The Holy Emperor of Ming

Chapter 340: Life for Life (4600 words)
The ultimate level of a grandmaster is obviously not enough for the current Ming Dynasty.

This made Zhu Houzhao, who was used to spending lavishly during this period, feel very uncomfortable.

However, there are many masters at the grandmaster level in the Ming Dynasty.

How many grand masters are there in the Ming Dynasty now?

No one in the world knew the answer to this question except Zhu Houzhao.

After all, the grand masters that other high-ranking officials of the Ming Dynasty knew about were only a part of them, or at most the majority.

Only Zhu Houzhao knew the identities and numbers of all the grand masters.

There were more than sixty people affiliated with the imperial court alone.

There were nearly twenty criminals belonging to the imperial court.

This number is still growing rapidly.

With more than a hundred years of accumulation, coupled with the influence of the environment and fortune, the Ming Dynasty now seems to be heading towards a peak of prosperity.

Geniuses are as numerous as fish in the sea. There are many geniuses who have reached the innate realm in their teens or twenties and have the aspirations of becoming grand masters.

There are many people who are standing on the threshold of becoming a grandmaster and may be able to break through to the peak of the innate realm at any time.

For example, Qin Mengyao and others in the harem.

Over the past few years, with each passing year, the Ming Dynasty would have several more grand masters.

From time to time, some fragmentary news about someone’s breakthrough would spread.

All the countries in the world feel that the masters of the Ming Dynasty's grandmaster level are unfathomable.

In addition to the fact that the Ming Dynasty court has already accepted and mastered the deepest foundation of the Ming Dynasty martial arts world, it is precisely because of these isolated and fragmented breakthrough news.

Thinking of so many grand masters, Zhu Houzhao felt much better.

I couldn't help but silently wonder, among so many grandmasters, which one has the hope of breaking through to the grandmaster level in a short period of time?
Compared to the Grand Master, he still feels that the Grand Master's ultimate state is much more useful.

One person is worth several grand masters, so he can feel more at ease when he goes out to do things.

Uncle Thirteen practiced the art of absorbing energy, and his power increased the fastest. Over the past few years, he had absorbed the energy of four grand masters and more than a dozen people at the innate level.

To reach the Grand Master level, all that’s left is the final polishing.

After Lao Wei broke through to the Grandmaster level, his cultivation speed gradually surpassed that of several of his companions, and the Sky Wrath Sword was very suitable for him.

In just a few years, he has reached the peak of Grandmaster and is not far from the ultimate state of Grandmaster.

Liu Banban is slightly weaker.

After Lao Guo took charge of the Jinyiwei, his willpower improved faster than anyone else, and he wore a dragon ball all year round to speed up his practice.

Lao Guo hasn't made much of a move in the past few years, and outsiders don't know that he has already reached the peak of the grandmaster level.

The breakthrough to the Grand Master realm should happen within this year.

Old Wang.

After more than twenty years of hard training, coupled with the continuous growth of imperial power in recent years and the trust it has in it, Old Wang has already reached the peak of grandmaster.

The final preparations are now being made, and Zhu Houzhao believes that Old Wang can successfully break through.

And there is Lao Li.

Lao Li's will has always been the best at the same level, and is almost as good as the next level.

His martial arts skills were his biggest weakness, but with the help of a dragon ball, after a few years, his martial arts skills reached the peak of the grandmaster level.

If there is a breakthrough, it should be around within a year.

In Zhu Houzhao's eyes, among these five people, the time it took Lao Guo and Lao Wei to break through to the Grandmaster level and stay up to now is actually not much longer than that of Liu Banban, Lao Yan and others.

The reason why they are able to be one or even several steps ahead of the others is that their comprehensive talent is stronger than that of Liu Banban, the two Cao Banbans and others of similar age.

Second, he has more years of experience than younger people like Lao Yan.

Relatively speaking, it can be considered a result of great accumulation.

As for the youngest, Old Li, who is only in his thirties, he cannot be viewed with a normal eye.

In addition to these five...

Zhu Houzhao thought about it carefully. He didn't know much about those people who came from the martial arts world, so it was difficult for him to judge them.

Oh, and there’s the East.

The speed of cultivation in the East is also astonishingly fast.

I haven't seen you for a year. You should have reached the peak of Grand Master by now, right?
Zhu Houzhao wasn't so sure.

He thought about it carefully again. Excluding his two stupid younger brothers, the other grandmasters he knew would not be able to break through to the grandmaster level within one or two years.

Even for Lao Yan, who has a strong will, amazing talent and Dragon Ball, it is difficult.

Unless there is some big opportunity.

If Uncle Thirteen and the others can successfully break through, then within a year, Ming Dynasty will have six more Grand Masters, and Ming Dynasty will not be short of masters of this level.

However, Zhu Houzhao also knew that it was normal for things not to go so smoothly.

For other people, it is very difficult to break through the realm of martial arts practice.

Although he didn't understand why it was so difficult?
"There are many Grandmasters who have reached the peak of Grandmaster level among the martial arts world. Perhaps they can give me a surprise?"

Zhu Houzhao suddenly had this thought and maintained his confidence in them.

'One year!'

This time popped up in his mind again and he looked at his talent.

Tai Chi Thirteen Forms Fifth Level (112337/300000)

The fourth level of Mingshen Wudian (183089/183089)

Five months later, he is certainly stronger.

I feel that beating three and a half beginners shouldn't be a big problem.

After a year, or even less than a whole year, there will be no problem defeating four people who have just entered the realm of heaven.

By then, with enough grandmasters at the highest level, will we be able to catch all five damn Temujins in one fell swoop?
Zhu Houzhao thought about it, his eyes shining, and continued to calculate.

It’s very simple, just addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

Among Temujin's five men, Bashiba and Pangban were both newcomers to the celestial realm, and each can be represented by "one".

Temujin and the two little bastards from the Xiao family were not new to heaven.

He had fought with them all, and Temujin's strength was roughly equivalent to 'one and a half' celestial beings.

The two little turtles of the Xiao family are almost 1.3 celestial beings each.

The combined fighting power of the five people is equivalent to 'six point one' celestial being.

With the current strength of Ming Dynasty, it is not difficult to defeat this 'six point one' celestial being.

But it is difficult to kill one person.

Every time you want to kill one more person, the difficulty increases greatly.

If you want to catch them all in one fell swoop, you need strength far beyond 'six point one'.

The strength of the Ming Dynasty.

Old man Zhang's personal strength is the strongest now, reaching about '1.8'.

Old man Wuji is second, about one point six.

Originally, the old man in my family was weaker, but with the great increase in imperial power in the past few years, the old man's strength has obviously increased a lot, reaching about 'one point three'.

If Lao Wang didn't have a large army, his personal strength would only be around 'one'.

This is five point seven.

There is also Yin Zhong, whose full strength is about '1.2'.

This is not surprising. Although Yin Zhong has lived for more than five hundred years, he has been plagued by injuries for nearly five hundred years and has been unable to become stronger.

It's already pretty good to have a combat power of '1.2'.

However, five hundred years of family affection and torture from injuries have also made Yin Zhong's will extremely strong.

Once his injuries are healed, Yin Zhong will surely make rapid progress in the realm of heaven and man.

The five of them add up to six point nine, which is more than Temujin and his five companions.

Finally, with him added, the combat power will definitely reach 'four' in a year.

That's ten point nine.

It would be easy to defeat Temujin and his five men, and it would definitely be possible to kill one of them.

It is also very likely that he wants to kill both of them.

But if you want to kill more, that’s not necessarily the case.

This was also within Zhu Houzhao's expectations. If the celestial being's combat power was not enough, he would use the Grand Master's ultimate level to make up for it.

Two or three great masters at the highest level, working together with a great Ming celestial being, can arrange suitable opponents and targets.

That would be enough to stop any one of Temujin's five men in place and prevent them from escaping far.

After he has dealt with his opponents, he will then completely kill them one by one.

At that time, he would go to kill Temujin alone first. Just in case, he could ask a celestial being to help him raid the battlefield and stop Temujin from escaping at the critical moment.

The other four were dealt with by Old Man Zhang and three other grandmasters, each of whom was led by one of them. The main purpose was to prevent them from escaping.

In this case, to be on the safe side, twelve grand masters at the highest level are needed.

"Six celestial beings and twelve great masters joined forces to surround and kill Temujin and his four companions. Isn't that a bit too much of a compliment to them?"

Zhu Houzhao blinked, and the next moment, he put the thought behind him.

Just think of it as looking up to them. Anyway, this time, he wanted to catch these five damn things that could jump around, leaving no one alive, and not giving them any chances.

He smiled grimly, then frowned again.

The current Ming Dynasty cannot produce the twelve great masters even if it tries its best.

A year later, it definitely was.

If everything goes well, there will be a few more, but every part of Ming Dynasty will definitely still need a grandmaster at the highest level to be in charge.

It's impossible to take them all out.

By then, if the Sui Kingdom wanted to bring out twelve great masters at the highest level at once, the war in Taiyuan would definitely not be able to continue.

This is also a problem.

How to deal with Kublai Khan and his men and liberate Shu Gaozu, Lang Fanyun and others?
As for the fact that there are not enough Grandmasters at the highest level, we can use Grandmasters to make up the gap.

It’s okay in other aspects, but it’s not good enough when it comes to dealing with the realm of heaven and man.

The problem is huge.

Under normal circumstances, four or five great masters at the highest level can resist a powerful celestial being who has just entered the realm.

Four grand masters can resist a grand master at the highest level.

But twenty grand masters could never stop someone who had just entered the realm of heaven and man.

Especially when one is in the Heavenly Man Realm and wants to run away, the Grand Master Realm cannot play much of a role.

We can only use the Grand Master's ultimate realm to block it, or we can find a way to free Uncle Gaozu and the others.

Zhu Houzhao thought seriously.

'A year later, take immediate and quick action, first eliminate Kublai Khan's army, and then attack Temujin?'

No.

Kublai Khan was the real second-in-command of the Yuan Dynasty, and at that time he still controlled the most powerful army of hundreds of thousands of people.

Once he was defeated, the fortunes of the Mongols would surely be in turmoil, and Temujin might not be unaware of it.

He might just flee and no longer stay in that area of ​​the grassland. Then it would be very difficult to find them by relying on divination.

Without Kublai Khan and the hundreds of thousands of troops he led, the Yuan Dynasty would truly decline.

Temujin's fifth level of heavenly being was equivalent to not having many ties anymore.

The five unrestrained celestial beings would give the Ming Dynasty a headache.

Although this possibility is very small, Zhu Houzhao does not want to take the risk.

Let's not talk about luck. What if Kublai Khan and Temujin were thousands of miles apart, but there was still some way for them to have a brief contact? Even if it was just to notify an emergency, Temujin would be able to know in advance that Kublai Khan had been defeated and escape.

This may not be impossible.

The Ming Dynasty had it, although it was just a signal of crisis.

For example, in a kind of twin insects, even if they are thousands of miles apart, if one dies, the other will also die within an hour.

'Just let Uncle Gaozu and his men withdraw, ignore Taiyuan of the Sui Dynasty, and kill Temujin and his men first?
Come back and deal with Kublai Khan and his men?'

But as soon as Uncle Gaozu and his men retreated, Kublai Khan would certainly realize that something was wrong and immediately send a message to Temujin and his men. Then, Temujin, the old fox, might just escape.

The competition is to see who is faster?

Zhu Houzhao frowned and saved this method for the time being.

'Send a few more great masters to defeat Kublai Khan first?'

In such a defeat, Kublai Khan's army would not suffer too much loss because they were all cavalry.

There were more than 300,000 people in Taiyuan, most of whom were infantry and could not catch up with the Mongol army.

Kublai Khan himself would not be in any serious danger.

This is a solution, but it still poses the same problem.

What if Kublai Khan and Temujin were thousands of miles apart, was there still a way for them to get in touch briefly?

Let's save this method for now.

Zhu Houzhao scratched his head, feeling that there were too many possibilities, and shook his head in annoyance.

'I don't want to think about it anymore.

Let Lao Gu and the others figure it out then.

I have finished thinking about everything, what are Lao Gu and the others thinking?'

With a matter-of-fact smile, Zhu Houzhao felt better again.

But he had made up his mind.

One year, one year at most.

We must kill all five of Temujin’s damned bastards.

'Not even the Lord can stop it.

I said so.'

His eyes were disdainful and domineering.

A few days later, it was June 8th.

Yuan Tiangang, who had been away for more than two months, came back.

As soon as he came back, he gave Zhu Houzhao a surprise.

"Old Yuan, you have made a breakthrough." Zhu Houzhao was very happy and patted Yuan Tiangang on the shoulder.

Just a few days later, the twelfth Grandmaster of the Ming Dynasty appeared.

Sure enough, he should have more confidence in the grand masters of the Ming Dynasty. Maybe after a year, more than a dozen grand masters would suddenly appear.
"Cough cough." Yuan Tiangang's body shook when he was slapped. He couldn't help but cough twice, and his eyebrows twitched slightly.

Your Majesty, do you really not know how strong his grip is?

He quickly said, "Your Majesty, I was lucky to have made the breakthrough.

A few days ago, I worked with a fellow Taoist to deduce a method for Yuanba to safely survive the disaster after reaching the realm of heaven and man. "

"What method?" Zhu Houzhao asked immediately.

"The fate calamity is sent down by heaven. Heaven will not allow people like Yuanba to exist and will take his life." Yuan Tiangang looked extremely serious and spoke slowly.

"What heaven? If it dares to take my brother's life, I will destroy it and change the heaven." Zhu Houzhao waved his hand and said with unparalleled domineering power.

When Yuan Tiangang heard these disrespectful words, he pretended not to hear them.

If you want to be disrespectful, then don’t be disrespectful. Who can do anything to him?

Even God can't do that.

"Your Majesty's love and care for Yuan Ba ​​is truly unparalleled in the world.

It is a blessing for Yuanba to recognize His Majesty as his brother. "Yuan Tiangang already understood the preferences of His Majesty the Emperor Shengwu very well, and said sincerely.

"Hahaha, of course." Zhu Houzhao laughed proudly.

“Your Majesty, if you want Heaven to not take Yuanba’s life, you must give Heaven something equal to Yuanba’s life.” Yuan Tiangang said solemnly.

"What are the equivalent things?" Zhu Houzhao asked curiously.

"The only thing that is equivalent to fate is fate." Yuan Tiangang's expression became more serious, "Yuan Ba ​​will be in the realm of heaven by then.

Then a living celestial being is needed to die in Yuanba's place.

In this way, the power of the life calamity will be greatly reduced, and Yuanba will be able to survive it safely."

"So simple!" Zhu Houzhao was stunned and a little surprised.

Yuan Tiangang was stunned. He should have heard correctly. His Majesty said it was so simple, not so difficult.

Then, he shook his head and smiled secretly.

Yes.

In this whole world, only the person before you is qualified to say "it's so simple".

For the rest of the people, even if they are at the same level of heavenly being, this is something that is almost impossible to do.

After all, it required a powerful celestial being to die in place of Yuanba.

In this vast world, who can capture a celestial being alive?
Even the Mongols found it difficult to do so. After all, among the five celestial beings of the Mongols, two were not from the Mongols.

They just helped the Mongols to deal with the Ming Dynasty.

If they were asked to help the Mongols to capture a person who has reached the level of a celestial being, they might not necessarily do it.

Apart from these two, the Mongols only had three celestial beings. It was also very difficult to capture one of them alive.

There is only the Ming Dynasty, there is only the Shengwu Emperor Zhu Houzhao.

Able to mobilize enough strength to capture a celestial being alive.

If it weren't for Emperor Shengwu, Yuanba would have almost certainly died.

Maybe everything is really God's will.

There are fifty heavenly ways, and one of them can be avoided.

Everything has a glimmer of hope.

Emperor Shengwu is Yuanba's lifeblood.

"Old Yuan, don't worry. This is an easy task. It won't be long before I capture a celestial being for Yuanba." Zhu Houzhao patted his chest and said with assurance.

(4600 words, the remaining chapter will be updated before o'clock.)
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　Thanks to the leader for ignoring me and giving me another 10000 Starting Coins. Thank you.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)