The Regressor of Mount Hua-Chapter 356. Preceding Heaven Sword Technique (2)

"The Sword Saint of Eagle Grotto?"

Zhou Xuchuan reacted in surprise.

It was already surprising that Wu Qu managed to grasp the uniqueness of the Dark Heavens Association Lord's martial arts, but the familiar name of the technique was shocking as well.

The South Sea Dragon King definitely... Zhou Xuchuan thought back to his conversation with the South Sea Dragon King.

"By the way, I still can't believe someone could have that level of cultivation. You truly are impressive. Actually, if you hadn't mentioned that your quick sword was from the Mount Hua Sect, I would have thought that you were the Sword Saint of Eagle Grotto."

"Do you not know him? Well, since his sect is a hidden sect, I guess you wouldn't know. Moreover, his time has passed."

During his conversation with the South Sea Dragon King, Zhou Xuchuan thought that it was just a name he had heard somewhere. Thinking that it wasn't that important, he had let it go at the time.

However, he never could have imagined that the name would pop up again as the creator of the Dark Heavens Association Lord's main cultivation method.

"Would you mind telling me more?"

"Of course," the Sword Demon said, nodding.

"It was at least two hundred years ago. Maybe even older. Back then, in the old murim, there was a legendary swordsman. He was a master of the sword and had skills that qualified him to be considered the Greatest Under the Heavens.

"He was the Sword Saint of Eagle Grotto."

"I think I've heard of him somewhere..."

"That's possible. While they've been out of the murim for a long time, the Sword Saint's Gate itself is a hidden sect that doesn't care to show up even if the murim is in danger. No matter how great a sect is in its heyday, if it becomes inactive for a long time, it will be forgotten in the murim."

"And what sect is that?"

"The Hidden Sect, the Celestial Maiden Gate."

Wu Qu's eyes narrowed.

"Legend has it that it's a mysterious gate made up entirely of women, like the Putuo Gate."

"Pardon?" Zhou Xuchuan frowned in confusion. "But the Dark Heavens Association Lord..."

Even if the Sword Saint of Eagle Grotto were a woman, the Dark Heavens Association Lord was clearly a man.

Zhou Xuchuan knew that it wasn't a disguise, as when the Dark Heavens Association Lord was killed by the murim in his previous lifetime, an intact corpse was left behind. The murim couldn't have been fooled back then.

While Zhou Xuchuan had never seen the corpse himself, even if the Dark Heavens Association Lord had somehow managed to hide his gender in some special way, it still would have been revealed.

"It's a bit complicated. I'll tell you in advance, the Sword Saint of Eagle Grotto is also a man."

"There must be a story behind that."

"The Celestial Maiden Gate has been closed off for quite some time now, but there was a time when it was active in the gangho. The Celestial Maiden Gate Master at the time roamed through the gangho when she was just a low-level warrior. She ended up being badly injured. Back then, a passerby saved and even treated her."

"Could it be that..."

"Yes, it was the Sword Saint of Eagle Grotto." Wu Qu nodded.

"The Celestial Maiden Gate Master taught him the cultivation method and techniques of the Celestial Maiden Gate as a way of paying him back and expressing her gratitude for the debt of life she owed him.

"What she taught him was the Preceding Heaven Cultivation Method and the Preceding Heaven Sword Technique. However, there was one problem with that cultivation method."

"A problem?"

"The reason the Celestial Maiden Gate is full of women is that its representative martial art, the Preceding Heaven Sword Technique, and its cultivation method are based on the female body.

"It's not that men can't cultivate it, but it's extremely difficult for a man to reach greater completion in it, and its power would also be greatly reduced, lowering it to practically a Second Class Cultivation Method."

There were many martial arts within the murim. It wasn't uncommon for the Yin Yang Twin Qi to get divided into their respective extremes before forming into cultivation methods that were suitable or not suitable depending on one's gender.

"While there are many anecdotes about the Celestial Maiden Gate Master passing on such martial arts to the Sword Saint of Eagle Grotto, it's an old story, so I don't know the exact truth.

"Regardless, it's said that the Sword Saint of Eagle Grotto modified the Preceding Heaven Sword Technique to suit his body because of those limitations."

"And that's why you said it was the martial art of the Sword Saint of Eagle Grotto, not the Celestial Maiden Gate," Zhou Xuchuan remarked.

"That's right."

It was unexpected information. Zhou Xuchuan felt a little better after learning about the unusual technique of the Dark Heavens Association Lord.

"Thank you for teaching me. It was a great help."

"I'm glad if it was of help to you, Benefactor."

"Where did you learn that?" Zhou Xuchuan asked with a curious expression.

"Among the previous gate masters of my gate, there was one active at the same time as the Celestial Maiden Gate...

"They must have impressed him, as whenever he taught his disciple the secrets of quicksword techniques during their swordsmanship training, he would talk about the Celestial Maiden Gate's Preceding Heaven Sword Technique.

"Afterward, whenever the gate taught quicksword arts, the Preceding Heaven Sword Technique would always come up."

At this point, I'm curious about your gate. Zhou Xuchuan groaned inwardly.

However, curiosity had killed the cat, hadn't it?

He didn't want his relationship with the Sword Demon to go awry.

"Hmm?"

Wu Qu blinked, sensing something from Zhou Xuchuan.

"Ah, are you curious about my gate?"

Zhou Xuchuan was startled by Wu Qu's question, but he nodded his head slightly.

"I think I told you the name of my gate before. Do you remember it?"

"Yes. The Dragon Emperor Gate... was it?"

"Yes. You remember it well." Wu Qu answered casually, as if Zhou Xuchuan's worries had been for nothing.

The answer was so refreshing that it was almost disappointing.

"Should I call it a hidden sect or a hermit sect... my gate is also just as closed off as the Celestial Maiden Gate and is not very active in the affairs of the murim. What's more, it's a hermit sect that is only passed down through a single lineage, so it's not something most would really know."

"If I may, can I ask what kind of gate it is?"

Sensing that Wu Qu didn't seem to be bothered by his curiosity about his gate, he decided to actively ask questions.

"Of course. The Dragon Emperor Gate is a gate that aims to perfectly handle the myriad sword arts, including quicksword, slowsword arts, powersword, and heavysword arts."

"Wow..."

Zhou Xuchuan couldn't help but be amazed when he heard the gate's goal.

Isn't that a completely insane place?

Wu Qu was speaking about it lightly as if he were just observing the gate in passing, but his words weren't light whatsoever once one contemplated them.

It was absurd enough that one could unknowingly mutter the word "absurd" in the face of such an explanation.

Wu Qu's words meant that the gate disciples wanted to deal with all of the myriad natures of the Path of the Sword, which was as absurd as the Ideal of the Juvenile Fist Emperor.

It wasn't just difficult. A mere human could never achieve something like that. Even a martial artist, and a genius at that, can only specialize in one or two natures.

Even Sword God Zhou Xuchuan had only achieved the extreme peak with the Mount Hua Sect's sword specialities—the transformation sword and the illusion sword.

It wasn't that he couldn't use quicksword or heavysword techniques. He could only perform them with the help of the Ten Thousand Convergence Art, which meant he could only achieve half mastery with them.

Every other nature of the sword was a farce he displayed forcefully through the enlightenment he had obtained by reaching the Coruscant Realm or by brute forcing using his endless qi reserves.

"Your reaction is only natural. It's something that's simply impossible for a human being." Wu Qu made an expression that seemed to show that he understood. "That was why our founder changed his mindset and decided to obtain power that surpasses human beings."

"By any chance, what does that mean...?"

"It means to rule over dragons and, through that power, surpass humanity."

Dragons were the king of creatures, the strongest creatures, and transcendent beings. They were revered not only in the South Sea by factions such as the Hainan Island, but also on the mainland by countless sects.

The Dragon Emperor Gate was founded on the premise of obtaining the power of dragons.

"While the name is Dragon Emperor Gate, in reality, rather than wanting to become a dragon, it's a gate founded on becoming transcendentally strong."

"Thank you for your answer."

"It's nothing. I wasn't really planning on hiding it."

Zhou Xuchuan hadn't realized that the man couldn't care less about their secrets.

Had I known that he would respond that way, I would have asked much sooner... Zhou Xuchuan grumbled to himself, and then he remembered something from Wu Qu's words before asking, "Didn't you say that your master's gate is a single lineage inheritance gate?"

"Yes, and?"

"Then shouldn't you take on a disciple soon?"

The gate fading away in Zhou Xuchuan's previous lifetime was understandable. After all, Wu Qu was crazy about revenge for his daughter, Wu Zhenhua's sake, so he hadn't thought of accepting disciples.

However, Wu Zhenhua was alive and healthy right now.

The swordmaster had no reason to avoid accepting any disciples.

The Dragon Emperor Gate was an insane gate, but it still produced an Absolute Master of the Coruscant Realm.

It would be a shame for it to just fade away into obscurity.

"Hmm..." Wu Qu muttered. "I've thought about it, but I actually have a concern related to it."

"If it's okay with you, would you like to confide in me? Since I received your help, I'd like to repay the favor."

This wasn't a ploy for him to strengthen his relationship with the Sword Demon, but rather, a show of sincerity. Even in just the Great War of Good and Demonic, if Wu Qu hadn't rendered his aid, Zhou Xuchuan would have suffered in many ways.

"As you know, even though Zhenhua is healthier than before, isn't it a bit difficult for her to learn martial arts?"

"Yes, of course."

"So I was thinking of taking a suitable person as my son-in-law and teaching him martial arts."

"Ah, that's..."

Zhou Xuchuan thought of Zhuge Shengji and tried to say something, but he closed his mouth after hearing Wu Qu's next words.

"But then, when I imagined some guy showing up and taking away my lovely Zhenhua, I couldn't help but get angry. Without realizing it, I thought about killing that man a hundred times."

"..."

Zhou Xuchuan broke out into a cold sweat.

"Benefactor, were you trying to say something just now?"

"It's nothing," Zhou Xuchuan answered immediately and closed his mouth.

Just as the awkward silence was about to die down, he heard a voice calling him from afar.

"Hyungnim!"

"Oh, isn't that Teacher Zhuge?"

Wu Qu looked unusually pleased when he saw Zhuge Shengji.

Zhuge Shengji bowed to Wu Qu and greeted him politely. "O-oh, you're here, too, Elder. More importantly, calling me Teacher is an exaggeration. Please treat me comfortably."

"How could I do so? My daughter is learning from you, so how could I treat you carelessly? Although I am an ignorant person who only knows the sword, I'm not someone who will disrespect my benefactors."

Wu Qu's gaze toward Zhuge Shengji was kind.

"Is Zhenhua learning well from you, Teacher? I heard that she's been helping you design mechanisms lately."

"Oh, of course!"

As soon as the topic of mechanisms came up, Zhuge Shengji's eyes lit up.

"She's so smart, so her understanding of mechanisms is incredible, and she's also very enthusiastic. Even when I tell her to rest, she always stays by my side and asks me questions about mechanisms until late at night.

"You truly have a daughter to be proud of!"

"Hahahaha! Is that right? Yes, Zhenhua has always been smart since she was young. Now that Teacher Zhuge of the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes is praising her so much, I'm so proud of her that I don't even know what to do!"

Wu Qu laughed heartily, seemingly in a good mood. It was hard to believe that he was called "Instructor Demon" within the Gold Will Sword Sect.

"Come to think of it, she seems to have been studying astrology lately, and has even read my palm. It seems that even as she's studying so diligently about mechanisms, she's studying other things as well.

"She truly is amazing. People like your daughter are truly the epitome of hardworking geniuses."

Zhuge Shengji felt good about Wu Qu's praise, and he couldn't help but be reminded of Wu Zhenhua smiling happily while caressing his hand a while ago.

"Hohoho!"

"Hahahaha!"

Wu Qu burst out into a peal of laughter when he heard the praises for his daughter.

Zhuge Shengji also laughed out loud as usual.

Empyrean Overlord and Sword God Zhou Xuchuan groaned. "Ha..."

Zhuge Shengji looked at Zhou Xuchuan behind Wu Qu and asked, "Huh? Hyungnim? What's wrong? You don't look well."

"No... My stomach just hurts a little..."

Zhou Xuchuan slowly avoided Zhuge Shengji's gaze.

"By the way, what's the matter?"

"Oh, that's right. The Head Merchant is asking for you. He says that a letter from the Martial Alliance has arrived."

"Okay, thank you. I'll be going now."

Zhou Xuchuan laughed weakly and patted Zhuge Shengji on the shoulder. His brief and passing gaze was full of sympathy.

"...?"

Zhuge Shengji and Wu Qu tilted their heads to the side at the sight.

"Something seems to be off about Benefactor..."

"I noticed that, too. Did he eat something wrong?"

As he left the two behind, Zhou Xuchuan thought, I should ask the Divine Physician to prepare some digestive medicines...