SWDnovel Chapter 1 The Nine Disciples of Mount Hua
Chapter 1 The Nine Disciples of Mount Hua
The sun rises in the east, and dawn gradually breaks.
A figure appeared on the east-facing protruding cliff atop the Chaoyang Peak of Mount Hua.
Li Che sat cross-legged facing east, his back straight, his hands resting naturally on his knees.
The mountain wind howled, causing his light blue long robe, faded from washing, to billow and ripple. His gray scholar's hat was lifted, and his long hair, which had been flowing forward, was now flowing backward, revealing his young and handsome face.
His eyes were closed, and his chest rose and fell almost imperceptibly, like a sculpture.
Below him, the sea of clouds rolled and churned, the waves of clouds of varying depths gathering and dispersing. Occasionally, the billowing clouds would reveal the dark shadows of the rocks and trees below. Despite this magnificent sight, he paid no heed.
A moment later, the first rays of dawn appeared in the east, and as the light passed through the clouds, a rainbow bridge suddenly rose.
Li Che opened his eyes, revealing a pair of bright, dark eyes, and then began to breathe heavily, as if he wanted to absorb all the purple energy coming from the east into his belly.
The Huashan Hunyuan Gong, with its breathing exercises and meditation, does not require choosing a specific time of day.
What Li Che was after was that first ray of light as darkness turned to light!
He closed his eyes again, but his consciousness had already entered the Niwan Palace.
Inside, there is a piece of ice jade shaped like a water droplet.
Perhaps... it's jade.
Having traveled through three years, he was too lazy to investigate whether this was real or an illusion, and he didn't know how it entered his skull. He only remembered that his family heirloom from his previous life was exactly the same as this one.
But then a fleeting ray of light appeared on the jade, and a trace of warmth traveled down the Du meridian and into the Ren meridian, spreading throughout the twelve regular meridians and acupoints all over the body.
The warmth gathers and does not dissipate, the meridians flow like rivers, yet it moves like a fish swimming along the meridians.
A tingling, itchy sensation spread from the inside out, much milder than when I first experienced it three years ago.
A short while later, Li Che opened his eyes slightly and exhaled a breath of stale air.
Just then, a half-sun rose over the horizon, and the clouds below were painted with vibrant colors, creating a beautiful scene.
He subconsciously turned his head to look at Yuntai Peak to the north, and chuckled to himself, "In my past life, I wanted to climb Yuntai Peak to enjoy the view, to appreciate the scenery of the 'Summit of Mount Hua,' and to pay homage to the calligraphy left by Mr. Jin..."
Chaoyang Peak has a beautiful view, but after seeing it nearly a thousand times, I'm getting a little tired of it.
But... why isn't it *The Return of the Condor Heroes*, but *The Smiling, Proud Wanderer*?
Li Che had long since let go of this, and when he said the same thing now, there was no sadness, but rather a sense of casualness and nonchalance.
He was originally a factory worker, but on a whim, he wanted to climb Mount Hua to enjoy the view. However, halfway up the mountain, a sharp crack from the iron chains on the cliff ended his thirty-year life.
When he opened his eyes again, he had become the ninth disciple of the Huashan Sect.
Fortunately, she was alone in both her previous lives, with no ties whatsoever. However, in her previous life, her parents died young, while in this life, she was caught in an uncontrollable force—banditry!
The original owner was from Huayang Township. The Li family was considered a wealthy family with some assets, and they made offerings to the Huashan Sect from time to time.
It was precisely because of this good fortune that Yue Buqun made an exception and accepted Li Che, who had been reborn after death, into his inner sect as a disciple, and took good care of him.
As the saying goes, "the weather is unpredictable." Li Che knew in his heart that the original owner could not blame Yue Buqun, especially since the thieves had already been killed by Yue Buqun and his wife.
The three years of nurturing and instruction were truly invaluable. Li Che felt grateful to Yue Buqun and his wife; otherwise, a person from a later era would likely not have survived three months in three years.
He opened his palm and looked at it twice.
"Eighteen years old, what an enviable age! The world is a dangerous place, so I need to work even harder to live to eighty!"
Li Che was no stranger to the plot of The Smiling, Proud Wanderer.
Junior Sister Yue Lingshan is seventeen years old this year, which means there is still about a year before the start of the story.
The Lin family was wiped out, he retired from the martial arts world, Zuo Da Mengzhu's ambitions grew, Ren Woxing broke free of his cage, and there was also Yang Lianting, the gatekeeper of the martial arts world... His time for peaceful life was running out.
Moreover, he really didn't want to watch the Huashan husband-and-wife team transform into four sisters.
Even if Lao Yue is a hypocrite, he has been pretending for decades, so what does it matter if he pretends until his death?
After thinking it over, Li Che sprang to his feet, his mouth slightly closed, his eyes half-closed, his hands slowly forming a ball, his body straightening in a horse stance, and then slowly swinging his arms. After a few breaths, he suddenly thrust his left palm forward.
The palm was raised quickly, but then slowed down. When the left arm was straight, the long hair that had been dancing in the wind stopped for a moment.
Li Che focused his mind on his dantian, channeling his internal energy through the Ren meridian, past his shoulders and neck, into the Jueyin pericardium meridian, and down to his palm. His internal energy was pure and profound, demonstrating that he had already begun to grasp the basics of the Hunyuan Palm Technique.
Both Hunyuan Palm and Hunyuan Skill belong to the Nine Skills of Mount Hua. Although they are two different skills, they complement each other.
Hunyuan Gong emphasizes breathing exercises and meditation.
The Hunyuan Palm is a palm technique that works from the outside in. By practicing the palm, one can cultivate internal strength. When the Hunyuan Gong is mastered, the power of the two combined will be even greater.
Among the second-generation disciples of the Huashan Sect, only Linghu Chong and he have achieved some success in practicing the Hunyuan Gong. As for the other inner disciples, the junior sister Yue Lingshan has the best talent.
Linghu Chong spent over seven years practicing this technique, while Li Che only took less than three years, and his progress was getting faster and faster, which was in stark contrast to the tingling and numb sensation brought by the Niwan Ice Jade's extraction of the morning sun's purple energy.
Li Che guessed that this rare ice jade treasure might have the effect of strengthening tendons and bones!
Although it wasn't as direct as the "ding" from the systems that many of his fellow transmigrators brought, Li was quite content.
However, in the eyes of his mentor Yue Buqun, this was a late bloomer.
Whenever Li Che recalls the look of surprise and approval in Lao Yue's eyes, he still feels somewhat uneasy; the "innate wisdom" from his past life is truly hard to eradicate.
Old Yue...it really hasn't been easy for him either.
As Li Che got into the swing of his palm technique, his palm strikes became faster and faster, his sleeves billowing and hissing, causing the pine needles around him to fall in a flurry, but all of them landed five feet away from him.
His inner strength surged from his dantian, his palms moved incessantly, and his movements were fluid and graceful. Judging from his expression, he was calm and composed, which showed that he had mastered this palm technique.
He was focused on practicing his skills, but he didn't notice that ten feet behind him, Yue Buqun, the leader of the Huashan Sect, was watching him with a smug look in his eyes.
He was dressed in a blue robe with a loose belt, his right hand gently waving a folding fan, and his left hand lightly stroking his willow-like beard.
Huashan Hunyuan Gong is a Taoist martial art, which is the most upright and peaceful. He came here not because he was worried that his beloved disciple would go astray in practicing the skill, but rather as if he were looking at a masterpiece, or... the future of Huashan.
Another quarter of an hour passed, and it was almost time for Chen Shi (7-9 AM).
After performing the palm technique three times, Li Che stood up to finish, raised his hand to wipe the slight sweat from his forehead, and felt refreshed and invigorated.
"Junior Sister, when did you arrive?"
He turned around and saw Yue Lingshan leaning against a large pine tree about seven or eight feet away.
With his current skill level, he should have noticed the distance long ago, but being on Mount Hua, he naturally lowered his guard.
"I'm already here. Mother's calling you for dinner." She wrinkled her nose slightly and added, "Father's so biased. He's afraid I'll disturb your practice, so he won't let me turn around. The mountain wind's chilly; it's freezing! Humph, and you're still laughing!"
Li Che couldn't help but smile upon hearing this. Old Yue often watched him practice, so this wasn't surprising.
As he approached, his nearly six-foot height towered over Yue Lingshan by a full head. The golden sunlight shone on the peak, casting Yue Lingshan's shadow directly into Li Che's shadow.
One bowed its head, the other raised it; one was smiling, while the other had a pouty expression—they were all quite adorable.
After staring at each other for a moment, Yue Lingshan lowered her head and feigned anger, saying, "Why...why are you staring at me like that?"
"A girl changes a lot as she grows up, our little junior sister..."
Li Che deliberately drew out the word, and Yue Lingshan lowered her head again, a faint blush appearing on her smooth, white neck. "What?"
"Why hasn't our junior sister grown taller?"
Yue Lingshan was stunned upon hearing this. The figure in front of her blurred, and Li Che was nowhere to be seen.
"Hey, you surnamed Li, stop right there!"
"Haha, junior sister, hurry up, or you'll go hungry!"
"I'm so angry!" Yue Lingshan stomped her foot and hurriedly chased after him.
......