Chapter 209

Hearing what the senior sisters of the Huashan Sword Sect said, the three heroes led by Sun Xiuqing and some of Zhou Zhiruo’s senior and junior sisters screamed excitedly, and finally even started playing a game of comparing faces.

　　They cut out the facial features that were similar from a large collection of portraits, then pieced them together, and the result was that they actually managed to create one that was somewhat similar.

　　This is what Zhou Zhiruo saw, but it wasn’t the real person; it was a portrait, a portrait of Zhang Lingyu drawn by Eighth Sister Xue Bing. Although it wasn’t as lifelike as Xue Bing’s painting, it was very close. Just looking at the portrait, he was much better looking than all the male disciples of the three sects today.

　　”Is it really that high?”

　　”Really, Junior Brother is very tall. Don’t let his age of 16 fool you, he has a straight posture and is tall and handsome. After all, he has the appearance of an immortal, so he is naturally different from ordinary people.”

　　”You don’t have a crush on your junior brother Lingyu, do you?”

　　”Otherwise, who among those who have witnessed Junior Brother Lingyu’s charm on Mount Hua doesn’t secretly admire him? This includes most of the female martial arts heroes. It’s said that some of the most lifelike and expressive portraits are now being sold for exorbitant prices.”

　　Well, the more they said that, the more excited Sun Xiuqing and the other female fans of BL became. They used to be fans of Ximen Chuixue, but what could Ximen Chuixue have to compare with Zhang Lingyu? Now Zhang Lingyu is the number one idol of the new generation, with countless female fans throughout the entire Ming Dynasty martial arts world.

　　Zhang Lingyu is not only handsome and from a good family, but also young and incredibly skilled. He is already hailed by many as the number one person below the Grandmaster of the Innate Realm, and is considered a legend in the martial arts world. He is recognized as the most promising person to break through the void and ascend to heaven. He has the true appearance of an immortal and is a direct disciple of an immortal who resides in the world.

　　No matter how powerful Ximen Chuixue is, he is still just a top swordsman who is not even a Grandmaster of the Innate Realm. No matter how rich Wanmei Manor is, can it compare to Zhang Lingyu, the richest young master?

　　Most importantly, Zhang Lingyu is too legendary. He has countless divine weapons in his possession, and he will give you divine weapons if he likes you. Among them are even the Tai’a and Chengying, which are more powerful than the Heaven Sword. These are the ten officially recognized divine weapons that have been recorded in history and only exist in legends.

　　Zhou Zhiruo was actually very curious and interested in Zhang Lingyu. If it weren’t for the alliance meeting, she would have been in the capital right now. Just thinking about it made her resent Yue Buqun even more.

　　”Senior Sister Rou Rou, do you know what weapon Junior Brother Ling Yu is using?”

　　”Junior brother… he doesn’t know martial arts. He doesn’t practice swordsmanship or internal energy cultivation. Even the Purple Cloud Divine Skill isn’t practiced in a normal way. It’s said that he has an innate spiritual root that is unique among millions of people, so he mainly focuses on stimulating his physical potential to build a foundation, and then he just needs to cultivate his Qi.”

　　He mastered the Zixia Divine Skill in just half a year and successfully established his foundation, becoming nearly invincible. He is a prodigy, unlike us ordinary people.

　　He only practices the most basic and simplest moves, but in his hands, a single sword strike, even the simplest “thrust,” can break through all techniques. Neither the senior brother nor the Evil-Repelling Prince Chu Yunfei are a match for him. One strike can directly knock away the divine weapon in your hand and make your entire arm temporarily lose sensation.

　　Jiang Yuyan is formidable, and Mo Xiaobei is ruthless enough, but with Junior Brother Lingyu, they don’t even need to use their internal energy. A simple, casual move is enough to make you submit, utterly powerless to fight back.

　　Sun Xiuqing was also surprised by this exaggerated strength. Suddenly, she realized and said, “No wonder in the battle of Yanjiao, Junior Brother Lingyu was able to fight against more than 300 black-clad assassins with his bare hands. Among them were even innate masters who were listed on the weapon ranking list, such as ‘Silver Halberd Marquis’ Lü Fengxian and ‘Azure Demon Hand’ Yi Ku.”

　　Just as Sun Xiuqing was filled with admiration and respect, Ye Xiuzhu, the senior sister from the Three Mile Noodles, suddenly asked, “It is said that when Junior Brother Lingyu has murderous intent and intends to kill someone, his eyes and pupils turn blood red, so he is called the Blood Prince. Is that true?”

　　”I don’t know about that. I’ve never actually seen my junior brother kill anyone. Junior Brother Lingyu is a very good person. He also guides us in sword practice and teaches us the true way of the sword. He said that the way of the sword is divided into technique and method. The so-called technique is the foundation. If you don’t master the foundation, no matter how much sword technique you practice, it’s just technique, not method, let alone the way of the sword later on.”

　　So he often led us in practicing basic sword moves, and would also instruct us on the correct way to hold the sword and some basic sword techniques that we had never encountered before. After learning from him for a while, our swordsmanship improved dramatically.

　　”The Way of Magic and Techniques… Could you tell us about it?”

　　These female disciples of the Huashan Sword Sect are not usually valued. They are mostly taught by Ning Zhongze and are no different from outer disciples. So they don’t feel there’s anything wrong with talking about it. They flatter and praise, and they talk about everything.

　　However, most people couldn’t understand these profound martial arts principles, only Zhou Zhiruo, who was intelligent, virtuous, well-versed in martial arts, and knowledgeable, understood some of them.

　　In the world of martial arts, experience is very important. Learning from top masters may not necessarily improve your martial arts skills significantly, but it will definitely broaden your horizons. You might suddenly have an epiphany and enter another realm. This is the origin of the saying “a great teacher produces great students”.

　　However, Zhou Zhiruo herself is not a swordsman. Interestingly, although the Emei Sect is considered one of the seven major sword sects and is known for its swordsmanship, the Emei Sect has not produced any outstanding swordsmen in recent generations. The only one who can be considered a formidable swordsman is Dugu Yihe, who has gone on to master both swords and sabers.

　　Because Dugu Yihe himself uses a knife and is left-handed, with both hands equally developed, he took a different path and became a master of both swords and sabers. Otherwise, he would at least be among the top three of the ten famous swordsmen, and might even be ranked among the five great sword gods.

　　Zhang Weihao received the results of the alliance meeting on the morning of his wedding banquet, which was not unexpected.

　　If Yue Buqun weren’t completely out of his mind, he would never have bothered to compete for the title of Second Route Marshal, or even be considered a Second Route Marshal; at most, he would be a Third Route Marshal.

　　However, this time the Bright Summit is getting more and more interesting. Zhang Weihao will definitely participate in such a grand event and take the opportunity to explore the martial arts world outside the Great Wall.