From a humble farmer to a great martial arts master

Chapter 126, 125, Heading North

In the surveillance footage.

Hua Xuanfeng, the leader of the Shenxiao Sect, first tried to stall for time, hoping to discuss the matter at length.

Knowing what he was thinking, Zhou Shifeng pressed him again and again, outwardly gentle but inwardly firm, appealing to his emotions and explaining the benefits, and making many promises.

Hua Xuanfeng remained unmoved, then began to denounce the Divine Dragon Sect for their beastly act of disrupting the Divine Firmament Autumn Sacrifice.

The shrewd and calculating Zhou Shifeng remained unmoved, as if it were none of his business.

finally.

Hua Xuanfeng revealed his bottom line: the sacred land of martial arts would not tolerate a marriage alliance with the imperial court, and he would rather die in battle than comply.

Zhou Shifeng, seemingly having anticipated his reaction, shook his head and smiled, then slowly said, "Does Sect Leader Hua know what that martial arts legend that caused the Divine Firmament Seal to tremble is?"

"What?"

Hua Xuanfeng's eyes flickered slightly.

"Actually, you should already know the answer in your heart. The only thing that can make the Divine Firmament Seal react is that one thing—the Earth Book!"

Hearing these two words —

Not to mention Hua Xuanfeng, even Ren Qingshan was startled.

Holy crap?

So the imperial court already knew about the existence of the Earth Book?

How much do you know?

"The Earthly Emperor—has he returned to the world?"

Hua Xuanfeng took a deep breath and asked in a deep voice.

"It's uncertain whether it's him or his disciple, but he has definitely come out of seclusion."

"Besides this treasure, nothing can cause the Divine Firmament Seal to tremble. And since the other party has this treasure, they will inevitably take back your Divine Firmament Seal. Not only the Divine Firmament Seal, but the martial world is about to be plunged into turmoil and calamity again. No martial arts master can remain unscathed."

"Back then, your grandmasters, along with my ancestors, severely injured the Earth Emperor and then disappeared without a trace. He is determined to avenge this blood feud."

Hua Xuanfeng's eyes were blank as he fell into deep thought.

This is an ancient story; to truly trace it back, we must go back more than a hundred years, to when the founding emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty was still a wandering figure.

The details are not recorded in the sect's records, and although his master had mentioned it, he was vague about it.

This doesn't seem like something to be proud of.

And it's been too long—back then, his master was just a promising young man.

Zhou Shifeng was not in a hurry and waited patiently.

A full incense stick's time had passed.

Hua Xuanfeng sighed and said, "I will give you the complete list of guests who will be attending the autumn sacrifice on the mountain this time. Only by relying on the power of the imperial court can this matter be investigated clearly."

He remained reserved, only opening up limited cooperation.

Zhou Shifeng pondered for a moment, then smiled and nodded in agreement: "You're quite shrewd, always ordering me around, but it's alright. This matter is indeed difficult for you to investigate. However, once this matter is concluded, my request will certainly be fulfilled."

Hua Xuanfeng frowned slightly.

"I need to discuss this with the leaders of the other three sects. Over the years, although our differences have deepened, it is an unspoken understanding that matters of the imperial court should be handled by the imperial court and matters of the martial world should be handled by the martial world. Without the consent of the other three sects, Shenxiao would never dare to be the first to make this decision."

"Alright, then I'll await your results! Goodbye!"

Zhou Shifeng nodded and turned to leave.

Bad news: The Earth Book has been discovered.

Good news: They are not yet united, but I learned of this in advance.

Inside the room, Ren Qingshan remained calm, lost in thought.

Earthly Sovereign?

Is it Dihuang or Dihuang? And it even has six flavors!

It doesn't matter what it is.

The key point is: if they knew the miraculous effects of the Earth Book, they only needed to follow the two clues of buying land and rapidly increasing strength, and the scope they narrowed down would immediately become very small. With the power of the imperial court, it would not be difficult for them to trace it back to me.

Gongshu Ce and Feng Jingxian, will they risk their lives to protect me?

uncertain.

Both of them should be staunch royalists.

I should go to the North to lay low for a while—as long as the green hills remain, there's always hope for a comeback.

Ok?

At this moment, Ren Qingshan was shocked to see that Hua Xuanfeng had already begun writing a letter.

The first letter he wrote was to Zhong Qianren, the leader of the Divine Strategist Holy Realm.

Shenji Sacred Realm is the most prestigious martial arts holy land in Zhongzhou, and it has always been aloof from worldly affairs. It occupies Shenji Mountain, located at the border between Zhongzhou and the Northern Territory, and only accepts seven disciples each year, accepting only those who are geniuses.

"To Brother Zhong —"

In his letter, Hua Xuanfeng described in detail his conversation with the Fourth Prince, informed the Fourth Prince of his conjectures, and finally proposed two possibilities.

First, if the successor of the Earth Emperor has truly been born, and is of the Divine Strategist lineage, as the disciple of the Earth Emperor in the past, where will he go from here?

Secondly, this matter may be that the Fourth Prince is using the name of the Earth Book to try to seize the sacred land of martial arts, the Divine Realm. How should he deal with this?

This matter is extremely urgent.

Looking forward to a reply, looking forward to a face-to-face meeting.

After finishing the letter, he walked out of Shenxiao Cave, whistled, and summoned a large, jet-black pigeon, which looked like some kind of exotic creature. He tied the letter tube to the pigeon and immediately released it.

Ren Qingshan watched his every move the whole time.

Hua Xuanfeng's guess was actually good news.

It's not so easy for people's hearts to be united.

After finishing this letter, Hua Xuanfeng wrote two more in succession.

They were given to the other two sects: Duan Yue, the leader of the Boundless Sacred Realm, and Miao Yunxin, the leader of the Northern Star Sacred Realm.

The letter stated that the Fourth Prince claimed the Earthly Emperor had emerged with the name of a martial arts master and wanted to forcibly marry the Holy Maiden of Shenxiao. He asked what the two families thought of this and hoped the Prince would come to Shenxiao soon for a face-to-face meeting.

Through these three letters, Ren Qingshan analyzes his position.

Hua Xuanfeng believed only about 50% of the matter at most, and still harbored a rebellious attitude towards the imperial court.

After all, it's better to trust Biaozi's loyalty than the prince's promise.

People in the martial arts world are naturally wary of the imperial court.

Well----

Now it's my turn to hold on!

The boomerang came so fast that Ren Qingshan was speechless and didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

pier.

A large, four-toothed ship was bustling with activity, having already loaded 800,000 taels of silver onto the vessel, along with 100,000 catties of previously collected old grain.

He had already said goodbye to everyone who came to see him off.

The large ship sets sail.

Strong, dark-skinned towmen, chanting work songs, pulled long ropes to drag the large boat out of the dock via the pier, hoisted the sails, and headed north.

Feeling the rush of water vapor, Ren Qingshan stood at the bow of the boat, his gaze lingering as he watched Fengcheng Prefecture gradually disappear into the distance.

Wei Bin is to his left.

On the right are Ren Yaohui and Lu Jingsong.

The ship also carried two hundred escorts hired from four security companies in the city, and two hundred miscellaneous servants hired from porters.

The northern prefecture of Qinghe is not directly accessible by the Grand Canal south of Beijing. Upon reaching the nearest dock, one must transfer to land transport, a journey of over 300 li (approximately 150 kilometers), which is extremely cumbersome and involves more people.

-

"Last time I went to the capital to deliver tribute silver for Lord Fang, the time was tight and the task was heavy, so I didn't have much time to look around along the way."

"This time, it's like I'm re-entering the martial arts world."

"Senior Brother Wei, are there any good places to eat, drink, and have fun along the way?"

Ren Qingshan said with a smile, his tone relaxed and content.

The ship had already set sail, and Ren Qingshan felt more and more at ease. He had already told his master, senior sister, Fang Yanping, Jiang Shi'an, and all the fellow disciples at the martial arts school about the family matters. Lu Haichuan was also at home. Even the Fourth Prince would not dare to act rashly without solid evidence, so there was no need to worry too much.

On the contrary, the greater his reputation in the martial arts world, the more stable his family became.

Wei Bin laughed heartily: "Look at this boat, how does it move?"

"Um?

Ren Qingshan was puzzled.

Wei Bin: "Drifting all the way, drifting all the way."

Ren Qingshan burst out laughing—Bin, you're a real talent! Aren't you afraid of PDD?

What? Heading all the way north?

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