Zongwu: Aspiring to be the mastermind behind the scenes

Chapter 108 Cang Organization, King Zhou Cang!
Later, Li Xunhuan, Ah Fei, Song Qingshu, and Zhuo Yihang also arrived one after another.

The banquet began and people drank and chatted.

During the casual conversation, the topic of martial arts came up inadvertently.

"The power of a Grandmaster is truly astonishing. I wonder if anyone among us will be able to achieve the status of Grandmaster in the future!"

"I'm afraid there's no hope!" Lu Xiaofeng said, "But Ximen, that guy, has great hope. You could even say he's already halfway to becoming a Grandmaster."

"Now?"

Everyone was a little surprised when they heard this.

Although Ximen Chuxue's martial arts skills are extremely high, his cultivation level is only at the innate level. He has not even reached the level of a master. How can it be said that he has one foot in the grand master level?

Lu Xiaofeng shook his head and said, "Then you don't know something, right? Back then, a master-level expert commented on Ximen's swordsmanship, saying that regardless of his cultivation level, his swordsmanship alone was comparable to that of a grandmaster!"

Shi Xiuxue nodded: "Indeed, it is precisely because of this evaluation that Ximen Chuxue has become so famous."

It is also because of this evaluation that all young people who learn swordsmanship in the world regard Ximen Chuxue as their goal and idol.

This naturally includes their senior brother Su Shaoying.

"Do you know why there is such an evaluation?"

Lu Xiaofeng said, "The first realm of a Grandmaster is martial intent! And Ximen's swordsmanship can be said to have the embryonic form of martial intent! It is precisely because of this that the Grandmaster made such an evaluation!"

"hiss!"

Everyone gasped and looked at Ximen Chuxue, who had a calm expression.

Martial Intent is the first realm of the Grand Master.

And Ximen Chuxue, even at this innate realm, had already achieved the same swordsmanship understanding as a Grandmaster...

No wonder it has such a great reputation!

Zhou Ming's eyes moved.

If that is the case, there is probably more than one person in the world who can do it.

Ximen Chuxue's sword is like this, so Ye Gucheng's sword should be like this too.

The same goes for Li Xunhuan's knife and Lu Xiaofeng's fingers.

As for the others... I've never seen them, so I'm not sure.

"If Ximen becomes a Grandmaster, wouldn't the martial spirit he comprehend be the sword spirit?"

"That's not necessarily true. Mu Dao Ren also studied swordsmanship, but he comprehended the Liang Yi martial spirit. Ximen should be able to comprehend something like the ice martial spirit, right?"

"...I think sword meaning would sound better."

"Why can't we get together? Ice Sword Martial Intentions?"

"Martial Intentions should be able to change, like Master Zhang's, Ice Martial Intentions, Sword Martial Intentions..."

"That's not necessarily true. Just because Master Zhang can do it doesn't mean that other people's martial intentions can be easily transformed."

"Yes, after all, that's Master Zhang..."

"Brother Song, Brother Zhuo, the martial arts displayed by Master Zhang that day should be Tai Chi, right?"

Song Qingshu nodded: "Master went into seclusion to comprehend Tai Chi many years ago and gained something at that time."

"Tai Chi..."

Hua Manlou said, "The Tai Chi diagram is the best diagram in the world. Master Zhang was able to create a martial art based on this diagram. It's a pity that we are so short-sighted that we didn't realize the true power of this magical skill!"

Song Qingshu said, "I heard from my father that this magical skill has not yet been fully created by our master."

"Oh? What Master Zhang displayed a few days ago was actually just a fragmented martial art?"

This statement made everyone feel that this magical Tai Chi skill seemed even more terrifying.

"If it's just a broken piece, it can beat the Grandmaster Mu Daoist. If it's fully created, wouldn't it be invincible?"

Zhou Ming laughed and said, "Who is the peak at the end of the martial arts path? Once you see Tai Chi, the path becomes empty!"

Everyone was shocked.

Zhuo Yihang's eyes lit up: "Junior Brother Zhou, you really deserve to be recognized as the king of dirty talk. I wonder how many people are better than you with this one line of poetry!

Junior Brother Zhou, can you give me this sentence?"

"Of course, but are you sure?"

Zhou Ming smiled and said, "This is certainly an apt description of Master Zhang's Tai Chi, but if you were to use it for yourself..."

"Ahem..." Zhuo Yihang reacted immediately: "Forget it then!"

Zhou Ming then looked at Song Qingshu: "Senior Brother Song, was what Taoist Mu said before he left true? Could it be that Master Zhang has really reached the legendary celestial realm?"

"How would I know that?" Song Qingshu waved his hand and said, "I can't ask my master, right?"

"The realm of heaven and man, is it the realm above Grandmaster?"

Shi Xiuxue asked curiously.

Hua Manlou nodded: "That's right, this has always been the legend in the martial arts world. There is another realm above the Grandmaster, which is the so-called Heavenly Man Realm.

However, this legend has been passed down for thousands of years, and until now no true warrior at the level of heaven and man has appeared.

Furthermore, even in legends, the last celestial warrior appeared thousands of years ago."

"A thousand years ago?" Shi Xiuxue thought for a moment: "Could it be the Zhou royal family?"

"Not bad!"

Hua Manlou nodded. "King Zhou of Shang, who ruled the world at the time, was tyrannical, and countless princes rebelled. It is said that there were 81 princes who rebelled. In the end, it was King Wu who destroyed the Shang Dynasty and established the current Zhou Dynasty!"

"But what does this have to do with the celestial warriors?" Shi Xiuxue asked.

Lu Xiaofeng said, "At that time, there were 81 princes who rebelled, but King Zhou of Shang was still the strongest. How could King Wu defeat him? And why did the other rebellious princes submit to King Wu after he defeated him?
According to legend, it is because King Wu holds one light and one dark power in his hands, and these two are enough to suppress the power of the world!

The power on the surface is that of a warrior at the level of a celestial being!"

Li Xun Huan also joined the discussion and said, "Grandmaster warriors can extend their lifespan by three hundred years, and according to legend, celestial warriors can live even longer, up to a thousand years!

This is why, even after the Zhou Dynasty declined until today, no emperor has been willing to send troops to destroy it!"

Shi Xiuxue nodded: "The first bird to stick its head out gets shot. They are all afraid of the Heavenly Warrior of the Zhou royal family. Why hasn't he died yet?"

"That's the truth."

Li Xun Huan stood up and looked at the sky outside the window: "However, a thousand years have already passed. No one knows how much longer the countries will endure..."

Throughout history, war has been the norm and peace has been rare.

The world right now is in an extremely rare period of peace.

To the east of Zhongzhou, the Ming, Song, Yuan, Jin, Liao, and Qing dynasties fell into a strange balance.

To the west of Zhongzhou, the Qin State, which had conquered the six states in a row, also needed to absorb that vast territory.

To the north of Zhongzhou, there are many countries, large and small, and foreign races occupy the area.

South of Zhongzhou, the Sui emperor was tyrannical and the people suffered. In the Tang dynasty, Empress Wu seized power and the imperial family declined. Sandwiched between these states were a number of other states, large and small.

Zhongzhou, located in the center of the Nine Continents and Four Seas, is nominally the territory of the Zhou royal family. However, the emperor's orders cannot leave the capital at present, and various forces in the martial arts world are occupying the mountains and becoming kings with great ambitions.

The Tianxiahui is the leader in the north, while Wushuang City is the most respected in the south.

There are many martial arts forces.

All forces seem to be maintaining a fragile balance.

Once this balance is broken, war will inevitably break out.

What’s even more terrifying is that what happened in Wudang Mountain a few days ago may very well become the force that breaks this balance.

Shi Xiuxue had little interest in the world's situation and asked, "The power in the open is the celestial warriors, but what about the power in the dark?"

Hua Manlou said, "It was a secret organization. Before it was truly exposed, almost no one knew of its existence. It wasn't until about a hundred years ago that people all over the world learned of its existence. It was... 'Cang'!"

"Cang?" Sikong Zhaixing was stunned: "This name sounds so familiar, I think I've heard of it recently?"

Lu Xiaofeng said, "Of course you've heard about it. In recent days, there have been rumors that the organization that Taoist Mu joined, which developed the miracle drug for rejuvenation, is the so-called 'Cang' organization!"

Sikong Zhaixing slapped his forehead and said, "Why does it sound so familiar?"

"There are still such rumors?"

Shi Xiuxue didn't know if it was because she was too obsessed with love that she had never heard of it.

In fact, related rumors began to spread in the town the day after the battle between the two grandmasters.

After all, such a magical elixir that can restore youth is definitely not something that can be made casually.

As they were talking, someone mentioned the Cang Organization and believed that this miracle medicine was actually developed by the Cang Organization.

Many people did believe this, and after a few days, it had become a consensus among everyone.

It seems that this is the truth!
As the Cang organization is recognized by everyone, its reputation is naturally huge.

It is said that this organization was founded by King Wu and had been hidden in the dark until it was exposed more than a hundred years ago.

In other words, if the legend is true, this is a terrifying organization that has existed for nearly nine hundred years and has been hiding in the dark!
"The Cang Organization was exposed during the reign of King Zhou Cang!"

"King Zhou Cang?"

Ah Fei looked puzzled: "Was there such a king in the past?"

He was born in the frontier, and after coming to the Central Plains, Li Xunhuan gave him some historical knowledge, but it was obviously just a summary.

Therefore, he had never heard of the name of King Zhou Cang.

Li Xun Huan explained: "It's normal that you don't know. In fact, this is not a real posthumous title, but a name given to him by the people.

A few years after King Cang of Zhou ascended the throne, wars broke out among the various countries. He suddenly announced to the world that he would be promoted from a king to an emperor, and asked the world to respectfully call him the Emperor of Zhou!

Ah Fei, you know, the word 'Emperor' is not something you can use lightly!

Ah Fei nodded: "I remember you talked about that period of history."

Although monarchs of various countries now call themselves emperors, as if emperors are everywhere, in fact, these special characters were not exclusive in the past, but they were not used casually.

In the past, the rulers of the Shang Dynasty called themselves kings.

The monarchs of the Zhou Dynasty also called themselves kings, and at the same time, they also called themselves the Son of Heaven.

The countries that were divided into fiefdoms were called princes.

The highest-ranking princes were merely "Dukes".

When the Zhou royal family declined and other states became dominant, the monarchs of these powerful countries were also just "Dukes".

Until the Chu State took the lead in proclaiming itself king, followed by the Wu and Yue States.

Later on, the monarchs of various countries began to call themselves kings, which seemed to be equal to the status of the King of Zhou.

Later, Qin and Qi became the strongest among all the countries, so the King of Qin invited the King of Qi to jointly become emperor, saying that you would be the Eastern Emperor and I would be the Western Emperor, and we would divide the world in the east and west.

The King of Qi readily agreed.

So the two of them jointly proclaimed themselves emperors.

But less than two months later, the strategist Su Qin came to Qi and persuaded the King of Qi to give up the title of emperor.

Under his persuasion, the King of Qi agreed to give up, and then contacted other countries to attack Qin together.

The four countries of Yan, Han, Zhao and Wei all responded, and a war broke out in which the five countries attacked Qin.

This war did not achieve much results in the end because of the discord between the countries, but it also forced the King of Qin to give up the title of emperor.

The title of Emperor only made a brief appearance.

Then, another powerful strategist, Zhang Yi, came on the stage.

Led by the State of Qin, the five states of Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao and Wei were contacted to form a mighty army to attack Qi together.

This is the battle of the six countries attacking Qi!
This battle did not result in the situation of the previous five countries. The six countries joined forces and forced Qi to lose its territory. Although it was not destroyed, it was completely defeated.

Against this historical background, King Cang of Zhou suddenly announced to the world many years after he ascended the throne that he would proclaim himself emperor!
One can imagine what kind of uproar it caused at the time!
You know, the King of Qin and the King of Qi called themselves emperors, but they were ambitious and agreed to divide the world into two parts.

Now you, the King of Zhou, come out and say you want to be emperor... What do you want to do?!

Countries have begun to stop it.

But not long after, scandals, conspiracies, and calculations among kings and princes of various countries were exposed all over the world, causing the conflicts between countries to suddenly reach a peak.

In such a strange situation, naturally someone would notice that something was wrong.

As a result, all countries conducted self-inspections and discovered that there had been a hidden force within their own countries that had been monitoring the kings and princes in their respective countries.

And the source of this power is the Zhou royal family!

"So this force refers to the Cang Organization?"

"good."

Li Xun Huan said, "The Cang Organization has declined significantly over the years. King Cang of Zhou used it to gather intelligence from various kingdoms, and then passed it on to other nations, thereby inciting wars between them.

This was the reason why wars between countries became frequent after King Cang of Zhou ascended the throne.

However, King Zhou Cang foolishly believed that as long as he did this, he would be able to control all the countries in the world in his hands!
So he confidently announced to the world that he was the emperor!
After being stopped by other countries, he resorted to the same old tricks again, using the intelligence of the Cang Organization to sow discord among the other countries."

Hua Manlou continued Li Xunhuan's words, "But this time, things didn't go as he wished. After understanding the reasons, the princes of various countries simply ignored his provocations, united, and marched into Zhongzhou!

At that time, the troops of various countries had already been deployed outside Zhongdu. King Cang of Zhou's plan failed and he had to give up the title of emperor.

Furthermore, each nation dismembered the Cang Organization and brought it back to their own countries, forming their own secret organizations. It is said that the most terrifying secret organization in Qin State, 'Luowang', was actually established by using the Cang Organization.

"A few years later, King Zhou Cang died!

According to the old rules, after the death of the King of Zhou, he should be given a posthumous title, no matter if it was good or bad. However, all the states were very disgusted with what King Cang of Zhou had done, and they jointly decided not to give this King of Zhou a posthumous title!
Thus, King Cang of Zhou became the only King of Zhou who did not receive a posthumous title after his death."

"However, among the common people, because this King Zhou employed the Cang Organization, people call him King Zhou Cang!"

(End of this chapter)