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

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The main reason was that their previous performance had been so poor that they were afraid Yue Buqun would give them a failing grade and they would be punished.

"Go down."

Yue Buqun waved his hand to dismiss the two men, then looked at the disciples who were watching.

Who's next in your group?

This time, Yue Buqun didn't need to call out names. Soon, two female disciples volunteered to step forward. They had just discussed it, and after stepping forward, the two immediately began their sword duel.

Unlike the male disciples, the female disciples' fighting style is more elegant and pleasing to the eye.

"Pass."

After the two female disciples finished their sword duel, Yue Buqun nodded, and Ning Zhongze also nodded with a smile.

Then, one by one, the Huashan disciples stepped forward in pairs to begin their sword duels, having already agreed on their opponents.

Jiang Ning just watched them compete, and no one asked him to join their group.

It's not that he's unpopular, but rather that he's the strongest among these disciples, and no one would be so tactless as to challenge him to a sword duel.

In previous sect assessments, Jiang Ning's opponent was Linghu Chong.

Among the second-generation disciples of Mount Hua, only these two have reached the level of second-rate masters. The rest are all hovering at the third-rate level. Therefore, in every internal assessment, all the disciples of Mount Hua automatically grouped them together with Linghu Chong. Now that Linghu Chong is not in Mount Hua, naturally no one will fight him.

Although Laudenau was also a second-rate expert, he had concealed his strength and fought Shi Daizi to a standstill.

"Pass."

"Pass."

"Unqualified."

"Pass."

Yue Buqun evaluated the Huashan disciples in groups, and most of them passed. Only a very few failed and were severely punished. They were forced to practice for two extra hours every day and carry ten loads of water up Huashan from the foot of the mountain every day.

The purpose of the internal assessment set up by Yue Buqun was not to punish the disciples in order to demonstrate the authority of the master, but to urge the disciples to practice their skills. As long as their performance in the internal assessment was not too outrageous, even if their performance was similar to that in the previous internal assessments, Yue Buqun would allow them to pass.

After all, practicing martial arts is going against the natural order; if you don't advance, you regress. If you neglect your practice, your martial arts skills will decline. Since your performance is the same as before, it means that you are at least practicing seriously.

Not everyone makes rapid progress on the path of martial arts training. Martial arts training requires talent, and not everyone has the talent for martial arts. Some people have worked hard for half their lives, but their martial arts skills are not as good as those of a young person.

Sometimes, not regressing is the greatest progress.

Ordinary people make up the majority.

As the disciples in the sect passed or failed the assessment one by one, there were not many disciples left who had not yet been assessed, and Jiang Ning was one of them.

"Junior brother! Are you alright?"

A cry of alarm rang out, and one of the Huashan disciples in the last group quickly sheathed his sword, looking nervously at his junior brother opposite him, whose sword was stained with blood.

"I'm sorry, senior brother, I didn't mean it."

The junior brother opposite him was covering his wound with his hand, his face somewhat pale.

"It's alright, senior brother, it's nothing. It's just that my skills are not up to par, it has nothing to do with you."

Upon seeing that one of the disciples was bleeding, Yue Buqun said, "Since Songnian is injured, then your competition shall be temporarily suspended."

Swords have no eyes and can easily hurt people. Even though it was a sparring match between fellow disciples, Yue Buqun was prepared for accidents to happen. As long as no one was killed and no serious consequences occurred, there shouldn't be any major problems.

"Yes."

The two disciples bowed and said goodbye, and then the Huashan disciple who had attacked helped his injured junior brother leave the center of the training ground.

Now only Jiang Ning is left who hasn't taken the assessment yet.

Yue Buqun looked at Jiang Ning, pondered for a while, and then said, "Ning'er, normally it would be Chong'er who would spar with you, and the other Huashan disciples would not be able to spar with you. But Chong'er is not in Huashan now, so this time I will personally test your progress in the sect's assessment."

Although that's what they said, Yue Buqun didn't think Jiang Ning would fail the test.

Jiang Ning is the one among his disciples who requires the least amount of his attention. He is hardworking and self-disciplined, and it is impossible for him to regress.

However, that's just how the rules are in the sect. Even though Yue Buqun felt it was unnecessary to test Jiang Ning, it still had to be done, otherwise the other disciples would feel it was unfair and would feel resentful.

"Yes."

Jiang Ning nodded and then stepped forward.

He had been at the level of a second-rate master for some time now. Although he felt that he was getting stronger every day, he had no one to compare himself to. It would be good if Yue Buqun was willing to personally test him.

"Master, I have been rude."

Jiang Ning said this first, and Yue Buqun smiled, indicating that Jiang Ning could make a move.

Jiang Ning's eyes turned cold, his expression became indifferent, and he placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Zheng~

The hilt of the sword was raised, revealing a glint of silver light inside the scabbard, and then it was slowly drawn out.

However, when the longsword was halfway drawn, some of the other Huashan disciples noticed something was wrong down below the mountain.

Someone is going up the mountain.

There was a man and a woman; the man was about twenty-four or twenty-five years old, and the woman looked about sixteen or seventeen.

The two people were walking down the mountain along the mountain path at that moment.

Chapter 15: Linghu Chong

"Big brother."

"It's Senior Brother and Junior Sister back!"

The disciples of Mount Hua shouted with delight, causing Jiang Ning, who was about to make a move, to pause. Yue Buqun, on the other side, also looked down the mountain.

"It really is Chong'er and Shan'er who are back."

Yue Buqun looked surprised, while Ning Zhongze looked delighted.

Although Yue Lingshan came down the mountain with Linghu Chong, she was still worried about Yue Lingshan's safety. Seeing her daughter and disciple return to the mountain safely, she smiled.

As they drew closer, their faces came into view.

The man was handsome, with bright, piercing eyes, a long face, sword-like eyebrows, thin lips, and two wisps of hair hanging down from either side of his forehead. He exuded an indescribable air of nonchalance.

The woman was beautiful, with a fair, oval face and bright, clear eyes. She wore a light green dress and was very attractive.

However, her bright, darting eyes carried a hint of liveliness and playfulness.

The girl's eyes lit up when she saw the group on the mountain. She waved to them, shouted, and strode up the mountain.

"Father, mother."

When the man next to her saw Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze on the mountain, he instinctively shrank back and quickly lowered his head to follow the girl's steps, but his movements as he climbed the mountain became awkward.

These two are Linghu Chong and Yue Lingshan.

"Father~ Mother~, your daughter has missed you so much."

As soon as she stepped onto the flat ground, Yue Lingshan opened her arms and rushed towards Ning Zhongze, throwing herself into her arms.

Ning Zhongze patted Yue Lingshan's back with a smile, looking like a loving mother.

At this moment, Linghu Chong also walked towards Yue Buqun, but his steps were very strange, almost like he was moving step by step. His upper body was also very awkward, giving people the feeling that he was resisting in his heart, but his body had to make a movement that went against his heart. It was extremely comical, which was enough to show the inner struggle and fear of Linghu Chong at this moment.

"Master, Mistress, I'm back."

When Linghu Chong arrived in front of Yue Buqun, he didn't dare to look up at him. Instead, he looked down at the ground, his head twisting unnaturally. His body language made it seem as if he was about to leap out at any moment.

When Yue Buqun saw Linghu Chong, he stared at him coldly. After hearing Linghu Chong speak, he said in a cold voice.

"What, you're too ashamed to look up when you speak? Aren't you embarrassed to face anyone?"

Upon hearing this, Linghu Chong froze, then slowly raised his head to look at Yue Buqun, a smile on his face that was more like a grimace.

"I'm sorry, Master."

Yue Buqun snorted coldly and said, "Apologize for what?"

Linghu Chong said guiltily, "This disciple disobeyed Master's words and went down the mountain without permission, and even brought Junior Sister down the mountain with me. This disciple was wrong and is willing to accept Master's punishment."

Upon hearing this, Yue Buqun took a deep breath. Before he could speak, Yue Lingshan beside him exclaimed.

“Father, it was my decision to go down the mountain with my eldest brother that really mattered. It has nothing to do with him. If you want to punish someone, punish your daughter.”

Yue Buqun glared and shouted, "Do you think you can escape?"

Yue Lingshan immediately shrank back and hid in Ning Zhongze's arms.

After scolding his daughter, Yue Buqun turned to look at Linghu Chong, frowned, and said indifferently, "What did you go down the mountain for?"

Linghu Chong opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Yue Lingshan interrupted again.

"We're going to make Father proud."

Yue Buqun looked at her with a deep frown.

"What kind of face does it have?"

Upon hearing this, Yue Lingshan revealed a smug expression.

"My senior brother and I encountered the Qingcheng Sect disciples in Hanzhong, and my senior brother beat them up."

"Nonsense!"

Yue Buqun rebuked him.

"The Qingcheng Sect is a prestigious and righteous sect, and Abbot Yu is a hero. Why are you attacking his disciples?"

Yue Lingshan shrank back, muttering to herself.

"Who told them to brag about being heroes and outstanding figures, the Four Heroes of Qingcheng, and even give themselves names like 'Hero' and 'Hero,' aren't they ashamed?"

Yue Buqun frowned and asked, "Hou Renying, Hong Renxiong?"

Yue Lingshan nodded like a chick pecking at rice.

"Yes, yes, Dad, how did you know?"

“That’s Master Yu’s personal disciple.”

Yue Buqun's face was extremely ugly. He said sternly, "Others are just choosing a name. They can call themselves whatever they want. What business is it of yours? Just because of a name, you beat up someone's personal disciple for no reason. How arrogant and rude! You are my daughter, Yue Buqun's daughter, and Chong'er is my eldest disciple. When you two go out, you represent my Huashan Sect."

"Not only do you two fail to uphold the prestige of my Huashan Sect, but you also fight with your fellow disciples over such a trivial matter. What will others think of my Huashan Sect? What will they think of me, Yue Buqun? Everyone will say that I, Yue Buqun, am a hypocrite, and that my disciples are domineering and bully others with their power."

"Master, please calm down."

Seeing that Yue Buqun was angry, Linghu Chong quickly explained, "We didn't deliberately cause trouble. Those two people were trying to harass Junior Sister, and I couldn't stand it, so I taught them a lesson."

Yue Buqun, who was about to get angry, frowned and looked at him upon hearing this: "Are you telling the truth?"

Linghu Chong quickly extended four fingers.

"This disciple swears an oath."

“Senior brother, since they were the ones who were rude first, then it’s fine if Chong’er beat them up. How did Abbot Yu teach his disciples to produce such despicable people? It’s only because I wasn’t here that I did. If I were here, I would definitely teach them a lesson.”

After hearing Linghu Chong's words, Ning Zhongze became furious. If the Qingcheng Sect hadn't been so far away, she would have gone to cause trouble for them immediately.

Listening to his wife and disciple's words, Yue Buqun frowned and remained silent.

In fact, he now believed Linghu Chong's words. He understood Linghu Chong well; although he was impulsive, he dared not deceive him.

At this moment, a surge of anger also rose within Yue Buqun.

"Master, should we go to Qingcheng Mountain in Sichuan to find Yu Canghai and ask him for an explanation?"

Just then, Jiang Ning, who had remained silent until now, spoke up, his brows furrowed indifferently.

"Yep."

Yue Lingshan's eyes lit up.

“Father, Junior Brother is right. Let’s go find Yu Canghai and ask him for an explanation.”

Yue Lingshan couldn't help but glance at Jiang Ning, her eyes filled with admiration. She hadn't expected that her junior brother, who usually didn't get along with her, would be so helpful.

Jiang Ning remained expressionless.

He said this not to stand up for Yue Lingshan, but because he felt that Yue Buqun must have this thought in his heart.