Invincible Starts From Dao Fruit
Chapter 197 - 158 Discussing Affairs at Golden Corner Mountain, Gentleman Sword Arrives! [Seeking Monthly Pass!]

Chapter 197: Chapter 158 Discussing Affairs at Golden Corner Mountain, Gentleman Sword Arrives! [Seeking Monthly Pass!]

Yuezhou is adjacent to the Qinling Mountains, with countless places to enter the mountains.

On this day.

Outside Jifang City in the southern territory of Anhua County, bordering the Qinling Mountains, many Jianghu people were resting in a tea pavilion.

Everyone held weapons.

Some were in groups of three or five, while others were alone.

Chai Yingrong, who was blind in one eye, placed his saber on the table and occupied a table by himself, drinking tea from a large bowl. In the tea pavilion, some outgoing people were chatting with each other—

"Brother, are you also going to the Qinling?"

"Yes. I heard that Emperor Yong’s treasure has come to light. Such a grand event, naturally, I have to join in the excitement, maybe I’ll be lucky enough to obtain the Xingyi true inheritance."

"Emperor Yong’s treasure? But I heard people say it’s the Sword Ancestor’s treasure! The rumors are so vivid that the Taixu Sword Sect even sent the Blood Clothes Army into the Qinling a few days ago to seize their ancestor’s inheritance."

"It’s not just the Taixu Sword Sect. The Five Cloud Sect and the Spring Silkworm Sect have also sent elites stationed in the Qinling. It seems they are going to get serious."

"Will the three sects fight?"

"That cannot be ruled out."

...

The tea pavilion was abuzz with discussions. These people had come from other counties and even other states upon hearing the news. Being far away and arriving late, much of the information they heard had been passed around so many times that very little of it was useful.

"The Blood Clothes Army."

"Yuezhou’s three sects."

Chai Yingrong finished his pot of tea, tossed a few copper coins, and left with his saber.

...

Pengshan County, White Elephant City.

Many martial artists came and went, entering excitedly and leaving cursing.

Fang Chuan, looking around fifty, with a kind face, carried a strong bow on his shoulder and had an arrow quiver on his back. Seeing many people coming out of White Elephant City in a huff, he was curious. He approached one of them and asked, "Young brother, is White Elephant City not allowing entry?"

"You—"

The young man, holding a sword, was already displeased. Being stopped, he became furious and was about to swear. But seeing the exquisite strong bow on Fang Chuan’s body, he paused. Even at a glance, he knew that this bow couldn’t be drawn without some strength.

This is a master!

Suppressing his anger, not daring to offend, he answered sullenly, "Senior, you may not know this. White Elephant City allows entry, but the east and west gates are closed. Going in is useless, only wasting money on lodging and meals. Damn it, I stayed a night inside, and my shorts are almost gone!"

White Elephant City is built by the mountain, guarding the northern end of the fourth pass of the Qinling Mountains. Not only is it an important passageway for those traveling north and south, but many loose cultivator martial artists also use White Elephant City as a starting and supply point for their adventures in the Qinling.

Although Yuezhou borders the Qinling Mountains, with countless entry points.

But the locations vary in quality.

Some mountain sections are full of thorns and poisonous creatures, making it nearly impossible to pass.

However, the east and west sides of White Elephant City, due to the Taixu Sword Sect’s mountain patrols constantly coming and going, attract many loose cultivator martial artists to enter and exit from there.

Over time.

After years, certain paths have become familiar. Entering the Qinling from here is much easier, saving a lot of time.

But starting from half a month ago, White Elephant City closed all gates on the east and west sides, allowing only Taixu Sword Sect’s martial artists to pass. Many Jianghu people came from all directions, hoping to enter the Qinling from White Elephant City.

But after entering the city and reaching the east and west gates, they found they couldn’t go out.

There was a curfew at night, not allowing free movement.

People stuck in the city could only spend money on lodging and meals, costing at least ten taels of silver a night, which was very painful for the average martial artist.

"I see."

Fang Chuan nodded slightly, smiled at the young man, and said, "Thank you, young brother."

"No need to thank me."

The young man was quite polite, waving his hand and leaving.

"Why is the Taixu Sword Sect so stingy?"

After the young man left, Fang Chuan glanced at White Elephant City in the distance, shaking his head.

But he still paid the entrance fee and entered the city.

After weaving through the streets and alleys, he reached an east gate as night fell.

The city wall was dozens of feet high, difficult for ordinary postnatal martial artists to climb over.

But it couldn’t stop Fang Chuan.

With a whoosh!

He stepped on his right foot with his left, then on his left with his right, and under the cover of night, he silently climbed over the city wall, easily leaving White Elephant City.

Along the mountain path, he plunged into the Qinling Mountains.

Atop the city gate tower.

Luu Zongning, the Assistant General of White Elephant City, watched as Fang Chuan disappeared, took out pen and paper from his bosom, and recorded: "On the eighth of September, at the moment of Hai, ’Guiyuan Arrow’ Fang Chuan entered the Qinling through the east gate."

...

As time passed.

More and more martial artists and grandmasters gathered in the Qinling, all wanting a share of the legendary Emperor Yong’s and Sword Ancestor’s treasures.

The rumors were outrageous.

The Taixu Sword Sect and other three sects tried to refute the rumors but had limited success. If no one was deliberately stirring up trouble, no one would believe it. But with the three sects joining forces, unless there were super large sects like Xingyi Sect and the Guu Family in Huangtian City, the scattered loose cultivators, even if numerous, were difficult to shake.

On the thirteenth of September.

In the depths of the Qinling Mountains, north of Iron Arm Monkey Mountain, on Golden Corner Mountain.

Many masters gathered in one place.

If anyone saw the assembled individuals in the mountains, they’d likely be astonished—

Taixu Sword Sect Master, ’One-Word Electric Sword’ Yangg Xiong.

Five Cloud Sect Master, ’Wansheng Saber Master’ Dong Qing.

Spring Silkworm Sect Leader, ’Quick Spear’ Liu Hengbo.

Lion Mountain Sect Leader, ’Cloud Building Hand’ Zhang Zhishen.

Yinyue Sect Sect Leader, ’Flying Flower Moon Rush’ Chu Qiuyu.

...

In Yuezhou, the three major sects, three counties, and thirteen sects, a total of sixteen sect leaders were present. Together with the elders they brought from their sects, more than forty top grandmasters were gathered in the small Golden Corner Mountain.

A gathering of rare significance that’s rarely seen in a century.

Zhang Zhishen, the sect leader of Lion Mountain in Yulin County, looking at Yangg Xiong, Dong Qing, and Liu Hengbo, said aloud, "We have deployed elite forces according to the requirements of the three sects and are stationed at corresponding positions around Iron Arm Monkey Mountain. The entire Iron Arm Monkey Mountain is surrounded as tight as a drum. Next, we should discuss with our thirteen sects how to divide this ’Red Fruit Wine’?"

Located in Yulin County, Lion Mountain.

Zhang Zhishen, as the sect leader, had long been renowned as a top grandmaster.

The notorious bandits of Yangjiao Mountain, known for their infamy in Xiyu City under the Northern Captain, were wiped out because Yangjiao Mountain unfortunately provoked the Lion Mountain by mistakenly robbing a lawful wife of one of its innate elders during an affair, forcing Gongyang Shun and other leaders to flee hurriedly.

On the way, they encountered the Northern Captain, eventually being annihilated.

Lion Mountain has a long history and strong power, and it was included as one of the thirteen sects to be rallied by the Taixu Sword Sect and other three sects.

Due to urgent circumstances, many details couldn’t be negotiated in time.

After the three sects and thirteen sects reached a preliminary agreement, they promptly deployed forces to the Qinling Mountains, sealing off Iron Arm Monkey Mountain.

Now that the situation was established, it was time to discuss again and formally decide on the distribution plan.

This was troublesome business.

Even if the three sects were strong, if they failed to satisfy the thirteen sects and caused them to turn against them, their desire to seize Iron Arm Monkey Mountain and share the Red Fruit Wine could hardly be realized.

Likewise, the thirteen sects couldn’t overreach.

The options for the three sects were neither large nor small. If pushed too far, losing everything and being ousted would do them no good.

Therefore.

In trying to maximise their share and gain more benefits, while avoiding breaking down negotiations, discussions and debates were intense but quite restrained.

With each party meticulously bargaining for every share.

One by one, the sect leaders turned into penny-pinching housewives, spitting saliva, arguing based on reason, each wanting to fight for more benefits for their own sect.

The progress of negotiations was particularly slow.

Fortunately, Iron Arm Monkey Mountain was there, neither increasing nor decreasing, neither hiding nor escaping, and being a few days early or late made little difference.

On the second day of negotiation.

Ranked forty-second on the Heavenly List, ’Round Moon Saber’ Chai Yingrong arrived. The man practiced saber techniques and had mastered the ’Crescent Moon Eleven Forms’ to their peak, each saber strike like a crescent moon, the forms combined into one move, with strikes like a full moon, extremely formidable.

Among the three sects and thirteen sects, only Liu Hengbo, ’Quick Spear’, ranked twenty-ninth, Yangg Xiong, ’One-Word Electric Sword’, ranked twenty-fourth, and ’Wansheng Saber Master’ Dong Qing, ranked twenty-first, could surpass him.

The three were the sect leaders of Yuezhou’s three major sects and also their faces, with strength among all grandmasters in their sects not necessarily the absolute first but at least in the top three or five.

However, because each sect concealed secrets, the number of masters they might hide was unknown to outsiders.

Like Chen Jichuan.

His strength far exceeded Yangg Xiong’s, yet outsiders did not know.

There were also those who never revealed their real strength outside, nor could they be listed on the Heavenly List, so their true strength was unknown.

In such cases, the Heavenly List was indeed somewhat diluted.

But even so.

The strength of Chai Yingrong, ranked forty-second, was certainly not to be underestimated.

Considering that the ’Red Fruit Wine’ might attract more top grandmasters, even those at the Heavenly List level, the three sects and thirteen sects decided to invite the earliest arrivals to join them, allocating corresponding shares to handle the top grandmasters arriving later.

To prevent their own grandmasters from losing too much and suffering great losses.

Faced with the invitation.

’Round Moon Saber’ Chai Yingrong saw no reason to decline and immediately joined.

On the fourth day of negotiation.

Ranked nineteenth on the Heavenly List, ’Guiyuan Arrow’ Fang Chuan arrived. The man excelled in archery, with the ’Nine-Nine Returning to Origin Arrow Technique’ renowned throughout the Nine States, among grandmasters, only Li Qian, the Mountain Master of the Sun-shooting Divine Mountain in the northwest Yunzhou, with his ’Star-splitting Arrow’, could compare.

His strength was formidable.

He was adept at long-range attacks.

Alone, he was comparable to several Chai Yingrongs, with much greater weight.

In the following days.

Four more top grandmasters arrived, though not on the Heavenly List, but among top grandmasters, they were considered experts, all with considerable fame, and they joined forces.

Some grandmasters came and left, or sought to hide in some place.

These individuals were mostly uninterested in ’Red Fruit Wine’, but they did not believe that the Taixu Sword Sect and other sects were really only after the Iron Arm Monkey Group and Red Fruit Wine, so they stayed to observe. Should ’Emperor Yong’s Treasure’ or ’Sword Ancestor Treasure’ emerge, they would be the first to vie for it.

Some grandmaster experts wanted to secretly infiltrate Iron Arm Monkey Mountain to explore on their own. Some did this to investigate the possibility of treasure, while some simply wanted to steal some ’Red Fruit Wine’.

But the Spring Silkworm Sect had ’Gray Teeth Dogs’, naturally agile, and sensitive to grandmaster auras. They could detect the aura of grandmaster experts within a certain range.

Dozens of ’Gray Teeth Dogs’ spread across the periphery of Iron Arm Monkey Mountain, making it almost impossible for even the most refined flies reaching the grandmaster level to escape detection.

Trying to sneak in to engage in thieving was almost impossible.

Grandmasters found often led to a battle. Over several days, there were nearly ten grandmaster battles each day.

Fortunately, the three major sects boasted many grandmasters, with the addition of grandmasters from the thirteen sects and cooperation from elite forces like the ’Blood Clothes Army’ to keep things under control.

On the seventh day of discussions on Golden Corner Mountain.

Just as the three sects and thirteen sects decided to stop recruiting loose cultivator experts.

That afternoon.

A group of grandmasters atop Golden Corner Mountain continued discussing how to divide interests. The mountain’s summit provided a broad view, allowing easy spotting of people approaching from all sides. Those coming from the bottom could also easily see them.

During their discussion.

Suddenly, from the west, a young swordsman in white was seen riding a fierce black beast, heading straight for Golden Corner Mountain.

Seeing the black beast.

Seeing the swordsman.

Many present recognized him immediately, causing an uproar in the mountains. The Taixu Sword Sect Master, ’One-Word Electric Sword’ Yangg Xiong, was even shocked into exclaiming—

"’Gentleman Sword’ Chen Jichuan?!"

...