Chapter 39: Will There Be a Day of Return?

Chapter 39: Chapter 39: Will There Be a Day of Return?

BOOM!

The air split like a parted sea, sent fleeing madly to either side by the swing of a staff. The sheer Power of the blow was clear to see.

However, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, Chen Sha stamped his foot and shot two zhang into the air, breaking the stalemate of Inner Strength with Hong Qigong and Huang Yaoshi.

This left Ouyang Feng’s deadly strike hurtling toward the other two men.

But these three were the top Grandmasters of their era; they would never accidentally injure one another. Seeing this, they redirected their True Qi and, looking up, struck in unison at Chen Sha in mid-air.

Ouyang Feng, in particular.

His change in technique was as swift and seamless as a flowing river, showing no awkwardness from the sudden shift. His fierce downward slash transformed into a thrust that seemed to pierce the heavens.

「In that instant.」

The Power of the three supreme Grandmasters erupted simultaneously. In the world of *Legend of the Condor Heroes*, there was no lineup more formidable than this.

All to jointly deal with a single young Daoist.

From a distant rooftop, Huang Rong, Guo Jing, and Ouyang Ke watched with hearts pounding in terror.

The next scene was especially terrifying.

Logically, leaping into the air should have been the worst possible choice for any martial artist. Most Martial Arts drew their Power from the ground, and one couldn’t easily change direction in mid-air.

But Chen Sha didn’t even try to change direction. He simply met the Palm Wind, Finger Force, and staff’s power from the three Grandmasters in the peach grove below and accelerated his descent.

Like a comet falling from the sky, he threw a heavy punch into the air, and the force of it spread out, forming a visible aura of fist-energy!

BANG!

Upon contact, all four fighters shuddered violently. Chen Sha was sent flying backward ten zhang through the air.

Meanwhile, Hong Qigong, Huang Yaoshi, and Ouyang Feng all let out a muffled groan at the same time.

Ouyang Feng’s eyes were filled with shock.

’Such profound Power!’

His expression then turned greedy and excited. "There’s only one possibility—he’s practiced the Martial Arts from the Nine Yin Scripture!"

"Kill!"

He spat out the single word, his killing intent laid bare, and lunged toward Chen Sha first.

Hong Qigong and Huang Yaoshi remained silent.

Chen Sha finally felt the pressure.

The combined attack of three supreme Grandmasters, especially masters like Huang Yaoshi and Ouyang Feng who were capable of creating their own exquisite Martial Arts.

In terms of Grandmaster achievement, the Five Extremes Grandmasters from *Legend of the Condor Heroes* were twice as strong as most of the Grandmasters among the Extraordinary Nine Monsters.

Although Chen Sha relied on the supreme Power of a Half-step Grandmaster, paired with the all-encompassing Martial Arts techniques of the Dao Yi Seal, allowing him to counter every move, however, throughout the entire plot of *Legend of the Condor Heroes*, there was only ever one and a half people who could fight three opponents of this caliber at once.

That "one" person was, of course, the number one Martial Arts Grandmaster of the *Legend of the Condor Heroes* era, Chongyang Master Wang Chongyang, founder of the Quanzhen Sect.

At Hua Mountain Peak, he single-handedly suppressed all the heroes of the realm. He fought East Evil, West Poison, South Emperor, and North Beggar for seven days and seven nights, compelling them to willingly acknowledge him as the world’s greatest master.

His Inner Power, Power, and Martial Arts philosophy were undeniably the best in the world.

For a hundred years before or after, perhaps only Zhang Sanfeng of Wudang could be compared to him.

The remaining "half" was West Poison Ouyang Feng, who, during the second Hua Mountain Sword Discussion, had practiced the Nine Yin Scripture backward—and somehow succeeded.

He single-handedly fought Guo Jing, who had achieved Great Success in his Martial Arts, along with Huang Yaoshi and North Beggar Hong Qigong, and still held the upper hand.

The reason he was only considered "half" a person was that Ouyang Feng’s mind had become deranged due to his flawed training, rendering him completely insane.

Other than them, not even Zhou Botong with his Dual-Wielding technique had ever displayed the Power to fight three supreme Grandmasters at once.

From this, it was clear.

Whether it was the great Sect Leader Wang Chongyang or the backward-practicing Ouyang Feng, the reason they could fight three, or even all Four Extremes, was for one reason only.

They had thoroughly reached the Grandmaster Realm in terms of their Power.

Ouyang Feng was already a supreme Grandmaster. After practicing the Nine Yin Scripture, he reached an even higher level and won the title of "world’s best" for the second time. This was likely because practicing the scripture allowed his Power to break through into the Grandmaster Realm.

As for Wang Chongyang, it went without saying. His ability to suppress the Four Extremes, fighting for seven days and nights, meant he had surely reached the Peak of the Grandmaster Realm.

Chen Sha could only achieve the combat power of a Grandmaster through the techniques of his Dao Yi Seal.

His actual Power was still stuck at the Half-step stage.

From the rooftop, Huang Rong and the others could only see the three elders and Chen Sha locked in a chaotic battle within the peach grove. Before they knew it, the four fighters were moving so fast that only blurs of afterimages remained, accompanied by a continuous series of CLANGS and BANGS from blades, fists, and palms.

During the great battle.

Chen Sha wasn’t idle. He committed the Martial Arts styles of the three supreme Grandmasters to memory, treating them all as nourishment that would make his Dao Yi Seal stronger.

After several hundred moves, both Chen Sha and Huang Yaoshi’s group had consumed a great deal of their Power.

Just as the fight seemed destined to end in a draw...

Chen Sha casually sent a palm strike toward Ouyang Feng while sidestepping to dodge his Spiritual Snake Staff. He managed to avoid a blow to the head, but to his surprise, he saw two puffs of poisonous mist erupt from the snake heads on either side of the staff.

Before he realized it, he had inhaled the fumes.

His form immediately began to dissipate on the spot. Just before he vanished, he sighed.

’My consciousness can get poisoned?’

’The judgment criteria in this Cosmic Light Fragment are far too realistic.’

Watching as the body of their great enemy suddenly vanished into thin air, the three supreme Grandmasters were utterly baffled.

"How can this..."

Just as they spoke, the Cosmic Light Fragment reset...

The scenery flowed backward, time reversing, and the scene on the island returned to the very beginning, when Hong Qigong and Ouyang Feng arrived by boat to propose a marriage for their young disciples.

The supreme Grandmasters were trapped in this repeating cycle, completely unaware.

...

...

Hooo...

Chen Sha opened his eyes and exhaled. He had never expected that inhaling Ouyang Feng’s poison gas could also cause his consciousness to collapse, judging him as "defeated" and forcing him to exit.

’Then again, this just goes to show how hard it is to tell what’s real and what’s fake inside this Cosmic Light Fragment.’

’Dying from poison still counts as "dying."’

’If I want to defeat the three supreme Grandmasters working together, I should stick to the old method. I’ll use the Dao Yi Seal to master their Martial Arts and make myself even stronger!’

「Just then.」

Footsteps approached the door.

From the sound of them, Chen Sha recognized the person as his Fourth Senior Brother, Wei Dashan, who had been consciously avoiding him ever since Li Jianzhou left the mountain.

Before Wei Dashan could knock, Chen Sha said, "Fourth Brother, you’re here. Come in."

At the door, Wei Dashan lowered his raised hand, walked in, and looked at Chen Sha, who was sitting cross-legged inside. After a moment of thoughtful silence, he spoke.

"Sect Leader Junior Brother, I’d like to go down the mountain for a while. I ask for your permission."

Chen Sha raised an eyebrow slightly. "Why are you leaving the mountain?"

This Fourth Brother had clearly shown signs of siding with Old Five before. After their father’s funeral, he hadn’t said a single word to Chen Sha.

Chen Sha hadn’t done anything to him, either.

Yet today, he had surprisingly come to find him.

Wei Dashan got straight to the point. "I know the Sect’s spending on Silver Coins has been immense lately. In the past, we had dedicated people who would travel below, contacting various parties to earn Silver Coins for the Sect and cover our expenses. However, after Master passed away, many of them rushed back up the mountain. This has led to a shortage of funds. On top of that, many Sects and Clans have cut ties with us. Someone needs to go back down the mountain to re-establish contact and restore our Sect’s channels for income and supplies."

"This was something I used to handle, so..."

Chen Sha looked at his Fourth Brother.

Wei Dashan lowered his head slightly. "I ask for Junior Brother’s permission."

"You can go down the mountain," Chen Sha said after a moment of silence, then asked, "But Fourth Brother, once you leave... is there a date for your return?"

Wei Dashan looked as if he’d been struck. His lips trembled and his eyes grew warm as he looked at this Junior Brother, who had felt more and more like a stranger to him recently. He slowly said...