Chapter 40: The Initial Meeting of Jingkang (Part 1)

  Ling Yun watched Yang Kang and Mu Nianci fighting, secretly comparing them in his heart. He found that Yang Kang's martial arts were indeed good, far surpassing his fellow disciple Yin Zhiping. If Guo Jing hadn't received his careful guidance over the past year, relying solely on Ma Yu and the Jiangnan Six Freaks' teachings, he might not be a match for Yang Kang. In comparison, Mu Nianci's martial arts were much weaker, only at the level of Zhao Zhijing two years ago. Although she was now fighting fiercely with Yang Kang, it was because Yang Kang was holding back, and many of his powerful moves had yet to be unleashed. If he were to use his full strength, Mu Nianci might not even last ten moves.

  At this moment, Yang Kang suddenly found himself caught off guard as Mu Nianci grabbed his long sleeve with one hand. With a swift tug, the sound of "hiss" filled the air as half of his sleeve was torn off. Mu Nianci leaped to the side and tossed the torn sleeve into the air, where it fluttered like a butterfly. Yang Kang's brocade robe now had only one and a half sleeves left, looking somewhat disheveled, which greatly discounted his originally elegant demeanor.

  Yang Tie Xin hastily stepped forward, bowed to Yang Kang and said: "This young master, we have offended you." After finishing, he turned his head to his daughter and said: "Let's pack up our things and leave!"

  Yang Kang, who was unhappy about losing face, sank his face and shouted: "Wait a minute, the outcome is not yet decided, how can you leave? If you want to leave, you must first defeat this young master!" As he spoke, he grabbed the collar of his robe with both hands and pulled it outwards. The jade buttons on his brocade robe suddenly fell off in all directions, clearly showing that he was enraged.

  As soon as Yang Kang was like this, the servants he brought were also very sharp-eyed. Two servants rushed into the field and one took off his long gown and the other picked up the jade button that had fallen to the ground. The other servants tacitly surrounded the martial arts arena, apparently not allowing Yang Tie Xin father and daughter to leave.

  Yang Kang, having shed his outer garment, made a stance with his palms, and a fierce gust of wind shot out, accompanied by a whistling sound. This move revealed his true skills, and Guo Jing, Yang Tie Xin, and Mu Nian Ci were all shocked, never expecting that this elegant and refined young nobleman would possess such profound abilities. As the saying goes, "a master's skill is evident from the first move." Seeing Yang Kang's stance, Mu Nian Ci felt a sudden jolt in her heart, realizing she might not be his match. However, things had reached a point where it was no longer possible for the two women to simply walk away; even if they were no match for him, they would have to grit their teeth and persevere.

  Just then, a figure suddenly darted out from the crowd beside him, bursting through the gap left by Yang Kang's servants and stumbling forward two steps before steadying himself. He ended up standing right between Mu Nianci and Yang Kang. Everyone turned to look at him and saw that he was a sturdy young man wearing a sable coat and a fur hat, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, looking like he was about eighteen or nineteen years old, roughly the same age as Yang Kang.

  Yang Kang was about to make his move when suddenly a young man rushed into the arena and blocked his way, his face immediately turned cold, shouting: "Who are you? I'm dueling with this lady, what are you doing by rushing in here? Do you want to stir up trouble?"

  But who knows what he drank after asking, the young man who rushed in seemed to have not heard Yang Kang's words, just standing there stupidly without reacting.

  The young man who suddenly rushed into the arena was Guo Jing. He had been watching in the crowd, and when he saw Yang Kang about to fight Mu Nianci again, he felt a push from behind, a surge of great force acting on his body, and before he knew it, he had charged forward, and by the time he stood firm, he was already standing in the center of the arena. Just then, Linghu Chong's voice entered his ears: "Brother Guo, this kid is getting anxious, looks like he's determined to keep the father and daughter pair behind, if you encounter such a thing and still stand by with your hands in your sleeves, wouldn't your masters scold you to death?"

  Ling Muyun felt that Yang Kang had lost face and wanted to show off his true skills. He knew that Mu Nianci's strength was not a match for him, and if he continued to let things develop like this, he would inevitably end up on the same old path as before. Mu Nianci would be defeated by Yang Kang, and at the same time, her heart would be opened by Yang Kang, causing her to fall into this doomed fate from which she could not escape. In the end, all that was left was a posthumous child, and she ended up dying alone and in poverty.

  This was something that Ling Zhiyun did not want to see, so he took the opportunity to push Guo Jing out before Yang Kang could leave an impression on Mu Nianci's young heart. He then used his internal energy to encourage Guo Jing and boost his morale. This was also the reason why Guo Jing had no reaction to Yang Kang's words, because at that time he was still listening to Ling Zhiyun's words and didn't have the energy to pay attention to Yang Kang.

  Yang Kang naturally didn't know the inside story, and seeing Guo Jing ignoring him, he thought it was because he looked down on him. At this time, Yang Kang was still angry in his heart for being defeated by Mu Nianci, whose martial arts were far inferior to his own, and he was eager to regain face by winning again. Seeing Guo Jing intervene made his anger rise even more, and he took a step forward, punching towards Guo Jing's chest: "What are you, get out of the way for me!"

  At this time, Guo Jing had just finished listening to Linghu Chong's true energy transmission and was still confused in his mind, wondering whether what Linghu Chong said was right or not. Just then, he saw Yang Kang suddenly make a move on him. Although Guo Jing was dull-witted and slow-thinking, he had been practicing martial arts since childhood, and his kung fu had long become second nature. He immediately applied the techniques of qinna (grabbing and seizing) to grab Yang Kang's wrist with one flip of his hand, and angrily asked: "What are you hitting me for?"

  "Do you want to die?"

  Yang Kang was both shocked and enraged, using all his strength to struggle but unable to break free. He immediately let out a loud shout and flew into a rage, kicking one foot towards Guo Jing's groin with lightning speed and deadly precision. If the kick had landed, Guo Jing would have been ruined for life.

  Guo Jing was also shocked by his ruthless move and hastily shook his arm to throw him out. Guo Jing had been diligently cultivating his internal energy over the past two years, and with Linghu Chong's secret guidance, his internal power had reached a high level. This shake of his arm was extremely powerful, sending Yang Kang flying several feet away, heavily crashing onto the ground.

  Yang Kang's lightness skill was quite impressive, and Guo Jing's throw had originally intended to make him land on his shoulder. However, just as he was about to hit the ground, his body suddenly twisted violently in mid-air, cleverly turning his posture around, with one foot touching the ground for a moment before taking a step back to dissipate the massive impact force, standing steadily in the arena.

  Ling Mu Yun, who was watching from the side, couldn't help but narrow his eyes slightly as he saw this scene. In Yang Kang's beautiful flip and landing, he faintly saw some shadows of the lightness skill recorded in the Nine Yin Manual. It seemed that Yang Kang had learned a lot of good things from Mei Chao Feng. Suddenly, Ling Mu Yun felt a twinge of regret in his heart. When he previously taught Mei Chao Feng the internal energy incantation of the Nine Yin Manual, he only wanted to let her suffer less and kill fewer people. But if she also taught those internal energy incantations to Yang Kang, wouldn't that be equivalent to aiding the enemy?

  But thinking again, Ling Muyun secretly scolded himself for being incompetent. He was a proud transmigrator, with the goal of rivaling the Five Absolutes in the world. If he couldn't even handle a trivial Yang Kang, how could he talk about completing his mission? How could he talk about reaching the pinnacle of martial arts? Forget it, go home and sleep.

  "What are you trying to do?" Yang Kang asked sternly as he landed on the ground and turned to Guo Jing.

  Originally, according to Yang Kang's temperament, if someone dared to disturb his plans, he would definitely teach the other person a severe lesson. However, just now he was caught by Guo Jing and thrown to the ground, which made him realize that Guo Jing's martial arts were not weak and his internal strength was powerful, so he restrained himself and did not immediately take action again after falling to the ground.

  "Others have already won you over, why are you still clinging to this? As long as you let this old man and this young lady go, I won't hit you." Guo Jing said, pointing at Yang Tie Xin and Mu Nian Ci.

  Guo Jing was originally well-intentioned, as he had already seen Yang Kang's martial arts skills and thought they were quite good, but still slightly inferior to his own. If they were to fight with all their might, Guo Jing would have a much greater chance of winning. This time, however, he was forced onto the scene by Ling Zhiyun, not out of his own volition. Even after being incited by Ling Zhiyun's words, he only wanted to let Mu Nianci and her daughter leave safely, without intending to engage in a fierce battle with Yang Kang that would humiliate him.

  However, because Guo Jing is a simple and honest person, not very worldly-wise, and doesn't speak with much refinement, he didn't think that his words would have the opposite effect. Because of what he said, if Yang Kang really let Yang Tie Xin and Mu Nian Ci go at this point, it would seem as though he was afraid of Guo Jing. In front of everyone's eyes, how could he save face?

  So as soon as Guo Jing spoke, Yang Tie Xin, who was blocked by him, secretly cursed his bad luck. He knew that with what Guo Jing had just said, even if Yang Kang had originally intended to let them go, he would definitely not do so now for the sake of appearances. This young man, who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and meant well, had inadvertently caused things to become awkward.

  It was Ling Yun who secretly rejoiced in his heart, for this was exactly what he wanted. Sooner or later, Guo Jing and Yang Kang, those two sworn enemies, would have to face off against each other anyway. It might as well be here and now, where they could fight it out and at the same time allow Guo Jing to leave a good impression on Mu Nianci's heart by dampening Yang Kang's sharp edge.

  ;