Chapter 59: When Jianfeng Mountain Lost Its Sect Master...

"This is an attempt to cut off all descendants of my Chen family!"
"Who on earth is so vicious?!"
In the main hall of the middle courtyard of the Marquis of Wu'an's Mansion, all members of both the main and collateral branches were gathered. Elder Madam Chen struck her walking stick against the ground with resounding thuds, clearly consumed by fury.
"Please calm your anger, Mother. I have already sent men to investigate, and today we will—"
Before Second Master Chen Lide could finish, the old madam glared at him. "You've been given so much time, and what have you uncovered?"
"A maid, lurking in my Chen family for a full eight years, discovered nothing during all that time, and yet she nearly succeeded in harming Fan'er!"
"Is this the result of your investigation?!"
Chen Lide fell silent, his expression marked by extreme annoyance.
At that moment, Chen Lixin glanced around the room.
From Zhou Wanyi and Xia Wanwan to Chen Taiheng, Ding Sansi, and the others, he swept his gaze across them one by one.
After long contemplation, he finally spoke: "Mother, please temporarily forgive Second Brother's fault."
"Although this matter came about strangely, combined with the previous two attempts, their objective is now certain."
"The difficulty we face now is that the enemy is in the shadows while we are in the light. Moreover, most of the clan's elite experts were taken by Taiping to the Northern Hero Pass, making oversights inevitable."
Seeing that the old madam did not interrupt, he continued:
"However, now that we know they are targeting the descendants of the Chen family, we must focus our protection on them."
"Aside from Yuan'er and Yi'er, who have already been accepted into sects, we must prioritize concentrating our strength on Fan'er."
"If necessary, I wish to ask Great-grandfather to divert his attention to shielding Fan'er."
The old madam's angry expression softened slightly. She cast a glance at Zhou Wanyi and mused, "Very well!"
Chen Lide and Chen Lixin exchanged glances, letting out internal sighs of relief.
Immediately following this, Chen Lixin suggested thoroughly investigating every servant and maid in the household, focusing on the "newcomers" who had entered the Marquis's estate over the past decade, with orders to execute any suspect caught without hesitation.
Seeing that a clear direction had been established, the old madam's complexion improved somewhat.
"Send word of today's discussions to Taiping, inquire about his opinion, and have him arrange for some people to return."
"Since someone wishes to cross swords with my Chen family, we shall grant their wish. I would like to see just who possesses such audacity!"
With solemn expressions, the assembly nodded in agreement.
Only then did the old madam look toward Xia Wanwan, forcing a faint smile.
"However, this event is not entirely bad. At least I now know that our Chen family has produced a mythical qilin child."
Chen Lide chimed in, "Mother is entirely correct. Had it not been for the sword qi left behind by Yi'er to kill the assassin, we would still be unaware that his mastery of the sword dao has reached the minor accomplishment realm."
"To possess such terrifying sword dao cultivation at the age of three is a phenomenon seen only once in a century."
"Indeed, this is a joyous occasion worthy of celebration," Chen Lixin said, a smile also appearing on his face.
"Once Yi'er completes his studies, he will guarantee our Chen family a hundred years of peace."
"If Taiping learns of this, he should be very pleased as well."
Hearing the conversation shift to Chen Yi, Xia Wanwan hurriedly replied, "Yi'er's achievements today rely entirely on the family's teachings."
"..."
These words plunged the main hall into a heavy silence.
Just as Xia Wanwan felt puzzled, she heard the old madam sigh.
"The Great Wei Dynasty has known peace for many years, and even our Chen family has grown lax along with it."
"Mother (Grandmother) is right to chastise us..."
Only Xia Wanwan, reacting a step too late, realized she had spoken inappropriately. She lowered her head and gripped her small jade sword.
Beside her, Zhou Wanyi, who had remained silent from the beginning, glanced at her before quietly turning her prayer beads...
...
The next day, the Taixu Dao Sect.
"Such a massive Sword Peak, the magnificent sword cultivation lineage of the second great Daoist sect!"
"Who would have thought that not even a single master capable of teaching the sword dao could be found here?"
Chen Yi looked at the figures practicing their swordplay not far away, feeling an immense heaviness in his heart.
This was vastly different—not even close—to the sectmaster apprenticeship he had anticipated back in the Kyoto Prefecture.
Who could have imagined that on the entire Sword Peak, the sect leader was absent, and the senior sister, second senior brother, third senior sister, and fourth senior sister were all away?
Only the fifth-ranked Ning Xue, Master Ning, Senior Sister Ning, remained to preside over the affairs of the entire Sword Peak.
As for the others—well, those few senior brothers and senior sisters who had entered Sword Peak after Ning Xue—they need not be mentioned for now.
And as for those who came after them.
Chen Yi raised a finger to point at himself, then pointed successively at Hua Youxiang, Li Mingyue, and Lu Youxiang.
These four were the sword cultivators who had entered the Sword Dao Peak of the Taixu Dao Sect this time.
Among them, Li Mingyue hailed from a martial arts family in the Northern Zhili region, sharing the same hometown as his mother Xia Wanwan, making them half-compatriots.
She was slightly older, having already reached the age of six, and possessed a personality comparable to Hua Youxiang's, brimming with the swagger of the pugilistic underworld.
According to her, because she had been in contact with martial artists in her household since childhood and heard their tales constantly, she had picked up underworld jargon.
Things like: *This humble one hails from a certain mountain, fallen upon hard times here; might I borrow some silver?*
And: *When walking the jianghu, bypass mountains and skirt around waters to avoid encountering fiends and monsters.*
Ever since Li Mingyue arrived at Sword Peak, she and Hua Youxiang had hit it off immediately, becoming closer than biological sisters.
Because of this, Chen Yi had finally learned the reason behind Hua Youxiang's attempt to steal steamed buns that night.
It turned out her travel funds had been stolen along the way.
Fortunately, the three sisters were not too young and were sufficiently sharp-witted to reach the Taixu Dao Sect without mishap.
The eldest sister, Fairy Hua, was nine, Hua Youxiang was eight, and the youngest, Hua Yourong, was six.
Furthermore, their Hua family was a renowned medical lineage in the Sichuan region, and wandering martial artists frequently visited their home seeking healing and treatment for injuries.
It was during those times that Hua Youxiang had encountered various chivalrous heroes and developed a yearning for their world.
From then on, unlike Fairy Hua and Hua Yourong, she began reading all sorts of vernacular tales and picked up the underworld slang frequently used by storytellers, styling herself as "Number Two Hua."
The final disciple, Lu Youxiang, also possessed a notable background.
He was a local of the Jizhou Prefecture, younger than Chen Yi by a mere two months, and his family could be considered immensely wealthy.
According to him, it was rare to find anyone richer than his family in the entire Jizhou Prefecture.
The Lu family's commercial firms not only spanned the entirety of Jizhou Prefecture but also extended to neighboring prefectures as well as the slightly more distant Kyoto Prefecture, Hexi Prefecture, and Northern Zhili.
Aside from refusing to expand southward, the entire northern region of the Great Wei Dynasty fell within the operational scope of the Lu family's business empire.
Hearing this initially, Chen Yi could not help but hold him in higher regard.
One had to understand that a clan capable of running businesses across an entire prefecture was already a local magnate; one whose enterprises spanned multiple prefectures was undeniably immensely wealthy.
And after he carefully inquired about the industries the Lu family operated, his evaluation of Lu Youxiang rose even higher.
Salt, iron, minerals, timber, grain, and more were all businesses of the Lu family.
Any single one of these items, taken individually, was not something an ordinary merchant could manage; the distribution of interests involved behind the scenes was bound to be intricately tangled.
At the very least, without certain high-ranking officials in the Kyoto imperial court acting as backers, a merchant clan like the Lu family could never have sustained itself.
However, Chen Yi kept these thoughts to himself.
For one, Lu Youxiang and he had both just entered the Taixu Dao Sect, and their relationship was not yet familiar enough to pry into roots and foundations.
For another, since the Lu family had arranged for Lu Youxiang to come and apprentice at the sect, they must have already considered the clan's future development.
Aside from relying on the imperial court, their own martial strength needed to be reinforced.
Such simple reasoning required no outsider to spell it out for them.
"Good Brother, how do you find this sword form of mine?"
At that moment, Hua Youxiang trotted over excitedly, clutching a wooden sword, and began leaping about while brandishing it.
Those somewhat clumsy and awkward movements made the corners of Chen Yi's eyes twitch violently.
Scarcely two breaths later, he hurriedly waved his hands to signal a halt, stepping forward to break down the sword movements step by step and teach her the standard form.
"First you do this, then that, and finally..."
Now do you understand how helpless Chen Yi felt?
Indeed.
He was no longer merely the thirteenth-ranked disciple of Sword Peak; he was now the "instructor" currently responsible for teaching sword dao to all the disciples on Sword Peak.
Speaking of this, it traced back to Ning Xue.
Originally, after Sword Peak's sect leader Li Qingzhou left, daily affairs had been managed by the fourth senior brother, Xie Changle.
Coincidentally, however, an emergency arose in Senior Brother Xie's family some time ago, forcing him to descend the mountain and return home.
From that point on, all matters fell upon Ning Xue.
Following that—or rather, before Ning Xue departed for the Kyoto Prefecture—she had not only to manage the general affairs of Sword Peak but also shoulder the duty of teaching sword dao and cultivation techniques to her junior brothers and sisters.
All of this, however, changed after Chen Yi officially became an apprentice.
On the day he fought Xiao Xuanzhen and arrived at Sword Peak, before he could even set foot in his quarters, he was intercepted by Ning Xue.
How should one describe the scene at that moment?
In Chen Yi's words, Master Ning wore a rare, beaming smile, radiant and full of cheer, resembling an ethereal fairy stepped right out of the *Top Ten Immortals of the Daoist Sect*.
Though, of course, she was naturally one of those immortals herself.
Then, Ning Xue softly and gently persuaded Chen Yi to take on the role of "Instructor."
Not only that, but she firmly declared that with his sword dao cultivation, let alone being an "instructor," even if he were to serve as an elder of Sword Peak, that absent Li Qingzhou would certainly consent.
This compelled Chen Yi, who had initially wished to decline, to reluctantly agree.
Though this deviated somewhat from his original intention in entering the Taixu Dao Sect, becoming an "elder" right upon entry was surely better than painstakingly climbing the ranks from junior brother to senior brother, right?
After all, having grown up in the Marquis's estate, he had witnessed the kind of authority Chen Taiping wielded.
This definitely had nothing to do with the personal persuasion of Ning Xue, a genuine immortal of the Daoist sect.
In any case, ever since that day, Chen Yi would arrive at Sword Peak every morning to guide his senior brothers, senior sisters, junior brothers, and junior sisters in the study of the sword dao.
At first, it was nothing out of the ordinary; those senior brothers and senior sisters had previously received instructions from Ning Xue and others, and they executed several sets of sword forms with great familiarity.
All Chen Yi needed to do was correct the flaws in their swordplay.
To him, this was no difficult task.
However, when it came to Hua Youxiang, Li Mingyue, and Lu Youxiang, it gave him enough headaches to scratch his scalp bald.
The entire teaching process felt like an insider trying to make outsiders understand specialized knowledge; no matter how much he exhausted his breath, those three blockheads always managed to commit errors.
Take Hua Youxiang, for instance.
She would learn a sword form one day, only for its shape to distort by the time she practiced it the next day.
Either her force was insufficient, or her internal qi failed to circulate smoothly.
This caused Chen Yi a truly exhausting amount of effort.
Fortunately, over the course of more than two months, Hua Youxiang and the other two managed to master two sets of sword forms relying on their own innate sword dao talent, bringing him a measure of comfort.
"Good Brother, you're truly amazing! With just a glance, you can tell where my swordplay goes wrong."
"Stop talking nonsense and go practice it again so you don't forget."
"Understood!"
Watching Hua Youxiang cheerfully rejoin Li Mingyue and the others, a faint smile surfaced on Chen Yi's face.
In truth, such days were not so bad after all.
Except for...
"Little Sword Immortal Chen Yi, hurry over and face your doom! Today will surely be the day I claim my first victory!"
Xiao Xuanzhen really, truly never knew when to quit!