Zhang Yao looked at the young man on the small fishing boat.
To be precise, it was a long sword that the young man carried on his back. The color and pattern of the hilt made him somewhat familiar.
"It's... the Red Sky Sword."
Zhang Yao looked dazed for a moment, then quickly came back to his senses, his thoughts turning:
"I didn't expect that after two hundred years, I would see this Scarlet Sky Sword again."
"So...this young man may be a descendant of the Zhao family, so I can't just sit idly by and ignore it."
Thinking of this, he immediately stood up, waved his sleeves and robe, and walked away on the waves.
The vast lake surface is like walking on flat ground.
Miles away.
On the small fishing boat, an old man with gray beard and hair was paddling hard, with beads of sweat visible on his forehead.
The boy on the side, who was only about twelve or thirteen years old, was also helping to paddle, but it was obviously a bit difficult.
"They are almost catching up..."
The young man looked back and couldn't help but show a hint of despair.
The other party was chasing after them, and the boat was obviously faster than them. The only way to survive was to row into the foggy restricted area in Baibo Lake, praying that the other party would hit the rocks and sink the ship first.
But at the moment, it seems that they may not be able to survive the Mist Restricted Area and will be overtaken first.
"Um?"
But at this moment, the young man seemed to have discovered something and was stunned for a moment.
The several awning boats chasing behind them gradually deviated from their direction for some unknown reason.
Although the pursuers on the boat continued to shout and curse, their eyes seemed to be unable to see them, and they chased straight towards no one.
"How is this going……"
The young man felt happy at first, and then showed a hint of uneasiness.
This was obviously not a pre-arranged drama. If the pursuers really wanted to let him live, they would not pursue him to the depths of Baibo Lake.
Judging from the appearance of those pursuing soldiers, they seemed to be possessed by some evil spirit.
"Could it be that you really hit a ghost?!"
Just when he was feeling deeply uneasy, the old man beside him became anxious and said repeatedly:
"My dear husband, you can't stop, please paddle harder!"
"Once they catch up, we will have to eat noodles and be thrown into the lake to feed the fish!"
The young man shook his head, pointed at the pursuers behind him, and said:
"Look, they seem to be unable to see us..."
"ah?"
The old man was startled when he heard this, and then turned his head to look. When he saw the situation behind him clearly, he couldn't help but show a hint of fear:
"This, this... I haven't heard that there are still ghosts in the depths of Baibo Lake?"
"This isn't haunted."
A gentle voice with a faint smile suddenly sounded in their ears.
The two of them turned around subconsciously, and saw a young Taoist priest in Taoist robes, coming from the lake and boarding the bow step by step as if climbing invisible steps.
This scene immediately stunned the two of them. Even the little girl cowering beside her opened her eyes wide and stared blankly.
"S-Senior!"
The old man's whole body trembled, he knelt down with a thud, kowtowed like pounding garlic, and trembled:
"Meet the Immortal, meet the Immortal..."
The young man beside him came to his senses and quickly knelt down:
"Thank you, Immortal, for saving your life."
"Get up."
Zhang Yao waved his sleeves, and their bodies were lifted up by invisible magic power, and they stood upright involuntarily.
After the young man stood up straight, Zhang Yao looked at him carefully and then said:
"Where did the Red Sky Sword you carry come from?"
"Red Sky Sword?"
The young man was stunned for a moment, obviously not expecting that the Immortal in the Lake would ask about the sword first.
"This is a family heirloom."
The young man was quite clever. After replying, he quickly removed the long sword from his back and held it respectfully with both hands.
"Uh-huh!"
Zhang Yao took the long sword and drew it out of its sheath. The cold light shone and the edge was as sharp as ever.
There is no chip or curl on the three-foot-long sword blade, and it is not stained by any rust. It is obvious that it has been carefully maintained.
"We haven't seen each other for two hundred years, but we are still as sharp as before..."
Zhang Yao sighed and put the Red Sky Sword back into its scabbard.
"Two hundred years?"
The young man was startled for a moment and couldn't help but ask;
"Did the Immortal ever see this Red Sky Sword two hundred years ago?"
"good."
Zhang Yao nodded slightly and asked:
"Is your surname Zhao?"
"right."
The young man replied honestly:
"My name is Zhao Hechu. This Red Sky Sword was passed down from our ancestor Zhao Ling."
"That's true."
There was a hint of understanding on Zhang Yao's face, and he asked again:
"Then how did you end up in this situation? What force is chasing you?"
After hearing this, the young man couldn't help but show a trace of sadness on his face, and his voice was dull:
"The Immortal doesn't know something. These people are all subordinates of the Qingping Sect..."
"Qingping Cult?"
Zhang Yao was stunned for a moment.
"right……"
The young man calmed down and spoke about his experience.
Zhang Yao had been to the human world several times, but he had never paid attention to the affairs of the world. Only after hearing his story this time did he understand the cause of the matter.
All of this started two hundred years ago.
Two hundred years ago, before Zhang Yao went south to search for immortality, he entrusted the Qingxu Sutra, the pinnacle of martial arts, to Qingzhuo, the master of Qingping Palace.
Qingzhuo didn't pay attention to it at the time, but when he read it later, he felt like he found a treasure. He listed it as the supreme secret of Qingping Palace, and only the most outstanding disciples could practice it.
Thanks to the "Qingxu Zhenjing", Qingping Palace produced more than a dozen martial arts masters in the next hundred years, becoming a prominent Taoist sect in the south.
Many years later:
The Qingping Palace was renamed the Qingping Sect, which respected Zhenren Qingxu as its founder. It had tens of thousands of followers under its command, and its power spread throughout the southern states. It had nearly ten masters sitting in command, which was unparalleled in the world.
"……etc!"
Zhang Yao couldn't help but interrupt him when he heard his story:
"The Qingping Sect respects Zhenren Qingxu as its founder? I'm afraid this is wrong."
"As far as I know, the founder of Qingping Palace was the 'Taihe Master' more than three hundred years ago."
The inheritance of Qingping Palace has a complete pedigree, and Zhang Yao still remembers it.
Even though there was a great chaos that destroyed the Taoist dishes and memorial tablets in the palace, Qingzhuo and the older generation Guanyuan Master are still there, and they will definitely reshape the genealogy.
How come two hundred years have passed, but he, the 'Qingxu Master', has somehow become the founder of Qingping Palace?
"I'm not sure about that."
The young man hesitated for a moment and whispered:
"My father once mentioned that it seems that a few decades ago, when the Qingping Sect was renamed, an orthodox dispute broke out within the sect."
"In the end, the current line of headmasters won, and the Qingping Palace was renamed, and Zhenren Qingxu, who left behind the Qingxu Sutra, was honored as the founder."
"……I see."
Zhang Yao suddenly understood what he said.
What seems to be a simple support for who is respected as the ancestor is actually an internal factional division.
The orthodoxy struggle is just a fig leaf. It is essentially an internal struggle for power distribution and voice.
The "Qingxu Zhenjing" he left behind at that time is the highest secret code of martial arts. It can be said to be the new foundation of Qingping Palace. It is not surprising that he is treated like this.
(End of chapter)
