Chapter 87

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.