Chapter 150: Outsky Strange Stone
Meng Qi drank the soup and paid Old Xie. He turned back and said, “I don’t know where the Talent-accruing School is. Could you please show me the way?”
Most people went to the Talent-accruing School just for fun to see the fighting match. The man with a headscarf did not want Meng Qi to follow. He refrained from the impulse because he did not want to lose face in front of the ladies and said, “It’s located in the Talent-accruing Mountain beyond the city.”
Those two men were kind for they found that Meng Qi did not have a horse, so they led their two horses to walk.
“Little Brother, I guess you’re not from our hometown judging from your accent, are you?” After the lady saw the Ranking List of Young Masters, she remembered something and added, “By the way, we’re disciples of the ‘Stream-parting Sword Sect’. My name is Wu Qinxin. He’s my Senior Brother, and his name is Shangguan Han, ‘Sky-slashing Water’.”
She was a new girl in Jianghu and did not have her own title.
Shangguan Han was a proud man. He cared about his face and did not want to be described as an insolent and rude man. He put his hands together and said, “My friend gave me the nickname. It really embraces me. May I have your name and hometown, please?”
“His nickname sounds better than mine… “ Meng Qi said sadly, “My name is Meng Qi and I’m from Luo Yang. I left home when I was young and I settled down in Xi Liang. I’m traveling to Jianghu. People call me ‘Roving Sword’.”
His accent was affected by his bodily ability and sounded like an accent from Luo Yang. So he called himself a man from the middle country. However, he had never been to Luo Yang and did not know anything about it, so he was afraid of answering questions about it. He made up an excuse that he left home when he was young and traveled in Xi Liang, which was the center city of Xi Zhou. Meng Qi had passed it along the road to the West Regions and lived there for a few days, and he knew something about it.
Roving Sword was the sobriquet that Meng Qi gave to himself. He used the name to show his hope toward it and the protest against “Thunder Blade Furious Monk” and “Reckless Monk”.
“Roving Sword… ” Shangguan Han laughed and did not say anything else. He knew that Meng Qi was trying to make himself sound more famous.
He did not care about his last name, Meng. There were innumerable people around the world that owned the last name, Meng. Meng Qi was not an eight-foot-tall man with an eight-foot waistline. Nobody would regard him as the principle of an aristocratic family called Shangguan in the North Zhou Dynasty when he or she heard his last name, Shangguan.
Wu Qinxin did not hear of “Roving Sword” before and she did not care about the last name, either. She said with a smile, “Little brother, you have an elegant name. I heard that there were many businessmen from the Western Regions in Xi Liang. Are they the descendants of evil? Do they have brown hair and an eye in the center of their mid-brows?”
She then changed the topic and asked about Xi Liang. She was curious about it because she had never left “Three Mountains and Four Waters” since she was born. She was confined to Qi Shui city even when she visited her relatives and traveled in Jianghu.
“I seldom saw those kinds of people in Xi Liang but I’ve been to Jade Gate Pass and Quicksand Town. The descendants of evil there are indeed strange… ” Meng Qi talked about this happily. He traveled around many places and knew more about those problems than Senior Brother and his Senior Sister.
Shangguan Han and Wu Qinxin were interested in the Western Regions and did not care that Meng Qi was nobody in Jianghu. Meng Qi had experienced all of that before and he had a good speaking ability. Therefore, they were lost in his descriptions. A scene of sand, horse bandits, and people from different areas emerged in their minds.
“When my Nine Apertures are open, I’ll go to the Western Regions and kill horse bandits.” Shangguan Han was excited and full of energy. However, he was scared by the horse bandits that Meng Qi described. He knew that he if he wanted to carry out his plan in the Immensity Sea, he needed to open his Nine Apertures.
Disciples of the Central Plains Sect were normally allowed to travel in Jianghu after they had enlightened all the Apertures. As long as the sect had a good tradition and enough disciple labors, most disciples would follow the rule. However, some famous sects had a strict rule on it because they were faced the numerous challenges. Take Shaolin for example: If the disciples could not fulfill all of the 72 Ultimate Arts, they would not easily pass the test of Brozenmen Lane. As for Sword Washing Pavilion, Jiang Zhiwei went down the mountain after she had opened her Six Apertures and completed Sword Principles.
Shangguan Han and Wu Qinxin had both opened their Eye Aperture.
Meng Qi was pleased that Shangguan Han and Wu Qinxin both trusted and admired him. He did not dare to talk more about it in case of sticking his chin out. Then he said, “It’s my first time to visit ‘Three Mountains and Four Streams’ and I know little about the Talent-accruing School or the Mount Qin Sword Sect. Could you please introduce more details to me?”
“Three Mountains and Four Streams has a dangerous terrain and rarely has arable land. Actually, most nutritious herbs and minerals are hidden in the deep mountains. Many people of various sects are willing to keep a good connection with us. The Talent-accruing School has the support of the Zhen Yi School. The Mount Qin Sword Sect has the support of the Family Zhang. They’re both famous sects in the local area… ” Wu Qinxin was excited to talk about it because it was a chance to show her experience. Besides, these were not the secrets of the “Stream-parting Sword Sect”.
The Zhen Yi School was a famous sect. One disciple of the Zhen Wu Sect built it after experiencing a lot. After generations and generations, the Zhen Yi School now was famous and had a lot of disciples. Besides, it had the support of the Zhen Wu Sect and now, it was a powerful and strong sect. Longnan Zhang was one of the top families. Chapter of Outer Space Scorching Sun and Sky-burning Grand Sun Palm were Dharmakaya level. Actually, the Mount Qin Sword Sect could not find the support of Longnan Zhang because it was too weak. The Mount Qin Sword Sect had to find the support of the Side Sect of the Family Zhang.
Meng Qi snorted. “The Zhen Yi School and the followers of the Side Sect of the Family Zhang in Long Nan are common sects. They are not famous as others… “
He was from Shaolin which was in the first level of mainstream martial arts. Most people around him were at the same level, such as the Zhen Wu Sect, Sword Washing Pavilion, and the Huanhua Swords Sect. The little boy who was afraid of him was born in an unusual family. The Cui Clan from Pinjin were equal to the Family Zhang in Long Nan and was stronger than the Family Zhang in Long Nan with Dharmakaya. His “enemy”, Gu Xiaosang, was the holy girl of the Luo Denomination in the Nine Evil Paths. The Crying Elder had the strong influence in the West Regions. Therefore, Meng Qi felt that they were weak when he heard the Talent-accruing School and the Qin Zhou Sword Sect.
But he soon laughed at himself, noting that he was evicted from Shaolin. He seemed to be in a worse situation than those people.
He did not care about it. “It’s a relief for me to hang around without boundaries and pressure. Though I don’t belong to any sect, my friends do.”
“Which sect do you belong to?” Meng Qi asked.
Shangguan Han answered with pride, “My sect has the same origin as the ‘Afterglow Supersword School’.”
He added in case Meng Qi did not know, “The Afterglow Supersword School is one of the seven famous side sects of the Huanhua Swords Sect.”
“Luo Xia seemed too familiar… ” Meng Qi said in a low voice. He wanted to know more about the Stream-parting Sword Sect. His Senior Brother was one of the foreign affairs managers of the Huanhua Swords Sect, although his strong skill, Book of the Chaos, did not belong to the Huanhua Swords Sect.
Meng Qi continued to ask about the Talent-accruing School and the Mount Qin Sword Sect after a few words of praise.
Wu Qinxin was pleased with his attitude and said honestly, “Six years ago, a strange stone fell on the edge of Mount Qin. Hua Tiange, the leader of the Talent-accruing School and Ning Jidao, the head of the Mount Qin Sword Sect, almost arrived at it at the same time. They were both talents with Nine Apertures opened and wanted the stone. Finally, they decided that each sect would set three disciples to fight against. The winner could keep the strange stone for three years.
“At first, the Mount Qin Sword Sect took the upper hand and won the magic stone. That magic stone helped them a lot. However, it was not until they had the advantages of the strange stone that the second battle started. Hua Tiange said that his son, Hua Lun, belonged to the Zhen Yi School but helped with his affairs. He regarded his son as a half-disciple of the Talent-accruing School. Therefore, his son became a fighter. Then, Hua Lun opened two apertures. He defeated three disciples of the Mount Qin Sword Sect with Four Apertures. Ning Jidao was angry and his hair became white overnight,” Shangguan Han continued.
They went toward Qin Shan City while they were talking, and moved forward in the direction of Zeng Xian Mountain. Many people of Jianghu walked along the way and also gathered along the road. Obviously, most martial arts talents had come to watch the fight.
Most of them greeted Shangguan Han and pretended to know him. Shangguan Han kept smiling but did not show great interest.
Meng Qi was used to this situation and he asked, “Can Hua Lun fight again this time? It seems that you all support the Mount Qin Sword Sect.”
Meng Qi was more interested in the Zhen Yi School, the Side Sect of the Zhen Wu Sect, than the Family Zhang in Long Nan.
Wu Qinxin’s eyes became bright and she said slightly, “Three years ago, Huang Yun didn’t open his Ear Apertures and didn’t take part in the fighting. Now, he opened Six Apertures and advanced a lot in Sword Art. His Sword Art has the best part of Qin Shan Sword Art. He can fight against others by himself. He once won some competitions against some advanced old trainer of Three Mountains and Four Streams. He was also called ‘Flying Cloud Sword’. It’s said that the Side Sect of the Family Zhang in Long Nan supports him. They believe that he’ll be on the Ranking List of Young Masters. Hua Lun went out for traveling without many gains. He just opened Four Apertures. He wasn’t strong enough to compete against others, let alone his sword art.”
“There it is.” Meng Qi understood and he was eager to start the competition. He had always been a man who was interested in different things. He was busy recently or he would compete against a man who had a chance to be on the Ranking List of Young Masters. “What’s the difference that the Outsky Strange Stone makes?”
Shangguan Han answered with admiration, “The Side Sect of the Longnan Zhang and Elders of the Zhen Yi School both checked the stone. They believed there was the blood of an immortal from ancient times in the stone which could make some martial arts more clear and easy to learn. Everyone would understand different meanings of it when they watched. In the recent six years, the Mount Qin Sword Sect and the Talent-accruing School both added several advanced sword arts. Then Huang Yun dared to challenge different people at a higher level.”
“Advanced martial arts… Were the Side Sect of the Longnan Zhang and the Zhen Yi School not interested in it?” Meng Qi said with confusion.
“They certainly had interest in it. However, the martial arts was worn and not so clear. It was useless. They also didn’t want to lose face and just asked Elders and Disciples to check. They would also teach one of their disciples to win the competition, such as Huang Yun. It’s said that the Elders of the Side Sect of the Family Zhang taught him.” Shangguan Han was jealous of Huang Yun.
Wu Qinxin glanced at Senior Brother quickly and said, “Though he had an excellent teacher, he was talented, also. I heard that the Zhen Yi School and the Side Sect of the Longnan Zhang were not interested in watching. They just wanted to study this stone and know where it was from and where it was going to. They wanted to find the dead body of that immortal, which would be more helpful.”
Meng Qi nodded and continued to chat with those two people. Then, they arrived at the top of the mountain and stood in front of the Talent-accruing School.
The host had prepared hundreds of banquet items for the people of Jianghu. The hall was filled with a crowd.
Shangguan Han was a famous person in Three Mountains and Four Streams and many people greeted him along his way. Wu Qinxin was the daughter of the head of the Stream-parting Sword Sect. Many people also came and greeted her. However, Meng Qi was regarded as a servitor.
It was not easy for them to find a roundtable. And before they sat down, some people with martial arts beside the table greeted Shangguan Han and Wu Qinxin with big smiles. They also quickly said hello to Meng Qi.
“He is ‘Roving Sword’. His name is Meng Qi and he’s from the west.” Shangguan Han introduced him to others.
Those people with martial arts nodded to him and really did not care about him as they continued to chat with Shangguan Han and Wu Qinxin.
Meng Qi did not want to talk with them and so he just ate. Although Wu Qinxin had introduced them to Meng Qi before, he only remembered taking note of their strength. Some had opened Four Apertures and some had opened two. The others had the advanced success of Qi-cultivation. It was the reaction of Meng Qi after experiencing death.
Then, Hua Tiange, the leader of the Talent-accruing School, went out with his disciple. He was just 50 years old but looked like a 60-year-old man. His hair was almost white.
“He seems to be sad and anxious. I wonder why… ” Meng Qi glanced at him and thought.