Duan Zhengchun transmigrates to Yin Zhiping

"I never imagined that you would have such superb skills at such a young age. Master Chongyang has a worthy successor. I believe it won't be long before you become famous throughout the world!"

"You might just have a place in the next Mount Hua Sword Tournament!"

Hong Qigong took a sip of wine from his gourd, then turned to look at Duan Zhengchun meaningfully, his eyes full of admiration.

"Thank you for the compliment, senior. The road ahead is still long. In my opinion, whether I become famous or not is not important to me. There are still many things worth pursuing."

Duan Zhengchun smiled, tilted his head back and took a breath, as if answering Hong Qigong, or telling himself.

"Excellent! Among the younger generation, those with such a mindset are destined for great things!"

"By the way, I just saw you use the Dali One-Finger Divine Skill again. I wanted to ask you last time, since you are a disciple of the Quanzhen Sect, why do you know Master Yideng's unique skill?"

Hong Qigong praised it, then changed the subject and asked about the One-Finger Divine Skill again.

Duan Zhengchun paused for a moment, then slowly said, "Back then, in order to deal with Ouyang Feng, our grandmaster used the Innate Skill to exchange for the One-Finger Divine Skill with Master Yideng. Although it was not passed on to the disciples of the sect, Chongyang Palace has kept the secret manual of this ultimate skill."

"My master saw that I had good talent and let me flip through it once at random. I never expected that I would learn it so easily."

His answer was exactly the same answer Qiu Chuji gave to the Quanzhen School at that time.

Hong Qigong glanced at Duan Zhengchun with some surprise and slowly said, "So that's how it is. In that case, you really are a martial arts prodigy who comes along only once in a century! You actually mastered such a profound skill after just one look."

Duan Zhengchun smiled modestly and reminded him, "It's a thousand years."

Hong Qigong was taken aback for a moment, then asked in confusion, "What thousand years?"

Duan Zhengchun said, "My master said that I am a martial arts prodigy who appears only once in a thousand years."

Upon hearing this, Hong Qigong was stunned. He looked at Duan Zhengchun, who had suddenly become arrogant and conceited, with a puzzled expression and frowned slightly.

Seeing Hong Qigong's expression, Duan Zhengchun couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Hong Qigong hesitated for a moment, then realized that Duan Zhengchun was doing it on purpose, and couldn't help but burst into laughter as well.

The old man and the young man sat on the edge of the cliff, drinking and chatting about everything under the sun, looking like old friends who had known each other for many years.

...

Seven days later.

Duan Zhengchun, weary from his journey, finally arrived at the border city of the Western Regions, the desolate city of Muye.

Because this place is located on the frontier, the wind and sand are extremely strong. On windy days, it is almost impossible to open one's eyes. Duan Zhengchun had to wear a bamboo hat and cover his face with a black cloth.

"Xu..."

After walking a distance on the street, Duan Zhengchun found the marks left by the westward-bound caravans at a corner of a wall. He then reined in his horse and weaved through the various caravans toward the city center.

Judging from the markings, Zhao Zhijing and his group must have arrived at least two days earlier.

Not long after, Duan Zhengchun followed the marks he had left behind and rode his horse to the door of an inn called Fengming.

"Senior Brother Yin!"

Before he could even dismount, Lin Zhiyuan came galloping out of the door, excitedly greeting him and taking the reins from him.

After arriving at Muye Wasteland, Lin Zhiyuan did nothing but eat, sleep, and wait at the entrance of the inn, looking towards the city gate, hoping to catch Duan Zhengchun's arrival.

"How long have you been here?"

Duan Zhengchun asked as he brushed the dust off his clothes.

"It's been two days already."

As Lin Zhiyuan spoke, he handed the horse to one of the waiters.

Duan Zhengchun nodded, said nothing more, and walked straight inside.

"Senior Brother Yin, you haven't arrived at the desolate city for the past two days. Senior Brother has been saying a lot of bad things about you behind your back, thinking that you've delayed the journey to the west."

Lin Zhiyuan quickly caught up and whispered a few words to Duan Zhengchun.

Duan Zhengchun sneered and walked into the inn expressionlessly.

"Senior Brother Yin has arrived!"

Lin Zhiyuan shouted at the top of his lungs.

Their group of over fifty people almost filled the entire inn.

Upon hearing the call, the disciples all came out of their rooms and greeted Duan Zhengchun.

"Junior Brother Yin, how was the journey? Was it smooth?"

Cui Zhifang slowly came forward and asked with concern.

While he appeared to be showing concern, he was actually deliberately giving Duan Zhengchun an opportunity to explain why he was late.

Duan Zhengchun immediately understood, turned his head and smiled as he looked at him, then sat down and said calmly, "Indeed, we encountered some trouble, but it has all been resolved."

Cui Zhifang nodded and continued, "It's good that everything is alright. Now that Junior Brother Yin has joined us, what are the plans next? When do we set off?"

Lin Zhiyuan silently poured a cup of tea for each of them and stood respectfully behind Duan Zhengchun.

Everyone in the westward journey knew that Lin Zhiyuan was Duan Zhengchun's man.

The disciples accompanying the westward journey this time almost comprised the disciples of each of the Seven Masters of Quanzhen.

"Oh, who is it? It's Junior Brother Yin who has finally arrived! I thought I would have to wait in this desolate city for another ten days or half a month."

Just then, a strange voice came from upstairs, and Zhao Zhijing swayed as he led his disciple Lu Qingdu down the stairs, a strange smile on his lips.

Upon hearing Zhao Zhijing's words, the surrounding disciples fell silent and all avoided his gaze.

Lin Zhiyuan clenched his fist and couldn't help but take a step forward. He was about to speak when he saw Duan Zhengchun, who had his back to him, gently shake his head. He had no choice but to stand back in his original position and swallow all the words that were about to come out.

"Judging from your tone, is Senior Brother blaming me?"

Duan Zhengchun slowly raised his head, took a sip of tea, and looked coldly at Zhao Zhijing.

“You are the one who gave the orders for this westward journey, and you are also the sect leader’s most valued disciple. How could I dare to blame you?”

"However, if we delay the trip and can't find Uncle Liu and the others, or if something happens to the two uncles during the time we've been delayed, then the responsibility will be all yours, and it will have nothing to do with any of us."

Zhao Zhiqing sneered, spread his hands, and remained sarcastic.

"Since you know I'm the one giving orders, then shut up and just obey my commands. If I tell you to go east, don't go west, or don't blame me for not showing any brotherhood!"

"Furthermore, since you think I delayed the journey, why don't you lead people into the Western Regions yourself to find Uncle Liu and the others? Are you afraid or incompetent?"

"You arrived two days ago. Have you made any preparations for finding them? Have you investigated the whereabouts of Uncle Liu and his group? Did they even come to the desolate city?!"

Duan Zhengchun stared intently at Zhao Zhijing, his voice icy.

Zhao Zhijing stared wide-eyed, wanting to say something but unable to, and was speechless for a moment.

"Alright, alright, we're all fellow disciples. We've traveled a long way to the Western Regions to find our missing Uncle Liu and the others, so let's not ruin our harmony."

Seeing the atmosphere growing increasingly tense, Cui Zhifang stepped forward to smooth things over. Among all the accompanying disciples, he was probably the only one who dared to speak at this moment.

Zhao Zhijing snorted coldly, said nothing more, and sat down angrily to the side.

"By the way, on my way to the desolate city, I encountered the Jiaolong Gang. I never expected them to come all the way from the northern desert to the Central Plains. Isn't that a coincidence?"

Duan Zhengchun smiled and spoke while carefully observing Zhao Zhijing's reaction.

Upon hearing that Duan Zhengchun had encountered the Jiaolong Gang on the road, the disciples were stunned for a moment and began to whisper among themselves. After all, the "Yin Zhiping" in front of them had been severely injured and almost died by the Jiaolong Gang last time.

However, at the same time, everyone also believed that there was a reason why Duan Zhengchun was late.

However, Zhao Zhijing did not react at all after hearing Duan Zhengchun's words, and his face did not change in the slightest, which made Duan Zhengchun suspicious.

Could it be that Scarface's dying words were a fabricated lie?!

He was a little uncertain.

However, he had already made a mental note of this debt and would confront Zhao Zhijing about it sooner or later, but now was not the best time.

"It turns out that Junior Brother Yin encountered thieves from the Jiaolong Gang. Fortunately, he reunited with everyone safely. Next time, he should bring more people with him."

"This is travel money. Now that Junior Brother Yin has returned, it's best to entrust it to you for safekeeping."

As Cui Zhifang spoke, he slowly placed the money bag in front of Duan Zhengchun, once again breaking the awkward atmosphere...