Linghu Chong peeked inside the hall. A tall, thin old man sat at the guest of honor seat. He was holding the Command Flag of the Five Mountains Sword Alliance in his right hand; it was none other than “Crane Hands” Lu Bai from the Songshan School. A middle-aged Taoist Priest and an old man in his fifties sat next to him. Their clothing suggested that one belonged to the Taishan School and the other one the Hengshan School. Next to them sat three more people all in their fifties or sixties and each had a Huashan School style long sword hanging by his waist. The first one had a yellowish face with a stern look. He was probably the Feng Buping that Lou Dayou had mentioned earlier. Master and Master-Wife sat at the host seats in accompany. Tea and light refreshments occupied most of the tabletop.

“Brother Yue,” the old man from the Hengshan School said, “we outsiders really shouldn’t interfere with the internal affairs of your respectful school. However, because our five sword schools have joined the alliance to share both honor and disgrace, if one school didn’t handle things well and became the laughing stock of fellow martial people, the other four schools would be disgraced as well. Earlier, Madam Yue said that the three schools, Songshan, Taishan, and Hengshan should only mind their own business. I think that was inaccurate.” His two eyes were almost completely yellow as if he had a yellow fever.

“They are still in the middle of the dispute. Master hasn’t given up and stepped down from his post yet.” Linghu Chong felt some relief.

“Apprentice brother Lu, it sounds like you are determined that our Huashan School is not handling things properly and that has implicated your respectful school’s reputation, aren’t you?” Madam Yue asked.

The old man Lu from the Hengshan School sneered. “I’ve long heard that Heroine Ning is the backstage Head Master of the Huashan School. I didn’t want to believe it before, but after having the pleasure to meet you today, I have to agree that it is really a well-deserved reputation.”

“Apprentice brother Lu, you’ve come here to Mount Huashan as a guest. I don’t want to offend you because that would be an inappropriate way to treat a guest. Who would have expected such absurd nonsense from a famous master of the Hengshan School? When I see Great Mr. Mo next time, I’m sure I will discuss about this with him,” Madam Yue rebuffed angrily.

“Madam Yue, so you are holding off your offense only because I am a guest here, and if this wasn’t Mount Huashan, you would have slashed your sword toward my head, wouldn’t you?” the old man Lu said with a sneer.

“I wouldn’t dare.” Madam Yue replied. “How dare our Huashan School interfere with the internal affair of your respectful school? When people from your respectful school collaborate with the Demon Cult, there’s always Alliance Chief Zuo of the Songshan School to clean him out for you. What’s the need for our Huashan School to get involved?”

Hengshan School’s Liu Zhengfeng and Demon Cult Elder Qu Yang died outside of Hengshan Town together. It had become public knowledge in the Martial World that the Songshan School was responsible for it. Madam Yue specifically mentioned the incident here, to first jab at the old man Lu’s sore spot, and secondly, to ridicule him, implying that he not only didn’t have any grievance of losing an apprentice brother to the Songshan School, but instead, came together with the Songshan School people to give trouble to the Yue Couple.

The old man Lu immediately put on a stern face. “Throughout the ages, which school is immune of unworthy apprentices?” he screeched. “That’s exactly the reason why we have come to Mount Huashan today, to uphold justice and help brother Feng clean out the evil bunch in the school.”

“Who is the evil bunch? My husband Yue Buqun’s nickname is ‘Gentleman Sword.’ What’s your nickname?” Madam Yue said coldly as she grabbed onto her sword handle.

The old man Lu blushed, yet he didn’t answer the question and only eyed Madam Yue angrily with his two yellow piercing eyes.

The old man was a master of the Hengshan School. However, he didn’t have much fame in the Martial World. Linghu Chong had no clue about his identity, so he turned his head back and asked Lao Denuo.

“Who is he? What’s his nick name?”

Linghu Chong knew that before Lao Denuo joined the Huashan School, he had Kung Fu skills already and also much knowledge about all kinds of anecdotes of the Martial World. Sure enough, Lao Denuo knew this one.

“This old folk’s name is Lu Lianrong,” Lao Denuo answered in whisper. “His formal nickname is ‘Golden-eyed Eagle,’ but because he is always gossipy and meddlesome, quite annoying all the time, so everybody called him ‘Golden-eyed Crow’, instead, behind his back.”

Linghu Chong grinned. He thought, “Probably no one dared to call him that unpleasant nickname to his face, but as time went by, it would eventually come to his attention. When Master-Wife asked him about his nickname, he obviously knew that she was referring to ‘Golden-eyed Crow’ not ‘Golden-eyed Eagle’.”

Lu Lianrong snorted angrily. “‘Gentleman Sword?’ ‘Hypocrite Sword’ is probably more appropriate.”

Witnessing such audacious behavior of humiliating the Master right to his face, Linghu Chong could no longer hold his anger. “You damn blind crow! Get your ass out here if you’ve got any guts!” he shouted out.

Yue Buqun had heard Linghu Chong talking with Lau Denuo outside and had been wondering, “How come Chong has come down the cliff?” Now hearing Linghu Chong’s shouting, he reproved at once

“Chong, behave yourself. Uncle-Master is a guest here, how can you speak with such disrespect?”

Anger swept Lu Lianrong, and it seemed as if fire almost shot out of his piercing eyes. He had heard before how the Huashan School head apprentice Linghu Chong had run wild in Hengshan Town, so he yelled back.

“I was wondering who that might be. So it’s the chap who went whoring in Hengshan Town! Huashan School surely houses a lot of talents.”

“That’s right! When I went whoring in Hengshan Town, I slept with a bitch named Lu!” Linghu Chong grinned.

“You…you, stop the nonsense!” Yue Buqun yelled at Linghu Chong angrily.

Seeing his Master getting angry, Linghu Chong dared not to say another word, while Lu Bai, Feng Buping, and the bunch simply couldn’t help but grin.

Lu Lianrong turned around abruptly and kicked out with his left foot. With a loud bang, a frame of the long window was knocked flying in the air. He had never met Linghu Chong before, so he pointed at the general direction of the Huashan School apprentices and yelled.

“Which dirty swine said that?”

All the Huashan School apprentices stood silently and no one answered.

“God damn it! Which dirty swine just said that?” Lu Lianrong swore again.

“You were the only one talking. How would I know what kind of dirty swine you are?” Linghu Chong said with a big grin.

Lu Lianrong’s anger exploded. With a loud roar, he jumped onto Linghu Chong. Seeing the vicious force coming toward him, Linghu Chong leapt back. Suddenly, a shadow flashed as someone drifted out from inside the hall. Beams of silver light flashed while the sounds of weapon colliding echoed as the person started an all out attack on Lu Lianrong. It was Madam Yue. She leapt out of the hall, drew her sword, blocked Lu Lianrong’s attack, and launched her counter-attack in such a smooth and uninterrupted manner. Her movements were simply beautiful and graceful. Even though she executed every single move in lightening fast speed, everyone was so taken by the beautiful movement that none noticed her swiftness.

“We are all friends here. Why don’t we take our time and talk the issue through? There’s no need to start a fight,” Yue Buqun said as he strolled out of the hall without hurry.

Pulling out the sword by Lao Denuo’s waist, Yue Buqun reached out and pushed his sword down after a flip, which held both Lu Lianrong’s sword and Madam Yue’s sword down under. Lu Lianrong shifted all his strength onto his arm and lifted with a hard jerk, but to his surprise, he couldn’t move his sword even an inch. He blushed and then tried several times more, each time with a harder jerk.

“Our Five Mountains Sword Alliance has the same root with different branches. We are all like members of a big family. Apprentice brother Lu, please don’t pay much attention to the junior kids.” Yue Buqun smiled. He turned his head to Linghu Chong. “You are full of nonsense. Apologize to your Uncle-Master Lu right now,” he admonished.

Getting the command from the Master, Linghu Chong had no other choice but to step forward and salute.

“Uncle-Master Lu, I was really blind and didn’t know how to talk properly. I barked madly like a damn crow and slandered the reputation of a supreme Kung Fu master. This is so unworthy, even a dirty swine could have done better. Will your Excellency please don’t feel offended? I wasn’t talking about you. The damn crow barks like mad, but we’ll excuse him as if he was farting!”

He used the words “damn crow” back and forth. Everyone knew that he was ridiculing Lu Lianrong again. Most people were able to hold their laughs inside but Yue Lingshan started giggling loudly.

Yue Buqun could feel that Lu Lianrong tried to jerk upward three times in a row. He let out a slight smile and drew his sword back leisurely to give it back to Lao Denuo. When the tremendous pressure on Lu’s sword suddenly vanished, Lu Lianrong’s arm naturally went upward. Two cracking sounds echoed as two pieces of broken swords fell on the ground. Both Lu Lianrong’s sword and Madam Yue’s sword in their hands had only half of the blade remaining. Lu Lianrong had been using all his strength to fight Yue Buqun’s push. When his arm went up abruptly, the broken sword in his hand also slashed upward and almost cut his own forehead. Fortunately he had great arm strength and was able to stop the movement in time, but the frantic rush still looked quite awkward.

“You…you…two against one!” Lu Lianrong snapped. But he soon remembered that Yue Buqun’s inner energy broke Madam Yue’s long sword just the same. By then Lu Bai, Feng Buping, and the rest bunch had all come out of the hall to watch the fight, and Lu Lianrong knew that each of them could easily tell Yue Buqun was only reconciling and preventing the two from fighting each other without granting favor to either side. However, it was probably no big deal for a husband to break a wife’s long sword. Lu Lianrong, on the other hand, couldn’t take it so easily, so he couldn’t help but mutter:

“You…you…!”

Stamping his right foot on the floor heavily, he turned around and rushed away in rage with the broken sword still in his hand, never casting a glance back.

At the time when Yue Buqun had broken the two swords with his inner energy, he had already seen the Peach Valley’s Six Fairies standing behind Linghu Chong. Very surprised by their unusual looks, he cupped his hands and greeted.

“The six of you have come to Mount Huashan and I haven’t greeted you properly. Please pardon my ignorance.”

The six Fairies simply stared at him blankly, neither greeting back, nor speaking a word.

“This is my Master, Head Master of the Huashan School – Mr. Yue….” Linghu Chong introduced.

Before he even finished his sentence, Feng Buping interrupted.

“Your Master, he sure is. Whether he is the Head Master of the Huashan School, we’ll have to see. Apprentice brother Yue, the ‘Divine Art of Violet Twilight’ you just displayed is quite impressive. However, knowing this Qi-Gong technique does not make you competent for the authority over the Huashan School. Everyone knows that Huashan School is a sword school member of the Five Mountains Sword Alliance. Sword school, sword school! Of course, sword skill is the main driving force. But you keep working with your inner energy skills. You have gone on the evil route. What you are practicing is far from our school’s orthodox principle.”

“Brother Feng, your comments are really overstating,” Yue Buqun defended. “Sure, each school of the Five Mountains Sword Alliance uses sword as the weapon, but no matter which school or which style it is, it all follows the principle of ‘Energy Drives the Sword.’ Sword skills are external techniques while Qi-Gong techniques are the internal techniques. One must master both the external and the internal to be able to achieve perfection in Kung Fu training. If someone only practices sword techniques like how you just described, then when he meets a Qi-Gong master, he would naturally be pale in comparison.”

Feng Buping sneered. “That’s not necessarily correct. It would be wonderful if someone can be an expert in every field of the three religions and the nine schools of thought,[1] medicine, divination, astrology, fortune-telling, the Four Books and the Five Classics, and the eighteen types of weaponry.[2] It would be fantastic if he could be a master in every single style, let it be either knife art or spear art. But everyone’s life span is limited and it is impossible for one to master everything. When one focuses only on sword art, it is already difficult to be excellent at it, why should he get sidetracked by other Kung Fu skills? I am not saying that practicing Qi-Gong techniques is bad, only that the orthodox Kung Fu of our Huashan School is sword art. It’s totally fine if you want to get into the heterodox Kung Fu. Even if you decide to learn the ‘Essence Absorbing Art’ of the Demon Cult, it’s your own choice and nobody else’s business, let alone practicing Qi-Gong techniques. When an ordinary person ruins his own training because of greed and avarice, he has himself to blame for his suffering. Now since you are the Head Master of the Huashan School and have also chosen to go on such a destructive route, you are really misleading all the apprentices and exerting a widespread pernicious influence.”

A notion suddenly popped into Linghu Chong’s head. “Grand Uncle-Master Feng only taught me sword techniques. He…he is probably from the Sword-Branch. Is it…is it wrong that I have learned sword techniques from him?” Instantly, the thought sent cold shivers down his spine and he broke out a cold sweat.

“‘Misleading all the apprentices and exerting a widespread pernicious influence?’ That’s not true.” Yue Buqun smiled.

The short man standing next to Feng Buping suddenly cut in loudly. “Why is it not true? You have taught a bunch of damn useless apprentices. If that’s not ‘misleading all the apprentices and exerting a widespread pernicious influence,’ then what is? Apprentice brother Feng said that your Kung Fu is the heterodox and you are not worthy to be the Head Master of the Huashan School. He is absolutely right. Are you going to step down yourself, or wait for someone to drag you down?”

By then, Lu Dayou had finally arrived. Seeing that big apprentice brother stared at the short man with a questioning look, he whispered to Linghu Chong.

“I heard from their earlier conversations with Master that the short guy’s name is Cheng Buyou.”

“Brother Cheng,” Yue Buqun said, “your Sword-Branch left our school twenty-five years ago and stopped calling yourselves apprentices of the Huashan School. Why do you come back and make trouble now? If you think your Kung Fu skills are wonderful, you can simply start your own school. Once you gain great fame in the Martial World and your reputation precedes the Huashan School, I would only have admiration. However, what good does your pointless argument do other than getting us on bad terms with each other?”

“Apprentice brother Yue,” Cheng Buyou said loudly, “I have no grudge against you and really didn’t want to get on bad terms with you. You arrogated the post of Huashan School Head Master, yet you only teach the apprentices inner energy techniques instead of advanced sword techniques. That caused our Huashan School’s reputation to decline greatly. In the end, you can’t just shirk the responsibility and shift the blame onto others. I am an apprentice of the Huashan School, that’s why I can’t just watch by the side with folded arms and pretend to not see it. In addition, when the Qi-Branch pushed the Sword-Branch out, your methods weren’t that clear and aboveboard. None of our Sword-Branch apprentices were convinced of the legitimacy. We have already endured it for twenty-five years. Today is finally the time we can square the accounts.”

“The conflict between the Qi-Branch and the Sword-Branch of our sword school has a long history. On that day when the two branches had the big contest atop the Jade Maiden Peak, the winner was determined; what’s right and what’s wrong was identified. What good does it do for the three of you to bring the past history out twenty-five years later?” Yue Buqun said.

“Who saw the end result of the sword contest on that day? The three of us are all apprentices of the Sword-Branch, how come none of us saw it? In short, you took the Head Master post in a very unclear and suspicious fashion, otherwise, why would Alliance Chief Zuo, the leader of the Five Mountains Sword Alliance, grant us the Command Flag to let you step down?” Cheng Buyou challenged.

“That is really odd!” Yue Buqun shook his head. “Alliance Chief Zuo has good understanding and judgment. Based on the scenario, he would have never granted the Command Flag all of a sudden to let the Huashan School change its Head Master.”

“Are you saying the Command Flag is a fake?” Cheng Buyou pointed at the Command Flag of the Five Mountains Sword Alliance.

“The Command Flag is authentic, but the Command Flag doesn’t speak,” Yue Buqun said.

Lu Bai had been watching quietly by the side all the time. He finally cut in. “Apprentice brother Yue, you said that the Command Flag doesn’t speak, but can’t I speak either?”

“Even if Alliance Chief Zuo really thought so, his excellency still can’t give the order after hearing only one side of the story. He’s got to listen to my words as well.

Besides, Alliance Chief Zuo is the chief of the Five Mountains Sword Alliance, and his responsibilities include the common issues across the five sword schools. Regarding internal affairs of the Taishan, Heng-Shan, Hengshan, and Huashan Schools, the Head Master of each school has the authority,” Yue Buqun concluded.

“You are surely wordy! So after all, you are not going to give up the post of the Head Master. Am I not right?” Cheng Buyou croaked.

By the time he spit out the words “Head Master,” he had already drawn his sword. At the word “am,” he shot out a thrust; at the word “I,” he shot out another thrust; at the word “not,” he shot out a third thrust; and at the word “right,” he shot out one more thrust. He said the words “am I not right” in one breath, and he shot four thrusts out continuously at the same time.

The four thrusts were executed in supreme speed, and each of the four continuous thrusts used a different fierce technique with brilliant variation. The first thrust penetrated Yue Buqun’s robe on his left shoulder, the second one penetrated his robe on his right shoulder, the third penetrated the sleeve by his left arm, and the fourth penetrated the robe by his right chest. Each of the four thrusts went straight through and all four of them left a total of eight holes on Yue Buqun’s robe. The blade went right next to Yue Buqun’s skin with a mere half-inch distance each time, though none touched his skin at all. The brilliance of the moves, the supreme speed, the precise accuracy, and the fierce force of the thrusts all showed the bearing of a first-class elite fighter.

All Huashan School apprentices turned pale with terror except Linghu Chong, thinking, “These four moves are all moves of our Huashan School style, but we have never seen Master demonstrate them before. The elite fighter from the Sword-Branch surely is extraordinary.”

However, Lu Bai, Feng Buping, and the rest of the visitors felt more admiration toward Yue Buqun. When Cheng Buyou suddenly shot out four thrusts continuously, each thrust was a fierce move and capable of killing Yue Buqun on the spot, yet Yue Buqun still maintained his smile throughout the course and took the four thrusts with complete ease. The confidence he showed was exceptional. Cheng Buyou and his companions came to Mount Huashan with a clear intention to take the Head Master post from him. No matter how kind Yue Buqun was, he couldn’t have not guarded against the possibility that his opponent might launch a sudden attack to harm him, yet he didn’t dodge at all and took the four thrusts without any worries. Obviously he had a plan well thought out, and as soon as Cheng Buyou proceeded to harm him, he would have a way to counter. Within the split of a second, he was actually capable of countering the enemy and protecting himself; his Kung Fu had to be far better than Cheng Buyou’s. Yue Buqun didn’t even move a little finger, but the power he had just shown was no different than winning the fight.

Linghu Chong recognized the four moves Cheng Buyou had used easily. They really originated from a Huashan School style sword move drawn on the rock wall in the back cave. Cheng Buyou simply transformed it into four different thrusts with slight variations. Although the four thrusts looked completely different from each other, they really all came from one move. He couldn’t help but think, “No matter how brilliant Sword-Branch’s sword moves are, they still can’t exceed the scope of the drawings on the rock wall.”

“Brother Cheng, my husband has given ground again and again, considering that you are all guests here. You have made eight holes on his robe already. If you haven’t figured out how to behave yourself by now, be aware that even though our Huashan School respects its guests, there still is a limit,” Madam Yue warned.

“Giving ground? Guests? What are you talking about? Madam Yue, all you have to do is to defeat my four sword moves. If you can do that, I’ll leave the premise with no complaints. And not only that, I’ll never set foot on the Jade Maiden Peak again,” Cheng Buyou exclaimed.

Cheng Buyou considered himself an excellent swordsman, but seeing the confidence and calmness Yue Buqun just put on display, he dared not to challenge Yue Buqun. He thought, “Even though Madam Yue also has great fame in the Huashan School, she is a woman after all. Didn’t she show a frightened look when she saw the four thrusts of mine? If I can goad her into a fight, I am sure I can subdue her. By then, Yue Buqun might surrender for the sake of Madam Yue’s safety. Or, at least, he would be greatly worried and get thrown off balance. That would certainly give brother Feng Buping some advantages.

“Madam Yue, please! It is well known that Heroine Ning is a first-class master of the Huashan School Qi-Branch. Cheng Buyou from the Sword-Branch would like to check out Heroine Ning’s Qi-Gong techniques,” cupping his hands, Cheng Buyou said loudly. By saying so, he had made it very clear that this was going to be a duel between the Sword-Branch and the Qi-Branch of the Huashan School.

Although Madam Yue wasn’t sure she could beat those four clever and ingenious sword moves, she simply couldn’t stand Cheng Buyou’s overbearing attitude. With a loud ring, she unsheathed her sword.

“Master-Wife,” Linghu Chong cut in quickly, “Sword-Branch’s way of practice has gone astray. How could it ever match the orthodox Kung Fu of our Huashan School? Please allow me, the apprentice, to fight him first. If my Qi-Gong techniques are sloppy and I fail to beat him, then Master-Wife can dismiss him later.”

He didn’t even wait for Madam Yue’s approval and leapt forward immediately, hiding Madam Yue behind his back. In his right hand, he held a broom, which he had picked up randomly by the wall.

“Master Cheng,” Linghu Chong pointed the handle of the broom at Cheng Buyou, “you are no longer a member of our school. I guess I won’t be calling you an Uncle-Master. If you have already realized your mistakes and want to mend your ways so you can join Huashan School again, I am not too sure whether my Master is still willing to take you back. Even if my Master is willing to make the sacrifice and take you back in, according to school rules – the earlier the more senior status – you will have to call me a senior apprentice brother. Come on, let’s play!”

“Nonsense, you filthy swine! If you can survive these four moves of mine, I’ll submit myself to you as an apprentice,” Cheng Buyou shouted in outrage.

Linghu Chong shook his head. “I am not sure I want an apprentice like you….” Before he even finished the sentence, Cheng Buyou had interrupted him with a shout.

“Draw your sword and get ready to die!”

“Even a branch can be used as a sharp blade once it carries enough inner energy. Brother Cheng, just to counter those couple of your sloppy sword moves, I don’t think there’s a need to use a real sword,” Linghu Chong answered.

“Fine. Don’t blame me for being cruel then. Blame it on your own arrogance!”

Yue Buqun and Madam Yue both knew very well that Cheng’s Kung Fu skills were far superior to Linghu Chong’s. Using a broom against Cheng Buyou’s sword would be almost like fighting him with bare hands – way too dangerous. They shouted almost in unison.

“Chong, step back!”

In blazing flashes, Cheng Buyou lunged his thrusts toward Linghu Chong. It was the same move he had attacked Yue Buqun with a minute earlier. He had his reasons for using the exact same move. Firstly, those moves were among his best techniques. Secondly, he did say that he would use the same sword moves. Thirdly, by using the same moves again, he was letting his opponent gain certain advantages by knowing what to expect, thus getting compensated for his own advantage of using a better weapon.

Linghu Chong had already figured out ways to counter Cheng’s moves before he challenged Cheng Buyou. In those drawings on the rock wall in the back cave, all figures used unique weapons to counter sword moves. If he chose to use a sword in the fight, he wouldn’t have the certainty of success because he had not mastered the techniques in the Dugu Nine Swords. But the shabby broom had the shape of a thunderbolt mace and would be perfect for those moves in the drawings.

Seeing Cheng Buyou’s sword thrusting toward him, Linghu Chong brushed the broom toward Cheng Buyou’s face. This brushing move was a very risky move indeed. A real thunderbolt mace is made out of steel, and if the brushing move had landed squarely, the opponent would have been either killed or at least severely wounded. If he had a real thunderbolt mace in his hand, the brushing move would be an ingenious move and the opponent would be forced to suspend his thrust and draw his sword back to defend. But what kind of damage would a shabby broom do to the opponent? He only had plain ordinary inner energy strength and was just talking big when he said “Even a branch can be used as a sharp blade once it carries enough inner energy.” Even if the brushing move hit Cheng Buyou on the face, the most damage would be no more than a few scratches, nothing major at all, but Cheng Buyou’s thrust would for sure penetrate his chest all the way. Linghu Chong was really betting on the theory that a senior master like Cheng Buyou would never allow the filthy and shabby broom to hit him in the face, because the humiliation would be too great compared to the satisfaction from killing Linghu Chong.

Surely enough, in the gasping sounds from the watching crowd, Cheng Buyou turned his head aside and pulled his sword back to chop at the broom. Linghu Chong moved the shabby broom to the side and dodged the chop.

Having no choice but to pull back his sword and block the broom in his first move, Cheng Buyou couldn’t help but blush. He had no idea that Linghu Chong’s brush with the shabby broom was actually created by over ten Demon Cult Elders working their hearts out, spending countless of hours with combined efforts just to counter this exact sword move of his. It was really a masterpiece work that had been polished again and again. He figured that Linghu Chong must have come up with such a move accidentally and defeated his move by shear luck. In great rage, he launched his second thrust. This time the thrust didn’t follow the original sequence. It was really the fourth thrust he had used to pierce Yue Buqun’s robe under Yue’s armpit.

Linghu Chong turned his body to the side while handing over the broom to his left hand. It looked as if he was just dodging Cheng’s thrust, but the shabby broom in his left hand suddenly shot out in a flash and went straight toward Cheng Buyou’s chest. The broom was much longer than the sword, so even though the thrust from the broom was launched later, it reached the target earlier. Before Cheng Buyou had enough time to circle his blade around, the bamboo threads at the end of the broom had jabbed on to his chest.

“Got you!” Linghu Chong shouted.

With a quick slashing sound, Cheng Buyou’s blade slashed the end of the broom off. But all the elite fighters in the watching crowd saw clearly that Cheng Buyou had already lost. If Linghu Chong had used a real thunderbolt mace, or a spike-toothed harrow, or a crescent shaped spade, all made out of steel, Cheng Buyou would have been badly injured in the chest.

If Linghu Chong were a first-class senior master, Cheng Buyou would have no choice but to throw down his sword to admit his defeat and give up the fight, but Linghu Chong obviously was just a second-generation apprentice, how embarrassing would it be to lose to him with his shabby broom? With that in mind, Cheng Buyou launched another three thrusts, all of which used superb techniques of the Huashan School. Out of the three moves, it turned out that two of them were among the ones carved on the rock wall in the back cave. Although Linghu Chong had never seen the third move, after learning the “Sword-Breaking Stance” in Dugu Nine Sword