Chapter 512: The Common Master of the Pugilistic World

Some people become legends while they are still alive.

Wang Xianzhi is a legend, Deng Taie is a legend, Li Chungang is a legend... Murong Tonghuang is undoubtedly this kind of person as well, the only difference being that he is a legend among legends.

When mentioning Murong Tonghuang, aside from that peerlessly beautiful appearance, perhaps it is that set of black robes.

Black, undoubtedly, is the purest, most profound color.

Black also represents loneliness, represents sorrow...

When this Murong Tonghuang first entered the pugilistic world in black robes, a "black robe craze" once swept through the martial arts world, and it has yet to dissipate even now. Many wandering knights especially liked wearing black, and after learning that this Murong Wudi's sword technique transcended the mundane and was not inferior to the new or old Sword God, many swordsmen who originally favored white robes also donned black one after another.

For a time, the pugilistic world was all black.

Liyang has the white-robed Chen Zhibao, has the green-robed Cao Zhangqing, and even more... the black-robed Murong Tonghuang.

At this moment, Murong Tonghuang is like a black sword peak, whetting the heavens, towering and unmoving. He lets the winds and rains of the pugilistic world be as gloomy as they may, never changing his color.

And in this gloomy martial arts world, there is the Old Sword God Li Chungang, the Peach Blossom Sword God Deng Taie, the Sword Ancestor Sui Xiegu, the Great Demon from a hundred years ago Liu Songtao, the New Religion leader in white Luoyang from Zhulu Mountain, the Spring and Autumn Blade Armor Qi Lianhua, the Sword Eleven Huang Zhentu, the Soul-Absorbing Rakshasa Xuanyuan Qingfeng, Wang Xiaoping of Wudang, and Qi Xianxia of Longhu...

Every name represents the flair of a generation of the pugilistic world.

And from Luoyang eight hundred years ago, spanning through to the newcomer of the pugilistic world Xuanyuan Qingfeng, eight hundred years of time have flowed by.

Yet, under the washing of this generation after generation of pugilistic flair, that Murong Tonghuang remains smiling, dealing with it calmly, at times walking forward slowly, not as if he were dealing with the world's top experts, but as if he were strolling in his own back garden. Oh, this Guniu Dagang is indeed his back garden.

This battle.

Murong Tonghuang is the great flair.

The flair of the pugilistic world is but a small flair before him.

"Good heavens, this Murong Tonghuang is truly incredible. Fighting a whole martial arts world alone, I, damn it, wouldn't even dare to dream of this; it's sky-high awesome."

Wen Hua and a group of other experts who did not participate in this battle retreated one after another to a hundred paces away.

Wen Hua exclaimed loudly, then cast his gaze toward the old man who was already carrying a sword case and controlling swords; that old man seemed to sense Wen Hua's gaze, turned his head, and grinned, revealing the sight of his missing front teeth.

"This martial arts world is truly unfathomable. It's one thing that you, Xu Fengnian, are a young master from a wealthy family, but how is this Old Huang also an expert? Looking at it, it seems he should even be my senior brother. Xiaonian, you said when we were discussing nicknames and imagining what top experts looked like, was Old Huang laughing at us in his heart?"

Xu Fengnian sighed: "Wen Hua, can't you shut your mouth, you brat? This is a great battle rarely seen in thousands of years; if you could learn a move or two, it would be of infinite benefit."

Wen Hua puffed out his chest righteously: "Can't."

"You guy..."

Xu Fengnian sighed.

"Xiaonian, do you think Old Huang and the others can beat Murong Wudi? This is the most top-tier lineup our Central Plains martial arts world could scrape together."

Wen Hua put his arm around his shoulder, smiling cheekily.

Xu Fengnian rolled his eyes and said: "How would I know?! But whichever side wants to win or lose, I'm afraid it won't be easy."

On Guniu Dagang.

The rumbling sounds were constant.

Li Chungang, Deng Taie, and the others each have their own flair, and I'm afraid they never dreamed that one day there would appear in this world a formidable enemy worthy of them joining forces.

However, after this exchange of blows, everyone present had a deeper understanding of their own martial arts principles; even though they had no prior experience of joining forces, their Qi was interconnected, as if they had become a single entity advancing and retreating together.

Unfortunately, in the eyes of Yu Liancheng, this kind of joining forces was quite ridiculous.

Their martial arts philosophies were different, their cultivation realms were different; it was merely forcibly mixing their Qi together. As long as Yu Liancheng was willing, he could break it at any time.

The crowd exchanged glances.

Liu Songtao suddenly stepped forward, and behind him appeared the phantom of a thousand-armed, thousand-headed Wisdom King, eyes wide with rage, his pupils seemingly burning with boundless karmic fire, intending to burn away all the filth in the world.

The Wisdom King phantom stood before Yu Liancheng and threw a punch, causing the void to tremble.

Yu Liancheng exchanged a punch with this Wisdom King.

This Wisdom King was unexpectedly powerful.

Towering like Mount Tai.

In the end, Yu Liancheng had to throw five punches to defeat it.

And Liu Songtao also spat out blood, his face deathly pale, as he flew backward.

But the corners of his mouth clearly carried a trace of a smile.

He was merely stalling Yu Liancheng for a moment, buying time for those behind him to strike.

"Hey, Murong kid, are you ready to take a beating?"

Li Chungang stood in the void, gave a chuckle, and thousands of peach wood swords spat out Green Snake Sword Qi.

In the past, the Two Sleeves of Green Snakes galloped through the pugilistic world.

Today, two thousand green snakes wish to swallow the sky.

The Heavenly Venerable's sky.

In the past, someone called himself the Heavenly Venerable.

But now, he is more often called Murong Wudi or the Murong Twin Leaders.

"Go."

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Amidst a soft cry, thousands of peach wood swords flashed with sharp Qi, piercing through the void and enveloping Yu Liancheng like a net from heaven and earth.

"Deng Taie comes to seek instruction."

Deng Taie held the Tai'a Jian, which was overflowing with spirituality, and thrust it out.

As the First of Finger Profound and the Peach Blossom Sword God who was peerless in killing, the sword he thrust at this moment was simply astonishing.

Wherever the sword tip passed, it seemed to carry a terrifying aura. Regardless of flowers, trees, birds, or beasts, once touched by even a sliver, they would instantly shatter and be destroyed.

"Cao Zhangqing plucks heavenly thunder to send to Murong Wudi." The green-robed Cao Guanzi descended from the sky, his green robes fluttering, plucking heavenly thunder to return to the human world.

No.

To be more precise.

It is holding the Thunder Pool to return to the human world.

He opened his hands, holding up a Thunder Pool.

Within the Thunder Pool, countless flashes of lightning and thunder gathered, "Boom—" shaking the heavens and earth.

And the next moment, the Thunder Pool shattered, transforming into a massive beam of light descending from the sky, striking toward Yu Liancheng with a terrifying energy capable of destroying everything.

The white-clad Li Dangxin took off the prayer beads hanging from his chest, his skin glowing with Jinguang, like a Vajra descending into the world.

He untied the string and flicked the Buddha beads out one by one, a look of heartache appearing on his face.

Each Buddha bead carried vast, boundless Buddha power, continuously shooting outward; the one hundred and eight Buddha beads impressively condensed into an Array.

The Array was like a mountain, with faint Sanskrit chants ringing out; the Fotu sat at the center of the mountain's momentum, and the Bodhisattvas and Lohan were like the sands of the Ganges.

The Array suppressed downward.

Lao Huang grinned, revealing the sight of his two missing front teeth.

With a wave of his arm, several Flying Swords transformed into a sword light as brilliant as the Milky Way, vast and mighty, stretching without limit—this was exactly Sword Eleven, "Half Boundless."

During this period, although Lao Huang had gained some faint insights into the twelfth form, "Boundless," he was clearly more familiar with this eleventh form, "Half Boundless," and its power was also greater.

Qi Lianhua's blade light fell, bringing ten thousand miles of frost.

The Eating Sword Ancestor Sui Xiegu spat out ten thousand Sword Qi.

Wang Xiaoping of Wudang took down half of the Shejiang to use as a sword, which had the same marvelous effect as Wang Xianzhi's "Mountain Comes."

Qi Xianxia, Xuanyuan Qingfeng, the white-clad Luoyang, Jiang Si...

These experts, who would make the martial arts world tremble with a single stomp of their feet, each brought out their ultimate techniques, striking toward Yu Liancheng with all their might.

Even if they could not defeat this number one in the world, they had to make him look disheveled, so he would never dare to underestimate the experts of the world again.

Boom!

Boom—!

In just an instant, wind and thunder roared and gathered, and the void trembled and hummed.

A tyrannical and violent force surged and swept across this world; the gale swirled, towering trees were uprooted, and boulders weighing thousands of pounds rumbled and trembled, then shattered one after another, ground into dust by the gale. The ground collapsed and receded in layers, as if stolen away by an invisible giant hand.

The entire world seemed to be facing the end of days; even Huishan was trembling violently, with large swathes of the mountain collapsing and emitting a thunderous roar.

The power of everyone's combined strike might be slightly inferior to Wang Xianzhi's "Mountain Comes" in total, but Wang Xianzhi's was a continuous crushing force, while everyone else had erupted with their most brilliant and violent combat power in a single instant.

The martial arts practitioners at the foot of the mountain retreated in a hurry, crying for their parents.

They weren't even watching the battle from up close, so how could they still be caught in the crossfire? This was too overbearing.

A massive amount of dust rose on Guniu Dagang; Li Chungang and the others stood in mid-air, looking down from above.

Everyone looked at each other, smiles appearing on their faces; they were clearly very satisfied with this joint effort.

"Little Murong, do you still dare to underestimate the experts of the world now?"

Li Chungang chuckled, putting his hands behind his back, his clothes fluttering; at this moment, he finally had a bit of the Sword God's demeanor.

"Hehehe, each of you looks like you are working together, but in reality, you are arrogant and conceited; your attacks are scattered and weak. Are you trying to tickle me?"

As soon as the words fell, a gust of wind suddenly rose from the flat ground, blowing away the massive amount of dust filling the sky; a black figure was revealed, standing motionless, his entire body unstained by a single speck of dust.

Everyone's expression became serious.

Many experts even had bitter expressions on their faces.

"You lot, if your hits don't even hurt, why are you still out here in the martial arts world?"

Yu Liancheng's eyes radiated a dazzling brilliance; his left eye was like the sun in the vast sky, scorching and intense, baking the void. His right eye was like the moon in the starry night, eternally lonely, cold and indifferent.

With a stomp of his foot, the entire Huishan shook; with him as the center, a powerful energy erupted, and mud, sand, and rocks rose up like a tsunami in the vast ocean, rolling like dragons and striking out in all directions.

And just as the soil was flying, Yu Liancheng opened his five fingers and suddenly clenched them into a fist. Black cracks spread from the center of his fist, as if the space had been torn open. He struck out with one fist toward the sky; the momentum of the heavens and the intent of the earth were pulled by this punch, unleashing a strike where the sun and moon merged.

The fist energy soared into the sky, striking the dozens of top human experts without discrimination.

"When it comes to fighting, you still have to look at me, Murong Wudi."

The Huishan Snow Gathering ended.

Murong Tonghuang first defeated Wang Xianzhi, then fought the world's top experts.

The first battle was earth-shattering.

Especially Wang Xianzhi's weapon mountain, which was a move that could be called unprecedented and unrepeatable.

It is just a pity that this peerless martial artist, who was enough to challenge Lv Zu, still lost at the hands of Murong Tonghuang. Before he died, his soul split into three, gifting the Central Plains three great opportunities.

As for the second battle, because it was a duel on Huishan, the thousands of people at the foot of the mountain did not see it and did not know the outcome.

And the Central Plains experts who were fortunate enough to obtain the Great Snow Order and witness the outcome of this battle were all tight-lipped. Although scattered news leaked out into the martial arts world, it was all hearsay.

The only thing known was that Murong Tonghuang had become the common leader of the Central Plains martial arts world.

Inside the Listening Tide Pavilion.

Xu Xiao saw with his own eyes Xu Fengnian dragging that young man named Wen Hua out of the manor; looking at the direction, it was clearly the most famous Zijin Lou in Liangzhou.

He smiled and returned to the pavilion to sit opposite his chief advisor, Li Yishan. This poisonous strategist originally did not have much time left, but Murong Tonghuang had forcibly used methods to extend his life, allowing him to survive for a few more years, and he would also witness the thrilling Liangmang War that was to follow.

"Brother Yuanying, Mr. Murong has indeed become the Martial Arts Alliance Leader. Under his orders, many martial arts experts have joined the Beiliang Army one after another. With the upcoming Liangmang War, my Beiliang has a few more chances of winning."

Li Yishan said calmly: "Although these martial arts people have extraordinary skills, capable of taking on ten or a hundred, most are unruly and self-righteous; they still need to be well-disciplined."

Xu Xiao laughed: "That is none of my business. I am just a wealthy man now; I will leave that for you to worry about."

"You are certainly relaxed." Li Yishan chuckled, turned his head to look north, and said leisurely: "I hear the sound of horses' hooves, and I see the smoke of war rising everywhere. The Liangmang War... the Liangmang War is not far off."

The Shunan Bamboo Sea is as green as the sky.

The group strolled through it, as if they were among the immortals.

One man was dressed in white, his face as handsome as jade, yet compared to the scholars who climbed high to gaze into the distance in the bamboo sea, he possessed an indescribable aura of the battlefield.

Another slightly older man was filled with the aura of books, more in line with the demeanor of a pure scholar. However, his complexion was pale, and he coughed incessantly.

Behind the two followed a woman with a graceful figure, whose beauty was peerless in the Shu state.

All three were quite famous: the White-Clad Military Saint Chen Zhibao, Xie Guanying of the Xie Family, and Xie Xie, the mistress of Chuntie Thatched Cottage, the number one sect in Western Shu, who was also a chess piece casually placed by Xie Guanying in the past.

The three ascended the steps; the mountain path wound around, and the cliff walls were like those carved by a sword. Upon reaching Suolong Cliff at the summit, they looked out into the distance, and the entire bamboo sea was in full view.

"Cough, cough." Xie Guanying's coughing broke the silence, and there were bright red bloodstains on his handkerchief.

Chen Zhibao glanced at him: "Are you severely injured?"

"Indeed, that girl's strike was truly ruthless."

Xie Guanying's face was pale, yet a smug smile appeared: "As expected of my daughter, Xie Guanying; her talent for Martial Dao is truly extraordinary. In the future, she may succeed Wang Xianzhi and become the unshakable World's Second. If not for my exceptional ability to flee, I wouldn't have made it back this time."

Chen Zhibao chuckled, then shifted the topic: "And what of the Great Snow Meeting?"

"Just as I suspected, Murong Tonghuang intends to consolidate the Luck of the Edo from the past eight hundred years, and he has achieved the unprecedented position of Alliance Leader. The power of this Alliance Leader is shockingly great; he can even appoint the heads of various major sects. There is no helping it; after all, the Edo is all about whose fist is bigger, and that fellow's fist is simply too big."

Xie Guanying sighed, then a cold glint appeared at the corner of his mouth. He looked up at the sky and said leisurely: "But for a fellow who does not follow the rules like this, those immortals above who fish for Luck and lay out plans for the world will not let him off easily. Being invincible in the human world—can he defeat that group of immortals?"

"Heh, immortals." A trace of coldness appeared at the corner of Chen Zhibao's mouth.

Xie Guanying knew that Chen Zhibao had no affection for the immortals in the sky, and even harbored a trace of malice.

After all, the immortals treated the living beings of the human world as chess pieces, and Chen Zhibao was also an important chess piece. For someone as proud as the White-Clad Military Saint, how could he be willing to be a puppet on someone else's strings?

Xie Guanying smiled and looked at the woman behind him: "Xie Xie, there are six of the top ten beauties on Daxueping of Huishan. I suspect that Murong Tonghuang might want to collect all the beauties in the world; you should be prepared."

Xie Xie smiled faintly, like a hundred flowers in bloom: "Xie Xie is a person of the Xie Family."

Xie Guanying laughed; this was a very satisfying answer.

At least, he was very satisfied.

Beimang.

The royal tents, which stretched out like a majestic fortified city, were moved to the Southern Court.

The Female Emperor of Beimang and the Imperial Tutor Taiping Ling looked south.

The Female Emperor of Beimang said: "I suppose the Imperial Tutor has heard of Murong Tonghuang becoming the co-leader of the Central Plains Martial Arts World?"

Taiping Ling smiled and nodded.

The Female Emperor of Beimang said: "The Liangmang War is about to begin. Under the call of Murong Tonghuang, many experts from the Central Plains Martial Arts World have rushed to Beiliang. What is the Imperial Tutor's view on this?"

Taiping Ling pondered for a moment: "This matter is indeed beyond my expectations. In the first Liangmang War, I fear that our Beimang will lose."

The Female Emperor of Beimang raised an eyebrow: "Oh? They are merely martial arts ruffians, each with a heart higher than the heavens. Dong Zhuo once told me that on the battlefield, these martial arts experts would likely die faster than ordinary soldiers at first. Even if they adapted to the rules of the battlefield, they would still be of no consequence in the face of a mighty army."

Taiping Ling smiled bitterly: "The experts of the Central Plains Martial Arts World are not worth mentioning; the main issue is Murong Tonghuang. This person is undoubtedly a match for ten thousand, a match for ten thousand thousand. If he personally involves himself in the battlefield, he could easily dictate the victory of a campaign. With his assistance to Beiliang, coupled with the recent emergence of talent in Beiliang, the high morale, and the extraordinary methods of that Female Liang King, the first Liangmang War is very likely to fail."

The Female Emperor frowned: "Then what does Taiping Ling intend?"

"This time, there is no need to mobilize too many troops; of course, we must put on a show. We shall wait quietly for the second great war. At that time, we will surely break Beiliang, destroy Liyang, and take control of the Central Plains." Taiping Ling smiled slightly and looked up at the sky.

"For us, this matter can wait; we can plan it slowly. But that group of arrogant people in the sky—many of them have placed their chips on our side in Beimang. If the first Liangmang War fails, they will not be able to sit still for the second great war, and I fear they will personally participate. If nothing else, at the very least, they will hold back Murong Tonghuang for us."

"That would be for the best."