Chapter 3 Liyang Grand Gathering: Ling Qingqiu Leans Alone on His Long Sword

On the Feitai Danpu Waterfall, a platform for volunteers and a platform for spectators had already been set up. Volunteers and spectators stood in batches. Zhou Ziheng stood at the very end of the line, looking around for familiar figures.

It's called a "battle platform," but it's really just a simple training platform with a few additional pillars.

On the stage, Li Jin's face was ruddy, showing no sign of his impending death. He said loudly, "Thank you all for gracing this conference. I'm sure all of you heroes of the martial world know that this conference is for the inheritance of my Gu Liyang Sword Technique."

Zhou Ziheng looked at Li Jin, only to find him all alone. Li Zhiheng was nowhere to be seen, and even Fu Chenyu, whom he was looking for, was nowhere to be found.

Li Jin was still giving his pre-conference speech, speaking eloquently and with great style.

Zhou Ziheng was too lazy to listen anymore. He only listened to a brief mention of the competition, and after understanding it, he began to clear his mind.

Just as he was lost in thought, Fu Chenyu appeared behind Zhou Ziheng and patted him on the shoulder.

"Brother Ziheng, why are you standing here in a daze all by yourself?"

Zhou Ziheng sighed: "Brother Chenyu, you've finally hit the nail on the head—I've been waiting for you!"

Fu Chenyu asked in surprise, "Wait for me? What do you mean by that?"

Zhou Ziheng put his arm around Fu Chenyu, and the two left the group and walked to a secluded spot in the mountain stream. Only then did he slowly speak: "To be honest, I am not very talented and my swordsmanship is mediocre. I am waiting for you, naturally to learn the true essence of Liyang swordsmanship."

In the Liyang Tournament, not only must one stand out from the many challengers, but one must also withstand ten moves from Li Jin to be considered successful.

Fu Chenyu glanced at the unarmed Zhou Ziheng and chuckled: "Brother Ziheng, are you so confident that you can definitely face my godfather?"

"I haven't seen Brother Ziheng's weapon yet. Could it be hiding a great secret?"

Zhou Ziheng stroked his chin, paced a few steps, and then put his hands behind his back, perfectly portraying a confident yet hesitant knight-errant.

"Confidence, not much, but there is some." He sighed and looked up at the sky. "The main thing is that I have a dream in my heart and plan ahead."

Fu Chenyu lowered his eyes: "I understand. But Brother Ziheng really miscalculated. How could I, an adopted son with mediocre talent, possibly come into contact with the true essence of the Liyang Sword Technique?"

Zhou Ziheng was about to speak again when Li Zhiheng's voice came from the mountain stream.

The other person's voice was faint, as if it were high in the sky, but it gradually became clearer as it approached: "Brother Ziheng, you've really made a mistake! Fu Chenyu and I know nothing about the Liyang Sword Technique. You'll have to ask my father about this!"

The voice grew closer, gradually revealing Li Zhiheng's true appearance.

Soon, Zhou Ziheng understood why his voice sounded weak—

Li Zhiheng was held in Huo Qin's hand, his limbs flailing helplessly, making him look like a frog.

Zhou Ziheng couldn't help but laugh: "Young Master, your entrance is quite unique."

Li Zhiheng dared not speak his anger, but silently glared at Huo Qin and muttered, "Being controlled by others, being controlled by others, it's inevitable to be a bit pathetic."

Upon seeing Huo Qin again, who was even so "intimate" with Li Zhiheng, Zhou Ziheng quickly realized what "methods" he had used to get up the mountain.

"Brother Huo, you've deceived me so badly. I was even terrified to keep your secret."

Huo Qin pretended not to understand and continued, "It's alright, I'm going up the mountain legitimately today, you don't need to keep it a secret."

“By the way,” Li Zhiheng interrupted Huo Qin and Zhou Ziheng’s reminiscing, “the conference seems to have already begun. Don’t we have any volunteers here?”

Zhou Ziheng glanced at Fu Chenyu. He already knew that Huo Qin had a spectator's invitation, and Li Zhiheng, that good-for-nothing, wouldn't ask to fight anyway. That left only Fu Chenyu's identity.

Fu Chenyu smiled wryly: "Why is Brother Ziheng looking at me? I have no invitation to fight."

...

On the platform where people volunteered, Li Jin was collecting the posts one by one.

"Forty-seven, forty-eight... Wait a minute, didn't I send out fifty volunteer requests?" He counted again and again, making sure he was right. "How come two are missing?"

"I'm so sorry I'm late."

Zhou Ziheng arrived late, his steps light, and before the fallen leaves had even fallen from the treetops to the ground, he had already reached the platform for requesting the challenge.

This speed happens in the blink of an eye!

Li Jin was impressed by this arrogant young man. He quickly took the letter of request for battle from Zhou Ziheng and saw that the signature ended with four characters.

Li Jin was somewhat bewildered. He blinked and looked at it again in disbelief.

...I think I didn't see it wrong.

He opened his mouth, but no sound came out for a long time.

Zhou Ziheng found it strange, thinking that Li Jin was waiting for the last letter of request to fight, so he kindly explained: "Valley Master Li, there is no need to wait for the last person. My junior sister went out to have fun and has disappeared without a trace."

Li Jin: "..."

My confident words from three days ago kept echoing in my mind:

"Of the three heroes, only Huo Qin ventured into the martial world at an early age. The other two are disciples of the Holy Mountain, living in seclusion and looking down on our swordsmanship."

"They look down on our swordsmanship..."

"I don't like it..."

The newcomer was none other than one of the Three Heroes, the Sword Master of the Mortal World!

The junior sister Zhou Ziheng mentioned was naturally the last one, Mei Ji Xi Bingyi.

The slap in the face came so quickly, so unexpectedly.

Li Jin forced a smile: "Red Dust Sword Master, how come you've taken a fancy to such a trivial Liyang sword technique?"

Despite being a junior, Zhou Ziheng patted Li Jin on the shoulder earnestly: "It's just a feeling, Valley Master Li, don't panic."

Li Jin's thin body trembled in the mountain wind.

However, no matter how many defenses are breached, the conference will proceed as scheduled.

According to the tournament's schedule, the first part is a competition between the challengers, which emphasizes stopping short of defeat. Each side stands on a pillar and uses all their skills to make the other fall down, thus winning.

Li Jin quickly composed himself and extended an invitation: "Which chivalrous hero would like to give it a try first?"

Zhou Ziheng returned to the team. Fu Chenyu did not see the signature on the challenge letter and did not know the other party's identity. However, he also witnessed Li Jin's unusual reaction and guessed that Zhou Ziheng must be quite strong.

So he asked, "Brother Ziheng, in which position do you plan to appear?"

The order of appearance is important. Those who go first will inevitably face a series of challenges. Although there are three chances in total, it is definitely better to go later.

Zhou Ziheng was arrogant and had no such concerns, but he also had no intention of being taken advantage of.

He raised an eyebrow, already seeing someone confidently taking the lead.

"Wait a little longer."

Huo Qin held Li Zhiheng and sat him on the viewing platform, but did not watch the competition on the platform; he simply closed his eyes to rest.

Li Zhiheng had no interest in these martial arts techniques. Seeing that Huo Qin seemed to be ignoring him, he immediately tried to sneak away.

To everyone's surprise, even with his eyes closed, Huo Qin was able to accurately grab Li Zhiheng and force him to sit down.

"Young Master, where do you want to go?"

Li Zhiheng felt awkward and made up an excuse: "I wanted to go chat with Zhou Ziheng..."

Upon hearing Zhou Ziheng's name, Huo Qin slowly opened his eyes.

The other party lived on the sacred mountain, detached from worldly affairs and ignorant of the ways of the martial world, yet I had heard of him long ago.

It's unclear which busybody referred to him, Zhou Ziheng, and Xi Bingyi as the Three Heroes of the Martial World, or even that Zhou Ziheng was the leader of the Three Heroes.

Huo Qin had his own pride and naturally refused to accept it.

He wanted to see just how strong the so-called "top of the three heroes" really was.

At this moment, Zhou Ziheng was chatting with Fu Chenyu about all sorts of things and had no idea that Huo Qin was paying attention to him.

Fu Chenyu had never met such a talkative person before, and he was getting a little dizzy from talking with Zhou Ziheng. Seeing that people were falling off the challenge platform one after another, he finally couldn't help but advise, "Brother Ziheng, why don't you hurry up and go up on stage to compete? If you delay, people will gossip."

Zhou Ziheng didn't care: "Why should I need others to evaluate my abilities?"

Fu Chenyu: "..."

But Zhou Ziheng glanced at the platform for requesting battles and pondered, "However, you're right, I really should make my move."

Having said that, he swayed and leaped forward, landing on the pillar as lightly as a feather. Zhou Ziheng gestured with his right hand, indicating "please."

He smiled and said, "Zhou Ziheng, the Sword Master of the Mortal World, please enlighten me!"

Before Zhou Ziheng could even draw his Red Dust Sword, the other party assumed he was using the title of Red Dust Sword Master to intimidate him. Just as he was about to launch a sarcastic remark, Zhou Ziheng slowly drew his sword—

This sword is entirely crimson red, like blood, and its blade is three feet and seven inches long. It appears to be forged from the glow of the setting sun and is named "Red Dust".

It appears in the world for a fleeting moment, just one glance, and it is as if you can see love, hate, anger, infatuation, joy, sorrow, separation, and reunion.

The mortal world, the mortal world, this is the mortal world!

The opponent was so intimidated by just one glance that he lost his footing and fell straight down from the pillar!

Zhou Ziheng: "...?"

He hasn't made a move yet, has he?

A chorus of boos erupted from the viewing platform. Huo Qinqing couldn't help but laugh and said to Li Zhiheng, "Your father really knows how to pick people."

The volunteer who fell from the pillar left dejectedly, his face flushed.

For a moment, everyone was intimidated by the title of the Sword Master of the Mortal World, and no one dared to accept the challenge.

It was really boring. Zhou Ziheng had anticipated this situation. He deliberately dragged out the time before taking the stage, hoping to give others more opportunities to compete so that they wouldn't have to suffer a defeat against him.

Seeing the atmosphere cool down, Li Jin quickly continued to preside: "Are there any other heroes willing to spar with the Red Dust Sword Master?"

No one dared to answer.

Li Jin had no choice but to continue, "To be able to spar with the Sword Master of the Mortal World is a rare opportunity, a once-in-a-lifetime chance!"

Upon hearing this, the volunteers looked at each other in bewilderment, while quite a few were eager to join in.

Soon, the first challenger stepped onto the stage, holding two giant axes, and introduced himself: "Xiong Qi of Lion Ridge, please enlighten me, Sword Master."

Zhou Ziheng, holding the red dust in his hand, gave a slight bow, indicating that they could begin.

Xiong Qi took the initiative, pushing off the pillar and leaping into the air, swinging his giant axe at Zhou Ziheng.

The pair of giant axes were imposing, their blades whistling through the air.

As the two axes crossed, dazzling sparks flew, and the powerful wind generated by the heavy axe blades cleaved straight towards Zhou Ziheng's face.

Zhou Ziheng didn't move at all, lightly sweeping his sword horizontally, forcing Xiong Qi back with just a gust of sword wind.

Xiong Qi's body tumbled through the air before finally landing on the pillar with difficulty.

Zhou Ziheng was impressed by him. He never expected that Xiong Qi, who looked clumsy and huge, could perform such difficult moves in the air.

Zhou Ziheng's move looked easy, but only the "victim" Xiong Qi could understand the danger involved.

The moment the sword wind struck, he almost had a strong instinct for life and death—if he didn't dodge, his head would surely be separated from his body!

At that time, even though he was the one attacking, Zhou Ziheng was more aggressive and proactive, forcing him to abandon his double-axe offensive and switch to defense.

On the viewing platform, Li Zhiheng was getting drowsy watching the game, but when he turned his head, he saw that Huo Qin was watching with great interest.

"What's so interesting about this? Zhou Ziheng didn't even move. His opponent was too weak. He just swung his arms a few times and the opponent couldn't defend against it."

Huo Qin chuckled.

Laymen watch the spectacle, experts watch the details.

Although he used a bow, he also knew some swordsmanship, which was why he was able to see through the mysteries of the Red Dust Sword Technique.

"Xiong Qi is going to lose," Huo Qin said decisively.

Sure enough, Xiong Qi was defeated in less than three moves and fell off the pillar in a sorry state.

His defeat, however, ignited the enthusiasm of the other challengers, who were eager to try. Soon, another challenger stood in front of Zhou Ziheng.

This man was named Xie Xing, and he also used a sword. Interestingly, he had some connection with Xie Yun, Zhou Ziheng's master's wife. Unfortunately, his swordsmanship was mediocre, and he was defeated in just one move.

Zhou Ziheng mocked mercilessly: "You should practice your swordsmanship before you come back, lest you tarnish Xie Yun's reputation."

Xie Xing blushed and left silently amidst the jeers from the viewing platform.

In just half an hour, Zhou Ziheng had defeated thirty challengers, and none of them could force him to move.

Zhou Ziheng stood steadily on the pillar and slowly yawned.

Huo Qin felt an itch to touch him when he saw his arrogant demeanor.

If Li Jin hadn't stubbornly refused to send himself a challenge letter, how could the Red Dust Sword Master have gotten all the limelight?

With that in mind, Zhou Ziheng effortlessly defeated the remaining eighteen people.

This is no Liyang Conference at all; it's clearly Zhou Ziheng's personal show!

Huo Qin looked up and met Li Jin's pleading eyes.

Just then, Zhou Ziheng asked listlessly, "Anyone else want to take on the challenge?"

Li Jin's pleading eyes became even more sincere.

Huo Qin glanced at the drowsy Li Zhiheng and instructed, "Stay here and don't wander off. There's a lot of trouble going on lately, don't worry your father."

Li Zhiheng instantly snapped out of his daze: "What are you going to do?"

Huo Qin stood up and sneered, "Let's teach someone a lesson."

Seeing Huo Qin stand up, Li Jin quickly called out to Zhou Ziheng, who was about to leave the stage: "Hey! Sword Master of the Mortal World, wait a minute—"

"Although we spectators shouldn't be able to participate in the challenge, some people are just itching to show off their skills..."

Before Li Jin could finish speaking, Zhou Ziheng already knew who was itching to show off.

Although he didn't know that Huo Qin was also one of the three heroes, he had a premonition that the person who wanted to challenge him must be the other party.

Sure enough, Li Jin continued, "This person is also one of the three heroes, Huo Qin, the Moon-Inviting Bow."

Zhou Ziheng suddenly realized that Huo Qin was one of the three outstanding figures who were on par with him!

Xi Bingyi often talked about these three heroes while on the sacred mountain. Zhou Ziheng was arrogant, and Xi Bingyi was no different. She loved to play by nature, and whenever she had the opportunity to travel the world, she would always go to find the last one, saying that she wanted to have a good meeting with him.

Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be; I never expected that Zhou Ziheng would be the one to meet me first today.

While he was thinking, Huo Qin had already landed steadily on the pillar with his longbow in hand.

Compared to Zhou Ziheng's speed and agility, Huo Qin's style leans more towards composure.

Zhou Ziheng, dressed in white with a red sword, and Huo Qin, dressed in black with a black bow, stood facing each other, solemnly bowing in greeting.

"Zhou Ziheng, the Sword Master of the Mortal World—"

"Inviting the Moon Bow, Huo Qin—"

"please!"

A note from the author:

----------------------

Zhou Ziheng: My name is Red Dust Sword Master, why don't you call me Princess Invitation Moon?

Huo Qin: ...