Chapter 4
”Bring me pen and ink!” Zhang Weihao directly ordered Mei Jian, one of the four sisters serving him, Mei Lan Zhu Ju. This was also the work of his first wife.
Although these quadruplets are no match for Xue Qianxun, they are still considered top-tier second-rate martial arts masters in the martial arts world (around the fifth rank), far surpassing Linghu Chong, the eldest disciple of the Huashan Sword Sect, and comparable to the Thirteen Protectors of the Songshan Sword Sect.
Most importantly, they are proficient in sword formations and combined attack techniques. When the four sisters work together, they can even fight against a third-rank master.
Mei Jian obediently brought over the brush, ink, and Xuan paper that the young master had requested. Zhang Weihao immediately began copying the Evil-Repelling Sword Manual. His calligraphy was very neat and elegant, like a work of art. He was using the famous Slender Gold style, which fully demonstrated the beauty of calligraphy.
”It’s already copied. Next, find a bookstore to make several copies and let the sword manual circulate in the martial arts world through your connections. Let’s print 100,000 copies first!” Zhang Weihai put down his pen and ink and gave the order directly to Xue Qianxun.
”Young Master… why are you printing this Evil-Repelling Sword Manual? This is a secret technique of the Lin family! A rare method for quick success in the martial arts world.”
Xue Qianxun could understand if only a few copies were printed, but she couldn’t understand why you wanted to print 100,000 copies and distribute them directly, even if you removed the accompanying pills.
Or perhaps they had a vague idea, but dared not think about it in detail, because the consequences of doing so would be too terrible, no less than a catastrophe in the martial arts world.
Zhang Weihao smiled wickedly: “I want to spread this manual throughout the entire martial arts world. Whether the martial arts world is in chaos or not is up to me, Zhang Weihao. The martial arts world of the Ming Dynasty is far too peaceful right now, and it is necessary to speed things up. Don’t worry, what is truly powerful is never the sword manual, but the person. In front of a Grandmaster of the Innate Realm, only those of the Innate Realm can be considered worthy of respect. No matter how many people are below the Innate Realm, they are nothing but ants.”
”Ah, this…” Xue Qianxun felt a mix of emotions upon hearing this.
She didn’t understand what the young master was thinking. Although she didn’t think much of the Evil-Slaying Sword Manual and was a third-rank expert herself (she wasn’t at first, but she is now), she didn’t think she could deal with 100,000 experts who practiced the Evil-Slaying Sword Manual at the same time.
Let alone 100,000, if three experts at the fourth rank attacked simultaneously, she probably wouldn’t even have a chance to escape. After all, it’s not like one plus one equals two, plus there’s the element of type advantage; she really couldn’t handle it.
Even if the fourth rank is difficult, the fifth rank shouldn’t be too hard, right?
The thought of thirty fifth-rank experts attacking at the same time sent chills down Xue Qianxun’s spine.
Now, with 100,000 copies, it’s roughly equivalent to everyone in the martial arts world having one. Even if not everyone has the courage, if just one person takes the initiative and lets everyone in the lower ranks of the martial arts world witness the power of the Evil-Slaying Sword Manual, the entire martial arts world will probably quickly descend into a frenzy of infighting.
The martial arts world may seem vast, but it is actually quite small. The further you progress, the fewer experts there are. There are only three to five first-rank experts, and including some hermits, there are definitely no more than thirty second-rank experts. There may be only about a hundred third-rank experts, and a few more fourth-rank experts, but it is impossible for them to exceed a thousand.
This is actually considered to be the main level of the leaders and masters of the major forces in the martial arts world. The Evil-Repelling Sword Manual can truly help people easily enter the fifth and fourth ranks. The third rank is the most difficult, and it requires the use of elixirs to reach it.
Once Xue Qianxun realized that the young master wasn’t joking and really intended to do it, what else could she do but comply?
In a short time, the secret manual… started from Fujian, went up to the capital, down to Guangzhou… west to Hubei and Hunan… Luoyang, and in all the uncharted territories except Sichuan and the Western Regions, the Evil-Repelling Sword Manual… blossomed everywhere!
Meanwhile, the appearance of the Evil-Repelling Sword Manual also sparked heated discussions among countless heroes in the martial arts world…
”It’s fake, absolutely fake!”
”Who would be foolish enough to expose their most valuable skills?”
”Look at this… you have to castrate yourself before you can practice this skill, isn’t that ridiculous!”
”Haha… This trick is too simplistic. Only a fool would believe it. Do I look like a fool?”
…
”It’s definitely fake, is there even a need to ask?”
”Heh heh, I don’t know what the Lin family is up to. They just print a fake manual and put it in the martial arts world, claiming it’s a peerless treasure. Who would believe that?”
”The worst part is, you’re being fake… and then you add the line, ‘To practice this skill, one must first castrate oneself,’ which is absolutely hilarious.”
”Can’t you at least make your story be a little more believable? If you just make something up, maybe some clueless idiot will try it out, and it doesn’t matter whether it works or not. But you… you’re asking people to castrate themselves right off the bat!”
”No way, no way, no one would actually believe that they would cut off their own precious thing.”
In the martial arts world, many martial artists expressed disdain after obtaining the Evil-Repelling Sword Manual from the Fuwei Escort Agency. They considered the agency’s joke to be utterly lacking in sophistication.
Your family’s Evil-Repelling Sword Manual requires self-castration right from the start.
Are you kidding me?!
Then why didn’t we see you, Lin Zhennan, castrate yourself?
If this secret manual is real, logically speaking, you, Lin Zhennan, shouldn’t have that… Then how was your son, Lin Pingzhi, born? Could it be that Old Wang next door helped?
Such an absurd prerequisite naturally led many people to disbelieve it. In fact… after obtaining the martial arts manual, some people threw it directly into the trash, some used it to wipe their bottoms in the village latrine, and some even used it to start a fire.
”What is the Lin family up to?”
”Could it be… that the Lin family just wants to play a trick on the heroes of the world, simply as a joke, or even to trick someone into castrating themselves? But… isn’t the Lin family’s method far too crude…”
”Yes, such a low-level tactic…who would believe it? Fuwei Escort Agency…they’re treating everyone like idiots.”
”What benefit does he gain from doing this?”
”Maybe it’s not the Lin family, but the Demonic Sect. This might just be a conspiracy to trick martial arts heroes into castrating themselves. We’ve already asked the Fuwei Escort Agency and the Lin family, but they said they don’t know anything about it and it has nothing to do with them.”
In the first month after the Evil-Repelling Sword Manual was exposed, nobody believed it, and the Lin family became a laughing stock.
Many martial arts enthusiasts, upon seeing the first sentence, immediately concluded that the so-called Evil-Repelling Sword Manual was a fake.
Something so obviously fake it couldn’t be more fake.
At least a fake manual can be made up to make sense at first glance, but yours… it’s obviously off-putting at first glance.
Nobody is willing to try.
Rumors abound in the world… Don’t believe them, don’t spread them! Rumors stop with the wise.
Of course, some people have also sought confirmation from the Lin family. Lin Zhennan, who knew the location of the manual but had discovered it was lost and had never practiced it, naturally would not admit it.
After all, he didn’t distribute the manual himself, so there was no need for him to claim it was a conspiracy by the Demonic Sect or some ambitious individual.
However, most people in the martial arts world looked at the Lin family of Fujian as if they were fools. For a time, the Lin family’s reputation was tarnished, and even their escort agency business was significantly affected.
”No one will believe such a low-level scam. If anyone does believe this, I, Li, hereby swear that I will cut off my head and let everyone play with it like a football.”
”Haha… The Lin family is a joke.”
”Yes, yes, if anyone falls for this, I’ll cut their head off without saying a word.”
”I am Lin Xian’er, the most beautiful woman in the martial arts world. If anyone masters this skill, I am willing to spend a night of passion with every man in the martial arts world. I’m not bragging!”
”Holy crap, Fairy Lin, you’ve really hit the jackpot! But it’s alright, with the Lin family’s Evil-Repelling Sword Manual, it’s a wonder anyone will fall for it, and it’s a wonder anyone will be able to master it.”
In the martial arts world, everyone was watching the spectacle. Some online celebrities like Lin Xian’er seized the opportunity to ride the wave of popularity and make their presence felt, making the entire Ming Dynasty martial arts world quite lively for a time.
