Wuxia: Starting Off With 60 Years of Inner Strength

After Jiang Ran and the others had walked on for some time, they finally heard a commotion.

Moving further ahead, they saw two figures darting and weaving over a wild mountain path, their long swords a blur that painted the air with a thousand brilliant flashes.

In addition, two groups of people stood on either side of the mountain path, glaring at each other.

Ye Jingshuang took one look and froze.

”Those are my sect brothers from the Liuyun Sword Sect!”

Jiang Ran was taken aback. Taking a closer look, he saw that both groups were dressed in white.

However, one group had a cloud embroidered on their cuffs, while the other had a Cyan Mountain.

Liuyun and Yun Mountain...

’We were just talking about them, and now they’re right here.’

At that moment, the two combatants who had been fighting in mid-air landed on the ground.

The flashes of their blades intertwined as they fought, each demonstrating exquisite techniques.

Jiang Ran could tell at a glance that one of them was using a style that bore traces of the Liuyun Cloud Swordsmanship.

The swordsmanship of his opponent, by contrast, was as steady as a mountain, with each strike seeming to carry immense weight.

His movements seemed slow, yet they perfectly intercepted his opponent’s swordsmanship—a style as fluid and ever-changing as shifting winds and clouds—keeping it entirely beyond the three-foot reach of his cyan blade.

”Senior Brother Huang!!”

Ye Jingshuang couldn’t help but call out.

Hearing her voice, the two combatants immediately turned their heads. They both froze for a second, then each threw a palm strike at the other.

With a loud BANG, Gang Qi erupted outwards as the two figures were blasted apart.

”Hahaha, Huang Xuan! I haven’t seen you in three years, and your swordsmanship has gotten much worse!”

The master from the Yun Mountain Sword Sect roared with laughter, his words dripping with ridicule.

But Huang Xuan simply shook his head slightly.

”The Myriad Heavy Peaks style appears clumsy but is actually deft. Its essence is to wield the heavy as if it were light.”

”Three years ago, you had only grasped its outer form. Seeing you again today, you’re still stuck in the same place...”

”Ling Buyi, the path of martial arts is like rowing upstream: if you don’t advance, you fall back. You say I’m not as good as I used to be? I’d say you... are worse than you were eight years ago.”

As soon as they started talking, neither was willing to give an inch.

Hearing Huang Xuan’s retort, fury instantly appeared on Ling Buyi’s face.

”Bullshit!”

”You smell it!”

”Are you a three-year-old?”

”That still makes me two years older than you.”

”The older you are, the sooner you die!”

”So you’ll be there to send me off?”

”I’m gonna kill you!”

”Bring it on! Who’s afraid of who!?”

Listening to the two of them argue, Jiang Ran felt like he was watching a pair of seven-year-olds bickering.

He couldn’t help but glance at Ye Jingshuang.

Ye Jingshuang buried her face in her hands and whispered:

”Senior Brother Huang and Senior Brother Ling from the Yun Mountain Sword Sect have never gotten along.”

”Those two could fight all day over a single chicken feather, and then spend the next three days and nights hurling insults at each other.”

”This... is a common sight, really.”

”...”

For a moment, Jiang Ran was at a loss for words.

The other Liuyun Sword Sect disciples, however, paid no mind to their senior brother, and instead crowded around Jiang Ran’s group.

They flocked around Ye Jingshuang.

”Junior Sister Ye, it’s so good to see you’re okay!”

”We only just received the news a while ago, we thought... Senior Sister Ye, you scared me to death.”

”Senior Sister Ye, you’ve gotten so thin! It must have been a difficult time for you. If your master saw you like this, his heart would break, wouldn’t it?”

”Who are they? Are they your friends, Junior Sister?”

The disciples of the Liuyun Sword Sect were a mix of ages; the oldest was in his thirties, while the youngest was only fifteen or sixteen.

They swarmed around Ye Jingshuang, chattering away without a pause.

Li Tianxin silently took two steps back, feeling a buzzing headache coming on.

Zhang Zhihua, on the other hand, found the scene strangely heartwarming.

Just then, the CLANGING of swords rang out once more.

It was Huang Xuan and Ling Buyi, who had started fighting again.

Everyone looked up, just in time to hear a young girl beside Ye Jingshuang pout and say:

”Why is Senior Brother Huang still fighting him? We’ve found Senior Sister Ye, so they should stop!”

”Yeah, I’m getting hungry.”

”How long are they going to keep this up? Are we not eating today?”

”Someone should go stop them. This is getting endless.”

”Who could possibly stop them? Senior Brother Huang’s skills have improved so much in recent years that not even Master can defeat him within a hundred moves.”

”What about the other side? Can’t they stop Ling Buyi?”

”Probably not... If anyone on their side could, they would have done it by now.”

”Huh...? Oh no!”

Suddenly, someone cried out in alarm.

”They’re starting to fight for real now!”

The Liuyun Sword Sect and the Yun Mountain Sword Sect had always been at odds with each other, partly due to the similarity of their names.

When their disciples encountered one another, they rarely yielded.

In the past, however, their conflicts were usually confined to the Five Sects Sword Conference, where any disputes would be settled.

Even if things went too far, there were always sect elders present to intervene.

But now, meeting like this at the foot of Red Maple Mountain, if their fierce battle led to a serious incident...

...there would be no way to contain the fallout.

To make matters worse, both men were highly skilled, not someone an ordinary disciple could stop.

They watched as the two men’s swords moved faster and faster, their Sword Intent now aimed at each other’s vital points.

Even Ye Jingshuang couldn’t help but frown. She wanted to step in, but she knew that even though her Liuyun Cloud Swordsmanship was exquisite enough to contend with them, stopping them was another matter entirely—it was impossible for her.

After a moment of hesitation, she couldn’t help but look toward Jiang Ran.

”Brother Jiang... could I trouble you to step in and separate them?”

Hearing Ye Jingshuang say this, several of the Liuyun Sword Sect disciples were stunned.

They couldn’t help but look at Jiang Ran.

Seeing how young he was, they found it hard to believe he had such skill.

Jiang Ran thought for a moment, then nodded.

”Of course.”

Hearing his reply, the Liuyun Sword Sect disciples looked like they wanted to say something but held their tongues.

But since Ye Jingshuang had made the request and Jiang Ran was so confident, wouldn’t stopping him now be a blatant slap in the face to them both?

So, they could only stand aside, breaking out in a nervous sweat for Jiang Ran.

But then Jiang Ran’s figure blurred, leaving a trail of afterimages as he stepped forward, and in the blink of an eye, he was standing between Huang Xuan and Ling Buyi.

Huang Xuan caught the movement from the corner of his eye and was inwardly shocked.

’The Celestial Nine Steps?’

He immediately scrambled to pull back his attack.