Chapter 113: Long Huafang

As soon as Cao Yun entered the martial art pavilion, a servant recognized him and went to inform Chief Elder Baishen. The old woman was busy in her study. The demotion of Chief Elder Bian had caused many problems and there was a lot of paperwork to be done. It was necessary for the Hongchen Kingdom but also for the workings of the Wubei Sect itself.

That was really a part she hated. And no matter her cultivation level, it always took a lot of time. Most of the papers had to be either checked or crafted by her in person. The only chief elder she knew who seemed to enjoy paperwork was Chief Elder Luoming. His work was always praised and he was always the first one to finish all of his administrative tasks.

As she was struggling with the amount of work, she heard her servant knocking on the door. Usually, she did not like to be disturbed, but this was a perfect excuse to take a break.

"Come in."

A small boy pushed the door open. He bowed deeply and spoke.

"Chief Elder Baishen, this humble one is sorry to disturb your work, but Chen Guo is here."

As soon as she heard the name, she stood up!

"Good, good. Perfect!" This really was a great moment to take a break.

"Sort out my documents and send those who are done to the disciplinary pavilion."

She left the room, leaving the poor servant with a mountain of papers thrown randomly on the desk.

-

Cao Yun was already training with another disciple when Chief Elder Baishen came down. The fight was rater slow and she got bored almost instantly.

"Chen Guo! Do not waste your time with this slowpoke. I'll find you a real opponent." The poor disciple on the ring felt dejected and Cao Yun sent him a sympathetic look. Chief Elder Baishen looked through the room and found the perfect candidate. "Mu Hue, come here!"

A very tall woman with a shaved head and golden eyes walked toward the old woman. Her weapon was a sword breaker. It almost looked like a sword but instead of the blade, there was a metallic rod. It was a blunt weapon initially meant to destroy any blades. But it was also extremely effective against flesh and bones. She cupped her fists.

"Chief Elder Baishen?"

The old woman showed her Cao Yun. "This is Chen Guo, I'm sure you know him, right? Spar with him."

Mu Hue was a bit surprised. She had heard of all the feats of Cao Yun but she had not met him yet. She wasn't there neither during the entrance examination, the first-years challenges nor the trial. In fact, Mu Hue mostly lived as a monk. On her uniform was an emblem showing she was a fourth-year and a member of the Purple Northern Cloud Faction.

The tall woman turned toward Cao Yun and bowed politely with a small smile.

"Junior Chen. My name is Mu Hue. It's a pleasure to meet you. Please offer me some pointers."

"Senior Sister Mu. I'll have to embarrass myself in front of you."

Mu Hue was a 9th-grade Mortal. She would probably break through during her fifth year. And her martial art was 'Tormented Buddha Disciplines the Earth'. It was a technique that emphasized the use of brute force to resist the enemy's attacks and break his defense. It really was perfect for Cao Yun. He had speed but during his fight against Luduo Bu, he had realized that he was lacking in penetrative force. Moreover, he was training his defense.

Thanks to his 'The Son of Heaven's Spear and Shield', he could send back any strike directed against him. Of course, he could not redirect all attacks though. If the attack was powerful enough, it would pierce through his technique and he would suffer the consequences.

When she fought, Mu Hue's body almost seemed like it was golden. And the attacks of Cao Yun were mostly inefficient. On the other hand, Mu Hue's attacks were able to break his bones. Even though he was able to resist the 1st-grade Mortal Warrior setting in the Thousand Snakes Invade the Shell array formation, fighting a real cultivator was different. Every cultivator had their strong points and weaknesses. Mu Hue's strong point was her physique, both her strength and her resistance. However, she was very slow considering her cultivation.

In fact, despite her strength, she had a real hard time even following Cao Yun's movements. However, her attacks were so powerful that just the pressure from them could threaten him. As such, the boy decided to use her to temper his defense and his new star.

They kept on fighting for several hours and they both gained a lot of benefits. Chief Elder Baishen knew her stuff for sure. Mu Hue increased her ability to follow rapid movements and to respond to them while Cao Yun increased his defense and his attack. He also tried out some 'The Son of Heaven's Spear and Shield'. The first one deeply shocked Mu Hue and excited Chief Elder Baishen. However the other two tentatives were much more refined and the Root Star seemed particularly happy, if a star could feel anything...

The old woman just couldn't get enough of Cao Yun. Each time she saw him, he showed her new progresses. What she loved beyond everything else was nurturing talented martial artists and watching them grow.

"Thank you, Brother Chen. This was greatly beneficial. I'll meditate on our fight for several days."

"Likewise, Senior Sister. You really helped me in my martial art."

Both of them cupped their fists and bowed to Chief Elder Baishen. "Thank you, Chief Elder."

"Good! You showed me a very interesting fight." She paused for a bit. "By the way, Chen Guo, the bimonthly challenges must be issued before the end of the week. I know that this past couple of months has been difficult. But, have you thought about who you're going to challenge?"

Cao Yun knew that this would probably displease her, but he had made up his mind. "Chief Elder Baishen, I decided not to challenge anyone. I'm fairly certain that no one under my ranking will issue a challenge to me, and I want a bit of peace for now."

"Brother Chen, you're really not going to challenge anyone?"

Mu Hue talked before Chief Elder Baishen. The old woman was stunned by the answer of the boy. She was looking forward to his next challenge, thinking he was going to fight a powerful 9th-grade Mortal this time.

"Indeed, Senior Sister. These past events have tired me. And to be honest, I do not need a better ranking. I have enough merit points. I don't even know what to do with those I already have..." Cao Yun felt a bit ashamed as most disciples had trouble getting merit points. But with his alchemy, it was extremely easy to have as many points as he needed.

"I see... Well, everyone has their own aspiration. Thank you for today, Brother." Mu Hue then left the martial art pavilion.

Finally, Chief Elder Baishen overcame her shock. "Chen Guo, are you really sure of this decision?"

"Yes, Chief Elder. I'm sorry to disappoint you. But I'll try to come here more often. I'd like to engage with various martial arts. And this pavilion is perfect for this endeavor. I hope that Chief Elder Baishen can still guide me toward interesting opponents." He knew exactly what she wanted to see. And witnessing him fight all kinds of martial artists was precisely her wish.

Her morale was back. "Of course, Chen Guo. Even if you don't need merit points, it's always great to confront different styles. Trying to learn too many styles is dangerous for your stability, but confronting them is beneficial to form your own style."

-

Mu Hue went back to the Purple Northern Cloud Faction residence. She knew that Long Jian, the faction leader, was interested in Cao Yun. Long Jian was battle hungry. Mu Hue was very close with him, so she decided to go to his room in order to convey the news.

The tall woman was ready to knock on the door when she saw a young girl walking to her.

"Junior Sister, are you here to see your brother?"

There was an interesting look on Long Huafang's face. "Indeed. And you, Senior Sister? What a peculiar time to visit a man..." It was indeed rather late and the sun had already set in the sky.

Mu Hue was not flustered because she knew that this little girl really liked to tease her. Mu Hue had feelings for Long Jian but she had vowed to devote her life to becoming a monk. She had made this decision during her second year. But she had still decided to finish her five years with the Wubei Sect. After that, she would join a monastery and study the scriptures. In the Hongchen Kingdom, the two main philosophies were the School of Ren Dao, the Human Way, and the Sutra Faith.

The School of Ren Dao was recognized as the official philosophy of the state. However, many other schools of thought and religions existed. Almost all the inhabitants of the Hongchen Kingdom adhered more or less to the School of Ren Dao. It had been founded during the Founding Era and emphasized both the necessity of a unified mankind and the individualistic pursuit of immortality and the Way. There was no explicit indications on how one should organize their daily life. As such, anyone could adhere to it while being in another school of thought, or even another religion.

The Sutra Faith, the second most prominent philosophy, believed in a secluded lifestyle. It was lived as a philosophy by some and a religion by others. They believed that by studying the Wheel Sutra, an ancient scripture that some thought predated even the Emperor Nuwa. Of course, some did not like this idea because Emperor Nuwa was seen as a great saint of mankind who had created their entire civilization and founded cultivation.

But the Sutra Faith was strangely well accepted despite this, thanks to its main principles. It emphasized the necessity of living a simple and even solitary life to find peace and really understand the Way. As such, it encompassed both secular and religious practitioners. The religious ones were monks who lived in monasteries. Those monasteries were well respected as they produced a lot of interesting art and philosophy. And in time of need, they were ready to help mankind as much as they could. Within those monasteries, they almost formed private armies but they could be used by the Emperor in times of need against the demons.

Wheel Sutra believers believed in a great figure, Buddha Cangjing. He was believed to be a man from the Legendary Era, a mythic time before the enslavement of mankind by the demons. His existence was controversial, but during the Seven Treaties Era, a monk had a vision of his figure. He had not been able to describe the figure at all. However, he had writen the Wheel Sutra just after waking up.

There were other schools of thought collectively known as the Lesser Houses of Wisdom. They were in minority though, but still accepted by the Emperor.

By becoming a monk of the Sutra Temple, Mu Hue had to forsake all relations between man and woman. Long Huafang found that it was a pity so she loved teasing her about it, but she still respected her decision.

"So, did you have something to say to my brother?"

"Indeed. I learned an important piece of news about Chen Guo."

Long Huafang became much more interested. "You've seen him?"

"Yes. I even fought with him in the martial art pavilion."

"And? Is he as he's been described?" Long Huafang had seen Cao Yun during the trial but she had missed his fight against Luduo Bu.

"He's even more talented if you ask me." During her fight with Cao Yun, Mu Hue got really impressed by both his current level, but also his ability to adapt and progress. In a matter of hours, he had understood her rhythm and was able to contend with her. But he had been extremely polite, he had not just tried to progress himself. He had also let her many opportunities so that she could train as well during their sparring. In that aspect, he was truly different from someone like Luduo Bu who was just using his 'sparring partners'.

"Well, let's go see my brother. He'll definitely want to hear about this."

-

After hearing the news, Long Jian was mortified. He had hoped to be able to see Cao Yun fight during the next challenges. Secretly, he had hoped that he could fight him himself, but their cultivations were too different. On the other hand, his little sister was only a 7th-grade Mortal. Cao Yun was very close to this level and he had even killed Luduo Bu who had forced his way to the limit of the Mortal realm, stepping a bit into the Mortal Warrior realm.

This feat had ignited Long Jian's desire to fight him. If he could progress a bit more, they may have an interesting fight by the end of the year. However, he was impatient to see him fight his little sister. But if he did not challenge anyone, his rank would stay the same. And given how many merit points he had, he wouldn't need to issue any challenge all year long. Was he really going to just avoid all the bimonthly challenges?

The young man was depressed. He had been excited to know the name of Cao Yun's next opponent. Well, he just had, it was nobody.

On the other hand, Long Huafang was also a bit frustrated. They were both hungry for a fight, to the great desolation of their father.

"Brother, I think I'll just go in the martial art pavilion for once." She turned to Mu Hue. "Senior Sister, you said that he went there to train, right?" After Mu Hue nodded in approval, Long Huafang resumed. "Then, he'll probably come back to train some more. The fact that he decided not to fight in the challenges does not mean he will stop his training. And, Brother, if it's not for an official challenge, wouldn't it be easier for you to fight against Chen Guo? You could restrain your cultivation to the Mortal realm without any problem."

Long Jian started to retrieve his vitality. "You're right! And if you train with him, he'll probably become even stronger. It's perfect!"

Long Huafang frowned a little. "Brother, are you trying to use me as a whetstone in order to sharpen his skills?" The only answer was a small cough from Long Jian.