Chapter 38: Devil's Peak

  Yao Fenglan saw the white-clothed figure turn around and disappear without a trace, and she regretted it. A martial artist who encounters someone far superior to themselves would not want to miss the opportunity to learn from and exchange with them. Yao Fenglan rushed in the direction the white-clothed figure had left, shouting: "Senior, I'll follow you and learn from you, don't go, I promise!"

  As soon as Yao Fenglan's words fell, a figure emerged from afar and returned. In an instant, the white-cloaked man was already standing in front of Yao Fenglan: "Haha, little girl, I haven't gone far yet! How? Have you agreed to acknowledge me as your master?"

  "Will it do if I don't answer? Aren't you angry if I don't answer?"

  "Little doll, you're quite sensible. In this lifetime of mine, I once vowed not to take anyone as an apprentice, but you're an exception. How is it? Following me to learn martial arts, is it beneath you or something? You look unhappy. This is something that many people can't even hope for, yet on you, it seems like I'm forcing you."

  "I just wanted to go back and say a word to Father, but you won't let me, it's really putting me in a difficult position." said Yao Fenglan.

  "What's difficult about that? Your father and I are close friends, so next time I visit Biyuan Temple, I'll explain it to him in person. Besides, he has many disciples who take care of him, you don't need to worry, little one."

  "Not anymore, I'm already 17 years old, I'm not that young anymore, why are you still calling me little girl?" Yao Fenglan said with a scolding tone.

  "Oh, so you're upset about this! Haha, I'm almost the same age as your father, and I'm even a few years older than him. You're his daughter, what are you to me if not a little kid? Alright, alright, since you don't like being called 'little kid', why don't you just be my goddaughter instead? I'll call you 'daughter' directly, and you can call me 'dad', isn't that settled?" The person in the white cloak had their head covered, but their joyful emotions were clearly expressed through their body language.

  "But if I call you Dad without asking for my father's consent, he will be unhappy," said Yao Fenglan.

  "Are you talking about Hui Chong? No, he might even be particularly happy. You're not his biological daughter, how could he stop you? Ah, no, I made a mistake, what I meant to say is... you acknowledge me as your godfather, and you are my goddaughter, not my biological daughter. You are still his biological daughter, what does he have to be angry about? Your father will absolutely not blame you." The person in the white cloak discovered they had misspoken and tried their best to cover it up.

  "Senior, what's the difference between being related by blood or marriage, as long as it's a daughter, they're all the same."

  "Right, right, same, same."

  "Senior, judging from your tone, you're quite familiar with my father, aren't you?"

  "Hmm, no, not familiar. However, your father, Master Hui Chong, is very famous in the Jianghu, who doesn't know about Eagle Claw King Master Hui Chong? I'm just a name-dropper, just a name-dropper." The white-clothed person with a hood was still unstable emotionally, so his words were somewhat contradictory.

  "What? You just said you and my father were close friends, now you say you're not familiar with each other, are you not keeping your word?" Yao Fenglan was somewhat annoyed.

  "It's like that. We were indeed very familiar before, and we were also good friends. However, it has been eighteen years since we last met, and I don't know if he still recognizes me as a friend," said the person in white cloak.

  "How can you not recognize me? You should know my father, he's very hospitable. Let me see, I'll take you to Biyuan Temple, my father will definitely warmly welcome this old friend." Yao Fenglan still tried her best to get the white-cloaked figure to go to Biyuan Temple once.

  "I won't go to Biyuan Temple, if you don't acknowledge me as your godfather, I'll leave!" The white-robed figure with a cloak thought of using the same move as before, shifted his body and was about to float away.

  "Alright, alright, Uncle, I'll kowtow to you!" Yao Fenglan saw that the man in white was very stubborn. If she didn't go along with his wishes, he would leave and she might never see him again, thus missing her chance to learn Ghost Steps and Invisible Hands. She'd better follow him for now and come back later to explain things clearly to Father. Anyway, with Geng Yuan and Xin Yuan taking care of him, Father wouldn't be in any trouble. It's just that, as a daughter, she couldn't bear the thought of making her father worry about her.

  Yao Fenglan kowtowed on the ground to the white-clothed person with a martial arts cloak.

  "Ah——" The man in the white cloak replied with deep feeling, "Daughter, follow Father home." The man in the white cloak stretched out his hand and helped Yao Fenglan up.

  "Home? Where is Dry Dad's home?" asked Yao Fenglan.

  "More than 50 miles from here, there is a Mount Wanfeng. On Mount Wanfeng, there is a Niutou Peak. At the top of Niutou Peak, there is a cave called Mo Niu Cave. That's my home." said the man in white cloak.

  "Niú Mó Fēng, Mó Niú Dòng, I seem to hear a bit of the Ox King from Journey to the West in you?" Yao Fenglan said with a smile.

  "Silly child, that Bull Demon King is a deity. If I had his two strokes, I wouldn't be...” The white-clothed person with the cloak thought of their own past and felt it wasn't time to tell Yao Fenglan yet, so they stopped talking about it and changed the subject. "Daughter, how's your qinggong? Do you want to have a contest with your godfather to see whose qinggong is faster?"

  "Father-in-law, don't tease daughter anymore. Daughter's two moves, didn't you see them just now? What are you comparing?"

  "No. Daughter, your martial arts foundation is very good, you are a talented person, as long as you are willing to work hard, my Ghost Steps and Invisible Hands, you can all learn, Father will teach you everything without holding back."

  "Thank you, Uncle! Thank you, Master!"

  "Let's go!" The white-robed figure leaped, his body already floating over a zhang away. He turned back to say to Yao Fenglan, "Daughter, be bold and unrestrained, don't be timid. You must believe in your own potential, you will definitely catch up with me."

  "Good!" Yao Fenglan imitated the movements of the white-robed figure, raised her dantian energy and closely followed behind him.

  Niú Mó Fēng is the main peak of Wàn Fēng Shān, with a steep terrain that pierces the clouds. There are no roads to climb the mountain, only over ten small platforms embedded in the cliff face that can hold one or two people for a brief rest. Each platform and the distance between them is over ten meters, making it extremely difficult to ascend without exceptional skills.

  Standing at the foot of Niu Mo Peak, a man in white clothes with a cloak pointed to the small platforms one by one and said to Yao Fenglan: "Girl, it's time to test your skills. Do you see? Niu Mo Peak is just a steep cliff, if you want to climb to the top, you need to jump up from these dozen or so small platforms one by one. Can't your lightness skill jump over ten meters? If not, I'll take you up."

  Yao Fenglan gazed at the mountain peaks that pierced the sky and the tiered platforms, her unyielding courage rising up.

  "Dry dad, let daughter try it!"

  As she spoke, Yao Fenglan tightened her waistband, exercised her muscles and bones, and infused her dantian with energy. Then she ran towards the foot of the mountain wall, lightly shouting "Rise!" as she lifted the energy in her dantian. Her body soared into the air, leaping to a height of five or six meters. Suddenly, she felt her strength exhausted, and her body fell from the cliff like a kite with a broken string.

  The man in the white cloak saw this, his body had already floated up lightly, welcoming Yao Fenglan's descent, stretching out his arm to hug Yao Fenglan's waist, then his body leaped, flying onto the first platform. On the first platform, he didn't stop, like an eagle, leaping and flying continuously, jumping over more than a dozen platforms, finally reaching the top of the mountain on the large platform.

  The man in the white cloak gently put down Yao Fenglan, truly breathless, heartbeat-free, with profound internal strength and unparalleled agility, completely subduing Yao Fenglan.

  "Master, you're truly formidable. Your kung fu is unparalleled, with no one before or after you able to match it - you are the greatest under heaven." Yao Fenglan praised the white-robed figure from the bottom of her heart.

  "Hey, daughter, what's the big deal! With long practice, you can do it too. I've lived on Mount Niutou for 18 years, going up and down four times a day. Can you calculate how many times I've gone back and forth? After a long time, going up and down Mount Niutou is just like walking on flat ground, nothing special. As long as your skills are deep, even an iron rod can be ground into a needle! This principle, my daughter must understand." The white-robed figure laughed loudly.

  Yao Fenglan carefully observed the top of the mountain. It turned out that half of the top was a large platform, and the other half was the peak. In the peak, there was a three-meter-high and three-meter-wide stone cave. Hearing voices, two men and one woman ran out of the cave, all around 14 or 15 years old. Seeing the person in the white cloak, they were overjoyed and shouted: "Grandpa, you're back!" Rushing into the arms of the person in the white cloak.

  The man in the white cloak hastily introduced: "My adopted daughter, this is a friend of mine who took in three orphans and was their first master. He taught them some martial arts, but felt they weren't very talented. My friend likes to travel and couldn't take care of them, so he sent them to me. I became their second master. They're all well-behaved and call me 'Dry Father', so I agreed. The tallest boy is called Shang Ren, the slightly shorter one is Shang Wu, and the little girl is Shang Mei. My friend gave them these names. Come on, kids, this is my newly adopted daughter Yao Fenglan, everyone should call her Sister Fenglan."