I became a Sword Emperor in the Martial Arts World

Chapter 124 I just want them to obediently die.

Do you know what you're saying?

Gu Changqing narrowed his eyes, his gaze instantly becoming sharper than a blade. He exuded a powerful mental pressure, like a raging storm, wave after wave, pressing down on Ye Qingzhou.

Ascending to the Heavens in Three Stages!

Master level!

Ye Qingzhou instantly understood how terrifying and unfathomable the man's cultivation was; he was only one step away from becoming a Grandmaster of the Earthly Fiends.

Over the years, Gu Changqing has been constantly seeking breakthroughs in his realm, and he is not far from taking this crucial step.

The martial arts of Blue Star are derived from various secret realms within the cave heavens and are inherited from ancient times. Therefore, in terms of levels, they are also passed down in the same lineage.

However, for the powerful figures within the cave heavens like Yingyue, there is no concept of a professional martial artist.

For example, Yingyue is a member of the Viper Clan. Once she reaches adulthood, she will possess a master-level physique. With a little training in martial arts, she will become a true master.

Among humans, he would be considered one of the best among masters, with combat power at least at the upper level, far surpassing a large number of mediocre masters among human martial artists.

Because many human martial artists who advance to the master level do not possess exceptionally strong physical bodies. After all, those who grow into masters rely on different methods: some focus on refining their inner energy, while others specialize in cultivating their minds. Their areas of expertise and direction in cultivation vary greatly.

As for powerful alien beings like Yingyue, they are born with strong physiques and possess innate divine abilities inherited from their bloodlines. When they cultivate their inner energy and transform it into martial arts true qi, their strength will immediately increase rapidly. They have virtually no obvious weaknesses in essence, qi, and spirit, and their combat power often surpasses that of human martial artists of the same level.

Therefore, there is no concept of professional level inside the cave. Many strong people start at the master level because of their racial talents, and the realm is divided by the twelve levels of ascending to heaven.

Only humans on Earth, due to their inherent weakness, had to establish a professional level before the master level.

Now, before the professional level, there is an attempt to further refine the division into four levels: apprentice, trainee, elite, and genius. Such a detailed division is intended to standardize and professionalize martial arts training, reduce the talent required for martial arts practice, thereby cultivating a large number of new martial artists and expanding the number of people in the martial arts community.

In the realms beyond the Master level, martial artists are further divided into Grandmaster, Grandmaster, and Martial Saint, corresponding to the first nine levels of the Twelve Heavenly Towers realm.

The first to third levels represent the realm of martial arts masters. The hallmark is the flow of Qi throughout the body, opening the bridge between heaven and earth, and being able to draw upon the primordial energy of heaven and earth with one's own Qi and blood, resulting in a continuous supply of physical strength and true Qi.

The fourth to sixth levels represent the Earthly Fiend Grandmaster realm. The hallmark of this realm is the power to shake the heavens and earth, possessing the strength to uproot mountains. They can use their own blood and energy to draw upon the power of the earth's veins, and every gesture they make carries the might to move mountains and fill seas.

The seventh to ninth levels represent the Heavenly Martial Saint realm. The mark is soaring aura to the heavens, transcending the ordinary and entering sainthood. They can influence celestial phenomena with their own blood and energy, and change the world and climate on a large scale with their will. It is no exaggeration to call them human nuclear bombs.

The final three levels of the Twelve Heavenly Tower are still unreached by anyone on Earth.

Only a few mythical beings within the grotto-heaven have reached this level, and they are collectively referred to as "gods" by the various human nations of the blue planet.

It is said that a "god" is enshrined in the Crimson Sanctuary—the Blood God.

Kang Jinlong, the controller of Lingyun Cave, is also such a "deity." The so-called Star Lord is originally a title for a "divine office."

After witnessing Bai Jiaofengqi being possessed by Kang Jinlong, Ye Qingzhou's horizons broadened, and he no longer held master-level martial artists in high regard.

"Are you angry?"

Ye Qingzhou stood up, looking directly at Gu Changqing: "Why? Just because someone in the Gu family died? Are the lives of the Gu family members more valuable than mine?"

Ye Qingzhou had no regrets about killing Gu Guangqi. No matter how many times it happened again, he would still kill him without hesitation.

As for Gu Changqing's protection of the original owner, Ye Qingzhou can repay it on his behalf. After all, he occupied the original owner's body and gained benefits, so he naturally has to bear the karma of the original owner.

You have to give something to gain something; that's fair.

But this does not mean that Ye Qingzhou should tolerate the Gu family in the slightest. After all, it was the Gu family of Xingcheng who were the main ones who harmed Ye Xiangyang in the first place.

Repay kindness with kindness and avenge wrongs with revenge; this is what it means to clearly distinguish between gratitude and resentment.

Upon hearing this, Gu Changqing's imposing manner faltered, and he immediately lowered his gaze, his tone softening slightly: "He who kills will be killed in return. Gu Guangqi intended to harm you, and was killed by you; I have nothing to say about that. But as the saying goes, it's better to resolve enmity than to let it fester. Can the feud between our two families end here?"

His tone was sincere and his attitude genuine. People from the Gu family may be domineering and unreasonable, but this does not include Gu Changqing.

In every sense, he can be considered a good person.

Even regarding Cheng Yurong's matter, Gu Changqing did not do anything to wrong Ye Xiangyang, because it was Cheng Yurong who changed her mind and was the one who wanted to leave Ye Xiangyang.

Gu Changqing only got together with Cheng Yurong after she left Ye Xiangyang.

Whether Gu Changqing was a good person or not, Ye Qingzhou didn't care at all.

In any case, Ye Qingzhou already had a plan in mind. Within the Gu family of Xingcheng, he would not let go of any of those who had participated in the plot to harm Ye Xiangyang.

Therefore, when faced with Gu Changqing's request for reconciliation, Ye Qingzhou's answer was only three words: "On what grounds?"

"Ye Qingzhou, I know you still feel resentful about what happened to your father, but the past is the past. The living must live on, and people must look forward. Moreover, I am willing to make amends for what happened back then."

Gu Changqing truly loved Cheng Yurong, and also felt guilty towards Ye Xiangyang, so he did not want to completely destroy Ye Qingzhou, the descendant of his old friend.

Even now, he still hopes the two families can reconcile and is willing to pay any price he can for it.

Unfortunately, he couldn't give Ye Qingzhou what she wanted.

"Your conditions might have been agreed to by the Ye Qingzhou of the past, but unfortunately, he is dead."

Ye Qingzhou remained expressionless. The entanglement between the Gu family and Ye Xiangyang was actually none of his business. All he had to do was simply avenge the original owner of this body.

Those culprits who destroyed the original owner's wonderful life, no matter how illustrious their status, no matter what their schemes and reasons were.

To Ye Qingzhou, none of these matters mattered.

Since people die when they are killed, Ye Qingzhou didn't ask for much; he just hoped they would die obediently.

"Does it have to be a fight to the death between our two families? If your father were still alive, he certainly wouldn't want you to come to this."

Gu Changqing continued to try to persuade him: "What happened back then was indeed a mistake made by our Gu family, so I now sincerely want to make amends."

Ye Qingzhou glanced at Gu Changqing indifferently and asked coldly, "After I wipe out the entire Gu family, I can compensate you. Can you accept that?"

"This is different!"

Clearly, the words "extermination of the entire family" deeply stung Gu Changqing's sensitive nerves; it was something he absolutely could not accept.

Ye Qingzhou shook his head and sighed: "Look, you yourself can't accept it, yet you expect me to accept it. Don't you find that absurd?"

"Are you determined to fight the Gu family to the death?"

Gu Changqing felt utterly exhausted. In this turbulent world, it was so difficult to remain untainted.

He strongly opposed the family's plan to deal with Ye Xiangyang.

Unfortunately, the family elders sent him to the inner cave for secluded cultivation, which completely severed Ye Xiangyang's path to martial arts. They even deliberately spread false information, using the Golden Leaf Purple Lotus as bait, to lure Ye Xiangyang into an extremely dangerous secret realm in the Kunlun Cave.

Now, Ye Xiangyang's son, Ye Qingzhou, has risen to prominence, displaying talent far surpassing Ye Xiangyang's and even rivaling that of the extreme Dao Heavenly Madman Zhang Xinwu.

Once Ye Qingzhou reaches the master level, who in the entire Gu family will be able to withstand his sword?

Gu Changqing placed his hand on the hilt of his sword. The best solution he could find was to kill the peerless genius before him, eliminating him completely and ending the matter once and for all.

Ye Qingzhou sensed a faint killing intent, but he showed no fear. When he looked at Gu Changqing, he even seemed to be looking forward to it: "You want to kill me? Perfect, I also want to see how sharp the sword technique of 'drawing a sword to cut water' really is."

In the end, Gu Changqing still couldn't bring himself to take action. He gazed deeply at Ye Qingzhou and said, "If I could, I really wouldn't want to come to the point where we have to fight each other. You'd better think twice."

After saying that, he leaped into the air, his slender figure disappearing into the magnificent moonlight.

Only then did Yingyue emerge from the shadows, licking her glossy lips: "My lord, this man dared to show murderous intent towards you; he deserves to die."

Ye Qingzhou shook his head: "I will handle the Gu family's affairs personally. Don't make decisions on your own."

"All right."

Yingyue felt a little regretful. She was still thinking about whether she should infiltrate the Gu family and wipe out the entire Gu family of Xingcheng.

Powerful beings like her, originating from within the grotto-heaven, have always disregarded the law, acting with utter lawlessness and without any taboos.

But Ye Qingzhou had his own considerations. It would only be meaningful for him to avenge his father's death in person.

After Gu Changqing left, Ye Qingzhou sat back down and resumed his cultivation.

Now, his strength far surpasses that of a normal martial arts apprentice. Whether it is external training or internal training, he is so powerful that it is outrageous.

In the early stages of martial arts development on Earth, even the most basic martial arts techniques and breathing exercises were only practiced by a select few geniuses among humans, making the entry barrier extremely high.

After completing the training, one will start as a master-level martial artist.

With the exploration and research of early martial arts practitioners such as Qi Shengtian, the entry threshold was gradually lowered, giving rise to the professional level. Based on the "Six Forms of Military Competition", the difficulty of practicing internal breathing techniques was greatly simplified and adapted to human physiological characteristics, thus lowering the entry threshold to below the professional level.

The lowering of the threshold is proof that martial arts can develop and progress. Martial arts that require special talent and physical aptitude to cultivate, no matter how powerful, are still representatives of closed-off and backward practices.

Through continuous breakdown and refinement, the training content for martial arts apprentices was divided into four major categories: internal training, external training, weaponry, and medical skills.

Internal training focuses on the six internal energy techniques, and the sign of advancing to the professional level is the transformation of internal energy into martial arts true qi.

The Six Forms of Internal Breathing are all basic internal breathing techniques, based on officially published teaching materials. They have a balanced and gentle effect, and are generally easy for ordinary people to practice, although they are easy to learn but difficult to master.

Besides the Six Postures, there are many other internal cultivation methods, such as the Dragon Breath Technique recorded in the "Fish-Dragon Transformation" and "Refining True Gold in Fire" obtained by Ye Qingzhou, which are internal cultivation methods.

In addition, there are the well-known "Tiger and Leopard Thunder Sound" and the "Toad Fishing Skill" of Sanqing Mountain, both of which are extremely unique internal cultivation methods.

As for external training, it mainly focuses on tendons, bones, and skin, but the methods vary greatly from school to school. In the "Six Forms of Military Competition," the fire formation can strengthen tendons, and the mountain formation can forge bones, but the effects are generally mediocre.

Unless one has reached a level of mastery in both fire control and mountain manipulation like Ye Qingzhou, it is difficult to make a name for oneself in such a training.

Ye Qingzhou possesses relatively advanced Yi Jin and Duan Gu techniques. "Refining True Gold in Fire" can greatly strengthen muscles and tendons, while the "Iron Bones" technique can grant Ye Qingzhou powerful martial bones.

"By training my muscles and skin externally and cultivating my inner strength, I can actually advance to the professional level at any time now."

Ye Qingzhou closed his eyes and sat quietly, beginning to silently integrate all the knowledge he had acquired.

Yi Jin Jing (Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic) is said to produce an indestructible golden body, forged through the practice of "Refining True Gold in Fire".

Bone forging, with an official secret method for forging bones that produces unyielding, iron-like bones.

In terms of internal energy, Ye Qingzhou not only possesses the Dragon Breath Technique, which can transform acquired internal energy into innate internal energy, but he has also mastered five of the six stances—Wind, Fire, Mountain, Yin, and Thunder—to an unparalleled level. Only the Forest stance is missing, and he has not yet been able to take the final step.

"Once I reach a state of divine mastery, I can seal all the pores of my body, complete the skin-refining process, and transform my internal energy to cultivate a true qi. After that, as long as I imprint my martial will on it, I can transform all the primordial energy in my body into martial true qi."

Ye Qingzhou had a complete understanding of all the secrets of the professional level.

According to the description of internal energy in Fish and Dragon Transformation, there is a distinction between innate internal energy and acquired internal energy. The former can be transformed into innate true qi, while the latter can only be transformed into ordinary true qi.

Although the book did not mention the difference between the two types of martial arts true qi, Ye Qingzhou still vaguely felt that the two types of true qi were probably very different, otherwise there would be no need for the book to mention them.

"The Dragon Breath Technique can transform the six internal energies from acquired internal energies into innate internal energies. However, the internal energies of the five energies—wind, fire, mountain, yin, and thunder—become far more powerful than the internal energies of the forest after being transformed by the Dragon Breath Technique. It seems that the realm of mastery is very crucial, and there are still unknown secrets hidden within it."

The more Ye Qingzhou thought about it, the more he felt that something was wrong. It seemed that he had begun to come into contact with the secrets of the deeper levels of Yuan Qi because he had mastered all five techniques to a superb level. Therefore, he had a strange feeling in his heart.

The biggest problem lies in where the vitality of life energy comes from.

"The fact that vital energy can be interfered with by the mind and will is clearly not a normal phenomenon."

Suddenly, Ye Qingzhou had a premonition – he was about to come into contact with the true secret of Yuan Qi, right at the moment he advanced to the professional level and underwent his first life sublimation.

…………

The next day, Ye Qingzhou returned to school.

Seeing his deskmate Huang Liwen copying homework again, Ye Qingzhou patted him on the shoulder: "Brother Wen, didn't you say you were going for a night run in the park? Why haven't you gone lately? Have you come to terms with it, or are you just heartbroken?"

"Neither."

Huang Liwen didn't even look up as he spoke, continuing to write furiously: "Haven't you heard there have been some perverts around these past few days?"

Ye Qingzhou opened his eyes wide: "What are you afraid of, you're a man?"

Huang Liwen coughed lightly, looking somewhat embarrassed: "I'm afraid of being recognized."

Ye Qingzhou was immediately dumbfounded: "Good heavens, so that pervert was you."

"Sigh, everyone has a love for beauty. I just like beautiful women, what's wrong with that?"

"That's how men are. They feel guilty for even glancing at a pretty girl. They might even get falsely accused of peeping and taking pictures without permission, and then someone will write a long essay online to criticize and ruin their reputation."

Huang Liwen listened with tears in his eyes, as if he had found a kindred spirit: "Old Ye, you really understand me."

Ye Qingzhou casually suggested, "Speaking of which, if it's hard to find a girlfriend in real life, why don't you try online dating?"

"No, there are so many scammers online."

"You have no money, why are you afraid of being scammed?"

"That's right!"

Huang Liwen instantly perked up, put aside the math homework he had just copied, straightened his back, and started copying the Chinese homework.

After school in the afternoon, at the fighting center.

Xu Lan gathered all eight promising young talents from No. 1 Middle School together to begin preparations for the Phoenix Cup competition, providing them with special training under a new model.

"The previous provincial competition was mainly in the form of ring battles to determine the winner. That is, each side sent out five people, and each time it was a one-on-one battle until one side was completely defeated."

This rule is the most familiar pattern to everyone.

After all, Linjiang No. 1 Middle School was no match for Hunan Province before. They were eliminated in the provincial competition and were just a supporting player in the national high school martial arts league. Therefore, the subsequent rules were completely irrelevant.

In order to save resources, during the provincial competition, the winners are often determined by direct ring battles.

However, this year is different. The authorities have increased their efforts to cultivate ordinary martial artists, so the provincial competition was specially held in the same way as the National High School Martial Arts League, and a "Phoenix Cup" was created.

Xu Lan began to introduce the subsequent rules: "In addition to continuing the tradition of five-person arena battles, this year's Phoenix Cup has added three-on-three arena team battles and five-on-five team battles for entering the secret realm to compete for hunting points."

"The three-on-three format still takes place in the ring, but each side sends out three players, and the winner is determined only when all three players on one side are eliminated."

"The most different aspect is the five-on-five team battle. In the team battle, the venue will no longer be a fighting ring, but a secret realm with a large number of rare birds and beasts. The terrain and environment are more complex and varied, so participating teams need not only strong combat power, but also comprehensive adaptability."

(End of this chapter)