Mount Fuji is also the tallest mountain range in the island country, and its area is not small. Fortunately, because Yagyu Munenori lived on Mount Fuji precisely so that one day he could resolve the knot in his heart, the place he chose to live was not far from Tsukahara Bokuden.
For any martial arts expert with decent lightness skills, it was at most a journey of about half an hour. As a direct descendant of the Yagyu clan, even though she was a woman, Yagyu Chinatsu had immersed herself in martial arts since childhood. With the personal guidance of Yagyu Munenori, a contemporary sword master, her strength was naturally not weak.
The stretching mountain paths and jagged rocks were very difficult for ordinary people, almost impossible to climb, but for Yagyu Chinatsu they were as easy as walking on flat ground, and for Jiang Fei they were even less of a problem.
So in just a short while, the two had already gone deep into an altitude rarely reached by people.
“It’s just ahead. I don’t know how your timing was so coincidental—my uncle had only just left for a short while when you arrived. If you had come an hour earlier, we wouldn’t have needed to make this trip.” Yagyu Chinatsu led the way in front, while Jiang Fei followed closely behind, relaxed and at ease.
Along the way, Jiang Fei looked at the surrounding scenery and the distant clouds, sighing inwardly that Mount Fuji really was stunningly beautiful, especially when the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. It was not inferior at all to the famous mountains in Huaxia, no wonder it attracted tourists from all over the world in an endless stream.
“Why did your uncle come here exactly? What is here—some thing, or some person?” Jiang Fei asked curiously.
As for Yagyu Munenori’s actions—after returning from Huaxia and recovering from his injuries, he had been living on Mount Fuji instead of returning to Hokkaido—Jiang Fei felt very curious. Yagyu Munenori was the only sword master and the number one expert of the island country in this era.
For him, what else was there to be wary of, requiring such cautious and careful treatment?
Ordinary martial artists, whose strength was not too great, might still have many concerns. But once one’s strength reached their level, one had completely transcended the category of ordinary people. They truly could disregard many things. Even the national government had to pay attention and be wary of grandmasters of this level.
“I don’t know either. I’ve asked my uncle several times, but he never told me the real reason. He only said that here lies the greatest knot of his life, and if he does not untie it, he will not die content. So he feels that coming here is like passing through the checkpoint of his life. If he can pass it, he will suddenly see everything clearly.” Yagyu Chinatsu shook her head and said.
About this place, she really did not know much.
Jiang Fei also shook his head after hearing this.
Passing a checkpoint? A knot in the heart?
It really was a strange place.
Could this be some ancient ruin, with some treasure or opportunity? As long as one cleared the levels here and defeated the guardian, one could obtain a fortuitous encounter and greatly increase one’s strength?
Don’t be ridiculous. This was not some fantasy novel. Where would ancient ruins or doors of time and space come from?
Jiang Fei thought that in this godforsaken wilderness, the only thing that could make Yagyu Munenori so obsessed and brooding for a lifetime was surely that some incredible expert lived here. And this expert had probably also defeated Yagyu Munenori, so Yagyu Munenori wanted to fight a good battle before dying, hoping to win back his honor.
This kind of thing was common among many martial arts experts.
Although the plot was a little old-fashioned, it really did happen in many places.
For example, wasn’t the matter with Liu Yunduo somewhat similar to this?
Thinking of this, while Jiang Fei was full of curiosity, he also became a little more cautious. What kind of expert could make Yagyu Munenori not dare come challenge for so many years, and even fear him somewhat?
Could it be that in this deep mountain forest, there was an old monster at the innate gang energy level?
Otherwise, with Yagyu Munenori’s current strength, what else would he need to treat so cautiously?
“It shouldn’t be too unlucky, right? Just because I wanted to make things more complete and satisfy Liu Yunduo’s wish, I ended up offending a legendary-level expert today—then I’d really cry but have no tears…” Jiang Fei thought silently.
He was already halfway there now, and it was too late to regret it. He couldn’t possibly tell Yagyu Chinatsu that because he had thought of something bad and got scared, they should go back and come again next time, right?
That would be too embarrassing.
Besides, even if some boss was hidden in this deep mountain forest, one who could make even the current Yagyu Munenori fearful and unwilling to come challenge for so long, it did not necessarily mean that to the current Jiang Fei he was still an invincible monster.
The current Jiang Fei was not only at the third level of the Dugu Nine Swords, complete and perfected, but had also already raised the Beiming Divine Art to the second level, already able to release internal energy outward. Compared with when he had fought Yagyu Munenori at the golden summit of Emei, his strength had increased by more than just a little.
Moreover, Jiang Fei silently glanced at the character system interface in his mind.
So much time had passed, and the character seemed about to level up again…
In the mountain forest where one could gaze at distant clouds above and see wooden huts built among giant stone cliffs, Lion King and Olivia, two experts at the dan energy level, were hiding somewhat aggrievedly, waiting for their pursuers to arrive.
They did not know how many hours they had waited. Both were somewhat impatient, suspecting that Brahma might be too afraid of this place and of Tsukahara Bokuden to dare chase them here, when suddenly there was movement behind them.
“Someone’s coming.”
“Very fast. It’s an expert.”
Almost at the same time, both of their bodies tensed, their eyes wide open, ready to dash forward at any moment.
At this point, the state of these two rare experts in the world could indeed be called frightened birds.
But they had still not lost their final courage. Just as they were about to dash forward, Lion King suddenly raised his right hand and made a pause gesture, saying, “Wait—the one coming doesn’t seem to be Brahma.”
Brahma had already chased them for more than half a month and had fought them several times. They understood Brahma’s aura very well.
“Not him?” Olivia was stunned. Then she sensed carefully and understood too—it really did not seem to be Brahma.
Their senses were not wrong, so after struggling for a moment, they both chose to take a look first and not rashly charge forward. It was true that there was hatred between Tsukahara Bokuden and Brahma ahead, but as for them, there was no friendship either.
If they rushed in too early, their plan might be ruined.
After waiting less than about two minutes, the aura they had sensed behind them had already passed through layer upon layer of peaks and appeared in their sight.
“Why is it you?”
“Why is it you two?”
Three gazes met in the air, each carrying caution, and then three voices sounded almost at the same time.
The newcomer… was Yagyu Munenori.
