Chapter 127: Iron-Blooded National Salvation, The Decree of Xici

Naturally, he did not know that Mankeduo had already come to view him as an unprecedented threat.

After dealing with Nayancheng, Lu Yuan did not rest; he received many more calling cards one after another.

In fact, a large number of calling cards had been sent over after the previous ceremony, but he had been busy recruiting gatekeepers during that time and had no time to attend to them. Now that he had finished recruiting his disciples and things were on the right track, the calling cards from all sides drifted over like snowflakes once again.

Among them were those from the largest chambers of commerce in Jinjin, the Golden Blade Group, and the leader of the Boatmen's Guild, Kou Zhongtian—every one of them was a big shot who could make Jinjin tremble with a single stomp of their foot.

However, these people were all quite ordinary to Lu Yuan now. After considering it, he accepted the calling cards and met with each of these people one by one.

The meetings were nothing more than empty pleasantries; they all just wanted to build a favorable connection with Lu Yuan to make things easier in the future. Only the Old Dragon Head of the Boatmen's Guild, Kou Zhongtian, was sincere after visiting in person, claiming that he had failed to discipline his subordinates properly, which led to Deng Xiaolin turning Yulong Hall into a foul mess and poisoning the region, and so on.

Kou Zhongtian was an old man nearing seventy. He looked to be in extremely poor health and coughed from time to time while speaking, much like an ordinary old man. It was clear, just as the rumors said, that he had damaged his heart meridians while breaking through to the True Martial Realm, and both his strength and foundation were far inferior to a genuine Grandmaster.

This was clearly an attempt to resolve their grievances, and since the other party, as a Grandmaster, had adopted such a low posture, Lu Yuan responded with a noncommittal and indifferent attitude.

After Kou Zhongtian, the Tianli Sect—which Lin Xingchao and Gu Kanshan had once mentioned—as well as the so-called Fu Sheng Sect, also sent cards and visited one after another.

After all, Jinjin was a vital coastal city and a central hub; both of these factions had important strongholds there, so now that a figure like Lu Yuan had emerged, they naturally could not ignore him.

Therefore, the Tianli Sect sent a Deputy Sect Leader named Qi Tengyun. He was dressed like a Daoist with the air of an immortal, and when he arrived, he only brought two young Daoist acolytes, looking just like a master who had transcended the mundane world.

If the other party hadn't revealed his identity, it would have been hard for Lu Yuan to associate him with the leader of an evil cult.

This person came to visit and offer congratulations as well. Upon seeing Lu Yuan's true appearance, he could not help but marvel. The content of their conversation then became a roundabout attempt to probe Lu Yuan's views on the situation in Jinjin and the entire Jin Dynasty, seemingly wanting to use this to judge Lu Yuan's stance and whether he could be won over.

Lu Yuan was naturally too lazy to say much about this and dismissed him in a few words.

The Tianli Sect started by bewitching hearts and fooling and brainwashing the common people. Although they had staged an uprising in Tianjing decades ago and even breached the Forbidden City, shocking the world.

But in the end, the Tianli Sect was still an evil cult. Even if their Sect Leader Zhao Wuji was a Seventh Realm Grandmaster, he would still fail to achieve anything great and would eventually be swept into the dustbin of history. Naturally, it was impossible for him to have any connection with them.

After the Deputy Sect Leader Qi Tengyun left, the next to send a card and visit was Hong Chuanjiang, the Deputy Gate Master of the remnants of the Shengping Heavenly Kingdom, now renamed the Fu Sheng Sect.

He also came alone; Gu Kanshan and the others did not follow. As for the purpose of the visit, it was the same as the Tianli Sect's Deputy Sect Leader: mainly to build a favorable connection while probing Lu Yuan's stance to see if there was any possibility of developing a partnership.

Lu Yuan dealt with him in the same casual manner.

Besides these two, the last to come and visit was the so-called Iron-Blooded National Salvation Society.

Having been disturbed in his quiet cultivation repeatedly, Lu Yuan had no desire to see any more guests, but this group of people actually stood outside the Guangwu Hall without eating or drinking for two full days, which was why he finally invited them in.

There were several members of this organization. Unlike the previous two, the Iron-Blooded National Salvation Society was not known for its martial prowess. The leader, Branch President Zhao Shuhua, came from a scholarly family and possessed no advanced martial arts. The few who followed him were also passionate, ambitious scholars and young people.

They were respectful and reverent toward Lu Yuan. As soon as they started, they spoke with great fervor, unabashedly expounding on the Iron-Blooded National Salvation Society's philosophy of reform, revolution, and saving the nation and its people, hoping to gain Lu Yuan's support and endorsement.

The Iron-Blooded National Salvation Society had only been established for a few years. It was founded by an ambitious young man named Ding Kaizhang, who, witnessing the corruption of the Jin Dynasty and the worsening state of national affairs, would often stomp his feet and beat his chest in indignation, thus establishing his ambition for change early on.

This person grew up in the Magic Capital Concession and had been influenced by new-style education and ideas since childhood. Several years ago, he advocated following the ancients, gathering heroes and men of exceptional talent, and working together to save the nation and its people, thus founding the Iron-Blooded National Salvation Society.

Since then, within a few years, the society's local organizations had blossomed throughout the coastal regions, constantly developing and growing. They had been committed to developing science and industry, vigorously promoting new education, and even advocating for gender equality, allowing women the right to study and read.

In this era of feudal ethics, someone proposing such concepts was certainly no ordinary person. It was precisely because he understood this that Lu Yuan became interested and patiently listened to the exposition of the Jinjin Branch President, Zhao Shuhua:

"Our Han blood has not yet cooled, our hearts have not yet died. How can we bear to sit and watch our compatriots sink into a sea of misery, as if it were no concern of ours, like the states of Qin and Yue? Furthermore, the people are the components of the nation, and the nation is the collective of the people. There has never been a case where the people are weak but the nation is strong, able to avoid being bullied by outsiders; nor has there been a case where the nation is weak but the people survive alone, able to avoid being poisoned by outsiders. To protect ourselves, we must first strengthen our nation; to strengthen our nation, we must strengthen our people. If our people are strong, our nation is strong; if our nation is strong, we will not have to bow our heads to the dwarves in the East or lower our voices to the blue-eyed, yellow-bearded tribes in the West."

Lu Yuan asked with interest:

"The Jin Dynasty is corrupt, the great powers are eyeing us like tigers, and the hundreds of millions of people in the thirty-six provinces are like fish on a chopping block, ready to be carved up at any moment. In such a situation, how can one strengthen the people and even the nation? And this so-called strong nation—whose nation is it?"

Facing the inquiry, Zhao Shuhua did not hesitate and said with resounding force:

"The nation to be strengthened is naturally our Han nation! The small Jin tribe rules over the great tribe; for these hundreds of years, their suppression of the Han people has been extreme. It is precisely because they suppress the Han people, keep the commoners ignorant, and stifle all emerging development that our vast China has become so weak. Therefore, if we want to strengthen the nation and the people, we must find the opportunity to completely overthrow this dark and corrupt alien dynasty, and then recreate the world upon its corpse!"

Lu Yuan nodded:

"This so-called opportunity—what kind of opportunity is it?"

Zhao Shuhua said with great passion:

"The Jin Dynasty has been defeated by foreign enemies time and again; it has long since forfeited its sovereignty and humiliated the nation, and the hearts of the people are entirely lost. The only reason it still stands is because of that Undying Demon Empress holding it up. Now, the great powers will surely not be satisfied with their current appetites; we only wait for the clap of thunder, and from then on, the smoke of war will rise everywhere. To whom will the palaces of the capital belong? When the time comes, the world will turn, the sun and moon will be renewed, patriots will rise in groups, soldiers will strive, and our sincerity will pierce the sun; we will surely recover the mountains and rivers of our ancestors!"

Lu Yuan nodded slightly.

This exposition gave him a fairly good impression of the Iron-Blooded National Salvation Society.

Perhaps the organization's philosophy and platform had some idealistic and immature aspects, but it already possessed the foundation and possibility for success.

Of course, they still lacked the most important first point: under the high-pressure vigilance of the Jin Dynasty, although they worked hard to connect and develop, they had not yet mastered much military force or firepower. In recent years, they had even aroused the vigilance of the Jin Dynasty—or rather, the Undying Demon Empress—who had classified the Iron-Blooded National Salvation Society as a rebel party and continuously investigated, arrested, and slaughtered its members.

As of now, the number of members of the Iron-Blooded National Salvation Society arrested and executed in various places had reached over a thousand; it could be said that their losses were heavy.

Upon learning this, although Lu Yuan did not say much on the spot, he personally took out fifty thousand Silver Yuan to provide these people with funding.

His action could be considered a form of subtle support. Zhao Shuhua and the others were naturally incomparably excited and grateful, and they immediately invited Lu Yuan to join the society, even willing to yield the position of Branch President to him.

Lu Yuan naturally did not covet the position of president; he just felt that the passion of these people was rare and that helping them appropriately to build a favorable connection might be useful in the future.

Just like that, although he had not joined the Iron-Blooded National Salvation Society and had not made his stance clear, Zhao Shuhua and the others still left in high spirits.

After this, Lu Yuan completely closed his doors to guests, stopped meeting anyone, and lived in seclusion to cultivate.

Meanwhile, Mankeduo, as the Great Governor of the Niangan Office, had already returned to Tianjing and reported the situation regarding Lu Yuan at the first opportunity.

At this very moment, in the deep and cold Qianqing Palace.

In the empty and majestic great hall, the Empress Dowager Xici lay on a phoenix couch, with one palace maid fanning her and another massaging her legs on either side.

And below the phoenix couch, Mankeduo stood solemnly:

"Old Buddha, upon verification, that Lu Yuan indeed possesses unfathomable cultivation and strength. Even when I used the Sucking Power Technique, I could not shake the true Qi within his body; it is truly inconceivable."

"Judging by his appearance, this person is indeed only in his early twenties. Even if he has techniques to preserve his youth, his age definitely does not exceed thirty. I stayed in Jinjin for two days to have people investigate, and the result was that his background is a mystery, as if he had appeared out of thin air. The only clue is that this person once used the Broken Gang Divine Fist, the unique skill of the Shenquan Sect; I do not know if he is a remnant of that sect."

The Empress Dowager Xici was dressed in red silk embroidered with gold phoenixes and longevity patterns. Her face looked like that of an ordinary sixty-year-old woman, except that her skin was well-maintained and one could not see many wrinkles, save for a pair of eyes that were as deep as an abyss with no visible bottom.

Her gaze narrowed slightly, and she suddenly sat up from the phoenix couch, her voice echoing eerily:

"Mankeduo, your Sucking Power Technique has already reached the realm of perfection. He was actually able to make you return empty-handed? Are you trying to alarm me with exaggerations?"

"This humble servant would not dare!"

Mankeduo continued solemnly:

"However, the facts are just as they are. This person has peerless Godly Strength and unparalleled Sword Technique. At such an age, he can be called a heaven-sent genius, and I fear there is a possibility he may break the limit of the True Martial Realm in the future. Yet, when the Great Governor, Lord Na, bestowed rewards, this person showed no respect for the imperial court or the Old Buddha; he clearly has a rebellious nature and will surely become a grave threat to our dynasty in the future!"

Breaking the limit of the True Martial Realm.

Mankeduo's voice echoed in the great hall. Although the Demon Empress Xici sat motionless and expressionless, an extremely oppressive and heavy aura, like a raging current in the deep sea, immediately filled the hall, showing that her heart was not at peace.

Her voice was as cold as ice, and she spoke slowly without the slightest warmth:

"Nowadays, the Heaven and Earth have regressed, and Heavenly Gang Grandmasters are almost extinct. Unless one is supported by the resources of an entire nation, it is simply impossible for anyone to break through this boundary. This Palace wants to know how this person, at such an age, reached this step. Could it be that the world today can truly give birth to such a talent capable of reshaping the heavens and the earth?"

Mankeduo knitted his brows: "This humble subject also cannot fathom how this person managed to do it."

Within the tens of millions of miles of the Great Jin territory, whether it be cultivation techniques, secret manuals, or rare and precious medicinal herbs, the essence of all cultivation resources is gathered within the deep palaces, and there is nothing in the world that surpasses it.

Yet, even within the palace, where one can eat potent supplements like radishes, the most gifted figures over the past few hundred years only broke through the True Martial Realm and achieved the status of Martial Arts Grandmaster when they were nearly fifty years old.

Someone like Lu Yuan belongs to a category of monstrous talent not seen in a thousand years; it is indeed enough to make one curious about how he achieved such accomplishments at such a young age.

The Demon Empress Xici knitted her brows, her voice sharp:

"Could it be that this person also possesses some extraordinary fortuitous encounter?"

Regarding the current state of the regressing Heaven and Earth environment, if one pushes time back over a thousand years, there were all kinds of divine arts, secret techniques, and Dharma Artifacts emerging one after another, far surpassing the present. Although times have changed and most of these things have been submerged in the tides of history, there is still a possibility that some have been passed down.

If Lu Yuan obtained such a fortuitous encounter, then such accomplishments at such an age would seem to make sense.

"That is indeed a possibility."

Mankeduo said with murderous intent:

"Old Buddha, regardless of what fortuitous encounter he possesses, the great powers are currently eyeing us like tigers, and after the recent defeat in the Jin-Sun War, the country is in turmoil. Many rebellious parties and chaotic factions have already secretly raised their heads. If another Heavenly Gang Grandmaster of Han identity were to emerge in this world, he would only need to raise his arms and shout, and the rule of our Jin Clan would be in precarious danger.

Therefore, no matter what, and no matter what price must be paid, we must at all costs strangle him in the cradle before he takes that step, so as to avoid causing a great disaster!"

The Demon Empress Xici looked at him indifferently and said slowly:

"This person already has a track record of defeating two Grandmasters in a row, and his reputation is at its zenith. In your view, how can he be dealt with?"

Mankeduo hesitated and said:

"To be absolutely certain, it should require at least two to three top-tier experts of Grandmaster level, supplemented by the Elite Divine Spear Battalion of the Niangan Office to coordinate; that should be enough to kill him. However, such an action would cause too much of a stir and have too great an impact, which is truly disadvantageous to the Imperial Court. In this humble subject's view, it is better to find another way. The sect-protecting classics of the former Five Poisons Sect are in the palace, and among them are strange poisons like Lock Poison that even a True Martial Grandmaster would find difficult to resist; they can be used to deal with this person."

He did not mention at all the matter of letting Xici, the number one expert of the Jin Dynasty and the only Eighth Realm Heavenly Gang Grandmaster, take action personally.

This is not only because Xici, as the Empress Dowager and the ruler of the Great Jin, holds a position of supreme nobility, but also because she has lived through several dynasties and her age exceeds two 60-year cycles. Even as an Eighth Realm Grandmaster, her vital energy and bodily functions have begun to decline slowly, and any intense physical combat would inevitably affect her own lifespan.

Calculating based on the 150-year limit of a Heavenly Gang Grandmaster's lifespan, the other party likely has only ten or twenty years left. In such a situation, any Grandmaster would be extremely protective of their life to live a few more years; how could they possibly risk shortening their lifespan to fight and kill someone?

This is also the main reason why, when the Allied Forces of the Eight Nations bombed Tianjing City, Xici, the number one powerhouse of the Jin Dynasty, did not step out to resist, but instead fled Tianjing in a panic.

"Five Poisons True Scripture?"

The Demon Empress Xici pondered for a moment, then issued a cold command:

"Not bad, that is indeed a good method. Since that is the case, this Palace will entrust this matter entirely to you. Since it involves poisoning, there is a possibility of capturing him alive. This Palace will invite a Great Shaman of Shamanism to step out and coordinate with you. It would be best if you could bring this person back alive; this Palace wants to know exactly how he cultivated to this step and what secrets he carries."

Mankeduo immediately replied with solemn respect: "Yes, this humble subject accepts the order!"

(End of this chapter)