Chapter 612: Four All

“Naturally, I’m praising Constable Wang!”

Yan Fei passed it off with a smile, his gaze lingering on each of his three former companions. He knew that Mr. Ji and Mountain Lord Lu also paid close attention to these three. At Yan Fei’s current level, ten years ago he might have harbored a sense of proud rivalry with them, but now he could discern the unique spirit of each man. Among the nine back then, Yan Fei was the most prideful, while Lu Chengfeng was the most concerned with demeanor and appearance, but now, outward appearances no longer mattered.

After a few lighthearted exchanges, the four of them quietly gazed down at the mountain, falling silent for a moment. Lu Chengfeng unhooked a wine gourd from his waist and took a deep swig, then handed it to Du Heng. The latter took the gourd, drank a few mouthfuls, and passed it to Wang Ke. Finally, the gourd reached Yan Fei, who finished it and tossed it back to Lu Chengfeng.

“For Zuo Kuangtu’s ‘Left Departure Sword Canon’ to reappear in the martial world this way, I wonder if it will stir up another storm of bloody conflict. But with multiple Innate Grandmasters and martial world factions vouching for it, it’s at least better than direct struggle and slaughter.”

“And the imperial court has also intervened, given that Brother Wang is here. The fact that only Brother Wang was sent also demonstrates the court’s sincerity.”

After Du Heng finished these two sentences, Wang Ke merely smiled, his lack of rebuttal indicating agreement. However, he added a remark at the end.

“I, Wang Ke, am not purely an official; I also have a stake in this martial world. And since Brother Du mentioned the court, I might as well speak plainly. Our Great Zhen, though not yet a nation of extreme wealth and power, is at least flourishing. Minister Yin is old but still vigorous, holding court as steady as Mount Tai. My presence here will also deter petty villains from acting rashly.”

At this point, Wang Ke’s tone changed as he looked toward Yan Fei.

“Brother Yan, it was hard to say anything when you weren’t back. But now that you’ve returned, and you’re an Innate realm expert, the Yan family holds all the advantages of timing, location, and popular support. The Yan family will surely contend for this manual, won’t they?”

Yan Fei looked towards the children playing on the mountain path a little further away, and after a moment of silence, he spoke.

“I don’t want the ‘Left Departure Sword Canon.’ I believe that even if I, Yan Fei, am not currently a match for Zuo Li at his peak, I won’t be inferior to him!”

As these words left his mouth, the three men beside him felt a surge of heroic spirit emanating from Yan Fei. They also sensed that Yan Fei was not speaking falsely, which immediately made them hold him in higher regard.

“What interests me more are the Zuo family children. Each of those children possesses remarkable innate talent.”

The mountain behind Guilai County was just a small hill, with no dangerous beasts on it. At this moment, several children were laughing and playing on the relatively gentle mountain path, each holding branches as weapons, making “ho-ho” sounds as they fought from one side to the other.

One child, holding a flat bamboo stick, ran ahead, chased by a group of other children.

“Catch him!” “Go!”

“Watch my sword!” “Hoo-ha!”

*Thwack!* *Thwack!* *Clang-clang…*

The child in front used his stick to block the branches swung from behind, shouting loudly at them.

“You ragtag bunch! I, Zuo Kuangtu, will dominate the world! All of you together are no match for me, ha! Ow, don’t hit my fingers!”

The child, full of heroic spirit one moment, released his stick in pain the next because one of his companions accidentally hit the hand holding it with a branch. The other children immediately stopped.

“Oh, I hit the wrong spot!” “Are you okay?”

“Let me see!”

“It’s fine, it’s fine, just a red mark. The skin isn’t even broken. Let’s keep playing.”

“This time I want to be Zuo Kuangtu!” “No, I’m not done yet. You can be him after I’m finished!”

The children argued and played, and then one of them suddenly looked towards the pavilion on the distant mountaintop and said to his companions,

“Those four grandmasters all look so imposing! Which one is the strongest?”

“I don’t know, they all seem very strong!” “Yeah, I saw many grandmasters being very courteous to them before, but I just don’t know who they are.”

The child with the flat stick laughed, “Hahahaha!”

“Of course, the one with the sword is the strongest, then the one with only one arm, then the one with empty hands, and finally the official, but he’s also an extremely powerful expert!”

No sooner had the child finished speaking than a gentle voice suddenly came from the side.

“Oh? How do you know that?”

The children all looked in the direction of the voice, discovering that at some point, a refined man in a green robe had appeared beside them. His robe swayed with the wind, and under his slight smile with eyes half-closed, it was as if the mountain sunlight became even warmer. He possessed a fresh and benevolent demeanor that made one instinctively want to approach and trust him.

“Because, because… the grandmaster with only a left arm must be Grand Master Du Heng, and the one with him must be the Yin-Yang Divine Constable, Grand Master Wang Ke. And the one who is on good terms with them, and is in Guilai County, and whom I haven’t seen in so many days—the gentleman with the sword—he must be the recently returned Grand Master Yan Fei. I don’t know the remaining one, but a few days ago I saw him spar with Constable Wang. Although it was hard to tell who would win, he was using his bare hands against Constable Wang’s saber, which was inherently more dangerous. I think he’s slightly more formidable.”

Ji Yuan’s smile broadened. He took two steps closer, carefully observing the child, looking both at him and the flat stick he held tightly. In Ji Yuan’s eyes, this child was very distinct, giving him a similar feeling to when he saw Yin Qing years ago, and his spiritual chess piece also had a reaction.

“Child, what is your name?”

The child held the flat stick in one hand and scratched the back of his head with the other. After glancing at his companions, he shook off the momentary embarrassment that had just appeared and said very earnestly,

“My name is Zuo Wuji. I will surpass my ancestor in the future. I will not only become the foremost expert in Great Zhen, but also the foremost expert in the entire world!”

As these words entered Ji Yuan’s ears, within his spiritual landscape, the abstract piece belonging to the Zuo family immediately lit up, causing Ji Yuan a slight shock.

“Shame, shame, shame! Wuji is bragging again!” “Hahahaha, I’ll tell Uncle Er later.”

“Go ahead and tell him! You don’t even dare to brag. I’m definitely stronger than you!”

“Hahahaha, braggart!” “You’re the braggart! Let our skills speak for themselves! Watch me hit you with this stick, I won’t beat you to death!”

The children played and roughhoused. The child named Zuo Wuji used his long flat stick to block back and forth, clashing with his companions’ branches. Then, when the children came back to their senses, they realized Ji Yuan was gone.

“Hey, where did that Elder Master go?” “I don’t know, he was just here!”

“Did he leave?”

The children looked all around them. They couldn’t see Ji Yuan’s retreating figure anywhere, from far to near. The mountain slope here was very gentle, with no cliffs, so he couldn’t have fallen down the mountain. They could only imagine that he was also a great master who had left using extremely powerful lightness skill.

Among these children were members of the Zuo and Yan families, who had come together. Although the “Left Departure Sword Canon” had caused a huge commotion in the martial world, for the Yan and Zuo families, it had actually brought them down from the peak of attention and controversy.

In the evening, the children left one after another, but Zuo Wuji hadn’t left yet. At this moment, he used his flat stick to carry two “buckets,” walking step by step into the pavilion where Yan Fei and the others had been. Then he slowly squatted down.

*Thud!* *Thud!*

Though Zuo Wuji’s movements were slow, the two “buckets” still made two dull thuds on the stone slabs of the pavilion floor. These two buckets were actually carved from stone.

The boy, who looked about eleven or twelve, pulled out the flat stick, twirled it in his hands, then held one end with his right hand and steadily pushed it forward, as if a long staff were transforming into a dragon or a sword being drawn. Then the stick’s momentum shifted, and it was swept in a semicircle. It seemed like a staff sweep, but the horizontal cut was also like a long saber slashing sideways. Finally, the stick was pulled back, twisted around his waist once, flipped by his left hand, and thudded onto the ground.

The child named Zuo Wuji imitated Yan Fei and the others, looking down at Guilai County. His left hand, gripping the flat stick, was clenched very, very tightly.

“Who taught you your martial arts?”

The gentle voice came again. Zuo Wuji turned his head abruptly and saw that the Elder Master in the wide-sleeved green robe was indeed sitting on one side of the pavilion behind him, his legs crossed and resting on the pavilion edge, leaning against a pavilion pillar, looking very comfortable. But Zuo Wuji clearly remembered no one being in the pavilion when he entered.

“Sir, who are you? Are you an Innate Master?”

“Hehe, Innate Master? No, no. First, tell me who taught you your martial arts.”

Ji Yuan’s gaze swept over the flat stick and rested on the two stone buckets.

Zuo Wuji followed Ji Yuan’s gaze to the buckets and hesitated before speaking.

“I learned some from Uncle Yan, and I practiced some by just randomly observing. But mostly I learned from my dad, though his martial arts are too poor; he can’t even teach well. Most of the time I just have to figure it out myself. Uh, Elder Master, you don’t know my dad, do you? Even if you do, please don’t tell him what I just said…”

“Do you have any siblings? Biological ones, I mean.”

The child was slightly startled and instinctively shook his head. He didn’t understand why this Elder Master was asking this, but seeing him shake his head, Ji Yuan smiled again.

“Since you are an only child, by my calculations, I shouldn’t know your dad.”

Saying this, Ji Yuan stood up from the pavilion. In fact, he had been sitting there for quite a while already. He hadn’t expected the child to come here. Now, he stood up and walked over to the child’s side, looking at the scenery below, and asked casually,

“Among those four people earlier, whom would you choose as your master?”

Zuo Wuji didn’t answer immediately. After pondering for a moment, his eyes darted, and he looked at Ji Yuan, saying,

“I choose you, Elder Master!”

Ji Yuan laughed involuntarily.

“You cannot choose me.”

“Oh…”

Zuo Wuji felt a bit disappointed. He had thought this eminent person was going to take him as a disciple. But he also thought that if this Elder Master was on good terms with the four grandmasters from earlier, perhaps he could recommend him. Just as he was about to answer, he asked another question.

“Can I only choose one?”

Ji Yuan’s expression was calm, and he didn’t answer. Zuo Wuji then spoke directly.

“Then I hope all four can be my masters. I don’t seek to learn all their skills; I’d first learn their spirit and essence. Since they are so strong, they might be able to tell what kind of path or cultivation method suits me, and they would help me find the right path.”

This line of thinking was quite unique, which made Ji Yuan smile again involuntarily.