Martial Arts Crossover: My Wife is the Top Scholar

Chapter 126 Li Zhaoting: Just because I'm not showing my power doesn't mean I'm a pushover!
Shen Qinghong has a very good reputation in the martial arts world.

After Shen Qinghong disappeared, the Sanyuan Escort Agency supported his family for fifteen years. After his family was killed, Zhang Jing traveled thousands of miles to hunt down the murderer, which shows how popular he was.

Escort agencies are not glamorous and carefree businesses; they are engaged in arduous work, living in the open and earning money by risking their lives. Moreover, it is a winner-takes-all business.

In a certain prefecture, there was a large security escort agency that could absorb 70-80% of the orders in the prefecture, while smaller security escort agencies could only get scraps, and their bank accounts were often empty.

The largest expense is the "settling-in allowance".

The old镖师 (bodyguard/escort) who was seriously injured, and the widow and her orphan left behind after the镖师's death in battle, all need to be supported.

Supporting someone for five years is the rule of the martial arts world; supporting them for ten years is the benevolence of the escort agency; supporting them for fifteen years relies on personal relationships. The incident involving Shen Qinghong's family was not because the Sanyuan Escort Agency refused to support the orphans and widows, but because they relaxed their protection.

The security escort agency wants to do business.

The veteran bodyguard needs to lead a team to escort goods.

Long ago, large security escort agencies such as Changqing Escort Agency, Zhongyuan Escort Agency, Dawang Escort Agency, and Fengyun Escort Agency discussed forming an escort agency alliance to do business together.

Currently, only one thing has been agreed upon: the construction of three "Righteousness Towers" to support orphans and widows.

If a镖师 (bodyguard/escort) of a镖局 (escort agency) dies, at least his child should be raised to adulthood and taught a skill so that he can support his elderly mother on his own.

The Righteousness Pavilion accepts donations from the martial arts world.

One of the big spenders was... Lu Xiaofeng!

Lu Xiaofeng donated most of the money he earned from causing trouble to the Righteousness Pavilion. In the original story, after trapping Huo Xiu in an iron cage, he blackmailed Huo Xiu with food and donated most of the money he earned to the Righteousness Pavilion and flood victims.

Why mention "Zhengqilou"?
Because the escort mission that Shen Qinghong escorted back then belonged to the super-rich Wan Sanqian. At that time, the Wan family was in a period of decline and wanted to turn the crisis into an opportunity.

After the silver shipment was robbed, the Wan family was nearly destroyed. Wan Sanqian, through his last remaining connections, became a royal merchant and, with the support of the royal family, finally struggled to get back on his feet.

To this day, Wan Sanqian is competing with Huo Xiu for the title of the richest man in the Central Plains. He has so much money that he could not spend it all in ten lifetimes. He likes to associate with heroes and is extremely generous.

Given Shen Qinghong's extraordinary experiences, Wan Sanqian, in order to win people's hearts, might very well give a portion of this treasure to Shen Qinghong for the expenses of Zhengqi Tower.

Where there is money, there is corruption.

This is something no one can change.

The highly respected veteran bodyguards are the backbone of all the major bodyguard agencies. Who will take charge of the Righteousness Tower?
There were no candidates before, but now there are.

A veteran镖头 (bodyguard/escort) who has remained steadfast for fifteen years.

An old master who narrowly escaped death and gained profound enlightenment.

Is there anyone more suitable than Shen Qinghong?
Abbess Miejue informed Shen Qinghong of this matter, suggesting that a plot of land could be cleared on Mount Er'e to build a Zhengqi Tower, with Mount Emei providing rice, flour, oil, and other necessities.

Emei is wealthy and powerful.

The land rent, incense money, and gifts from lay disciples to their elders add up to an astronomical sum. The initiation gift of Jin Lingzhi is enough to feed Emei for five years.

There was a monk in the martial arts world known as "Seven-Haired Zen Master". In his youth, he received a favor from the Emei Sect and vowed to build ninety-nine temples in Emei. He always carried a large cloth bag with him, known as the "Red Robe Hundred Bags". Each bag represented a temple.

Upon learning that her family had all perished, Shen Qinghong lamented that in this vast world, there was nowhere to call home. Since she had no home, she decided to become a monk. Hearing Abbess Miejue's suggestion, she immediately took notice and decided to ask her old friend for advice.

Dugu Yihe instructed his disciples to build long ladders and iron frames on the stone wall to carry all the treasures up.

Emei Mountain is full of cliffs and precipices. For the safety of the disciples, there are many long ladders in the warehouse. They have mortise and tenon joints and can be disassembled at will. They can be taken apart into individual parts or assembled into scaffolding.

The Emei disciples worked efficiently, quickly moving the treasure up. Looking at the gold and silver jewels inside the large wooden box, Abbess Miejue asked, "Is this the so-called treasure of the evil god?"

Dugu Yihe stroked his beard: "Back then, the Twelve Constellations joined forces to rob a caravan. Some were killed by Yan Nantian, and others escaped with serious injuries. They probably guessed that the caravan's silver was hidden in Emei. Using the Ancient Sword Soul as an excuse, they spread false news about the Evil God's treasure and secretly searched for this treasure."

Abbess Miejue sneered, "How dare they! Don't let this humble nun see them, or they'll taste the power of the Heaven-Slaying Sword and go to the underworld to repent!"

Dugu Yihe chuckled twice.

Although his martial arts skills far surpassed those of Abbess Miejue, Dugu Yihe was not easy to kill. He loved cultivating Taoism, practicing martial arts, and delving into the art of martial arts, and rarely went down the mountain.

In the past two years, Dugu Yihe has wanted to emulate the Quanzhen Sect of Zhongnan Mountain by breaking down the "Dual Killing with Swords and Sabers" into a sword formation used by seven people, thereby enhancing the strength of the Three Heroes and Four Beauties, and then expanding it to forty-nine or even ninety-eight people.

A large formation of ninety-eight people, half using swords and half using knives, once fully practiced, is enough to protect the Emei Daoist sect for a hundred years, ensuring peace of mind for four generations.

What happens after the fourth generation?
If, over four generations and a century, the Emei Taoist sect fails to cultivate a master capable of maintaining order, it deserves to be swallowed up by the Buddhist sect, and the Buddhist sect will face a similar fate.

As the saying goes, wealth doesn't last three generations.

The ancestors left behind assets to protect four generations, but the result was that each generation raised pigs, and all four generations were useless.

Such sects have no value in terms of inheritance.

Soon, the story of Shen Qinghong, who is still alive today and has been protecting the silver for more than ten years, spread throughout the martial arts world.

Representatives from the Sanyuan Escort Agency and the Wan family were present.

The Wan family steward delivered a personal letter from Wan Sanqian, expressing his gratitude to Shen Qinghong for protecting the goods and offering to donate half of the escort silver to the Zhengqi Tower, inviting Shen Qinghong to become the tower's owner.

The other half is incense money for Emei.

Wan Sanqian's family was so poor that all they had left was money. If spending money could help him befriend Dugu Yihe and Abbess Miejue, he wouldn't even blink an eye at mountains of gold and silver.

You can't just take 13,000 yuan for nothing.

Later, when Wan Sanqian got into trouble, someone came to his aid with the Wan family's unique "Ten Thousand Treasure Coins". Dugu Yihe and Abbess Miejue were to help him.

Over the years, Wan Sanqian has used his wealth to lavishly distribute money across various regions, forging countless good relationships.

Upon hearing this news, many who wanted to seize the evil god's treasure fell silent, guessing that the so-called evil god's treasure was the silver that Shen Qinghong had guarded for fifteen years.

Some people became increasingly excited.

Emei Mountain really does hold a great treasure!
Could there be other treasure troves?

Is this a double act between Emei and Wanjia?

Is Shen Qinghong just a cover?

Money can move mountains; greed can cloud judgment.

The evil god's treasure is simply too tempting.

Even if someone points out that Gu Jianhun is so poor that he wears tattered clothes all day and doesn't even have the money to get married, those who want to find the treasure will argue: "Even if the treasure vault doesn't contain any treasure, it at least has martial arts manuals."

Once this statement was made, no one could refute it.

Gu Jianhun was obsessed with martial arts. In his youth, he challenged masters from various sects and plundered hundreds of martial arts manuals.

The most powerful divine skill is none other than... the Tathagata Palm!
The Tathagata Palm, the number one palm technique in the Ten Directions Zen Forest, is even more powerful than the Shaolin Prajna Palm and the Mahayana Prajna Palm of Nalanda Temple in India, with boundless and immeasurable power.

No one knows the limits of the Tathagata Palm.

Successors of the Tathagata Palm technique throughout history have either lacked the necessary opportunities and luck, or lacked sufficient talent and foundation, or fallen into evil ways, thus failing to unleash its full power.

When Zhao Kuangyin was conquering the world, he encountered a master who was proficient in the Tathagata Palm. The two fought fiercely for three days and three nights, and Zhao Kuangyin was the better one, but he was left with a lingering illness.

This person's traces were completely erased by Zhao Kuangyin.

Not even a name was left.

He is a renowned successor of the Tathagata Palm technique in the martial arts world. His predecessor was the Fire Cloud Evil God Gu Jianhun, and his predecessor before that was Li Wuxie. He claims to be the ancestor of all evils and is nicknamed "Evil God".

The two evil heretics, cruel and bloodthirsty, were capable of displaying the power of martial arts, but lacked the boundless compassion of Buddhism to save all sentient beings, and both suffered cruel betrayal.

The most famous palm techniques in the martial arts world are none other than the Beggar Clan's Dragon Subduing Palm, Guo Bujing's Surging Wave Palm, Shaolin's Prajna Palm, Mount Sumeru Palm, and Vajra Palm, Wudang's Tai Chi Cotton Palm, and the Nyingma School's Immortal Seal.

Although the power of martial arts depends entirely on the user, the reputation of the Tathagata Palm is clearly superior.

From Li Zhaoting's perspective, he didn't believe that the Dragon Subduing Palm, which originated from the I Ching, or the Prajna Palm, which was empty to the end and endless, could be weaker than the Tathagata Palm. However, that's how reputations are in the martial arts world.

Most people believe that the Buddha's Palm technique is stronger.

The Tathagata Palm lives up to this trust. Whether you are a demon or a virtuous monk, as long as you obtain the Tathagata Palm manual, you can become a top master.

No one has gone mad from this practice, and no one has achieved nothing after years of arduous training. Ninety-nine percent of martial artists, as long as they have basic martial arts knowledge, can practice the Tathagata Palm.

Ninety percent of the world's top-tier martial arts require extremely high standards from the practitioner: either they must be well-versed in Buddhist scriptures, knowledgeable in Taoist texts, born with a sword-like constitution, possess unparalleled comprehension, or have superhuman computing power.

The Tathagata Palm technique, however, has no requirements.

This could be a survivor bias.

It's not that no one went astray in their cultivation, but rather that those who did died, and those who survived were all masters.

Regardless of how high the entry requirements are, or whether it's survivor bias, since there's a chance to obtain a unique skill, even if it's only a one in ten thousand chance, and even if it might make one a target of public criticism, countless people will still vie for it.

In recent days, countless experts have come to Emei Mountain in search of treasures. Some are tracking Tie Xinlan, while others have also obtained the "Evil God's Treasure Map".

Looking at the bustling crowd, Xiaoyuer couldn't help but smile bitterly: "Brother Li, I don't understand, why are these martial arts masters doing this? For a scroll of ethereal and elusive martial arts manual, they're fighting to the death in Emei. Is life so worthless? What are they thinking?"

Li Zhaoting said seriously, "Little Fish, have you ever thought about it? Your experiences from childhood to adulthood are extraordinary adventures that most martial artists would never dare to dream of. You were guided by the Ten Evils, had medicinal baths prepared by the divine physician Wan Chunliu, and had countless villains help you practice. You never had to worry about training resources. The only danger came from your master."

"I don't need these!"

Little Fish turned its head away in disgust.

The experience in the Valley of Villains is a perpetual nightmare.

Little Fish was forced by villains to learn all sorts of tricks and schemes. At the age of six, he had to fight off wild wolves and dogs all by himself, and his body was covered with scars.

If it weren't for Wan Chunliu's meticulous care, using medicinal baths to strengthen his foundation and giving him a normal education, Xiaoyuer would definitely have been cultivated into a villainous figure in the martial arts world by these evil people.

Little Fish is very good at scheming and plotting.

However, there is always someone better. There are too many masters in the martial arts world who are good at scheming and trickery. Not to mention people like Liu Suifeng of the Power Gang and Di Feijing of the Six and a Half Hall, even the Twelve Constellations have tricked him more than once.

When wisdom cannot gain an absolute advantage, martial arts are very important. At least one thing must be guaranteed: no matter what scheme the opponent sets up, you can overturn the table and smash people.

"Little Fish, if one day you see the enemy who killed your father and mother, do you want to take revenge?"

"If I said I didn't want to, would you believe me?"

"letter!"

Do you think I'm a heartless and ungrateful person?

"Because your martial arts skills are too poor, revenge requires profound martial arts skills. You can take what I'm about to say as alarmist, or as well-intentioned advice, or you can take me as a charlatan. You can keep my words in mind, or you can forget them as soon as you turn your head."

"Brother Li, you're so long-winded."

"You will encounter enemies you cannot outwit, and you will suffer serious injuries. At that time, you will understand that martial arts are very important, and that the martial world is not just about being carefree."

"I really don't like practicing martial arts."

"Then don't meddle in other people's business."

"Brother Li seems to be meddling in other people's business."

"Because I am the Grandmaster of the Heavenly Gang."

"Can Brother Li defeat Dugu Yihe?"

"In a sparring match, the outcome will most likely be a draw."

"What about a life-or-death struggle?"

"He died, I was seriously injured, and I had to recuperate for six months."

"Is there anyone from Emei who can defeat you?"

"A bald, centenarian monk."

"Where?"

"Abbot of Babao Yunxiao Temple, Zen Master Pudu, and head of the five sects, thirteen schools, and eighty-one branches of Emei."

"How come I've never seen him before?"

"He is in seclusion, studying and practicing Buddhism."

"Oh, how boring!"

The little fish stretched lazily.

Li Zhaoting reached out and grabbed a branch from a nearby dead tree, twisting it into a wooden sword.

"What does Brother Li want to do?"

"kill!"

Li Zhaoting fell from the sky and landed in the crowd.

"Emei Mountain is a beautiful place, a fairyland on earth. It would be too much of a spoilsport for you all to be fighting here. Why don't you sit down and have a cup of tea and not ruin the harmony?"

"Who are you to dare block my path to wealth!"

A burly man wielding a broad axe glared angrily at Li Zhaoting. He had just killed three people, and his axe was stained with blood. He looked fierce and menacing, like Li Kui.

"I am Li Zhaoting. Please give me some face and stop fighting, or I will become your opponent."

Li Zhaoting looked coldly at everyone.

"You... Li Zhaoting, what are you pretending for? This is Emei, who gave you the right to be the first to stick your neck out?"

“I am saving your lives. If you continue to fight and anger Abbess Miejue, she will come down the mountain with the Heaven-Slaying Sword, and none of you will survive.”

Dugu Yihe had a rather radical personality. He believed that to deal with these bandits, the ringleaders had to be killed immediately. Once a few leaders were killed, the others would run away.

Abbess Miejue was rather conservative. She thought Dugu Yihe was too conservative. She believed that to deal with such bandits, they should all be killed with swords and their bodies thrown into a mass grave.

"What's so great about the Heaven Sword? Others may fear that old nun Miejue, but the three of us brothers are not!"

A shrill voice came from afar, extremely unpleasant, like hundreds of caterpillars tearing at your ear, making you want to cut your ear off.

Upon closer inspection, the speaker was an ugly monster.

He was about the same height as a five or six-year-old child, covered in white hair all over his body like a caterpillar, with a fierce and ugly face; he was a dwarf with underdeveloped physique.

There were two other people behind the little boy.

It has a thin, long neck topped with a small head, and a protruding mouth that looks like a rooster, full of fangs.

A tall, muscular man, covered in even thicker black hair than the Fruit Offering God, could be thrown into a wild gorilla troop without leaving a trace.

The three are brothers born of the same mother.

Caterpillar, rooster, orangutan.

The three were originally bandits near Mount Emei, known as the Three Hairs of Mount Emei. They were cruel and ruthless, and liked to eat human hearts raw. Abbess Miejue ordered her disciples to hunt them down. Ji Xiaofu chased them for three thousand miles, but the three monsters hid underwater and managed to escape Ji Xiaofu's pursuit.

Having learned of the appearance of the evil god's treasure, he wanted to seize the Tathagata Palm and seek revenge against Abbess Miejue.

The caterpillar stretched out its monkey-claw-like arms, gently grabbed the chest of the burly man with the axe, pulled out a bloody heart, opened a hole in its face, and bit into it hard, making people want to vomit.

Heavens have mercy, even with Li Zhaoting's expertise in physiognomy, he couldn't find the mouth before the guy opened it. How did this guy even develop like this?
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(End of this chapter)