the same time, Linghu Chong's friendship with Tian Boguang leads him into trouble as it is against the Mount Hua School's rules to associate oneself with any jianghu lowlife or person from an "evil" school. His master punishes him by making him stay alone for a year in a secluded area on Mount Hua to reflect on his "misdeeds". During this time, he discovers carvings of swordplay techniques in a cave, practises them, and unknowingly familiarises himself with the skills of the other four sword schools and the counter-moves. He also encounters Feng Qingyang, a reclusive Mount Hua School swordsman, who teaches him the powerful skill Nine Swords of Dugu. The self-proclaimed righteous Five Mountains Sword Schools Alliance, though seemingly united, is constantly troubled by politicking and infighting among its members. Linghu Chong gets entangled in the conflicts and sustains serious internal injuries while using his newly mastered skill to defend his Mount Hua School fellows from attacks by Mount Song School members in disguise. The other schools mistake the Nine Swords of Dugu for the Bixie Swordplay, and wrongly accuse Linghu Chong of stealing the "Bixie Swordplay Manual" and keeping it for himself. Yue Buqun also becomes suspicious and secretly jealous of his apprentice's sudden leap in swordplay prowess. While accompanying his master and Mount Hua School fellows on a trip to Luoyang, Linghu Chong encounters Ren Yingying, a key figure of the Sun Moon Holy Cult and falls in love with her. He also meets several jianghu lowlifes, who are friendly towards him and try to heal him. By then, Yue Buqun has grown tired of Linghu Chong's association with jianghu lowlifes so he abandons his apprentice. Linghu Chong also helps Ren Yingying fend off enemies of the Sun Moon Holy Cult and his injuries worsen over time. Eventually, she brings him to the Shaolin School to seek help. Linghu Chong later learns from Fangzheng, the Shaolin abbot, that Yue Buqun has publicly announced that he has expelled Linghu Chong from the Mount Hua School. Linghu Chong sinks into despair as he is now an outcast of the "orthodox" side of the jianghu. After leaving Shaolin, he meets a stranger, Xiang Wentian, whom he saves from dozens of enemies. Xiang Wentian becomes sworn brothers with Linghu Chong and brings him to a manor in Hangzhou, where they find Ren Woxing (Ren Yingying's father), the former leader of the