Chapter 75: The Mantis Stalks the Cicada, Unaware of the Oriole, Much Less the Hunter with a Blade Behind the Tree

Chapter 75: Chapter 75: The Mantis Stalks the Cicada, Unaware of the Oriole, Much Less the Hunter with a Blade Behind the Tree

The sky gradually grew dim as dark clouds began to gather over Black Stone City.

For a place accustomed to drought, the prospect of a torrential downpour was an almost unbelievable event for the local populace.

At a tea stall, a man in black wearing a bamboo hat was silently observing something in the distance.

The man in black was none other than Song Yu of Dao Yi Mountain.

He watched Lin Qingqing and Qi Zhengyi in the distance, lost in thought.

Then his gaze shifted to the few young beggars at the mouth of an alley.

He had a vague sense of what the two were thinking and couldn’t help but silently approve:

’Sect Leader, my junior brother, sent these two down the mountain to experience the world. It’s certainly a good way to see their true character.’

Over the past three months, he had come to understand their personalities to some extent.

The young lady from the Lin Family, though pampered, was by no means someone who couldn’t endure hardship. On top of that, she had a forthright and generous spirit that was no less than any man’s. Having followed her all this way, Song Yu had grown increasingly fond of this junior.

As for the young man, Qi Zhengyi, though his personality was a bit reserved, he was an honest and decent child.

Neither of them had any major character flaws, and they hadn’t done anything wicked on their journey.

Now, seeing them react to the pitiful child beggars in the distance, it seemed they had some ideas brewing.

Song Yu praised them in his heart:

’Most people can manage not to do bad things. But refraining from evil is the bare minimum. To go beyond that—to see injustice and step in to help—is truly rare and commendable.’

With his forty-plus years of experience, Song Yu could naturally also sense that something was amiss—the same thing Lin Qingqing and her companion had noticed.

’Black Stone City isn’t large. Even if a criminal brokerage is truly operating here, they can’t possibly have any particularly powerful experts. With me protecting you, you two can just go ahead and destroy it.’

Song Yu was already mentally prepared.

He gave his tacit approval for whatever Lin Qingqing and Qi Zhengyi would do next.

The reason for his confidence was twofold.

On one hand, he, Song Yu, was the True Inheritor Senior Brother of Dao Yi Mountain. Though his talent couldn’t compare to his Sect Leader junior brother or the fifth junior, he was well-versed in a wide range of studies.

Song Yu had not been taught a Cultivation Technique like Dao Yi Mountain’s Great Yellow Court, but he had mastered several other Superior Martial Arts from the mountain, reaching the highest realm in them.

Everyone knew that Dao Yi Mountain’s Great Yellow Court and Dao Yi Seal were Supreme Martial Arts. The previous Sect Leader, Chen Canxuan, had used these two skills to become unrivaled in the world.

This was not to say there were no other Superior Martial Arts on Dao Yi Mountain.

Take Chen Canxuan and Chen Sha for example. The father and son duo only cultivated the Great Yellow Court, a single Supreme Martial Art, and didn’t really practice the mountain’s other arts. The reason was actually quite simple: mastering the Great Yellow Court allowed one to completely command all other Martial Arts.

Although it was just one Martial Art, it actually encompassed all the others on Dao Yi Mountain.

To use one to command ten thousand, to unify all with one—this was the very essence of the Great Yellow Court’s Heart Method.

However, on Dao Yi Mountain, those with the qualifications and talent to be taught the Great Yellow Court were a rare few, after all.

Disciples like Song Yu cultivated other Martial Arts a tier below the Great Yellow Court. For Inner Power, there were techniques like the Inquiry into the Profound Chapter and the One Qi Great Dao Song. For combat arts, there were Grandmaster Level legacies such as the Ten Thousand Immortals Hand, the Great Purple Sun Palm Power, and the Nine Waves of Canglang.

Though he appeared humble, gentle, and scholarly on the outside, he had in fact long ago achieved rare mastery in the Great Purple Sun Palm Power and the Nine Waves of Canglang.

What’s more...

Song Yu silently glanced at his bundle and thought, ’I don’t know where my Sect Leader junior brother obtained this Divine Skill, the Nine Yin Scripture. Though it’s not as good as our Dao Yi Mountain’s Great Yellow Court, it is still a First-Grade Divine Skill, far surpassing most of the arts in our sect. The Divine Skills and Strange Techniques recorded in the Muscle and Bone Strengthening Chapter and the Healing Chapter are especially miraculous—things I’ve never even heard of before.’

He had only cultivated it for three months, yet he could already feel the bottleneck to the First-class Peak Level loosening slightly.

Furthermore, Martial Arts like the Nine Yin Divine Claw and the Great Demon Suppression Fist were quick to master.

In just three months, although Song Yu hadn’t yet reached Great Success in these two Martial Arts, with his decades of martial experience from Dao Yi Mountain, he could already unleash fifty percent of their full power.

Before descending the mountain, his strength was enough to ensure he could retreat unscathed from a Grandmaster. Now, he had the power to actually fight one.

In the world of Martial Arts, fighting across realms was as difficult as ascending to heaven, let alone across the gap between a First-class Expert and a Grandmaster.

But Song Yu had this confidence.

This was the advantage of having the profound heritage of a Major Sect.

He watched Lin Qingqing and Qi Zhengyi from a distance.

As the sky darkened further, a light rain began to fall on Black Stone City, as if on cue. The drizzle gradually grew heavier.

Just as Song Yu and, in the distance, Lin Qingqing and her companion had guessed.

Over by the small alley.

A tall, well-built man with a cloth tied around his head appeared, just as expected. One could sense the power coiled in the muscles beneath his skin as he held an umbrella and walked toward the young beggars.

Upon seeing him approach, the little beggars instinctively flinched. The man let out a deep cough.

The children all lowered their heads, fumbled to pick up their broken bowls, and then followed the man into the alley behind them.

"It really is an organization. Let’s follow them!"

Lin Qingqing whispered to Qi Zhengyi.

"Let’s see if it’s just these kids, or if there are more poor children in their den!!"

A hint of fury and killing intent had already surfaced in the young woman’s eyes.

From a distance, Song Yu watched as Lin Qingqing and Qi Zhengyi stealthily followed the man with the umbrella. He paid his bill at the tea stall, adjusted his bamboo hat, and silently trailed after them.

However, neither the child-trafficking man with the umbrella, nor Lin Qingqing and Qi Zhengyi, nor even Song Yu who followed last, could have ever imagined...

...that as they followed one after another, there was yet another person taking in their every move.

The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind it; and behind the oriole, the hunter readies his blade in the trees.

...

In a tavern on the second floor, not far from the alley.

A white cloth banner reading "Fortune-Telling and Character Reading" lay across a chair. The old fortune-teller who called himself "Qin Half-Immortal" raised his wine cup and smiled:

"See? This is how disciples from the Major Sects travel. The juniors gain experience while the elders secretly protect them. No wonder they produce so many talented individuals."

"You’re talking about that little girl, I presume."

Across from the old fortune-teller sat a middle-aged swordsman:

"She has a hidden Sword Qi and was born with a great destiny. In all these years, the only other person I’ve seen with such a powerful destiny was that descendant of the Yuan Royal Family..."

"Even you and I cannot compare."

"But she has a guardian. If we want to draw her into the game, we’ll have to..."

The swordsman picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks, put it in his mouth, and asked:

"The usual plan? Kill her guardian, force her step-by-step into the Chess Master’s game, and make her one of the pieces? She is from the Dao Yi Sect, after all."

The old fortune-teller laughed. "The Dao Yi Sect? If this were the Dao Yi Sect of Chen Canxuan’s time, perhaps we’d have to be a bit wary. But he has already passed away, and the world’s power structure is being redrawn."

"The Chess Master’s goal is precisely to reshape the world’s dynamics, to raise up one ’dragon and flood-dragon’ of the Jianghu after another. You and I can only be considered flood-dragons. People like this girl and that Young Master Qing are the True Dragons of the future Jianghu. The Chess Master gave the order long ago: if we discover a ’dragon seed,’ we must pull them into our game to help him with his grand design for the world..."

"Is that so."

The swordsman put down his chopsticks and looked in the direction Song Yu had gone. "He’s only at the Peak of the First-class Expert realm. Even with the heritage of Dao Yi Mountain giving him a few more tricks than the average expert, he’s nothing more than one swing of my blade."

"The usual plan..." The old fortune-teller smiled. "I’ll lead the way, you do the killing. After you kill that Daoist from Dao Yi Mountain, don’t appear before her again. Go to the side of another ’star’ and help that one out... Otherwise, just wait until she grows up, reaches the First-Grade Innate realm, and discovers you were the one who acted today. Taking the life of a Grandmaster like you will be a matter of a single sword strike for her."