I became a Sword Emperor in the Martial Arts World

Chapter 177 Murder and Arson: The Golden Belt

Tonight's grand banquet has attracted over a hundred attendees, with the entire fourth floor of the hotel booked out by members of the Linjiang Chamber of Commerce.

The atmosphere was lively, with toasts and laughter from learned scholars. Billionaires, rarely seen in ordinary times, were all gathered here.

Moreover, when they faced Ye Qingzhou, even if they weren't obsequious, they were all smiles and flattery, with someone frequently coming over to offer a toast: "Mr. Ye, I'll drink this one, you can drink as you like."

After that, we exchanged a few pleasantries, briefly introduced ourselves, and handed over our business cards. The whole process was very smooth.

Ye Qingzhou doesn't like drinking. In his previous life, he was a master swordsman, and if he drank alcohol, he would lose his grip on the sword.

And this habit naturally carried over into this life.

When others offered him a toast, he would simply pick up his glass, take a polite sip, and put it down. No one dared to bring this up; instead, they were all beaming with pride and felt very honored.

The so-called drinking culture is essentially a test of obedience from superiors to subordinates.

If you are stronger than your opponent, this tactic won't apply to you; otherwise, you're just asking for trouble.

Soon, Wan Shengjun brought Wan Jinglong to Ye Qingzhou.

Zheng Zhiguang quickly introduced Ye Qingzhou: "Mr. Ye, this is General Manager Wan of Junsheng Group. He is no ordinary man. He is the first entrepreneur in our Linjiang Chamber of Commerce to venture out of Hunan Province and into the national market. His business is very large."

Upon hearing that he was a wealthy man, Ye Qingzhou perked up: "Hello, Mr. Wan."

"Mr. Ye, you're too kind. Although I've made a little money, I can't compare to your youthful achievements. I'll have to rely on your help in the future."

Wan Shengjun adopted a very humble attitude. He was indeed a wealthy man, but in this day and age, with escalating geopolitical conflicts and an increasingly volatile global situation, doing business was becoming more and more difficult.

Therefore, no matter how much money you have, you still need military force as a backing and support; otherwise, you'll just be easy prey for others.

Subsequently, Wan Jinglong, who was five or six years older than Ye Qingzhou, had to treat Ye Qingzhou with the courtesy due to a junior. He increasingly regretted that when he was in high school, he was too busy playing and did not practice martial arts properly.

"Mr. Ye, this is a small gift, just a token of my appreciation. I hope you will accept it."

Wan Shengjun took a gift box from the bodyguard behind him and presented it to Ye Qingzhou with both hands.

"This is?"

When Ye Qingzhou opened the gift box, he found that it contained three pieces of refined metal with a very peculiar material that was translucent like glass.

Those around gasped in astonishment.

"Tianchen Steel!"

"Mr. Wan, you're really generous!"

"I've heard that Tianchen Steel is a top-grade rare treasure, costing 300,000 yuan per gram. These three pieces probably weigh about four kilograms, right? Wouldn't that be worth 600 million yuan?"

"Hiss~"

Many people were breathing heavily. You should know that not everyone in the Linjiang Chamber of Commerce is worth more than 100 million yuan, let alone 600 million yuan in cash.

The box of Tianchen Steel in front of us weighs about two kilograms, and its value exceeds the personal assets of most members of the Chamber of Commerce.

Ye Qingzhou naturally recognized the Tianchen Steel in the box. After all, martial artists in Dongji Kingdom also had to attend cultural classes; they weren't just mindless brutes who only knew how to fight.

"Mr. Wan, as the saying goes, one should not accept a reward without merit. This gift of yours is far too precious."

"Mr. Ye, as the saying goes, a fine sword is given to a hero. These Tianchen steels are just a waste of resources if they are left in my hands. Only a martial artist like you, Mr. Ye, can bring out their true value."

Clearly, Wan Shengjun had done his homework before coming. He knew that Ye Qingzhou was not only a promising martial artist, but also a master swordsmith.

Therefore, instead of directly spending money to buy a famous sword as a gift, he specially used his connections to buy three pieces of Tianchen Steel.

Over the years, Wan Shengjun, who has built a large real estate business, has learned a principle from the very beginning: when asking someone for a favor, you should never be stingy with gifts, but must give the best one in one go!

Now, he's throwing around 600 million to win over Ye Qingzhou in one fell swoop!

Ye Qingzhou was a straightforward person, so he smiled and said to Wan Shengjun, "When you give someone a gift, you must have something in mind. What would you like to ask for, Mr. Wan?"

If he could afford it, Ye Qingzhou wouldn't mind accepting Wan Shengjun's "bribe".

After all, Tianchen Steel is indeed an extremely rare material, even more precious than divine gold.

Wan Shengjun was overjoyed upon hearing this: "I hope Mr. Ye can take my son as his disciple. He has loved martial arts since he was a child, but unfortunately he has never been able to find a famous master..."

Ye Qingzhou listened to Wan Shengjun's words and casually glanced at Wan Jinglong a few times. How could he not see that Wan Shengjun was talking nonsense?

The claim of liking martial arts is just an excuse.

If you really love martial arts, how could you be twenty-four or twenty-five years old and still not have reached the professional level?

It should be noted that the Wan family is a powerful and wealthy family, and it is impossible for them to lack cultivation resources.

To put it bluntly, they just can't endure the hardship of martial arts training. Even if they like it, it's just a superficial liking, like Lord Ye's love of dragons.

After thinking for a moment, Ye Qingzhou said to Wan Shengjun, "Forget about becoming a true disciple, he can't learn my skills. But becoming a nominal disciple is still an option. Would you like to consider it?"

Wan Jinglong definitely couldn't become Ye Qingzhou's true disciple, since he was really too incompetent, and Ye Qingzhou couldn't bear the embarrassment.

However, becoming a nominal disciple is not a problem. It's equivalent to Wan Shengjun paying Ye Qingzhou to be Wan Jinglong's protector. If anyone wants to harm Wan Jinglong, they'll have to think twice.

Wan Shengjun agreed without hesitation: "Thank you, Mr. Ye. I'll accept the title of your disciple."

Everyone around was stunned by this scene. Wan Shengjun spent 600 million yuan to buy his son the status of a "nominal disciple"?

Martial artists make money way too easily!

In fact, not only were they moved, but Ye Qingzhou was also deeply touched.

In the Eastern Kingdom, professional martial artists can easily earn tens of millions with hard work, but to have a net worth of over 100 million, they would need to work hard for more than ten years.

Don't assume that professional martial artists earn money easily and can save up a lot of money. In reality, the expenses of martial artists' training are very high, meaning that the more they earn, the more they spend.

But once you reach the master level, the situation is completely different. Similar to the head effect in the industry, many people will rush to give you money.

For example, tonight, Ye Qingzhou did nothing, yet he received so many gifts that his hands were sore.

The Ye family mansion was quite quiet throughout.

In the master bedroom on the third floor, the lighting was soft and the room was spacious. Ye Qingzhou was sitting cross-legged with three semi-transparent metal blocks between his legs.

"The Tianchen Steel that Wan Shengjun gave us is indeed of exceptional quality."

Ye Qingzhou gently placed his right hand on the metal block. When he touched it, the Tianchen Steel felt icy cold, a chill that penetrated to the bone, as if it had no heat at all.

After Wan Shengjun arrived at tonight's year-end banquet, many more people followed. In the end, more than half of the major business families in Linjiang City sent representatives.

As for martial arts families, apart from Xu Yunxi and Xu Yuebing who came to offer their congratulations, none of the others came.

Clearly, because of Li Yaoping's death, they all had some grievances against Ye Qingzhou, or perhaps they simply didn't want to offend the Junshan Society, so they didn't send anyone over.

It didn't matter if they didn't come, because almost everyone from the Linjiang Chamber of Commerce was there. And when people came, they naturally couldn't come empty-handed. The Eastern Kingdom always valued reciprocity, so giving gifts was an essential part of the ceremony.

Ye Qingzhou received over 100 million yuan in monetary gifts from dozens of wealthy families, along with many precious jewels, antiques, and calligraphy and paintings.

But whether from the perspective of value or practicality, the Tianchen Steel given by Wan Shengjun was Ye Qingzhou's favorite gift among all of them.

According to others present at the time, the value of these three pieces of Tianchen Steel exceeded 600 million. Such top-grade treasures are so rare that even money cannot buy them. They are usually firmly controlled by powerful forces, and only a very small number will flow into the black market and be driven up to exorbitant prices.

"This is truly a wonderful item; it could be used to forge a top-tier sword."

Ye Qingzhou stroked the surface of Tianchen Steel, and couldn't help but sigh in his mind: "I received a hundred million in gifts, Tianchen Steel from Wan Shengjun, and a mansion from Lao Zheng. Since I killed Li Yaoping, I haven't done anything and I've gained nearly a billion in assets for free. It really is true that murder and arson bring wealth."

A billion yuan in assets is an astronomical sum for ordinary people. Many martial artists can probably only accumulate this much wealth by working hard all their lives.

As for wealthy business families, there are only a little over two thousand such families in the entire Eastern Kingdom with assets exceeding one billion.

Ye Qingzhou only took two days to get into the ranks, which shows how influential master-level martial artists are.

"I wonder how much my assets will balloon if I kill a Grandmaster next time?"

Various dangerous thoughts began to pop into Ye Qingzhou's mind.

…………

The next day, the sun rose in the east.

At the gate of the Ye residence, Steward Liang was leading a group of people to sweep and clean.

"Yingyue, Youruo, you don't need to see me off."

Ye Qingzhou was dressed in a simple white robe, looking dashing and debonair, which made the young maids in the mansion unable to resist stealing glances at his handsome face.

He wasn't worried about Yingyue and Youruo, but he still patiently instructed them, "I'm going away for a month to guard the Jiuli Cave Heaven. You two stay home and behave yourselves, don't cause any trouble."

"Don't worry, my lord, we all know. We won't cause trouble. If we encounter any problems, we'll go to the Linjiang Chamber of Commerce and ask Zheng Zhiguang for help. If it's a major issue that he can't resolve, we'll go to Gu Minghui."

Yingyue smiled, her eyes crinkling, and held Ye Qingzhou's hand, her face full of reluctance: "My lord, you must come back soon."

"Yes, I will."

Ye Qingzhou smiled and said, "You also need to pay more attention to your cultivation. Don't just spend all day watching dramas and shipping couples and neglect your training."

Afterwards, Ye Qingzhou gave Liang Bo a few more instructions, telling him to keep an eye on the house.

Having dealt with these matters, Ye Qingzhou didn't linger any longer and strode out the door, heading towards the street.

A black all-electric luxury car had been waiting for a long time on the road outside the Ye family mansion.

"Ye Qianlong".

A burly man in a martial arts association uniform stepped forward and said with a smile, "I am Zhang Hong. The martial arts association sent me here to escort Ye Qianlong to Jiuli Cave Heaven to take charge."

Thank you for your trouble.

After confirming his identity, Ye Qingzhou got into the car.

"Yingyue, Youruo, I'm leaving."

Ye Qingzhou and the others waved goodbye.

Then, under everyone's watchful eyes, the black sedan Ye Qingzhou was riding in quickly disappeared at the end of the road.

…………

The pure electric car drove very smoothly. Ye Qingzhou set off from Linjiang and headed west, soon entering the Xiangxi region.

The route taken in western Hunan is different from the national highway that Ye Qingzhou took when he came from the east.

The roads here are wider, but there are very few pedestrians. As far as the eye can see, there are large numbers of infantrymen and armored tanks stationed nearby, carrying out their daily training.

From what Ye Qingzhou saw alone, there were several thousand people, enough for an entire brigade. The sheer scale of the operation was astounding. If it weren't for the news reports still portraying the entire country as peaceful and prosperous, Ye Qingzhou would have thought that war was about to break out.

"Haha, Ye Qianlong is surprised?"

Zhang Hong, a burly man in the passenger seat, explained with a smile: "It's close to the end of the year, so the Southwest Military Region is conducting its routine internal training. On the fifth day of the new year, the army will gather, with 100,000 people participating in the exercise. The dust raised will blot out the sky, and that's what you call a magnificent and awe-inspiring scale."

Ye Qingzhou nodded repeatedly as he listened. On Blue Star today, the army of the Eastern Pole Kingdom is undoubtedly the number one.

The Southwest Military Region alone has nearly a million troops stationed there.

Basically, cities with hidden caves and secret realms will garrison a regular garrison. In addition to large-scale combat missions equipped with high-tech weapons, the proportion of martial artists in the army is also astonishing. The military has its own professional-level martial artists and master-level martial artists.

The reason why the Eastern Kingdom was able to maintain stability and harmony after the appearance of the cave heaven is because of these people who are carrying the burden.

Ye Qingzhou and his group soon turned north along a main road on the side of the national highway, venturing deep into western Hunan.

The further north you go, the higher the terrain becomes, and the more rugged the surrounding landscape becomes.

Finally, after driving along a winding road that circled the mountain valley, the continuous mountain range shrouded in clouds and mist finally came into view before Ye Qingzhou.

"Wulong Mountain Grand Canyon".

Ye Qingzhou gazed into the distance, taking in the undulating terrain before him.

Wulong Mountain Grand Canyon is 15 kilometers long, with more than 200 karst caves scattered along its banks, earning it the reputation of "World Cave Museum".

Located at the junction of Hunan, Hubei and Chongqing provinces, this area covers a total area of ​​41 square kilometers.

The terrain in western Hunan is complex and the population is not dense, but the concentration of vital energy is extremely high. This is probably because it is close to the Jiuli Cave Heaven. Many areas have become "secret realms" and have undergone various changes.

In Ye Qingzhou's line of sight, more than ten miles away, the most majestic peaks in the continuous mountain range were almost entirely shrouded in clouds and mist, revealing only a portion of their true forms.

Among these peaks, clouds and mist swirl, and rare birds and animals can be vaguely seen flying out from time to time, making it seem like a celestial paradise.

"These mountains are all secret realms. On weekdays, some martial artists who have just entered the professional level are arranged to enter them for training. Firstly, it is to hone their abilities, and secondly, it is to allow them to harvest rare treasures in the secret realms regularly, so as to prevent some dangerous rare birds and beasts from breaking out and causing damage to the surrounding human cities."

Zhang Hong explained to Ye Qingzhou.

Caves and secret realms can bring various benefits, but they are also extremely dangerous, especially for ordinary people. When they encounter rare birds and beasts, they are often powerless to resist.

Therefore, regular hunting can effectively control the population of rare birds and beasts in the secret realm, keeping them confined here.

Ye Qingzhou finally understood how the various rare and precious items he had received regularly were "produced".

The professional martial artists of Dongji Kingdom are, to put it bluntly, a group of highly skilled "industrial workers" whose main job is to "produce" all sorts of rare and precious items.

Master-level experts, due to their formidable strength, are essentially a combination of security captain, foreman, and general manager, taking turns to oversee a specific location and maintain stable "production."

The system in Dongji Kingdom is now operating more and more smoothly, and the procedures have become extremely standardized.

The only problem is the number of master martial artists.

Although the martial arts world in Dongji Kingdom has flourished in the past decade, producing a large number of young, ordinary martial arts geniuses, the number of masters has grown slowly.

Adding to the casualties incurred during the exploration of various hidden caves and secret realms, the gap actually widened.

That's why after Song Yanhai and Li Yaoping died, Junshan would take the opportunity to shirk his responsibilities, which gave Zhao Zhiyi a major headache. In the end, he could only choose to let Ye Qingzhou replace Li Yaoping and guard Jiuli Cave.

The car quickly traveled more than ten miles, passing a huge mountain gate stone tablet with the two large characters "Jiuli" written on it, and then undergoing identity verification by the sentry guards.

Ye Qingzhou finally arrived at his destination.

"Ye Qianlong, follow this road up to our Martial Arts Association's headquarters here. Governor Wang should be waiting for us. Please follow me up the mountain."

Zhang Hong smiled broadly and spoke in a flattering tone.

Regardless of how displeased Zhao Zhiyi and Wang Anyuan were with Ye Qingzhou, it was an undeniable fact that Ye Qingzhou had a bright future, so none of his subordinates dared to offend him.

After all, Zhao Zhiyi's term as president still has five years left, while Ye Qingzhou's strength will only grow stronger. Therefore, the wisest course of action is to avoid offending anyone.

"Alright, please lead the way."

Ye Qingzhou looked up at the towering mountains, but his heart was at peace.

"Go up this road and you'll reach the main hall at the top. That's where the Martial Arts Association has set up its observation post. It's fully equipped with all the necessary living facilities, so you don't need to worry about daily life."

Zhang Hong walked ahead, introducing the area as he went. Ye Qingzhou listened casually, following behind him, while constantly glancing at the surroundings out of the corner of her eye.

The path up the mountain was wide but very steep. Of course, for Ye Qingzhou and Zhang Hong, two martial artists with cultivation, this steepness was not much different from that on flat ground.

Gradually, through the keen senses of a cicada, Ye Qingzhou noticed the changes in his surroundings.

"The spiritual energy of heaven and earth on this mountain is several times more concentrated than that at the foot of the mountain."

Ye Qingzhou asked, slightly surprised.

"Haha, Ye Qianlong sensed it?"

(End of this chapter)