Chapter 67: Probe?

  "Alas... have you heard?"

  "What?"

  "That group of mountain bandits who originally roamed twenty miles away was wiped out by someone a few days ago!"

  "What's all the fuss about? Who doesn't know this?"

  "Do you know who made the move?"

  "Who is it?"

  "He is a master of the Shu Shan Sect!"

  "Shu Shan Sect?"

  "Let me tell you..."

  Ye Wen sat quietly on the side, listening to the non-stop discussions around her, with a slight smile at the corner of her mouth. The inferior wine in her hand seemed to have turned into a fine liquor, and she savored every sip. Even the two simple dishes in front of her were enjoyed with relish.

  After hiding on the mountain for three months, Ye Wen relied on the strong assistance of Han Chi and Hong Xian Snake Gall to successfully cultivate the first part of the Purple Mist Divine Art. Now, his internal skills have not only improved, but also in the use of internal energy, he is no longer comparable to his previous self. To put it simply, if he were to meet again with Yu Dahai, whom he had encountered a year ago, Ye Wen could now kill him on the spot with just the same move that had previously only made Yu spit out a few mouthfuls of blood.

  There has been such progress, and the role of Zixia Gong cannot be ignored. However, fighting against the cold air in the pool day and night also allows him to control his internal strength to a considerable height.

  As for this time down the mountain, it was because of an unexpected event.

  After more than three months of cultivation, Ye Wenben felt that he was making rapid progress and didn't have the heart to do anything else. However, as those outer sect disciples who went down the mountain to travel returned one by one, while they gained experience and improvement in their martial arts, they also brought back a not-so-good piece of news for Ye Wen.

  One of the outer disciples was even injured in a fight while traveling, and at this time, he couldn't get out of bed to recover from his injuries down the mountain. Ye Wen heard a few words and hastily left the mountain. This is why he is now sitting here drinking wine and listening to people discussing right and wrong in the Jianghu.

  As for the injured outer door disciple, his name is Xu Ping. He was originally a guard of the Xu family and later joined the outer door of Shu Mountain. He was also one of those who practiced the Five Tigers Breaking Knife technique, and his martial arts skills were among the best among the outer door disciples of Shu Mountain Sect.

  Although he is not a top-notch master in this Pingzhou territory, ordinary people can't hurt him. To be able to get injured, it's a relatively serious internal injury. Ye Wen realized that there might be another reason for this, and since Man Shan was the only one who could possibly treat internal injuries, he personally came down from the mountain.

  After understanding the situation, Ye Wen learned that Xu Ping was actually traveling with another person. Along the way, the two of them did many heroic deeds and even reported back to Mount Shu Sect, earning a great reputation for the sect. They even joined forces to attack a group of bandits' hideout, killing most of them and causing the rest to flee in all directions. For this, they received praise from local villagers and also earned some fame for themselves. Some people even gave Xu Ping the nickname "Broken Soul Knife".

  Just as the two were feeling proud and satisfied, they were intercepted on their way back to the mountain. The person didn't say much, and directly got into a fight with the two of them.

  The two of them joined forces and exchanged over thirty moves under that person's hand, but in the end, they were caught off guard by a palm strike to Xu Ping's chest. The person then said, "The Shu Shan Sect is nothing more than this! Not worth worrying about." After turning around and disappearing in the blink of an eye, it was as if they had shown off their astonishing lightness skill.

  Fortunately, the man did not kill him on the spot, but left a true energy in Xu Ping's body that made him feel very uncomfortable and difficult to move. At first, the two of them didn't think much of it, but when they returned to Shushan County, their internal injuries became more and more severe, so they had to find an inn to rest as soon as they entered the county seat. Later, they asked their fellow disciples from the Yue Shan Escort Bureau to report back to the mountain, while Xu Ping stayed in the inn to recover - at that time, his injury was getting worse, and he couldn't even move, so he didn't send him to the Yue Shan Escort Bureau.

  Ye Wen received the news and immediately descended from the mountain. After inspecting, his face turned extremely unsightly. At the same time, he was also relieved that his Zixia Gong had made some progress, otherwise, he would have been forced to watch his own disciple suffer a painful death. Now that he had cultivated Zixia Gong, although it wasn't fully matured, resolving foreign true energy wasn't impossible. Moreover, this true energy seemed formidable in the eyes of these disciples, but to him, it was nothing remarkable.

  He drove the idle people away, Ye Wen Yun started Purple Mist Skill to heal his disciples' injuries. Although he was confident, but after all, his skills were just beginning to take shape, so it took a bit longer, and it took a whole day's effort to dissipate the true energy in his body, and he himself also consumed a lot of energy, sweating profusely.

  However, in the end, it will still dissolve the true energy inside this person's body. At the same time, this disciple may also benefit from misfortune and improve his cultivation. After all, he used the Purple Mist Technique to disperse that true energy, turning what was originally a condensed entity into scattered, ownerless objects that no longer harm people. In reality, they still remain in Xu Ping's body. If Xu Ping can make good use of this opportunity to cultivate, and turn those scattered, ownerless objects into his own use, he will be able to further improve his cultivation.

  He would only go talk to him after Xu Ping woke up; for now, both he and his disciple who had just been rescued needed to cultivate.

  After finishing all this, Ye Wen sat down to recover for a while, then went to take a simple bath and came out to the main hall to eat. His disciples were taken care of by others, so he didn't need to worry about them.

  But this matter is shrouded in a strange atmosphere, who exactly is that person who suddenly appeared? Why did they target the Shu Shan disciples? If it's because of the grudges these two disciples have accumulated over the past few days, then shouldn't they have been killed outright?

  "Isn't it Tian Le Bang's?"

  This is the only relatively reasonable explanation Ye Wen could think of! It's likely that the outer disciples of Mount Shu have been traveling outside a lot lately, making some name for themselves, which has alerted the Tianle Gang. They've sent someone to test the skills of the Mount Shu disciples in order to gauge the strength of the Mount Shu Sect.

  "If it's really like this, then Tian Le Gang will probably be disappointed this time!"

  It's clear that the other side regards these two outer sect disciples as the intermediate force of Mount Shu Sect. Especially since they just settled a mountain stronghold, which is considered quite impressive in Pingzhou martial arts circles and should be a disciple with some status in certain factions with slightly more power. Probably no one would have thought that these two are only outer sect disciples of Mount Shu Sect.

  Having understood this layer, Ye Wen couldn't help but feel a little maliciously pleased in his heart. The more Heaven's Music Sect looked down on him and Shu Mountain Sect at this time, the more opportunities he would have to develop. By the time he and Shu Mountain Sect grew up, even Heaven's Music Sect wouldn't be able to shake him off.

  After listening to the conversations of these guests who seemed to be wandering around, Ye Wen also knew that letting these outer door disciples go out and exercise was indeed a correct choice. At present, Shu Shan Sect has gradually made a name for itself in the surrounding areas of Shu Shan County. In the future, as long as it can maintain its reputation and slowly spread its influence to more distant places, Shu Shan Sect will be initially established on a large scale.

  There is still another thing that Shushan Sect needs to do at the moment, and I originally wanted to arrange it before going down the mountain myself, but this matter has delayed me for a while.

  "No harm done, let those temporary residents in my 'home' stay a few more days then!"

  These three months, not only did he make great progress, but Ning Ruxue also finally completed the cultivation of Tianluo Dijing. The few small cold fruits that Ye Wen had played a catalytic role, and at the same time helped her complete the final step of cultivation. At this point, Ning Ruxue has become one of the top fighters on Mount Shu, according to Ye Wen's estimation, probably only Xu Shidi can match hands with this girl except for himself.

  Here is the translation:

  As for Xu Xian, he indeed lived up to his reputation of being severely lacking in martial arts knowledge. After obtaining the Xiao Han Guo, he actually swallowed all three fruits in one breath. This caused a commotion in Xu Xian's body, with cold air surging left and right, almost freezing him into an ice sculpture. If Ye Wen hadn't discovered this quickly and grabbed a red line snake, immediately digging out its gallbladder and stuffing it into Xu Xian's mouth while using his internal energy to help him digest the chaotic cold and hot energies, perhaps Xu Xian would have already become a lone grave standing on the mountain.

  When the dust settled, Xü Xiān also knew he almost lost his life, and immediately bowed to Yè Wén with fists clenched in gratitude. It was actually making Yè Wén want to be angry but couldn't: "Alright, next time don't be so reckless!"

  Then he also instructed Ning Ruxue: "I have been practicing hard these days, so I haven't had time to take care of it. When you're free, teach your junior brother some common sense!"

  Ning Ruxue was also frightened by this sudden change and hastily nodded in agreement!

  However, Xuan also made great progress in his inner strength due to this commotion, and he reached the standard of climbing up the cliff and entering the Valley of Extremes before Ning Ruxue. Although Ning Ruxue had cultivated the Heaven and Earth Web, she was always a little short because her internal skills were not enough.

  Having seen this situation, thinking of having given Xu Xian a red thread snake gallbladder, it wouldn't be good to treat oneself's own master sister unfairly, so another one was specially caught and Ning Ruxue also got one.

  "Do I really have to swallow this?"

  At first, Ning Ruxue was very repelled by this thing, but in the end, Xu Xian passed by and said: "If Master doesn't want it, give it to me!" This stimulated the little girl, as a result, Ning Ruxue glared at him and directly swallowed the snake gall, then looked at Xu Xian with puffed up anger, whose cultivation had surpassed her own.

  Looking at this scene, Ye Wen felt a sense of helplessness: "How did my Shu Shan Sect become a kindergarten?" However, he didn't say anything and protected Ning Ruxue as she digested the snake gall, then continued to practice his Purple Mist Skill in the Valley of Extremes.

  However, this series of events led to the Shu Shan Sect's strength being greatly enhanced once again. Ye Wen, while cultivating the Purple Mist, also obtained a copy of the Returning Wind and Falling Goose Sword Technique, which he didn't practice himself but casually gave to Xu Xian, who was becoming increasingly interested in sword techniques. He instead focused on cultivating the Purple Mist Skill, and it was precisely this that allowed him to achieve some small success in just three short months - of course, the help of Han Chi and Hong Xian's Snake Gallbladder couldn't be ignored either.

  As he recalled the events of the past few months and pondered the next step for the Shu Shan Sect's expansion, Ye Wen suddenly saw a familiar figure entering the main hall. However, this senior who had left an impression on him with his decent martial arts skills was now being supported by his own disciple as he walked in.