I became a Sword Emperor in the Martial Arts World

Chapter 174 I'm Here to Bomb Fish

Zhao Zhiyi was already a master of the fourth level of the Ascension Realm, a veteran grandmaster of the Eastern Pole Kingdom. At this moment, he came with the posture of questioning and accusing, which was truly intimidating and aloof.

A majestic figure descended from the sky and landed in front of Ye Qingzhou.

Seeing that Ye Qingzhou was unharmed, Zhao Zhiyi looked slightly surprised, but then felt inexplicably uneasy. This was a sudden thought of his being to warn him.

The reason for the warning is not complicated.

Master-level martial artists possess a powerful aura that permeates heaven and earth. After their death, they will naturally disperse a portion of their essence, energy, and spirit into the world, leaving behind various traces.

Zhao Zhiyi sensed this trace and subconsciously felt a sense of crisis.

Ye Qingzhou already knew of Zhao Zhiyi's arrival, but he was too lazy to get up and greet him. He remained seated on the ground, practicing his martial arts with his eyes closed, absorbing and refining the power of the dragon vein beneath the earth.

"You mean Li Yaoping? I forgot where he was buried. Why don't you dig along the dragon vein, Chairman Zhao?"

This nonchalant tone was undoubtedly provoking Zhao Zhiyi's anger.

"Ye Qingzhou! How dare you kill a martial arts master?"

"People die when they're killed, what's so strange about that?"

"Do you know what you're doing?!"

Zhao Zhiyi was furious. Although suppressing martial arts families in secret was a national policy, the government needed a balance, not direct physical elimination.

After all, martial arts families were still an important force in the martial arts world of the Eastern Pole Kingdom. Many dangerous caves and secret realms were suppressed and defended by experts from martial arts families, which kept the situation stable and the society running in an orderly manner, rather than causing chaos.

If we rashly wipe out all the martial arts families, then who will be sent to guard these dangerous places?

At that time, martial arts associations in various regions will be overwhelmed, and the slightest mistake could result in the deaths and injuries of millions of people, causing a national upheaval and chaos.

Moreover, can all martial arts families be wiped out?

If the fundamental system of private ownership is not changed, the commoner martial artists who grow up today will also establish new martial arts families in the future.

Therefore, for the sake of long-term stability and security, balance is the true path to long-term well-being.

What Zhao Zhiyi needs most right now is a balance in the situation, not the rapid demise of all the martial arts families within Hunan Province.

This is also why Zhao Zhiyi questioned Ye Qingzhou; he was clearly blaming him for not knowing the seriousness of the matter and for acting recklessly.

However, Ye Qingzhou disagreed: "Of course I know what I'm doing. Li Yaoping wanted to kill me, so I killed him in self-defense. According to the rules of the martial arts world, this is perfectly reasonable and legal. What, Chairman Zhao, do you have a different opinion? Do you have objections to the laws of Dongji Kingdom?"

Ye Qingzhou finished her practice and exhaled a breath of stale air. She stood up abruptly, opened her eyes, and looked coldly at Zhao Zhiyi, her tone carrying a hint of sarcasm: "President Zhao, you've arrived a bit too late. If you really want to save people, please come earlier next time."

"Ye Qingzhou, do you realize that what you're doing is weakening the fighting power of my human race?"

Faced with Ye Qingzhou's sarcasm, Zhao Zhiyi's face turned purple with rage: "You act so recklessly, disregarding the overall situation, do you really think I can't deal with you?"

"So, Chairman Zhao means that when Li Yaoping came to kill me, it didn't count as weakening the human race's fighting strength? And I shouldn't have resisted, but should have just waited to die?"

Ye Qingzhou scoffed at Zhao Zhiyi's explanation.

When someone asks you to consider the bigger picture, then you yourself are definitely not part of that bigger picture.

If we're really talking about reckless behavior, it's Li Yaoping and the Li family of Liancheng who are acting recklessly; how can we blame Ye Qingzhou?

If we let Li Yaoping off the hook this time, what about next time?

Are you waiting for the Li family of Liancheng to spend money, hire people to help them, and then push them all onto you in one fell swoop?

With Yingyue around, Ye Qingzhou wasn't afraid of being surrounded, but why should a good person have a gun pointed at him?

In Ye Qingzhou's view, since Li Yaoping wanted to kill him and had actually done so, it was only natural that he would be killed by Ye Qingzhou.

As for Li Yaoping's identity and achievements?

What's it to me!

When Zhao Zhiyi saw that Ye Qingzhou not only showed no remorse but also spoke back to him, his anger intensified.

"Ye Qingzhou, don't think that just because you have the Heavenly Calculator and the Azure Dragon as your backers, you can be arrogant and lawless. And don't think that you've covered up your murder without any flaws. Li Jian'en once made a call for help, and I can use that as a reason to arrest you and investigate you."

"What Chairman Zhao means is that you received the call for help but didn't come to the rescue immediately, so Li Yaoping's murder is your fault. If you had come sooner, he might not have died?"

"you!"

Zhao Zhiyi realized he had misspoke, but then hardened his face and stopped talking about it, changing the subject instead: "No matter what, you shouldn't have killed him; it went too far!"

"Too much?"

Ye Qingzhou narrowed her eyes slightly, looking at Zhao Zhiyi with a mocking expression: "Then, Chairman Zhao, what do you think I should do to avoid going too far?"

"You could have handed Li Yaoping over to our martial arts association for punishment; you shouldn't have resorted to vigilante justice."

"May I ask how the Martial Arts Association plans to handle this? A slap on the wrist, then a fait accompli, as if nothing happened?"

"How dare you!"

"What, can't I even ask?"

The two refused to back down, and the atmosphere became tense.

"President Zhao."

Liu Yiming had arrived at Longhua Mountain at some point and appeared beside Ye Qingzhou.

Clearly, he was the savior Xu Yinchuan had brought in, and his presence here represented the Liu family of Xingcheng and the Xu family of Linjiang, standing up for Ye Qingzhou.

When Zhao Zhiyi saw Liu Yiming arrive, he knew that things could only end here. With the Xu and Liu families involved, even he couldn't cover up the truth and bypass the rules to deal with Ye Qingzhou.

Before leaving, Zhao Zhiyi gazed deeply at Ye Qingzhou and said, "I don't want this to happen again."

Seeing Zhao Zhiyi finally leave, Liu Yiming secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't want to fight a martial arts master who had been famous for many years.

Then, Liu Yiming looked at Ye Qingzhou with an incredulous expression, his face quite complicated, and finally asked, "Did you really kill Li Yaoping?"

Ye Qingzhou quickly emphasized, "What murder? Under the circumstances, my actions were in self-defense, okay? He brought people to surround and kill me, so I had no choice but to kill them."

"..."

Liu Yiming suddenly felt suffocated. He originally thought that he was already a genius for advancing to the master level at the age of twenty-five.

As a result, he encountered a monster like Ye Qingzhou in the blink of an eye. At the age of 17, he was surrounded and killed by a group of martial arts masters. In the end, it was the martial arts masters who died, and he may have also lost several professional martial arts practitioners.

Is this reasonable?

After being teased by Ye Qingzhou, Liu Yiming suddenly felt that his status as a martial arts master was not prestigious enough.

Finally, Liu Yiming could only say with deep emotion, "It's good that you're alright."

"Not only am I fine, I feel great."

At this moment, Ye Qingzhou's five energies were circulating endlessly within his body, and his five internal organs were becoming increasingly powerful. Once the refining of his organs and the replacement of his blood were completed, the power of his second-gear would likely reach even greater heights, further raising the upper limit of his super-speed.

…………

clang clang ~

In the dead of winter, Ye Qingzhou was enthusiastically "lifting iron" in his own courtyard, his fists flying everywhere as he forged a sword blank on an iron felt.

Each tap brings a sudden inspiration.

Each strike penetrated the spine of the sword.

Ye Qingzhou's refined techniques have finally reached a state of perfection. His moves are flawless, unchangeable, and beyond improvement, pushing the limits of human skill to its limit.

Under this perfect forging process, the divine gold, black iron, and golden flame stone, which were used as forging materials, produced a wonderful chemical reaction.

Their original material properties not only do not interfere with each other, but they also combine perfectly. In addition to the original three characteristics of true qi resonance, attack burst, and indestructibility, they also have an additional weapon characteristic.

Ye Qingzhou held the masterpiece he had crafted himself in his hands, stroking its thick, strong spine, and smiled as he called out to Yingyue, who was playing video games at home, "Come on, let's test this sword!"

Yingyue put down the hilt and looked at the nearly two-meter-long heavy sword in Ye Qingzhou's hand, quite surprised: "This must be the first top-quality weapon you've successfully forged, my lord?"

"good."

Ye Qingzhou examined the heavy sword in his hand, becoming more and more satisfied. He then beckoned to Yingyue: "Let's go, let's find a place to test the power of this sword."

The two then leaped into the air, riding the wind and arriving in the suburbs, where they stopped on the bank of the Xiaoshui River.

Despite the freezing weather, many anglers still gathered by the river.

Wearing thick coats and setting up tents, they braved the cold wind and remained steadfast in their commitment to feeding the fish in the river, fearing that the fish would become thin from hunger in the dead of winter.

Despite their enthusiasm, the cost-effectiveness of fishing is actually quite poor. You might feed them 100 pounds of bait and still not catch more than a few pounds of fish.

But anglers still enjoy it, so much so that in some rivers of Dongji Kingdom, even during the fishing moratorium, fishing is only prohibited but not fishing by one person with a single rod.

After all, for fish, feeding them large amounts of food every day, yet only occasionally catching a few unlucky ones from the group, is nothing short of a blessing from humans, making them practically gods among fish!

Ye Qingzhou brought Yingyue to the riverbank and was surprised to find that among the fishermen who were wrapped up tightly, there was actually his homeroom teacher, Zhu Hanwen.

"Old teacher?"

"Ye Qingzhou?"

Zhu Hanwen's nose was covered in snot bubbles from the cold, yet he remained steadfast at his post, clearly a seasoned angler.

He was quite pleased to see Ye Qingzhou and introduced him to the fishing friends next to him, saying, "Hehe, this is my student, the number one on the Hidden Dragon List of 'Martial Arts World,' and he recently won the Phoenix Cup Martial Arts League Championship in Hunan Province."

"Amazing! Amazing!"

"This young man has a bright future ahead of him!"

Many anglers looked at Zhu Hanwen with envy, thinking, "With a student like him, do we still have to worry about the rest of our lives?"

I'm afraid they won't even be able to collect all the prize money.

Zhu Hanwen asked with a smile, "Ye Qingzhou, are you here to fish too?"

Ye Qingzhou shook his head: "I'm here to fry fish."

"what?"

Zhu Hanwen looked stunned.

Before he could even ask a question, Ye Qingzhou looked at Yingyue and said, "Slap me lightly, just a fraction of your strength."

"Yes, my lord."

Yingyue wore tight-fitting jeans and a red and white striped knit sweater. Her makeup was exquisite, and she was stunningly beautiful. Every glance and smile had a captivating charm.

It was only then that Zhu Hanwen and the others noticed that behind Ye Qingzhou was a woman, a stunningly beautiful woman who could kill.

Previously, Yingyue had concealed her aura and, relying on her Grandmaster realm, merged with heaven and earth.

If she didn't speak, Zhu Hanwen and the others wouldn't even notice her presence.

At this moment, Yingyue raised her fair and delicate hand, which, like a finely carved piece of jade, was unforgettable in the winter sun.

But this delicate hand, so tender it seemed like it could be squeezed to release water, could stir up a fierce wind and create a terrifying current with just a gentle pat.

Zhu Hanwen's legs instinctively went weak, as if he were facing a natural disaster, and he was utterly terrified: "This is what you call one-tenth of your power?!"

Ding~

The palm "gently" landed on the greatsword, but the sound was deafening, like two trains traveling at 300 kilometers per hour suddenly colliding.

The overwhelming roar and the shockwaves it generated would have been pulverized into countless pieces of flesh and blood if Ye Qingzhou and Yingyue hadn't skillfully restrained them.

"Yingyue, your palm technique has improved again."

Ye Qingzhou used his greatsword to firmly withstand Yingyue's palm strike.

Upon receiving Ye Qingzhou's praise, Yingyue's face lit up with a smile, but then she also showed a surprised expression: "My lord, the sword in your hand can actually absorb my palm strike?"

Ye Qingzhou could easily have taken the blow, but what truly surprised Yingyue was that her palm felt as if it had struck a ball of cotton, and the force she exerted was like a mud ox sinking into the sea.

"Haha, that's what makes this sword special! Watch my super shock slash!"

Ye Qingzhou laughed loudly, then turned towards the direction of Xiaoshui and suddenly swung his greatsword.

The greatsword, having absorbed the power of the Moon Reflection Palm, now roared like an angry dragon. With a single slash, crimson sword energy crashed into the river, creating a deafening roar.

A large vacuum area was blasted open on the water's surface, causing the river to flow backward and form a huge whirlpool. Countless fish, shrimp, and crabs then fell from the sky along with the splashing water.

"This sword can absorb and transform the opponent's attacks, storing them within its blade. Once unleashed, it will be like the roar of a crimson dragon, shaking the heavens and the earth. In that case, let's name it Crimson Roar."

Holding the Crimson Roar Sword in his hand, Ye Qingzhou was in a great mood.

This was the first top-tier weapon he had ever crafted. Although it was far from being a peerless divine weapon, the joy he felt from its creation was indescribable.

"After learning the sword-forging techniques in the 'Heavenly Forging Scripture,' my understanding of swordsmanship seems to have reached a new level. It seems that the path of martial arts is indeed one of endless learning."

Ye Qingzhou, feeling triumphant, sheathed the Crimson Roar Sword, bid farewell to Zhu Hanwen, and then turned to leave.

Zhu Hanwen stood there stunned for a long time before finally laughing and crying at the same time, "This kid, he really came here to fry fish, huh?"

He looked at the fish, shrimp and crabs all over the ground, and then began to pick out a few of the biggest ones as spoils of war and left. What kind of fish were these, fried by students?

He clearly caught it himself!

Anyway, nobody else knows!

Seeing this, several fishermen nearby joined in, some picking up fish, others taking pictures. They had been empty-handed for several days, and this time they were determined to get their revenge!

As for fried fish?

Who fried the fish?

I didn't see it!

Don't talk nonsense!

…………

Xingcheng, Liu Family Mansion.

Liu Dingjian, who received the Crimson Roar Sword, was truly enamored with his new weapon.

When Liu Yiming and Liu Haochi learned of this, they were also very surprised: "You mean this top-quality sword was personally crafted by Ye Qingzhou?"

"Yes, although I didn't see it with my own eyes, it's an undeniable fact that Ye Qingzhou obtained the Yan Emperor's inheritance, and he has no reason to lie about such a thing."

Liu Dingjian stroked the blade of the Crimson Roar Sword. The unique heat of the Golden Flame Stone made his heart burn with excitement: "It actually possesses four characteristics. It truly deserves to be called a top-grade sword."

As one of the two most renowned sword-making families in Hunan Province, the Liu family of Xingcheng is naturally very familiar with the appraisal of famous swords.

A fine sword crafted by a skilled craftsman can only possess one characteristic, such as speed, sharpness, or agility, which are some of the most popular characteristics among swordsmen.

Swiftness allows for faster sword strikes, sharpness enhances armor-piercing capabilities, and agility makes the sword lighter, allowing for more varied sword techniques.

Why can a high-quality sword only have one characteristic and not multiple characteristics?

Because the craftsman's own abilities are limited, he cannot perfectly bring out the full potential of the properties of various forging materials. Therefore, he can only combine and arrange them, making choices and sacrificing the properties of some materials in exchange for the enhancement of the properties of others.

At the master craftsman level, with the improvement of forging skills and a deeper understanding of forging materials, the master craftsman is able to create exquisite swords that possess both characteristics.

For example, the Xuanjian sword that Ye Qingzhou used before possessed both speed and sharpness, and was obviously made by a senior craftsman from the Famous Swords Group.

In addition to fine pieces, there are also rare and exquisite pieces.

Among them, rare and famous swords possess three characteristics.

The top-grade swords possess four unique characteristics, making Ye Qingzhou a true master craftsman.

Although a master craftsman is only one level above a famous craftsman, the difference between the two is actually enormous, like heaven and earth.

Because a master craftsman simply brings out the characteristics of all the casting materials so that they do not interfere with each other, but a grandmaster craftsman is different.

Religion not only aims to perfectly utilize the original material properties of the casting materials, but also to create a new property that did not exist before by combining the three materials.

This new characteristic must not conflict with or cancel out the existing characteristics, but rather they must fit together perfectly.

The skill requirements for swordsmiths are extremely demanding, and often require a burst of inspiration. Only with a flash of inspiration can a truly unique and exquisite sword be forged.

Without a doubt, the Crimson Roar Sword in Liu Dingjian's hands is such a rare masterpiece.

(End of this chapter)