Three years later.
The fog in the cliffs of Shenmo Peak had gradually dispersed, and the monkeys screamed a few times.
Young Yuan came down from the peak top and walked to the small hut in the forest, yelling, "Big Brother, Big Brother, it's time to wake up."
A moment later, the wooden door was pushed open, and Gu Qing walked out of the hut.
The expression in his eyes was deep and peaceful, a light flashing like a sword once in a while before disappearing.
Young Yuan was very surprised, thinking that his Big Brother had broken through the state again after staying behind closed doors for only three years. "Congratulations, Big Brother!" he said sincerely.
Gu Qing looked at him and found that he had also made great progress in the last three years, and was on the verge of breaking through the State of the Undefeated. Gu Qing rubbed his head with a smile.
Looking at the gradually dispersing fog in the forest, Jing Jiu asked, "Has the fog dispersed?"
Young Yuan said, "There were signs at the end of winter. This year's Plum Meeting will be held as usual."
Since the Plum Meeting would be held as usual, it meant that the cold fog in the snowland would disperse.
Thinking of his Master, who was in the distant snowland and whose fate was unknown, Gu Qing had a complicated emotion. He should be happy, but he was also afraid.
Returning to the peak top and walking to the deep end of the manor cave, Gu Qing hesitated as he looked at the heavy stone door and sensed the formidable energy of the forbidding formation on it.
He was a disciple of Shenmo Peak, so he had a way to dispel the forbidding formation; but should he do it?
Young Yuan said, "The Sect Master gave the order in person, saying that my Master is at a critical moment, and nobody is allowed to disturb her."
Gu Qing was startled, asking, "Breaking through the State of Free Travel?"
Young Yuan nodded.
Gu Qing was delighted, but then he thought that his Master might have been … He just wanted to go there and have a look, and at the same time, bring back his Master's skeleton. If Zhao Layue saw the scene, she would be too sad, and it would be troublesome for her to break through the State.
Having made up his mind, Jing Jiu stopped thinking about it and asked, "When will the Sword Trial begin?"
Young Yuan said, "Seven days."
Gu Qing said, "Send a letter to Shiyue Peak, telling them that we will take part in it."
…
…
The stone forest, which was hundreds of meters tall, pierced through the clouds and pointed to the azure sky.
The cliffs were crowded with people, except for the stone platform where Shenmo Peak was located. Only Gu Qing and young Yuan were there.
Surprisingly, the disciples of Liangwang Peak didn't see Guo Nanshan, Gu Han, and Ma Hua on the stone platform.
Noticing Gu Qing's gaze, Young Yuan said in a low voice, "It's said that he's in closed-door cultivation. I guess it's about the thing that happened three years ago."
Gu Qing nodded and said nothing.
Liangwang Peak and Lo Huainan had agreed on that scheme, so Liu Shisui had the opportunity to strike.
The Sect Master went to Cloud-Dream Mountain in person. He should have explained this matter to the other party, but Liangwang Peak had to pay the price for the death of Lo Huainan.
Accompanied by the emotionless voice of Elder Chi Yan of the Shangde Peak, the Aoyama Sword Trials had officially begun.
As expected, Gu Qing defeated a few opponents in a row, and won a place in the Cultivation tournament of the Plum Meeting.
He was the sword attendant of Liangwang Peak back then. Many years had passed, and his sword work had become more advanced.
To the surprise of the masters and disciples of the peaks, he didn't use the Nine-Deaths Sword Style of Shenmo Peak, but … the Inherited Heaven Sword Style!
The Inherited Heaven Sword Style was the secret sword style of Tianguang Peak; how did he learn it?
Many gazes looked at the peak top reflexively, wondering if there would be any sound later.
The forest where the Sword Trial was held was located on Tianguang Peak.
It was quiet on the top of Tianguang Peak.
Chi Yan suddenly asked, "When did you enter the upper state of the Undefeated?"
Hearing this, an uproar broke out among the masters and disciples of the peaks.
As for Zhao Layue, she had natural Dao quality.
Jing Jiu had the born Sword Body.
But Gu Qing looked so ordinary, so how could he cultivate so fast?
Gu Qing thought that if his two masters heard this question, they would probably answer, "Just now?"
His Master had said so at the last Sword Trial.
"Twenty days ago."
Gu Qing's answer was as calm as his appearance.
Chi Yan looked at him in silence for a long time, and then said, "Not bad."
…
…
Then it was young Yuan's turn.
He was still a disciple of the State of Inherited Will, and he could see the threshold of the Undefeated State, but he still had a long way to go.
Compared to other young disciples of the same age, his Cultivation state was quite good, but he came from Shenmo Peak.
After confirming this fact, the masters of the peaks felt relieved. It seemed that the lonely peak didn't have any legacy left by the Senior Grandmaster, and Cultivation depended on the individual.
Normally, it would be difficult for young Yuan to defeat so many colleagues and qualify for the Cultivation tournament of the Plum Meeting with his current Cultivation state.
But he was very lucky that day.
He met Young Sister Yushan in the first round.
In the second round, he met a disciple of Shiyue Peak who had a similar Cultivation state, and he barely defeated his opponent after a tough fight.
In the third round, he met Lei Il-kyung, who gave up.
In the fourth round …
Standing on the platform, Gu Qing watched the matches calmly, but he was smiling bitterly in his mind.
This kind of luck could be attributed to luck, but he knew some secrets, so he realized that the so-called luck was merely the arrangement of Shangde Peak.
…
…
Outside Tianguang Peak, Young Sister Yushan saw them off.
Gu Qing left by riding his sword after saying a few words to her.
A moment later, he turned around and saw young Yuan and young Sister Yushan facing each other under a large green tree, speechless.
In the next moment, Young Sister Yushan seemed to cry.
Young Yuan was a bit flustered. He wanted to wipe her tears, but he didn't know whether to use his sleeve or his fingers, so he was in a hurry.
Gu Qing smiled. Looking at the approaching top of Shenmo Peak in the twilight, his smile faded away.
As his flying sword landed on the peak top, he walked to the deep end of the manor cave and said to himself while looking at the tightly closed stone wall.
"Don't worry, as long as my Master's skeleton is still here, I'll bring him back."
…
…
Fewer disciples of Aoyama went to Zhaoge City to participate in the Plum Meeting this year compared to the previous years.
Perhaps it was because the leader of the team this year wasn't the Peak Master of Qingrong, Nan Wang, so there weren't too many people accompanying them, and they didn't choose to travel by riding their swords, but by riding the sword boat.
The sword boat rose up through the clouds, heading northward in the morning sunlight, and soon became a dark speck in the distance.
Looking at the ocean of clouds behind, Gu Qing found the peaks of Aoyama had become the lonely boats in the ocean of clouds. Like Zhao Layue one day, he thought of the snowland outside White Town.
Young Yuan patted his shoulder. It turned out that the leader of the team was giving a lecture.
Looking at the tall and thin figure in front of the sword boat, Gu Qing narrowed his eyes slightly.
He was the leader of the team participating in the Plum Meeting this year.
The Master of Xilai Peak, Fang Jingtian.
…
…
Jing Jiu and Zhao Layue hadn't mentioned anything about Fang Jingtian. Gu Qing was interested in him, or in other words, wary of him.
The Gu Family was a large clan in Aoyama with a profound background, so they knew many secrets about the nine peaks. Now that Gu Qing was the key disciple of the Gu Family, he naturally knew many secrets.
Fang Jingtian was the fourth disciple of Taiping Zhenren, but he wasn't close to the Immortal Sect Master or the Sword Justice Yuan Qijing, and they seldom contacted each other.
This Master of Xilai Peak gave people the impression that he kept a low profile, but he was also mediocre.
His Cultivation state of the Broken Sea made him an absolute swordsman in the world, but he wasn't so outstanding among the nine peaks of Aoyama.
Yet, an elder in his clan had reminded him to pay enough attention to Fang Jingtian.
When Gu Qing asked him why, the elder only gave him one answer.
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