The Path of the Martial Arts BOSS
Chapter 310 - 122: The Turbulent Undercurrents of the Northern Zhou

Chapter 310: Chapter 122: The Turbulent Undercurrents of the Northern Zhou

With the help of Yun Wuyue’s intelligence, the Azure Dragon Association made extremely swift progress in subjugating the mid- and lower-tier families within Northern Zhou.

Families whose strongest members were below the Divine Origin Realm martial artists were easily subdued in secret by the Azure Dragon Association. To prevent an incident like what happened at Qiangong Castle from recurring, every martial artist in the Innate Realm was made to take the "Three Corpses Brain God Pill."

For martial artists in the Divine Origin Realm, Qing Yu personally applied the power of thought from "Ten Thousand Paths" combined with the "Mountain Scripture" to imprint a restriction resembling a mental stamp. These martial artists found it difficult to make any progress in their cultivation after the imposition of the restriction, but their loyalty to the Azure Dragon Association was exceedingly solid.

Qing Yu did not require their martial force; the assassins of the Azure Dragon Association, especially the Demon Blade Guard who could join forces to kill a Divine Origin Realm martial artist, were already enough to ensure the strength of the Azure Dragon Association.

However, this inevitably exposed those secretly subdued families to Yun Wuyue, who provided all of the intelligence after all.

Yet, Qing Yu didn’t much care about these minor issues.

Subjugating these mid- and lower-tier families was indeed meant to deepen the roots of the Azure Dragon Association in the Northern Zhou territory, but that was not the main goal.

In this world, where formidable power belonged to the individual, even the greatest forces required strength for protection. Subjugating these families primarily served to advance Qing Yu’s personal power.

Having hundreds of large and small families covertly at his service meant Qing Yu did not need to worry about insufficient resources for his cultivation. Moreover, coercing various families with force and tactics also brought a significant amount of Villain Points to Qing Yu.

In these days alone, Qing Yu had already amassed as many as six thousand Villain Points, and with just the Intermediate Lottery, he could already draw six times. However, since the Intermediate Lottery was no longer of much help to Qing Yu, he saved it for future use.

In the process of subjugating families, Qing Yu also discovered another power doing the same work. Some families that the Azure Dragon Association approached had already been subdued by this power.

This force was the Cangsheng Sect. Ever since discovering Han Wenxin was a follower of the Cangsheng Sect, Qing Yu had quietly taken note of this sect. Considering Han Wenxin’s proximity to the Sixth Prince, the Cangsheng Sect’s ambitions appeared to be vast.

According to the information Qing Yu received from the Shadow Pavilion, the Cangsheng Sect had always been evangelizing in the Western Regions, competing with Nalanda Temple for followers. The Sect Hierarch Mu Cangsheng, ranked tenth on the Heavenly List, always presented himself as a young man, his true age unknown, proclaiming to be the Son of Heaven and shepherd of the masses on behalf of heaven, which could be seen as a blatant desecration of imperial authority.

The title "Son of Heaven" has traditionally been exclusive to the Emperor, and shepherding the masses on behalf of heaven is precisely usurping the Emperor’s duty. With Mu Cangsheng claiming such titles, it was as if he was openly declaring himself emperor; if not for the tenth rank’s powerful threat on the Heavenly List and the Cangsheng Sect’s ongoing conflict with Nalanda Temple in the Western Regions, the Daqian Dynasty might have sent forces to exterminate them long ago.

However, it was unexpected that the Cangsheng Sect had quietly extended its reach into Northern Zhou. It seems Northern Zhou was quite popular; both the Esoteric Sect and the Cangsheng Sect had all flocked here at once.

The Esoteric Sect had only appeared recently and had not had time for any undercover actions. But the Cangsheng Sect had been making moves in Northern Zhou much earlier. Take Han Wenxin, for example, who joined the Mountain River Academy three years ago, which means the Cangsheng Sect had been operating in Northern Zhou for at least three years.

Adding the similarly covertly operating Azure Dragon Association, Emperor of Northern Zhou, Feng Tianming, in the Divine Capital, and the high-ranking officials of the Northern Zhou Court, would probably never imagine that seemingly peaceful Northern Zhou was already seething with undercurrents.

No matter what the future might hold, at least for now, Northern Zhou still superficially maintained a stable appearance. This was the confidence behind Feng Tianming’s reckless actions.

Having generally established the Azure Dragon Association’s foundation, Qing Yu found time to attend to a long-neglected matter. Yuan Jianyi had been waiting long enough; to delay any longer would make it difficult to ask for his help in the future.

Thus, Qing Yu sent an invitation to Yuan Jianyi, who still frequently visited the Azure Dragon Association’s shops in the Shadow Market, arranging to meet him by Mingjing Lake in Yan Province.

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Yan Province, Mingjing Lake.

As a well-known local attraction, Mingjing Lake has always been popular with poets and scholars from Northern Zhou. Young romantics also greatly enjoyed making appointments with their beloved ladies to enjoy the spring at Mingjing Lake.

However, today Mingjing Lake had seen an out-of-place figure among the many springtime visitors.

Yuan Jianyi was dressed in a clean and sharp white outfit, holding an ordinary iron sword, exuding an aura of sharpness that, although somewhat restrained after advancing to the Divine Origin Realm, still made him stand out uncomfortably from the other leisurely strollers, appearing somewhat out of place.

"Brother Yuan, such attire hardly suits the scenery here," a leisurely voice came from behind. Yuan Jianyi turned to look and saw a dashing young master in black finery and a jade crown, holding a jade-boned folding fan, smiling as he slowly approached.

Just the sight of his face was refreshing, a stark contrast to Yuan Jianyi’s serious demeanor.

However, facing such an amiable person, Yuan Jianyi’s face was deeply furrowed, "If it’s inconvenient, wearing a mask would suffice."

Having spent some time with Yuan Jianyi and understanding his way of speaking, Qing Yu inferred the meaning behind his words. If it’s not convenient, wearing another disguise would work; there was no need to falsify one’s appearance.

"Brother Yuan, how did you recognize that my face was fake?" Qing Yu asked in surprise.

He thought that although the face was hastily made and not intended for regular use, it was nonetheless flawless. An occurrence like being seen through by Qiao Baixuan through Physiognomy should not have happened again.

"Instinct," Yuan Jianyi said succinctly, leaving Qing Yu feeling helpless. Sometimes, instinct really could be irrational. For someone as sincere as Yuan Jianyi, trust in his instinct was paramount.

Qing Yu looked intently at Yuan Jianyi. Using the "Heavenly Son’s Qi Observation Skill" to scrutinize his movements and mental state, he sensed that at this moment, Yuan Jianyi seemed like a sharp sword, his Sword Heart pure and flawless, piercing through all falsehoods. With such a Sword Heart, even the use of the "Heavenly Son’s Qi Observation Skill" allowed Yuan Jianyi to glimpse some clues.

"Sword Heart Clarity, Brother Yuan, your mental state has greatly progressed," Qing Yu suddenly praised.

The last time at the Heavenly Calculation Inheritance Relics, Yuan Jianyi was unaware of his Disguise Technique, but this time he noticed something amiss from the start.

Attributing it to a sudden instinct seemed a bit unreasonable. The only explanation was that Yuan Jianyi’s mentality had reached a whole new level—a Transparent Sword Heart, unafraid of any falsehood.

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