The two of them did not hide their voices, and Yu Qing was not deaf, so he immediately shouted at the two, “I am the sect leader, could I harm you?”
In response to this statement, the two senior brothers did not even turn their heads. Giving no response at all was the greatest response, letting the person reflect on his own.
Most people in the world cannot see their own flaws, they only stare at others’ mistakes. Yu Qing’s current temperament could hardly avoid this vulgarity, and naturally he was the same. He muttered curses at his two senior brothers for a while, venting his own dissatisfaction.
Of course, he also rather blamed his little martial uncle in his heart. After all, he was the sect leader, so why did his little martial uncle guard against him like a thief…
Days passed one by one. Hiding in a place even more remote than Linglong Temple, with high mountains and dangerous roads, ordinary people would not normally come here. The three senior brothers had managed to live quite freely.
When they had free time, cultivation was still the priority.
Nan Zhu sat cross-legged for long periods. His cultivation was about to break through to the Upper Martial realm, so he was rather diligent in his practice.
Mu Aotie often trained his body bare-chested.
Yu Qing continued to cultivate his “Peerless Sword Art.”
Although he was somewhat worried that the problem his little martial uncle mentioned might appear, he still could not resist trying to cultivate. Indeed, feeling that this sword art was rather advanced was an important reason. He had already felt its benefits. To give it up just like that would truly be a case of giving up eating for fear of choking.
He did want to find someone to be a test subject, but he was unwilling to give it freely to outsiders. If it was truly a good thing with no problems, would he not be taking advantage of outsiders? So he wanted his own people to be test subjects. Who would have thought his own people would guard against him like a thief, refusing to be test subjects.
After thinking it over, he had no choice but to take it easy himself. He secretly warned himself that if he discovered anything wrong, he would immediately stop cultivating in this area.
Unfortunately, for this sword art, no matter how he practiced, he could hardly make any progress in the short term.
Thirty-six swords merged into one. At present, he had only practiced to the point where he could seal and kill with six swords in one breath, coordinated with the Dragon Swimming Body Technique.
Do not underestimate sealing and killing with six swords in one breath. When he left Youjiao Port and was robbed, his six-sword seal and kill in one breath had once forced a Xuan-level cultivator into a fluster.
Although that Xuan-level cultivator had underestimated him and was caught off guard, it still sufficiently illustrated some points.
What if he could strike one more sword?
It was not simply striking one more sword. It had to be one more sword within one breath, within a short time. Otherwise, the extra sword would have no power.
One extra sword in one breath meant the opponent had to defend against one extra sword in one breath.
This extra sword attack was often fatal.
If one could block six swords in one breath, what if there were two, three, four, or five extra swords in one breath? Or what if there were thirty-six swords in one breath?
If he truly cultivated to the point of thirty-six swords as one, Yu Qing himself could hardly imagine what realm that would be. Thirty-six swords in one breath, would that not mean swords everywhere around his body, able to both protect and harm?
And this was only the first move of mastering the sword art.
The second move simplified the complex, eighteen swords as one.
The third move was reduced to nine swords as one.
The fourth move was streamlined to three swords as one.
The fifth move, once the sword was drawn, only one sword remained.
The sixth move, nowhere without a sword!
The sixth move’s sword art only contained things that could be understood but not expressed in words. Without nearing that realm, one probably could not understand it anyway. In any case, Yu Qing did not understand what “nowhere without a sword” meant. What he could imagine and comprehend was only the fifth move. Imagining the boldness of drawing one sword to defend against enemies!
Shua! Once the sword was drawn, the matter was settled. Just thinking about it felt great.
However, he could only think about it. At present, for the first move’s thirty-six swords, he could only seal and kill with six swords in one breath. He was currently striving toward the seventh sword.
After cultivating day after day for nearly a month, he felt he had already touched the threshold of the seventh sword.
For the time being, what he cultivated was still the basic skills of the sword art. What he cultivated was still the sword-drawing speed coordinated with body techniques. At this stage, as long as his reaction speed was fast, as long as he practiced diligently, he could achieve it.
Precisely because of such diligent practice, Yu Qing had faintly sensed that if he truly cultivated to the point of thirty-six swords in one breath, the fusion between himself and the sword would be, if not transcendent, certainly extraordinary. At that time, the mutual understanding between man and sword should also reach another realm.
That day, he also practiced his sword bare-chested in the mountains. He suddenly saw Nan Zhu wandering over while looking around, and immediately stopped to ask, “What is it?”
Nan Zhu did not know what kind of ghost thing the sword art he cultivated was. The same moves practiced over and over for more than a month, and he had not seen any flowers bloom from it. He looked around strangely and said, “Datou refuses to boil water again, and won’t eat spirit rice either.”
Yu Qing responded with an “Oh.” “It probably wants to gnaw bones again. Just find some bones to change its appetite. We have not tasted meat for a long time either. Go get some wild game.”
Nan Zhu: “I am looking. The strange thing is, have you noticed that on this mountain of ours, there seem to be no birds or beasts? We cannot even see snakes, insects, rats, or ants.”
Yu Qing: “Is there something wrong with your eyes? Don’t we often see birds flying around?” As he spoke, he pointed toward a mountain slope below, pointing at a bird flying around. The two of them watched as the bird landed on a large tree on the mountain.
Nan Zhu: “Not counting nearby mountains. I mean this highest mountain where we are. We have been here so long. Have you seen birds or beasts land on this mountain?”
Yu Qing: “Shouldn’t we see them often?”
Nan Zhu asked back, “Are you sure you have seen them?”
Asked like this, Yu Qing also became somewhat uncertain.
Naturally wanting to verify this afterwards, the two called Mu Aotie to join them, and the three wandered around the mountain together.
They walked up and down everywhere. They wandered until it was dark before reaching a conclusion. Below the mountainside, there were animals. Above the mountainside, they could not see any. And truly, there were not even snakes, insects, rats, or ants.
Previously thinking they had seen some was actually their own illusion. What they had seen were all from other surrounding places.
After the three returned to the cave, they did not figure out the reason. They themselves did not feel any bodily discomfort. They could only suspect it was related to the entrance to the immortal’s cave dwelling…
Another month or so later, one early morning, thin mist shrouded the mountains. Yu Qing walked down the mountain with his hands behind his back, preparing to catch two fish from the rapids at the mountain foot to make soup. Not to mention Datou, people were the same, occasionally wanting to change their palate.
As he walked, the hands behind his back lowered. He also stopped. He gazed at the lingering mountain mist. Then he hid behind a large tree. After gazing and observing for a while, he turned around and ran, quickly heading up the mountain.
He ran back to the cave. Seeing Nan Zhu strolling at the cave entrance, he quickly called out, “People are coming. Quickly pack up and withdraw.”
Nan Zhu was stunned, “What people?”
Yu Qing: “I don’t know. In any case, quite a few people are coming, groups heading up the mountain. Let’s move our nest and avoid them first, see the situation before deciding. You pack up. I’ll go inform Old Ninth.”
Nan Zhu hurriedly said, “Okay.”
He busily fumbled about. Yu Qing rushed to where Mu Aotie was practicing. He discovered this ninth senior brother was indeed having a standoff with a large rock.
After explaining the same situation, the two senior brothers quickly returned.
Nan Zhu had already helped pack up their things. The three put their bundles on their backs, quickly crossed over the mountain peak, and ran in a different direction.
However, before reaching the mountainside, Yu Qing raised his hand to stop. After staring at the mountain mist for a while, he cursed in a low voice, “Damn, many people came this way too. Go, change route.”
Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie were alarmed and uncertain, not knowing how he determined there were people in this direction too, but they still followed him and ran.
This time they did not cross the mountain peak. They wanted to go around, wanted to find a direction with no people to descend the mountain.
However, after circling more than half way, they could not find any gap to exploit. The three senior brothers not only failed to descend the mountain, but were forced up the mountain instead.
“I say, Old Fifteenth, running around everywhere like this, panting like a dog, what exactly are you trying to do? Are you sure…”
Nan Zhu, panting heavily, spoke half his sentence, not yet finished, when he discovered Yu Qing had stopped. He also shut his mouth. He and Mu Aotie also stopped. They saw a group of people standing on the mountain.
A group of grey-clothed people. One look at their attire and the three senior brothers understood. They were people from the Sinan Mansion.
Judging by the momentum of their people successively ascending the mountain, at least a thousand people from Sinan Mansion had come.
The leader was thin in build, his cheeks so thin there was no flesh, like a skull. His skin tone was dark, his eyes bright and piercing. It was precisely Meng Po, who commanded the Front Division of Sinan Mansion.
After Jianyuan Mountain, he had once again personally led people here.
Standing beside him were a man and a woman whom Yu Qing recognized. The man was Xu Juening, the woman was Tang Bulan.
Xu Juening pointed at Yu Qing and said something beside Meng Po.
Yu Qing could guess what was being said. Definitely identifying him as “A Shiheng.”
Before they could recover their senses here, there was another large group rushing up from behind. The three turned to look. It was a group of people in various attire. Among them were two people all three of them actually knew, Right Lingluo, the steward of the Blue Sea Shipping Line, and his subordinate Meng Wei.
However, it was obvious that neither of the two was the decision-maker among these arrivals. The leader was clearly a person shrouded in a cloak.
Facing the large number of Sinan Mansion personnel, this group did not rush forward. Right Lingluo was also pointing at the three Yu Qing brothers, clearly reporting to the cloaked leader.
Immediately after, a large number of giant flying birds suddenly swept across the sky, at least a hundred of them, their formation astonishing. After flying past, they circled above.
Then on the other side of the mountain, a large number of people emerged. One look at their attire and it was clear they should all be demon cultivators.
The leader was precisely the Third Cave Master from Qianliu Mountain who had appeared at Jianyuan Mountain. Beside him was a woman in red who was actually an old acquaintance of the three Yu Qing brothers, the great chief guard of Jianyuan Mountain, Liu Piaopiao.
Liu Piaopiao had an appearance of having no particular friendship with them. She was also pointing at Yu Qing and reporting something to that Third Cave Master, clearly also identifying Yu Qing.
The three senior brothers were a bit dumbfounded. This scene from heaven to earth was clearly aimed at them.
The three understood at a glance. This time, even if they had wings, it would be hard to escape.
The problem was, they themselves felt very insignificant, very weak. Was it worth deploying such a huge formation to deal with their three pieces of trash?
This scene scared them badly. They did not even dare to breathe heavily, looking pitiful and helpless.
What they did not understand was why so many people knew where they were, and moreover, Sinan Mansion, the Yin Kingdom, and the demon realm had all swarmed here together.
The three senior brothers discovered they themselves were idiots. They had self-righteously hidden for so long, but it turned out they had hidden in vain. Look around, how many people must have known about their hiding place?