Wife, you didn't really drug me, did you?

Tong Wei pulled out his warship blueprints.

Chen Jie said, "It's not a loss, but it's not a profit either, because my Huangzhou Prefecture already has a larger warship than yours."

"What? Impossible!"

Tong Wei didn't believe it. "A warship bigger than mine? Are you kidding me? I'm a seagoing vessel. I can easily reach Srivijaya by going to the open ocean. You're saying my ship is small?"

Tong Wei was not convinced. He was a big pirate who had dominated the coast for decades. He brought out the most advanced warship. You say my ship is small?
Does this kind of logic still exist in this world?

Speaking of ships, he guessed that a new group of pirates had recently emerged in Siam, and their ships were probably a bit bigger than his. However, he didn't bother to investigate further, since his focus was entirely on the struggle for supremacy in the Central Plains, and he hadn't paid attention to maritime affairs for many years.

Chen Jie then said, "You know that a new group of pirates has recently appeared in the South Seas, right? Their ships are twice the size of yours, and each ship can carry up to three thousand people. They are called Fujian ships."

What do you think of this ship?

Tong Wei said, "That's right, it's more powerful than my warship."

Chen Jie said, "Hehe, it was built by our Huangzhou Prefecture."

Ah!
Tong Wei stared wide-eyed at Chen Jie and said, "How is this possible? You're lying to me, aren't you?"

Chen Jie chuckled and said, "Liar, do you know who the leader of that pirate group is?"

"Who?"

Tong Wei stared wide-eyed at Chen Jie, who said, "The Dragon King of the Sea, Fang Guozhen."

"The Divine Dragon Cult!"

Tong Wei murmured to himself. He was familiar with Fang Guozhen, who dominated the southeastern coast and was the most powerful figure at sea after his retirement.

Upon hearing this, Tong Wei said, "No wonder, no wonder, no wonder you look down on my design."

Chen Jie said, "Alright, go and enjoy the rest of your life. For the sake of these two design drawings, I'll have someone find two prostitutes to serve you. As for the quality, don't be picky."

Upon hearing this, Tong Wei clasped his hands in a fist salute, and was immediately taken away by others.

Seeing the once-powerful Tong Wei meet such an end, Chen Jie felt quite emotional, even a sense of shared sorrow. However, none of that mattered; this was how the struggle for power was.

Chen Jie thought to himself, looking up at the sky. With these people gone, things should be peaceful for a while.

However, he couldn't just wait idly. With Li Siqi dead, the northwest routes were empty, and with Tang Bao dead, his Sichuan region had lost its leader. His next strategy was to try to shift to the northwest and avoid conflict with Zhu Chongba and his group.

As for Fuzhou, which was left behind by Tong Wei, and the vacant Jiangnan region with its five circuits and eighty-one prefectures, I will not touch them. Those places should be the next to be seized by Zhu Chongba.

He should first avoid a major battle with Zhu Yuanzhang, and then control Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Qinghai. After that, he should enter Sichuan and occupy the land of abundance.

With his own Hubei Road, he now had the resources to compete with Zhu Chongba's group for control of the country.

Having figured all this out, Chen Jie looked at the sky, but these were all just his imaginations, and there were still some variables he hadn't resolved.

For example, Zhang Shicheng, who also has a destiny, obtained the Tiger Soul Blade this time, and even kidnapped the Holy Lord.

Based on his understanding of Zhang Shicheng, this guy wouldn't do anything without a profit. He actually saved the Holy Lord, even though the Holy Lord hadn't treated Zhang Shicheng very well. He stripped him of his military power and forced him to flee to Kunlun. Given this deep-seated hatred, how could Zhang Shicheng still save him? You could say Zhang Shicheng was selfless, but Chen Jie was not.

This move must have a hidden purpose!

Chen Jie didn't quite understand what Zhang Shicheng was planning, since he had never practiced the Nine Li Demon Art and didn't know much about its techniques and secrets. Therefore, he couldn't accurately judge Zhang Shicheng's thoughts.

However, he knew that Zhang Shicheng was definitely up to no good, and there must be some issues he was unaware of.

Chen Jie thought to himself that he needed to speed things up; he couldn't just wait around like this. The world in the future would definitely be even more difficult to deal with than it was today.

Zhu Chongba and Zhang Shicheng are not comparable to Tang Bao or Tong Wei; these two are true hidden dragons!
Chen Jie had made up his mind, while on the other side, Zhang Shicheng and the Holy Lord finally escaped the territory of Huangzhou Prefecture. They stopped in a deserted forest, looked at each other, and breathed heavily.

That was truly a life-or-death moment.

The Holy Lord was leaning against a large tree, making himself more comfortable, and he was breathing heavily.

The wounds on his body had been sealed with his protective energy, and the bleeding had stopped, but it still greatly depleted the Holy Lord's vital energy.

His face was deathly pale; the scene he had just witnessed had terrified him.

That old man's Golden Demon Technique was indeed powerful, even more powerful than he had imagined.

This serious injury will take at least two years to recover; it's a huge loss.

Thinking this, Zhang Shicheng slowly walked over and said, "Master, are you alright?"

The voice was full of concern, but upon closer listening, there was a hint of sarcasm. The Holy Lord then forced himself to stay alert, looked up at Zhang Shicheng, and said, "Hehe, my good disciple, I have to thank you this time. If it weren't for you, I would have died at the hands of that old man."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Shicheng chuckled and said, "Hehe, it's alright, it's alright. This is all I should do. It is my greatest honor to be able to share my master's burdens."

Upon hearing this, the Holy Lord looked at Zhang Shicheng and said, "Good disciple, good disciple! You are more accomplished than all the disciples I have ever taken in. By the way, which knife did you use when you saved your master just now?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Shicheng drew the Tiger Soul Blade from behind and said, "This is it, the Tiger Soul Blade, the most powerful sword of the Nine Li Demon Clan's Demon Emperor Chi You!"

Upon hearing this, the Holy Lord looked down at the sword in Zhang Shicheng's hand and said, "Tiger Soul Sword, is this the Tiger Soul Divine Sword of the Demon Emperor Chi You?"

Looking at the precious sword that exuded the powerful aura of ancient times, the Holy Lord's eyes were filled with greed. Such a precious sword should belong to me. Thinking this, he couldn't help but reach out to grab the demonic sword. But as soon as his hand reached out, he saw that the Tiger Soul Sword in front of him was directly taken back by Zhang Shicheng.

The Holy Lord looked up, a hint of anger in his eyes, but Zhang Shicheng said, "Master, I risked my life to obtain this sword. You don't want it, do you?"

Upon hearing this, the anger in the Holy Lord's eyes vanished instantly, replaced by an innocent expression as he said, "Hahaha... How could that be? You've misunderstood your master. How could your master covet your disciple's sword?" "However, such a precious sword must be well protected by your disciple. Don't let anyone else take it."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Shicheng chuckled and said, "Master, rest assured. I cherish this precious sword as if it were my own life. How could I let others take it? Master, you are overthinking it!"

"That's fine, that's fine."

The Holy Lord chuckled and then said, "Disciple, your master has made a grave mistake this time. You don't hate your master, do you?"

Zhang Shicheng was taken aback and looked at the Holy Lord, asking, "What do you mean by 'Master is wrong'?"

The Holy Lord sighed, "I shouldn't have led the force you painstakingly built up to attack Huangzhou Prefecture. Now that Huangzhou Prefecture has been defeated, most of the force you built up has been lost. This is all my fault!"

Zhang Shicheng didn't say anything upon hearing this. At this moment, the Holy Lord said, "But it doesn't matter. As long as we go back this time, I will pass on the position of Koga Sect Master to you. From then on, you will be the sect master of my Koga School, the new Holy Lord. On my homeland of Japan, there are still 10,000 Koga School Death Warriors. Their combat power far exceeds that of your soldiers. When you have this 10,000-strong Death Warrior Legion, you will have a place in the struggle for supremacy in the Central Plains."

Zhang Shicheng's eyes lit up slightly upon hearing this, and he asked, "Are there really ten thousand death warriors?"

The Holy Lord said, "Why would I lie to you? That's the trump card of the Koga school. With it, you can't possibly fail."

Zhang Shicheng paused for a moment and then said, "Then thank you very much, Master."

"No need to be polite, since you're my apprentice. However, my Koga-ryu ninjas can only change their allegiance by my personal order, so you must safely deliver me to Japan in order to gain command of this army."

"Won't this make things difficult for you?"

The Holy Lord looked at Zhang Shicheng with a harmless smile and said, "You must send him back safely. How can I hand over military power to you if you don't?"

This was just empty promises, and Zhang Shicheng understood the emperor's intention.

With his brows slightly furrowed, the Holy Lord saw Zhang Shicheng's expression and said, "Don't worry, your master would never lie to you. If I say there is an army, then there will be an army. In the future, when you command troops, your master will be there to support you. After this incident..."

“Master, I’ve come to terms with it. All this talk of imperial ambitions and conquests is for you young people. I just want to retire and return to my hometown. To die quietly under the cherry blossoms would be my final resting place.”

As he spoke, a hint of longing appeared in the Holy Lord's eyes, as if he truly yearned for that kind of Japanese pastoral life.

Zhang Shicheng chuckled and said, "Master is at the prime of his life, how could he be thinking about such a life of retirement? At this age, he should be expanding the empire's territory, how could he easily admit defeat?"

"No, no, I'm old, I'm old. This time I've truly realized that I'm old. I just want to settle down and not think about anything else."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Shicheng squinted at the Holy Lord. The Holy Lord looked old and decrepit; those who didn't know better could easily be misled by his appearance.

Zhang Shicheng said, "Master has this idea, and I naturally support it. Since that's the case, I won't say any more. Let's go and head back to Suzhou first, and then we can talk about other things."

At this moment, the Holy Lord pretended to be extremely weak and said, "Cough cough cough, my disciple, I can't walk anymore, I really can't walk anymore. Why don't you help your master and carry me for a while?"

The Holy Lord looked at Zhang Shicheng, and Zhang Shicheng looked at the Holy Lord, then immediately forced a smile and said, "Haha... Good, it would be my honor to carry my master for a while."

As he spoke, Zhang Shicheng bent down and looked at the Holy Lord, saying, "Master, come up here."

The Holy Lord's gaze narrowed slightly as he looked at Zhang Shicheng, who was half-crouching in front of him. His eyes were filled with murderous intent. "Zhang Shicheng, Zhang Shicheng, your master is seriously injured right now. If you really care about your master, you should give all the internal energy you have cultivated to your master. Only in this way can your master recover his health and regain his former glory!"

In the eyes of the Holy Lord, Zhang Shicheng was like a great power bank. Now that he was seriously injured and in urgent need of recovery, it was the perfect time for this great power bank to prove its usefulness. Therefore, a joyful expression appeared on the Holy Lord's face at this moment.

Moreover, this large power bank brought him a surprise: the Emperor's Treasure Blade Tiger Soul, which was even more powerful than their Fusang's strongest divine weapon, the Kusanagi Sword. Just one glance from the Emperor made the comparison.

Compared to the Tiger Soul Blade, the Kusanagi Sword is merely a slightly more powerful ordinary weapon; how could it possibly compare to this precious blade?

Such a precious sword should not belong to the Chinese; it must belong to our great Japan!
He absorbed Zhang Shicheng's power, seized the Tiger Soul Blade, and occupied a corner of Jiangnan. When the world underwent a great upheaval, he would be like a sharp blade, tearing the world apart and making Japan the greatest power. This was what he should do.

and so!
The Holy Lord's gaze sharpened, and he said with murderous intent, "I'm sorry, my good disciple, you should obediently become nourishment for your master."

As the Holy Lord pondered this, he suddenly thrust out a palm: "Wind Demon Technique - Reverse Feeding!"

At this moment, the Holy Master suddenly grabbed Zhang Shicheng's neck with one hand, but Zhang Shicheng, who seemed to have no power to resist at all, turned his head and accurately dodged the grab. Then, a smile appeared on his face and he said, "Master, what are you doing?"

The Holy Lord was startled, but smiled and said, "My good disciple, your master sees that you are a little tired and wants to give you a shoulder massage."

"Why is the shoulder massage targeting my Fengchi and Tianzhu acupoints? This doesn't look like a shoulder massage at all."

The Holy Lord's gaze sharpened, and he formed a hand gesture: [Wind and Cloud Hands!]

The next moment, the Holy Lord's hands suddenly transformed into countless forms, heading straight for Zhang Shicheng's neck. Zhang Shicheng tried to dodge and block, but it seemed that he could not escape the control of these hands at all.

Seeing this, the Holy Lord said, "Hehe, stop struggling. I taught you your cultivation technique, how could I not have a backup plan?"

As he spoke, the Holy Lord suddenly intensified his attack. In the next moment, his hands moved in countless ways, and finally, with a snap, he directly controlled Zhang Shicheng's neck.

At this moment, the Holy Lord grabbed Zhang Shicheng by the neck and said, "Hehe, my good disciple, your master is still one step ahead!"

Zhang Shicheng's expression didn't change much at this moment. He just looked at the Holy Lord and said, "Master, what are you doing? Didn't you say you were going to pass the Holy Lord's position to me and retire to your hometown?"

"Heh, you believe that? Are you a child?"

"Master will teach you one more thing: all's fair in war. Remember this forever. Don't listen to what others say to you, but watch what they do. Unfortunately, none of this is of any use to you now. Become my nourishment."

"Wind Demon Technique - Reverse Feeding! Absorb!"

As the Holy Lord spoke, he activated the Wind Demon Technique's feedback mechanism and began the Absorption Technique. In the Holy Lord's mind, a continuous stream of Qi was frantically flowing into his body, but nothing happened; not a single trace of Qi was drawn out.

At this moment, he looked up in surprise, staring at Zhang Shicheng with disbelief, and said, "This, how is this possible!" (End of this chapter)