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Xie Xun's wish was fulfilled; he voluntarily followed Abbess Miejue to become a monk at Emei, no longer concerning himself with worldly affairs. The feud between the Ming Cult and Emei was thus resolved.
With the Sacred Flame Token, Zhang Wuji gained the recognition of Fan Yao, Yin Tianzheng, Wei Yixiao, Xie Xun, and others, and the support of Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, and others, and succeeded as the thirty-fifth leader of the Ming Cult at Wudang Mountain.
The Prince of Ruyang's mansion invited masters of Tantric Buddhism, Mongolian martial arts experts, and many other martial arts figures from beyond the Great Wall to join forces with powerful bows and crossbows to blockade Wudang Mountain, determined to use this opportunity to annihilate the martial arts world of the Central Plains.
Chen Aniu led 500 cavalrymen to join forces with the heroes of Wudang, thwarting the Yuan court's plan. Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, Zhu Yuanzhang, and others returned to Anhui and led the Ming Cult's rebel army to rise up in Haozhou, agreeing to unite in conquering the world.
[Chen Aniu made a pact with Zhang Wuji at Wudang Mountain: 25,000 cavalry from the southern desert would enter Sichuan and join forces with the Ming Cult to attack the two lakes (Hubei and Hunan), and heroes from all over the world would join them.]
Chapter 162 The Final Battle and Departure
At the end of August, A Niu led 500 cavalrymen and arrived at Zhu Wu Lianhuan Village with the Ming Cult members.
Zhu Yuchen and Zhang Wuji had a long private conversation, and no one knows what they talked about. There are many different opinions about this matter. However, after the establishment of the new dynasty, Chen Aniu was granted the title of King of Mo Nan, and his lineage will continue for generations.
In September, with the support of the Ming Cult members, Zhang Wuji succeeded as the leader of the cult at Bright Peak, and then led the Five Elements Banners of the Ming Cult into the Central Plains.
With the support of A Niu's 20,000 cavalry and the secret assistance of the Emei Sect, the cavalry entered Sichuan and, together with Liu Futong and others, launched a pincer attack, breaking through Jianmen Pass and Sichuan, and subduing Fang Guozhen and others.
The following year, Zhang Wuji led 80,000 troops and 20,000 cavalry from Sichuan, advancing from west to east towards Hubei; Zhu Yuanzhang, Xu Da, Chang Yuchun and others led their troops westward from Haozhou, and the two sides joined forces in Hankou, completing the Ming Cult's combined forces.
The following June, the Ming Cult rebels fought a decisive battle with Chen Youliang's forces in Hunan. Zhang Wuji used the strategy of burning the linked ships from the Wumu Legacy to gather a hundred cannons and sink Chen Youliang's navy.
In September of the following year, the Ming Cult rebels broke through Jiangsu and entered Zhejiang, gathering other rebel armies and defeated soldiers from the south. They convened a meeting of rebel armies from all over the country in Nanjing to discuss matters.
After this battle, the wealthy lands of the south fell into the hands of the rebel army, and Zhang Wuji declared himself king in Jinling, a period known in history as the descent of the Ming King, with the country named "Ming".
………………
In July of the second year of Xinming, the world was at peace. Except for a few remote areas, most of the Central Plains had returned to tranquility and, having escaped the chaos of war, everything was thriving.
It was July, and in Jiangnan, the grass was growing and birds were singing, and all things were full of vitality. At this time, on the official road leading to Wudang, groups of martial arts practitioners with swords at their waists rode past on their horses.
In May of the second year of the Xinming era, a visiting card was sent from the Prince of Mo Nan's palace to Wudang Mountain, stirring up the hearts of people all over the world.
The invitation was sent to the universally acknowledged grandmaster of the time, and it read: "In July in Jiangnan, I will have a decisive battle with you at Wudang. The victor will ascend to heaven."
The news caused an uproar among heroes from all over the land, who flocked to Wudang Mountain to witness the event.
On the official road, one of the simple carriages was inconspicuous among the crowd. The driver was a burly man with thick eyebrows and big eyes, a kind face, a tough body, and an extraordinary aura. Anyone who saw him would call him a hero.
Upon arriving at the foot of Wudang Mountain, the carriage curtain was lifted, and an unremarkable young man dressed in blue glanced around indifferently, seemingly reminiscing about something.
The burly man driving the cart waited quietly to the side, and only followed behind the young man as he took his first steps, heading towards the top of Wudang Mountain.
Beneath the Sword-Unsheathing Stone, dozens of Wudang disciples stood silently at the foot of the mountain. As long as they were not carrying weapons, they could climb the mountain on their own. The mountain path was bustling with people, and countless people were talking amongst themselves.
Even those who have conflicts in normal times will at most snort and go up the mountain, never causing trouble here.
On the one hand, the new emperor's parents were both monks in Wudang Mountain, which had become the royal Taoist temple of the new dynasty; on the other hand, there was a universally recognized grandmaster in the martial arts world who was in charge of the temple, whose status was outstanding and who was highly respected.
Along the way, disciples from various sects, including Huashan, Qinghai, Kongtong, and the South China Sea, came to attend the gathering. More and more heroes from all over the world gathered, and the Taoist temples and side halls throughout Wudang Mountain were packed with people.
Zhu Yuchen and A Niu moved among the crowd of martial arts heroes, appearing inconspicuous. No one knew that one of them was the protagonist of the day, and the other was the King of Mo Nan of the new dynasty.
"Aniu, after this battle, I will probably have to leave, and we will never meet again. If you are not happy with this throne in the future, you can go overseas or move to Oubaluo!" Zhu Yuchen said as he went up the mountain.
Behind him, Ah Niu scratched his head, smiled憨厚ly, and said, "Young Master, haven't you always regretted not being able to travel the world? If you leave, after Si Yao gives birth to the child and the child grows up, I will go and travel the world in your place."
Zhu Yuchen smiled slightly, took out a book from his pocket, and said...
"That's fine then. Your ambitions don't lie here. It's too much to ask of you to be confined to this position."
"You've studied the Taoist scriptures quite well over the years, and there's nothing I can do to help you. Unfortunately, my own internal cultivation method requires too high a aptitude, so I can't pass it on to you."
"We were master and servant for a time. This 'Yin Yang Life and Death Ode' is a compilation of the essence of Quanzhen Martial Arts, Tai Chi, Nine Yin, Nine Yang, and the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth. Keep it for self-defense."
Ah Niu responded and put the manual into his pocket. By this time, they had arrived at the entrance of the Taihe Hall, where Song Yuanqiao and Abbess Miejue, along with disciples from the Wudang and Emei sects, had been waiting for a long time.
………………
"Amitabha, I never imagined that the day we would meet again would be the day you fought against Master Zhang. This old nun only wishes that both of you will be safe and sound," said Abbess Miejue, pressing her palms together.
Zhang Cuishan stood calmly to the side, but he couldn't hide the hint of hesitation in his eyes: "Senior, you and my master are both rare grandmasters. Do you really have to fight?"
Song Yuanqiao frowned and shouted, "Fifth Junior Brother! Be careful what you say and do!" stopping Zhang Cuishan from speaking.
Then he cupped his hands and said, "My master is already waiting at Zhenwu Cliff in the back mountain. Please follow me, senior!"
The group arrived at the back mountain, several hundred meters away from Zhenwu Cliff. This place had been sealed off by hundreds of elite soldiers, and Zhang Wuji and the leaders of various sects had gathered here.
Zhu Yuchen looked at the old Taoist priest at the edge of the cliff, took a step, and before everyone's eyes could see, a figure in green robes had appeared at the edge of the cliff.
Zhu Yuchen looked around and saw that the Taoist was still wearing his Taoist robe, which fluttered in the wind, looking carefree. Only his eyes seemed to have an unpredictable flow of yin and yang. He couldn't help but smile and said, "Your cultivation has made great progress. I am more confident in today's battle."
Zhang Sanfeng stroked his beard and looked at the young man before him, and asked curiously, "Your old friend once wrote to me, challenging me to a battle at Wudang. I wonder if you have any details to share?"
Zhu Yuchen looked at the withered pine tree on the cliff and said indifferently, "In the past, when I was in meditation, I received a spiritual revelation that if I wanted to leave this world, the only way was to fight against a True Person."
As he spoke, Zhu Yuchen's true energy circulated continuously, his entire body was fully extended, and his blue robes moved without wind. To outsiders, this was not noticeable, but to Zhang Sanfeng, the ethereal point behind him was constantly solidifying, but it was always just a little bit off.
“Fellow Daoist, your essence, energy, and spirit are all perfectly refined, you are about to enter the Daoist primordial spirit realm. I am overjoyed to see you here today, and to have you accompany me.” As Zhang Sanfeng spoke, a phantom Tai Chi Bagua diagram appeared behind him.
Zhu Yuchen couldn't help but sigh. Zhang Sanfeng truly deserved to be called a grandmaster, a figure rarely seen in a century. His progress was beyond his imagination; he had already caught up with the accumulation of several worlds of his own.
Before either side could make a single move, the collision of their true energy and primordial spirit had already begun. Everything around them seemed to be subjected to a tremendous force, with grass and trees bowing low and sand and stones flying everywhere.
In an instant, the sunlight around them seemed to dim for a moment. Just as the clouds obscured the sun, the two moved simultaneously.
Zhu Yuchen was as fast as lightning and as swift as thunder, creating a series of afterimages, as if there were countless versions of himself, each with a different move.
Zhang Sanfeng stood with his feet planted in the Bagua positions, and a figure appeared in all directions, front, back, left, right, and all sides. He mastered Tai Chi, the flow of Yin and Yang, borrowing and deflecting force, his power was as heavy as a thousand pounds. Every punch and palm strike could split mountains and shatter rocks.
The onlookers were suddenly overwhelmed by the densely packed figures, their vision shrinking, their minds racing, and they felt dizzy.
The two combatants disregarded everything else, unleashing a continuous barrage of attacks. Their energy was as soft and gentle as silk or rain, carving deep pits into the cliff face with each strike. At its most powerful moments, it was like a thunderbolt or a raging fire, blasting up streaks of rubble. Its force was incredibly swift, comparable to a crossbow or cannon.
In the blink of an eye, the battleground, spanning hundreds of acres, had sunk three feet and turned into scorched earth.
The two figures moved, and the crowd lost track of them, only able to watch as the phantoms overlapped and dissipated before their eyes.
After an unknown amount of time, Zhu Yuchen pointed his fingers together like a sword, and a point of light appeared from nothing, like a flash of light; it collided with the Yin and Yang energies that had condensed into a single point in Zhang Sanfeng's hand.
In an instant, like a sword light splitting the sky, the yin and yang energies broke apart, and a point of pitch black appeared in the chaos. Before the two could react, Zhang Sanfeng's figure had already been absorbed by that point of pitch black.
The next moment, Zhu Yuchen's figure flashed and disappeared in a streak of silver-white light.
Historical Records: In the second year of Xinming, there was a battle between two peerless grandmasters at Zhenwu Cliff in Wudang. They both ascended to heaven, and thereafter martial arts flourished in the world.
Chapter 163 The person had just woken up and was in the mourning hall.
When Su Yuchen woke up again, he found himself back to the age of fourteen or fifteen, dressed in mourning clothes and kneeling in a mourning hall.
Kneeling beside him was a boy of about twelve or thirteen years old, looking bewildered. He occasionally glanced over with an expression of ignorance, probably not understanding what a mourning hall was!
Su Yuchen smiled slightly at the child and patted his head. The little boy seemed a little disappointed and shy, and quietly lowered his head.
Su Yuchen lowered his head and continued kneeling silently to the side, his consciousness sinking into his sea of consciousness to review the narration...
[In the battle at Wudang, two immortals ascended to heaven; you have once again created a legend.]
You encountered spatial fragments created by the shattering of the world; you were torn apart by space itself.
[The illusory spirit cannot traverse the chaotic flow of time and space. The system has automatically activated, and the journey is underway...]
[System automatically selects 'anchor point', selection in progress... Initiating travel...]
Recalling the previous scene, Su Yuchen sighed inwardly. Apart from the silvery-white light, he still couldn't see anything.
"My cultivation level is insufficient!"
Sighing to himself, Su Yuchen came back to his senses, feeling the numbness and pain in his legs and the passage of time. He couldn't help but wonder: There wasn't a single worshipper?
He raised his head and looked around. He glanced outside the mourning hall and estimated that it was at least twenty or thirty meters from the hall to the main entrance. Apart from the four servants at the entrance of the mourning hall and two servants at the main entrance, there was no one else along the way.
Su Yuchen remained expressionless, but he already understood that this house was probably just an empty shell now.
Directly opposite him was a small old man in a wheelchair, staring blankly at the coffin, occasionally letting out a soft sigh, shaking his head and sighing.
When his eyes met Su Yuchen's, the old man was slightly taken aback, then turned his head and stared blankly at the seat at the head of the table.
Su Yuchen could see the resentment, loneliness, surprise, and disappointment in the old man's eyes.
She quietly raised her head. Hmm? Very good. Two coffins were placed side by side. Although she couldn't see the memorial tablets on the altar, she could see the characters for 'father' and 'mother' from her position. Clearly, the deceased must have been the original owner's parents!
Excellent! Really excellent! The protagonist's parents die at the very beginning, a classic case of a destined protagonist starting out.
At that moment, Su Yuchen felt he understood the old man's gaze.
The resentment likely stems from the bitterness of outliving one's child; the desolation is evident in the arrangement of the mourning hall. Although it is a setting befitting the wealthy and powerful, with its towering corridors, expansive courtyards, and vermilion-lacquered carved beams, there are only a few scattered servants. This suggests that the family has begun to decline, and this is a sense of helplessness in the face of its decline.
Surprise! This only happened when they made eye contact. It seems the old man is either dissatisfied with the original owner of this body, or he finds it strange that I am behaving differently!
But it doesn't matter. After all, everyone who has lost both their father and mother in childhood will be different to some extent. Even if their behavior is different, it won't arouse suspicion.
"I'm definitely destined to be a protagonist; God has already arranged the reason for me." Su Yuchen silently gave himself a thumbs up.
The sense of loss might stem from the thought of being a crippled old man with two young children, and perhaps he no longer has the confidence to revive his family.
In the blink of an eye, Su Yuchen's mind raced, countless thoughts swirling within him. With a clear and discerning Dao heart, his thoughts flashed like lightning, and he had already understood everything within the mourning hall.
Upon examining his body with his divine sense, he found a slightly sharp true qi lying dormant in his dantian. Though weak, it was resilient; though small, it was strong. Although it was not pure qi, it was still a superior qi cultivation method. It seemed to be from a martial arts family.
Right now, the most important thing is to figure out the original owner's background, since I can't pretend to have amnesia.
………………
After a long while, a look of surprise and doubt appeared on Su Yuchen's face. It had been three or four quarters of an hour already! And not a single person had come to the door!
Such a significant event couldn't have gone unnoticed by the family, yet no one came to pay their respects. Was this out of resentment? Or were they all waiting to see the spectacle unfold?
The old man seemed to understand something. Just as Su Yuchen was lost in thought, the old man slapped the armrest, turned the wheelchair around, and sighed, "Yuchen, help your brother Jifeng up. Probably... no one will come!"
As he spoke, two tears involuntarily rolled down the corners of the old man's eyes, but he covered them with his sleeve!
Su Yuchen was taken aback, realizing that he was being called. It seemed that this body was also named Yuchen, but he didn't know what the surname was. He answered and picked up the little boy next to him. Hmm, this child's name is Jifeng.
Only when I stood up did I see the memorial tablets on the altar: Father: Yi Tianfeng, Mother: Ji Yanran.
"So the original owner's surname was Yi, Yi Yuchen, Yi Jifeng." Yi Yuchen thought to himself, then paused slightly.
"Yi Jifeng?" Yi Yuchen glanced at the little boy in his arms. The name sounded familiar. Then, the paralyzed old man opposite him—wasn't that Yi Yun? Was this the world of "Young Zhang Sanfeng"? A TV drama?
Just as Yi Yuchen was roughly figuring out his current identity, the old man quietly wiped away his tears and rallied. He looked up at the sky, his brow furrowed, and muttered to himself, "I never thought that I, Yi Yun, would have such a day. How can I, an old man, bury my son? How can I face the ancestors of Mingjian Manor?"
As he spoke, the old man's energy visibly diminished, clearly indicating a great emotional upheaval. He slapped the power button to turn it off, and the wheelchair started moving automatically.
Having confirmed the old man's identity and his current location, Yi Yuchen breathed a sigh of relief. Holding Yi Jifeng's hand, he followed behind the wheelchair. An old man dressed as a servant quietly followed behind. Yi Yuchen glanced at him; he was probably a butler or something similar.
The path winds through covered walkways, with vermilion pavilions and orchid towers, and precious plants and trees are everywhere, yet it gives off a somber and gloomy feeling. The carved beams and painted rafters of the courtyards, the deep silence of the vegetation, and the few servants and maids all speak volumes.
The group walked silently, none of them speaking. Yi Yuchen remained expressionless as they followed the others around the covered walkway to a side hall.
It seems to have truly declined; there were only a few servants along the way, and after we sat down, only one servant served us tea, and no one else appeared.
The old man was lost in thought again. Yi Yuchen seized the opportunity to check the narration prompts that had appeared on the way here...
You were born into the once-powerful but now declining martial arts family, Mingjian Manor. Your parents are deceased, and only you and your brother, along with your grandfather Yi Yun, remain of the once-great family.
Your grandfather, Yi Yun, was defeated by the carefree king in a battle years ago, and was crippled in both legs, making it difficult for him to walk. His martial arts skills were also greatly diminished.
You also have an uncle, Yi Tianxing, but he went to wander the martial world many years ago. He is a disgrace to the Famous Sword Manor.
Why, you ask? Because your uncle, at your parents' wedding, openly tried to steal your sister-in-law from the bride's family, making the already declining Mingjian Manor an even bigger laughingstock in the martial arts world.
[Your father, Yi Tianfeng, had to endure humiliation and bear the ridicule of the world to continue moving forward for the sake of the family's greater good, but his inner torment led to his untimely death.]
[Your mother was openly forced to marry by her own brother-in-law, becoming a laughingstock. Countless rumors and slanders tarnished her reputation, making her unacceptable to the martial arts world and disgraced by her own family.]
[Your mother grew increasingly thin and depressed as a result, and finally passed away after giving birth to your younger brother Yi Jifeng. She passed away happily, because she was no longer burdened by the stigma of "adultery between uncle and sister-in-law."]
Your father has passed away, and your grandfather is disabled. Right now, outside the gate, tigers and wolves gather, and ghosts roam freely. Everyone wants to obtain the peerless sword techniques of the Famous Sword Manor and become famous throughout the world. You have become the target of everyone's hatred.
[The body will lie in state for seven days. Countless ghosts and demons will come to test you at night. Survive the seven days, and use your sword and blood to prove the prestige of the Famous Sword Manor, prove your identity, and become the true master of the Famous Sword Manor.]
Chapter 164 The First Night
"This is truly... an incredibly lucky start!" Yi Yuchen's lips twitched. Fortunately, this body had already practiced martial arts, otherwise he wouldn't know how to explain it to the old man.
Could it be that he was possessed by a ghost? Or was he a reincarnation of an immortal? I'm afraid the old man's first action would be to cleave himself in two with a sword to protect his eldest grandson.
As for why no one came to pay their respects, well, Yi Yuchen knew these people were probably all waiting. Some were waiting to see the joke, some were waiting to climb over the wall at night to "pay their respects," and some were waiting to see the final outcome before making a decision.
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