Chapter Thirty: The Matter of Wudang

  As expected, after a while, Zhang Sanfeng's face showed a difficult expression. First, he took a look at Zhou Zhiruo. Seeing that she indeed had an extraordinary bone structure, bright eyes and white teeth, exuding a spiritual aura.

  With Zhang Sanfeng's hundred years of cultivation, his discerning eye had seen countless people. He also felt that this girl's innate talent was extremely high. Among his seven disciples, only the fifth disciple, Zhang Cuishan, could be mentioned in the same breath as her. As for the third generation of Wudang, Song Qingshu might be slightly inferior, while Zhang Wuji might not be weaker than her. However, Zhang Wuji had suffered misfortune in his youth, and even if he recovered later, he would have missed the best opportunity to practice martial arts. Unless there was a great coincidence, it would be difficult for him to become a great master.

  At this thought, Zhang Sanfeng couldn't help but feel a love for talented individuals. It should be known that martial artists place the most importance on passing down their skills to their disciples, and an excellent disciple also means the continuation of their school's legacy.

  When the Wudang Sect was first established, he was even more demanding of his outstanding disciples. After all, the continuation of a sect requires someone to complete it, as the saying goes: 'The virtues of a gentleman are cut off after five generations.' This sect is no exception. If there are no talented and exceptional disciples in the sect, I'm afraid the sect will decline. Even the Shaolin Temple, which has been passed down for thousands of years, cannot avoid this fate. During the Northern Song Dynasty, the Shaolin Temple did not have any outstanding disciples and was often bullied by others. Entering and exiting the Scripture Library of Shaolin Temple was as easy as entering one's own courtyard. If it weren't for a mysterious and unfathomable monk named Wuming, I'm afraid Shaolin wouldn't be where it is today.

  In the end, he couldn't help but sigh: "Child, I originally wanted to take you back to Wudang, but since all the disciples of Wudang are Taoist priests and there are no female members, I will send you to Emei Sect..."

  "Master Ta." Song Qingchu hastily interrupted Zhang Sanfeng's words. "I think this is inadvisable."

  At this time, if Song Yuanqiao were present, he would probably have been scolded again. However, Zhang Sanfeng was easy-going and didn't mind details, so he didn't pay attention to Song Qing's interruption of his speech.

  "Inappropriate......" Zhang Sanfeng looked at Song Qingchu with a puzzled expression.

  "It's right." Song Qing Shu nodded solemnly, "I think Zhi Ruo should be accepted as a disciple under the Wudang Sect."

  "No, no." Zhang Sanfeng shook his head. "In the Wudang Mountains, all of my disciples are men. To take in a young girl like Zhi Rou would be most inconvenient."

  "Tai Shifu's words are wrong." Song Qing Shu shook his head and said seriously, "As for the so-called rivers and lakes children not being bound by trivial matters, this is not the problem."

  Song Qingchu knew that the reason was not enough to dispel Zhang Sanfeng's decision to send Zhou Zhiruo to Emei.

  Then he paused and Song Qing Shu continued, "First of all, let's not talk about other things. Just letting Ruo Yu call Shi Tian as her master is something I disagree with."

  "Oh, is that why?" Zhang Sanfeng heard Song Qingxue say that he disagreed with letting Zhou Zhiruo become a disciple of Miejue Shitai, and for a moment he didn't react.

  Song Qing said with a frown, "Master isn't slandering Emei Sect. Master should also know that Emei Sect is Buddhist, but the current leader is called Extinction Master, not to mention her notorious temper, she's not a good master. Just saying a Buddhist disciple took an extinction Dharma name, where's the compassion? Handing Zhou Zhiruo over to Extinction Master isn't harming her?"

  Zhang Sanfeng didn't like to speak ill of others behind their backs, and he had an old relationship with Emei founder Guo Xiang, but he couldn't help admitting that Song Qingchu's words were not unfounded. The Emei sect had clearly lost the Buddhist virtues of serenity and benevolence by the time it was passed down to Extinct Master, and instead caused a lot of bloodshed in the Jianghu.

  Song Qing saw Zhang Sanfeng's solemn expression and obviously was moved, so Song Qing prepared to continue the attack.

  "Besides, why must Taishifu pay attention to the distinction between men and women? Heaven and earth are divided into yin and yang. Taiji gives birth to two instruments, solitary yin does not give birth, solitary yang does not grow. Buddhist gates can have nuns, Taoist schools have Taoist priests, naturally there can also be female crowns. In the past, the first major sect of Xuanmen, Quanzhen Sect, also had female crowns. The most famous one is Qingjing Sanren Sun Bu'er among the Seven Sons of Quanzhen. If Quanzhen Sect can accept women as disciples, why can't my Wudang Sect?"

  Upon hearing this, Zhang Sanfeng's expression changed slightly, and indeed it was so.

  There are nuns in Buddhism, and Taoism also has female Taoist priests. Why can't the Wudang Sect accept female disciples? To be honest, it's actually due to Zhang Sanfeng's own ideological constraints. He came from Shaolin, so many of its rules were inevitably followed by Shaolin as well.

  Song Qing saw that Zhang Sanfeng had already fallen into deep thought, and this conversation had obviously touched him even more, so he prepared to make a concerted effort.

  "Moreover, since the founding of Wudang Sect by Grandmaster Zhang Sanfeng, although there is a saying in Jianghu that Wudang and Shaolin are equally renowned as the Northern Dipper and Mount Tai in the martial world, our Wudang Sect is actually inferior to Shaolin in more than one aspect. Now it seems prosperous and limitless, but in reality, it's already like oil being boiled by fierce flames, with flowers blooming on brocade."

  Song Qing's words shocked Zhang Sanfeng, who had always regarded Wudang as unparalleled in his heart. Throughout his life, apart from martial arts, Zhang Sanfeng had devoted everything to Wudang. Now, hearing that Wudang was on the brink of collapse, how could he not be shocked?

  "A fierce fire is boiling oil, and fresh flowers are blooming on brocade?" Zhang Sanfeng was worried for a moment, but after all, he was over 100 years old and had seen many storms, so he calmed down soon and asked, "What's going on now?"

  "Master, don't be in a hurry, listen to me slowly." Song Qing saw that he had finally moved Zhang Sanfeng, and his heart was greatly settled. "Forgive your disciple for saying something unpleasant, but the reason why our Wudang Sect is so prosperous today is all thanks to Master's mighty reputation shaking the world. If in the future Master ascends to immortality, our Wudang Sect will have no one who can turn the tide, and at that time this vast Wudang Sect will collapse, following in the footsteps of the Quanzhen Sect."

  "Has the Quanzhen Sect of those years followed in its footsteps?" Zhang Sanfeng muttered to himself, apparently reminiscing about the past. At the age of 100, Zhang Sanfeng had experienced the end of the Song Dynasty and the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, and had witnessed the grandeur of the number one sect under heaven, the Zhong Shentong, the number one in the five absolute arts, the Zhong Wantong, and each of the Seven Masters of Quanzhen was renowned. But what about now? How many people still know about the Quanzhen Sect? Although there is still the Huashan School, one of the six major sects that inherited the Quanzhen Sect, it is vastly different from the original Quanzhen Sect and cannot be compared.

  Song Qingxue did not speak, and even Zhou Zhiruo, who had just been crying, seemed to feel the heavy atmosphere, and she and Zhang Wuji stood aside without speaking.

  "Is there a solution?" Zhang Sanfeng asked after regaining his composure.

  "Of course." Song Qing said with a confident face, "The most important things for the inheritance of a sect are the secret books and people."

  Seeing Zhang Sanfeng listening attentively, Song Qing let out a sigh of relief, thinking that his words were taking effect. He paused for a moment before continuing, "As for the secret manual, although my Wudang Sect may not have seventy-two ultimate skills like Shaolin, it's still unmatched. The most important thing is the person."

  "Human?" Zhang Sanfeng seemed to be deep in thought.

  "Not bad, it's a person. What is meant by 'person' is to recruit disciples with excellent qualifications." Song Qing said, and also mentioned lightly, "If the Quanzhen Sect had outstanding talents after the Seven True Disciples back then, I'm afraid it wouldn't have collapsed so quickly."