In the beginning, he was ranked alongside An Shigeng as a spoiled brat.

Shi Long remained unmoved by Fu Junzhuo's anger.

He is no longer alone; he is the Longevity Venerable of Ghost Street. Furthermore, having been tricked by Fu Junzhuo, he has no intention of truly keeping his promise.

"Are all people from the Central Plains so faithless?"

"Loyalty and righteousness have always been difficult to reconcile!"

Whether one is a gentleman or a petty person, life is short, only a few decades. Why wrong oneself and force oneself to do difficult things?

Upon hearing such shameless nonsense, Fu Junzhuo immediately realized that it was impossible for Shi Long to fulfill his promise.

"Don't say I'm heartless, these two lads have already mastered the Longevity Technique;

Compared to Shi, as long as they have enough potential, it's not impossible for them to reach the Grandmaster level in the future.

Since Shi runs a martial arts school, he doesn't offer them any special treatment.

"Following a renowned Goryeo master like you isn't exactly unfair to them."

"it is good!"

Upon hearing that Shi Long was transferring two geniuses who had mastered the Longevity Technique, Fu Junzhuo naturally had no reason to refuse.

As for authenticity?

She's curious now, since the two little ones can always escape her grasp.

"Master, we don't want to leave you and follow this woman!"

"what are you saying?"

A sharp, piercing shout sent a shiver down their spines.

"Alright, now that you have mastered the Longevity Technique, you have formed a karmic connection with her."

"Unfortunately, the Buddha did not wish to be your disciple or guide you; otherwise, you would surely have been able to reach the level of Grandmaster in the future."

With that, he bowed to Fu Junzhuo and left the back mountain.

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling wanted to leave, but in a flash, Fu Junzhuo appeared in front of them.

How could two petty thugs be a match for Fu Junzhuo?

With just a single, devastating strike, a tuft of hair slid down the foreheads of both men.

"You two scoundrels managed to master the Longevity Technique; truly, the world is full of wonders."

"But since Shi Long has abandoned you, my deal with him is null and void. So, do you want to live or die?"

"Heroine, we want to live!"

Just kidding. A female expert who can rival Shi Long. Although they don't know how strong Fu Junzhuo is, she is definitely not someone they can contend with.

Moreover, the way he brandished the sword and acted menacingly was chilling.

"If you want to live, come with me."

"Don't worry, since Shilong has entrusted you to me, I won't treat you unfairly."

"Yes, heroine!"

Having survived the hardships of life in the city, the two naturally knew they would be safe and might even benefit from it.

They would rather follow Shi Long than this woman.

At least in the Jiangnan area, Shi Long was renowned, especially since even street thugs like him could enter the martial arts academy to learn kung fu. Therefore, Shi Long could be considered a grandmaster in Jiangnan.

After becoming official disciples, they could eat meat to their hearts' content, and their treatment was far better than before, except for sweeping the floor.

Their method, known as "work-study" within the dojo, is unique!

"Hmph, if it weren't for the fact that you two kids might be able to cultivate the Longevity Technique, would I waste my time on you!"

"I don't know what kind of luck you guys had, but you actually managed to master the Longevity Technique, which even the Stone Dragon couldn't achieve."

"Heroine, we don't want to either! We'd rather go back to the dojo and sweep the floor; at least we'd have meat to eat every day!"

"You? You worthless wretches!"

Upon hearing this, Fu Junzhuo felt a pang of pain in her heart and was speechless with anger.

"Want to eat meat?"

"As long as you can meet my demands, you can have whatever you want, not just meat, but also gold, silver, jewels, fine wine, and beautiful women."

"Really?"

"Of course, don't you think about how Shilong can maintain this huge temple if he doesn't have any ways to make money?"

This is all because he is secretly the Longevity Venerable, one of the powerful figures in Ghost Street. He can get 100,000 taels of gold from the annual dividends of Ghost Street alone, which covers the huge expenses of maintaining the operation of the dojo.

And this was still before Shi Long had mastered the Longevity Technique.

"If you master the Longevity Technique, your martial arts will surpass Shi Long's. What don't you have?"

Upon hearing this, the two men's eyes lit up.

Undoubtedly, Fu Junzhuo painted an extremely rosy picture for them.

Moreover, it's a pie in the sky that's still possible. For example, if they master the Longevity Technique, surpassing Shi Long is only a matter of time.

"Meet the master!"

"I am not your master, nor will I accept you Central Plains people as disciples. If you want to become stronger, then come with me!"

As Shuanglong followed Fu Junzhuo away, Zhang Xiaoshan inside the Zhang family seemed to have forgotten the battle of the previous night, continuing to play with the dog, feed the bear, and walk the bird... everything seemed to have returned to calm.

Meanwhile, the Persian merchant Arans was also looking for Zhang Xiaoshan.

They were full of confidence for the battle, and at first they thought it was just a fluke.

But after witnessing the white-clad swordsman's swift blade and the domineering power of the Dragon-Slaying Saber Technique, they dared not linger any longer.

The blade's energy swept across Ghost Street, and even if a million-strong army were to approach and gang up on it, they would only end up being torn apart by five horses.

The only way is to slowly wear down the opponent using sheer numbers.

····

"The Gates of Hell?"

Zhang Xiaoshan frowned as he looked at the invitation in his hand.

This is a pure gold invitation sent to the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion, and the person invited is none other than the Lord of the Hell Gate. The mark attached to the back is related to the Tathagata Palm and the Heavenly Crippled Divine Skill.

Therefore, as soon as the invitation was sent to Tianji Tower, Gui Yanluo secretly had it delivered to Zhang Xiaoshan.

The Hellgate has expanded rapidly recently, and its origins are extremely mysterious.

Moreover, Ghost Yama vaguely remembered the mark on the invitation, not from Zhang Xiaoshan, but from a record he had seen in the palace.

These are the unique marks of two unparalleled masters from the past.

The reason it was preserved is that it is the ultimate skill of two great masters—

Tathagata Palm, Heavenly Cripple Divine Skill!

At this moment, the Lord of Hell specifically requested to see the Golden-Faced Buddha, and Ghost Yama naturally knew that his purpose was not simple.

Perhaps knowing that it wasn't easy for Tianji Tower to contact the Golden-Faced Buddha, the time agreed upon by the Hell Gate Master was three months later.

The location is Qingliang Temple on Mount Wutai!

This location was not chosen randomly; it has a special meaning.

So last time, Mount Wutai stood directly opposite the Golden-Faced Buddha.

"Young Master, what kind of power is the Hell Gate? Is it worth your attention?"

"The Gate of Hell is nothing to fear, but its leader is none other than the Fire Cloud Evil God, Ancient Sword Soul, who has been missing from the martial world for at least twenty years!"

Zhang Xiaoshan slowly began to explain, and even Liu Sheng Piaoxu was greatly shocked.

The Fire Cloud Evil God Ancient Sword Soul is far superior to any Fire Cloud Evil God from the Blood Droplets.

This Fire Cloud Evil God is a true peerless master, a powerful being capable of shaking even a Grandmaster, whose martial arts are unfathomable.

However, compared to Zhang Xiaoshan, this Fire Cloud Evil God is not to be feared. It's just unclear why he wanted to see the Golden-Faced Buddha. Could it be solely because of the Heavenly Crippled Divine Skill?

If that's all there is to it, Gu Jianhun will probably be disappointed.

"Young master, what about you?"

"We'll just go and take a look. As for Qingliang Temple on Mount Wutai? We'll save it if we can!"

. . . 0

Mount Wutai is also a sacred Buddhist site, and there are many eminent monks there.

However, Wutai Mountain's previous assistance to the Jin Kingdom in coming to Lin'an Prefecture left a very bad impression on Zhang Xiaoshan, so this time he was going to teach Wutai Mountain a lesson.

It's impossible to wipe out the entire family, at least not for the sake of Xingyin.

But the death of a few senior monks is of no great importance.

When the Jin emperor became a monk here, he left behind some warriors to accompany him; where is the human connection?

This led these monks to believe that by 'becoming monks,' they could disregard the differences between the Jurchens and the Han Chinese and arbitrarily agree to help the Jurchens bully the Han Chinese.

"But there are still three months left, so it's a good time to go for a trip on the sea!"

Piaoxu, go arrange the fishing boats at the dock. We're leaving in three days. I've been feeling a bit stressed lately; a little relaxation would be good!

"Yes, son!"

Zhang Xiaoshan watched Liu Sheng Piaoxu leave. His voyage was certainly not a simple voyage.

First, avoid the current turmoil in the martial arts world;

Secondly, we plan to visit the Zhang family's territory over the years.

The shipyard has been a secret base operated by the Zhang family for ten years. Coupled with the trusted confidants cultivated by the Zhang family, it can be said to be one of the biggest secrets of the Zhang family now.

Besides its dominance on the high seas, it was also the Zhang family's last resort.

After all, no force is absolutely safe, especially a powerful force like the Zhang family.

Zhang Xiaoshan knew that the empire might take action against the Zhang family sooner or later.

Once the Zhang family becomes wealthy, everyone will want a piece of their pie.

The previous transfer of benefits was nothing more than a "trivial" amount in the eyes of those dignitaries, hardly satisfying their appetites.

Not only the emperor, but also all the high-ranking officials and nobles will become hungry wolves in the darkness.

They had simply been waiting for this opportunity.

Zhang Xiaoshan was ready to retreat at any time. What choice would the Zhang family make at that time?

Should we move forward and make a comeback, or should we retreat gracefully?

Having a backup plan is absolutely necessary.

At least on land, if the Zhang family could no longer find a place to stay, or if Zhang Xiaoshan felt his time was running out and the family was about to decline, retreating to the Zhang family's last secret base would be their final fortress!

Chapter 335 The Zhang Family's Secret Base Hides Three Eminent Monks

On the boundless blue sea, waves roll and surge.

A large ship slowly moved forward; it was a newly upgraded ship, twenty feet long.

The interior features a standard postmodern design, with the entire hull made of steel instead of wood. The cost of just this one fishing boat reached 100,000 gold.

From purchasing mines, smelting iron, forging steel, and finally building steel warships, everything was done by the Zhang family alone, without going through any other forces, which increased the cost.

Who told the Zhang family to start everything from scratch!

Otherwise, if it were just the bulk of steel, a large ship of about 20 zhang (approximately 63 meters) would only cost about 30,000 gold.

Moreover, the Zhang family's iron ore all came from Southeast Asia, making the information secretive and the prices extremely low!

Otherwise, smuggling salt and iron would be a capital offense if discovered.

Besides, such a large quantity couldn't possibly be hidden from the imperial court!

However, having its own 'arsenal' made things much easier after the initial setup.