A righteous young hero? But I am a demonic cultist.

Chapter 32 The Battle of Sword Qi: Practicality is Key

The newcomer, dressed in greyish-white linen clothes, with white hair and beard, stood upright in front of the two men's wine jars.

Just as Yue Yuan was about to pour the wine, he noticed that the wine was being blocked and immediately reminded him, "Hey, old man, you're blocking my wine!"

Yue Yuan was so drunk that he didn't care who was standing in front of him. Even if it was Yue Buqun, he would still dare to curse him.

Linghu Chong, on the other hand, was a good drinker. Seeing the newcomer's attire, he knew he must be a master. He immediately clasped his hands in greeting and said, "Senior, you must have smelled the wine too. Please sit down and let's drink together."

"Heh, is this appropriate?"

Yue Yuan was getting impatient. "Just sit down when I tell you to. Why all the nonsense?"

Seeing this, Linghu Chong quickly stopped Yue Yuan, "My junior brother is just straightforward, senior, please have a seat!"

Feng Qingyang looked at the two Qi Sect lads with a smile on his face.

This rougher guy has a high alcohol tolerance, speaks tactfully, and has a good temperament.

This pale-faced scholar has no respect for his elders. He's got a silver spear with a pewter tip. I don't know why Yue Buqun would accept this thing.

Linghu Chong poured wine for Feng Qingyang, then quickly picked up the wine bowl and said, "Senior, meeting is fate, drink this cup to the brim!" He then drank the wine in the bowl in one gulp.

Feng Qingyang and Yue Yuan picked up their wine bowls, ready to drink them down, when Yue Yuan remembered something and put the bowls down.

"Wait, this is the back of Mount Hua, old man... Holy crap, you're Feng Qingyang?"

He immediately used his internal energy to expel the alcohol fumes, and instantly sobered up. He had never expected Feng Qingyang to appear at this moment.

In both the original novel and the TV series, he is unfathomable. He only offered guidance when Linghu Chong was defeated by Tian Boguang.

To their surprise, he appeared naked in front of them.

This time, it was Feng Qingyang's turn to be surprised.

"You...recognize me?"

Not only do I recognize you, you'll become famous in later generations.

Many fanfiction authors have written about you to death, from competing with Ren Woxing for the title of courtesan to being deceived by a prostitute; those stories are so tragic.

"Um, would you believe me if I said I was just guessing?"

Feng Qingyang chuckled, "I don't believe it."

"That's settled then. It doesn't matter where I heard it from, you won't believe me no matter what I say."

Linghu Chong was completely confused by their conversation, and he asked curiously, "Junior Brother, do you know this senior?"

Yue Yuan shook his head, "I wouldn't say I know him personally, but I've heard of his reputation."

"Let's go by seniority. We should call Senior Feng our Grandmaster Uncle. He is a successor of the Huashan Sword Sect and his Dugu Nine Swords are incredibly skilled. However, after the Sword Qi Dispute, he went into seclusion."

Feng Qingyang frowned as he looked at him. "Yue Buqun told you all this, so it seems you're quite favored by him!"

"If I liked it, I wouldn't be here."

Linghu Chong was dizzy from the two of them. He tugged at Yue Yuan's sleeve and asked, "What's this sword qi battle all about?"

"The conflict between sword and qi was a clash of ideologies between the Sword Sect and the Qi Sect. The debate centered on whether to control qi with the sword or to control the sword with qi. Neither side could reach a consensus, and that's how the conflict started." He shrugged. "In the end, only my master, my mistress, and a few other members of the Sword Sect survived."

Barriers are always broken from the inside. If it weren't for the battle of sword energy, Mount Hua might still be the leader of the Five Sacred Mountains.

Upon hearing this, Feng Qingyang immediately voiced his doubts, "In your opinion, was the Sword Sect or the Qi Sect wrong in the sword qi conflict?"

Yue Yuan laughed, "You guys are really foolish. Why do you have to get hung up on who's right? Does that mean the Huashan Sect is right and the Huashan Sect isn't wrong?"

"Can't we broaden our horizons a bit? For the sake of Mount Hua, shouldn't the strongest person take on the responsibility? A black cat or a white cat, as long as it catches mice, it's a good cat. Don't you understand that simple principle?"

Yue Yuan paused for a moment, then added, "Actually, I think the sword qi dispute back then was instigated by someone. Otherwise, why did they have to fight at this time of year, when Huashan had just fallen and Songshan had risen up?"

"Think about it carefully."

Feng Qingyang thought about the scene at that time, and it seemed to be true.

The battle between Huashan sword qi has a long history, but why did it start at the very moment when Songshan was about to rise to power?

He considered many possibilities, but this was the one he never thought of.

Feng Qingyang took a big gulp of wine. "Kid, so according to you, all of this was done by the Songshan Sect?"

"This is highly likely!"

He was actually just speculating; everything was too coincidental. Why did the Sword Sect and the Qi Sect suddenly merge? Why didn't the sect leader at the time suppress it?

After eliminating all other possibilities, the only impossibility might be the truth.

Someone within the Huashan Sect must have been instigated, leading to a conflict between the two sects, leaving only a handful of survivors. As for Feng Qingyang...

"Grandmaster Feng, you still haven't told us how you survived back then," Yue Yuan asked curiously.

"I wasn't at Mount Hua at the time."

Upon hearing this, Yue Yuan looked at him with great curiosity, "I heard, I heard it from someone else, that during the Battle of Mount Hua, he was in Jinling vying for the most beautiful courtesan with Ren Woxing, is that right?"

Upon hearing this, Feng Qingyang squeezed the wine bowl tightly, crushing it into pieces that drifted down the cliff in the wind.

When Yue Yuan saw his expression, he knew the answer.

The rumors are mostly true. During the sword qi competition, he was tricked into leaving Mount Hua. By the time he returned, the Sword Sect had already been defeated.

Feng Qingyang came and went in a hurry, perhaps because Yue Yuan had stirred up some painful memories. He stopped drinking and disappeared from the spot.

That teleportation move is really impressive. Yue Yuan wants to learn it too. If he had that move, he would definitely look cool.

After the two had eaten and drunk their fill, the next step was to prepare a place to stay, and the cave served as their natural dwelling.

Left with no other choice, the two of them had to hold their noses and go into the cave to start cleaning. By the time they finished, it was already late at night.

Linghu Chong had already fallen asleep after drinking, while Yue Yuan sat in front of his newly opened window, enjoying the evening breeze, and opened the system interface.

[System, I need to check in]

[Successfully checked in, rewarded with a treasure chest]

[Complete the hidden quest, interact with Feng Qingyang, and receive one chance to win a prize.]

[The next check-in point has been determined: Songshan Sect]

Good, good, another hidden quest has been triggered, and I can draw a prize again.

There are no gamblers who lose every day, no children who cry every day, the system gives me a lottery.

The yellow sphere bounced inside the machine before finally popping out of the exit.

"SSR, SSR, it has to be an SSR."

The system seemed to have heard his wish and actually dropped a top-tier item for him.

[Congratulations, host, you have obtained the SSR-level skill, Mind Control Technique]

As an outstanding successor of a demonic cult, how could one not possess a few qualified demonic cult skills?

Without your mind-controlling magic, what will happen to those aloof senior sisters, fiery junior sisters, demonic witches, righteous fairies, sweet princesses... who feel empty, lonely, and cold?

What to do? He should go find whoever he needs to find. He's not a harem animal. His two senior sisters are already giving him a headache. If there are more, they'll probably start fighting.

No, no, this skill is only fit for the trash heap.

Now that the prize draw is over, let's open the treasure chests. Treasure chests are the best!

[Open the treasure chest]

The treasure chest has been opened.

Yue Yuan looked into the treasure chest. This time, what came out was very strange; it was a transparent light.

He reached in to touch it, but the light suddenly pierced his mind.

It hurts, it hurts like I'm going to explode.

This was a sword intent from all the heavens, almost gathering the insights of all sword users in the heavens. Although it was only one percent, it was still beyond Yue Yuan's ability to digest.

At this moment, Yue Yuan was like Sun Wukong being subjected to the Tightening Spell by Tang Sanzang, only able to roll around on the ground, completely helpless.

Linghu Chong, who was standing nearby, was awakened by the noise and wanted to go forward to check the situation, but Yue Yuan had already lost his mind and directly rammed his head into Linghu Chong's chest, knocking him into the dark passage.