Chapter 19: Showdown with Zhou Botong

Chapter 19: Chapter 19: Showdown with Zhou Botong

WHOOSH!!

Amidst the ethereal clouds, a goshawk beat its wings, tearing through the vast sky as it flew over several provinces.

Gradually, a city appeared in its sharp line of sight.

The city, which had been but a small black dot from high above, grew larger and larger in the hawk’s pupils until its walls were reflected within...

Beyond the city walls,

there were orderly streets lined with halls and buildings, with a tall structure every hundred zhang.

On the third floor of the Yuelai Tavern.

A hand reached out from the window, like a branch extending from an Iron Tree.

WHOOSH!

The goshawk, diving at high speed, landed steadily on the arm. Its sharp talons tore the sleeve of the arm’s owner but failed to leave a single scratch on his skin.

After landing, the goshawk turned its neck, its eyes reflecting the image of the man before it.

The man had a scar on his face. He reached out to stroke the goshawk, then untied a small copper ring from its leg and removed a small strip of paper.

There were only a few simple lines of text on it:

"March fifteenth. We act together. You take the back mountain, we’ll take the front."

The scar-faced man glanced at the note, then turned to look at the dozen or so people in the room.

There were fifteen people in the room in total—old and young, monks and Daoists, even women and children. They were all among the most dangerous types of people in the Jianghu.

"The woman from the Demon Sect has sent word. They’ve set the date."

The scar-faced man said in a low voice,

"March fifteenth."

Among the group, a beautiful woman in a red dress said, "Isn’t this a bit rushed? We are talking about the number one Major Sect in the world. We should be better prepared."

But the old Daoist next to her sneered. "Heh heh. The Dao Yi Sect is the number one Major Sect in the world not because of its own strength, but because of one man: Chen Canxuan."

He continued with a cold laugh, "Now that old bastard Chen Canxuan has kicked the bucket, Dao Yi Mountain is left with nothing but a few big and small cats. Even the recent fight for the leadership position with Li Jianzhou coming up the mountain was just a clash between two Third Grade Little Grandmasters."

An old monk added with a smile, "Speaking of the Dao Yi Sect, after producing the world’s number one expert several decades ago, it seems to have exhausted all the Sect’s luck. Besides Chen Canxuan, they haven’t produced anyone worth mentioning."

The child who was the leader among them said, "In the Imperial Dynasty below the mountain, if three consecutive generations produce wise rulers, it is considered a golden age. In an ordinary family, if three generations produce capable people, it is a blessing from the ancestors. But history, both ancient and modern, tells us that wisdom rarely lasts more than two generations. How could the title of ’number one in the world’ be any different?"

"What weight does ’number one in the world’ carry? How could it possibly continue on Dao Yi Mountain indefinitely?"

"Water overflows when full; the moon wanes after waxing."

"The previous generation’s Chen Canxuan was invincible, hogging all the luck. It is only in accordance with the Natural Heavenly Dao that his successor is mediocre."

The scar-faced man’s voice grew firm. "Well said. Without Chen Canxuan, there isn’t a single person with Grandmaster Cultivation on Dao Yi Mountain now. At best, they have some Grandmaster Elders. What’s there to fear? What’s more, that Demoness from the Demon Sect is on the mountain, ready to coordinate with us."

The group pondered for a moment.

"Alright!"

Finally, they said in unison,

"Then on March fifteenth, we’ll go up and see just how deep the waters of this former number one Major Sect truly run!"

...

...

On Dao Yi Mountain, springs gurgled and waterfalls splashed.

As the Sect Leader, Chen Sha was completely unaware that a conspiracy against Dao Yi Mountain was slowly unfolding in the shadows.

At this moment, he was, as usual, sitting cross-legged by a scenic waterfall on the mountain.

Beside a large boulder,

lay more than a dozen books, including *Qimen Song*, *Sixteen Nines Calculation*, *Collection of Positive and Negative Five Elements Yin Yang Annotations*, *Celestial Derivation Theory*, and other books on Qimen, Bagua, and Arrays.

It had now been half a month since he’d been trapped in the Array on Huang Yaoshi’s Peach Blossom Island, within the second node of the Cosmic Light Fragments.

Half a month in the outside world.

Inside the Cosmic Light Fragments, it was almost two or three years.

...

Cosmic Light Fragments.

Peach Blossom Island Node.

The shadows of the trees shifted, forming a maze.

Chen Sha walked forward cautiously. With every step, he would stop to carefully assess his surroundings, muttering to himself:

"Three Celestial Gates, four Earthly Abodes, I ask you, what is the method? Chong, Xiaoji, and Congkui, this is the private path of the Celestial Gate."

"Move to the Kuixing position..."

Chen Sha had spent two or three years inside the Cosmic Light Fragments studying the workings of Qimen Arrays.

Plus, he had a seemingly infinite amount of time.

It was as if he was facing a "grand Qimen examination" set by Huang Yaoshi. The problem was complex and profound, involving knowledge of the Five Elements, Yin and Yang, the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, the directions of the Bagua, and more.

If Chen Sha were to try and master the Dao of Qimen from scratch without any particular talent for it, even a dozen years might not be enough.

Yinggu from *Legend of the Condor Heroes* was a perfect example of this.

She didn’t even know the Nine Palace Diagram Technique from the Luoshu: "two and eight as the feet, wearing nine and treading on one..."

She studied it painstakingly for over a decade with little progress.

But Chen Sha was different.

He had access to the Daoist Sect’s Secret Manuals from Dao Yi Mountain, accumulated over thousands of years. Although the Dao Yi Sect wasn’t known for its Qimen Divination, over the past millennia, there were always some predecessors who became obsessed with this art, leaving behind many notes and collecting a vast amount of Qimen knowledge.

As the world’s number one Major Sect, the collection in the Dao Yi Sect’s Langhuan Library was definitely among the top ten in the world.

Furthermore, Chen Sha was currently just trying to break the Array.

He only needed to find his way out.

Every time he took a step and didn’t know which way to go, it meant he had to solve a Qimen problem.

Chen Sha was using a brute-force method. After two or three years, he still couldn’t grasp it all at once.

So, he solved it one step at a time.

Although Huang Yaoshi was a heaven-sent genius, the arrangement of Yin, Yang, and the Bagua in his Array still followed a certain order. Chen Sha just needed to find the solution among the vast Qimen knowledge collected on Dao Yi Mountain.

Failing once, a hundred times, or a thousand times didn’t matter.

Time here was nearly static.

After two or three years of this,

every step Chen Sha took became more and more correct, and he solved the problems faster and faster.

"Move to the Qian position..."

"The palace where the spirit of Tianyi resides. A great general should occupy it to strike his foe."

"I should go in the opposite direction of Tianyi here. Turn back."

...

"The Gate of Life is here."

...

Finally,

after spending an unknown number of years in this Peach Blossom Forest and deciphering an unknown number of Qimen positions, a cave appeared before Chen Sha.

He had just taken a step forward.

"Waaah! Huang the Evil, you’re here again!"

A loud shout came from the cave ahead:

"How come you’re not playing that damn Sea Tide Song this time?"

As the voice spoke, Chen Sha saw an old man appear at the mouth of the cave. His hair and beard were not entirely white, but they were so messy from years of neglect that he looked like a wild man.

"Eh? You’re not Huang Yaoshi?"

"You’re Zhou Botong!"

Chen Sha recognized the old man’s identity at once.

’To think that while trying to break the Array, I’d actually break my way to where someone else is trapped.’

What felt even stranger to Chen Sha was that, looking at Zhou Botong’s face, he inexplicably resembled someone he knew.

That person was his Little Martial Uncle on the mountain, Zhou Santong.

’A coincidence?’

Just as Chen Sha’s thoughts were turning,

Zhou Botong had already let out a "Waaah!" and shouted, "You recognize me! Then you must be one of Peach Blossom Island’s people! Take this!"

BANG!

This Old Mischievous, whose Power was now no less than any of the Five Extremes, attacked directly, throwing a punch.

"Excellent! I’ve been breaking this Array for over two years. My hands have been itching for a fight!"

Chen Sha didn’t retreat in the slightest. He was well aware that the fundamental purpose of his trial in the Cosmic Light Fragments was to improve his Martial Arts by sparring with the experts in this scenario.

BOOM!

Their fists slammed into each other.

RUMBLE!

Chen Sha’s Half-step Grandmaster aura and True Qi surged, sending a shock that made Zhou Botong’s arm go numb.

"Waaah! You’re even stronger than Huang the Evil!"

He took half a step back and exclaimed,

"You’re definitely not from Peach Blossom Island!"

Huang Yaoshi was on the same level as Hong Qigong.

Since Chen Sha was able to defeat Hong Qigong and enter this second Chapter with Power that was a notch above his, his Martial Arts had naturally surpassed the Five Extremes Grandmasters by half a step.

"Just who are you?" Zhou Botong asked curiously as he continued to attack.

"Just fight! Stop asking so many questions!"

Chen Sha attacked again, forming a Fist Seal that then transformed into a Palm Technique.

His palm strike contained the myriad variations of the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, executed using the Dao Yi Seal to command another’s Martial Arts, increasing the ferocious power of the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms several times over!

"The Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms!"

Zhou Botong’s eyes lit up, like a hunter spotting his prize. "I’ve always wanted to learn this Martial Art! I’m not fighting anymore! How about you teach it to me, and I’ll take you as my master!"

He actually pulled back his hands, took a few steps back, and was about to kneel and kowtow on the ground.

"Master, please accept this disciple’s bow."

Chen Sha’s palm strike hung in the air, and he couldn’t help but frown.

’I can’t believe the people manifested in these Cosmic Light Fragments have the exact same personalities. Zhou Botong is nothing like Hong Qigong, who hated evil as his enemy and attacked me on sight for stealing his techniques. Instead, he wants to become my disciple.’

’How can this be!’

"You’ll fight whether you want to or not!" he said coldly, stepping forward and preparing to attack again.

"I won’t! I just won’t!"

The Old Mischievous retreated with a playful smile. "Not unless you take me as your disciple."

Chen Sha frowned. ’If the Old Mischievous doesn’t fight back, how am I supposed to gain combat experience and improve myself through battle?’

"Don’t you just want to learn the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms?"

An idea struck him, and he suddenly said,

"Give it your all. If you beat me, I’ll teach you."

If he couldn’t fight Zhou Botong, what was the point of being here?

"Really?"

The moment Zhou Botong heard he could learn the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, his eyes lit up, and he attacked at once.

"You’re not allowed to go back on your word."

Zhou Botong was a complete martial arts fanatic. Hearing that he could learn the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, he held nothing back, immediately unleashing his self-created Seventy-Two Paths of Void Clarity Fist!