Chapter 60: Identity IV

“Little Li, what exactly is the situation over at the Clear Wind Taoist Temple? Who is left running the classes?”

Mu Qiaozhi actually didn’t know much about the situation there. During this time, she had struggled to switch her cultivation to the Black Dragon Claw technique. Changing from a style focused on speed and body tempering to one focused on defense and hard body skills didn’t save her much effort in between.

Aside from starting directly at the Third Rank of Body Tempering, she had to follow the steps honestly like any ordinary Black Dragon Gate disciple afterward.

Even now, she had only tempered her body to the Sixth Rank. But there were benefits; if not for her previous advantage in tempering speed from the Clear Wind Taoist Temple, she wouldn’t have been able to secure her position as the Third Disciple.

“Little Li” was Xie Li, a former disciple who had defected from the Clear Wind Taoist Temple with her.

Xie Li hadn’t even entered the Front Courtyard of the Clear Wind Taoist Temple back then, so her status in the Black Dragon Gate was no different from an ordinary disciple. She had no choice but to continue clinging to Mu Qiaozhi’s leg.

Hearing the question, she recalled the news she had heard recently.

“The ones remaining are Mingde’s daughter, Vivi, and the newly promoted Front Courtyard disciple, Lin Hui. As for Vivi, when we left, she should have been among the top ten in the Front Courtyard, but her specific realm is unknown. Lin Hui… is also unclear, but he shouldn’t exceed the Seventh Rank, calculating by normal Body Tempering progress.”

She actually didn’t know Lin Hui’s progress either; she was just making a rough estimate based on the time since they left and typical improvement speeds.

“Useless persistence.” Mu Qiaozhi gently adjusted the sword she used to wield on her back. “Let’s go. Since Master has spoken, we’ll go directly to cut off their hope. Even Baohe is dead, and the Ming generation has all run away. What are two people holding on for? Ridiculous.”

She pushed the door open and walked out, her voice cold.

Behind her, Xie Li sighed, secretly rejoicing in her heart that she had followed the Eldest Senior Sister and defected back then.

Otherwise…

Look at Vivi and Lin Hui now; they couldn’t even run a health class after giving up the martial arts hall business.

‘This is the price of choice…‘ Xie Li lamented inwardly. Although she secretly felt sorry for Lin Hui, people had to pay the price for their decisions once made.

Just like back then, and just like now.

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Inside the Clear Wind Taoist Temple.

Lin Hui stood alone in the front courtyard, listening to the continuous sounds of sword practice from the back, looking up at the courtyard wall.

He was pondering how his master used to jump onto the roof so easily.

Practicing until now, to be honest, his speed had increased, but he really hadn’t tried high jumping.

After thinking for a moment, he accelerated forward, rushed three steps, and leaped up.

Puff.

With a tap of his toes on the wall, he borrowed the force to shoot up several meters.

The wind whistled in his ears. Lin Hui turned his body lightly in mid-air, feeling this sensation he had never tried before.

It was floaty, like flying; it was wonderful.

Seconds later, he landed gently. Then, he sprinted a second time, stepped on the wall, and leaped with borrowed force.

With a puff, this time, he gauged the position and easily landed on the pointed corner of the eaves on the second floor of the temple.

Stabilizing his body and adapting for a moment, he simply sat down on the eaves, over six meters high, taking in the scenery he had never experienced before.

Looking out from here, a lush green mountain forest extended into the distance outside the Daoist temple.

Among the dark green sea of trees, a curved gray mud road was faintly visible.

That was the only carriage road leading to the town.

It was fine when the weather was good, but once it rained, mud would splash everywhere, which was quite disgusting.

People entering and leaving the temple would be more or less covered in gray mud.

To wash it off, one had to run to the creek deep in the woods, which was very troublesome.

Lin Hui sat on the roof, quietly gazing at the distant scenery.

Internal force rotated and surged continuously within his body, having now formed a clear, thick vortex.

From time to time, threads would separate from the vortex and flow into his legs, impacting the blood vessels and meridians there.

Once broken through, it would be the moment he entered the First Layer.

And this step would likely happen in the next two days…

Just as he was quietly enjoying the view and resting temporarily.

At the side door of the temple, a white carriage slowly stopped. The carriage bore brown patterns representing the Mu Family.

The carriage door slid open, and a tall, strong figure leaped down, landing steadily.

The newcomer wore a loose black robe with a pale red leather vest over it, carrying a longsword on their back. With pale blue eyes and shoulder-length black hair, they gave off an androgynous, heroic air, making it hard to distinguish their gender.

This person was Mu Qiaozhi, who had just arrived from the Black Dragon Gate.

“This place… it’s been a long time…” She looked with some emotion at the wooden plaque hanging above the side door. It was evident that someone wiped the plaque frequently; clearly, there was still life here.

“Senior Sister, should we announce ourselves or just smash the plaque directly?” Xie Li, having gotten off the carriage behind her, asked softly.

She wore a blue-black outfit suitable for action, with a pair of black claws tied to her waist. Her skin was darker than before, and the skin on her hands was noticeably rougher.

“No rush, let’s go in and take a look first. Once we act, it must be with the speed of thunder covering ears—directly cripple the key personnel responsible for teaching. Only then can we force Lin Hui and Vivi to fight me head-on.” Mu Qiaozhi knew very well that her master’s goal was to completely crush the Clear Wind Taoist Temple and then let her occupy this newly developed market.

So she had to completely crush everyone in the Clear Wind Taoist Temple at once, from top to bottom, leaving no one capable of teaching or opening classes.

With her strength of Limit Body Tempering from the Seven-Section Quick Sword plus the Sixth Rank Body Tempering from the Black Dragon Claw, achieving this wouldn’t be difficult.

Hearing this, a trace of pity flashed in Xie Li’s eyes.

This was weakness. Lin Hui, who used to be so much stronger than her, was now destined to be completely crushed and fall to the bottom just because of one wrong choice.

If nothing unexpected happened, Senior Sister probably wouldn’t show mercy but intended to completely cripple Vivi and Lin Hui.

What a pity… If Lin Hui had been like her back then and not so isolated, perhaps now…

“Let’s go.” Mu Qiaozhi stepped forward first, crossing the threshold.

The side door of the temple wasn’t closed, just ajar. Faint sounds of wooden swords cutting through the air could be heard from inside.

Walking a few steps in, they saw a long-haired woman with a hot figure—curvaceous front and back—holding a long branch on the rear training ground. she was walking among a group of elderly people, constantly correcting their sword postures.

The woman had an excellent figure and a charming appearance, occasionally attracting stolen glances from some dishonest old men.

On the other side, two half-grown boys were directing people to clean up and wash sweat towels.

Further away by the wall, several old men who seemed to be visiting stood with their hands behind their backs, whispering to each other.

Seeming to notice the two entering, Vivi turned her head to look and instantly recognized Mu Qiaozhi.

After all, this former Eldest Senior Sister had always been the highest-ranking existence in the hearts of many Clear Wind disciples.

But the result…

“Mu Qiaozhi? What are you doing here? Didn’t you defect to the Black Dragon Gate?”

She turned, pushed through the crowd, and blocked the path of Mu Qiaozhi and Xie Li, speaking coldly.

“You must be Vivi? It looks like you’re doing quite well here.” Mu Qiaozhi stood with her hands behind her back, chuckling lightly. Her gaze swept casually around the surroundings.

“None of your business! You are not welcome here, please leave!” Vivi had no goodwill towards these fence-sitters who defected at the drop of a hat.

“Leaving is impossible. We came here specifically for you,” Mu Qiaozhi smiled.

“What do you mean?” Vivi unconsciously gripped the hilt of her sword, feeling that something was wrong.

“It means that from today on, you are not allowed to run training classes anymore. You and Lin Hui couldn’t even reach the top five of the Front Courtyard back then. Teaching people swordplay is just misleading students. Aren’t you afraid of causing problems for people?” Mu Qiaozhi laughed.

“You!!?” Vivi felt suffocated, and a burst of anger surged up. “We have already withdrawn from the martial arts hall circle, what more do you want!?”

“Very simple. Teaching requires real talent and learning.” Mu Qiaozhi glanced at the elderly people who were secretly watching the excitement and deliberately spoke loudly.

“Your cultivation isn’t up to standard; teaching is a waste of time with extremely poor results. Instead of cheating money under the banner of fooling people, it’s better for me to correct you thoroughly, lest you two ruin the reputation of the Clear Wind Taoist Temple!”

“You traitorous bastard who switched cultivation, what right do you have to dictate things here!!” Vivi couldn’t hold back her temper anymore. Roaring in anger, she drew her sword with a clang, and the Clear Wind Sword Style flashed suddenly, stabbing toward Mu Qiaozhi.

Clang.

The sword tip was blocked by a black claw.

“Body Tempering and sword speed at roughly the Seventh or Eighth Rank… is this your confidence?”

A trace of disdain curled at the corner of Mu Qiaozhi’s mouth. She shook her hand, exploding with tremendous force, and knocked the longsword away fiercely.

“I reached the limit three years ago…”

She suddenly moved forward, her body bringing out a string of afterimages, her claw stabbing toward Vivi’s chest.

This burst of speed was more than a notch faster than Vivi.

Ding ding ding!!

In an instant, the two women exchanged over a dozen lightning-fast blows. Spots of yellow sparks formed a line, retreating rapidly deeper into the Daoist temple in everyone’s vision.

That was Mu Qiaozhi suppressing Vivi in the fight.

Bang!

Finally, the two crashed into the wall together, knocking over and scattering a pile of firewood stacked there.

“Clear Wind Sword · Gathering Cloud Swallow!“

Vivi’s furious roar exploded. Silver sword light suddenly lit up a circular afterimage, slashing toward Mu Qiaozhi from the side like a crescent moon.

This was one of the killing moves of the Clear Wind Sword Style.

But similarly, Mu Qiaozhi actually struck later but arrived first, using the same move.

An opposing black fan shape emerged out of thin air—that was the Gathering Cloud Swallow she executed using claws instead of a sword.

The same move, one silver and one black, clashed instantly.

CLANG!!

The sword blade flew out, knocked from Vivi’s hand, and sliced diagonally deep into a wooden pillar not far away.

She fell heavily, sliding and leaving a trail. Her back and shoulders were all scraped, and she couldn’t stand up for a moment.

Mu Qiaozhi flexed her claws and walked toward Vivi step by step.

“See that? The sword style of the Clear Wind Taoist Temple is already too far behind…”

She stood in front of Vivi, looking down from above.

“Speed inferior to mine, strength inferior to mine, hard body defense even more inferior… What do you have to fight me with?”

She exhaled gently, her expression calm.

“After crippling you, and then dealing with that Lin Hui, you shouldn’t be able to make any more waves.”

Raising her sharp claw, she suddenly seemed to sense something. Turning her head, she saw a figure slowly walking out from the steps of the main hall behind her.

“Let her go.”

Lin Hui glanced at Vivi on the ground, then returned his gaze to Mu Qiaozhi.

“Heh?” Mu Qiaozhi sneered. Her right claw abruptly smashed down, aiming for Vivi’s right knee.

Whoosh!

The claw stopped abruptly, freezing right against the fabric of the pants at the knee, motionless.

Mu Qiaozhi’s expression changed slightly as she turned her face slightly to look behind her.

” tell me, are you fast, or am I faster?”

A sword tip was hovering silently at the back of her head, unbeknownst to her.

The blade was silver and bright like water, unmoving in the wind.

The person holding the sword was Lin Hui.

(End of Chapter)