The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, becoming a disciple of Yue Buqun

Page 78

Jiang Ning was somewhat surprised that Cheng Buyou would ask this question, but still replied, "I started practicing with my master when I was seven years old, and it has been ten years since then."

Jiang Ning is seventeen years old now, a few months shy of turning eighteen, so it's about ten years from now.

Even though he already knew Jiang Ning's real age, Feng Buping still couldn't help but gasp in astonishment when he heard this answer.

Such talent was unheard of even by the Huashan Sect back then.

He has only been practicing martial arts for ten years and has already surpassed many top-notch masters. If he were given another ten years, wouldn't he take off?

No wonder Yue Buqun had that expression when he mentioned Jiang Ning's age.

With such disciples, as long as the Huashan Sect develops steadily and is not swallowed up by the Songshan Sect, the Huashan Sect will prosper for at least three generations.

The thought of this possibility gave Feng Buping even more motivation.

Upon hearing this, Cheng Buyou simply nodded thoughtfully without saying anything. After a moment, he looked at Linghu Chong again.

"You have a good talent for swordsmanship."

Cheng Buyou said this to Linghu Chong.

"what?"

Linghu Chong was feeling a bit bored when Cheng Buyou suddenly spoke to him.

Cheng Buyou continued, "I've seen you practice swordsmanship before. You're very smart and have a strong comprehension. Your future achievements will be remarkable."

"Forehead……"

Although he didn't know why Cheng Buyou suddenly said that, Linghu Chong still scratched his head and smiled happily, "Thank you for the compliment, Uncle-Master."

"But you're lazy."

Cheng Buyou suddenly spoke again.

"Forehead?"

Linghu Chong's expression froze.

Lazy?

He's incredibly hardworking right now, isn't he?

Linghu Chong said somewhat dejectedly, "I'm already trying my best."

He did work very hard, but Cheng Buyou had also seen Jiang Ning practice his skills. Compared to Jiang Ning, a training fanatic, Linghu Chong actually had time to spend with Yue Lingshan, which Cheng Buyou thought was indeed lazy.

Cheng Buyou was short, but his expression was very serious: "It's not enough. You must practice hard."

"Intelligence is not a privilege, but a talent. You have a high talent for swordsmanship, so don't waste it. You must work hard to improve and protect the Huashan Sect."

Cheng Buyou has a very straightforward personality, even more so than Feng Buping. He is inflexible and stubborn.

After Yue Buqun placed the memorial tablets of the Sword Sect's predecessors and his father in the back hall, he no longer had any objections to Yue Buqun. Now, all he was thinking about was how to make the Huashan Sect stronger. Linghu Chong had great talent, and it would be a real pity to waste it.

Hearing Cheng Buyou say this, Linghu Chong knew he was doing it for his own good, so he nodded and said, "Don't worry, Uncle-Master, I will do my best."

Chapter 120: Pingliang Prefecture

After descending the mountain, the four of them each headed to their respective cities.

Pingliang Prefecture is the farthest from Mount Hua among the four prefectures, and Jiangning will arrive a few days later than the others.

Unlike the bustling Xi'an Prefecture, Pingliang Prefecture seemed somewhat inferior, even compared to Hanzhong. Of course, it was still a prefecture, so it certainly wouldn't be too bad, it just had a smaller population than the other three prefectures.

Pingliang Prefecture is quite far from Mount Hua, and Yue Buqun doesn't usually come here. Except for last year when the Mount Hua Sect came to sweep away bandits in Shaanxi, he rarely comes here after that.

The local prefect was very enthusiastic when he learned that the Huashan Sect wanted to recruit disciples here. He specially approved a piece of land for the Huashan Sect to use free of charge.

Although Pingliang Prefecture has a relatively small population and is not as prosperous as Xi'an, it is plagued by rampant bandits and poor public security, which is a major headache for the local prefect.

The Huashan Sect's cleanup of the bandits had significantly improved the local security, which pleased the prefect, as these bandits served as stepping stones for his advancement.

Therefore, after learning about the Huashan Sect, the prefect of Pingliang was very cooperative and even hoped that the Huashan Sect would leave a station in Pingliang Prefecture, but the Huashan Sect temporarily refused.

The current Huashan Sect does not have the strength. There are too few disciples in the sect. If they left out posts in every place, Huashan would be empty, leaving only Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze, two elderly people living alone.

Jiang Ning already knew the location where the Huashan Sect was recruiting disciples in Pingliang Prefecture. When he arrived at the destination, he saw Lin Pingzhi and the others busily working.

The location was in the center of Pingliang Prefecture, an open space. A large flag with the outline of Mount Hua embroidered on it was planted in the open space, and some people had gathered around the edge of the open space, looking at it curiously.

Several officials were maintaining order.

"Brother!"

Lin Pingzhi, who was busy at work, spotted Jiang Ning in the crowd and exclaimed in surprise.

Jiang Ning walked through the crowd to the center of the open space, nodded to Lin Pingzhi, and then looked at Liang Fa and the others, saying, "Senior brothers, how are the preparations going?"

Liang smiled and said, "Everything is ready, we can start today."

Before descending the mountain, they had arranged a time with Jiang Ning. Today was the day to officially recruit disciples, and Jiang Ning happened to be there.

"it is good."

Jiang Ning nodded: "Then let's begin."

Jiang Ning then sat down in the only chair present, indicating that they could begin.

Lin Pingzhi nodded, then turned and nodded to one of the officers. The officer understood, coughed loudly, and announced in a clear voice, "The Huashan Sect is recruiting disciples today. Those who wish to join the Huashan Sect may apply."

Before this, the news that the Huashan Sect was going to recruit disciples had already spread, and some people had been waiting here for many days. When they heard that it was finally starting, they rushed over in droves.

"Don't push, don't push!"

Several officials were swallowed up by the crowd. One of them popped his head out of the crowd and shouted, but the next second he found himself flying, his feet off the ground and being carried along by the crowd.

The scene immediately descended into chaos.

After a while.

"Name."

"Gou Dan."

"Daimyo."

"Li Gou Dan".

"age."

"Six years old."

Lin Pingzhi sat at the table, pen in hand, head down, writing something, asking questions as he wrote.

At this moment, Lin Pingzhi's hair was a mess, as if it had been pulled, and his clothes were also torn, with half of the sleeve flying off, revealing his fair skin.

Where do you live? What do your family do?

A chubby-faced child stood in front of the table, with a peasant woman beside him.

Upon hearing this, the peasant woman quickly replied, "My family lives in Lijia Gou. We are farmers. His father's name is Li Fugui, and my name is Yang Cuilan. Last year, when his father came to the city to work, he broke his leg and has been bedridden ever since. He has been supported by my farming. My family has five children, and he is the youngest."

"Lijia Gou..."

After writing down the place name and her name, Lin Pingzhi put away his pen, looked up at her and said, "Alright, you can go back now. The Huashan Sect will come to your Lijia Gou to check on things later."

Yang Cuilan nodded upon hearing this, and then left with her son.

This is the seventh one recorded by Lin Pingzhi.

After the initial commotion, the scene finally calmed down. Those who wanted to join the Huashan Sect lined up to have their aptitude checked by the Huashan disciples. Those deemed suitable were recorded by name, asked a few simple questions, and then sent back. Only after the Huashan Sect had investigated their family backgrounds and confirmed that there were no abnormalities would they be officially accepted as disciples.

So far, nearly a hundred people have signed up, but only seven have met the standards. The others are either too old or have a stubborn temperament.

It was already dark, so Lin Pingzhi put away his pen and prepared to finish his work, planning to continue tomorrow.

"Hey, why are you leaving?"

In the crowd, a boy saw Lin Pingzhi's actions and immediately shouted, rushing out of the crowd and pressing his hands on the table.

"I haven't registered yet."

Lin Pingzhi patiently said, "It's very late today, let's continue tomorrow."

"That won't work."

The boy got impatient: "I've been waiting in line for ages, why can't I get through when it's almost my turn?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Pingzhi frowned slightly and looked at the young man in front of him.

At this moment, the young man was dressed in silk clothing and had a jade pendant hanging from his waist, which looked quite valuable.

This is the young master of a prominent family.

Lin Pingzhi didn't speak, but turned to look at Jiang Ning.

"Senior brother, look..."

Jiang Ning sat calmly to one side. After hearing Lin Pingzhi's words, he looked at the boy, then stood up and dusted himself off.

There were so many people that he was swallowed up by the crowd and covered in dust. Some little kid had secretly pressed a handprint on his clothes, which were now covered in mud.

Jiang Ning approached the boy. He remained silent, his expression calm, but the boy instantly quieted down as if he were a mouse encountering a cat.

"You want to join my Huashan Sect?"

Upon hearing Jiang Ning's words, the boy nodded vigorously like a chick pecking at rice: "Yes, I dream about it."

Jiang Ning looked at him and asked, "Why do you want to join my Huashan Sect?"

Upon hearing this, the boy became excited: "I've heard that the people of the Huashan Sect are highly skilled in martial arts and can fly around. I want to learn!"

Jiang Ning didn't say anything, but asked another question.

"So what do you want to do after you've learned it?"

Without hesitation, the boy replied, "Of course I can do whatever I want! Once I learn martial arts, I can do whatever I want, and no one will dare to say anything to me!"

Jiang Ning's expression remained unchanged as he asked another question: "If a young girl were abducted in the street by a high-ranking official's son right in front of you, what would you do?"

Without a second thought, the boy said, "I'm not going to do anything. I'm learning martial arts not to save people."

The next second, the boy seemed to realize something and quickly added, "Of course, if those people go too far, I will still save them."

Jiang Ning had already turned and left.

"You are not suitable to join my Huashan Sect."

Chapter 121: Disciple

They only recorded seven names in one day. They still need to investigate their family backgrounds. If they are not from good families, they will be eliminated. At this rate, they will probably have to stay in Pingliang Prefecture for a while longer.

A few more days passed.

Lin Pingzhi and his friends originally thought that the number of people signing up would decrease day by day, but they didn't expect that the number of people would increase in the following days. The first day's hundred people were the fewest.

Lin Pingzhi's hands were numb from copying for the past few days.

"Senior brother, this is the completed list, there are thirty people in total."

Lin Pingzhi handed a thick stack of papers to Jiang Ning.

Jiang Ning glanced through it casually, then said to Lin Pingzhi, Liang Fa, and the others, "Thank you for your hard work, junior brother, and all the senior brothers."

Lin Pingzhi and the others waved their hands to indicate that it was nothing.

Jiang Ning distributed the names on the list to them, leaving five for himself.

"Then let's set off."

The quota has been exceeded, so what remains is to conduct further on-site inspections to see what the families of these children are like.

Actually, this kind of thing could be delegated to others, but Jiang Ning felt it was better for them to make the trip themselves.

The first person on the list lived in the city. Jiang Ning wandered through several streets and alleys before finally meeting the person on the list in a relatively remote abandoned house.

A dirty boy is feeding a white steamed bun to his younger brother, who is only two or three years old.

"eat fast."