The Great Martial Arts World: Hot Topics and Great Heroes

Of the several thousand people, most of their contribution to "killing the turtle" was just spitting out words; there was absolutely no danger involved...

But this third point... subtly hints at getting to the main point.

How can we avoid killing each other?

Naturally, they need to identify a leader...

Chapter 818 Divergence

When Gu Ting announced the three rules, everyone fell silent for a moment.

Immediately afterward, someone shouted, "Brother Yue is a man of great benevolence and righteousness, and a descendant of loyal anti-Qing officials. I think Brother Yue should be the leader!"

There are indeed some supporters, and judging from their accents, most of them are from the north.

"Thank you all for your kind words, brothers. I am young and lack virtue, and I am not worthy of such an important task," Yue Chengzhi immediately declined.

If he could truly take the position, Yue Chengzhi would naturally accept it without hesitation. However, it is obvious that many people would not respect him, and Yue Chengzhi does not want to cause infighting over a title.

At this moment, Zheng Keshuang was still quietly commenting on Yue Chengzhi's background to Jiunan, or rather, deliberately in front of Ake, implying that "I am still superior."

Then someone shouted, "We, the Funiu School, admire Master Situ of the Wangwu School! Who doesn't know that Master Situ killed countless Qing dogs back in Shanhaiguan? He was not only unparalleled in loyalty and righteousness, but also an expert in firearms. I heard that Wu Sangui secretly purchased cannons from overseas. When the time comes, we'll seize his cannons and blow him to smithereens while he's out of the city!"

Upon hearing this, Situ Bolei also stepped forward and humbly said, "I am an old man and not fit for important tasks. If it is to overthrow the Qing Dynasty and kill that dog Wu Sangui, I am willing to donate my old bones. But to ask me to be the leader of the anti-traitor alliance, I am afraid that my old age will cause me to make mistakes. No, no."

Zheng Keshuang chimed in to Jiunan, "Back in Shanhaiguan, this man was Wu Sangui's deputy general. Although he didn't surrender to the Qing with Wu Sangui, how can he be trusted?"

Jiu Nan glanced at him but didn't say anything.

Afterwards, the people of the Mu family strongly recommended Mu Jiansheng, which was somewhat like a self-recommendation. Zheng Keshuang continued to say strange things from the side: "Mu family? Ha, although the Mu family is the descendant of the founding heroes of the former Song Dynasty, its power has long since declined. It only has some roughnecks under its command, and its soldiers are probably no more than a thousand."

While the Prince Mu's mansion volunteered to lead the anti-traitor alliance, it also began to sell the identity of "Prince Zhao the Third"—a prince who went missing when the previous dynasty was destroyed.

This is precisely one of the reasons why the Mu family, as an anti-Qing force, was actually funded by Dali, and the Song court was unwilling to pay them any attention...

What the hell are you trying to do by bringing out a former dynasty's crown prince?

At this moment, Gu Zhizhong, the leader of the Crimson Fire Hall of the Heaven and Earth Society, stepped forward: "Our Heaven and Earth Society's first five halls are now amassing 100,000 troops overseas, and the latter five halls are spread throughout the Qing court and the martial arts world. We also have brothers of the Heaven and Earth Society in Luoyang. This leader of the Anti-Traitor Alliance..."

Zheng Keshuang was feeling smug when Gu Zhizhong suddenly said, "Shouldn't you all be satisfied with having Chief Chen do it?"

Zheng Keshuang: ? ? ?

Good! I knew that servant was going to rebel!

Although Chen Jinnan was the Grand Master, the Heaven and Earth Society was undoubtedly backed by the Prince Zheng's Mansion.

In fact, if it were the people from the first five halls, most of them would also support Prince Zheng. However, the latter five halls are different. The first five halls are Zheng's retainers, who are mainly responsible for military training and developing the righteous army. Naturally, they are loyal to Zheng. The latter five halls are heroes from the Jianghu, most of whom came for Chen Jinnan.

“Master Gu Xiang is right! My father sent me here to take charge of the situation!” Zheng Keshuang stepped forward at this moment.

Gu Zhizhong was taken aback when he heard this, but seeing that it was Young Master Zheng, he couldn't refute it for the time being.

Although Gu Zhizhong recognized Chen Jinnan, not the Zheng family, Chen Jinnan was still a retainer of the Zheng family, and it would be difficult for the head of the sect to be in a difficult position.

However, even if Gu Zhizhong didn't refute him, the people of the Mu Prince's Mansion wouldn't tolerate it...

Moreover, the banner that the Zheng family raised was that of the fifth prince of the former Song Dynasty—of course, everyone knows that both the Mu family and the Zheng family essentially wanted to go it alone, but they were just looking for a pretext for now.

Even before, Zheng Keshuang, in order to show off his prowess in front of Ake, blatantly compared his father to Emperor Taizong of Tang and Emperor Taizu of Song, and Jiunan... He felt uncomfortable, but not too surprised.

After all, while others might not know, how could she not? Whether it was the Third Prince or the Fifth Prince, they were all imposters…

Thus, the anti-Qing forces were roughly divided into three parties. In addition to these two parties, there was another most important party, which was the party that respected the legitimacy of the Song court. The three parties immediately began to argue endlessly.

The Mu and Zheng families accused each other of supporting an illegitimate ruler with ulterior motives, while also jointly condemning the Song court for being ruled by a foolish emperor and having eunuchs in power...

Yue Chengzhi and Li Xihua were at their wits' end, and Gu Ting also sighed inwardly.

Seeing that the various factions were not only competing for the leadership of the Anti-Traitor Alliance, but also about "fighting for legitimacy," Li Xihua stepped forward and said, "Brothers, listen to me! If we fight amongst ourselves here, wouldn't we just become a laughingstock? In my humble opinion, as long as we can drive out the Tartars, anyone, regardless of their lineage, can be emperor. In fact... as long as they are Han Chinese, if they can recover the Central Plains, I, Li Xihua, will accept them as emperor!"

What's the point of us fighting here? Let's kill Wu Sangui first, then that dog emperor of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. Whoever has the greatest merit will be the one everyone respects!

Li Xihua's words displeased the people of the Mu and Zheng Princes' Mansions, since saying such a thing would only expand the scope of their competitors.

However, most other people were more convinced by this statement.

After all, everyone present was a member of the martial arts world. Only a few families wanted to become emperors. Most of them were there for the sake of brotherhood. What about the Third Prince and the Fifth Prince? It's just that the previous dynasty has been destroyed and the Manchus are now in control of the Central Plains. Otherwise... we would call you "lackeys of the imperial court," okay?

Liu Dahong of the Mu family frowned slightly: "If you kill Wu Sangui, will our Mu family and the Heaven and Earth Society have to follow your lead?"

"This junior wouldn't dare, but now that we're all fighting over who is the Third Prince or the Fifth Prince, if I were to falsely claim to be a prince or nobleman from the former Tang Dynasty, would you all then be willing to give the throne to this junior?"

“You…” Liu Dahong paused upon hearing this.

"Whether the future Third Prince or Fifth Prince will have any merit or not, no one knows at this moment... If they have great merit, everyone will naturally support them, and no one else will be able to take the throne. If they have no merit at all, even if they ascend to the Dragon Court, I'm afraid they won't be able to sit on it securely."

Heroes of the Mu family and valiant members of the Heaven and Earth Society, our great cause of overthrowing the Qing Dynasty is multifaceted and complex. Some tasks are urgent, while others can be delayed. Killing Wu Sangui is urgent, while establishing a new emperor can wait! Since we cannot make a decision on this anti-traitor alliance for the time being, let us each establish our own divisions and act separately. Master Gu will be our chief strategist. Everyone should share their plans, as long as they do not interfere with each other!

"As for when the uprising really starts, isn't it obvious who deserves the most credit?" Li Xihua said confidently.

"Young Master Li is right!"

"That's right, to hell with your noble status, go find someone from the imperial court to show off your status."

"Of course, we'll support whoever has made the greatest contribution!"

……

The Mu family and the Heaven and Earth Society each had their own agendas, but other factions had already given their approval...

Situ Bolei, in particular, stepped forward and said, "Good! Although I am old, I can still be a vanguard. Whoever kills Wu Sangui, my Wangwu Sect will follow his lead!"

With Stuart's statement, everyone else echoed his sentiments even more.

Aqi carefully observed her master's expression. She noticed that when Young Master Li first spoke, she frowned and seemed slightly angry, but as she heard the rest of the conversation, her expression softened and she looked relieved...

Chapter 819 Acting Skills

“This young master Li does have some insight, what a pity, what a pity,” Huang Rong said, shaking her head.

Chu Luren didn't speak, but he knew what "what a pity" meant—there were too many things worth regretting.

It's a pity that these are just ordinary people, good at causing trouble but not so good at starting uprisings. It's even more a pity that they are still not convinced of each other's loyalty and that their plans are not kept secret.

They were discussing killing the turtle and rebelling against the Qing Dynasty, and among those present were Wu Sangui's heir and a close friend of Emperor Kangxi...

The "Turtle-Killing Assembly" below was elevated to a higher level, showing that many insightful people also wanted to unite the separate anti-Qing forces. Even if they couldn't truly unite as one, they at least wanted to nominally share the same banner and support each other...

Just like the rebel armies within the Mongol Yuan territory!

Although they fought independently, most of the rebel armies were nominally "Red Turban Army" followers of the Ming Cult, and their leader, Han Shantong, had close ties with the Ming Cult headquarters.

There were conflicts between the rebel armies, but the main theme was always the united front to destroy the Yuan dynasty!

If anti-Qing forces within the Qing territory could act in this way, they might very well accomplish great things.

"Since we're going to unite to destroy the Qing, why not unite with Wu Sangui as well? If the Prince of Pingxi raises an army, the Qing court will tremble, and then it will be much easier to do whatever we want," Chu Luren said with a sneer.

As for reputation?

It's not like we really want to make Wu Sangui emperor; we can turn our backs on him later. Why help the Manchus now?

Perhaps others had thought of it, but... everyone has a sense of shame, who would take the initiative to propose joining forces with Wu Sangui?

The Chu Lu people wouldn't, and they didn't even intend to join forces with them.

However, despite saying that, seeing this scene, Chu Luren also felt that if these people had less infighting, they could still have become quite a force to be reckoned with. Afterwards…

Then he saw that the number of "alliance leaders" below increased and became more and more detailed, eventually splitting into more than a dozen forces. Because they were divided by geographical prefectures and counties, the Heaven and Earth Society, which had the strongest momentum, occupied three of them as the main force against the Qing Dynasty. Zheng Keshuang could also be considered the leader of one of the alliances, which calmed his restless heart.

In any case, the anti-Qing cause in the martial arts world entered a new phase after that.

The Chu Lu people felt that Wu Sangui should raise an army on the spot—now they could see that they could benefit from the conflict between Wu Sangui and the Qing court, thus preventing them from helping the Qing court remove obstacles.

Of course, Chu Luren didn't say anything or get involved much, otherwise he wouldn't have told the Righteous Alliance members to disperse.

If Chu Luren wanted to compete, he could at least become the leader of the Five Seven Eighth Route Army.

As the various alliance leaders below were swearing blood oaths, with Zheng Keshuang proudly among them, Jiunan had already left with his disciples.

"Master! That Li Xihua is so hateful. He dares to be ranked first on the Human Ranking and even said that anyone can be emperor..." Aqi said in a low voice.

She was a bit smarter than Ake. She had coincidentally discovered that her master was worshipping the memorial tablet of the previous emperor. In addition, she recalled that although her master was a monk, he was usually dignified and had a noble air about him. She deduced that her master might be a nobleman from the previous dynasty or even a royal descendant.

I thought it was because of the turtle-killing ceremony that those people disregarded the orthodoxy of the previous dynasty, which disappointed my master.

“Li Xihua… Ha, among those present just now, there were only a handful of people who could be considered important, and Li Xihua is one of them.” To the surprise of his disciple, Jiu Nan praised Li Xihua instead.

Aqi didn't understand her master's meaning and didn't dare to say anything more.

But just then, Chu Luren suddenly looked in the direction where Jiu Nan and her disciples had left.

Chu Luren had noticed their departure immediately and hadn't thought much of it, choosing instead to stay and watch the excitement. However, he suddenly realized that someone had also quietly left after Jiu Nan and her disciples departed...

"What? Look how pretty that woman is?" Huang Rong teased Chu Luren.

Upon hearing this, Chu Luren curled his lip and said, "When have I ever been so shallow?"

Huang Rong admitted it, but then feigned surprise and said, "Could it be... that you've taken a fancy to that nun? Indeed, that nun does seem to have an extraordinary air about her, and she's only in her thirties?"

“I have face blindness… but it seems like someone is following them. Master Jiunan has a special status, so I’ll go follow them and see what trouble they might cause,” Chu Luren instructed.

With that, he floated away, passing right over everyone's heads, and no one noticed his presence...

To be honest, Chu Luren's "Secret Essentials of the Ren Sect" plus a dose of poison was enough to assassinate Wu Sangui.

On the other hand, Abbess Jiunan also vaguely sensed something. She suddenly stopped and said coldly, "Who goes there? Why are you hiding?"

Just seven or eight zhang away, a figure in brocade robes appeared leisurely—although it was a moonlit night, it was only when they were seven or eight zhang away that they realized they had been blocked and were directly overtaken.

"Murong Fu, a secret agent of the Dragon Guard Manor, pays his respects to the Grand Princess."

Indeed, the visitor was none other than "Murong Fu," who was theoretically supposed to be escorting Guihai Yidao back to Shaolin and had not yet returned to reunite with Haitang!

Previously, there were other spies with concealed identities watching the scene of the turtle-killing competition. As soon as Jiu Nan left, he notified Murong Fu, who was not far away.

To some extent, Zhao Wushi did indeed "value" Murong Fu more, after all, Murong Fu knew about his ambitions and it was for his own ambitions that he became his godfather and cooperated with him.

Although Duan Tianya, Shangguan Haitang, and even Guihai Yidao are much closer to Zhao Wushi emotionally than Murong Fu, the Zhao Wushi they are close to is merely Zhao Wushi's outward persona...

If Zhao Wushi has to do some "dirty work that Iron-Blooded Marquis wouldn't do," he'll definitely hand it over to Murong Fu!

"Ah!" Ake looked at the person and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise. Then she suddenly realized something, looked at her master in disbelief, and exclaimed "Ah!" again.