That day, Baoyun witnessed just how terrifying Shen Qiao was—Shen Qiao had cut off
Yan Shou's arm before his eyes after all. Baoyun believed that, had he been Shen
Qiao's opponent then, he probably wouldn't have ended up any better off than Yan
Shou.
And Yan Shou, he wanted to get revenge on Shen Qiao for having made him lose his
arm; however, this desire for vengeance didn't blind him. If one could keep themselves
from having an enemy as fearsome as Shen Qiao, then they really ought to do just that.
Had Bai Rong been here, she would have been completely astonished. To think that
the Shen Qiao she had met from the very start—a man who was both blind and in such
dire straits, without even the slightest wugong left in his body and was cruelly
mistreated by all sorts of people—could move forwards from having not a single thing
to his name and being taken advantage of by one person after another. That he could
now, in such a short amount of time, corner the elders of the Hehuan Sect and force
them to stand against him, ready for combat, or suffer the consequences otherwise.
"I once met the former Emperor in the Imperial Palace when he was still alive," Shen
Qiao said.
"At that time, he had already expressed his willingness to lend me some
support and have Xuandu Zifu become a pillar for the Daoist sects. If I had wanted to
agree, I would have done so then. Why would I do so now? With regards to honor and
prestige, wouldn't the former Emperor be much more reliable than Yuwen Yun?"
What he had meant to imply by saying this was that he looked down on Yuwen Yun.
"Fine then," Chen Gong said. "It seems that Shen-daozhang would rather fling himself
into the throes of danger for the sake of these two children who have nothing to do
with you. However, because of our past friendship, I would like to give you a word of
warning. If you do this, then you are undoubtedly putting yourself against the Imperial
Court. Perhaps the Buddhists, the Hehuan Sect, and even the officials of the Imperial
Court may be unable to bring you down now, but in the future when Zhou is able to
unite the country, the entire world will become your enemy. Have you thought this
decision through?"
Shen Qiao's expression betrayed a faint sort of astonishment: "Friendship? Could you
explain what sort of friendship we shared? Was it the friendship in which you indulged
Mutipo and betrayed me for your prosperous life now, forcing disaster upon me as you
did?"
Any warm and generous nobleman would eventually come upon a day in which they
mock and ridicule another with frigid irony and scalding satire. Shen Qiao would not
have said such words had it not been for Chen Gong's shamelessness and the
despicable impression Hehuan Sect had left on him.
Upon hearing Shen Qiao bring up the past, a strange expression fell over Chen Gong's
face.
It was one of embarrassment, guilt, and rage—as though he were recoiling in pain
from having his mask torn off.
"Shen Qiao. You never understand the times, do you?" Chen Gong sneered. "In that
case, don't blame me for what I'll do."
Yan Shou was long filled with anger for Shen Qiao. In his eyes, all of what Baoyun and
Chen Gong said was useless garbage. In jianghu, decisions were made with raised fists.
And those who threw the hardest punch—those whose wugong was superior—were
those who made the last word. Yan Shou was ashamed of the day that he had lost his
arm, and would never forget his desire for revenge so long as he lived. It didn't matter
whether or not Shen Qiao agreed to Chen Gong's enticing agreement. He would have
killed him either way. Therefore, just as Chen Gong finished speaking, he was the first
to leap forwards. With a speed resembling that of a peal of thunder, he threw himself in
the direction of Yuwen Song, who stood by Shen Qiao's side.
His objective was clear. He wanted to strike Yuwen Song, and leave Shen Qiao no
choice but to move and protect the boy. This way, he would reveal his own weak
points.
Yan Shou was incredibly fast. The moment he had this thought, his hand had already
swept in front of Yuwen Song's face, just barely touching his hair. Shen Qiao naturally
used his sword to block him. Yan Shou had already predicted this—which was why he
immediately changed his target to Dou Yan, who Shen Qiao held in his arms!
If he landed this strike, then the little girl's head would split into seven pieces before
she bled to death.
Baoyun and Chen Gong, of course, did not linger around. The moment that Yan Shou
began to move, they followed in suit.
Both of them divided the work of attacking Shen Qiao amongst each other.
Ever since they last met in Ruoqiang, Chen Gong's wugong seemed as though it had
progressed significantly. His sword moved like a deep green wave, with a speed
resembling that of a racer snake. The true qi that followed it rippled over in layers. If
one were to look more carefully, it would not be difficult to see that his wugong was
multifaceted, as though it carried with it the strongest qualities of each major school of
thought.
Chen Gong thrived from becoming the most beloved official in the court. Though Shen
Qiao was the man who had given him a glimpse of the dao of wugong, it was Mutipo
who had taught him wugong personally.
However, Mutipo's wugong was only good
enough to be considered second-class. Chen Gong quickly came to the realization that
there would be a limit to what he could learn from studying under Mutipo. His talents
surpassed him. Chen Gong, for whom nothing passed his ears, began to set his sights
further.
Once he began to follow along Gao Wei, the Qi Emperor, Chen Gong naturally
came in contact with many of the wugong masters of the country of Qi. Amongst these
masters were Murong Qin and the members of the Hehuan Sect. Additionally, Chen
Gong had inadvertently taken the wugong he had studied, and merged it with that
which he learned from the Zhuynang Ce. Without knowing, each step he took on the
path to studying wugong became higher than the last.
His movements were as delicate as fine jade, hardly inferior to that of Shen Qiao nor
Yan Wushi's. Perhaps if Tao Hongjin were alive, even he would praise this prodigal
as simple and as complex as it could be.
The three of them—Chen Gong, Yan Shou, and Bao Yun—were engulfed by this 'white
wave'. Shen Qiao was only one man, yet his image almost seemed to divide itself into
great numbers. Each man felt as though a supreme weight fell upon them. Their
offensive attacks did not only come to naught, but had instead retaliated against them
in full. Their desire to inflict violence returning to the source.
Liu Fang was not well-versed in wugong. At that moment, he let out a sound of
surprise: "That Shen Qiao is a monster of some sort. How could he produce so many
images of himself just like that?"
Puliuru Jian began to explain: "Those are just illusions. It was produced from his jian qi.
Shen Qiao has made great achievements in his studies of jian dao; he has certainly
reached the peak of perfection in his skills. I'm sure that he has even surpassed Qi
Fengge at his age Truly, the student surpasses his master!"
Liu Fang himself had heard the name Qi Fengge before. The number of great masters
in this world was already quite small; however, every great master undoubtedly had the
power to take the heads of thousands in battle and leave as they like.
Therefore, the
Imperial Court would use their utmost power to try to draw them in. Even Yuwen Yong,
as obstinate as he was, relied heavily upon Yan Wushi. He would not put on the
arrogance of an Emperor before him.
At present, Shen Qiao still had a short distance to go before he could be considered a
great master in his own right. However, this distance would not take ten years to close.