Cultivating for Immorality: I Evolved Martial Arts into the Immortal Path – Chapter 71

Chapter 71: Hero? Despicable Person?

In the Autumn Blade Martial Arts Hall’s courtyard.

More than thirty disciples sat cross-legged, looking forward.

On the high platform in front, Master Saber was demonstrating one of the seventeen forms of the Autumn Blade, the Lightning Shadow.

“Clang——”

Master Saber drew his saber.

A cold gleam flashed!

Everyone only saw a blur before their eyes, and before they could see clearly, the saber had already returned to its scabbard.

Many disciples often came to listen to the lessons and had seen this countless times, yet they were still amazed.

Too fast!

It was just a blink of an eye!

If they were to fight against Master Saber, they might not even have time to react before Master Saber cut off their heads.

“This move emphasizes the accumulation of momentum!”

Master Saber looked at the crowd, his rough voice sounding.

The reason why that strike was so astonishing was that he had already secretly accumulated the saber’s momentum before drawing it.

The act of swinging the saber was merely releasing the previously accumulated power.

Below the high platform, the disciples listened attentively, carefully comprehending every word Master Saber said.

Chu Liang was also amazed by that strike, so he listened very carefully.

But as he listened, he gradually frowned and discovered a problem—accumulating momentum takes time. In a life-and-death struggle, every moment counts. How could the enemy give you time to accumulate momentum?

Unless this move was used from the beginning, if it failed to kill the enemy, one would have to use other moves to fight.

But this was too rigid, too inflexible.

Next, Master Saber demonstrated several more moves.

After each demonstration, he would explain for a while, and he was quite dedicated.

But the more Chu Liang listened, the more he felt something was wrong.

He felt that there was a problem with every move.

“Master Saber’s demonstrations are just dead moves, too rigid. Although each move is amazing, they lack agility.”

Chu Liang secretly recalled the Three Autumn Blades he practiced, comparing the differences.

He naturally wouldn’t practice according to Master Saber’s teachings.

Otherwise, he would develop problems.

However, Master Saber was already very powerful, having mastered the Autumn Blade to perfection.

In the entire Autumn Blade Martial Arts Hall, except for the Hall Master, no one could surpass Master Saber in saber technique.

Next, Master Saber explained several other saber techniques, including the Blood Breaking Saber, speaking very thoroughly until noon.

“Do you have any questions?” Master Saber asked the crowd.

“Yes.”

“If you have any, speak up!”

“Yes…”

People started to raise their questions.

Some were even called up to the high platform by Master Saber to demonstrate, letting others point out their mistakes.

Chu Liang remained silent, quietly noting down the mistakes of the other disciples.

He liked this atmosphere very much.

The path of martial arts is difficult. In Qing Shi Village, he had no companions, only exploring slowly by himself, unable to judge whether he was right or wrong, only able to practice based on feeling.

It was different here, surrounded by fellow practitioners.

If nothing unexpected happened, Chu Liang could quietly spend the next period of time in the martial arts hall.

But some people didn’t want him to be too comfortable…

◈◈◈

Early one morning, a piece of news quietly spread in the county town.

Some said that the honor of killing the tiger demon shouldn’t belong to Chu Liang, that he only landed the final blow.

And that 90% of the injuries were inflicted by Wu Neng and his team.

Others said that Wu Neng and his team paid a great price to kill the demon, even his younger brother got lost in the mountains. They finally managed to injure the tiger demon, only to have Chu Liang take advantage of the situation.

“Is this true? Who said that?”

“I don’t know, it’s being spread everywhere.”

“No wonder. I was wondering before, how could that Chu Liang, just a country boy, have the ability to kill a tiger demon? Now it’s clear…”

Today happened to be the county market day, which was much livelier than the previous days.

The streets and alleys were filled with people.

Teahouses, gambling dens, and taverns were all packed, bustling with noise and excitement.

It was impossible to trace where the news originated from. By noon, the storytellers in the various taverns had already started talking about it.

“That tiger demon had a green face and fangs, eyes like ghostly lanterns, and a mouth like a bloody basin. It was truly terrifying…”

“…As for that Chu Liang, he’s just a country boy…”

These storytellers sat in front, their voices loud and vivid as if they were at the scene.

In their depiction, Chu Liang was just a greedy and insatiable villain, who got lucky.

And Wu Neng and his team became the real heroes.

In order to kill the tiger demon, they went deep into the mountains, braved the elements, and disregarded their own safety, all for the sake of the lives of ordinary people in the county and surrounding villages. They were practically saints.

Although it was a bit exaggerated, the audience loved it.

By the afternoon.

Almost the entire county knew about this news.

In the county government office, in the black market, in the Martial Alliance, in the various martial arts halls…

Whether it was martial artists or ordinary people, everyone was discussing whether this matter was true or not.

“No matter what, Chu Liang did kill the tiger demon, right?”

“It’s still uncertain whether he killed it or not!”

“Maybe Wu Neng and his team had already taken 99% of the tiger demon’s life, and it was just about to die when it fled to that village, then it just happened to die, and Chu Liang found it.”

“Hmm… that’s actually possible!”

The news continued to spread and had evolved into countless versions.

Many mouths can melt metal; three people make a tiger.

In the end, Chu Liang had become a completely despicable villain.

In fact, Qing Shi Village was not far from the county town, a round trip could be made in one day, but no one went to the village to investigate.

“How could that Chu Liang be so greedy?”

“It is said that he didn’t even know any martial arts. He sold the tiger demon’s corpse to get money to come to the county town to learn martial arts. That money should have belonged to Master Wu.”

“Poor Master Wu and his team. They put in so much effort to kill the tiger demon, even his younger brother got lost in the mountains, but in the end, they didn’t get any honor or praise.”

“Sigh, in this world, why is it always so difficult for good people?”

“…”

People were talking.

Just like last time, they once again learned the name Chu Liang.

However, this time, Chu Liang’s name became infamous.

“Country folks are like that, greedy and short-sighted. They would even hold on tightly to a single copper coin, let alone the corpse of that tiger demon.”

Many people attributed Chu Liang’s character to his background.

Especially the various forces in the county town, they always looked down on martial artists from mountain villages.

Soon, the specific value of the tiger demon’s corpse also became a topic of discussion.

◈◈◈

“I heard that the tiger demon was sold for one thousand five hundred taels of silver!”

“I heard it was one thousand three hundred taels.”

“Anyway, it was more than one thousand taels!”

Upon hearing those numbers, many people became envious.

This was a huge fortune that made people tremble just thinking about it.

“What right does Chu Liang have to swallow so much money?”

“Why didn’t Master Wu do anything to him?”

“Sigh, Master Wu also has to follow the instructions of the Martial Alliance and must follow the rules. After all, he didn’t land the final blow.”

“If I were Master Wu, I would be so frustrated right now…”

After the amount of silver was revealed, people’s dislike for Chu Liang grew even more.

When the news reached the Green Robe Gang, they were preparing to take action against Chu Liang.

Upon hearing this news, the person in charge of the operation was stunned and asked, “That Chu Liang hasn’t even learned any martial arts?”

“Yes, he only came to the county town today to learn martial arts,” the member responsible for reporting the news replied.

“Are you sure?”

“Sir, many people have seen him go to the Black Sword Martial Arts Hall, but for some reason, he was kicked out. He then went to the Autumn Blade Martial Arts Hall,” the person replied.

Another member beside him also presented new information.

“Sir, it has been confirmed… We bribed the internal staff of various martial arts halls and checked all the records of all the martial arts halls in the county. Chu Liang really came to learn martial arts in the county town for the first time.”

The Green Robe Gang was powerful, and most of its members were from various martial arts halls in the county town.

Some members were still practicing martial arts in the halls and even held certain positions, so it was not too difficult to obtain internal information from the martial arts halls.

“He hasn’t even learned any martial arts and has only condensed one strand of Qi and Blood. He can’t be a match for the Nineteenth Wife and the others.”

“Yes, sir, should we continue with the operation?”

“Wait, I’ll go ask the Gang Leader.”

In fact, the Green Robe Gang’s suspicion of Chu Liang was not heavy. They were just operating under the principle of better safe than sorry, so they wanted to take action against him.

The Green Robe Gang’s main suspect was still the Black-Faced Market Master in the black market.

The nature of the black market was similar to that of the Green Robe Gang.

Some of their businesses overlapped, often leading to conflicts of interest.

However, the Black-Faced Market Master was a Skin Tempering Realm expert, so even though the Green Robe Gang was suspicious, they couldn’t do anything. They couldn’t enter the black market to investigate.

Soon, an order came from the main hall of the Green Robe Gang’s headquarters.

“That Chu Liang is already a disciple of the Autumn Blade Martial Arts Hall. Taking action rashly might make that Hall Master lose face. Send a few people to question him.”

The order came down, and the gang members immediately stood down.

In the end, only a few ordinary members were dispatched.

◈◈◈

The sun was setting, another day’s dusk.

Chu Liang was in his own courtyard.

He looked focused, holding his saber, practicing his saber techniques over and over again, his movements fluid and natural as if he were a born swordsman.

“I should have a talent for saber techniques!”

After a while, Chu Liang sheathed his saber.

A smile appeared on his face, very satisfied with his current progress.

At this moment, the anxious voice of the little mouse appeared in his mind: “Master, there are rumors about you everywhere outside. You should quickly find someone to help you explain!”

“Find who?”

Chu Liang was not anxious at all, but rather relaxed, smiling as he asked the little mouse.

The little mouse anxiously said, “Find Song Zhong and the others. They are in the Martial Alliance and must have heard about this.”

“Don’t worry, worrying is bad for the liver.”

Chu Liang was calm, taking a sip of his Blood Ginseng Tea.

Rumors can indeed hurt, but they only hurt those who value their reputation too much.

And Chu Liang didn’t care about these things at all, let people say whatever they wanted.

“It’s getting late, let’s go eat first.”

Chu Liang looked at the sky, planning to go to the south of the city to try Tie Niu’s family’s signature beef noodles.

He instructed the little mouse, “Rat One, have Rat Two keep an eye on Wu Neng and the others. Once they leave the county town, notify me immediately.”

“Oh… Master, are you really not going to explain?”

“What’s the rush?”

Chu Liang smiled calmly, pushed open the courtyard door, walked out of the yard, and headed towards the main gate of the martial arts hall.

The martial arts hall was noisy, and many people were discussing the tiger demon incident.

“It’s Chu Liang.”

“Chu Liang is here, be quiet.”

Seeing Chu Liang, their discussions abruptly stopped, and the surroundings suddenly fell into a strange silence.

Some martial arts disciples directly turned their heads, avoiding Chu Liang’s gaze, while others did not avoid it, directly casting looks of disgust and contempt at Chu Liang.

Of course, there were also some martial arts disciples who did not believe those rumors, but now that most people believed them, they did not dare to speak up.

Chu Liang’s expression remained unchanged, calmly walking towards the main gate.

“Creak…”

He pushed open the main gate, and a ray of the setting sun greeted him, coating him with a faint golden glow.

The evening breeze blew gently, bringing the smell of cooking.

Chu Liang stepped out of the gate, intending to go to Tie Niu’s family’s noodle shop, when he suddenly noticed several Green Robe Gang members standing not far away.

The several Green Robe Gang members also saw him, and one of them immediately shouted, “Chu Liang!”

“Hmm?”

“Stop right there, we have something to ask you!”

The several Green Robe Gang members hurried forward.

Seeing this scene, the other disciples in the martial arts hall were a little surprised, looking at each other.

They all recognized the Green Robe Gang’s attire and couldn’t help but wonder.

What does this gang want with Chu Liang?

“It should be related to that ‘Nineteenth Wife’ that has been causing a lot of trouble recently,” a disciple guessed.

“No way?”

The other disciples were even more surprised.

They racked their brains but couldn’t connect Chu Liang with that Nineteenth Wife.

“Those higher-ups in the Green Robe Gang are really muddle-headed. They actually suspect that Chu Liang killed their Nineteenth Wife?”

“Does Chu Liang have that ability?”

These words drifted into Chu Liang’s ears, making him feel a little amused.

Being weak also has its benefits.