At this moment, a large cloud of black mist drifted over the Cliff of Contemplation, from which came bursts of weeping and wailing, which was quite eerie, and the surrounding temperature became extremely cold.

Li Daoyi stood on the cliff, coldly watching this scene, and then the others rushed over one after another.

"What is this?" Zhu Houcong exclaimed in surprise as he looked at the black smoke-like object floating in the air.

"This... how could such a thing exist? I've lived here for decades and have never seen anything like it before." Feng Qingyang was also filled with shock.

"Waaah..."

"You despicable scoundrel, give me back my life!"

A voice came from the black mist, and then the black mist transformed into a ghostly creature with a blue face and fangs, flying towards the group.

"Your Majesty, please be careful." Huang Jin quickly shielded the emperor behind him.

"amnesty…"

Li Daoyi calmly gestured in front of his chest, and then a golden phantom of the Tai Chi Bagua appeared out of thin air, heading towards the flying ghost.

"ah…"

The ghostly creature let out a painful howl upon encountering the illusory Bagua image, quickly retreated, and then transformed into a gust of yin wind, flying away into the distance once more.

"Trying to run?" Li Daoyi shouted.

"Clang..."

Li Dao drew his sword and ran his finger along the blade.

The steel sword flashed with a dazzling light in an instant.

"go."

He then threw the sword at the cloud of black mist.

"call out…"

The sword light chased after the black mist for hundreds of meters, piercing through it in mid-air.

"call…"

A burst of fire suddenly erupted from the black mist, followed by a wail from afar, before the black mist vanished.

"call out…"

"Clang."

The sword swiftly flew back and automatically returned to its sheath. All of this happened in the blink of an eye; before anyone else could react, the black mist had vanished.

The dark cloud in the sky gradually dissipated, and the bright moonlight shone down again.

Feng Qingyang and the others stared wide-eyed at the scene, utterly horrified.

"Alright, it's all over now," Li Daoyi said with a slight smile.

"bite"

"bite"

"bite"

"bite…"

As the notification sounds kept coming to Li Daoyi's mind, he couldn't help but smile.

"Master... what was that just now..."

Zhu Houcong snapped out of his daze and hurriedly asked.

"Sigh, come with me." Li Daoyi sighed. Then he walked up the path on the Cliff of Contemplation.

The others quickly followed.

After a short while, Li Daoyi stopped in front of a mountain wall. There was a hole about the size of a fist in the mountain wall.

Feng Qingyang approached with a puzzled look and realized that he had lived here for many years and there had never been this cave entrance before.

"This is?"

"It seems that the two of you fought here during the day and unintentionally broke through this place."

As he spoke, Li Daoyi stretched out his palm and gently patted the stone wall.

"Splash..."

The stone wall instantly shattered, revealing a dark cave more than a meter high.

Li Daoyi took out the luminous pearl from his bosom and channeled energy into it. The pearl instantly shone brightly, illuminating the surroundings as if it were daytime.

“That ghost was the vengeful spirit of the ten elders of the Demonic Sect. They have been trapped in this cave for decades,” Li Daoyi said as he walked inside.

"The Demonic Sect? Could it be the one from back then..." Feng Qingyang seemed to recall something.

"Daoist Master, wait for us." Zhu Houcong hurriedly followed.

Stepping inside, the view suddenly opened up. It was a naturally formed cave, several hundred square meters in size. Weapons were scattered on the ground, and there were many skeletons all around, completely skeletal, indicating that they had been dead for quite some time.

“Alas, back then, the ten elders of the Demonic Sect joined forces to besiege Mount Hua. The Five Mountains Sword Sects, united as one, fought back against the enemy. In the end, the ten elders were trapped in this cave by a trap, and countless masters from the Five Mountains were killed or wounded. This battle weakened both sides and they have not recovered to this day,” Li Daoyi said to the crowd.

"What you say is absolutely right, Daoist. I wasn't at Mount Hua at the time, but when I returned, the great battle was already over. The sect elders didn't mention a word about the battle, apparently to hide this cave." Feng Qingyang nodded. After all, for people in the martial world, using tricks is somewhat shameful, so it's no wonder that the people back then were so secretive about this matter.

"Hey, what's on this stone wall?" Huang Jin exclaimed in surprise.

As everyone looked, they saw that the surrounding stone walls were covered with text and many patterns.

"It's a martial arts technique. This is the Huashan Sword Technique, a way to counter a move," Yue Buqun exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes, they are all countermeasures against the Five Mountains Sword Sect." Li Dao pointed at the people.

"Alas, these people died unjustly, all because of a single word from someone," Li Daoyi sighed, shaking his head.

"Master, what does this mean?" Feng Qingyang asked.

"This matter concerns a martial arts manual, which is also the origin of the distinction between sword qi in your Huashan sect back then."

"What?" Yue Buqun and Feng Qingyang exclaimed in surprise.

"Yue Su and Cai Zifeng were the founders of the Qi and Sword Schools of Huashan. Before that, they visited the Shaolin Temple in Fujian. They accidentally saw a divine skill at the residence of Zen Master Hongye. Due to time constraints, they could only memorize a part of the skill. This skill, known as the Sunflower Manual, became the source of decades of grudges in the martial arts world," Li Daoyi said, glancing at Huang Jin at the end.

"The Sunflower Manual..." Everyone was stunned. They had heard of this divine skill for a long time and were naturally familiar with it. Dongfang Bubai practiced this skill, as did Huang Jin.

"It's actually this technique," Huang Jin said.

"After returning to the mountain, the two recounted what they had recorded, but found many parts to be quite strange. They blamed each other and believed that what they had recorded was true. As a result, Mount Hua was divided into the Sword Qi Sect and the Sword Qi Sect."

"At this time, Zen Master Hongye also learned about this matter. In order to prevent the divine skill from being spread, he sent someone to Mount Hua to ask for the skill. The two read out the contents of the skill they had seen in front of that person. Who knew that the person was extremely talented and comprehended a profound martial arts from what the two said. From then on, he never returned to the Fujian Shaolin Temple, but instead returned to secular life. He was Lin Yuantu."

"The Evil-Repelling Sword Technique," Yue Buqun exclaimed in surprise.

"That's right, the Evil-Repelling Sword Technique comes from the Sunflower Manual."

"Then what does this have to do with the Demonic Sect? Don't they already have the Sunflower Manual?" Huang Jin asked.

"Eunuch Huang, the Sunflower Manual of the Sun Moon Sect must have been given to us by the imperial court, right?" Li Daoyi asked.

“Yes, but that was over a hundred years ago. After all, the Ming Dynasty and the Sun Moon Cult had many connections back then.” Huang Jin nodded.

"A common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime. The fact that Mount Hua possessed the Sunflower Manual was deliberately revealed by Shaolin to the Demonic Sect, which led to the great war between the righteous and the demonic sects," Li Daoyi said softly.

"So that's how it is. What a ridiculous reason," Feng Qingyang said disdainfully. All that effort for a mere cultivation technique.

"Hahaha, what a fine Shaolin Temple! Daoist, you were right before. The ancient temple lives up to its reputation. Driving wolves to devour tigers, I'm afraid all of this is a conspiracy by Shaolin!" Zhu Houcong suddenly laughed.

Li Daoyi nodded approvingly at Zhu Houcong, "This emperor is indeed clever; he immediately grasped the key point."

"What the Emperor says is quite right. This is all part of Shaolin's scheme, killing two birds with one stone. At that time, the Demonic Sect was at its zenith, and the Five Mountains Sword Sect was also full of masters. This had already threatened Shaolin's position as the hegemon of the martial arts world, so weakening these two forces was what they needed to do." Li Dao nodded.

"Damn bald monk!" Feng Qingyang cursed angrily.

“Uncle-Master Feng, do you know why Mount Song is the most powerful of the Five Mountains Sword Sects? It’s because they have Shaolin Temple behind them,” Yue Buqun said with a wry smile.

“Now, Zuo Lengchan wants to unite the Five Mountains Sword Sects, and is even directly waging war against the Demonic Sect, and wants to drag the other four sects into it as well. Perhaps this is also a trick by Shaolin,” Yue Buqun continued.

"Without a doubt, Sect Leader Yue, I can tell you that Shaolin is the one pulling the strings here," Li Daoyi said.

"Sigh..." Feng Qingyang sighed upon hearing this.

"Sect Leader Yue, these recorded techniques not only counter the martial arts of the Five Mountains Sword Sect, but also include many techniques that your Five Mountains Sword Sect has long since lost. You can make copies of these later; these martial arts are not much weaker than the Evil-Repelling Sword Manual," Li Daoyi reminded him.

"Yes, I appreciate the reminder from you, Daoist Master," Yue Buqun quickly replied.

Afterwards, everyone descended the Cliff of Contemplation. Feng Qingyang shuddered at the thought of living with these wronged souls for so long, and followed the others back to the Huashan Villa.

Back in the room arranged by Yue Buqun, Li Daoyi couldn't wait to open the system panel.

"Host: Li Daoyi".

Realm: Early Foundation Establishment Stage

“Cultivation Technique:…”

"Magic treasures: Ghost Seal, Green Steel Sword."

Points: 6500.

"Haha, what a steal! I only spent three hundred on a few summoning talismans and made three thousand!" Li Daoyi thought to himself with delight. The ghost he had just encountered had been created by buying three summoning talismans. And the others had contributed a total of three thousand points to him, which was already a very good deal.

"The task is arduous and the road ahead is long. We can't rush it. We still need more than 40,000 to reach the mid-Foundation Establishment stage," Li Daoyi thought to himself, calming his mind.

Three days later, at the foot of Mount Hua, Li Daoyi and his companions prepared to leave Mount Hua.

"Master, I'm entrusting Chong'er to you. If all else fails, cripple him, just bring him back." Yue Buqun said with a sorrowful expression. Just yesterday, Mount Hua received news that Linghu Chong and the Holy Maiden of the Demonic Sect, Ren Yingying, had kidnapped Ren Woxing at West Lake.

You must know that Ren Woxing is a hundred times more ruthless than Dongfang Bubai. This great demon has actually returned to the martial world. If it weren't for the fact that he had to stay on the mountain to organize the martial arts in the Reflection Cliff Cave and couldn't leave, Yue Buqun would have loved to go down the mountain himself and bring Linghu Chong back.

"Alright, you don't need to worry about this kid. He's lucky and will be fine," Li Daoyi comforted him. He hadn't expected the wheels of fate to turn so quickly. Linghu Chong had ended up with Ren Yingying and even saved Ren Woxing. What was Dongfang Bubai up to?

"Alright, we should go now. Yue Buqun, don't forget what you promised me. Send a portion of the Huashan disciples to the capital to take up their posts." Zhu Houcong said to Yue Buqun.

"Your Majesty, this humble subject dares not forget," Yue Buqun hurriedly replied.

"Brother Feng, I hope we can have a proper competition next time," Huang Jin said to Feng Qingyang.

"Haha, that's natural then."

The group then boarded the oxcart.

Goodbye, everyone.

Then a gust of wind blew up, and Niu Er and his oxcart disappeared instantly.

"The Taoist priest is truly a divine being..." Feng Qingyang sighed, stroking his beard.