The deepest affection in Gu Long's world

Chapter 134 Weapon Ranking Update

"Master, you mentioned him because..."

"This is both a trigger for an attack and an opportunity to make a turn for the better and to demonstrate equal dialogue at the right time."

Fang Yunhua always kept Shangguan Cangxing's words in mind.

We martial artists still need to communicate with our fists.

Strength is the key to ensuring the smooth running of this deal.

"Next, Xian'er, you will go and reorganize the Plum Blossom Bandits. As for Shaolin, Bai Xiaosheng, you and I will go to Xinhu. Now we can start building momentum for our new organization. The first step is to take action against the weapon ranking list, which has not been updated for many years."

Bai Xiaosheng consciously instructed the servants outside to fetch pen, ink, paper, and inkstone.

Fang Yunhua nodded in satisfaction and gave him an approving look, which made the old servant feel as refreshed as if he had eaten a piece of ice-cold watermelon on a hot summer day, with a cool sensation running from the top of his head to the soles of his feet.

He also began to arrange a new ranking of weapons.

"First, the first Bodhisattva of Great Joy! Her weapon is her set of iron teeth and bronze fangs!"

Bai Xiaosheng wrote diligently, not daring to raise any questions, while Lin Xian'er cast a puzzled look at him.

Is the Great Joyful Female Bodhisattva very powerful?

"She's very strong, but there are some issues with her being ranked first. However, that's not important. The purpose of putting her in this precarious first place is to sabotage her."

"Trick her?"

"Bai Xiaosheng, you tell us yourself." Fang Yunhua gave Bai Xiaosheng a look.

The other party understood immediately and said:
"Miss Lin, you may not know this, but the Great Joyful Bodhisattva has kept a low profile in recent years. However, her long-standing habit has not changed. She likes to keep male concubines. As long as she hears that there are any handsome men in the world, she will not let them go."

If we go back a few decades, many of the most renowned masters in the martial arts world had at least a few friends who fell victim to his wickedness.

Moreover, this person's strength is indeed unfathomable; while ranking him first is somewhat of a stretch, he is not entirely unworthy.

At this moment, Lin Xian'er understood. She subconsciously grabbed Fang Yunhua's sleeve, secretly relieved that she had been raising him all these years without being discovered by the Great Joyful Bodhisattva. Otherwise, if the other party really came to her door, how could she have stopped them?

But inevitably, my brother Yunhua will become quite famous in the martial arts world, and once his face is exposed, it will likely attract the covetous eyes of others!
Therefore, this Bodhisattva of Great Joy truly deserves to die!
Fang Yunhua continued speaking.

"Second place is still Shangguan Jin Hong, third place is Li Xun Huan, and fourth place should go to Sun Bai Fa. His Heavenly Secret Staff is more suitable for him to retire in this position. As for fifth place, what are the recent movements of Bai Tian Yu?"

"Bai Tianyu from the Divine Blade Hall outside the pass? I've heard he's had some friction with the Demonic Sect recently, but that's all."

"He hasn't entered the pass yet. Let him be ranked fifth, and give sixth place to the leader of the Demonic Cult."

"Hua Baikong, the leader of the Demonic Sect?"

"Ah."

Fang Yunhua didn't know the other party's name either, as it was never mentioned in the original storyline. Apart from knowing that he had a daughter surnamed Hua who was the head of the four princesses, and that he had once lost a move to Bai Tianyu in a battle, thus making a vow to prevent the Demonic Sect from advancing eastward.

That's all the information available.

"Seventh place goes to Guo Songyang, and eighth place goes to Hu Bugui. It seems there aren't many experts left among the seven major sects."

In the original storyline, it was clearly stated that Guo Songyang's strength was above that of the leaders of the seven major sects. Xie Tianling, the leader of the Diancang Sect, who was known as the number one swordsman in Tiannan and was invincible in his life, had been defeated by Guo Songyang three times, and he was completely convinced of his defeat.

Being able to fight the opponent three times indicates that his combat strength is not far behind Guo Songyang's, and he can barely make it into the ninth or tenth place.

However, for the time being, Fang Yunhua still needs to consider the situation of the seven major sects. But he has already put the leader of the Demonic Sect on the Weapon Ranking. Not to mention the Jiangnan area, even the martial arts forces in the north may not be able to maintain their dignity.

Although the existence of the Weapon Ranking List has a somewhat deliberate intention to incite smaller factions and independent cultivators to kill each other for fame, it is indeed the best shortcut to fame.

Fame plays a significant role in the martial arts world.

One of the key factors that enabled Shangguan Jin Hong to expand the influence of the Money Gang to encompass 63 provinces in the south and north in just two years was that he was the runner-up in the Weapon Ranking and had recruited many other strong individuals from the Weapon Ranking under his command.

"Ninth place goes to the Lady of the South China Sea, who is known as the Thousand-Faced Guanyin."

This person was introduced in "The Eagle Flies in September". Looking back, it can be confirmed that she is one of the four princesses of the contemporary Demonic Sect.

Later, it was even commented that, in terms of martial arts that can kill and win, there are seven masters of the Demonic Sect who can be ranked among the top twenty in the weapon rankings, and the South Sea Lady, who is good at ever-changing techniques, is undoubtedly the best among them.

Of course, it was a bit of a stretch to rank her in this position, but for Fang Yunhua, he cared more about what purpose this ranking could help him achieve than the absolute fairness of the weapon ranking.

"The tenth one."

"To Lü Fengxian?"

This is the fifth place in the original weapons ranking. In the past, it was one level below the top three, one level below the fourth, half a level below the fifth, and one or even two levels below the sixth to tenth.

However, judging by the timeline, he has not yet mastered the silver halberd he originally wielded, using his three fingers that appear to be forged from metal.

His current combat strength is probably a level below Guo Songyang's.

If that's the case, it's better to give it to Jing Wuming than to give it to him.

"By the way, the tenth one, Jing Wuming, is marked as having a left-handed sword as his weapon."

After all, Jing Wuming, who wields a sword in his right hand, is half a level stronger than him, who wields a sword in his left hand, and is qualified to truly compete with Guo Songyang for seventh place.

However, in a different timeline than in the original story, Guo Songyang's victory was less than honorable because he deliberately concealed his true abilities, had Shangguan Jin Hong protecting him, and was also willing to die to help Li Xunhuan identify the flaws in his swordsmanship.

"List these ten first, and remember to spread the word as quickly as possible. I need to make sure that the talk of the martial arts world is about the top ten weapons, and that they remember our organization's name."

"What's our organization called?" Lin Xian'er asked Fang Yunhua, her eyes sparkling.

"What can an intelligence organization be called? It's naturally the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion."

"But the Heavenly Mystery Elder's other name also contains the words Heavenly Mystery."

"That's why he was kicked down to fourth place by the Tianji Tower Master. This can be used as gossip and spread around. Also, you, Bai Xiaosheng, are now serving as the deputy tower masters of Tianji Tower together with Xian'er."

In public, please don't call me "master"; address me as "the landlord."

"Yes, Master."

Bai Xiaosheng lowered his head, his expression very respectful.

"Then you can make the arrangements. Come with me to see Xinhu Lake in a few days. By the way, your identity as the deputy head of the building needs to be spread."

However, as the host, I cannot reveal my identity publicly. Exposing it to a few people in Xinhu and Shaolin is fine, since I need to leverage Shaolin's influence to pave the way for my official debut.

"Yes, Master."

After Bai Xiaosheng stepped down, Fang Yunhua instructed Lin Xian'er to strengthen the management and control of Tianji Tower, and to ensure that the organization remained in their hands.

As for those intelligence personnel who were originally loyal to Bai Xiaosheng, they should be made to realize that the Lord of Tianji Tower is the true master of this organization.

Lin Xian'er naturally had her own methods for dealing with this. She was not as good as Yuan Zi, whom Fang Yunhua longed for, in handling some trivial matters, but Yuan Zi had high potential for growth and was full of interest and desire for power in such matters.

Of course, there is an even more crucial point: Fang Yunhua and Yuanzi were still separated by a layer, but he and Lin Xian'er were able to achieve almost complete mutual trust.

For example, right now, Lin Xian'er will directly ask whatever comes to mind.

"There must be another reason why you changed your name to Tianji Tower."

"Oh?"

"I feel like you're deliberately luring Sun Baifa to your door."

"You're still the smartest." Fang Yunhua flicked the bridge of her nose. Lin Xian'er, who was about to ask a few more questions, was suddenly ignited with a fire in her heart. Those questions were no longer so important to her.

All she wanted was to have a passionate and intense battle with the man in front of her!
---------

A single pavilion holds tales of the martial world, half a scroll of military strategy determines the course of events. If you ask where the secrets of heaven are hidden, the true voice is revealed beneath the star-studded chessboard.

In just a few days, news of the establishment of Tianji Tower spread to every corner of the martial arts world. It was rumored that as long as you could afford the right price, you could buy valuable intelligence here.

People in the martial arts world used to scoff at this kind of talk. After all, there are countless secrets in the world, and how could a mere Tianji Tower possibly know all about them?

However, after Bai Xiaosheng, who published the weapon rankings, publicly stated that he had become the deputy head of Tianji Tower, many of the doubts in the martial arts world were silenced.

Because a single weapon ranking list is enough to prove Bai Xiaosheng's authority in intelligence, most people in the martial arts world regard climbing the weapon ranking list as their life goal, which also makes many people curious about the Tianji Tower.

The well-known "All-Knowing Scholar" is a deputy head of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion, so who is the head of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion?
At the same time, all the updates regarding the top ten weapons were also released.

In its previous ranking principles, women were not included, and demonic sects were not included.

But this time there was no such concern, which caused great controversy in the martial arts world.

First, the eloquent and shrewd female bodhisattva of great joy.

[Second, Dragon and Phoenix Mother-and-Child Rings - Shangguan Jin Hong]

Third, Li Xunhuan, the Flying Dagger.

[Fourth, Ruyi Jingu Bang - Sun Baifa] [Fifth, Yishi Shendao - Bai Tianyu]

[Sixth, One-Style Demon Blade - Flower Worship in the Sky]

[Seventh, Songyang Iron Sword - Guo Songyang]

[Eighth, Green Bamboo Sword - Hu Bugui]

[Ninth, The Thousand-Faced Master: Lady of the South China Sea]

[Tenth, Left-Handed Sword - Jing Wuming]

First of all, the fact that the person who suddenly appeared in the top spot was a woman naturally sparked a lot of discussion. Bai Xiaosheng, who was prepared for this, used his connections to make Jianghu people who had not heard of the name of the Great Joyful Female Bodhisattva in recent years realize how terrifying she was.

There are only two examples.

The first is Lian Luosong, the once-famous Bloodthirsty Swordsman, who was abducted by the Great Joyful Bodhisattva and became her male concubine.

Three years later, his gruesome body was discovered in the suburbs.

Secondly, Xiahou Yin, the former leader of the Hainan Sword Sect, one of the seven major sects, who had mastered the Flying Fish Swift Sword technique, was also kidnapped by the Great Joyful Bodhisattva because of his handsome appearance, which led to the Hainan Sword Sect's five-year-long manhunt.

The result was that he ended up with Xiahou Yin's mangled corpse after being played with.

However, this action angered the seven major sects, causing the Great Joyful Bodhisattva to restrain her behavior considerably. As a result, in the past ten years or so, many wandering martial artists have rarely heard of her.

In response, Tianji Tower issued a statement saying that anyone who disagrees with the ranking of the Great Joyful Bodhisattva as number one can challenge her at any time. As long as they defeat her, they can be parachuted into the top spot on the weapon ranking.

With the first point of contention at the top, there's not much to say about the rest.

Anyone who has traveled outside the Great Wall knows the significance of the divine and demonic swords that parachuted into fifth and sixth place. Even Hu Fengzi, who suddenly jumped into eighth place, has quite a reputation.

The ninth-ranked Lady of the South Sea is no ordinary person either. She has always been famous in the martial arts world for her unpredictable disguise skills. It is said that anyone who sees her true face will surely die. To this day, there is still no conclusive evidence that anyone has seen her true appearance.

This subtly highlighted her strength.

After all, mystery is the best boost to combat strength.

Finally, there is some controversy surrounding the tenth place, Jing Wuming. Many people secretly speculate that he has squeezed out Lü Fengxian, who was originally ranked fifth on the Weapon Ranking. This name is also unfamiliar to most people in the martial arts world.

But then a piece of news came out, and these controversies immediately disappeared without a trace.

That is to say that Jing Wuming is the shadow of Shangguan Jin Hong, who ranks second on the Weapon Ranking. This one sentence is enough to prove the value of his combat power.

In a corner where no one paid attention, some people noticed that Sun Baifa's weapon name on the list had changed from Tianji Staff to Ruyi Staff.

In a teahouse, a grandfather and grandson who were supposed to be telling stories lost all interest in the storytelling after receiving the latest news about the weapons rankings.

The granddaughter spoke with some anger.

"Grandpa, the master of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion is absolutely despicable!"

She wore two long braids, and her big eyes were dark and bright. With a single glance, she seemed capable of stealing a man's soul.

Even when she's angry, she still exudes a charming and delicate allure.

She is Sun Xiaohong, who, judging from her character design, should be the female lead of "The Sentimental Swordsman and the Ruthless Sword," but in reality, she is somewhat of a supporting character. As a fan of Li Xunhuan, she bravely pursues love throughout the story, only winning the heart of the older man at the very end.

Her grandfather was none other than Sun Baifa, who was originally ranked first on the weapons list.

An old man who seems to live life to the fullest, carefree and unconcerned about fame.

But in reality, when he saw the weapon rankings updated and he was kicked from first to fourth, losing the title of Heavenly Secret Staff and instead being given the title of Ruyi Staff, it would be impossible for him to just laugh it off.

However, he maintained a good attitude and, after some self-adjustment, began to comfort Sun Xiaohong.

“Grandpa is old, so it’s impossible for him to stay at the top of the weapon ranking forever. Moreover, it’s hard to say what the situation is for the others in this ranking, but it’s clear that the person at the top has some obvious personal grudges.”

"Personal grudges?" Sun Xiaohong blinked her big eyes. She was a very intelligent woman and immediately thought of some of the rumors circulating outside.

Placing the Great Joyful Woman Bodhisattva at the top of the list will cause too much controversy, and her behavior will attract criticism from some righteous people. Afterwards, news about her deeds more than ten years ago has been continuously released.

This is even worse than roasting it over a fire!

Therefore, it is reasonable to speculate that the owner of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion is likely an enemy of the Great Joyful Bodhisattva. Although it has not been heard that the Great Joyful Bodhisattva has any male concubines who have successfully escaped and survived, those male concubines who are still imprisoned or have died all originally had extraordinary connections.

"Perhaps there is no grudge between the Lord of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion and the Great Joyful Bodhisattva. It is just that the Great Joyful Bodhisattva's style of doing things means that the two are destined to clash in the future, so this Lord of the Pavilion strikes first."

“They’re bound to clash!” Sun Xiaohong’s eyes widened. “Grandpa, are you saying that this Tianji Tower Master thinks the Great Joyful Bodhisattva will definitely set her sights on him? My God, how narcissistic is that!”

“It’s impossible for a good-looking person to be unaware of the attractiveness of their appearance. In recent years, the martial arts world has been relatively quiet about the issue of the Great Joyful Female Bodhisattva, and the possibility of old grudges is even lower. I am more inclined to believe that the other party is taking precautions.”

Sun Baifa's words aroused Sun Xiaohong's strong desire to investigate.

She was eager to see if the owner of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion truly had the confidence to back it up, or if he was simply too narcissistic and overestimated his personal charm.

"Grandpa~"

As soon as her tone changed, Sun Baifa understood his granddaughter's thoughts. She belonged to a large martial arts family with an intelligence system that covered the entire martial arts world. In this respect, it was comparable to the intelligence network that Bai Xiaosheng had built over the years.

Therefore, it wasn't too difficult for him to find someone in the martial arts world who had revealed some of his background.

Even if you can't keep an eye on the other party, you can still find clues from Bai Xiaosheng.

Moreover, even without Sun Xiaohong's request, Sun Baifa wanted to meet the Tianji Tower Master who had stripped him of his title.

There are few things in this world that can interest him. As an old man who has seen the vicissitudes of life, any event that can arouse his curiosity is undoubtedly equivalent to encountering a rare treasure.

"Let's see if we can uncover the mysterious identity of this Tianji Tower Master as soon as possible."

“Master, it is impossible for anyone in this world to discover your identity in advance.”

Bai Xiaosheng fawned over him from the side.

Of course, his words were tinged with genuine admiration, because he had personally witnessed Fang Yunhua rub her face and transform into a completely different person, her methods being even more bizarre and extraordinary than those of the South China Sea Lady.

Meanwhile, the other party also possesses an extremely high level of disguise skills (one of the legacies of Shi Guanyin). The human skin mask he made was worn on Bai Xiaosheng's face when they were traveling, after all, the other party is also a celebrity in the martial arts world.

Those who wanted to uncover the identity of the Tianji Tower Master were not only Sun Baifa and Sun Xiaohong, so they naturally knew that the simplest breakthrough point was Bai Xiaosheng.

Bai Xiaosheng was also somewhat puzzled. His opponent was so powerful in martial arts that he could easily rank among the top five in the weapon rankings. He also had the skill of changing his expression at any time. When plotting against Shaolin Temple, he also showed wisdom that Bai Xiaosheng greatly admired.

Such a monstrous talent, yet he has been secretly living off Lin Xian'er. If he and Xin Jian hadn't been impatient and insisted on putting pressure on Lin Xian'er, would she still be able to continue playing the fool with a clear conscience?

He couldn't understand.

He dared not think too much about it. Recently, whenever he had any wicked thoughts, he would dream again at night of the excruciating pain he felt from taking bat tears, and he would always feel that there was a tentacle lurking in the shadows.

If one truly harbors thoughts of betrayal, those tentacles will suddenly reach out and drag one back into that despairing void where all five senses are lost and pain is absent, and everything is confused.

Fang Yunhua had already told him that once Bat Tears was taken three times, it would cause permanent loss of the five senses. If he was lucky, he would only lose one or two senses after taking it a third time. If he was unlucky, he would lose all five senses.

This also means that he has no chance to start over.

Failure means facing an ending more terrifying than death.

Although this kind of life now has a master above me and I am less free to do things, it is much better than that feeling of despair and emptiness.

Happiness is always relative.

The reason why Bat Tears could make Yuan Suiyun, a deep and gloomy guy, tend to evolve into someone like Chao Hua Manlou is that it can make people deeply feel the satisfaction of everything they have in reality.

Perhaps some mentally strong individuals can completely escape this influence.

But this absolutely does not include Bai Xiaosheng.

At this moment, they are at Misty Rain Manor.

This is a little-known, hidden industry of Bai Xiaosheng.

At the same time, this was also the location where Abbot Xinhu of Shaolin Temple was invited. After Bai Xiaosheng clearly stated that he had noticed clues about the stolen scriptures and claimed that he could rule out Master Xinzhu as a suspect.

He then took the initiative to extend an invitation to both Xinhu and Xinzhu.

Xinhu and Baixiaosheng were old friends for many years, and he naturally trusted each other completely. He also needed to know about some recent information about Tianji Tower in the martial arts world, so he quickly confirmed the time and place with Baixiaosheng.

"Master, what should I do next?"

“Just stay to the side, you don’t need to do anything, but,” Fang Yunhua looked at the other person meaningfully, “you can give it a try.”

"Try what?" Bai Xiaosheng looked completely bewildered.

But he actually understood. Given his relationship with Xinhu, if they joined forces with Xinzhu, who was also quite strong, was there any chance that the three of them could actually kill Fang Yunhua?
The moment the thought crossed his mind, his body began to tremble uncontrollably.

"Master! I have never intended to betray you!"

(End of this chapter)