I became a Sword Emperor in the Martial Arts World

Chapter 161 I Have a Bold Idea

In fact, Ye Qingzhou had already gained some insight into the power of emotions when he reached the pinnacle of mastering the art of fire.

However, the essence of the Rising Dragon of Fire and the Realm of Divine Power is to burn emotions in exchange for the ultimate burst of power, which is an application of "anger" among the seven emotions.

Today's Dragon Transformation Sword utilizes the "joy" emotion among the seven emotions, pursuing peace and happiness.

Compared to fleeting anger, joy is clearly a more enduring emotion, thus it is a vibrant, hopeful, and positive mental force that can greatly enhance a martial artist's mental state.

"Great power requires a great mind to wield."

This is Ye Qingzhou's recent realization. The election in the Western Kingdom made him aware of the wonderful uses of the power of thought, and at the same time made him understand how terrible it would be if this power got out of control.

Human nature cannot withstand the test.

The strength of the Western Kingdom stems from its extreme openness to the power of thought, as if everyone has unlimited freedom and can do whatever they want.

But the result was that everyone got lost in the boundless expansion of desire, leading to destruction and the end.

Having learned from past mistakes, Ye Qingzhou first established his own mental cultivation method to understand his own path and direction before attempting to incorporate the scattered thoughts and energy around him.

At this moment, Ye Qingzhou's inner world is closely connected with Linjiang No. 1 Middle School. As long as the students and teachers in the school at this moment have expectations and goodwill towards him, their thoughts and energy will continuously converge on Ye Qingzhou.

If it's just one or two people, the transmitted mental energy will naturally be very weak.

Linjiang No. 1 Middle School has more than 5,000 teachers and students, three-fifths of whom have become Ye Qingzhou's "supporters". At this moment, the power of thought of thousands of people converges and forms a huge force in the mental world, which makes Ye Qingzhou's mind expand and grow every minute and every second.

Martial artists consume rare and precious substances containing vital energy, but even their dantian (energy center) has a limit to its capacity. However, the power of the mind is formless and intangible, and therefore has no limit whatsoever.

In an instant, Ye Qingzhou, who accepted all forms of mental energy, saw his "spirit" attribute among his three attributes of essence, qi, and spirit reach its peak.

This gave Ye Qingzhou a vague feeling that if his spirit were to leave his body at this moment, he could immediately become a god in the mortal realm, refine his physical body, and possess great power.

Depending on the core of their beliefs, these deities, who are bestowed with imperial decrees, often possess different "supernatural powers." Their lifespan is no longer affected by their physical bodies, allowing them to live a long and prosperous life, relying on incense offerings for sustenance.

"So this is what the so-called Investiture of the Gods in ancient times was all about."

Ye Qingzhou now understood how those gods in the ancient legends of Blue Star came to be; they were actually powerful martial artists who absorbed the power of thought.

The path of martial arts on Blue Star became increasingly clear in Ye Qingzhou's mind: "The path I am taking now should be the one that focuses on refining essence, which is also known as the body refining style."

"Besides the Body Refinement School, there should be two other major schools: Qi Refinement and Spirit Refinement. Among them, Sanqing Mountain mainly focuses on Qi Refinement. I heard from Lei Ang that his senior brother, Wang Huaxian, is a Qi Refinement master who can use Qi to perform magic, summon wind and rain, and turn beans into soldiers. As for Spirit Refinement masters, Gu Minghui and the Divine General Qinglong, whom I met before, have very strong minds and wills, and should belong to the strongmen of the Spirit Refinement School."

Martial artists in the Eastern Kingdom primarily focus on body refinement, as this is the martial arts path with the lowest entry barrier.

In contrast, both Qi Refining and Spirit Refining have incredibly high entry barriers.

However, similarly, the abilities of Qi Refining and Spirit Refining are often extremely powerful and unpredictable, and cannot be resisted by ordinary means. Therefore, in actual combat, they are generally ridiculously strong.

For an ordinary person, they would definitely choose the one that best suits them among the three major martial arts paths of essence, energy, and spirit to break through their limits. After all, human strength is limited, and martial arts values ​​specialization over quantity.

But Ye Qingzhou's thought was, "I want them all!"

The so-called conflict between the Sword Sect and the Qi Sect is a choice and sacrifice that only incompetent good-for-nothings have to make. True strong people are born with great talent, and they can learn anything quickly and become strong in anything they learn. Of course, they learn them all at the same time!

Only by cultivating essence, energy, and spirit in a balanced way, and having no weaknesses in body, mind, and spirit, can one be called "the strongest".

Ye Qingzhou is now embarking on the path of "ultimate strength".

"My Heart Sword Secret Technique can reverse the processes of refining essence into qi and transforming qi into spirit. It allows one's own spirit to nourish one's own qi, and then one's own qi to nourish one's own essence. Therefore, the higher one's spiritual realm, the better, and the more mental power one has, the better!"

Based on the martial art of self-severing with the Heart Sword, Ye Qingzhou immediately thought of the benefits of a strong mind and abundant mental energy.

However, before he could even rejoice, under the onslaught of the consciousness of three thousand people, his own mind was nearly overwhelmed, and he was faintly inclined to be forcibly assimilated by them.

Mental assimilation!

The only flaw in the path to godhood!

Now Ye Qingzhou has to face this problem head-on. The root of the problem is that the Ye Qingzhou that others see is not the real Ye Qingzhou.

As Ye Qingzhou absorbed the mental energy of these people, his mind was inevitably interfered with by their cognition, thus his will was distorted and he was gradually "shaped" into the image that everyone expected.

Just like the martial arts masters who were successfully deified in the history of the Eastern Kingdom, there are many such "deities" whose incense has been passed down to this day.

But they are no longer the same as before; they have lost their humanity and are left with only their "selfless" divinity.

"It seems I can't absorb too much spiritual power from others at once. Although there is no limit to this absorption, my personality and will simply cannot withstand it. In the end, I will inevitably be assimilated by their spirit and completely lose my own will."

Ye Qingzhou focused his mind and channeled his excess mental energy into the Emperor Sword Dragon Abyss to nourish its sword soul.

This displeased the Heavenly Punishment Sword and the Flame Emperor Sword, which began to hum and vibrate incessantly, clearly craving the power of thought. This immediately gave Ye Qingzhou a bright idea: "I can't absorb all this power of thought myself, but I can store it in my divine weapons and draw upon it when needed!"

The sword that carries the Way naturally carries the hearts of men and the power of thought.

But where does the human heart come from?

Reputation! Traffic!

"So, it seems I could start live-streaming martial arts. That way, I could attract a huge following online, have massive traffic, and my mental energy would be like a tidal wave—I could have as much as I wanted!"

Ye Qingzhou became more and more excited as he thought about it. This was a free benefit, and he shouldn't refuse it.

At that time, this spiritual energy can be used to nurture the sword souls of the three peerless divine weapons, Longyuan, Tianxing, and Yandi, while also strengthening the sword intent of his own Dragon Transformation Sword. It can be described as killing two birds with one stone and achieving multiple benefits in one fell swoop.

After the party ended, everyone went home together. Xu Yuebing accompanied Ye Qingzhou out of the school gate and asked him, "What are you thinking about? You haven't said anything for a while."

"I'm thinking of doing live martial arts broadcasts."

"???"

Xu Yuebing looked puzzled: "Martial artists who usually take this route are those who can't practice martial arts properly, so they plan to become idols. Why are you joining in?"

"The power of thought".

Ye Qingzhou didn't hide it from Xu Yuebing, since he wasn't afraid of others finding out anyway.

Xu Yuebing's eyes widened in surprise. "Are you planning to be deified? This kind of thing needs to be reported to the authorities!"

Throughout history, the Eastern Kingdom has always attached great importance to the matter of deification, especially given the existence of the power of thought, which has made faith a powerful force that cannot be taken lightly.

Therefore, the government of Dongji Kingdom has always taken a strict approach to cracking down on all kinds of "evil god" beliefs in order to eradicate the hidden dangers.

Therefore, many martial artists use the internet to cultivate mental energy and practice spiritual martial arts, but no one dares to use this method to achieve godhood.

Ye Qingzhou shook his head: "I'm not dead, why would I be made a god? I just want to use online live streaming to cultivate a new supernatural power."

In today's Dongji Kingdom, to be deified, one must make significant contributions to the country and its people, gain widespread recognition from the entire society, and only then can one be deified after death and "live on" as a "god".

It's practically impossible for a living person to be deified.

Ye Qingzhou didn't need it either, since the so-called "gods" after the Investiture of the Gods were not true gods at all, and compared with the powerful mythical beings in the cave, they were just small fry.

Worse still, these "fake deities" are highly susceptible to the influence of thought power, gradually losing their sense of self and transforming into something akin to artificial intelligence.

At the cost of losing one's own will, such "becoming a god" is not something Ye Qingzhou cares about at all.

When Xu Yuebing learned of Ye Qingzhou's idea, she agreed: "I'll talk to my sister and see if I can help you apply for a spot."

Thanks.

"Hmph, is that all you're going to say in thanking me? That's not sincere!"

"So how would you like me to thank you?"

"I haven't decided yet. I'll let you know when I do."

Xu Yuebing smiled slyly, turned around and got into Uncle Yuan's car with light steps, waving goodbye to Ye Qingzhou.

The next day, at lunchtime.

Ye Qingzhou received a call from Xu Yunxi: "I heard from Bingbing that you're planning to do live streaming?"

"Yes, I have created my own mental cultivation method, intending to absorb some mental energy to truly master the sword intent of the Dragon Transformation Sword."

During last night's gathering, Ye Qingzhou only manifested the rudimentary form of a dragon from his own sword intent. However, for this sword intent to grow and strengthen, Ye Qingzhou's own mental energy alone is clearly far from sufficient.

"Is this really not the Investiture of the Gods?"

"Don't worry, the ancient martial arts system of the Investiture of the Gods has too many hidden dangers, and I don't even look at it. With my talent, I'm going to take the path of becoming a Martial Saint by achieving physical sainthood."

Ye Qingzhou smiled nonchalantly.

Hearing this, Xu Yunxi finally felt relieved and said, "I was just worried that you might have a moment of weakness and try to take a shortcut."

The Eastern Kingdom has a long history. Before the first appearance of the Cave Heaven Secret Realm two hundred years ago, the civilization of Blue Star had already experienced many ebb and flow of primordial energy.

Therefore, martial arts practitioners did exist in ancient times, but early martial arts practitioners often referred to themselves as "gods," "immortals," "demons," or "monsters."

Two hundred years ago, the Blue Star world was at its lowest point in terms of vitality, so many ancient powerful figures were regarded as mythical stories imagined by the ancients.

It wasn't until the discovery of the grotto-heaven two hundred years ago, when mythology became reality, that some ancient historical records began to receive attention from countries around the world.

Subsequently, a vigorous archaeological expedition to "trace the origins" began.

Among them, the Eastern Kingdom, with its long history and unbroken civilization, benefited the most. It quickly rose to prominence by relying on its profound martial arts foundation, acquiring a large number of cultivation techniques through major archaeological discoveries, and finding the way to open the secret realms.

After decades of development, the Eastern Pole Kingdom has shed its image of poverty and weakness from its early days and has now grown into a powerful nation capable of overthrowing the former hegemon, the Western Pole Kingdom.

In contrast, although the Western Kingdom was once at its peak and ruled the Blue Star for decades, the path it is now taking to become a nation strong in terms of intelligence is the same path that the Eastern Kingdom had already taken 3600 years ago during the Jin Hong Holy Dynasty. The outcome is predictable.

It is worth noting that more than 3,000 years ago, during the Jin Hong Sheng Dynasty, the last ruler, King Zhou, personally initiated the Investiture of the Gods war.

This led to countless martial arts masters who cultivated their spirits through incense offerings and vows entering the mortal world to face tribulations, ultimately resulting in widespread chaos and rivers of blood.

After this battle, the Jin Hong Holy Dynasty was severely weakened. It can be said that it rose and fell because of the conferment of godhood. In the end, the country was destroyed and replaced by the Huang Yu Holy Dynasty of Fengming Qishan.

Having learned from the downfall of the Jin Hong Holy Dynasty, the Huang Yu Holy Dynasty began to strictly manage the Conferment of Gods, thus creating a brand-new path for imperial martial arts.

Knowing the endless harm caused by the Path to Godhood, the Eastern Kingdom maintains strict control over the media. Ye Qingzhou now has to report in advance if he wants to do a live broadcast to obtain the power of thought.

"I've already secured a spot for you."

Xu Yunxi brought good news.

After thanking him again, Ye Qingzhou hung up the phone, feeling great: "As long as my sword intent successfully ascends to the heavens and transforms into a dragon, my mental power should be enough to perfectly control second gear."

The idea behind developing the second-tier system boils down to just two words: overclocking.

If the first level is the ultimate explosion of internal energy within the body, then the second level is the ultimate exploitation of the body's potential, based on the six elements of wind, fire, mountain, forest, yin, and thunder.

The key challenge lies in how to maximize the body's overclocking and full-load operation mode, similar to the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Technique, but without actually killing oneself.

Therefore, there is a problem here, which is that hardware overclocking must be controlled and guided by software.

Otherwise, if you overclock too much and it actually disintegrates, that would be hilarious.

Ye Qingzhou developed the second-level mode to become stronger, but he didn't want to die young because of it.

That's why he needed a strong, independent will, which is why he created the "Sword Intent Transformation into Dragon" move. When he activates the second gear, his body enters a powerful "dragon transformation" mode, squeezing out his potential to the maximum extent.

Just as Ye Qingzhou was immersed in his cultivation, he received a request from Zheng Zhiguang, the president of the Linjiang Chamber of Commerce: "Brother Ye, are you free this Saturday?"

"It won't work during the day; you need to catch up on lessons."

"..."

On the other end of the phone, Zheng Zhiguang felt suffocated and remained silent for a long time.

If Ye Qingzhou hadn't mentioned it, he would have almost forgotten that Ye Qingzhou was still a high school student!

"Ahem, well, our Linjiang Chamber of Commerce is having a gathering on Saturday night. I'm sure you'll be interested, Brother Ye?"

Upon hearing this, Ye Qingzhou's mind raced: "Could it be that there's a ring battle?"

Zheng Zhiguang said with a smile, "That's right. Our chamber of commerce has a small business dispute with Liancheng, so in order to avoid damaging the relationship, we plan to have a decisive battle to settle things."

The so-called "one battle to decide the fate" means that the two chambers of commerce each send one person to determine the ownership of market share by the outcome of a ring battle.

"Okay, I'll definitely be there."

Ye Qingzhou was indeed very interested in this kind of thing, so he agreed.

Saturday, 7 p.m.

Xianyun Villa, located in the suburbs, is one of the properties of the Linjiang Chamber of Commerce. Its tranquil environment makes it a popular venue for members to gather.

Today there is a grand martial arts competition, so luxury cars are gathered outside the manor, and dignitaries are flocking to attend this martial arts extravaganza.

The Linjiang Chamber of Commerce wields significant influence locally, attracting not only its members but also many wealthy individuals who aspire to join, typically by purchasing invitations from others.

If you buy genuine products, that's fine. But if you buy counterfeit products, losing money is a small matter. Losing face is a much bigger problem.

At this point, Liang Zhendong was sweating profusely: "Could you please check it again? I really do have an invitation letter."

"Sorry, your identity verification failed. Please do not disturb other guests."

The waiter standing outside the door stopped Liang Zhendong with a blank expression.

Standing beside him were his wife Liu Lijuan and daughter Liang Yawen. The family of three had become a laughing stock, being pointed at and gossiped about by those around them, and treated as a spectacle.

Liang Zhendong is now in despair. He asked a friend to pull strings and spent 30,000 yuan to buy an invitation, only to find that it was fake!

He didn't care about wasting money; he was just afraid that if word got out, he would lose face and be even less likely to join the Linjiang Chamber of Commerce in the future.

Just as Liang Zhendong was in despair, Ye Qingzhou's voice reached his ears: "Uncle Liang? What are you doing here?"

Liang Zhendong turned around and saw Ye Qingzhou. He greeted her with a smile, then said with a bitter expression, "Alas, it's my fault for not recognizing people well. I was actually deceived by a friend."

"Ye Qingzhou!"

Liu Lijuan and Liang Yawen both looked somewhat embarrassed, after all, this was too shameful.

Liang Ya-wen, in particular, wished she could disappear into a crack in the ground. The thought of being caught in the most embarrassing moment by someone she knew was incredibly humiliating.

Ye Qingzhou asked with a puzzled look, "Uncle Liang wants to join the Linjiang Chamber of Commerce?"

Liang Zhendong sighed: "Of course I want to. These days, you can't do business alone; you have to stick together and support each other."

The competition between the Eastern and Western Extremities is becoming increasingly fierce, which has greatly affected the economy and trade of ordinary people, and capital has begun to enter a stock era.

To survive, you have to compete.

Liang Zhendong was dragged back to his hometown from Shanghai. If he can't even stay in his hometown, where else can he go?

Ye Qingzhou smiled and said, "I can't make decisions about the Chamber of Commerce, but I can ask Chairman Zheng for you. Come on, I'll take you inside."

(End of this chapter)