Chapter 22: The Dispute Over the Sword and Qi

  Yue Buqun nodded, saying: "That's natural. How could we practice something that is clearly a heterodox technique? It's just that the Sword Sect considers itself orthodox and demotes our Qi Sect as heterodox." He sneered, continuing: "But with time, right and wrong will be self-evident. That left-hand branch will naturally disperse and disappear from the world."

  Yue Lingxuan said: "No wonder Father never mentioned it, but since the left path has already dispersed, we don't need to bother with them anymore."

  Yue Buqun smiled ambiguously and began to recount the dispute between the Sword and Qi schools twenty-five years ago.

  It turned out that the dispute between sword and gas had a long history, and since the establishment of Huashan School, it has been apparent. The two sects of sword and gas have always been at odds with each other, and neither is convinced by the other.

  This sword sect martial art can make rapid progress when it is first practiced, and within the first twenty years, compared to those who practice Qi Sect martial arts at the same time, they can easily win. However, this Qi Sect martial art emphasizes stability and accumulation, and in the first twenty years, it may not be as good as others, but after twenty years, it can make a big breakthrough, and its strength far surpasses that of Qi Sect practitioners.

  In general, both have their own strengths. The Jian Sect's martial arts were vigorous and advanced at first, but later showed a slight lack of momentum. The Qi Sect's martial arts were mediocre in power at first, but as time passed, they could accumulate and burst forth.

  If seeking speed, then naturally Sword Sect is superior, but if discussing stability, then Qi Sect takes the lead.

  However, not every martial artist has such good patience. The Sword Sect's martial arts are brave and progressive, naturally attracting many disciples under the gate. As time went on, the Qi Sect had fewer people and gradually declined.

  Finally, twenty-five years ago, the contradictions accumulated by Jianqi's two sects for many years thoroughly broke out and decided to fight a decisive battle on this Yunu Peak.

  At that time, although the Sword Sect was far superior to the Qi Sect in terms of numbers, with many more experts than the Qi Sect, it was at this moment that the weakness of the Sword Sect's martial arts was finally exposed. That is, although there were many experts, their overall strength was far inferior to that of the Qi Sect's experts. This battle was truly a bloody one, with the sky and earth darkened by the slaughter, and the blood flowing like rivers, dyeing the Jade Maiden Peak a deep crimson color.

  Yue Buqun was only a second-generation disciple of the Qi Sect at that time, and he followed his master to the front lines to participate in the battle. Unexpectedly, he was cut down by a sword from a senior swordsman of the Jian Sect on the spot, leaving a two-foot-long sword wound on his chest, extending diagonally from his left shoulder to his right chest.

  He fainted at the time, and later was lucky to be rescued by his fellow disciples. However, he found that the masters of the Qi Sect had been killed or injured, including his own master who had fallen in battle. The people of the Sword Sect were even more severely slaughtered, with only a few remaining survivors either taking their own lives or going into hiding. From then on, the lineage of the Sword Sect was severed.

  However, the Qi Sect, although ultimately victorious, was only a miserable victory. Almost all of the top masters fell, and at that time, the entire Huashan School was left with only two or three little cats.

  Yue Buqun said, seemingly recalling the scene of that day, and sighed: "In those years, the Five Mountains Sword Sects vied for the position of Alliance Master. Speaking of the prosperity of talents and the height of martial arts, our sect was originally the first, but because of the intense internal struggle within our sect, more than 20 senior masters died on the Jade Maiden Peak during the great swordsmanship contest. The Sword Orthodox Sect suffered a great defeat, and the masters of the Qi Orthodox Sect were also greatly reduced. This is how the position of Alliance Master was snatched away by Mount Song Sect."

  Yue Buqun's account of the dispute between the two schools of swordsmanship was roughly the same as what Ling Jing knew, but as a party involved, Yue naturally had a clearer understanding. After listening to Yue finish speaking, he also felt a lot of emotions and thought to himself: "Although the Qi School won in the end, it doesn't mean that their path is necessarily correct. Otherwise, why would Yue Buqun go after the Lin family's 'Devil-Expelling Sword Manual'?"

  Although Ling Jing thought he wasn't a person with an exceptionally firm mind, it was also impossible for him to be swayed by Yue Buqun's few words. At the moment, he just listened to his narration, but in his heart, he still adhered to his original intention.

  At this time, Yue Buqun's face suddenly became very serious and said: "This is the biggest secret of our sect, no one is allowed to leak it out. The people of other factions, although they all know that Huashan Sect was injured in one day More than 20 high-ranking officials, but no one knows the real reason. We just say that we encountered a sudden epidemic, and we cannot let others know about this shameful thing. The cause and effect of this matter, I told you today because it is too big."

  "Jing Er, if you continue on this path, within three years, it will be a situation where 'the sword is heavier than the breath'. It's extremely dangerous, not only will you ruin yourself, but also destroy the authentic martial arts of your school that countless predecessors have exchanged their lives for. Moreover, the Huashan Sect will also suffer great calamity because of you."

  Ling Jing heard this and thought: "Is it that serious? Let's not investigate whether the path of Qi Zong Wugong is correct or not, just say that practicing swordsmanship will destroy oneself. Then, with Dugu Qiubai's swordsmanship, wouldn't he have been able to die and come back to life repeatedly?"

  Dugu Qiubai, the creator of the invincible "Dugu Nine Swords" martial art, was also the one who passed on his mantle to Yang Guo in "The Return of the Condor Hero", allowing him to make great strides in his martial arts. This eccentric individual, known as "Invincible", had indeed never suffered a defeat throughout his life, and by old age, his swordsmanship had reached an unfathomable level, where even the slightest thought could turn all things into swords, leaving people bewildered.

  Ling Jing naturally also admired this senior, and at the moment he wouldn't take Yue Buqun's words to heart. He thought to himself: "If devoting myself to swordsmanship is considered entering an evil path, then I really don't mind walking further down this path."

  However, in front of Yue Buqun, he did not dare to be the slightest bit presumptuous and only bowed his head saying: "Yes, your disciple has learned."

  Yue Buqun sighed and said, "You don't know the intricacies involved. You're infatuated with the minor skills of swordsmanship, which is also an unintentional mistake. But think back to the masters of the Sword Sect in those days - they all had good intentions, wanting to use their exceptional martial arts to bring glory to our sect. However, once they strayed from the correct path and became deeply mired, it was difficult for them to extricate themselves later on. If I don't give you a wake-up call today, with your talent and personality, you'll easily follow in the footsteps of the Sword Sect's shortcut-seeking, quick-results approach."

  Ling Jing replied: "Yes."

  Then, Yu Fang and his wife instructed him again, saying nothing more than some words like "gas is the main, sword is the follow" and "gas is the outline, sword is the goal". Ling Jing heard it in his ears, naturally also had some helplessness, but he couldn't help but make a dignified appearance.

  Yue Buqun and his wife waited for a moment on the cliff before leaving.

  Yue Lingshan had wanted to stay on the cliff for a while longer, but this time she had barely managed to climb up and hadn't even had a chance to exchange two words with Ling Jing, so naturally she was reluctant to leave.

  But just before leaving, Yue Buqun gave her a stern glance, and only then did she pout and reluctantly follow her parents down the cliff.

  Just as they were about to leave, she suddenly turned around and saw Ling Jing still standing at the edge of the cliff, staring at her group. At this moment, he also winked at her, obviously noticing that she had noticed him too. Her heart felt a little joyful, thinking: "Father and mother won't let me stay long today, so I'll wait until you all go down the mountain, then I'll sneak back up here by myself. By then, see who dares to stop me."

  PS: Entering the third main line soon