The Legend of the Condor Heroes: From Being Expelled from Peach Blossom Island

Chapter 487 The Five Elements Flag That Makes People Covet
The Chencang Plank Road is said to have originated in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, but it was not until the Qin Dynasty that it was built on a large scale. This is where Liu Bang secretly crossed Chencang in the past.

The longest section of this plank road is a full 470 kilometers. Of course, the Ming Cult members only traveled a section of it, which was still nearly 100 kilometers long and passed through several mountain strongholds.

Li Bai once wrote: "The road to Shu is difficult, more difficult than ascending to heaven." He even sighed with relief. For ordinary people, walking this plank road is indeed difficult and dangerous. I wonder how many people died on this road when Liu Bang's army left Shu.

However, for the Ming Cult disciples, they were all trained in martial arts, and their individual combat strength far exceeded that of ordinary soldiers. They had all practiced lightness skills to some extent, and they were also protected by many experts. This plank road was actually just a bit winding and tortuous, and there was not much danger at all.

In addition, there are guys like Hou Tu Qi, who are good at fighting but are top-notch construction teams in this era. If they encounter a dilapidated boardwalk, they can repair it in one or two hours and then make it passable.

It has to be said that the thick earth flag alone made Wu Chengyu's mouth water. If he added the giant wooden flag, which was good at woodworking, what a great engineering soldier seed he would be! Don't think that engineering soldiers are not as good as field armies in battle. On the battlefield, top-notch engineering units often make great achievements.

In this great battle between the Ming Cult and the Beggars' Sect at Phoenix Mountain, the Beggars' Sect was originally confident of victory. However, the Ming Cult had already built an underground military cave in Phoenix Mountain. When the battle began, six or seven hundred soldiers suddenly rushed out, catching the Beggars' Sect off guard.

Consider the other units of the Five Elements Banner. The Sharp Metal Banner is skilled in smelting and forging. The broken Dragon Slayer Saber in the Heaven Sword was repaired by the Sharp Metal Banner. This is the ordnance department.

Liehuoqi was one of the few gunpowder masters of his time, possessing a high level of expertise in many basic gunpowder-related technologies and processes; all he lacked was a more up-to-date concept.

If the Fiery Banner were combined with the Sharp Gold Banner, and Wu Chengyu were to develop a better gunpowder formula using bamboo slips and introduce the concept of modern firearms, their combined combat power would be epoch-making.

In order to fight against the Mongol cavalry in the future, Wu Chengyu had been trying to develop gunpowder. He tried it several times on a small island in Taihu Lake, but ended up with nothing but mess and blood.

He had bamboo slips to deduce the truth, but lacked the most basic knowledge. In his previous life, he was a liberal arts student, an old-fashioned liberal arts student, from an era when even science subjects weren't tested in the college entrance examination.

I've only studied chemistry up to the junior high school level. I can only recite the first eighteen elements of the periodic table, and even then, I can't write many of the characters correctly, let alone identify, extract, or use them.

Without the necessary basic conditions and technology, the bamboo slips could only provide incomplete information and conclusions that could not be deduced, forcing Wu Chengyu to give up.

However, if they could obtain all the technology possessed by the Fiery Banner, it would be equivalent to making up for this shortcoming, and they would also have a large group of professional researchers, so Wu Chengyu wouldn't have to recall the exact ratio of charcoal, saltpeter, and sulfur himself.

The last one, Hongshuiqi, is said to be good at naval warfare. During Fang La's uprising, the naval forces were controlled by Hongshuiqi. However, after retreating to the Western Regions, they lacked natural conditions and could only rely on poisonous water.

Wu Chengyu is currently training troops in Taihu Lake and has also trained a navy, but there are not many people who are good at naval warfare. At most, they can only guard Xishan Island and patrol Taihu Lake.

However, if they could join the Flood Flag, then this navy would definitely be considered a top-tier force in this era.

Therefore, the true core strength of the Ming Cult has never been the leader, the left and right Bright Envoys, or the Four Great Protectors; it has never truly escaped the realm of the Jianghu (江湖, the martial arts world) outlaws.

The unique techniques possessed by the Five Elements Flags, along with their professional military training, are the true reasons for the Ming Cult's strength.

In The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, the Ming Cult conquered the world by relying on the anti-Yuan army that expanded from the Five Elements Flag. Before Zhang Wuji became the leader, the Ming Cult's anti-Yuan forces suffered repeated defeats. What were the Ming Cult's leaders doing at that time?

Yang Xiao, acting as a local tyrant on Bright Peak, did nothing but cause trouble, seduce respectable women, and vie for power and profit.

Fan Yao was alright; at least he knew to be an undercover agent. But after all these years as an undercover agent, he hadn't sent out any intelligence, and everyone thought he had disappeared.

Among the Four Dharma Kings, the Purple-Robed Dragon King Dai Qisi changed her appearance in an attempt to evade the pursuit of the Persian Ming Cult.

After losing the power struggle, the White-browed Eagle King fled to Jiangnan and established the Sky Eagle Cult, which was extremely domineering and essentially a local underworld force.

The Golden Lion King first killed people everywhere, and later went to Ice and Fire Island to become blind. Apart from helping the Ming Cult make enemies everywhere, he made no contributions at all.

The Green-Winged Bat King was a street urchin in the Ming Cult. He was good at light footwork and could run around everywhere, but he didn't have many people under his command. His reputation as a blood-sucking demon made the Ming Cult even more infamous.

Without these guys vying for power, the initial anti-Yuan forces of the Ming Cult might have developed even better.

After Zhang Wuji became the leader of the Ming Cult, the cult was unified and its forces could be focused on one goal. However, he never personally led the army to fight against the Yuan Dynasty.

It still relied on the forces below to fight back on their own. Zhu Yuanzhang and Xu Da were only middle-level officers under Hong Shui at the beginning, and they finally stood out in several major battles.

Therefore, in the later stages, as the anti-Yuan armies continued to merge and grew stronger, which of those commanding generals would be willing to have several more "fathers" above them, handing over the territory they had worked so hard to conquer to these high-ranking officers who had never been deeply involved in the army?

In the end, Zhang Wuji gave up his position as leader of the sect and the emperor's throne, and drifted overseas. It can be said that he was stubborn and trapped by personal feelings.

More likely, the Ming Cult's upper echelons simply couldn't control the overwhelming strength of its army, and the army that had conquered the land was unwilling to let these envoys and Dharma Kings reap the rewards. Zhang Wuji may have been forced into abandoning his post and running away.

In the end, Zhu Yuanzhang controlled all the rebel armies of the Ming Cult, drove out the Ming Cult's leaders, and became emperor himself. In doing so, he completely broke the backbone of the Ming Cult, turning it into the Sun Moon Divine Cult, which only knew how to fight and be fierce in the martial arts world.

Of course, Zhu Yuanzhang was not a member of the Ming Cult in real history, but since we are in the world of The Legend of the Condor Heroes, we can only analyze it according to the background of Jin Yong's martial arts world.

Therefore, the Five Elements Flags, when united, form the best logistical support, engineering, and military research force, and also possess considerable combat power. This would be even more formidable if combined with the righteous army trained over many years by Hong Niangzi and Wu Chengyu using the Yue Family Army's training methods, and the invincible Beiwei Army, like a sharp blade.

The combined combat effectiveness of these troops, except for the cavalry which was certainly inferior to the Mongol army, was that of a rare and powerful army in the entire history of the cold weapon era.

As Wu Chengyu watched the performance of the Thick Earth Flag, he drooled and imagined how wonderful it would be if the Five Elements Flag were a power in his own hands.

It would be a waste of talent to let them cower in the Western Regions for over a hundred years until they finally get their chance to shine during the era of Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber.

Along the ancient plank road, one would walk a section and then rest for a while. Every time they found a place to stay, it was time for Wu Chengyu to go and persuade Fang Yaning.

On their second meeting, Wu Chengyu brought some side dishes and went to find Fang Yaning with a beaming smile. The two chatted behind closed doors, but there was always an eavesdropper outside.

Compared to many powerful figures in history, Xiang Yangxu was a bit more petty, but he had a common flaw: he was suspicious. He would never trust anyone, let alone someone as clever and shrewd as Zhou Zuo.

"Senior sister, your little brother has come to visit you again." This time, Wu Chengyu prepared a bowl of vegetarian noodles, a small dish of braised meat, and a plate of fruit.

Fang Yaning looked at him with a complicated expression, a hint of joy mixed with some wariness, completely unsure how to respond.

Wu Chengyu sighed inwardly. This girl might not be stupid, but she was at least inexperienced and needed his guidance.

He pointed to his ear and glanced at the door. Fang Yaning immediately nodded, indicating that she understood Wu Chengyu's meaning.

Then, he used the same trick again, dipping his finger in water and writing a few words: "He scolds me and tries to persuade me, but he doesn't drive me away."

He continued, "It's been a long day, and there's nothing good around here. Please make do with what you have. These wild fruits are sweet and sour, so please eat more."

Fang Yaning thought for a moment and said, "Since you call me senior sister, you should know that both our fathers died because of Yang Xu. I will never bow down to Yang Xu. If you have any conscience, you should seek revenge on Yang Xu."

"Senior sister is joking. In terms of martial arts, I am only second-rate. In terms of manpower, all of my father's men are dead. I am all alone and need the protection of the Yang Sect Leader."

Otherwise, I'd lose my head under the Beggars' Sect's rules. How am I supposed to take revenge? I'd have to risk my life, and I probably wouldn't even be able to get within three zhang of Master Yang.

The most important thing in life is to be sensible and know when to advance and retreat. Living is more important than anything else. If my father knew my current choice, he probably wouldn't blame me. After all, what father would want his son to die needlessly?

"You, you bastard, you shameless scoundrel! You can even let go of the hatred for killing your father. What use are you even if you live?"

Wu Chengyu laughed heartily: "Don't be too useful, Senior Sister. When we return to Bright Peak, I'll have a certain status. I'll eat well, dress warmly, be served, and be bossed around. Why not?"

I actually love lamb the most, but there aren't many good lamb dishes in Hangzhou, and even fewer that are cooked well. I've heard that the lamb in the Western Regions is plump and doesn't have a gamey smell. Just thinking about being able to enjoy the best lamb in the future makes me want to go back to Bright Summit right now.

I still want to get married and have children. When I was a beggar, there were only bachelors around me. But besides being a glutton, I'm also a womanizer. I've long wanted to marry a few beautiful wives and concubines, preferably plump and fair-skinned, and then have seven or eight sons.

Not avenging my father is unfilial, but of the three unfilial acts, the greatest is having no descendants. If I were to have offspring for the Zhou family, that would be the greatest act of filial piety. So, tell me, am I being filial or unfilial now?

So, avenge my blindly loyal fox father? In my opinion, that's the dumbest thing in the world. Hatred is nowhere near as satisfying as beautiful women and delicious food.

When it comes to verbal sparring, Fang Yaning is no match for Wu Chengyu. Although she knew that Wu Chengyu's words were intentional, Fang Yaning was still so angry that she was furious. She had only pretended to scold him, but now she couldn't help but lose her temper.

"You, you have really disappointed me. You are not worthy to be my junior brother. You are shameless, vulgar, and despicable."

After cursing for a few minutes, Wu Chengyu pretended to leave, but Fang Yaning finally showed some intelligence: "You are not allowed to leave before I finish cursing. I must make you realize where you went wrong and repent. Only in this way can you live up to Uncle Fox King's loyalty."

Wu Chengyu smiled knowingly, sat down obediently, spread one hand, raised his chin, and struck a pose as if to invite the performance to begin. Fang Yaning rolled her eyes at him and kept cursing.

A young lady of high birth could not possibly utter the kind of insults those shrewish women who were used to cursing in the streets. Lacking a vocabulary, she ran out of words as she cursed. Then she began to earnestly persuade Wu Chengyu to see the error of her ways and to join her in seeking revenge against Yang Xu.

Then Wu Chengyu retorted with a few words, forcing her to start cursing again. This went on for two or three rounds until Fang Yaning's lips were dry, and she finally had to stop.

"Senior sister, you must be thirsty after talking so much. I'll have someone bring you some more tea later."

That's about enough for today. I won't disturb your rest. I'll come back another day to chat about my feelings. I love seeing my senior sister scold me.

Fang Yaning's face flushed slightly for no reason: "If you do it again, I'll scold you again. I'll make you understand what it means to be a son."

　I had an upset stomach yesterday and had diarrhea in the middle of the night. I feel weak all day today, but I've already taken two days off this month, so I really can't afford to stop.

　　This is the first chapter; the second chapter will be posted later.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)