The whole story slowly came out of the Lion King’s mouth.
Because the Lion King was one of the “Four Kings of Huaxia” from back then, and the eldest among them, Azure Dragon, had also been involved in this matter. Not only was he tangled up in it, but he could be said to have been the most deeply entangled of all. That was why the Lion King knew every detail clearly.
It turned out that Aoki Yuxue had once been extraordinarily beautiful, like a fairy descended to the mortal world. Her talent for cultivation was truly astonishing, not the slightest bit inferior to the most outstanding young people of that time, such as Yagyu Munenori and Brahma. She might even have been a cut above them.
And Aoki Yuxue was not the kind of person who only knew how to bury herself in bitter training, staying in one place year after year without going out, shut away in seclusion like Xiao Longnü. On the contrary, she loved to travel and see more of the world, to encounter more people and more wonderful, useful, profound sword techniques, so as to verify what she had comprehended and gained.
She had been to Huaxia and Country A before. At that time, Azure Dragon and Brahma, each one of the most outstanding young people in Huaxia and Country A, met her then. After that, by a twist of fate, emotional entanglements arose.
As for exactly what happened and how the emotional entanglements came about, only the parties involved knew the secret details. The Lion King did not know either. In any case, the reason the “Four Kings of Huaxia” disbanded back then, leaving only the Lion King behind now, was also related to this woman named Aoki Yuxue.
Among the Four Kings of Huaxia, the tigress “Tiger King,” whom Jiang Fei had met in the capital last time, had always harbored feelings for Azure Dragon. She liked him but had never confessed. In the end, Aoki Yuxue cut in and completely won Azure Dragon’s heart. Tiger King’s confession produced no result at all, and Azure Dragon rejected her without leaving any room. As a result, the two had avoided each other for so many years.
So even though Azure Dragon was a drunkard, and even though Tiger King possessed brewing skill regarded as top-tier master level in the world, perhaps even beyond Jiang Fei, and had brewed a whole courtyard full of baijiu in the capital, Azure Dragon had never gone to drink it.
Later, when Aoki Yuxue had polished her swordsmanship to near perfection, she returned to the island nation. She once again trained under Tsukahara Bokuden, who was already a sword master at the time. Azure Dragon and Brahma, sick with longing, separately and without prior arrangement rushed to Huaxia, wanting to lay everything bare to Aoki Yuxue and confess their love completely.
At that time, Yagyu Munenori had already made quite a name for himself in the island nation’s swordsmanship world. Holding the same thought, he also climbed up to the “Shinto-ryu” swordsmanship hall.
Three young male experts, all astonishingly gifted in cultivation and could be called the most outstanding and most promising of the era, came together to court Aoki Yuxue. By rights, this should have been a rather glorious matter. Even if Tsukahara Bokuden, as her teacher, would not be too happy, at least he should not have been too furious. At worst, he could simply refuse to let his disciple leave with any of the three.
Who would have thought that when Tsukahara Bokuden saw the three juniors come to his door, he flew into a rage and immediately wanted to punish them.
At that time, Tsukahara Bokuden was already a sword master and had founded his own school. He could already be considered a very formidable existence among sword masters, roughly equivalent in strength to the current Lion King or Olivia.
But at that time, Azure Dragon, Brahma, Yagyu Munenori, and Aoki Yuxue were, after all, too young. Brahma and Yagyu Munenori had cultivation already infinitely close to the Danjin level, so naturally they were no match for Tsukahara Bokuden and were dealt with without any ability to resist.
Yet no matter what, all three loved Aoki Yuxue too much. Even when facing Tsukahara Bokuden’s punishment, not one was willing to leave. Even knowing they were no match, they still wanted to fight Tsukahara Bokuden.
This instantly enraged Tsukahara Bokuden completely. In his heart, he even turned ruthless and was moved to kill.
At the final moment, Aoki Yuxue walked out. Crying, she pleaded for the three, begging her teacher to spare them. If Tsukahara Bokuden wanted to kill someone, then please kill her. She was the one truly responsible for this matter. She was the one who most deserved punishment.
In the end, Tsukahara Bokuden really did kill Aoki Yuxue.
As for the exact process, and whether Aoki Yuxue said who she loved most, the Lion King likewise did not know. After all, this matter touched on Azure Dragon’s most painful memory, and Azure Dragon had always kept his mouth shut, unwilling to tell anyone.
In any case, after this matter, Azure Dragon, Brahma, and Yagyu Munenori, the three most eye-catching geniuses of Huaxia, Country A, and the island nation, all suffered no small blows and underwent great changes.
For example, Azure Dragon directly withdrew from the “Four Kings of Huaxia” and changed from a high-spirited, wildly proud man into a wild-grass Daoist secluded at the foot of Mount Lu. From then on, there was no more Azure Dragon in the world, only an additional wine-and-meat Daoist. Brahma directly entered the religion of Country A and became a monk, and from then on accepted no female beauty or feelings. Although Yagyu Munenori did not do anything outrageous, for so many years he had remained all alone, never marrying or having children. In his life there was only cultivation and swordsmanship.
“This matter… really is twisted and bizarre enough!”
After hearing all this, Jiang Fei could not help but twitch the corner of his mouth. So within today’s meeting, so much of the past was hidden. Back then, the island nation had even produced such a peerless beauty capable of turning all beings upside down.
“So…” Jiang Fei looked at Yagyu Munenori and said, “You didn’t come today to challenge any trial. You came to avenge Aoki Yuxue?”
Yagyu Munenori was right beside the two, and he had roughly heard what the Lion King said. Having the events of back then dug up by others, Yagyu Munenori naturally could not help but sigh with emotion for a time, his mood melancholy and nostalgic.
“No. Today I did not come for revenge. I know I am definitely no match for Tsukahara Bokuden, so what revenge is there to speak of?” Yagyu Munenori quickly narrowed his eyes, looked coldly through the air at Tsukahara Bokuden, and only after a long while slowly spoke: “I came today to ask one thing clearly, to know whether the hope I have held for so many years is an absurd daydream!”
“What do you want to ask?” Tsukahara Bokuden, with white hair and a youthful face, frowned and asked.
Yagyu Munenori stared at Tsukahara Bokuden with incomparable seriousness and said, word by word: “Yuxue… did she really die back then or not!”
“Whether she died or not, weren’t you three the clearest about it back then?” Tsukahara Bokuden said with a cold laugh.
Yagyu Munenori shook his head and said, “Yes, back then you indeed killed Yuxue in front of us. But later, someone saw Yuxue again at Mount Fuji! What do you say to that?”
“What!”
Standing beside Tsukahara Bokuden, Brahma, upon hearing this, could not help but have his spirit shaken. He looked at Yagyu Munenori in disbelief, then turned his head and stared at Tsukahara Bokuden, asking, “Is what he said true? Yuxue… really did not die?”
“Are you willing to believe his words?” Tsukahara Bokuden sneered disdainfully. “He just said it himself too. He is absurdly daydreaming. I think you should stop considering these things for now. We should first warm up and deal with these people before saying anything else!”
Brahma’s eyes flickered uncertainly, and his expression changed several times. Only after a while did he agree: “Fine. Let’s deal with these people first before saying anything else!”
