Chapter 29: Dragon-tiger Pact, Qionghua Martial Gathering
Heaven has never been fair.
Some are born into fine clothes and jade food, wealth and glory, while others are crushed into the mud, crawling and rolling.
Talent is something that cannot be sought.
Even though Yang Erhu was at the peak of his prime of life, and his control over force was barely at the level of ‘freely control’, facing Hong Yuan just after he emerged from the Biwu Immortal Realm, he still wouldn’t dare say he was certain to win.
Yang Erhu estimated it was an eight-two split!
The higher odds of winning were naturally his own.
As long as the force hit the opponent, it would decide victory, but it wasn’t impossible to capsize in the gutter; with the slightest carelessness, he could be beaten and killed by the opponent’s wild fists.
Yang Erhu naturally didn’t know Hong Yuan was cheating; he could only sigh at how tough his young disciple’s physique and muscles and bones were.
And now that Hong Yuan had entered force and understood the wondrous uses of force, he was even further from being a match!
Fortunately, this was a Tiger Subduing Sect disciple.
“Teacher, let’s talk about the Dragon Tiger Patriarch and the Dragon Subduing Sect instead…”
Hong Yuan brought the topic back.
In fact, combining Meng Yue’s confession, Hong Yuan already understood the inner details seven or eight parts out of ten; the missing one or two parts, having watched so many dramas and novels, he could fill in himself.
Asking now was merely to get confirmation.
Hong Yuan already knew that the Dragon Tiger Patriarch had taken True Man Zhang and True Man Li as disciples, dividing his inheritance into the Dragon Subduing and Tiger Subduing two branches.
Recollection appeared in Yang Erhu’s eyes as he began to recount.
Originally, though True Man Zhang and True Man Li had disputes and couldn’t stand each other, the two sects were ultimately not in the same prefecture, and might not meet even once in several years, so they could coexist peacefully.
The problem arose over ten years ago when True Man Li suddenly died.
True Man Li’s death was an accident.
It happened during cultivation; perhaps due to old age, there was a slight lapse in his control over qi and blood, leading to a momentary backlash from force.
Then, because he was cultivating alone with no one to help, he directly perished!
True Man Zhang and True Man Li were ultimately senior and junior brothers from the same sect; no matter how many grudges there were, when True Man Li died, True Man Zhang still came to pay respects.
Who knew that after the memorial rites, True Man Zhang would propose that since the two sects were originally one, they should merge into one without distinction.
Yang Erhu and his brothers, along with Wu Duxiong, were utterly furious and flatly refused.
True Man Zhang settled for the next best thing and proposed to observe the Tiger Subduing secret transmission, but was refused again.
True Man Zhang didn’t force the issue and simply left, and the next few years were calm until the Qionghua Grand Gathering six years ago.
“Qionghua Grand Gathering?!”
Hong Yuan was slightly surprised.
As a scholar, he naturally knew about the Qionghua Grand Gathering and even yearned for it.
The Linjiang Prefecture where he was located was in Mingzhou.
The land of Mingzhou had been a gathering place for scholars and literati, poets and wits since ancient times, with its elegant charm renowned throughout the land.
Literati liked to chant about wind and moon, matters of flowers and snow; when crowds gathered, elegant gatherings centered on flowers became numerous.
And in the land of Mingzhou, Qionghua flowers were uniquely superb, with thousands clustering like snow weighing down the branches, jade stamens exquisite, faint fragrance wafting; their form and charm all inspired praise.
Thus, every March when spring came and Qionghua bloomed, it was also the grand event for literati and poets to go on spring outings and admire flowers and the moon.
Initially this was just an activity for scholars, but after hundreds of years of evolution, it gradually became a celebration for everyone.
During the Qionghua season, from nobles and aristocrats, high officials and dignitaries, down to common folk, peddlers and porters, all would participate.
All prefectures and counties in Mingzhou would have activities, but the most lively was in Longyuan Prefecture, the prefectural city.
As far as Hong Yuan knew, all the major brothels in Longyuan Prefecture would launch courtesan queens during the grand gathering, competing in splendor and allure, drawing distinguished guests from all directions, who often threw away thousands of gold just for a beauty’s smile.
This was still news Hong Yuan had heard from Fatty Huang.
But what did this have to do with martial artists?
Yang Erhu sighed lightly:
“Ordinary people don’t know, but during the Qionghua Grand Gathering, martial artists also gather to hold a martial gathering: a small one every year, mostly just martial artists from Longyuan Prefecture participating; every three years a grand one.
“At that time, all sects and schools with any forces in Mingzhou, from all over, as well as heroes who pride themselves on their high skills, would flock there to show their skills!”
Yang Erhu said: “At that martial gathering six years ago, Senior Zhang proposed merging the sects again. I was still in my prime of life then and inevitably hot-blooded. If True Man Zhang had pressured us as an elder, I naturally wouldn’t agree, but he first admitted his mistake and tearfully pleaded, saying he was old and only wanted to see dragon tiger united before dying. This… how could I refuse?”
Yang Erhu sighed again: “And, to be honest, how could I not want to see the Dragon Subduing secret transmission and achieve dragon tiger momentum? So at the time, my mind heated up and I agreed.”
Hong Yuan thought of Yang Erhu’s joy when he saw the ‘Grass on Wings’ secret technique and knew this was his obsession.
“We discussed using the martial gathering as the deadline, competing in three matches, best of three, the final winner taking charge of dragon tiger, the loser becoming a vassal…”
Yang Erhu paused, slightly closing his eyes; after a long moment, he said with a bitter expression: “But unexpectedly, I lost the very first match.”
“Three years ago in the second match, it was my younger brother who fought. Though he won that battle, the price he paid was huge, and from then on he could no longer fight.”
Yang Erhu’s younger brother was none other than Yang Lie’s father, the wealthy man in the prefecture city.
“Both sides had one win and one loss, so next March is the final match. Originally, Junior Brother Wu was to fight this one; for it, he even joined the army to temper himself for several years, but now…”
Yang Erhu’s gaze fell on Hong Yuan, faintly filled with expectation.
No wonder!
Hong Yuan suddenly understood; no wonder Yang Erhu had so easily accepted him as an entry disciple and even taught him all the secret transmissions.
It wasn’t that Yang Erhu wasn’t a good person; no matter how good, there had to be some reason to be so good to a young man he’d just met, right?
Hong Yuan didn’t feel there was anything bad about it; Yang Erhu valued his good aptitude, he valued the Tiger Subduing Sect secret transmissions—each got what they needed, and master-disciple affection would develop over time, right?
“Teacher, rest assured; leave that battle to me when the time comes.”
Hong Yuan smiled.
Having taken the benefits, he naturally had to contribute; moreover, opening the Great Year Blessed Land required being first in martial power, and the path of hiding away was innately not for him, so since the Qionghua Martial Gathering would draw many masters, he certainly couldn’t miss it.
‘Moreover, it’s not even October now; there’s still nearly half a year until the martial gathering—isn’t this time too ample?’
At Hong Yuan’s rate of progress, he didn’t even know to what extent he’d grow by then.
Of course, Hong Yuan also knew that as his own strength increased, the difficulty of obtaining root bone and comprehension would also rise sharply; for example, this time killing Meng Yue and beheading Yan Laosan at the wharf, killing and injuring dozens of people before and after, yet not a shred of root bone or comprehension came.
Yang Erhu took another sip of tea, a bit of contemplation appearing on his face; finally, he made a decision: “Wait a moment; I have something for you.”
With that, he stood up and went back to the inner room.
Before long, Yang Erhu returned, now holding a cloth-wrapped bundle, which he carefully handed to Hong Yuan.
“Teacher, this is…”
“The manuscript secret manual left behind by your grandmaster True Man Li!”
