I became a Sword Emperor in the Martial Arts World

Chapter 175 Cremation, a Very New Environmental Concept

To test the characteristics of the Crimson Roar Sword, Liu Yiming personally went down into the arena and fought against his younger brother Liu Dingjian, with each of them occupying a corner of the stage.

Be careful.

"Big brother, you make your move."

Clang~

Liu Yiming drew his sword, and as the sword energy was released instantly, thunderous sounds echoed. It was the renowned Sword Energy Thunder Sound Technique, a high-level martial art.

This move is based on Yin and Thunder forces. The sword energy is both soft and hard, and the sword energy is unpredictable, making it difficult to distinguish between reality and illusion. It requires a very high level of skill, and at the same time, its destructive power is extremely astonishing.

Liu Dingjian knew the power of this move. He shouted in a deep voice and then shouldered the Crimson Roar Sword, which was as big as a door panel, assuming a posture of carrying a mountain on his back.

At this moment, he stood firmly on the ground, his power rising from the earth, his aura condensing around him, as heavy as a mountain and as lush as a forest. He was a perfect blend of stillness and movement, his power flowing smoothly and freely, as if he had mastered the intermediate-level martial art of "Standing on the Ground".

Ding~

Liu Dingjian used his sword as a shield to steadily block Liu Yiming's sword energy and thunderous attack.

Suddenly, two forces, one bright and one dark, struck the blade of the Crimson Roar Sword, attempting to travel through the blade and hilt to Liu Dingjian's body.

Within the sword energy and thunderous sound, the thunderous force is in the light, its power shaking the blood and qi; the yin force is in the dark, its power penetrating the lungs and internal organs. This is the truly terrifying aspect of the sword energy and thunderous sound.

Even if a common martial arts move is successfully blocked, the body will still suffer two stages of damage. Moreover, this damage goes straight to the internal organs, ignoring armor and defense, making it extremely terrifying.

In a normal battle, Liu Dingjian would already be injured at this moment.

However, the Crimson Roar Sword suddenly shone with a flowing light, and then the blade emitted a suction force, absorbing all of Liu Yiming's sword energy and thunderous attack into the blade and locking it firmly.

Then, Liu Dingjian switched from offense to defense and swung his sword at Liu Yiming.

buzz~

The Crimson Roar Sword trembled rapidly. As the strike was launched, the power it had just absorbed was transformed into blazing fire and returned in full.

Super Shock Slash!

Amidst the towering flames, explosions rang out continuously, shattering most of the training ground. The aftershocks continued unabated, even collapsing a section of the wall behind Liu Yiming.

Finally, as the smoke and dust cleared, Liu Yiming's unharmed figure slowly emerged and reappeared before Liu Dingjian.

At this moment, Liu Yiming was also full of praise: "The Crimson Roar Sword can withstand attacks from a master-level opponent, and can even absorb the power and then completely reflect it back. It's truly incredible."

Liu Haochi, who had been watching the test results, also felt that the Crimson Roar Sword was truly extraordinary: "In this way, the Crimson Roar Sword is a combination of offense and defense, and there are many martial arts moves that can be used in conjunction with it. It can be fully applied to most battlefield environments within the Cave Heaven Secret Realm, and its weapon characteristics are very practical."

Liu Haochi, a renowned swordsmith himself, was naturally well aware of the true value of the Crimson Roar Sword.

With four characteristics, it is undoubtedly a top-quality sword.

Even the finest swords are divided into different grades. The highest grade is like the Crimson Roar Sword, which has several characteristics that can be combined to create a variety of tactical routines to deal with complex and ever-changing actual battles.

Taking the opportunity, Liu Dingjian suggested to Liu Haochi, "Father, why don't we extend an invitation to Ye Qingzhou in the name of Mingjian Group?"

"Ye Qingzhou wouldn't even consider Zhao Zhiyi's offer, so why would he look favorably upon our Mingjian Group?"

It wasn't that Liu Haochi didn't want to invite him; the key issue was that he didn't think Ye Qingzhou was the kind of person who would willingly work for someone else.

Liu Dingjian laughed and said, "Father, it's impossible to invite Ye Qingzhou to be a master craftsman at Mingjian Group, but we can invite him to be an advisor."

A consultant, to put it bluntly, is someone who only takes money and does no work, at most occasionally offering advice.

This kind of entanglement of interests, while not particularly close to either party, is just right.

After all, Ye Qingzhou now possesses the strength to kill a master-level martial artist. Even with the advantage of his divine weapon, he is still worth the effort for the Liu family of Xingcheng to win him over and befriend him.

But Liu Haochi still had some concerns and hesitations: "But what about the Junshan Society..."

Liu Yiming gave a cold laugh, his tone quite disdainful: "Just a bunch of remnants of the old era. Our Liu family in Xingcheng has long since transformed itself, so why should we care about their opinions?"

Liu Haochi thought about it and felt that what his eldest son said made sense.

Although we all belong to the martial arts family camp, in the face of the new situation, someone has to be willing to make changes and embrace the future.

Of course, there are always people in this world who are unwilling to give up their vested interests and, when change comes, cling to the old ways and refuse to make changes.

Clearly, the Liu family of Xingcheng has been a reformist faction within the martial arts family in recent years, willing to make changes, with the Famous Sword Group being the best example.

Rather than direct monopoly and exploitation, the Liu family of Xingcheng prefers to participate in the official martial arts reform plan, continuously expanding the number of martial artists in Dongji Kingdom, so that ordinary people also have the opportunity to learn martial arts.

In this way, Mingjian Group's weapons business can also grow bigger and stronger, and it can reap huge profits from it. This is a true win-win model.

The members of the Junshan Society were clearly unwilling to accept this change. After all, they were used to making money while lying down. Now they were being asked to do something and compete with a group of "baseless commoners".

They won't agree!

In short, this is a group of remnants of the old era clinging to "ancestral laws" and rejecting any changes that are detrimental to them.

Although this group of remnants was numerous, deeply entrenched, and not weak, Liu Yiming still looked down on them and regarded them as a bunch of rats.

Ultimately, Liu Haochi decided to extend an invitation to Ye Qingzhou, offering him an annual salary of one million to serve as the technical consultant for the Mingjian Group.

"Is there really such a good thing?"

Upon hearing that he could get paid without doing any work, Ye Qingzhou happily agreed.

Then, Liu Yiming earnestly reminded Ye Qingzhou over the phone: "Be careful of the Junshan Society."

"Why? Have I offended them?"

Ye Qingzhou was completely confused; he had never even heard of the Junshan Society.

Liu Yiming then explained to Ye Qingzhou, "The members of the Junshan Society are basically from martial arts families in Hunan Province, and Li Yaoping is one of the core members of the Junshan Society. Now that you have killed Li Yaoping, the Junshan Society will definitely not let this go."

Upon hearing this, Ye Qingzhou instantly understood what kind of organization Junshan Society was.

To put it bluntly, it's a trust in the martial arts world. A group of vested interests who have risen to prominence through the flourishing of martial arts have formed an alliance to monopolize martial arts techniques and rare items, thereby maintaining their supreme monopoly position forever.

This group of people refuses to accept competition and excludes ordinary martial artists. They are almost going against the current development trend of the martial arts world in Dongji Kingdom, going against the tide and going against the current in various ways.

"A bunch of fools trying to stop a chariot with their bare hands, not worth my attention."

Ye Qingzhou clearly didn't think much of this group of good-for-nothings.

What kind of martial arts families are they? They call themselves noble, but in reality they are just a bunch of parasites in the martial arts world. They have a huge first-mover advantage, but they don't even dare to compete head-on with ordinary martial arts families.

How strong can such a bunch of trash be, and what future do they have?

Although Liu Yiming comes from a family of martial arts practitioners and is the eldest son of the Liu family in Xingcheng, as a genius, he naturally has the arrogance of a genius, so Ye Qingzhou's words are very much to his liking.

Liu Yiming laughed heartily, wholeheartedly agreeing with Ye Qingzhou's words: "That's right, we are martial artists who fight against fate. If we don't even have the courage to fight against people, what right do we have to fight against the earth or the heavens?"

The two exchanged a few words and then hung up the phone.

Yingyue moved closer to Ye Qingzhou, gently massaging his shoulders, and asked in a flattering tone, "My lord, this so-called Junshan Gathering is nothing but a bunch of rats. Should I go and wipe them all out?"

Recently, Ye Qingzhou has been feeding her innate Jia wood energy and innate Yi wood energy every day, bringing her closer and closer to her goal of transforming into a dragon body.

The more this happened, the more Yingyue became dependent on Ye Qingzhou, and she tried her best to please him every day.

Ye Qingzhou shook his head to stop him: "Hey, we're civilized people now. Let's not always think about fighting and killing. We need harmony and friendship, understand?"

"Saying one thing and meaning another."

Yingyue chuckled. She didn't believe Ye Qingzhou was a civilized person. He was the most violent of the two snakes in the family, scattering people's ashes at the drop of a hat, yet he insisted on calling himself a civilized person.

Ye Qingzhou defended his actions vehemently, saying, "What do you know? Cremation is an important symbol of modern civilization. It comes from heaven and earth and returns to heaven and earth. It's a very new environmental protection concept. I don't think you understand it at all. Anyway, it's none of your business as humans."

"Yes, yes, yes, what you say is all correct."

Yingyue didn't argue, just smiled and continued massaging Ye Qingzhou's shoulders.

…………

On the shores of Dongting Lake, in a pavilion shrouded in mist, ten people are having a tea party around a fire in the biting cold wind.

He Guoxing, Wei Yong, Li Shulan, Yu Dabing, Fu Wei, Chen Yuezhi, Zhang Xinping, Luo Haifeng, and Zou Xiulan—ten of the twelve families of Junshan have come today.

The reason the remaining two families didn't attend is because they will never be able to come again.

"Just yesterday, someone broke into the ancestral home of the Li family in Liancheng, shot Li Weifeng to death, then tortured and killed Li Wei, and finally burned the entire mansion to the ground before leaving."

"It must have been Ye Qingzhou who did it! Such a young age, yet so vicious, going so far as to wipe out entire families and bring disaster upon them! This matter must be reported to the Martial Arts Association, and he must be severely punished!"

"Come on, Ye Qingzhou used a sword, and he has a solid alibi."

"What exactly is Zhao Zhiyi doing? Months ago, the Song family of Linjiang was wiped out, and they still haven't given us an explanation. Now he's wiped out the Li family of Liancheng. If this continues, how many of the twelve families of Junshan will be left?"

Everyone was indignant. They had served the Eastern Extremity Kingdom and shed blood for it, and now they were being discarded like used tools. How could they not be angry?

"Yes, Zhao Zhiyi must give us an explanation!"

"Last time with the Song family, we couldn't find the culprit, so we let it go. This time, the culprit has been identified, so why hasn't Zhao Zhiyi arrested them yet?"

"If we don't address this issue today, who will stand up for us when the same thing happens to us in the future?"

"We must unite, otherwise we will be defeated one by one, and where will our Junshan Society have a foothold in the future?"

The official crackdown, both overt and covert, had long been a source of great discontent among these former members of the martial arts world. They even suspected that the Song family of Linjiang had been wiped out by Zhao Zhiyi and his men.

After all, Song Yanhai was a veteran master, and the Song family's "Six Absolute Techniques of Wind and Thunder" was extraordinary and incredibly powerful. Without a grandmaster-level expert, who could silently destroy the Song family?

In a province as large as Hunan, there are only a handful of masters at the grandmaster level. Apart from Zhao Zhiyi, there is no reason for other martial arts grandmasters to make a move.

He Guoxing looked at the other nine people: "There seems to be some unusual activity in Jiuli Cave Heaven. After ten years, a new beast tide is probably about to begin. Since Zhao Zhiyi has been unkind to us, then don't blame us for being unjust to him. Let him arrange for his own people to guard this dangerous place."

"Haha, Old He is right. They want us to risk our lives, and they also want us dead. Do they really think we're pushovers with no temper?"

The other nine people agreed, and the pressure quickly fell on Zhao Zhiyi.

Xingcheng Martial Arts Association, President's Office.

Thud~ Crack~

The expensive desk was smashed open, and the hard, red-veined ironwood, despite its iron-like hardness, was no harder than tofu under the force of a master's punch.

At this moment, sawdust was flying everywhere in the office, and documents were scattered all over the floor.

Zhao Zhiyi's thunderous rage made the martial arts association members passing by in the corridor walk with lighter steps, for fear of being caught in the crossfire.

"What is the Junshan Society trying to do? How dare they use the safety of 17 million soldiers and civilians in western Hunan to blackmail me?"

Governor Wang Anyuan sighed and said, "President, what should we do now? He Guoxing and the others have all refused to go to guard Jiuli Cave Heaven, citing concerns for their own safety. They demand that the Martial Arts Association provide an explanation for the annihilation of the Song family of Linjiang and the Li family of Liancheng, otherwise..."

"Explain yourself! They're demanding an explanation from me, but who am I supposed to ask for one?"

Zhao Zhiyi is currently very angry. Recently, he has been experiencing a series of misfortunes, and several of these incidents are directly or indirectly related to Ye Qingzhou.

Finally, Zhao Zhiyi thought for a moment and then instructed Wang Anyuan, "This trouble was caused by Ye Qingzhou, so let him handle it. Jiuli Cave Heaven can't be left unguarded. Doesn't he wield a divine weapon and possess master-level combat power? Let him fill this hole for me!"

Jiangshan Dijing, No. 168.

When faced with Wang Anyuan's personal visit, Ye Qingzhou was speechless after hearing his request: "You want me to guard the Jiuli Cave Heaven?"

"It's just that you're being sent to guard the area for a month. The original replacement was Li Yaoping, but he died at your hands, so this is your responsibility."

Wang Anyuan also wanted to use the moral high ground to pressure Ye Qingzhou and make him obediently submit.

But Ye Qingzhou wasn't buying it: "According to Governor Wang's logic, if I kill you, does that mean I'll have to shoulder the governor's responsibilities too?"

As Ye Qingzhou's sharp, sword-like gaze fell upon Wang Anyuan's neck, a chill ran down his spine, and cold sweat poured down his back: "Ye... Ye Qingzhou, I'm warning you, don't do anything reckless!"

"See, you're in such a hurry again. I never said I wanted to be the governor!"

Ye Qingzhou chuckled dismissively. He wouldn't fall for Wang Anyuan's ridiculous logic.

Wang Anyuan blushed, feeling embarrassed, but since it was Zhao Zhiyi's order, he could only bite the bullet and continue to deceive Ye Qingzhou, trying to get him to accept the Martial Arts Association's arrangements.

"Ye Qingzhou, you must understand that with great power comes great responsibility. The Jiuli Cave Heaven involves the safety of Xiangxi. Do you really intend to stand idly by? If you hadn't killed Li Yaoping, things wouldn't have escalated to this point. If those 17 million soldiers and civilians were to die because of you, could you live with yourself?"

"Yes, you can."

"..."

Ye Qingzhou's answer silenced Wang Anyuan. In the past, Wang Anyuan had always been successful in using righteousness to pressure others.

Unexpectedly, Ye Qingzhou completely disregarded this moral blackmail, adopting a "what's the worst that can happen?" attitude: "If something goes wrong, the person primarily responsible will be Chairman Zhao. It's because you're all incompetent and lazy that so many people have died. What does it have to do with me? Do you even know what it means to 'not concern yourself with matters outside your jurisdiction'?"

Ye Qingzhou scoffed at Wang Anyuan's explanation: "I find you guys really ridiculous. This person can't die, that person can't die, what, so only I can die?"

Xing Jiansong was like that last time, and Li Yaoping is like that this time. They have committed many evils, but they get away with nothing. At most, they are punished with three cups of wine.

Why?

It's simply because there's a Bodhisattva protecting the mount, which is why people prioritize the Buddha's sake over the monk's, raising it high and lowering it gently, ultimately leaving only human relationships and worldly concerns.

But Ye Qingzhou didn't care about any of that. Even if a Bodhisattva himself descended to earth and blocked his path, he would still kill him without hesitation.

Who cares if there will be a great flood after your Buddha dies?

If the world is to be protected by this bunch of things, then we might as well destroy it and rebuild a new one, a process of destruction and rebirth.

Wang Anyuan's face darkened after Ye Qingzhou's retort: ​​"Ye Qingzhou, are you really going to sit idly by and watch the safety of Xiangxi be jeopardized? Do you know how many people will die if something really happens?"

Ye Qingzhou's eyes flashed coldly: "Don't try to pin this on me. I only know that with great power comes great power. It's not that I can't go and guard the Nine Li Cave Heaven, but whatever benefits you gave Li Yaoping back then, you have to give me the same treatment now, not a penny less."

After saying that, he immediately served tea and saw the guest off.

Anyway, the conditions are set out in this way, and Ye Qingzhou will definitely not let others use him for free.

"This is outrageous! How can this person have no class at all!"

Left with no other choice, Wang Anyuan called Zhao Zhiyi and repeated Ye Qingzhou's requirements.

Zhao Zhi was displeased upon hearing this, but given the current shortage of manpower, he still gave Wang Anyuan an order: "Agree to his request. Since the Li family of Liancheng is already finished, just give them what was originally meant for them."

"Yes, President."

Wang Anyuan felt very distressed. These benefits could have gone into the department's slush fund, but now they were just going to benefit Ye Qingzhou for nothing.

He cursed inwardly: "What's wrong with young people these days? They have no spirit of sacrifice or dedication whatsoever! All they talk about is profit. Is the goal of striving really just for personal gain? It's outrageous!"

(End of this chapter)