Chapter - 168 Leader of the (8)

They were of course angry with Yang Guo, who expelled himself from the Quanzhen sect, but now when they saw that he was helping China to fend off the enemy, they flung their sect's feud with him to one side.

Sun Bu'Er was the weakest of the Quanzhen Seven Masters, before Wang Chongyang died, he gave her Quanzhen's sharpest and most precious sword to help compensate for her weak kung fu. She saw that Yang Guo was requesting a sword to fight off the enemy so she dashed forward to the front, her hands holding a glittering, precious sword and said, "Use this sword!"

Yang Guo saw that the sword was like a clear autumn river, he knew that it was a weapon which could cut through gold and jade, if he used it to fight Huo Dou, he would definitely be able to gain some advantage. But as soon as he saw the Taoist gown that Sun Bu'Er was wearing, he immediately thought about the suffering that he had in Quanzhen, and also remembered how Grandma Sun died under the palm of Hao Datong. He rolled his eyes and didn't take the sword, he instead turned around and borrowed a dark and rusted iron sword from a Beggar Clan member and said, "I'll borrow this brother's sword." He left Sun Bu'Er standing there like a corpse; she couldn't advance forward or go back. Though she practiced Taoism, it is hard to cleanse the fiery nature of martial artist; this young man dared to throw back her good intentions of lending her sword, she couldn't stop herself from getting angry. She wanted to scold and curse him but the enemy was here, it wasn't convenient to start another argument, she forced herself to endure her anger and returned to the crowd.

Yang Guo's character was too determined and stubborn, he loved and hated in the extreme; originally he would have taken this opportunity to repair some of the damage between him and Quanzhen, but his reaction deepened the hatred between the two sides.

When Huo Dou saw that Yang Guo didn't take the precious sword but chose a rusty iron sword instead, he was worried. When one reaches an extremely high level in martial arts, flowers and leaves can be used to harm people, not needing the sharpness of weaponry. He pondered about the opponent taking such a blunt sword, was he really that strong? He opened his fan and fluttered it twice; he was about to open his mouth to signal the start of the battle.

Yang Guo's sword pointed to the four words written by Zhu Ziliu on his fan, he laughed and said, "You are hence a barbarian, everyone knows that, there's no need to spread it everywhere."

Huo Dou's face went red, a 'pai' sound was heard as the fan close and became a short stick, he pointed the fan towards Yang Guo's 'Shoulder Well' pressure point, his left palm came chopping out with the force of a strong wind, ruthless and swift. Yang Guo's iron sword moved as he used the "Jade Maiden Sword Technique" in response.

Year ago when Lin Chaoying studied bitterly in the stone tomb, she didn't leave the tomb again after she developed the "Jade Heart Manual" kung fu. She passed this skill onto her maid, who imparted it to Xiao Longnu who in turn passed it onto Yang Guo. Not only did the maid not take a step into the world of Wulin, she never took a step off Mount Zhongnan. Though Li Mochou is Xiao Longnu's senior apprentice sister, she was not taught the advanced and profound sword techniques of her master. She gained fame throughout the Jianghu world through the use of her projectiles, fly whisk and palm techniques. Right now, he used the Ancient Tomb sect's sword techniques, many skilled fighters from various schools and sects were amassed in the hall today, but apart from Xiao Longnu, no one knew this sword technique.

The martial arts of the Ancient Tomb sect was developed by a woman, the next two generations were also women, it was unavoidable that the martial arts developed too much lightness and softness, and there wasn't enough power and fierceness. When Xiao Longnu taught him these stances, the stances carried thirty percent of this gracefulness and elegance. After he understood it completely, automatically he removed the femininity from the stances and turned its nature into a swift, at ease and airy style. The Ancient Tomb's lightness kung fu is unparalleled; Yang Guo was now moving around the main hall, before a stance was finished, a second stance arrived.

When the sword stances were first unleashed, the body was on the left, when the stances were repelling the enemy the body had turned to the right, it was as if the sword and user were completely separated. The two of them had nothing to do with each other; he only used around ten stances of this sword technique. Everyone was startled and watched in admiration.

Huo Dou's fan techniques were also a great skill; it had swipes, strikes, thrusts and pierces, and this too relied on swiftness, lightness and softness to overcome the enemy. But now it had met up with the Ancient Tomb's matchless lightness kung fu and he was unable to unleash his moves. Plus, he was ridiculed by Yang Guo because of the four words written by Zhu Ziliu, he didn't want to open his fan again and so the 'swiping' aspect of his fan technique could not be used.

When Guo Fu and the Wu brothers saw how excellent Yang Guo's sword techniques were, their six eyes were opened widely and they didn't have anything more to say.

The happiest person in the crowd was Guo Jing, he saw that the son of Yang Kang had learned such a good level of martial arts; even he couldn't see what the origins of these techniques were. When he remembered the deep ties between the Guo and Yang families, he couldn't stop sadness and joy from stirring in his heart. Huang Rong glanced over at her husband, she saw that his eyes were red, a smile was on his lips; she knew what he was thinking and stretched out her hand and took his right hand.

When Huo Dou saw that he couldn't handle his enemy, he began to get impatient; he thought that if he loses to this young punk today, his name will be in ruins, how could he make his name in the central plains? He saw Yang Guo's sword pointed at an angle, the sword tip dispersed and he attacked three places in quick succession; if he only was able to dodge them, he would be on his way to losing, so he opened his fan and blocked these three attacks. He called out again and used the "Ferocious Wind Rapid Thunder Skill" again to counterattack. With his status as a skilled fighter of Wulin, he should not use all his abilities and effort in fighting a young man. He'll lose all face if he wins in such a manner. But all he cared about right now was winning, how could he care about such things? He kept on calling out; a ruthless stance followed by an even more ruthless stance.

Yang Guo's sword was light and lively, the stances kept on coming without stopping, and it really was graceful, elegant and leisurely. This set of "Beautiful Maiden Sword" overcomes the opponent through grace and subtlety, and in contrast with the opponent's calls and shouts, Yang Guo's gracefulness and exquisiteness was even more emphasized. Though Yang Guo was wearing a torn and ragged garment, the sword technique's elegance and grace became clear in the eyes of the crowd; they felt that he was handsome and striking, and must be a fine son of a well to do family.

However, as Yang Guo prioritized in achieving the elegance and gracefulness of the stances, the power of the sword technique became difficult to unleash. Huo Dou fought without care for his life, he fought more and more fiercely; Yang Guo's strength gradually started to drain away.