The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, becoming a disciple of Yue Buqun

Page 87

Jiang Ning initially didn't intend to kill Gan Lan because he wanted to find out her background and purpose. From his observations over the past two days, Gan Lan had disguised herself very well. Apart from her overly deliberate performance at the beginning, there was nothing suspicious about her until just now.

Jiang Ning's innate skill gave him excellent eyesight. He saw her fingers twitch slightly when she was filling the water container. Later, Gan Lan offered Jiang Ning the water containing the Gu worms, and Jiang Ning saw the Gu worms in the water again. Although the Gu worms were very light in color, they did not escape his eyes.

The Miao people are skilled in Gu poison, and they're targeting him, so it can only be the Five Poisons Sect.

Kale is now at a loss for words.

She held a high position in the Five Poisons Sect. Knowing that Ren Yingying had arrived in Sichuan, she became curious about Jiang Ning after Ren Yingying assigned her this task. She took the initiative to take on the task, wanting to observe closely what made this righteous disciple, who was being cared for individually by the Holy Maiden of the Demonic Sect, so special. Now she had indeed seen it for herself.

She was not interested in women. No matter how much she hinted and tempted Jiang Ning in the dilapidated temple, he acted as if he didn't see it or care.

She was extremely vigilant and hadn't had a chance to touch Jiang Ning in the past two days. Every time she tried to touch Jiang Ning, he would move aside. That's why she was preparing to use Gu on Jiang Ning, but she didn't expect Jiang Ning to see through her plan.

She was observant and thought her movements were very discreet, but they still couldn't escape Jiang Ning's notice.

He acted decisively; as soon as Jiang Ning realized something was wrong, he immediately subdued her, leaving her no chance to fight back.

No wonder the Holy Maiden wanted to take care of this person alone.

Kale thought to herself.

Click!

Jiang Ning twisted hard and snapped Gan Lan's neck.

Now that the matter has been clarified, there is no need to spare her life.

There was no point in asking the Miao girl about Ren Yingying's whereabouts; she wouldn't tell, and there was no need to.

After dealing with the pawn sent by Ren Yingying, Jiang Ning stood up and headed towards Mount Emei.

These past two days he's concealed his true destination, wandering around with this Miao girl. He needs to speed things up and be even more careful about his whereabouts.

Three days later.

Mount Emei.

After three days of travel, Jiang Ning finally arrived at Mount Emei. By then, he had changed into the clothes he had bought in Shaanxi.

The wide robe was sky blue overall, with a few snowflakes and pine and bamboo embroidered on the collar, which was neither too flamboyant nor too monotonous.

Since practicing the Innate Skill, Jiang Ning's temperament has become increasingly extraordinary, and wearing it made him appear even more otherworldly.

The Emei Sect is located at the Golden Summit Temple on Mount Emei, which is situated at the summit. Mount Emei is 3,000 meters above sea level. When Jiang Ning arrived at the summit, he saw a series of magnificent temple buildings, but there were also some buildings with Taoist characteristics interspersed among these temples.

Jiang Ning arrived at the temple gate, where a monk and a Taoist priest were guarding it.

"Amitabha Buddha, may I ask what brings you to my Golden Summit Temple, benefactor?"

One of the monks bowed to Jiang Ning and said...

Jiang Ning said, "I am Jiang Ning from the Huashan Sect, and I have come to pay my respects to your esteemed sect."

Upon hearing Jiang Ning's words, the two were immediately taken aback and became extremely respectful towards him.

"It turns out to be Benefactor Jiang from the Huashan Sect. I apologize for my rudeness."

The monk from before subconsciously became nervous.

Chapter 132: Venerable Golden Light

Although the Huashan Sect is currently weak, it is only relative to top sects and major sects such as the Demonic Sect, Wudang, and Shaolin.

The Huashan Sect is extremely famous.

“Please follow me, Mr. Jiang. Our abbot has been waiting for you for a long time.”

The monk spoke respectfully to Jiang Ning.

"Thank you for leading the way, Master."

Jiang Ning nodded.

The monk looked ashamed and said, "I am unworthy of being addressed as such by Benefactor Jiang. You have flattered me. Please come with me."

The monk led the way, and Jiang Ning followed behind, passing through a series of magnificent buildings.

Although the Emei Sect is keeping a low profile now, it is much richer than the Huashan Sect.

Along the way to Jiangning, we found many monks, but also some Taoist priests.

Jiang Ning observed that many of these monks lacked internal energy and were not martial artists. Only a few monks possessed martial arts skills, while the Taoists all knew martial arts, though in very small numbers.

It seems that these monks and Taoists who know martial arts are the disciples of the Emei Sect.

The monk led Jiang Ning to a large hall, where an old monk sat on a prayer mat in the center, chanting scriptures in a low voice.

"Reporting to the Abbot, a benefactor from the Huashan Sect, Jiang Ning, has arrived."

The monk whispered to the old monk.

This old monk is none other than Venerable Jin Guang, the current head of the Emei Sect.

Upon hearing this, Venerable Jin Guang stopped chanting, stood up, and turned to look at Jiang Ning.

Jiang Ning bowed and said, "This junior greets the master."

"Last year, I heard that the rising star of the Huashan Sect, Young Hero Jiangning, defeated the lone traveler Tian Boguang single-handedly. Some time ago, he also eliminated him in Hanzhong, ridding the people of a scourge. The young hero's name has spread throughout the martial arts world. Seeing him today, I can see that he is indeed extraordinary."

"Come, please sit down."

Master Jinguang led Jiang Ning to a side hall and gestured for him to sit down.

"How has your sect leader, Mr. Yue, been lately?"

As soon as Jiang Ning sat down, he heard Venerable Jin Guang ask in a kind tone.

"Thank you for your concern, Master. My master is doing well. Before I left the mountain, my master asked me to give you my regards."

Jiang Ning smiled.

Master Jin Guang said kindly, "Thank you for your concern, Sect Leader Yue."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Master Jinguang invited Jiang Ning to stay at Jinding Temple for a few days as a gesture of hospitality from the Emei Sect, and Jiang Ning did not refuse.

During this process, Master Jinguang did not ask Jiang Ning why he came to the Emei Sect, nor did Jiang Ning answer.

It would be too abrupt to propose that the Emei Sect join the fight against the Demonic Sect as soon as he arrived. Moreover, Jiang Ning also needs to observe the Emei Sect and see how it is now.

After a few words of casual conversation, a monk came in from outside.

Master Jinguang said to Jiang Ning, "Young hero, why don't you stay on Mount Emei for a few more days? You can tell me anything you need."

Jiang Ning said, "Thank you, Master."

The monk who had entered earlier bowed to Jiang Ning and said, "Benefactor, a guest room has been prepared for you. Please follow me."

"it is good."

Jiang Ning nodded, stood up and said to Venerable Jin Guang, "Master, I will take my leave now."

Master Jinguang smiled and nodded.

After leaving the room, Jiang Ning followed the monk out.

Along the way, the monks did not take Jiang Ning directly to his guest room, but instead took him to visit the Golden Summit Temple first.

Jiang Ning met some Taoist priests, several of whom walked with a steady gait, clearly not ordinary people.

The Taoist priests were slightly surprised to see Jiang Ning. After asking him, they learned that Jiang Ning was a disciple of the Huashan Sect and greeted him warmly.

During the conversation, Jiang Ning also observed them and found that these Taoists were all of the Song generation, and their martial arts skills were not low. Some of them were already second-rate, and two of them were first-rate masters, but weaker than Jiang Ning and about the same as Tian Boguang.

Later, Jiang Ning saw two middle-aged Taoist priests sitting and discussing Taoism in an empty courtyard. After being introduced by the monk who had led the way, Jiang Ning learned that these two Taoist priests were also of the Song generation.

These two Taoists were also top-notch experts. Jiang Ning, with his keen observation, discovered that one of them had a long and powerful breath, no weaker than his own, and was on par with him.

Pine-Patterned Taoist.

Jiang Ning learned his name.

After learning Jiang Ning's identity, Songwen Daoist was very polite to Jiang Ning, but Jiang Ning knew that he was not being polite to him, but to the Huashan Sect.

After paying his respects to Daoist Li Songwen and his junior brother, Jiang Ning sat aside and watched.

After listening for a while, Jiang Ning noticed that the two were discussing everything from ancient times to the present, debating the principles of all things. One person would put forward a viewpoint, and the other would refute it. After a long time, neither of them could convince the other. In particular, the two brought up the classic debate between Zhuangzi and Huizi, "How can you know the joy of fish if you are not a fish," to argue their point.

After listening for a while, Jiang Ning got up and left.

Recently, the monk led Jiang Ning to a spacious and bright guest room.

"Please feel free to give any instructions if you need anything."

After saying this to Jiang Ning, the monk left.

Jiang Ning sat at the table, pondering what he had seen that day.

Putting everything else aside, Jiang Ning has seen four top-tier masters today, one of whom is even on par with him, and there are quite a few second-tier masters as well. This doesn't even include the possibility that there are still some top-tier masters who haven't appeared yet, plus the sect leader, Jin Guang Shangren, who has profound martial arts skills.

This level of strength surpasses that of the Huashan Sect in the past, and even the current Huashan Sect may not be able to match it. Of course, this is in terms of the number of experts; in terms of the quality of experts, the Huashan Sect is still stronger.

Jiang Ning had just observed Jin Guang Shangren up close and found that he was very strong, but only about the same as Yue Buqun before he obtained the Innate Skill, and on the same level as Feng Buping.

There has always been an unspoken rule in the martial arts world: whoever is the strongest in a sect is the sect leader, otherwise they cannot command respect from the others.

If we exclude Feng Qingyang, who has not shown his face for decades, Yue Buqun is the strongest in the Huashan Sect, so he is the leader of the Huashan Sect. Fang Zheng is the strongest in the Shaolin Sect, so he is the leader of the Shaolin Sect. Similarly, Jin Guang Shangren is the strongest master in the Emei Sect.

Even so, the strength of the Emei Sect should not be underestimated.

Although the top combat strength of the Emei Sect is not as good as that of the Huashan Sect, the number of masters and disciples of the Emei Sect is greater than that of the Huashan Sect.

However, Jiang Ning believed that it was normal for the Emei Sect to have such strength.

After all, Emei is not like Huashan. Huashan once led the Five Mountains Sword Sect in fighting against the Demonic Sect, and then suffered internal turmoil, which led to its decline. Emei has not had any external conflicts over the years and has kept a low profile. Unlike Huashan, which lost its lineage, Emei's martial arts system is still intact. Even if there was some internal turmoil, it should not be worse than Huashan in the past.

Now that I see it, it's indeed true.

"Strange."

Jiang Ning muttered to himself.

He felt that the Emei Sect was acting strangely these days.

In the past, most of the Emei sect members were nuns. Even if there were male disciples, their status was not as high as that of the female disciples. But now, there isn't a single female disciple in the entire sect; it's all monks and Taoists.

Chapter 133: A Letter from Songfeng Temple

Seven days later.

"Why did you leave so suddenly, young hero? Was it because our sect failed to provide adequate hospitality?"

Lobby.

Master Jin Guang looked at Jiang Ning with surprise.

"I have already troubled your sect for several days. My master also told me to return as soon as possible before I left the mountain, so it is inconvenient for me to stay any longer. I hope you will not take offense."

Jiangning Road.

Upon hearing this, Venerable Jin Guang said with great regret, "Since it is Sect Leader Yue who wants young hero to return as soon as possible, then this old monk will not try to keep you any longer. Young hero, please take care on your journey. When you return to Mount Hua, please give my regards to Sect Leader Yue."

"this is necessary."

Jiang Ning stood up.

"Master, farewell."

Master Jinguang smiled and nodded, and then, accompanied by Daoist Songwen and several Emei disciples, he personally escorted Jiang Ning out of the temple.

"Young hero, you are welcome to visit Mount Emei again if you have the time."

Songwen Daoist said to Jiang Ning with a smile.

Jiang Ning nodded and smiled, "Thank you for your hospitality, Daoist Master. If you have time, you are welcome to come to Mount Hua in Shaanxi. Our Mount Hua Sect will certainly welcome you with open arms."

After exchanging a few polite words, Jiang Ning led Maodou down the mountain.

Songwen Daoist stood at the main gate watching Jiang Ning descend the mountain until his figure disappeared from sight, then turned back and headed towards the main hall.

"Master."