Chapter 9: Xiongba Takes Disciples

On this day, the six-person squad finished their morning chores and were resting on the lawn.

At this moment, a six-person group led by a fat boy of about ten years old walked toward them.

This six-person group had entered the Under Heaven Society a few days before Qin Shuang and the others, and relying on their physical advantage, they ran rampant among the Under Heaven Society's boy scouts.

Duan Fengyun and the other two were descendants of prestigious families, so naturally, they would not pay any attention to this group of people.

This six-person group had long been displeased with Duan Fengyun and his companions, and they had come today specifically to teach the three of them a lesson.

The six-person group looked at Duan Fengyun and the other two, and the seemingly weak little Nie Feng became the first target of the six.

The leading fat boy strode up and pushed little Nie Feng over; seeing little Nie Feng being bullied, Duan Fengyun, Duan Lang, and Qin Shuang immediately grabbed their tools and rushed up, starting a fight with the others.

Kong Ci, who had no strength to truss a chicken, was responsible for pulling the fallen Nie Feng up.

Seeing Kong Ci go to help Nie Feng, the fat boy immediately took action, preparing to teach Kong Ci a lesson.

Bu Jingyun, who was concentrating on carving a wooden puppet, caught sight of this scene, immediately stopped the carving knife in his hand, and threw the unfinished wooden puppet at the fat boy.

Naturally cold by nature, he had not wanted to get involved in these matters, but Kong Ci was his forbidden treasure; for the fat boy to want to touch Kong Ci was to court death.

The wooden puppet that Bu Jingyun threw in a moment of impulse did not fly toward the fat boy bullying Kong Ci as he had wished, but instead flew straight ahead.

The thrown puppet was caught by a man who appeared suddenly; this man was none other than Xiongba, and beside him followed a man with a strange, sinister air—this was his lackey, Wen Chouchou.

Xiongba caught the puppet flying toward him with one hand, exerted a little force, and the puppet was crushed into powder.

The few people who were fighting and Bu Jingyun all knelt down upon seeing this, their faces pale; the Under Heaven Society prohibited internal fighting, and now that they had been discovered by the Society Leader, they would surely suffer.

Xiongba and Wen Chouchou walked in front of Duan Fengyun and the others, and Wen Chouchou looked at the group of brats before him and said: "You little brats, do you not have eyes? What are your names? Later, you all go and clean the Martial Arts Hall, and you are not allowed to eat."

At this moment, the proud Duan Lang spoke first: "I am Duan Lang, the son of the South Unicorn Sword Master, Duan Shuai."

Little Nie Feng and little Bu Jingyun also announced their names one after another. After everyone had finished speaking, Duan Fengyun also reported his name: "My name is Duan Fengyun, and I am also the son of the South Unicorn Sword Master, Duan Shuai."

While Wen Chouchou was still recording them one by one, Xiongba suddenly remembered something; after looking at little Nie Feng, little Bu Jingyun, and Duan Fengyun once more, he left in a hurry.

Seeing his master leave, the lackey Wen Chouchou also hurriedly followed.

Xiongba, who had left in a hurry, had already arrived at his Martial Arts Hall. Wen Chouchou, who had followed in a rush, was shocked to see Xiongba laughing heartily.

He had not seen Xiongba laugh so happily for a long time, so he hurriedly asked: "Society Leader, is there some happy event that makes you so happy?"

Xiongba looked at Wen Chouchou, continued to laugh heartily, and pointed at the large pillars in the hall without saying a word.

Wen Chouchou turned his attention to the pillars on both sides, and a sentence was written on each of the two pillars.

After Wen Chouchou tried to connect the two sentences, he read them aloud: "How can the golden scale be a thing of the pond? Once it encounters Feng and Yun, it will turn into a dragon."

With the brain of a lackey like Wen Chouchou, he certainly could not understand the meaning of this passage, and he looked at Xiongba with a blank expression.

Xiongba laughed loudly: "This is the prophecy given to me by Ni Pusa, saying that if I can take in Feng and Yun, I will be able to dominate the Jianghu. I did not understand what Feng and Yun referred to at first, until just now, when I finally understood what Ni Pusa meant by Feng and Yun."

The bewildered Wen Chouchou scratched his head and asked Xiongba with a look of surprise:

"Society Leader, could this Feng and Yun refer to that Duan Fengyun? That's not right, there is also Nie Feng and Bu Jingyun."

Xiongba replied domineeringly: "No matter who is the Feng and Yun prophesied by Ni Pusa, I would rather misidentify them than let them go. Since I can cultivate them, I can also destroy them. Wen Chouchou, give the order to convene the society; I have a major announcement to make."

In fact, Xiongba was also very conflicted at this moment.

Regarding the matter of taking disciples, he already had his choices in mind; he would choose all three: Duan Fengyun, Nie Feng, and Bu Jingyun.

Besides these three, he had one more candidate, which was Qin Shuang.

Qin Shuang was loyal and honest; if he took him as a disciple, he would certainly be devoted to him until his dying breath.

But the teaching of Cultivation Methods had become the biggest problem before Xiongba; his three supreme arts—Fist, Palm, and Leg—could certainly only be taught to three people. The three arts generated and restrained each other, and he wanted the people learning these three arts to mutually check and balance one another.

With four disciples and three supreme arts, how could he teach them separately?

Looking at the fourteen-character prophecy of Ni Pusa on the pillar, he thought of the answer in his heart.

Early in the morning, Duan Fengyun and the others, who were still fast asleep, were called up and told that the Society Leader had a major announcement to make, and that all personnel were to gather at the Practice Field.

Duan Fengyun pondered in his heart that since Xiongba already knew their names, today should be his disciple-taking ceremony. He wondered how Xiongba would take his disciples in this life, now that he, a variable, existed.

Before he could think much more, he was called by others, hurriedly tidied up, and ran to the Practice Field.

Wen Chouchou's confidentiality work was quite good; everyone only knew that the Society Leader had a major announcement, but did not know what it was specifically, and the crowd below was whispering in discussion.

And Wen Chouchou, who knew that Duan Fengyun and the others were about to rise to the top, did not dare to neglect these future young masters, so he ordered his subordinates to save a front-row seat for these little brats.

At this time, Xiongba, dressed in brocade, appeared before the crowd, looked at everyone, and sat domineeringly on his Society Leader's throne.

The crowd knelt down one after another and shouted the classic slogan: "The Society Leader is wise; with literary and martial virtue, for a thousand autumns and ten thousand generations, unifying the Jianghu."

Xiongba stood up from his seat, signaled for everyone to stand up, and then began his speech:

"Over these past few years, the Under Heaven Society has developed rapidly and has become the number one major sect in the world. To strengthen our lineup and consolidate our status in the Jianghu, I announce today that I am taking Qin Shuang, Duan Fengyun, Nie Feng, and Bu Jingyun as my inner-chamber disciples to assist my Under Heaven Society in dominating the martial arts world and ruling the world."

Upon hearing the news, the four people below the stage hurriedly knelt and shouted: "Greetings, Master."

Except for Duan Fengyun, the other three were all surprised; how had they been taken as disciples by the Society Leader?

Although Duan Fengyun had already guessed the result in his heart, when the result was truly announced, he still felt a little secretly pleased; as expected, ancient people were all superstitious.

And little Duan Lang, upon hearing this, was full of confusion and resentment; besides his brother, why were the other three taken as the Society Leader's disciples? In what way was he inferior to them?

Duan Fengyun saw his younger brother's resentment. According to the original work, this silly and cute younger brother began to turn dark after this incident, and he did not want little Duan Lang to get involved in the rights and wrongs of the Jianghu.

He touched little Duan Lang's head and said seriously: "Brother, the Duan family only has the two of us left now. Leave the fighting and killing to your older brother. After I become a disciple, I will find an opportunity to send you out of the Under Heaven Society. You should study with peace of mind, earn a title, and leave descendants for the Duan family. From today on, your brother will live a life of licking blood from the edge of a blade; you must take good care of yourself."

Little Duan Lang nodded helplessly upon hearing this. In this era where the eldest brother acts as a father, he still listened to his brother very much. Because Duan Lang did not turn dark due to the disciple-taking incident, from this moment on, the butterfly of the Fengyun World began to slowly fly away from its original trajectory; no one knew how the future would develop.

After the assembly ended, Duan Fengyun and the others were called outside the Martial Arts Hall by Xiongba. Xiongba looked at the four people before him and said: "Next, I will teach you my lifelong supreme arts. I hope you can master them thoroughly and open up territory for my Under Heaven Society."

The four hurriedly knelt and kowtowed in thanks: "Disciples will strictly follow the Master's orders and will surely shed every drop of our hot blood for the Under Heaven Society."

Xiongba read out Qin Shuang's name: "Shuang'er, as your master, I will teach you the Heaven Frost Fist. This set of fist techniques emphasizes that the forces are incompatible; it is incomparably fierce, and once the intent to kill arises, it is invincible."

After speaking, Xiongba channeled his Qi with both hands, and his hands were instantly filled with cold intent. With one punch, it had the power to shock heaven and earth and make ghosts and gods weep.

Next, Xiongba followed the original work and taught the Cloud-Ranking Palm and the Wind God Leg to Bu Jingyun and Nie Feng respectively.

When it came to Duan Fengyun, Xiongba paused for a short while and said: "Yun'er, as your master, today I will teach you the Wind God Leg and the Cloud-Ranking Palm. I hope you can assist me in dominating the world."

Duan Fengyun could not help but be shocked upon hearing this; Xiongba would actually teach him two supreme arts. He could not care about pondering and hurriedly knelt down.

After Xiongba finished his instruction, he arranged for the four of them to practice on their own, and he would answer any questions they had if they did not understand something.

Nie Feng and Qin Shuang did not mind that Xiongba had taught Duan Fengyun the Dual Ultimates, but Bu Jingyun's face revealed his dissatisfaction.

However, dissatisfaction was one thing, but Xiongba was no philanthropist; if they did not cultivate diligently, they would certainly suffer the consequences, so the few of them each began their own cultivation.