Chapter 53: Ascending Songshan

Luoyang.

Inside Lingxiao Tower, the largest restaurant in the city center, heroes gathered in crowds.

"Have you heard? Something big is about to happen on Songshan."

"Old..."

Lu Li's martial path was now near its peak; he simply looked down upon these martial arts of the Demonic Cult.

He could understand seven or eight tenths of the principles within just by taking a single glance.

The only reason he was patiently flipping through them was to broaden his own knowledge.

Although these Demonic Cult techniques were nothing special, they were truly wicked enough; the various sinister methods and heterodox paths made him secretly startled.

Moreover, the Dugu Nine Swords was the type of sword art where the more one knew, the stronger one became.

This sword art secretly aligned with the principles of the Book of Changes; it could no longer be considered merely a sword art, but rather a cultivation technique.

Although these ancient people's insights into the principles of heaven and earth did not display particularly strong combat power in the Jin Wu World, Lu Li also perceived that it was a philosophy that could lead to the Great Dao.

Even if placed on the Tianxuan Continent, it might perhaps be applicable.

Lu Li flipped through the martial arts manuals at an extremely fast speed, causing Ren Yingying to secretly click her tongue.

It was practically quantum reading.

The manuals on the table became fewer and fewer.

Ren Yingying could not help but sigh with emotion; she had let her subordinates collect manuals for several days, yet Lu Li had finished reading them in less than one night.

With this natural talent, it was no wonder he was so powerful.

In the battle at Hengshan, Lu Li did not kill Ren Yingying, but instead looked at her indifferently and said, "You might be wondering why I didn't kill you. It's very simple: I want you to restrain the three religions and nine schools."

"Are you joking? You killed my father, killed so many people from my Holy Cult, and you still want me to work for you?"

"You might as well kill me; I will not work for you."

After Ren Yingying finished speaking, she closed her eyes, adopting an attitude of putting life and death out of her mind.

"Fine."

Lu Li said faintly, "You are not irreplaceable."

"After I kill you, I will go and wipe out the Sun Moon Holy Cult as the price for your refusal."

"Then I will find another puppet to rule the three religions and nine schools again; with my sword, no one will dare to say no."

"I am keeping you only because you are already the Saintess whom the three religions and nine schools obey; it is more convenient."

"You..."

Ren Yingying's pretty face flushed red, and she felt an unprecedented humiliation.

But she also clearly saw that Lu Li's expression was not joking at all.

Lu Li spared her life simply because he was too lazy to kill and too lazy to cultivate someone else, and Ren Yingying happened to already be in the shape of a Demonic Cult Saintess.

Lu Li knew that killing demons was easy, but eradicating them was difficult.

Leaving behind Ren Yingying, who had lost her sharp edge, was to leave a fallback for Huashan after he left this world.

Rather than having the demons be leaderless, it was better to keep a Saintess who had been scared out of her wits.

... From Luoyang City to the Songshan road, heroes from all walks of life gathered together along the way.

One could see banners, drums, swords, spears, and halberds increasing in number; the crowd surged toward Songshan, chattering and arguing.

In the crowd, a man looking like a scholar held a folding fan and boasted, "That Lu Li looks terrifying, ten feet tall and ten feet wide, truly like a monster."

"With one sword strike, black winds howled, shocking the heavens and earth into trembling, and the entire Hengshan road was cleared out!"

"I was on the scene at the time; I swung a blade at Lu Li but he dodged it. If not for my extremely fast reaction, I fear I would have turned into a wandering ghost of Hengshan."

Many people around were shocked by this person's account, regretting only that they could not see the scene of Lu Li drawing his sword at that time.

"How terrifying!"

"Truly a demonic heretic."

"I really want to see what this Lu Li looks like; I imagine it must be extremely horrifying."

"Stupid!"

"Didn't you see who the old Daoist who just walked past was? That is the Master of the Wudang Sect, Daoist Chongxu!"

"And the beggar walking beside him must be the Beggar Sect leader, Xie Feng."

"You tell me, knowing there are so many experts coming to deal with him, will Lu Li still come?"

Lu Li followed the crowd, hearing the people around him not recognizing him, yet all discussing him.

This feeling was actually quite refreshing.

Brother is right in front of you, yet you don't recognize him.

And the man in the crowd who claimed to be at the scene seemed not to recognize him at all.

One can only say that "on-the-scene" weirdos exist in every world.

At this time, it would be best if another arrogant and brainless young master came along to suddenly cause trouble for him; that would make the flavor even stronger!

Just as this thought appeared, he saw a young man in the crowd step out.

"Stop guessing; you won't be able to see him later, because you won't be able to get onto Songshan at all."

"Can't get onto Songshan? Why?"

"Who are you? You say we can't get up, so we can't?"

The young man sneered and pulled an invitation from his bosom: "Country bumpkins!"

"Without even an invitation, you still want to go up the mountain?"

Behind him, there was another young man, a middle-aged man, and an old man.

These four looked arrogant, not taking the people around them into their eyes at all.

A gallant man frowned and said, "Damn it, where did this pretty boy come from, acting so arrogant?"

Someone nearby immediately whispered, "Brother, watch your tongue."

"They are people from the Golden Blade Wang Family; no one in Luoyang dares to provoke them."

As it turned out, the young man who spoke was named Wang Jiaju.

Behind him were the Golden Blade Wang Yuanba, his eldest son Wang Bofen, and his brother Wang Jiajun.

This Wang Family was the maternal family of Lin Pingzhi's mother.

Only hearing Wang Jiaju say, "You won't be able to see that man surnamed Lu, but I am going to meet him."

"Back then he traveled thousands of miles to Fuzhou to plot for the Lin Family's Evil-Warding Sword Manual; his martial arts are so formidable now, yet I have never heard of any Huashan master or senior being as powerful as him."

"His swordsmanship must have been obtained from the Evil-Warding Sword Manual."

"My cousin from the Lin Family acts as if he's been bewitched, admiring Lu Li so much—phooey!"

"The Lin Family are cowards, but we of the Wang Family cannot stand for this!"

"Once we reach Songshan, there will be no need for the masters of the Shaolin Sect to act; our Wang Family will personally behead the man surnamed Lu and take back the Evil-Warding Sword Manual that belongs to us."

Lu Li heard this and couldn't help but think to himself: 'That Evil-Warding Sword Manual is a matter from ages ago; I had long since forgotten about it, never expecting that people in the Jianghu would still be coveting it.'

What is the experience of a big shot hearing a newbie act tough in front of them? Lu Li indicated he was already holding back his laughter.

Soon, the crowd arrived at the mountain gate of the Songshan Sect.

They saw a clamor at the mountain gate; indeed, the disciples of the Songshan Sect were blocking the gate, not letting anyone go up.

"Those without an invitation are strictly forbidden from going up the mountain."

"Damn it, I traveled thousands of miles to get here, and you say I can't go up?"

Boom!

A Songshan Sect Elder suddenly struck out with a palm, snapping a cypress tree by the roadside.

"Everyone, those without an invitation, please withdraw now; otherwise, do not blame the Songshan Sect for being impolite."

The four members of the Wang Family pushed through the crowd, handed over their invitation, and went up the mountain path.

As for the rest of the crowd, they exploded; without an invitation, they couldn't go up the mountain!

In the crowd, Lu Li slowly walked out.

"Where is your invitation? Without an invitation, you cannot go up the mountain..."

The gate-guarding disciple reprimanded impatiently, but he was stopped mid-sentence by that Elder.

Only hearing the Elder say with a trembling voice, "You, you!"

"Lu..."

Seeing this scene, everyone looked over.

"He doesn't have an invitation either, so why is he still going over?"

"Lu, Lu what? A name list?"

The crowd was confused.

They saw Lu Li standing with his hands behind his back, shouting, "Sword cultivator Lu Li, here to pay a visit with my sword."

Lu Li's voice was resonant, spreading out in a vast and mighty wave.

Surrounded by mountains, the faint, booming echo was like thunder, shaking everyone until they were dizzy and at a loss.

"You?"

The people around were all dumbfounded; the four members of the Wang Family, who had just stepped onto the Songshan path, suddenly turned their heads back, their faces full of disbelief.