I am a prince in Zhutian Films

Chapter 564 Martial Arts Ranking: Eighth; Second in Sub-Ranking

"Go and tell Wei Dong that I will wait for him here for an hour."

After slaying the evil dragon Wei Wei with a single strike, Zhou Cheng'an looked at the captain beside him and said this.

His meaning is self-evident.

The captain nodded hastily, fled off the deck as if escaping, then launched a small boat and headed straight for the Qingzhou naval camp.

The spoiled young men and daughters of noble families present were all worldly-wise, and they did not shout or yell at Wei Wei's death.

The spoiled brat lowered his head, secretly relieved that his family was strict and he wasn't like Wei Wei.

The daughters of wealthy families stared wide-eyed, their beautiful eyes filled with surprise, amazement, and admiration. Their expressions and gazes alone created a captivating scene.

Even more so, some stared at Zhou Cheng'an like lovesick fools, frequently casting flirtatious glances at him.

As for Zhao Xun, he forced a smile and said, "Master Zhou, Wei Dong is not a bad person."

Zhou Chengan hummed in agreement: "I know. Whether or not to kill him is up to his choice. Alright, you can go now."

Zhao Xun actually wanted to curry favor with Zhou Cheng'an, but unfortunately, the descendants of the Zhao family lacked the courage to do so. Therefore, he simply clasped his hands in greeting, gave a wink to the group of aristocratic young men who had accompanied him, and then left the deck of the ship.

The spoiled brats hurriedly followed in his footsteps, not daring to even raise their heads.

The young ladies left reluctantly, and one of them, being quite bold, even had Wei Wei's body collected and disposed of.

At this point, only Zhou Cheng'an remained on the deck of the Huanglong Tower ship.

An hour passed.

Zhou Cheng'an opened his eyes and looked at the lake. There was no large army pressing in, only a small boat speeding towards him.

Besides the captain who had left earlier, there was also a burly old man on the boat.

Needless to say, the old man was Wei Wei's father, Wei Dong, also known as Wei Longwang.

King Wei Long leaped onto the deck, scanned the area, and asked coldly, "Where is my son's body?"

"Your men have toned it down."

Upon hearing this, King Wei Long gave Zhou Cheng'an a deep look.

"My son deserves to die, but I will definitely avenge the murder of my son!"

"You think he deserves to die for shooting innocent women for your own amusement? Then why didn't you discipline him more? I'm too lazy to explain the principle that spoiling a child is like killing him. But considering that the people of Qingzhou think you're a good official and that you didn't send your soldiers to their deaths today, I'll spare your life. I'm leaving!"

After saying this, King Wei Long felt a blur before his eyes, and Zhou Cheng'an's figure had already disappeared in front of him.

……

the other side.

Xu Fengnian was having tea with Li Chungang and Wu Lingsu at that moment.

After finishing her calligraphy practice, Jiang Ni walked out of the cabin and asked expressionlessly, "Are you really going to Xiangfan?"

Xu Fengnian nodded.

Jiang Ni frowned: "Aren't you afraid that Prince Jing'an, Zhao Heng, will bring out thousands of troops and crush you into dust?"

Xu Fengnian chuckled and said, "The Crown Prince of Beiliang died under the jurisdiction of Xiangfan. Zhao Heng cannot bear this crime. If he had truly been ruthless back then and had not been so indecisive, this world would have been his."

As he spoke, Xu Fengnian took a sip of tea and continued, "Zhao Heng, this vassal king, is not unlucky, but he always feels that whatever he does will fail at the last minute. He has ambition, otherwise he would not have said that if he had great power in his hands, he would definitely benefit the whole world."

His abilities were also considerable. When Xiangfan fell, only 20,000 people were left on the verge of death. After the flags on the city walls were changed, these 20,000 people went crazy and crawled out of Xiangfan, turning it into a completely empty and dead city. However, under Zhao Heng's rule, he promoted the Huang-Lao philosophy of non-action and governance. Now, Xiangfan's population has recovered to hundreds of thousands, making it a vital city in the heart of the country.

Prince Jing'an, Prince Jing'an, this title of prince is well given. Zhao Heng has an excellent reputation among the people of Qingzhou. He can be considered the most famous prince. He is the kind of person who cherishes his reputation the most. What do I have to be afraid of?
Perhaps Zhao Heng is even worried that someone is framing him, and would love to send troops to protect him.

Little clay figure, do you believe it or not?

Jiang Ni looked at him with disbelief and said, "Are you kidding me?"

Li Chungang smiled calmly: "What Xu said is not unfounded."

Xu Fengnian, seemingly lost in thought, suddenly laughed and said, "I heard that there are still 100,000 wandering souls in Xiangfan who refuse to leave the city. Little Mudman, you'd better watch out then."

In an instant, Jiang Ni's face turned deathly pale, and she said with a fierce but weak voice, "If anyone should be afraid of retribution, it's you, not me! If it weren't for the fact that the Grand General was determined to besiege the city and refused to surrender or leave a way out, how could Xiangfan have become the ghost city of Fengdu!"

Back then, Xu Xiao besieged Xiangfan for ten years, and the people in the city were sold by weight like livestock.

A loving mother cuts off her own flesh to feed her children, while a wicked father throws his child into the cooking pot.

Human nature, both good and evil, was amplified to an extreme in Xiangfan City. Every inch of wall was soaked with blood, every blade of grass and tree bore sorrow. The gloomy atmosphere in Xiangfan was unimaginable.

For ten years, under the strict orders of the Liyang court, no scholar or historian was allowed to put their thoughts into writing.

But how could the people of the world not know how tragic the truth was!

Xu Fengnian sighed silently and joked, "That makes sense, but I have the Taoist artifact given to me by Cheng'an protecting me, so I'm not afraid of those wandering ghosts at all. It's you who..."

"What's wrong with me?" Jiang Ni asked weakly.

"Women are inherently yin in nature, and their yang energy is far inferior to that of men. If they are haunted by wandering ghosts, even Senior Li cannot save them."

Jiang Ni's face grew even paler. She stammered, wanting to refute herself and encourage herself, but she didn't know what to say.

Seeing her like this, Xu Fengnian laughed even more happily: "If you are afraid, come to me tonight. I learned a Taoist dual cultivation method from Cheng'an. I will transfer some yang energy to you and make sure you are safe!"

Jiang Ni's fair face instantly turned bright red; she realized she had been tricked by Xu Fengnian.

Just as he was about to speak, a clear voice rang out.

"How come I didn't know? Did I teach you any Taoist techniques?"

Without saying a word, Xu Fengnian took off running.

But the ship is only so big, so where can he go?

As expected, he was punched into the water by Zhou Chengan.

"Master Zhou."

Jiang Ni bowed respectfully.

Zhou Chengan gave a curt "hmm," his attitude noticeably cold.

"Master Zhou, have I offended you in any way?"

Jiang Ni had spent quite some time with Zhou Cheng'an, and she could clearly sense along the way that Zhou Cheng'an's attitude towards her and Yu Youwei was completely different from his attitude towards others.

"No, but my father was once the emperor of Ningguo."

Jiang Ni looked completely bewildered.

Xu Fengnian climbed out of the water, drying his clothes with his internal energy as he said, "Ningguo is a small country that borders Xichu. Back then, Ningguo was destroyed by your Xichu."

Li Chungang suddenly realized: "So that's why you were a bit cold to Jiang Yatou."

In fact, Zhou Cheng'an's cold attitude towards Jiang Ni had little to do with the destruction of Ningguo by Western Chu; it was mainly because he simply didn't like Jiang Ni.

To be precise, it's because I don't like the ginger in the TV series.

Unfortunately, the current Jiang Ni is no different from the Jiang Ni in the TV series.

However, there was no need to explain the reason. He looked at Xu Fengnian who was walking over and said indifferently, "You know quite a lot."

"I heard it all from my father and my master."

Xu Fengnian plopped down next to Zhou Chengan and asked curiously, "How many people did you kill?"

"one person!"

"Oh, it seems that King Wei Long truly lives up to his reputation."

Zhou Chengan nodded: "He does have a strong sense of righteousness, but he doesn't know how to teach his son."

If Wei Dong were to bring the Qingzhou navy to ambush and kill him, Zhou Cheng'an would definitely show him just how terrifying his current strength is.

But in the end, King Wei only came to collect the corpse and didn't even intend to fight, so there was no need to resort to violence. As for King Wei saying he wanted revenge... his son is dead, can't he even say a few harsh words?

He's not that domineering.

Xu Fengnian nodded in agreement, but didn't say much, and directly asked Li Chungang about his swordsmanship.

When they were almost at Xiangfan, the group disembarked and traveled by land.

The closer Jiang Ni got to Xiangfan, the more frightened she became.

Li Chungang tried to persuade her for a long time to no avail. Finally, Xu Fengnian said something that made Jiang Ni feel much better.

Li Chungang could only sigh helplessly, "Sigh, such a good swordsman, I didn't expect him to have such little courage."

"Not everyone is Li Chungang, who is fearless."

Hearing Zhou Chengan say this, Li Chungang laughed again: "Yes, it has to be you, Grand Master Zhou, who knows how to talk!"

As they were talking, Xu Fengnian, along with Jiang Ni, Yu Youwei, Qingniao, and others, came over.

"Cheng'an, are you familiar with the Zhou Tian Grand Ritual held in Xiangfan City?"

Zhou Chengan rolled his eyes at him: "What? Are you going to show off your knowledge again? Tell me about it."

"Then listen carefully, this Zhou Tian Grand Ritual is the highest ritual of Taoism, with 1,200 altars set up. It is already a grand event, usually only held in the emperor's household or the ancestral temple of Taoism in special circumstances. The word 'Jiao' refers to the etiquette of pouring wine, or to put it simply, it is the 'bull's nose'..."

Noticing Zhou Chengan's gaze, Xu Fengnian quickly changed his tune, smiling awkwardly, and said, "It was a Taoist master who invited the celestial beings to drink."

Before this dynasty, the ultimate Zhou Tian Grand Ritual was only the ritual performed for the princes, with 2,400 holy beings descending to earth to pray for their blessings and ward off disasters, and the ritual performed for the emperor to protect the country and its people, with 3,600 universal rituals.

The Xiangfan Grand Ritual, established by the Celestial Master's Mansion, was unprecedented in history with 36,500 rituals, which was equivalent to inviting all the holy immortals in heaven. The cost of the offerings alone consumed 900,000 taels of silver from the national treasury.

If this weren't useful, the Celestial Master's Mansion would have moved out of Longhu Mountain long ago.

The last sentence was clearly addressed to Jiang Ni.

It could even be said that Xu Fengnian's show-off was actually intended to appease Jiang Ni.

After hearing this, Jiang Ni did feel a little better, looking at Zhou Cheng'an who seemed to want to say something but hesitated.

"Miss Jiang, please speak frankly."

"I heard that Master Zhou has a talisman to ward off evil spirits?"

It is said that?

Listen to who?
Without a doubt, it's Xu Fengnian.

In fact, it does.

Originally, this was something Xu Fengnian made up to ease Jiang Ni's emotions, and also out of a mischievous sense of humor, to scare Jiang Ni, Yu Youwei, and Qingniao.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Cheng'an actually took out several yellow paper talismans and gave them to Jiang Ni, Yu Youwei, Qingniao, and Shu Xiu for self-defense.

Xu Fengnian was dumbfounded.

"Cheng'an, you actually have one! Can you get one for your little brother too?"

Zhou Chengan smiled slightly and threw a punch.

After being beaten up, Xu Fengnian didn't dare to shamelessly beg for more talismans anymore and instead went to practice swordsmanship with Li Chungang.

After traveling for two or three days, they still hadn't reached Xiangfan when Chu Lushan's intelligence arrived first.

Two messages.

One is that the long-delayed crown prince is finally about to emerge, while undercurrents are surging in the capital.

Then there's the return of the once-a-decade literary, martial arts, and beauty critiques, with immortals and demons running rampant in the martial arts world.

The martial arts commentary begins by stating that the three religions stand in a tripartite balance: among Buddhism and Taoism, only Guanyin is the most prominent; among immortals, only Lü Zu is the most prominent; and among gods, only the Demon-Subduing Heavenly Venerable is the most prominent. These three are most intertwined in the human world and closest to people. Therefore, the commentary categorizes the Great Guanyin of the Western Regions as a first-class deity, the Little Lü Zu of Longhu Mountain as a first-class deity, and the new leader of Wudang as a first-class deity.

The so-called new leader of Wudang is Hong Xixiang.

Although Wang Chonglou did not die as in the original story, he still passed on the position of sect leader to Hong Xixiang.

The martial arts evaluation includes a separate evaluation of swordsmanship, and Wu Dang sword fanatic Wang Xiaoping, Wu family's new generation sword champion Wu Liuding, and Zhou Chengan are all prominently listed.

In Chu Lushan's secret letter, it was mentioned that the Great Guanyin had already left the Western Regions, and Little Master Qi, the disciple of Little Lü Zu, had also descended the mountain.

Clearly, it was mostly aimed at Xu Fengnian.

The capital was in turmoil, and immortals and demons from all walks of life flocked to it, but Xu Fengnian remained unfazed.

There's Li Chungang, who has returned to his peak, and Zhou Cheng'an, who is invincible below the level of a terrestrial immortal...

He just wanted to ask one question: Who else?
Even if Wang Xianzhi came, he probably wouldn't get the better of her.

The Great Guanyin from the Western Regions, and the little ox-nose from Longhu Mountain, what are they anyway?

Therefore, Xu Fengnian did not take this matter to heart at all. While looking at the newly released martial arts rankings, he said, "The top ten martial arts masters are still Wang Xianzhi, who is still at the top. The position vacated by the Wudang Sect Leader Wang was given to a guy who had no reputation before. He is a swordsman from the Northern Barbarians."

Ok?
Senior Li, you're only ranked eighth? You're even a place lower than that Northern Barbarian swordsman!

And Cheng'an, you didn't even make it into the top ten masters? That's just unbelievable!

In this martial arts ranking, Li Chungang ranked eighth, while Zhou Chengan was not even among the top ten masters of Liyang.

Of course, he also entered the martial arts ranking, but only as a deputy ranking member.

This secondary assessment is mainly based on talent, and his ranking in the secondary assessment is not low.

second!

In front is Hong Xixiang of Wudang, and behind him are Longhu Qixianxia.

Li Chungang and Zhou Chengan didn't care about this, but Xu Fengnian was very dissatisfied: "I am extremely dissatisfied with the rankings of Senior Li and you, Chengan, in this martial arts competition!"

"What can you do if you're not convinced?" Li Chungang laughed.

Xu Fengnian choked, not wanting to pay attention to the old man, and turned to Zhou Chengan and said: "Chengan, Wang Xianzhi, who is second in the world, is not easy to beat. Let's start by beating Wang Mingyin, who is eleventh. Let's beat him all the way up and let those blind guys see the strength of my brother Chengan."

Zhou Cheng'an ignored him, picked up the martial arts ranking and glanced at the top ten masters on the list.

To be honest, this martial arts assessment is really not very convincing.

After all, even Wang Mingyin made the list, while those who are more powerful than him, such as Xuan Yuan Dapan and Han Shengxuan, did not even make the martial arts ranking, which shows how much of the ranking is inflated.

The rankings on the list are also unconvincing. Li Chungang, who has returned to his peak, is only ranked eighth. As Xu Fengnian said, it is indeed unreliable.

"To be honest, I'm quite curious about something: how was this review based, and who made the review?"

“At first it was Li Yishan and Xie Guanying, they were known as Xie in the North and Li in the South. Now who is it? I really don’t know.” Li Chungang laughed. “But these people who make the list are really blind. Even you, Master Zhou, didn’t make it into the top ten. I think they will change this list again soon.”

Zhou Cheng'an smiled dismissively and handed the martial arts evaluation to Qingniao beside him.

After reading the martial arts critique, Xu Fengnian then talked to Zhou Chengan about the rouge critique.

Nangong Pushe was not on the list for this round of rouge reviews, which means that the person who made the rouge reviews had not yet discovered her.

It is worth mentioning, however, that Chen Yu, who was previously on the banks of the Luo River, was included in the Rouge Appraisal this time and was even named one of the Four Beauties of the World.

Besides that, what caught Zhou Cheng'an's attention was Princess Pei Nanwei, the Princess of Jing'an, in Xiangfan City.

After all, anyone who has read "Snowy Mountain" knows the story of Xu Fengnian having to lean against the wall to walk.

Xu Fengnian chuckled when he noticed that his gaze was fixed on Pei Nanwei's comments.

“Pei Nanwei? If I remember correctly, she is the wife of Prince Jing’an, Zhao Heng.”

Xu Fengnian chuckled cheekily, "What, Cheng'an, you like her? Don't worry, when we get to Xiangfan, I'll make sure to snatch her away for you."

"roll!"

(End of this chapter)