Martial Cultivator

A tall mountain stood among the surrounding mountains. Seen from afar, the peaks were uneven and irregular, but they shared one common feature, which was that between the peaks, it seemed as though a layer of twilight shrouded them, making them look different from the other mountains.

As if it were late autumn.

On the highest peak, within that twilight, an old man with white hair, dressed in a snow-white daoist robe, stood at the cliff edge. He looked at the distant sea of clouds, which surged with faint disturbance between waves, and he remained silent.

The old man was thin, his beard and hair all white. To say he had an immortal air would not be an exaggeration.

Just as the old daoist was gazing at the sea of clouds, a stream of light descended from afar. It was a middle-aged daoist, also dressed in a daoist robe. After his figure appeared here, he slightly bowed and said softly, “That person has already left the thin mist and is heading toward the mountain gate.”

The old daoist glanced at him and asked with a smile, “What is Lonely Moon Peak trying to do?”

Mount Qiuling had a total of seventy-two peaks, varying in height, and the powerhouses on each peak differed as well. Lonely Moon Peak, as one of them, did not rank high. Among the seventy-two peaks, it could only be placed beyond fiftieth.

The people sent overseas to handle those matters had acted on their own accord from the beginning, without receiving Mount Qiuling’s permission.

But in truth, the matter itself was not significant. If not for Chen Che, killing that young martial artist would simply have been killing him. Saving that daoist called Wuyang would simply have been saving him. No one would have cared.

“Lonely Moon Peak has long been dissatisfied with its current ranking these years, and has been far from idle. This time they originally thought they could bring that daoist into their peak, but they did not expect the outcome to be the opposite.”

The old daoist smiled and said, “Now the situation has blown up, and Lonely Moon Peak is panicking, feeling they can’t handle it?”

The middle-aged daoist said with concern, “Sun Fu’s combat strength was not weak. He was persuaded to go there this time, yet ended up dying there. After that, three more of their people also died there. From this, it seems that martial artist is not easy to deal with.”

Hearing this, the old daoist raised his brows, seemingly somewhat surprised. In truth, he had been in seclusion for many years and knew little about many matters within the mountain. When he came out previously, he only heard part of the story.

“All four died at that martial artist’s hands. For Lonely Moon Peak to suppress the matter now, the price will definitely not be small. No wonder they are taking the initiative to yield. After all, even if they manage to suppress that martial artist, Lonely Moon Peak will likely suffer severe damage.”

The old daoist sneered. “Lonely Moon Peak has not lacked ambition these years. Now that they’ve kicked an iron plate, this is simply what they deserve.”

“Martial Uncle, if Lonely Moon Peak ultimately fails to suppress him, how should we handle the situation?”

The middle-aged daoist looked at the old daoist before him, who held great seniority. In many matters within Mount Qiuling, this old daoist had decision-making authority.

The old daoist said calmly, “If that martial artist can level the entire Lonely Moon Peak, then it proves he is more valuable than Lonely Moon Peak. At that time, we can simply bring him into our mountain.”

“But doing so might attract criticism?”

The middle-aged daoist glanced at the old man, his eyes full of concern.

“Criticism? When Lonely Moon Peak acted in such a manner, why were they not worried about attracting criticism? And now, after making a mess, they suddenly begin worrying about such things?”

The old daoist sneered. “But if that martial artist does not know what is good for him, then just have someone kill him. At that time, if my Celestial Majesty Peak steps in to resolve such a great calamity for Mount Qiuling, Celestial Majesty Peak’s ranking will naturally rise as well.”

The middle-aged daoist was just about to speak, but he soon saw a streak of flowing light fall from the horizon. He reached out to catch it. It was a jade slip. After glancing at it twice, the middle-aged daoist frowned, somewhat incredulous as he said, “Lonely Moon Peak dispatched three people to intercept that martial artist, and they were casually killed by him.”

The old daoist raised his brows. “Only three?”

Previously, that martial artist had likely already killed a total of four cultivators of the Fuyun Realm. If Lonely Moon Peak truly had any sense, they should have known they needed to go all out at this moment. Yet they only dispatched three people?

The middle-aged daoist gave a bitter smile. “One of them was Daoist Spiritseek. He had just opened his mouth to persuade that martial artist to let the matter rest, and he was punched by him. At that moment he summoned his middle-aged to withstand the blow, but with only the second punch, the middle-aged was shattered and he was gravely injured, on the verge of death. The other two reacted and attacked together, but in the end they still failed to make that martial artist remain there forever. In just a quarter of an hour, all three died.”

The jade slip recorded the details of that battle. As the middle-aged daoist recited it aloud, he only felt terrified.

Too frightening.

Given his own cultivation, he was roughly on par with that Daoist Spiritseek. If he had been present at the time, he likely would not have escaped being killed by a single punch.

“The martial path, once reached such a realm, is it really this terrifying? But that Sun Fu fellow, why was he so useless?”

The middle-aged daoist could not understand no matter how hard he tried.

The old daoist narrowed his eyes and spoke of an old matter. “Sun Fu, originally as a martial artist, did not have poor foundations. When he first entered Mount Qiuling, he was well regarded. But he had long been arrogant and overbearing where he came from. I heard he had once been the Great General of a nation, but he relied on his cultivation realm to cause trouble in the inner palace; his Dao heart was too chaotic. After arriving here, he spoke rudely to a certain woman, whose Dao companion happened to be a great sword immortal. That person delivered a single sword strike, leaving him with an extremely difficult-to-heal Great Dao injury. After that, his Dao heart collapsed and naturally his cultivation stagnated. The real issue was that he lost his spirit. Later, he even fell to the point of being a gatekeeper. What kind of martial artist is that?”

“But speaking of it, other martial artists, if they truly reach this kind of realm, in certain aspects they are stronger than others. That Chen Che was supposedly once the emperor of a nation? A monarch’s heart, yet it was not tainted by the mundane world, and instead remained so firm. Truly remarkable.”

There was a hint of admiration in the old daoist’s eyes. Such a martial artist, given time, would certainly become a great figure.

This was beyond doubt.

“What a pity.”

The old daoist suddenly sighed. Although such a man was remarkable, the more remarkable he was, the more the old daoist understood that it would be extremely difficult to bring someone like him under their command.

While the old daoist was sighing, the middle-aged daoist received another jade slip. After reading it, he gave a bitter laugh. “That martial artist is now only a thousand miles away from Mount Qiuling. The peak master of Lonely Moon Peak, Daoist Yuji, has already set out down the mountain.”

In Mount Qiuling, anyone who could become the master of a peak was without exception a true heavyweight. Even though Lonely Moon Peak’s ranking was not high, this single fact alone had no doubt.

If one was not strong enough, one would never be able to sit in the position of peak master.

The old daoist looked at the sea of clouds and sighed. “Even Yuji has moved. It seems the matter is not simple. But I heard that this martial artist only broke through a few years ago, so he should only be able to reach this far.”