Swords emerge from Mount Hua, sweeping across the heavens from the world of Swordsman.

After the Golden Basin Washing Hands Ceremony, Ding Mian and his two companions returned to Mount Song without delay and recounted the events of the ceremony to Zuo Lengchan in detail.

Hearing that Liu Zhengfeng and Qu Yang had been rescued by Yue Zhuoqun, he was furious, but he managed to keep his emotions in check.

When they heard that Yue Zhuoqun had sent the three men staggering back four or five steps and coughing up blood with a single palm strike, they finally couldn't help but change their expressions.

Bang!

He immediately stood up from his seat: "Are you sure it was one palm strike that injured all three of you, not three?"

"I dare not deceive my senior brother, the sect leader."

Zuo Lengshan narrowed his eyes, moved both arms simultaneously, palms facing each other in front of his chest, and unleashed a surge of surging, cold internal energy, slamming his palm into the open space of the hall.

Rumble!

There were many empty chairs on both sides of the lobby. Wherever the palm strike passed, the tables and chairs were all smashed to pieces, and even the smooth floor tiles were covered with a layer of frost.

The temperature in the lobby dropped by more than ten degrees in an instant.

"How does the power of my palm strike compare to that of Yue Buqun?"

Ding Mian and the other two exchanged glances and said, "Yue Buqun's palm strike was powered by the Zixia Divine Skill, and its advantage lay in its continuous force. Our sect leader's palm strike was cold and domineering, and its destructive power was even more astonishing, not inferior in the slightest."

Actually, they didn't dare to say the whole story. The two men's palm strikes seemed to be evenly matched, but when Yue Zhuoqun used his palm strike, he waved his sleeve with one hand, looking elegant and casual, while Zuo Lengchan had to gather his energy and concentrate for a moment.

On this point alone, Zuo Lengchan was at a disadvantage.

Zuo Lengchan finally breathed a sigh of relief and sat down again:

"My martial art is called Frost True Qi. It was originally created to counter Ren Woxing's Star Absorbing Technique. Although I have only achieved a minor level of mastery, I am still confident that I can contend with Ren Woxing to some extent."

I never expected that Yue Buqun would cultivate the Zixia Divine Skill to this level so quietly, becoming yet another major threat to me.

In order to counter Ren Woxing's Star Absorbing Technique, he created two internal energy techniques, one of which was this Frost True Qi.

After ten years of arduous training, he transformed his internal energy into extreme yin and cold. Once it entered the body of an outsider, it would immediately emit a chilling aura that penetrated to the bone marrow, causing the person to tremble all over and form frost. It could even freeze their meridians, making it difficult to circulate their energy.

The second internal skill is called the Hidden Skill Secret Technique, which can hide one's internal energy so that the opponent cannot absorb even a trace of it.

"Senior Brother Sect Leader, we observe that Yue Buqun is quite ambitious. In just two days after attending Liu Zhengfeng's retirement ceremony, he has already won the respect of experts from various sects."

His words carry more weight than your command as the leader among the three sects of Hengshan, Hengshan, and Taishan.

Yu Canghai of the Qingcheng Sect became a loyal hound; anyone who dared to say a bad word about Yue Buqun would be met with a barrage of attacks from him.

"Yes, Senior Brother Sect Leader, if things continue like this, we might not even need Yue Buqun to ask. Those old fogies Dingyi and Tianmen will be the ones to ask us to return the Five Mountains Alliance Leader's Flag to Mount Hua. We must find a way to get rid of this major threat, Yue Buqun."

Click, click, click!

Zuo Lengchan clenched his fists so tightly they cracked.

These words really hit him where it hurt.

Ever since Mount Hua sent him the Five Sacred Mountains Command Flag, he has treated it as his private property. How could he allow anyone to take it back?

Not only did he not intend to hand over the command flag, he even planned to merge the Five Mountains Sword Sects into the Five Mountains Sect!

After all, his neighbor had been the leader of the martial arts world for hundreds of years, and he wanted to experience what it was like to rule the martial arts world.

"The development of the Frost True Qi is not yet sufficient. I need to continue my seclusion for a period of time to develop this technique to its full potential."

During this period, you should avoid provoking the Huashan Sect.

Once this is accomplished, we will immediately convene the Five Sacred Mountains Alliance Conference.

"At that time, I will not only defeat Yue Buqun, but also bring about the merger of the Five Mountains Sword Sects!"

Ding Mian and the other two perked up and bowed, replying, "Yes!"

When news of the Golden Basin Washing Hands Ceremony reached Cao Zhengchun, the head of the Eastern Depot, he was furious and immediately set about dealing with the Huashan Sect.

Before he could even begin, a memorial accusing him of training an assassin organization and plotting a rebellion reached the hands of the Zhengde Emperor.

There were always memorials accusing Cao Zhengchun of eliminating dissidents and persecuting loyal officials, but Emperor Zhengde always turned a blind eye.

This was his balancing act, a way to use Cao Zhengchun to control Zhu Wushi.

But this time is different. How dare an assassin organization clamor about being the "cornerstone of the Black Stone Dynasty"? How could Cao Zhengchun privately show such contempt for imperial power?

The next morning at court, Emperor Zhengde reprimanded Cao Zhengchun, stripped him of his power to control the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and reinstated Zhang Hairui, intending to cultivate a new force to maintain balance.

He originally intended to weaken Cao Zhengchun's power in the Eastern Depot, but the Izumo Kingdom suddenly sent Princess Rixiu for a marriage alliance, so he temporarily gave up the idea.

After this setback, Cao Zhengchun no longer cared about causing trouble for the Huashan Sect.

……

Several months have passed in the blink of an eye, and the Huashan Sect is welcoming the new year's Martial Arts Hall Grand Competition.

Over the past seven years, a grand competition has been held every year, producing many outstanding disciples. Those who make it into the top ten of the competition are able to become disciples of the elders and become their personal disciples.

However, Yue Zhuoqun never took on any more apprentices.

In his view, these later disciples were excellent, but they were still slightly inferior to Yang Lin and his generation.

However, this year's competition is quite interesting because his ten-year-old son, Yue Xuan, will also be participating.

Chapter 53 Please let Xuan'er become my disciple

Yue Zhuoqun led a group of elders to sit on high chairs, with Liu Zhengfeng also in the seat.

The competition has progressed to the battle for the top ten. Xiao Fang stepped onto the stage and shouted, "Next match: Mei Changhua versus Lu Dayou."

Xiao Fang was one of the top ten in Yang Lin's batch, and Chen Yuanxiu was also among the top ten.

Both of them were former disciples of Mount Hua, who entered the top ten with their solid skills and eventually became disciples of Cheng Buyou and Cong Buqi.

However, their aptitude was slightly inferior to that of Yang Lin and the others, and they gradually fell behind, spending most of their time teaching their junior disciples at the Martial Arts Hall.

A few days ago, Yue Zhuoqun bestowed upon him the Great Rejuvenation Pill, which increased his internal strength by ten years, finally allowing him to officially enter the first-class level.

Hua Shaokun hasn't personally hosted the Chuanwu Hall Grand Competition in recent years; it's been hosted by the two of them, who are both capable of handling things independently.

As Xiao Fang's voice faded, two men entered the arena.

Lu Dayou is eighteen years old, and Mei Changhua is fifteen years old.

Old Yue originally had quite a few disciples, including Linghu Chong and the traitor Lao Denuo, as well as Liang Fa, Shi Daizi, Gao Genming, Lu Dayou, Tao Jun, Ying Bailuo, and others.

These people have all appeared, and except for Lu Dayou, they have all passed the assessment and become formal disciples.

Lu Dayou's aptitude for martial arts isn't too bad.

However, he was naturally unruly, and his personality was quite similar to that of Linghu Chong back then. He had been in the martial arts school for five years, but he hadn't worked very hard in his training, which was why he hadn't been able to graduate.

According to the rules of the Martial Arts Hall, those who are over the age of eighteen and fail to graduate will automatically become outer disciples.

Lu Dayou then felt nervous. He had been practicing swordsmanship diligently for more than a year and his strength had improved significantly, allowing him to advance into the top ten of the competition.

As for Mei Changhua, others may not have heard of this name, but Yue Zhuoqun knew his background.

He was originally the eldest disciple of the Third Young Master's Sword Sect, the head of the Huashan Sect, and his strength and talent were both quite formidable.

"Greetings, Senior Brother Lu!" Mei Changhua clasped his hands in a fist salute, displaying great poise, which for a moment reminded one of Yang Lin.

Lu Dayou returned the greeting with a fist and palm salute, and said with a smile, "Junior Brother Mei, just bring it on!"

After exchanging greetings, the two men simultaneously began by welcoming guests with the image of an ancient pine tree.

Swish!

Lu Dayou changed his sword technique first, drawing a long arc in the air and thrusting towards Mei Changhua's wrist with great speed and force.

Mei Changhua's sword techniques also changed accordingly, and he responded very skillfully.

His swordplay was light and agile, creating glittering starlight that completely enveloped Lu Dayou's attacks.

The two figures moved around the arena, their longswords clashing incessantly, producing a series of crisp and melodious sounds.

In their back-and-forth exchanges, there was a sense of evenly matched strength.

Thirty moves passed quickly, and just when the disciples watching thought it would take a hundred moves to determine the winner, Mei Changhua's aura suddenly changed.

brush brush~

With a single swing of his sword, the longsword split into three shadows, simultaneously stabbing towards Lu Dayou's upper, middle, and lower body.

Lu Dayou, who had been calm, panicked. With his Boundless Falling Leaves downward strike, he only managed to block the upper and middle sword shadows. The lower sword shadow had already cut a hole in his clothes.

Taking a deep breath, he retreated helplessly: "Junior Brother Mei's swordsmanship is superb; I have lost!"

Those present belatedly realized that this was not an evenly matched contest at all, but rather that Mei Changhua had deliberately held back at the beginning to save face for Lu Dayou.

They waited until after thirty moves before quickly ending the fight, so as not to make Lu Dayou lose too much face.

Mei Changhua smiled and said, "Please forgive me, senior brother!"

After the two stepped down from the stage, the competition continued, and more than an hour later, the most exciting moment finally arrived.

Xiao Fang shouted, "Next match, Mei Changhua versus Yue Xuan, vying for first place in the grand competition."

Wow~

A stir swept through the room as everyone peered intently, searching for Yue Xuan's figure.

As the son of the sect leader, Yue Xuan was a minor celebrity in Mount Hua.