Chapter 32

Qi and Lu region, Jinan Prefecture, Taishan Sect.

It was the fifth watch, the world was pitch black, and the roosters were still sleeping in their coops.

In a small courtyard within the Taishan Sect, the Sect Leader, Zuo Lishan, was practicing his sword shirtless.

Swish!

Swish!

The sword cut through the air, making a sharp whistling sound.

Although the sword moves were still based on the Taishan Sword Technique, the essence within was already completely different.

Those who can reach the realm of a peak expert are all individuals whose talent and comprehension have reached the level of founding their own sect.

In the hands of such people, all moves are no longer confined to their original forms but gradually evolve into the style most suitable for themselves.

And the disciples within the sect will naturally, under the influence of these experts, gradually develop martial arts different from the original.

This is also the process of innovation for major sects in the Ordinary Jianghu; under the iteration of such experts, the martial arts of many sects have become completely different from the methods of their founders.

For example, the original Taishan Sword Technique was a grand, upright, and balanced sword style.

But now, in Zuo Lishan's hands, this sword technique faintly revealed a fierce, domineering power that overwhelmed others.

It was more like a saber technique than a sword technique.

Martial arts do not necessarily reflect a person's character, because not everyone in this world can use martial arts that suit them, nor does everyone act according to their own nature.

For example, if a person is a natural villain with great talent but joins a righteous sect, they cannot practice martial arts that conflict with their nature to their limit, but they can still practice well due to their talent.

If they spend their whole life using righteous martial arts and doing righteous deeds, no one can see their true nature from their martial arts. After they die, everyone will give them a thumbs up and call them a "hero."

But for someone like Zuo Lishan, who uses martial arts to reflect his own style, his sword technique must be a reflection of his own character.

In this courtyard, Zuo Lishan practiced sword move after sword move, each one with all his might, until the rooster crowed at dawn.

"Hoo—"

He exhaled a breath that looked like a white arrow in the cold air, dissipating only after three or four feet.

Zuo Lishan stood for a moment, walked to a large vat in the courtyard to get water, and poured it over himself ladle by ladle.

It was late autumn, and the water had been frozen in the courtyard all night, icy and bone-chilling. As it poured over him, steam rose from his body.

After washing off the sweat, Zuo Lishan walked into the room.

His disciple, in her twenties with a charming face, lay on the bed. Accustomed to Zuo Lishan's routine, she lazily opened her eyes and looked at him with infatuation.

Zuo Lishan didn't speak and jumped onto the bed.

"Ah... cold—" she cried out softly.

Half an hour later, Zuo Lishan rolled off the bed and got dressed.

He walked to a quiet room and began to meditate to practice his internal energy.

It wasn't until noon that someone knocked on the door to bring him food.

A bowl of brown rice, a dish of boiled beef, and a dish of green vegetables—bland and tasteless.

Zuo Lishan held the bowl in his left hand, eating meat and rice, then vegetables and rice, swallowing the food like a machine.

After finishing, he aligned his chopsticks and placed them on the bowl.

A dish on the left, a bowl in the middle, a dish on the right—symmetrical and neat.

Only then did Zuo Lishan go to the Taishan Sect's administrative hall to handle sect affairs.

Until the afternoon, when the sun was setting, a disciple knocked on the door to report.

"Sect Leader, Zhao Ying, the young head of the Huwei Escort Agency in Yanzhou Prefecture, requests an audience."

"Huwei Escort Agency?" Zuo Lishan pondered: "Is it the one where the head was killed a while ago? The one named... Zhao Dehua?"

"Yes, Sect Leader."

"Did she say what it's about?"

"No, but Zhao Ying looks grim and full of grief; she doesn't look like she's here for a visit."

Zuo Lishan was silent for a moment and said: "Invite her to the main hall, I will be there shortly."

The disciple left to carry out the order. Zuo Lishan unhurriedly finished writing a letter, stood up, put the paper and brush on the table back in their places, and then walked to the main hall.

The Huwei Escort Agency in Yanzhou Prefecture was considered a righteous group with some fame in the Qi and Lu region, but it had no experts. Although Zuo Lishan wanted to maintain the style of a major righteous sect and wouldn't refuse to see her, he didn't respect her much.

Zhao Ying was sitting in the guest seat in the hall. Seeing Zuo Lishan enter, she quickly stood up to greet him.

"Sect Leader Zuo."

She looked up at Zuo Lishan—tall, with long arms and a slim waist, his face solemn and austere, his clothes smoothed out without a single wrinkle.

Zuo Lishan became a peak expert before the age of forty and could be said to be the most prominent figure in the Qi and Lu Ordinary Jianghu. In recent years, he had shown signs of integrating the Five Mountains Sword Sects and becoming a giant of the righteous path in the Central Plains.

But his personality was domineering and uncompromising, and he didn't care much for formalities, focusing solely on strengthening the Taishan Sect, often doing things that were out of line.

Asking him to uphold justice required a price.

If she hadn't been truly desperate, Zhao Ying wouldn't have come to Zuo Lishan.

"Heroine Zhao, please sit." Zuo Lishan nodded, didn't return the greeting, and sat directly in the main seat. Without small talk, he went straight to the point.

"Heroine Zhao, what brings you here?"

Zhao Ying paused and said: "Does Sect Leader Zuo know about my father's murder?"

"I have heard of it."

"The person who killed my father used the Huashan Sword Technique."

"Oh?" Zuo Lishan said emotionlessly: "What makes you say that?"

"That day, my escort agency and I chased her out of the city and fought with the thief."

"At first, she was afraid of exposing her sect and didn't use a sword. In the end, she had no choice and used three moves."

"One of the moves, I saw someone from your sect use at the last Five Mountains alliance meeting when my father brought me to pay respects."

"It was exactly 'Three Falls of the Cloud Terrace'!" Zhao Ying said indignantly.

"Is there any witness?" Zuo Lishan said lightly.

"Over twenty people from my Huwei Escort Agency were present that day, and they saw it clearly. There is not a word of falsehood."

The integration of the Five Mountains Sword Sects had been going on for years, and the role the Huashan Sword Sect played in it was no secret in the Ordinary Jianghu.

Zhao Ying knew that the Taishan Sect had long had designs on the Huashan Sword Sect, but due to the reputation of the righteous path, they had no suitable reason to act.

Her shoulder meridians had been crippled, most of her martial arts were gone, and revenge on her own was hopeless, so she had to pin her hopes on the Taishan Sect's designs on the Huashan Sword Sect.

Zuo Lishan pondered for a moment and said: "The Huashan Sword Sect has a long history, and it's not like they haven't had people betray the sect."

"As for their core internal techniques, they wouldn't be leaked to the Ordinary Jianghu. But as for sword moves, that's not necessarily the case."

"Based on just one move, 'Three Falls of the Cloud Terrace,' I cannot confirm that this thief is from the Huashan Sword Sect."

Zhao Ying understood Zuo Lishan's implication and immediately said: "The thief even reported her own name!"

"Whether she is a disciple of the Huashan Sword Sect, one check will tell!"

"Her name is Mei Qinghe!"

(End of chapter)