Chapter 187: True Martial Sect

On the way back, seeing that Liang Qiuyang was already studying the rubbings, Lin Le asked, "Master Liang, how is it? Have you made any discoveries?"

Liang Qiuyang then put down the rubbings and raised his head.

"Mr. Lin, according to the records on these rubbings, that spiritual herb should be located in the Meng Mountains of Nanhe Province. As for the precise location, we will likely need to enter the mountains first, and then I can determine it based on the records, feng shui, and mountain topography," Liang Qiuyang said.

To be honest, the content on these rubbings was extremely ancient, with many locations dating back to before the Eastern Jin Dynasty. It had taken the original tomb owner a tremendous amount of effort to piece them together based on the most primitive version of the records.

Had Liang Qiuyang not been a feng shui master himself, highly proficient in the geography of mountains and rivers, anyone else would have found it far from simple to locate the exact spot even with these rubbings in hand.

"Nanhe Province..." Lin Le murmured to himself. It wasn't very far from the capital; a drive of four or five hours would get them there. The real trouble was that trying to find a single spiritual herb in the vastness of the Meng Mountains would be akin to searching for a needle in a haystack. Even with the rubbings, it was bound to be a challenging task.

Fortunately, having a feng shui master like Liang Qiuyang to guide the way would make everything slightly easier.

"Master, what should we do now? Shall we go back and rest first, and make plans for another day, or..."

"We set off for the Meng Mountains right now," Lin Le said directly, cutting off Ji Xiaorui before she could finish.

The spiritual herb on the rubbings was of utmost importance, and Lin Le could not wait to get his hands on it.

Moreover, Lin Le was quite curious: given that there was a map pointing the way, why had none of the previous people managed to secure the spiritual herb?

Without further ado, Ji Xiaorui abandoned the idea of returning to the city center. Instead, she made a U-turn, immediately hit the highway, and drove toward Nanhe Province.

Ji Xiaorui drove at an extremely high speed. The journey that normally took nearly five hours was completed in less than four.

By the time they reached the foot of the Meng Mountains, it was already close to five o'clock in the afternoon. Nightfall was fast approaching, making it impossible to enter the mountains today. They would simply have to wait until early the next morning.

Lin Le and his companions found a village closest to their destination and checked in for the night.

In Nanhe Province, the Meng Mountains were a well-known tourist attraction. However, Lin Le and the others had arrived not at the main entrance, but at a relatively remote side, which was typically only used by adventurous mountaineers and backpackers who preferred off-the-beaten-path trails.

Even so, these visitors provided a steady source of economic income for the small village.

The village not only offered inns but also farmhouse-style restaurants and lodgings.

Having lived in a metropolis all her life, Ji Xiaorui had practically never spent time in a mountain village, let alone stayed overnight in one. Arriving here this time, she felt quite excited.

The courtyard of the inn where Lin Le and the others were staying doubled as an open-air restaurant. A few tables of guests were scattered around, though it wasn't very crowded.

Finding an empty spot, Lin Le and his group ordered a few dishes and sat down to discuss their plan of entering the mountains early the next morning.

Just then, the sound of blaring car horns suddenly rang out. Seven or eight black off-road vehicles drove directly into the village. Clearly belonging to the same party, the convoy drove straight into the village and came to a halt right in front of Lin Le's inn.

Spotting this, the innkeeper immediately realized that big business had arrived and hurried forward to welcome them.

Men dressed in black martial attire stepped out of the vehicles, their posture and demeanor instantly revealing that they were no ordinary people.

"Master, these people look like martial artists!" Ji Xiaorui recognized their identities at a glance.

Lin Le, naturally, had seen it too. Not only that, but he also discovered that the martial prowess of these individuals was generally quite high; every single one of them appeared to be a martial master who had cultivated internal force!

To be able to gather so many martial masters at once was certainly something beyond the capability of ordinary people.

What piqued Lin Le's curiosity even more, however, was the purpose behind so many martial masters coming to the Meng Mountains.

Wearing identical uniforms and exuding a formidable aura, these people practically filled the entire farmhouse courtyard the moment they stepped inside.

"Hey, you three, change tables and move over there," a burly man with a ferocious face shouted bluntly at Lin Le and his group.

Lin Le and the others exchanged glances, completely ignoring the burly man as they lowered their heads and continued eating.

"Hey, did you hear me? I'm talking to you!" Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, the burly man instantly grew angry and raised his voice.

Several men behind the burly man also crowded around to back him up, casting provocative glances at Lin Le's group.

"We were here first. What right do you have to make us change tables?" Ji Xiaorui retorted sharply.

"What right? Just because I feel like it!" the burly man barked.

"What if we refuse to move?" Lin Le looked at the burly man and said indifferently.

"Refuse? Then don't bother eating!" With that, the burly man grabbed the table, intent on flipping it over without another word.

Before he could act, Lin Le placed one hand casually on the table. Yet, it possessed the weight of a thousand jun. Despite the burly man exerting every ounce of his strength, the table didn't budge even a fraction of an inch.

"Huh?" The burly man was taken aback, failing to understand what was happening for a moment.

The altercation between the burly man and Lin Le's group immediately drew the attention of everyone nearby. They all turned to look, waiting for the burly man to flip the table over, but when no movement came for a long time, they grew perplexed.

Only the burly man knew that the table was being suppressed by his opponent with a single hand, and his entire strength could not move it at all. The opponent's power was already evident.

"If you still want to eat, find another table. Otherwise, you won't be eating anything tonight either," Lin Le said calmly, without even raising his head.

"Brat, you dare to oppose the Zhenwu Sect? I think you're itching for a beating!" The burly man roared, raising his fist to smash it toward Lin Le.

Just at that moment, a soft shout echoed from the side.

"Hong Hai!"

The speaker was a young man in his early thirties. He did not look like the oldest among the group, but the others clearly showed him immense respect, indicating that his status was extraordinary.

This young man was Huo Ying, the Young Master of the Zhenwu Sect.

During Hong Hai's confrontation with the young man over the table, Huo Ying had already perceived the unusual situation. Given Hong Hai's cultivation, the fact that he couldn't even overturn the opponent's table meant the other party's strength was definitely not weak.

Although their Zhenwu Sect relied on sheer numbers and certainly wouldn't take outsiders seriously, they were on important business this time and it was best not to branch out into unnecessary complications.

Huo Ying's rebuke stopped the burly man, Hong Hai, who reluctantly withdrew his fist and disgruntledly moved to another table.

Not far away, Huo Ying glanced at Lin Le, seemingly trying to gather some information about him, but ultimately found nothing. The other party was clearly a martial artist of considerable cultivation, yet Huo Ying couldn't even read their exact strength, which left a trace of doubt in his heart.

Still, they were merely passersby, and Huo Ying didn't dwell on it too much before sitting down with the others.

Once Hong Hai had left, Ji Xiaorui whispered, "Master, they're from the Zhenwu Sect. Isn't the Zhenwu Sect one of the eight major internal martial arts sects of China?"

"That's right." Lin Le nodded. Back when he was with the Kyushu Bureau, he had heard of the eight major sects of internal martial arts. The Zhenwu Sect was one of them, comparable in strength to the Cloud Dragon Sect and standing proudly at the pinnacle of Chinese martial arts.

Each of the eight major internal martial arts sects had a grandmaster holding down the fort, and the Zhenwu Sect was no exception. Its leader, Huo Zhangfeng, was a renowned martial arts grandmaster in China, whose status in the pugilistic world was not a whit inferior to that of Gongshu Ye.

Moreover, Huo Zhangfeng's methods seemed far shrewder than Gongshu Ye's. Over the years, leveraging the influence of the Zhenwu Sect, he had thrived in the southern provinces, continually expanding his sphere of influence and even stepping into the business world by establishing the Zhenwu Group. With a net worth long exceeding one billion, he was one of the martial arts leaders who best integrated martial arts with commerce.

However, Lin Le knew that the Zhenwu Sect had always operated in the south. Why on earth were such a large number of its disciples appearing in the north now?

Furthermore, what purpose could possibly bring so many Zhenwu Sect disciples into the Meng Mountains all at once?

Lin Le had little interest in such matters. They had come here solely for the sake of the spiritual herb; as for these people from the Zhenwu Sect, they had nothing to do with him.