground right before his feet.

The sword scabbard was thrust into the mountain rock, three inches deep, without a single crack in the surrounding ground.

That was Lu Li's sword.

"Perhaps your martial arts are not yet high enough, but since you can draw your sword against me, you are worthy of this title."

"Take this sword."

Lu Li's voice came from behind Liang Fa.

Liang Fa turned his head abruptly, only to see bamboo shadows and pine waves, but no sign of Lu Li.

From then on, every generation of Huashan Sect disciples had one person receive the inheritance of the Asura Sword.

... Luoyang.

The inn was bustling with noise.

"Damn it!

Is that Lu Li of the Huashan Sect truly so formidable? He could actually kill the Thirteen Taibao of the Songshan Sect?"

"It's absolutely true!

If only one person said it, perhaps it would be false.

But since disciples from all four sects—Taishan, Mount Heng (Hunan), Huashan, and Hengshan—have all spread the word, how could it be fake?"

"Heh, I think it's mostly just hearsay.

Who doesn't know that the Five Mountains Sword Sects are branches of the same tree, and his Huashan Sect is still ranked below the Songshan Sect.

Let alone a disciple, even his master Yue Buqun might not dare to kill a Songshan Taibao."

"You don't say, you still consider the Songshan Sect a righteous sect? In order to intercept and kill Liu Zhengfeng's family, they even hired Qinghai Yixiao and Baiban Shaxing, and even proposed joining forces with Tong Baixiong!

They are just a bunch of scum; if you ask me, this Lu Li is a real man, and he killed them well."

"Does anyone still think the Huashan Sect is weak? It is said that a month ago, many people saw with their own eyes Lu Lianrong of the Hengshan Sect dragging Ding Mian's corpse down from Huashan."

"It is said that Zuo Lengchan wanted to seize the position of Master from Yue Buqun, but as a result, Ding Mian and Le Hou were both killed; the arms of Lu Lianrong and Yuyinzi of the Taishan Sect were also severed, and I fear they will never be able to use a sword again."

"How old is that Lu Li, to be able to kill six Taibao? I really want to see what he looks like..."

As it turned out, after a month of fermentation, the events on the Helan Ancient Road and the Huashan Sword Qi Dispute had already spread throughout the pugilistic world.

Lu Li of the Huashan Sect and the six Taibao of the Songshan Sect had become the talk of the town for everyone in the pugilistic world after their tea and meals.

While everyone was discussing this, they did not notice a young man carrying a sword walk out of the inn.

Leaving Huashan, Lu Li had by this time arrived in the territory of Henan.

After resting in Luoyang today, he would head to Songshan to pay a visit with his sword.

Just as Lu Li walked out of the inn, he heard a melodious sound of a zither drifting out from a small alley.

Lu Li turned his head to look and saw a cluster of green bamboo in the small alley swaying in the wind under the moonlight, with a woman faintly visible playing the zither.

"I have long heard of Young Master Lu's great name; this young woman dares to be bold—might I invite Young Master Lu to come to Green Bamboo Alley for a chat?"