Chapter 51: Qian Hexagram

  The next day, Mu Hongyu woke up slowly with a lazy expression, his hair scattered and messy. He opened his eyes to find Tang An sitting beside him.

  "He looks so peaceful when he's sleeping, it's hard for others to imagine."

  Muhong Yu thought of last night's pleasure, and her face flushed again. "From now on, I'm really her wife. Thinking about it, it feels a bit strange." Muhong Yu thought about her future, having to pretend to be a dignified lady, feeling a bit nervous in her heart, afraid that she wouldn't be able to do it according to her own personality, and worried that people would gossip about her.

  Muhongyu's face had a faint hint of worry, but she saw that Tang An had already woken up and was looking at her with a smile in his eyes. This was the first time in ten years that Tang An had slept so soundly. He didn't have to worry about being pursued by others, nor did he have to worry that when he woke up early in the morning, he would receive some bad news.

  "Are you awake? It's still early, do you want to sleep a bit more?" Mu Hongyu thought it was her own movements that woke up Tang An, feeling a bit embarrassed, she said as she got up and called for someone to attend to Tang An.

  Tang An smiled and said, "No need to bother. I'll take care of it myself. Is your body still sore? Does it still hurt?"

  Muhongyu felt Tang An's sympathy, and a warm current flowed through her heart. She nodded shyly: "It still hurts a bit, but it's nothing serious."

  "You rest for a while, I'll call someone to serve you later." Tang An said, getting up himself, slowly putting on his clothes and casually tying up his hair. However, his face turned pale again, and an icy aura emanated from his entire body, making him look like a dead person.

  Mu Hongyu's heart skipped a beat as she saw this, and she had a faintly ominous premonition. She hastily got up and asked, "Where are you going?"

  "It's nothing. I just want to go to a few places and take care of some unfinished business, so they won't bother us again in the future. There are still two years left, and I should clean up all the remaining troubles. In the future, I don't want them to disturb you or your parents again. That wouldn't be good!"

  Mu Hongyu was taken aback, her lips moved slightly, and she said in a low voice, "You're going to Shu Mountain?"

  "Yes, I'm going to Shu Mountain!" Tang An had already dressed and packed everything. He looked at his reflection in the mirror, slightly satisfied. On the edge of the copper mirror was a basin of water, where he was currently soaking his hands, washing them clean.

  "Go to Shu Mountain and kill people?" Mu Hongyu also got up from the bed, with an inexplicable sadness in her heart. "I finally saw you smile, these past month, you've been by my side every day, laughing and chatting, I really like this kind of life, I'm already satisfied. Why do you still want to go to Shu Mountain?"

  Tang An had already washed his hands clean and took out the silk handkerchief from his bosom to gently wipe them dry. He turned around, his eyes clear, looking at Mu Hongyu.

  "After a long time, he said: 'Because I want you to live in peace forever! I will not allow anyone to miss you after I leave! Originally, I thought that killing Wang Ruitu would make Shushan have no reason to cover up the matter back then. But I didn't expect that Wang Ruitu still had a master sister!"

  "Since he has a senior sister to help him, it's inevitable that another senior brother will come. With both a senior brother and a junior brother, the trouble is endless! I don't have so much time to waste on him. So, I'll just go up Mount Shu, kill all those related to him, and give you at least twenty years of peace!"

  Twenty years later, even if that road to heaven is harder to walk on and the world outside of it is wider, I should be able to return, right?

  Tang An finished speaking and pushed open the door to leave, leaving Mu Hongyu alone in the room with tears streaming down her face. She stared blankly at Tang An's receding back, muttering: "He's gone again, he's gone again... He'll never come back!"

  ……

  Tang An flew through the air and arrived at the junction of Jingzhou and Yangzhou. If he continued to fly for another half hour, he would reach Shu Mountain. Just then, he suddenly saw something unusual in the northern sky.

  Only in the northern horizon, a huge lightning bolt flashed across the sky, followed by surging clouds rushing from all sides. Layer upon layer of dark clouds gathered above, with flashes of lightning darting between them. Thick, swirling clouds rotated in the sky, then descended in a spiral shape, bringing countless lightning bolts with it, its lower end disappearing into the ground.

  "This is..." Tang An paused, focusing his eyes intently, taking a closer look.

  Only in the distance, a mountain range was seen, with a faint gray mist surging from the ground, covering an area of several miles. The gray mist suddenly turned into a whirlpool-like shape, rotating around the central area, as if there was a large pit devouring everything.

  Suddenly!

  The whirlpool spins and accelerates, the stuff in the middle bursts out with strong suction, and those gray smokes are like a whale drinking water, pouring into the center.

  It wasn't until the mist had completely dissipated that Tang An was able to see clearly, and in the center of where the mist had been, there was actually another person!

  That person absorbed the mist, suddenly opened his eyes, and golden pupils appeared from under his eyelids, shining brightly like two divine lights! He lightly waved his hand, and the dark clouds that had been pouring down from the sky suddenly stopped, and the countless gray smoke on the ground all surged into his body from his feet.

  At this moment, he suddenly had a feeling, turned his head abruptly, and his golden eyes stared at Tang An tightly.

  Tang An's eyes were fixed intently, his breathing was steady, and his sword was ready to strike at any moment!

  "What method did that person use just now? Why is it so strange? What are those gray mists? What exactly is he doing?" One by one, questions surged forth from Tang An's heart, until today, he realized that he had not truly understood all the secrets of this world. Now, he was already standing at the pinnacle of this world, his martial arts were formidable, but the number of top-notch experts he had seen was still too few. Compared to those renowned masters who had been famous for many years, he still lacked a level of insight.

  Tang An didn't make any moves, thinking that the mysterious person would leave after watching for a while. After all, there were many masters in this world, and although strong practitioners of the Great Heaven Realm were rare, it was normal for them not to be familiar with each other. There was no reason to start fighting just because of one encounter.

  Just as Tang An thought the man was about to leave, he suddenly rushed towards Tang An.

  At this moment, Tang An's whole body tensed up!

  When he flew several hundred feet in front of Tang An, his figure suddenly stopped.

  Tang An saw clearly the appearance of that mysterious person. His face was like a piece of tree bark that had been burned by a big fire, with a charcoal-like black color.

  "Stranger?"

  That mysterious person's voice was like the sound of dry branches rubbing against each other, making a harsh "crackling" noise that was extremely unpleasant to listen to.

  "What brings you here?"

  When he spoke, Tang An only felt an invisible pressure with a hint of electric aura surrounding him, forcing the space around him. Immediately, his body circulated the Wind Movement Primordial Force, and it slightly alleviated the situation.

  "Just passing by," said Tang An.

  "No! You're lying!" He glared at Tang An, his voice suddenly becoming stern.

  The power of lightning in the air was even more pronounced, and his body had already emitted a "sizzling" purple electric spark.

  "There's an obvious killing intent on you! Who are you going to kill?"

  Rumble!

  A huge lightning bolt suddenly flashed past Tang An's side, and a boulder below him was split open, instantly emitting a loud "boom"!

  "Speak! Who exactly are you? What brings you here?"

  Rumble!

  Another loud thunder!

  Tang An calmly and fearlessly said: "I've already told you, I'm just passing by. Who I want to kill has nothing to do with you."

  Tang An's words were accompanied by a sudden surge in his aura, and a fierce killing intent burst forth from his body, instantly dispelling the invisible pressure that had been surrounding him. Even the clouds in the sky seemed to be intimidated by this intense killing intent, choosing to retreat and disperse.

  That mysterious person was shocked at first, then burst into a strange laughter of "heh heh".

  "Such a strong killing intent! You're cultivating the Way of Destruction. Looks like you've already made progress. You must have condensed your Killing Dao's original heart. Good, good, good! With this Killing Dao's original heart assisting us, we'll be even more confident on the Road to Heaven in two years' time. At that time, you must go! However, you're so young and your life energy is so vigorous, surely there are still worldly matters for you to worry about. You going out to kill people must be to resolve some unavenged feuds, right? Your enemies must be very formidable, right? That's why you've managed to survive until now and only broke through to the Great Heaven Realm to settle accounts. In that case, your enemies are at least top-notch experts at the peak of the Heaven Realm, or perhaps they've already entered the Great Heaven Realm too."

  He saw that Tang An was also a master of the Great Heavenly Boundary, and he had entered the path of destruction. He was extremely excited, and even his crying face had a hint of vitality.

  "Tell me, who are you going to take revenge on? Maybe I can help you. As long as you agree to cooperate with me on the Tongtian Road two years later."

  Tang An shook his head and said, "Don't mention who you are for now. What makes you think I'll cooperate with you? Your skills, in my eyes, aren't even worth looking at! Although the Thunderbolt Way you cultivate is incredibly powerful, it's a way of creation and destruction, the ultimate way of heaven and earth, with nine extreme transformations! Wanting to practice the Great Perfection is fundamentally harder than ascending to heaven!"

  Tang An finished speaking, and didn't want to continue saying more. He transformed into a flowing light and headed straight for Mount Shu. However, that person pursued him relentlessly, his body like thunder and lightning.

  Tang An flew steadily, while the man chased after him with all his might. Before long, the man caught up and shouted loudly: "I am one of the top elders of Wudang! Within Wudang's inner circle, there are three great masters, and I am one of them. My name is Bu Lao, perhaps you haven't heard of it. But my senior brother's name, Tai Le, you must have heard of! The Taiji gives birth to the two instruments, the two instruments give birth to the eight trigrams. Heaven and earth, wind and thunder, mountains and rivers, water and fire... Bu Lao, Tai Le, and I, three brothers, cultivate the heavenly way, earthly way, and thunderous way. I have seen that you, apart from cultivating the destructive way, also cultivate the wind and travel to the ultimate way. In this case, we four people can form a perfect combination of the Yang hexagram! The Yang hexagram is the ultimate state of being born; if you are willing, we four can cooperate and enter the heavenly path with a three-out-of-ten chance!"

  Tang An ignored him and continued to move forward. It wasn't until the mysterious old man mentioned it that he remembered, Mount Shu and Wudang were neighbors. Within the borders of Jingzhou, there was not only the Mount Shu Sword Sect, but also the number one sect in the world, Wudang!

  As for Shaolin, the flourishing martial arts of Yan are unprecedented in history. The monks' lackluster performance makes no one willing to take on this role. Moreover, Shaolin has too many rules and its reputation is not as good as Wudang's. If it weren't for a master with great skills propping them up, they would have been kicked out of the ranks of the world's top sects long ago.

  After Tang An left, the mysterious old man was crazily calculating with his fingers and saying crazy words that others couldn't understand: "Qian Gua Yang Gang, self-improvement never stops. Qian Liu Yao are all full of vitality, therefore, the garden is lush, round and perfect, successful. But being too hard makes it easy to break, containing an image of instability. Since heaven has destined me to meet him here, if my deduction is correct, his name must contain the character 'An'."

  That mysterious old man said here, suddenly slammed his own head, shouting: "I know! He is the Heavenly Sword Tang An!"