Ming Dynasty: pacifying the rebellion and defending the border, dominating the world

Chapter 282 Mysterious Organization Exposed
Zhu Jinzhen recalled a saying: "Good people should be held at gunpoint?"

Using the lives of ordinary people to coerce him into joining the scheme is undeniably a vicious tactic.

But there was another thing Zhu Jinzhen couldn't understand: "Are they so confident that those stinking rats from the gutter can fight me? Or even eliminate me?"

According to Yan Yimei's report, the Great Brahma Dao Yu had cultivated the Marrow Cleansing Scripture to the seventh level of the Floating Pagoda, and his cultivation had reached the peak of the Land Immortal Realm. He would often have a burst of Buddha light, and his Buddha image would be as magnificent as a hundred feet tall, just like a real Buddha in the world.

But at best, he's only at the level of a Phagpa.

When the two powerful forces of Mongolia and Liao joined forces to invade the border, Zhu Jinzhen fought alone with his sword against three top-level land immortals: Phagpa, Yelü Wudi, and Sihanfei, and was thus deified in one battle.

Several years have passed, and Zhu Jinzhen is now in his prime, full of vigor and ambition. It is impossible for him to remain stagnant.

That is to say...

If that mysterious organization wanted to eliminate him, they would need to prepare at least five experts comparable to the level of the Great Brahma Daoist Master to have even a 50% chance of success.

"Your Highness, this matter... is not clear at the moment." Yan Yimei lowered her head with a look of shame: "Although Dao Yu considers himself a god and is a high-ranking member of their organization that calls itself the Scar of Heaven, even he is not very clear about the final plan against Your Highness this time."

"All that is known is that the leader of the Heavenly Scar, who calls himself the Heavenly Lord, seems to have extremely strong confidence and assurance."

Dao Yu, this Great Brahma, is in the hands of the secret guards and cannot keep any secrets. Yan Yimei and Xiao Luoyang have already obtained everything they can interrogate him about.

No matter how they interrogated him, or even used mind-control techniques to search his memories, they couldn't find a single trace of the Heavenly Scar organization's final plan against Zhu Jinzhen.

"So meticulous, even a high-ranking figure like Brahma didn't know?" Zhu Jinzhen's surprise deepened. Dao Yu was said to be one of the seven highest-ranking gods under the leader of the Heavenly Scar, Tianjun. Although he was only ranked fourth, he was not a nobody.

Such an important plan, even he was unaware of it?

The high-level organization of the Heaven's Scar consists of the Heavenly Lord, who calls himself the Azure Heaven, and the Demon Lord, who calls himself the Yellow Heaven. The following seven gods are the Martial Emperor, Qianqiu, Zhenwu, Great Brahma, Dragon Lord, Three Officials, and Ziwei.

Next are the Thirty-Six Halls of the Heavenly Gang, distributed across various countries.

Even Dao Yu doesn't know the final plan, which means that if Zhu Jinzhen and the others want to know the truth, they must at least capture the Demon Lord or the Heavenly Lord.

"Any clues about the so-called Heavenly Lord, Demon Lord, and Seven Gods in The Scar of the Sky?"

"Your Highness, based on Dao Yu's memories and the intelligence from the Secret Guard, we can deduce that the individuals involved are the Martial Emperor, Ziwei, the Dragon Lord, Zhenwu, and the Three Officials."

Yan Yimei quickly replied, "Ziwei is using Taoist techniques. His every move seems to have strange phenomena, suggesting he may be a successor of Louguan Taoism or Tianshi Taoism."

There are countless extraordinary skills and techniques in the world, but only a few Taoist techniques that pursue the way of heaven and earth and the ultimate truth of nature can produce a myriad of strange phenomena with a simple gesture, as if they could bring down stars.

Among them, the Celestial Masters sect and the Louguan sect are the most prominent.

"Zhenwu is suspected to be related to Zhang Sanfeng."

"Zhang Sanfeng?" Zhu Jinzhen was somewhat taken aback, then realized it was only related, and probably not Zhang Sanfeng: "Why are you so sure?"

Yan Yimei replied truthfully: "In Daoyu's memory, when Zhenwu made a move, there was a division of Yin and Yang, and the meaning of the primordial chaos of heaven and earth, which is very similar to Zhang Sanfeng's Tai Chi Chuan, and may even be Tai Chi Chuan."

"Later, when he triggered the strange phenomena, even the Xuanwu (Black Tortoise) phenomenon appeared."

“It’s as if the True Martial Emperor has descended to earth, so it’s suspected to be related to Zhang Sanfeng.” Upon hearing this, Zhu Jinzhen’s expression remained unchanged, and he nodded calmly: “Continue.”

"In Dao Yu's memory, Emperor Wu's martial arts skills were no less than those of his master Bodhidharma in his lifetime. He was at the pinnacle of martial arts, and with every move he made, he could use any martial art in the world with ease. Dao Yu once challenged him with a seven-story pagoda, and after seventeen moves, he was so shocked that his blood and qi were boiling and he collapsed without a fight."

When Emperor Wu was mentioned, Yan Yimei's expression finally became serious and solemn.

"Seventeen moves?" Zhu Jinzhen was also somewhat surprised. The gap between terrestrial immortals was indeed large, but to be able to defeat Dao Yu, who was personally taught by Bodhidharma, without a fight in just seventeen moves, if he was not a celestial being, his strength was definitely no less than his and Zhang Sanfeng's in the past.

Could there really be such a powerful person hiding in the world?
"Wait, the Martial Emperor?" Zhu Jinzhen suddenly realized something and looked at Yan Yimei: "This person claims to be the Emperor of Martial Arts. Could he be Wang Xianzhi, the city lord of the Martial Emperor City, which is known as the number one city in the world, from overseas?"

Yan Yimei nodded slightly: "Your Highness, the secret guards also draw the same conclusion."

"Besides Wang Xianzhi, the secret guards also speculated that he might be a powerful figure or famous general who left his mark on history during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, or he might admire the name of Emperor Wu of Han and use the name of Emperor Wu to suppress the other six gods within the Heavenly Scar."

According to Dao Yu's memory, among the seven gods below the Heavenly Lord and Demon Lord within the Heaven's Scar, the Martial Emperor joined the ranks the latest, yet he immediately rose to the top position within the Heaven's Scar after joining.

There's no other reason than that he had just joined the group and single-handedly defeated the combined forces of the other six.

Standing proudly above the so-called 'gods'.

Zhu Jinzhen listened to Yan Yimei's other speculations without comment, but he became more interested in the person who called himself the Martial Emperor: "He was able to defeat Dao Yu, who had cultivated to the seventh level of the Floating Pagoda, in less than twenty moves, and even fought against nine Land Immortals alone and still won. This person's strength is indeed not to be underestimated."

"This person is indeed extraordinary. In Dao Yu's memory, there was a legend circulating within the Heaven's Scar that the Martial Emperor once challenged the Demon Lord and the Heavenly Lord, but the final result was never revealed."

Yan Yimei and the secret guards valued Emperor Wu's intelligence as much as the Heaven's Scar organization did.

To be able to defeat the combined forces of approximately seven peak-level Land Immortals single-handedly means that even at his weakest, he must be at the Land Celestial Realm. If he had not yet reached the Land Celestial Realm, he would be even more terrifying, indicating that this person possessed the combat power of a Land Celestial Realm even when he was at the Land Immortal Realm.

Of course, the latter possibility is extremely slim, almost zero.

Even the slightest possibility will be treated with utmost care and marked with special symbols by the secret guards.

Zhu Jinzhen nodded and continued, "What about the others?"

"The identities of the Three Officials are extremely mysterious within the Heaven's Scar. Dao Yu has had many dealings with them. In his hundreds of years of memories, the Heavenly Official, Earthly Official, and Water Official of the Three Officials Emperor have asked him to save many people, but Dao Yu has been unable to find any clues. They also seem to have no reputation in the martial arts world."

"Based on my and the secret guards' deductions, they should be from the same organization."

"Furthermore, the plan to plant gunpowder in various cities to coerce Your Highness into attending the appointment was first proposed by Sanguan. We suspect that Sanguan is likely a member of the Azure Dragon Society, a remnant of the Demonic Cult, or someone related to them."

When the person or force that called themselves the Three Officials Emperor of the Heaven's Scar was mentioned, Yan Yimei's expression turned cold, and her chilling killing intent was undisguised. If she hadn't yet found out the other party's identity, she would have already sent people to skin him alive, tear him apart, and grind his bones to dust.

The Three Officials are the Heavenly Official, the Earthly Official, and the Water Official.

They are also very special beings within the Heaven's Scar. The three of them occupy one seat. Although they are not at the peak of the Land Immortal realm, they are always together, inseparable, and complement each other. The martial arts they practice are also the same.

The combined strength of the three is comparable to one and a half peak-level terrestrial immortals.

(End of this chapter)