Upon seeing the five participants’ choices, the livestream chat exploded.
[Thief Lord Chu Liuxiang]: Interesting—five quiz participants, yet four different answers. Every option has been chosen by someone.
[Affectionate Young Master Hou Xibai]: I’m really curious, which one is the correct answer?
[Mount Song Sect’s Fei Bin]: What’s there to ask? The correct answer must be A! Those two thieves from Mount Hua who sneaked a look at the manual are despicable scoundrels, morally corrupt, and have disgraced the Five Mountain Sword Sects. Of course, they would deny everything!
[Mount Hua Sect’s Ning Zhongze]: Senior Brother Fei, you are judging noblemen with a villain’s heart. Our Mount Hua predecessors made mistakes, but they would surely correct them.
[Mount Song Sect’s Ding Mian]: So now the thieves who snuck a look at the manual are the noble ones? Yue Buqun’s nickname is Gentleman Sword—does that mean he’s the same kind of gentleman?
[Yin Gui Sect’s Empress Yin, Zhu Yuyan]: Enough bickering! Monks from Putian’s Shaolin Temple, tell us—what happened to Monk Duyuan afterward?
[Mount Song Sect’s Zhong Zhen]: Hmph! Who are you to tell us to shut up? Who do you think you are?
[Yin Gui Sect’s Empress Yin, Zhu Yuyan]: I’m nobody special, but that so-called Sunflower Ancestor? I could kill him with just one hand.
[Cheng Shifei]: 〣(oΔo)〣 Killing the Sunflower Ancestor with just one hand? That’s terrifying!
[Yang Guo]: Terrifying indeed!
[Mount Song Sect’s Zhong Zhen]: Hmph, so what if—
[Five Mountain Alliance Leader Zuo Lengchan]: Zhong Junior Brother, shut up!
[Five Mountain Alliance Leader Zuo Lengchan @Yin Gui Sect’s Empress Yin, Zhu Yuyan]: My junior brother speaks without thinking. If he has offended Empress Yin, I sincerely hope you won’t take it to heart.
Zhong Zhen of the Nine-Bend Sword looked at Zuo Lengchan in confusion and asked, “Senior Brother Zuo, that woman may be powerful, but she isn’t even in the same region as us. Why should we fear her?”
Zuo Lengchan frowned and countered, “Do you remember what that Ye Luochuan said earlier?”
Zhong Zhen paused for a moment and thought carefully before replying, “Are you referring to what he said about the deity behind this livestream quiz? That the martial arts world, which has been divided for two hundred years, will be brought back together?”
Zuo Lengchan nodded.
Zhong Zhen sneered, “That was just some pretty boy spouting nonsense to scare Tian Boguang. How can we take it seriously?”
But Zuo Lengchan’s face remained solemn. “And what if it turns out to be true?”
Zhong Zhen: “……”
Zuo Lengchan sighed.
“Maybe the deity had no such intention at first, but after hearing those words, they suddenly got the idea.”
“Besides, this livestream quiz descended upon us out of nowhere—just like the great division two hundred years ago. Who knows if it will trigger an even greater upheaval?”
“This is only the beginning, and the game is already stirring up storms. Who’s to say it won’t cause even bigger waves later?”
“One must think before acting.”
“We should avoid provoking those we cannot afford to offend.”
“If we let our tongues run wild just for momentary satisfaction, and that Ye fellow’s words come true, our Mount Song Sect could face utter annihilation.”
After hearing Zuo Lengchan’s words, cold sweat trickled down Zhong Zhen’s forehead. He no longer dared to refute and quickly nodded in agreement.
As Zuo Lengchan lectured Zhong Zhen, the chat was still buzzing with discussions. Lianxing glanced at the other participants’ choices, then at the chat, before flashing a charming smile at Ye Luochuan.
“Young Master Ye, you and I chose the same answer.”
Ye Luochuan smiled back.
“Great minds think alike.”
Tian Boguang scoffed and sneered.
“The answer hasn’t even been revealed yet, and you’re already boasting? How ridiculous!”
Ye Luochuan remained calm.
“Brother Lecher takes pleasure in picking flowers—be careful you don’t pick the wrong answer and end up drawing a eunuch’s punishment.”
Eunuch’s punishment!
At those words, both Tian Boguang and Long Xiaoyun, who was about to speak, visibly froze. Their pupils shrank slightly, revealing a flicker of panic and fear.
Those two words carried an indescribable terror for any man.
No way…
Could the livestream really have such a punishment?
They swallowed hard, their hearts pounding with unease.
Just then, the hourglass ran out of sand.
Time’s up!
The livestream’s emotionless voice rang out again.
[Time’s up for answering.]
[Correct answer: D.]
As soon as the voice fell, the previously paused footage resumed playing. Inside and outside the livestream, everyone watched intently.
On-screen, Monk Duyuan arrived at Mount Hua, where Yue Su and Cai Zifeng treated him with great respect. They openly admitted to secretly reading the Sunflower Manual, expressed deep regret, and apologized profusely.
At the same time, they sought Duyuan’s advice on the martial arts recorded in the manual. However, they were unaware that although Duyuan was Master Hongye’s most prized disciple, he had never been taught the techniques from the Sunflower Manual.
Duyuan did not reveal this. Instead, he listened to them recite parts of the text and casually offered interpretations while secretly memorizing the content.
Duyuan was already a martial arts master and exceptionally intelligent. After hearing a single passage, he could improvise a few theoretical extensions, making his explanations sound profound.
However, since Yue Su and Cai Zifeng only remembered fragmented parts of the manual, Duyuan’s reconstructed version was inevitably diluted.
Duyuan stayed on Mount Hua for eight days before taking his leave. After leaving, he combined what he had memorized with his own insights and created the Evil-Repelling Sword Technique, which he recorded on his kasaya (monastic robe).
Soon after, Master Hongye received a letter from Duyuan, stating that he could no longer suppress his worldly desires. He had decided to renounce monkhood and was too ashamed to face his master again.
Master Hongye respected Duyuan’s decision and let him go. At the same time, a voice-over provided additional details.
[After renouncing monkhood, Duyuan reverted to his original surname, “Lin,” and reversed the order of his Buddhist name to call himself “Lin Yuantu.”]
[From then on, Lin Yuantu relied on the 72-move Evil-Repelling Sword Technique, the 108-style Heaven-Flipping Palm, and 18 Silver Feather Arrows to dominate both righteous and criminal factions.]
[Eventually, Lin Yuantu used his strength to establish the legendary Fortune Prestige Escort Agency.]
[The agency became so famous that in the six coastal provinces, as long as a caravan bore the Fortune Prestige flag, and the escorts shouted the four-character slogan “Fortune Prestige Safe Travels,” no matter how powerful a bandit or criminal was, they wouldn’t dare cast a glance at the convoy.]
[During his time running the agency, Lin Yuantu heeded Master Hongye’s teachings—he helped the weak and upheld justice. Though he left Buddhism, he still practiced Buddhist virtues.]