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

Chapter 523 Cold Jade Gourd and Drunken Ice Silkworm

Compared to all the top masters in the world today, Wu Chengyu far surpasses them in strength, speed, endurance, and so on, all thanks to the enhancements provided by the techniques given by the bamboo slips.

In addition, he successively obtained the Nameless Divine Skill of Quanxing, the Murong Legacy, the Nine Yin Manual, and the inheritance of the Xiaoyao Sect, giving him an overwhelming advantage in martial arts skills. The other four masters at most possessed one comparable divine skill.

Especially after he innovated and summarized his life's learning into three major free-style techniques, Wu Chengyu's understanding of martial arts was no longer that of a simple inheritor, but a promoter. He possessed his own unique understanding of martial arts, which was no less than that of the other four masters.

Currently, the biggest disadvantage compared to the Eastern Heretic and Western Poison lies in the accumulation of internal energy. In a low-level martial arts world, internal energy can only be accumulated over time, and there are not many shortcuts, unless one uses the Northern Darkness Divine Art like the old monster to absorb one's husband into medicinal residue, but this method is extremely harmful.

Wu Chengyu's martial arts training time was less than a third of that of those four old guys, and in terms of the total amount of internal energy, he certainly couldn't catch up with them.

When Wu Chengyu and Ouyang Feng clashed palms last time, they were evenly matched, and Wu Chengyu even had a slight advantage. That was because Wu Chengyu's physical strength was simply too unfair. He gained the upper hand by combining his internal strength and physical strength. In terms of internal strength alone, he was definitely not as good as Ouyang Feng.

Therefore, the shortcut to catch up with the Five Greats' internal strength cultivation in the shortest time without any future troubles still relies on rare and precious materials.

There are only a few rare and precious natural treasures in the world of Jin Yong's martial arts novels. For example, the Manggu Toad can make one immune to all poisons, but it is estimated that Duan Yu ate it to extinction.

Wu Chengyu used to eat snake gall bladders like food, but its main function was to improve physical constitution and strength, with limited effect on improving internal energy. In Jin Yong's novels, there are only two things that are explicitly stated to improve internal energy.

One is Liang Ziweng's giant viper, which is a rare, artificially bred species. Liang Ziweng is currently carefully feeding it with various medicinal herbs. Wu Chengyu plans to go to Zhongdu in two years to return the giant viper to its rightful owner, Guo Jing.

After all, in the original story, it was Guo Jing who drank the snake blood, and now Guo Jing is Wu Chengyu's disciple. It's really not nice for a master to snatch his disciple's treasure. Of course, the real reason is that the snake can only increase internal strength to a limited extent, so Wu Chengyu doesn't care about it.

The second thing that can improve the accumulation of internal energy is the Ice Silkworm. You Tanzhi was originally a playboy who was good for nothing, but he was able to reach the peak of his internal energy in the shortest time. If it weren't for the Divine Foot Scripture, the internal energy cultivated by divine skills would at most be faster and of higher quality.

The Divine Foot Scripture can be seen as a method for refining the essence of rare and precious materials, and the true source of its internal energy is the Ice Silkworm.

However, how to utilize the Ice Silkworm is a major problem. Wu Chengyu cannot stay on Cold Jade Peak for long, as the temperature here is definitely not suitable for cultivating internal energy.

He recalled the monk in Tianlong, who seemed to use wine from a gourd to feed the ice silkworms. A gourd that could withstand the cold power of the ice silkworms must be no ordinary item. Thinking of this, Wu Chengyu turned his head to look at a piece of cold jade next to him, which weighed several hundred pounds and was not buried deep in the ground.

Wu Chengyu immediately carried the piece of cold jade down the mountain. As for the nest of ice silkworms, they were unable to leave Cold Jade Peak. The next time he returned, it would be the best time for Wu Chengyu to deal with them properly.

When Wu Chengyu returned to Bright Peak, the entire Ming Cult area had fallen silent. The previous shouts and screams had all disappeared, except for the limbs and bloodstains that could be seen everywhere, as well as the weapons scattered on the ground.

Most of the Ming Cult's fighting force was wiped out. Influenced by the Ming Cult's doctrines, these people were truly fearless and only thought of dying together with their enemies in their final moments. Very few surrendered.

Besides these main forces of the Ming Cult, the rest were the middle and lower-level disciples stationed in various places. These people were less influenced by the Ming Cult's doctrines, and with the exception of a few, they generally surrendered when the rebel army pressed in.

In addition, the families of Ming Cult members, gathered in more than a dozen villages near Bright Peak, were also surrounded by the large army.

It can be said that the Ming Cult no longer exists, and its century-old foundation near Bright Peak has fallen entirely into the hands of the rebel army.

Taking down Bright Peak was easy, but the real challenge and most difficult problem was the subsequent issues that needed to be addressed.

First, there are the captured Ming Cult members, who are not so easily willing to surrender. Then there are the families of the followers. With so many followers dying this time, the families of the dead must hate the rebel army to the bone.

Since they have different positions, it's impossible to say who is right and who is wrong. Of course, the rebels are indeed the invaders this time, and they are definitely not righteous.

The rebel army never committed massacres of entire families, and it was impossible to kill all the prisoners and their families. However, they could not be allowed to leave either, otherwise the news that the rebel army had established a military base on Bright Peak would surely spread throughout the world.

In short, these are all dilemmas. Fighting a war is easy, but the problems that follow are a real mess.

Wu Chengyu understood all of this, but resolving these troubles would take a lot of time and effort, and he didn't have the patience for that. So he simply handed it all over to his wife to handle, as Hong Niangzi definitely had the ability.

At this moment, Hong Niangzi was in the council hall of the Ming Cult headquarters, sitting in the position of the leader and issuing orders. Li Geda was standing behind her, and the council hall was surrounded by Beiwei Army soldiers for defense.

Hong Niangzi had just issued several orders, the first of which was to strengthen the defenses of the encirclement around Bright Peak and ensure that no member of the Ming Cult could escape.

Next, the captured believers and their families were properly detained, and the various properties of the Ming Cult were inventoried and confiscated, especially the weapons and treasures in the secret passages of the Ming Cult, which were also strictly guarded by the Beiwei Army.

Meanwhile, the leaders of the Five Elements Camp also arrived outside the council hall, still seemingly in a daze.

The Five Elements Camp was forcibly annexed by the Ming Cult and oppressed for a century. Although they all harbored deep-seated hatred for their ancestors, they dared not resist due to the Ming Cult's military might. Who would have thought that the Ming Cult, which they thought was invincible, would be so weak in front of Wu Chengyu and the righteous army? It wasn't just that they were powerless to resist; they were utterly crushed.

After Wu Chengyu discovered their secret, they were temporarily willing to cooperate with him, but they never expected things to turn out this way. In particular, Wu Chengyu never made any demands on them, only saying that he was waiting for the right opportunity.

Now the time has come. Just as Wu Chengyu had predicted, there was no need for any further requests; they voluntarily followed the rebel army and drew their swords.

Looking back now, both Jiang Ruocheng and Pang Kun couldn't help but admire Wu Chengyu's cunning and methods. He used the changing situation to force the Five Elements Camp to take action on its own, using the general trend to coerce them, leaving the Five Elements Camp with no room to refuse.

At this moment, they were also waiting for Hong Niangzi's summons. It wasn't until the rebel army approached Guangmingling that they realized that this army was actually the world-renowned rebel army.

The Five Elements Camp admires Hong Niangzi, the most outstanding woman in the world, to the point of complete awe. Meeting Hong Niangzi now is also a moment that will determine the fate of the Five Elements Camp.

"We have met the Grand Commander and have long heard of his renowned name that resounds throughout the world. Today, the righteous army is invincible, which has broadened our horizons and we are truly in awe."

Jiang Ruocheng was a cunning old fox in the Ming Cult, good at talking and adept at getting along with everyone, but what he was saying now came from the bottom of his heart.

"Commanders, there's no need for such formalities. Please sit down. If I may say anything, I should thank you all for your assistance to my righteous army."

When we broke through the defenses of Bright Peak, I discovered that many of the arrangements were incredibly powerful. If the members of the Five Elements Camp hadn't shut down the mechanisms and stopped in time, these arrangements alone would have caused heavy casualties to our rebel army. How could our rebel army have captured Bright Peak so easily?

"The Five Elements Camp deserves the most credit for this victory, and Red Lady expresses her deepest gratitude."

Hong Niangzi wasn't being polite; it was an absolutely fair assessment. This time, the 30,000-strong army's long march and surprise attack on Bright Peak made victory a given, but it wouldn't have been so smooth in the first place.

The Ming Cult had been operating near Bright Peak for a century, with various defensive fortifications. These fortifications were meticulously arranged by the Five Elements Camp over many years, including various traps, gunpowder, and poison. A forced attack would inevitably result in heavy losses. With Hong Niangzi's discerning eye, how could she not know this?

Fortunately, Wu Chengyu allied with the Five Elements Camp in time. When the rebel army arrived, all the traps were closed, or the Five Elements Camp led the way, allowing the rebel army to break through multiple lines of defense without any losses until they reached the foot of Bright Peak.

This kind of inside-outside cooperation was the biggest factor that made the Ming Cult completely unable to resist. Otherwise, with just these traps and the Five Elements Camp's years of planning, even if the rebel army eventually defeated the Ming Cult, they would still lose at least tens of thousands of soldiers.

Now, with the help of the Five Elements Camp and Wu Chengyu's infighting among the Ming Cult's upper echelons, everyone was wounded. After a major battle, the rebel army suffered only a few hundred dead and at most one or two thousand wounded, which was negligible compared to the overall results.

The current situation is that the Five Elements Camp, seeing the might of the rebel army, yearns to join their ranks, while Hong Niangzi also highly values ​​the abilities of the Five Elements Camp.

In particular, Wu Chengyu had already described to her his longing and vision for the Five Elements Camp, a strategic logistics special forces unit, which greatly aroused Hong Niangzi's interest.

Both sides valued each other highly, and naturally they had a very pleasant conversation. The charm of the matchmaker quickly won over the Five Elements Camp, and before long, the Five Elements Camp naturally became a member of the rebel army's fighting force.

At that moment, Wu Chengyu rushed into the council hall carrying a large rock. After entering, he ignored Hong Niangzi and instead grabbed Pang Kun with one hand while holding the rock and the other, and ran out.

Everyone was somewhat bewildered, but Hong Niangzi smiled brightly, her eyes filled with doting affection as she looked at Wu Chengyu.

“My husband deserves the title of the most outstanding man in the land. He has great ambitions, but he is free-spirited and unrestrained by nature. He has never liked worldly things. In his opinion, the Ming Cult has been given to me, and the remaining problems are all mine.”

Judging from his anxious and excited appearance, he must have found something interesting again. Please don't mind, I can make all the decisions.

As for Pang Kun, he was still completely confused after being pulled away by Wu Chengyu. Wu Chengyu smugly stuffed the piece of cold jade into Pang Kun's arms. It weighed several hundred pounds. If Pang Kun hadn't also been a second-rate fighter, he would have almost been crushed to the ground by the stone.

Of course, he soon discovered what the cold stone in his arms was: "Master Wu, this is actually Cold Jade. Didn't you go to chase after Wu Du? How did you end up at Cold Jade Peak?"

"What Wu Du? He can be renamed Wu Ming now. There's no need to mention him again. This piece of cold jade is the most important thing. Old Pang, you said before that Hou Tu Camp has a secret method to carve this cold jade. Can you make me a cold jade gourd?"

"Use this stone, the bigger the better, the more wine it can hold the better, I need it urgently."

Pang Kun carefully examined the stone. It was roughly rectangular, a little over a meter long, and of similar thickness. It would take one person to lift it. Using the secret method of the Thick Earth Flag, he could split it in two, hollow out the middle, and then put the two pieces back together. Making a gourd would be no problem.

"Master Wu helped my Five Elements Camp avenge a great grudge. How could my Thick Earth Banner not help with such a trivial matter? Give me three days, and I will find the best craftsmen in Thick Earth Banner. After three days, I will definitely give Master Wu a gourd that suits his taste perfectly."

Wu Chengyu was overjoyed, as if he were about to get a favorite toy: "Old Pang, I'll leave this matter to you. As for other matters of the Five Elements Camp, you can find Hong Niangzi. She's the head of our household."

(End of this chapter)