Why do I have so many masters?-Chapter 354 - 50 Chapter Fufeng Blade Madman, Coming into the World (Part 1) (1/2)

The carriage, compared to using qinggong or riding a fast horse, was naturally much slower, especially with Chuan Lian, an ill passenger like this, on board.

Even though Meng Yuexue had set out from that small town quite early, after two hours, they had covered less than thirty percent of the journey.

The young girl looked up at the sky and calculated in her heart, feeling that even if they could reach Xi Dingzhou City today, it would probably be too late to find an inn.

The pharmacies would likely be closed as well.

Despite Wang Anfeng suggesting they consult the books in Wind Character Tower, the young girl hadn’t given up on other efforts. She still hoped to find useful medicine for her senior brother in the pharmacies of Xi Dingzhou City.

With a sigh, she slowly withdrew her gaze. Meng Yuexue’s eyes unintentionally swept past a pavilion not far away, and her expression suddenly froze.

Her right hand lifted, instinctively grasping the hilt of her sword at her waist, her thumb pressing on the guard. With just a slight effort, an inch of the blade was already exposed.

The girl’s eyes were firmly fixed on that pavilion.

This area was usually a willow grove; each spring, the willow branches would dance lightly, rolling and extending for miles in an unending beautiful scene.

The wealthy households from nearby villages had funded the construction of a small pavilion, first to provide a place for passersby to appreciate the scenery and compose poetry, and second, to offer travelers a place to rest when the scenery was not particularly impressive.

But now, around the pavilion stood more than a dozen tall steeds.

Each horse was entirely black, majestic and extraordinary. Atop each one sat a stern-faced, large man. Even though their faces were not identical, they seemed as though they were carved from the same mold; their aura was cold and sharp, murderous, with half-closed eyes in meditation, the left hand holding the reins, the right hand resting on the hilt of their war blades at the waist.

Those blades were unsheathed.

Meng Yuexue pursed her lips.

Since her childhood in a major sect of Jianghu, she never lacked for elixirs and, through countless dangers and battles after entering Jianghu, had forced her potential and broke through to an Eighth Rank Internal Strength Martial Body.

In any ordinary city, she would already be among the strongest.

But every person in that pavilion seemed to possess martial arts no weaker than hers, and the cold murderous intent that lingered around their bodies was far from what she could compare with.

The young girl subconsciously tightened the reins.

The horses pulling the carriage were nothing more than common nags. Sensing those more than ten burly men, they were unwilling to move forward and now conveniently stopped in their tracks.

Meng Yuexue pursed her lips, her heart having regained calm. Seeing that those men seemed to be waiting for someone and had not noticed her, she made no odd movements. Lifting her hand, she pulled on the reins. After two years of travel, her skill at driving a horse had become quite impressive.

The carriage made only a slight noise as it turned in the opposite direction on the main road, intending to simply turn around and head towards Fufeng City.

But it seemed that this minute sound had its effect.

The eyes of the leading martial artist, which had been half-closed, suddenly shot open, as if a bolt of lightning had struck the ground. Meng Yuexue’s heart clenched, and without regard for concealment, she raised her whip and called out sharply.

"Drive!"

A whisper of Inner Strength infused in the whip landed heavily on the nag.

Startled by the impact, the horse neighed and bolted forward at a considerable speed, unexpectedly matching that of a regular fine horse.

Atop the carriage, Meng Yuexue’s lips were tightly pressed, her complexion slightly pale, knowing her actions might have been rash. But in her two years in Jianghu, she had witnessed much.

The Jianghu martial artists she had battled before were far from a match for the men at the pavilion.

If they were to engage in combat, she feared that in less time than it takes an incense stick to burn, the latter could slaughter those Jianghu men thoroughly, emerging unscathed themselves.

She couldn’t take the risk with Chuan Lian in her care.

Her intention was to leave quietly, but who could have anticipated that those martial artists would charge directly towards her?

The young girl pursed her lips and drew her longsword from its sheath.

In an instant, the pounding of hooves erupted by her ears—a continuous thunder. With the road being desolate and no other travelers in sight, the black horses flew past the carriage like flood dragons racing across the plains, their hooves stirring up dust as they quickly overtook her, running back and forth to form a circle, forcing the carriage to halt.

The leading man was a stocky brute armed with a battlesword, his head covered by a broad-brimmed hat. By pulling the reins with his left hand, his robust horse suddenly reared up, pawing the void a few steps before firmly landing. Relying solely on his Physical Strength, he forcefully restrained his mount, then soothing it with his hand before turning towards the young girl to give a courteous bow and said in a measured voice:

"Excuse the disturbance."

Meng Yuexue looked at the man without any hint of submission, tugged the reins tighter, and asked,

"In broad daylight, I wonder why this Hero stops a poor girl like me? What is the matter?"

The man chuckled and replied,

"An ordinary poor girl wouldn’t possess such fine martial arts, nor such courage."

"Do not be alarmed, young lady, I simply wish to inquire something."

"Are you perhaps heading to Xi Dingzhou City before turning northward to Fufeng County City?"

Meng Yuexue’s heart skipped a beat, but her face showed no sign, replying simply,

"So what if I am?"

The man laughed aloud,

"Looks like I’m not mistaken."

"Hahaha, Miss Meng, you’re dressed as a man right now, and for a moment, I wasn’t quite sure."

Meng Yuexue was taken aback when he called out her surname, not yet responding when those thirteen martial artists at least of the Eighth Rank suddenly slapped their saddles in unison, neatly flipping off their horses onto the ground with a slap, then bowed towards the bewildered young girl in perfect synchrony.

An intense murderous aura surged skyward.

The leading Seventh Rank expert raised his eyes slightly and spoke gravely,

"My name is Li San, currently using the alias Li Yan."

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"By the command of our Young Master, we have come to escort you to Fufeng City."

Meng Yuexue looked around at these seasoned warriors, remembering the approachable young man, and recalled the previous day when she asked if he would change direction and head to Fufeng County City, he lifted his cup of tea, his lips curling into a light laugh, and said,

"Miss, you will understand when the time comes."

By now... she indeed understood.

Meng Yuexue pursed her lips, glancing around, and for a moment felt an extreme sense of unreality, murmuring:

"Young Master?!"

...

In the small town.

Wang Anfeng compensated by cooking some sweet soybeans and personally fed them to the red horse, which had been pecked miserably by an old hen earlier. The horse had been aloof towards Wang Anfeng just before, but now wagged its tail like a domesticated dog, eagerly eating from the youth’s hand.

After the horse finished eating, Wang Anfeng patted its body, mounted it, and took a distant look in that direction, his eyes narrowing slightly.

He wondered if the people sent by Gongsun had met up with Miss Meng.

I told him not to send too many people, um... there shouldn’t be any problems.

His thoughts scattered, Wang Anfeng lightly tapped his right foot against the mount’s belly, prompting the red, slender horse to step forward with a snort. Though it didn’t exert its true speed, it also didn’t deliberately trip, moving slightly faster than ordinary horses.

After setting off, Wang Anfeng discerned his direction and headed towards a nearby larger county city.

Dressed in black vigorous attire and carrying the Mo Blade on his back, his expression was cold.

Meng Yuexue and her companion went to Fufeng County City.

And he had his own business to attend to.

To redirect the focus of the Martial Artists in the Immortal Pavilion from Meng Yuexue and her companion to himself, he needed to do something.

For instance, leverage the situation.

Leverage the current trends of Jianghu to force Immortal Pavilion’s hand, to make them shift their attention from Meng Yuexue to him. Otherwise, Immortal Pavilion’s reputation would be tarnished in Fufeng’s martial world.

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Wang Anfeng reconsidered his plan and carefully folded the letter Gongsun Jing had handed over the previous night, tucking it into his chest.

In the city ahead, there was a branch of the Immortal Pavilion.

Their strongest member was at the peak of the Seventh Rank.

The youth narrowed his eyes and held the reins, coaxing the red, slender horse to move forward at a slow pace. The abundant Vital Energy he had acquired from Zhao Guang still lingered, constituting over ninety percent of his reserves, flowing slowly like the Yangtze River through his meridians.

...

In the city, at the branch of the Immortal Pavilion.

Since the Fire Refining Sect closed its gates, the Immortal Pavilion had risen rapidly. After several battles, it had become one of the three major sects in Fufeng’s martial world, with considerable power. Its disciples were well-versed in medicine, so their headquarters were quite luxurious, rivaling the wealth of city-dwelling families for generations.

In the backyard of this place.

A middle-aged man in grey stood with his hands behind his back, in front of him knelt a row of children, around seven or eight years old, their expressions severely restrained.

The middle-aged man glanced over them and said indifferently:

"If you wish to join the Immortal Pavilion, you must pass certain tests."

"The Jianghu is dangerous, and it’s not easy to enter, from today onward you are the outer disciples of the Immortal Pavilion."

"With a period of three years, we will teach you Qinggong movement techniques and basic pharmacology. After three months, when the weather warms up, you will go into the mountains to gather herbs. There will be a test every month and the least amount of herbs gathered will result in elimination."

"After three years, the remaining disciples may officially join the Sect."

A few of the youths exhaled slightly upon hearing this.

One of them whispered to the person next to him:

"I thought it would be much harder."

"It’s just gathering herbs. Once we’ve mastered Qinggong, zipping up and down, what herbs can’t we gather?"

"Yes."

"I always thought that the trials of the Immortal Pavilion were dangerous, but it seems it’s not much after all."

The man in grey stood with his hands behind his back, treating these murmurs as if he hadn’t heard them. The Great Qin spans a vast land, with many mountains and rivers where precious herbs grow on sheer cliffs. If sect disciples were sent to gather them, first, there wouldn’t be enough disciples to do so efficiently, secondly, it would disperse the sect’s martial strength too much.

Therefore, they recruited a large number of outer disciples. After three months of teaching, they sent them to the mountains to gather herbs. With enough disciples, even if each could only gather one plant every three days, it was still considerable, enough to sustain the sect’s consumption.

As to whether they would fall off cliffs in their haste to avoid elimination, that wasn’t their concern.

This was a trade after all.

The man’s expression became more indifferent.

Outside this branch, on the long and wide street.

A red, slender horse came to a stop.

A young Martial Artist in black attire sat atop the horse, looking up at the gilded signboard, muttering under his breath:

"Immortal Pavilion..."

His left hand rose, slowly gripping the hilt of the Mo Blade on his back.

His fingers moved rhythmically.

Then they gripped tightly.

PS: First update delivered...