Simultaneous travel: I am rampant in the domestic area

Chapter 177 Old Man, Heavenly Blade Mantis
“The customs of the people here are surprisingly simple and honest.”

At the border of Jianzhou, in a roadside tavern, Xu Qian'an pointed at the fight happening on the street corner, his mouth twitching.

What surprised him even more was that the expressions of the merchants and passersby around him were extremely calm, as if they were used to it. They were completely insensitive and did not worry at all that the fire at the city gate would affect innocent people.

In less than an hour since they arrived, they had already witnessed three ranger duels and two gang fights.

"This is Jianzhou after all. It's normal to have abundant martial virtues here. You just need to get used to it." Taoist Jinlian stroked his beard and smiled complacently.

Choosing this place as the base was the result of careful consideration.

Jianzhou is located in the northwest of Dafeng, bordering Leizhou to the west and Jiangzhou to the north. Because there are two canal transportation routes through Jianzhou, it is very prosperous and it is very convenient to travel whether by land or water.

Most importantly, Jianzhou is also the martial arts holy land of Dafeng, and it is also the only state with a "Martial Arts Leader".

Unlike the other twelve continents where gangs are everywhere but are like a pile of loose sand, the entire martial arts world of Jianzhou is a whole.

The Wulin Alliance is the one that rules the Jianzhou martial arts world.

This is an organization that even local officials have to be polite to, and even the imperial court has to recognize its status.

Of course, the Wulin Alliance is not an evil organization that breaks the law by force.

On the contrary, the existence of the Wulin Alliance has greatly improved the order of the martial arts world in Jianzhou, and it has truly ensured that martial arts world affairs remain within the martial arts world and will not harm family and friends.

Fights between gangs can be seen almost everywhere here, but they are very cautious in their attacks. They will neither harm innocent passers-by nor kill each other. At most, they will beat the other gang to a pulp and then notify the government to come and clean up the mess.

"This is considered good." Chu Yuanzhen happily drank the famous Jianzhou wine Hongchenke in the bowl and shared his experience of coming to Jianzhou last time.

At that time, he traveled to Changze County in the north of Jianzhou. The masters of the two largest sects in the county, Chunfeng Tower and Tiejia Gate, were exposed to be cheating on each other, causing chaos in the entire Changze County.

In the end, two fifth-grade masters from both camps died. It was not until the contemporary Wulin Alliance leader Cao Qingyang stepped in to mediate (he knocked down the fourth-grade masters of each sect with just three punches and two kicks) that the situation was settled.

The seven members of the Tiandihui sat at two tables drinking and listening to Chu Yuanzhen's story with great interest.

"What is the strength of this Alliance Leader Cao?" Xu Qian'an took the opportunity to ask.

"When I first met him five years ago, he gave me the same impression as Jiang Luzhong Jinluo, who was at the peak of the fourth rank. Now, he should have reached the perfection of the fourth rank and is trying to break through the extraordinary barrier." Chu Yuanzhen recalled for a while and speculated.

Speaking of Cao Qingyang, Chu Yuanzhen also shared a street anecdote he heard about this martial arts leader.

It is said that the leader Cao at that time was just an insignificant minion of the Wulin Alliance. Perhaps it was fate that by chance he met the former leader of the Wulin Alliance who was obsessed with physiognomy. The former leader said frankly that his face was extraordinary and was a one-in-a-million Hou Tu face.

The sky is round and the earth is square, and the earth is generous and tolerant. People with the Hou Tu aspect are virtuous and can lead the heroes. So he was accepted as a disciple by the former leader, who taught him martial arts and passed on the position of leader of the Wulin Alliance to him. Since then, Cao Qingyang's martial arts have made great progress until now.

"Is this true? So dramatic?" Li Miaozhen asked in surprise.

"Of course it's fake." Russell peeled a bowl full of shrimp for Li Miaozhen and handed it to her. "This story is probably spread within the Wulin Alliance to increase Alliance Leader Cao's popularity."

Xu Qian'an couldn't stop nodding, indicating that he was familiar with this matter. On Earth, if there were no earth-shaking phenomena when one was born, it would be embarrassing to claim that one was the founding emperor of a dynasty.

"You people from the Central Plains have such complicated minds." Lina couldn't help clicking her tongue. If Russell hadn't said it, she would have really believed it was true. She was even ready to go find Cao Qingyang's teacher to become his disciple. Grandma Tian Gu also met her and said that she was a rare genius among the Gu clan.

"That's not right." Xu Qian'an suddenly realized that no matter how powerful the Wulin Alliance was, it was just a gang organization. What did Cao Qingyang want from the people?
Taoist Master Jinlian gave him the answer to this question.

Six hundred years ago, during the last years of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the emperor was unjust and the people were living in misery. Warlords rose up in rebellion and fought for supremacy.

Until the fall of the Great Zhou, the ancestor of the Jianzhou Wulin Alliance and the founding emperor of Dafeng were the most powerful and were both the heroes with the greatest hope of conquering the world at that time.

In order to avoid further bloodshed, the ancestor of Jianzhou and the Taizu of Dafeng used their respective armies as bargaining chips and engaged in a battle of wills between warriors in front of heroes all over the world.

Needless to say, the result was that the ancestor of Jianzhou was defeated and stayed in Jianzhou with his forces. He established the Wulin Alliance and made an agreement with the Taizu of Dafeng that if one day the emperor of Dafeng became as unjust as the Emperor Li of Dazhou, the ancestor of Jianzhou could just raise an army like he did in the last years of Dazhou, overthrow Dafeng and replace him.

"So, the Wulin Alliance is already preparing for a rebellion?" Xu Qian'an tutted, wondering if the Jianzhou ancestor had become a first-rank martial artist. Otherwise, how could he dare to do such a thing under the supervision of the Supervisor?

"Who knows?" Taoist Jinlian was busy with his own affairs, so how could he have the ability to find out what was going on inside the Wulin Alliance?

After eating and drinking, the group set off again, following Taoist Master Jinlian as they made many twists and turns outside Jianzhou City, and finally stopped in front of a villa called "Yuezhi Villa" in the evening.

The villa is nestled against the mountain and beside the water, with pavilions, waterside terraces, small bridges and flowing water.

The attic is exquisitely built, dotted with rockery, gardens and green trees, creating a beautiful scenery.

This villa was the property of a wealthy merchant in Jianzhou. Many years ago, the wealthy merchant fell into trouble and was chased by thieves. He happened to be rescued by a Taoist priest from Dizong. To express his gratitude, he gave this villa to the Taoist priest.

Later, this villa became the secret base of the Xiushan Sect of the Earth Sect and the headquarters of the Heaven and Earth Society.

There are a total of thirty-six Taoist priests of the Earth Sect in the villa. In addition to Jinlian, there is also a Taoist priest Bailian, a fourth-grade strongman.

The cultivation levels of the other disciples range from the early ninth rank to the late sixth rank, and no master who has reached the fifth rank has appeared yet.

As soon as they walked into the gate of the villa, they saw a ray of light in nine colors, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, gold and white, which lit up in sequence and rose and fell like breathing. After dozens of times, a ray of light rose up hundreds of feet high, illuminating the night.

Within dozens of miles, as long as you look up, you can see this magnificent glow.

In the end, it was Russell who took action, grabbed the starlight in the sky, and set up a formation outside the Yue clan Villa to cover up the rosy glow.

"Is this the nine-colored lotus?" Xu Qian'an opened his mouth and watched the rosy glow gradually disappear until it became invisible. This magnificent sight was the first time even for him.

Taoist Priest Jinlian nodded and said, "Every time the Nine-Colored Golden Lotus is on the verge of maturity, it emits a radiant glow that cannot be concealed."

"Senior Brother!" At this moment, a voice sounded from inside the manor. A graceful woman dressed in a plain long skirt, like a young woman, hurried over from the end of the road with two disciples, a man and a woman.

They witnessed with their own eyes the falling starlight covering the nine-colored rays of light, and guessed that it was Taoist Master Jinlian returning from the capital with the holders of the Earth Book.

"Junior sister." Taoist Master Jinlian responded and led the people from the Tiandihui to meet Taoist Master Bailian, introducing each other's identities to both sides.

After learning that Russell was a powerful person of the extraordinary level, Taoist Master Bai Lian showed extraordinary joy.

The matter of the nine-colored lotus is bound to cause competition among various forces. If there is an extraordinary person in charge, it will undoubtedly reduce many casualties.

There are only thirty-five disciples left in the Di Zong besides her. Each of them is the future of their Di Zong, and she doesn't want to see anyone else die.

... "I'm having my period these days, so please don't do anything bad to me."

In the middle of the night, the full moon shines coldly, high in the sky.

In the room, Li Miaozhen crossed her arms over her chest and stared at Russell, who suddenly turned over and sat up beside her, with a vigilant look on her face, fearing that he would propose a "bloody battle".

It doesn't hurt, but it's mainly disgusting, and it tends to get everywhere, making it very troublesome to clean up.

"Am I such a hasty person?" Russell tried to defend himself, but was brutally accused by Li Miaozhen: "Of course not, have you forgotten last month..."

Russell held his forehead helplessly. He didn't know what happened a month ago. By the time he realized it, it was too late.

The main reason was that he hadn't expected that a cultivator at the fourth-grade Nascent Soul stage, who could fly and hide in the ground, would still have the concept of menstruation.

"Really not." Russell sensed the silence in the villa, quickly put on his clothes, and said mysteriously, "I'll take you somewhere."

"Where are we going so late at night?" Li Miaozhen asked, but her actions were not vague at all. She put on her inner clothes and Taoist robe in no time.

"Do you remember the ancestor of the Wulin Alliance we talked about during the day? Accompany me to visit him." Seeing that Li Miaozhen still wanted to fly the sword, Russell simply pulled her into his arms, and then pulled a piece of starlight from the sky, enveloped the two of them, and performed the Star Shifting Technique.

"The ancestor of the Wulin Alliance? He's still alive? Where did you get the news?" On the one hand, Li Miaozhen was curious about the strange sight of the flow of time and space around her as the stars moved, and on the other hand, she was surprised that Russell said he wanted to visit Kou Yangzhou.

Three hundred years ago, Tianzong's intelligence network completely lost the news of Wulin Alliance's ancestor Kou Yangzhou, stating that he was suspected to have died. To this day, Tianzong has classified him as a historical figure in the Jiuzhou Characters Chronicle compiled by Tianzong, but no one expected that he is still alive.

"Someone owes this old man Kou a debt, and I have to help him plug this leak." Russell replied half-truthfully.

In fact, he himself was also preparing to meet the sword master of this world.

He was very curious whether this old man had been tricked by the warden.

Because according to reason, since Kou Yangzhou can rely on his talent to break through the third level without any luck, then for him, breaking through the second level should not be a difficult task. Why is he still lingering at the third level of perfection?

"If someone owes you a debt, why doesn't he pay it back himself instead of asking you to do it?" Li Miaozhen said protectively.

"Of course it's because I owe someone more." Russell curled his lips nonchalantly.

This is what is meant by "one misstep can lead to eternal regret."

But he didn't regret it. His good luck made it much easier for him to do many things, and he also found himself the biggest backer in the world of Dafeng. No matter how you looked at it, it was not a loss.

The stars moved, and in half a minute, Russell and Li Miaozhen arrived at the headquarters of the Wulin Alliance, the top of Quanrong Mountain.

According to the Jiuzhou Geography, there was a mountain in Jianzhou, and in the mountain there was a beast with a human face and a beast body, six tails, and the ability to swallow the moon. It was called "Quanrong", and the mountain got its name from this.

The Quanrong Mountain is steep, shrouded in clouds and mist, with dense forests and the sounds of cranes and monkeys. Starting from the mountainside, courtyards and attics are scattered all the way to the top of the mountain.

Russell and Li Miaozhen trekked through the mountains and forests for a quarter of an hour, and suddenly the view in front of them opened up to a huge cliff. At the bottom of the towering cliff was a stone gate.

The stone door was tightly closed, and the entrance was covered with rotten leaves and overgrown with weeds. It seemed as if it had been sealed in dust for endless years and had never been opened.

"Who are you?" As Russell withdrew the starlight from his body, his breath was immediately revealed on Quanrong Mountain. The stone gate began to tremble, dust fell, and then a low voice was heard.

"My name is Russell, and I'm here to fulfill the promise that I made to Senior Kou on behalf of the Supervisor." Russell held Li Miaozhen's hand and helped her block the extraordinary pressure from the old man.

As Russell finished speaking, the trembling of the stone gate suddenly stopped.

"Five hundred years have passed. I thought the old man had forgotten about this." An old sigh came from the crack in the stone door. Then the stone door opened with a shake, revealing a dark and long passage. "Come in."

Russell and Li Miaozhen immediately stepped in.

After walking for a long time, they finally saw a stone chamber near the core of the mountain. There was no decoration or furniture in the chamber, only wriggling pieces of flesh.

This scene that made people's SAN value drop wildly made Li Miaozhen subconsciously grasp the sword.

"Something unexpected happened in Hedao." The old man explained concisely.

Then, under the gaze of Russell and Li Miaozhen, the wriggling pieces of flesh on the ground gathered together and gradually formed a human shape.

The old man sat cross-legged on the ground, his white hair draped behind him like a blanket, dragging on the ground, his eyebrows hanging on both sides of his cheeks, and his beard hanging down to his chest.

His current condition was visibly bad, with cracks covering his cheeks and spreading down to his entire body. Different auras on his body were intertwined and chaotic, making them difficult to discern.

"Senior's approach is a bit wild." Russell teased.

The first time he saw Kou Yangzhou, he already understood why the other party had been unable to break free from the shackles for five hundred years.

"Born in troubled times, surviving tomorrow is already a luxury. There are not so many choices." Kou Yangzhou did not avoid his situation.

Looking back on the past, in order to survive, he learned and practiced everything. When he reached the fourth-rank martial artist, he even comprehended as many as thirteen different meanings, and he chose one of them to successfully advance.

During that period of time, he was always proud of his martial arts talent. It was not until he reached the threshold of the second rank that he discovered in despair that his martial arts talent would become the biggest shackle hindering his promotion.

The second level of martial artist is called He Dao, which is essentially the transformation of the fourth level of "Intent", strengthening the characteristics of "Intent" to the extreme and suppressing all Intent of the same or other attributes.

For Kou Yangzhou, who grew up eating at many people's houses, he realized that in addition to the true meaning, there is also the "false meaning" hidden in other means.

However, the intention that the second-grade Hedao wanted to strengthen was all-round, which led to different intentions trying to occupy the dominant position. He began to hesitate, not knowing which path to choose, so he began to split, trying to find the optimal solution that best suited his wishes.

"You just said that you would fulfill your promise on behalf of the Supervisor. What do you have in mind?" Kou Yangzhou asked solemnly.

Five hundred years ago, when Emperor Taizong of Dafeng was restoring order, Jianzheng offered to help Kou Yangzhou be promoted to the second rank in the future in exchange for his help to Emperor Taizong. Since then, he has been waiting.

"Of course there is a way, but I don't know if you will accept it, senior." Russell curled the corners of his mouth.

"I'm going to die, just tell me the solution." Kou Yangzhou said confidently, patting his chest.

Russell nodded, took out a sleeping mantis in cocoon form from the fragment of the Earth Book, and said, "Senior, then you are poisoned."

(End of this chapter)