Chapter 657
Imperial Ambition, Undercurrents Surge
Clang clang clang—!
Not far away, the nine black iron longswords on Jian Wuming's back remained unsheathed.
With just his two hands, he dealt with the three men's Nine Nether White Bone Swords with ease.
It looks like,
His feet seemed to be stepping on a Bagua formation, his movements were unpredictable and dazzling.
Passing through a sea of flowers, not a single petal remains.
This is the most skillful movement technique of the Kunlun Sword Sect. Even when facing the siege of three longswords, under the all-encompassing sword aura, it is still effective.
Jian Wuming acted with complete ease, and the sword strikes couldn't even get close to him.
of course,
All of this is related to one's level of understanding.
Jian Wuming is a sword saint, whose martial arts are two major realms higher than the three leaders of the Nine Nether Sect.
Although their sword formation was incredibly sharp, it couldn't shake Jian Wuming in the slightest.
What frustrated the three men in black even more was that they wanted to run away, not fight.
but,
They can't escape.
The surroundings were like a quagmire; they were restrained by Jian Wuming's aura and couldn't break free at all.
Every time they took a step forward, they were forced back by Jian Wuming's palm strike.
"As expected of the sect leader of Kunlun Sword Sect, a true sword saint!"
"I won against him back then by sheer luck."
Chen Jie sighed inwardly.
He watched as Jian Wuming moved with fluid grace, constantly weaving through the three swords' attacks.
Like butterflies fluttering among flowers, they danced freely without hindrance.
At this moment, Chen Jie was secretly surprised.
The martial arts level of these three people should be at the late stage of the Great Perfection of the Meridian Opening Qi, which is almost the same as that of Kou Yin and Cao Shaoqing.
If it were a one-on-one fight, Kou Yin, the Grand Eunuch, should be able to defeat them.
However, if the two sides join forces, Kou Yin and Cao Shaoqing alone would certainly be unable to defeat the three opponents.
The three of them clearly formed a combined sword formation, which was incredibly powerful.
unfortunately,
The three of them were facing Jian Wuming.
Jian Wuming didn't even need to draw his sword; he easily subdued the three men with his bare hands.
It's important to understand that capturing these three individuals is several times more difficult than killing them.
This shows that Jian Wuming's martial arts skills were by no means undeserved.
Even with only 20% of his power, he easily suppressed the three members of the Nine Nether Sect.
"This is the movement technique of the Kunlun Sword Sect, the Eight Desolate Soaring Dragon Step!?"
Chen Jie looked up at Jian Wuming's increasingly rapid pace, and a flash of inspiration struck him.
He suddenly recalled a part of the 'Sword Saint of Limitless' memories. Unfortunately, this movement technique was obscure and difficult to understand. The Sword Saint of Limitless had never learned it, but only had a faint memory of it.
at this time,
When he saw Jian Wuming use this movement technique, he quickly compared it with the Eight Desolate Dragon Steps from his memory.
The Eight Desolate Dragon Steps is the ultimate martial art of the Kunlun Sword Sect, and its profoundness is unfathomable.
This movement is like a swimming dragon, with feet stepping on the Bagua (Eight Trigrams), incredibly agile.
Each step looks simple and seems to have nothing unusual about it.
but,
The transformation of power and speed is unpredictable and untraceable, as fierce and swift as a swimming dragon.
Chen Jie fought Jian Wuming in the Kunlun Mountains, and what erupted at that time was a sword domain.
Both sides were under the influence of the overwhelming forces of heaven and earth, and Jian Wuming had no chance to unleash the Eight Desolate Dragon Steps.
In that state of peak combat, no movement technique will be of any use.
Bang, bang, bang—!
Just as Chen Jie was pondering this in his mind, three explosive sounds came from not far away.
The three Nine Netherworld Cult Leaders, dressed in black, fell to the ground with a thud.
Each of them was struck in the body with a palm, flying backward more than ten meters away, lying on the ground, struggling to get up.
Unfortunately, their dantian and qi sea acupoints were sealed by Jian Wuming's palm strike, so they couldn't move at all.
"Your Highness, they have been captured alive. You may ask them anything now!"
After Jian Wuming knocked the three men away and captured them, he retreated behind Chen Jie.
His clothes were completely wrinkle-free, as if he hadn't even made a move, and he appeared completely nonchalant.
at this time,
He stood silently not far behind Chen Jie, seemingly lost in thought.
Seeing Jian Wuming's expression at that moment, Chen Jie felt a sense of admiration.
The opponent's swordsmanship follows a fierce and powerful style, but he is completely unpretentious and even willing to serve by my side.
As long as he can step out of the third stage of "sitting in oblivion" and "gathering his mind", his future achievements will be limitless.
Swish swish--!
At this moment, Jian Wuming was seen defeating the three men in black.
The guards behind Chen Jie displayed their well-trained military skills.
Without uttering a single unnecessary word, they stepped forward, handcuffed the three men's arms behind their backs, and bound them with iron hoops.
At the same time, the bodyguards pressed their assault rifles against the backs of the three men, bringing them up in front of Chen Jie.
"Speak! Who sent you to attack me? Why did you ambush me here?"
"Who provided the information? And what's your name?"
Chen Jie approached the leader of the men in black.
Swish!
The bodyguard next to him ripped off the black mask from the man's face.
next moment,
Then, the face of the Nine Netherworld Cult Leader appeared before Chen Jie.
He has thick eyebrows and big eyes, and looks rather handsome.
A person who can become the leader of a religion is naturally not the kind of person with a pointed mouth and monkey cheeks.
"I take money to solve problems for others! My name is Yan Jiuyou, and I am the leader of the Jiuyou Sect. These two are our second and third leaders!"
"Our Nine Nether Sect received a mission from the King of Goryeo and a reward of ten million taels of silver. He also provided us with a Vulcan cannon and sent us to ambush and kill you in the dense forest of Qingyang County."
"Now that you've caught me, and I'm no match for you, you can do whatever you want with me, kill me or torture me."
The handsome Yan Jiuyou looked up at Chen Jie and got straight to the point.
He didn't try to argue; instead, he readily admitted defeat.
to be frank,
Chen Jie was slightly surprised after hearing what the other party said.
He originally thought he would have to use some tricks to get these people to tell the truth.
"Did the King of Goryeo give you the mission to intercept and kill me?"
Upon hearing this, Chen Jie frowned slightly.
Kou Yin, standing beside him, explained in a low voice:
"My lord, the King of Goryeo is merely a puppet; he has no real power."
"This is the Korean Peninsula, and the Japanese are the ones who give orders. They control all kinds of businesses, shipping routes, and so on in Korea. Almost all industries are controlled by the Japanese."
"The person who controls the King of Goryeo behind the scenes is the mastermind."
Kou Yin had a detailed understanding of the Korean Peninsula.
Chen Jie nodded slightly and asked, "Who is the person secretly controlling the King of Goryeo?"
The first person he thought of was probably Miyamoto Musashi.
but,
Miyamoto Musashi was a legendary swordsman, the greatest swordsman in the Orient.
He definitely didn't have that much time to control the Goryeo Dynasty.
"I don't know! Although the entire Goryeo Dynasty was controlled by the Japanese, no one knows exactly who it was."
Kou Yin thought for a moment, “One thing is certain: this person must be serving Miyamoto Musashi, not Emperor Meiji of Japan.”
Chen Jie turned his gaze to Yan Jiuyou and said in a deep voice:
"So you're the leader of the Nine Nether Sect? Tell me, what other information do you know?"
Yan Jiuyou lowered his head, his arms bound behind his back. Even with his martial arts skills at the peak of the Meridian Opening Realm, he had no courage to resist at this moment.
After hearing Chen Jie's question, he let out a breath and said:
"We came to the dense forest of Qingyang County to ambush you not only because of the King of Goryeo's mission, but also because the Netherworld Sect issued a kill order."
"The Netherworld Sect, a sacred place in the martial arts world, has issued a kill order, which our Nine Netherworld Sect must naturally obey."
Upon hearing this, Chen Jie was stunned.
"What martial arts holy land? How come another martial arts holy land of the Netherworld Sect has suddenly appeared in the martial arts world?"
He only knew that there were several sacred places in the martial arts world, such as West Kunlun, Cangzhou in Hebei, Wenzhou Prefecture in Jiangnan, and Guangfu City.
When did the Netherworld Sect become a sacred place in the martial arts world?
Netherworld Sect!
In fact, Chen Jie had heard these three words before, and remembered them very well.
The reason is simple: Liu Zhenfeng, the leader of the Chuojiao Sect, who is also the father of Liu Qi and Ba Mei, actually has intricate connections with the Youming Sect.
It is said that the ancestor of the Liu family was once the head of the Netherworld Sect, and could be considered a disciple of the Netherworld Sect.
Strictly speaking, Chen Jie initially learned martial arts from the Chuojiao Sect, which means he had a very complicated relationship with the Youming Sect.
The Great Qian Netherworld Sect.
Originally, it was just a martial arts sect in the Jianghu, with some connections to the major families of the Great Qian Dynasty.
Several hundred years ago, Shaolin Temple suffered a devastating disaster.
At that time, the world was in chaos, and many heroes rose up.
Although the Great Qian Dynasty carried out a bloody suppression and took over all of Shaolin Temple's armory, it did not achieve its goal.
The Netherworld Sect cooperated with the Great Qian Dynasty and, with the help of various powerful families, contributed significantly to suppressing rebellions by various forces in the martial arts world.
Later, in order to maintain the stability of imperial power, the Great Qian Dynasty issued a ban on martial arts, disbanding the forces and sects in the martial arts world.
The Netherworld Sect's power naturally disbanded, thus gaining the trust of the Great Qian Dynasty's royal family.
but,
Chen Jie learned from Li Lingyue and Li Aoshuang that although the Netherworld Sect outwardly obeyed orders, disbanded the sect, and transferred many of its businesses to the imperial court.
At the same time, all the branch forces under the Netherworld Sect, as well as more than 100,000 sect disciples, were disbanded.
Even now, news about the Netherworld Sect is rarely heard.
It did not expand like the Green Gang, Taipinghao, Hongmen, Gelaohui and other underworld forces, nor did it have an army under its command.
Many people have never even heard of the Netherworld Sect.
but,
For hundreds of years, the core strength of the Netherworld Sect has remained unchanged; in fact, it has become even stronger.
No, it should be said that after hundreds of years of biding its time, the Netherworld Sect's foundation has become increasingly profound.
Because during the operation to wipe out the Shaolin Temple hundreds of years ago, the Youming Sect obtained a large number of martial arts manuals.
Buddhist scriptures, martial arts biographies, gold and silver jewelry, martial arts manuals, and so on—almost half of them were taken away.
In a practical sense, the martial arts manuals stolen by the Netherworld Sect were more numerous than those in the imperial palace of the Great Qian Dynasty.
In that great storm that swept through the martial arts world, the Netherworld Sect gained a great deal of profit.
So in the end, it quietly withdrew from the scene and even disbanded many of its subordinate forces and sects.
Most of the core members of the Netherworld Sect have now become martial arts families and have gone into hiding.
The major martial arts forces of the Great Qian Dynasty have almost forgotten about the once behemoth, the Netherworld Sect.
but,
Its hidden power is like a towering mountain reaching into the clouds; no one knows just how strong it is.
Chen Jie had once heard Li Aoshuang, the contemporary "Master of the Surprising Cloud Sword," mention it.
Of the nine great martial arts families in Jiangnan, seven were once under the command of the Netherworld Sect.
Hundreds of prominent families in the north, including the former Ji family and Liu family, all belonged to the Netherworld Sect.
The Netherworld Sect is like a thread that connects the martial arts foundations of the Great Qian Dynasty.
Even the Kunlun Sword Sect, a sacred martial arts site in Northwest China, has many connections with the Netherworld Sect.
but,
Chen Jie has always believed that with Ximen Tang's current combat strength, plus his status as the leader of the martial arts alliance, he controls the entire martial arts world.
In the following time
He will focus on economic development and gradually eliminate the major forces in the martial arts world.
As long as economic development keeps pace, no powerful family or martial arts sect can gain any real influence.
but,
Now it seems that the world of martial arts in the Great Qian Dynasty is far more complex than I thought.
Although he is now the leader of the martial arts world in both the north and south, that is only the public face of the martial arts world.
The real martial arts world is rife with undercurrents.
Those extremely powerful martial arts sects either hide in the shadows or become aristocratic families, operating underground.
Especially the Netherworld Sect, a martial arts force that had disappeared from the Great Qian Dynasty.
Unexpectedly, upon arriving on the Korean Peninsula, I found myself in what the Nine Nether Sect called a sacred place of martial arts.
What does the sacred site of martial arts represent?
Only those who possess a thousand-year-old martial arts foundation, whose martial arts have reached their peak, who have experienced bloodshed and turmoil, and who have become masters in endless succession, and who hold an extremely high status in the martial arts world.
Only in this way can it be called a sacred place of martial arts.
Command the martial world!
This is not a simple statement.
When dynasties change and the court is in turmoil, the sacred lands of martial arts are the places that can assist emperors in seizing the world and achieving imperial hegemony.
Only then can it be considered a sacred place in the martial arts world.
The Kunlun Sword Sect is considered a sacred place in the martial arts world because it has witnessed the changes of history and has served the emperors of several dynasties.
Most importantly, the Kunlun Sword Sect possesses a martial arts heritage spanning over a thousand years.
The Sword Tomb contains the swords of many sword saints, and is highly respected in the martial arts world.
And the Netherworld Sect, like the Kunlun Sword Sect, has become a sacred place in the martial arts world!
This shows that
As the Great Qian Dynasty teeters on the brink of collapse, the Netherworld Sect may well be baring its fangs, harboring grand ambitions.
"Has the overall strength of the Netherworld Sect become so formidable?"
Upon hearing this, Chen Jie muttered to himself.
Damn it!
Since the Netherworld Sect is so powerful, why didn't they defend against external enemies before the West Gate Hall was established?
They watched helplessly as the Western Allied Forces blasted open the gates of the Great Qian Dynasty with cannons.
Then he looked at the Great Qian Dynasty, where people were suffering terribly.
Countless civilians were killed by the Japanese, and the entire northeastern part of the Daqian Dynasty was occupied by the Japanese Kwantung Army.
What does the Netherworld Sect intend to do with such a massive force?
Do not know why,
The more Chen Jie realized the hidden strength of the Netherworld Sect, the angrier he became.
"The Netherworld Sect is nothing more than a group that stole some martial arts manuals from the Shaolin Temple a few hundred years ago. At best, they are nouveau riche with little foundation!"
"They are known in the martial arts world as a holy land, but that's just a deliberate publicity stunt."
"They dare to call themselves a sacred place of martial arts?"
Just as Chen Jie was deep in thought, Jian Wuming beside him snorted coldly.
obviously,
He did not agree with the claim that the Netherworld Sect was a sacred place in the martial arts world.
Yan Jiuyou was a little afraid of Jian Wuming and didn't dare to say anything more.
He turned to look at Chen Jie and said:
"My lord, now that our ambush has failed and we've fallen into your hands, what are your plans for dealing with us?"
"The winner is king, the loser is an outlaw!"
"Even if you kill us, we will have no complaints. However, we are only acting under orders. We hope that you will spare our lives."
"From now on, we are willing to be your servants and obey your commands."
People are all afraid of death.
Although Yan Jiuyou acted decisively and fearlessly.
but,
When death is near, who can truly remain indifferent? (End of Chapter)