Chapter 98: Get Down There!

On the stage, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Cao Futian had shockingly extended an olive branch to Lu Yuan.

It was clear that Lu Yuan was so young, yet his Godly Strength could leave even a Sixth Realm Martial Arts Master helpless; such a peerless talent was unprecedented and had aroused the intense interest of the Golden Blade Group.

Although on the battlefield today, neither Martial Arts nor Daoist Arts could withstand the hail of bullets and the devastation of artillery, a formidable Martial Arts expert could still carry out targeted decapitation strikes and assassinations. A budding talent with the potential of a Grandmaster was especially rare, and a force like the Golden Blade Group, which specialized in opposing the foreign powers, was naturally thirsty for such talent.

However, faced with the invitation, Lu Yuan was noncommittal:

"I only came to set up the ring; I haven't considered anything else for the time being. I will think about it after I have learned more later."

During these days, he had also gained some understanding of the Golden Blade Group.

Nowadays, with the foreign powers trampling with their iron hooves and the Jin Dynasty being weak, incompetent, and humiliatingly begging for peace, every person of insight in the land of Shenzhou viewed this as a supreme humiliation.

As a militia organization that had swept through many major Coastal cities, the Golden Blade Group viewed the foreign powers as enemies and specifically opposed the foreigners. Naturally, they won the hearts of the people, so they developed rapidly, establishing a foundation in several provinces within just a few short years, and they were well-equipped with strong soldiers and sturdy horses.

Compared to the Jin Dynasty's army, the only thing they lacked was firearms.

However, in Lu Yuan's eyes, this militia was an organization destined to fail.

The reason was none other than the slogan the Golden Blade Group proclaimed externally: "Support the Jin, Exterminate the Foreigners."

The Jin Dynasty repeatedly lost wars and humiliated the nation externally, while internally, it engaged in extreme oppression, cruel exploitation, and rampant corruption.

Yet the Golden Blade Group still recognized the legitimacy of the Jin Dynasty. Instead of thinking about dismantling and rebuilding this broken and rotten ship, they acted like those paper-mache artisans among the princes and nobles in the imperial court, patching it up while harboring illusions, thinking that as long as they drove away the foreigners and implemented reforms, they could strengthen the country and the people and regain the nation's dignity.

However, as a transmigrator, Lu Yuan knew clearly that this dark, broken, and rotten world and the Jin Dynasty were already beyond saving; they had to be shattered and burned to ashes before it was possible to build a brand-new, hope-filled new world upon their remains.

And this was also the goal he had set for himself to seize Qi Luck.

Not to mention that the Golden Blade Group inevitably had no future, in fact, with his methods, he could already fully achieve his goals step by step on his own. At most, it would take more time and energy; there was no need to join any other force.

"Good!"

Originally not expecting to recruit Lu Yuan so easily, Cao Futian laughed heartily and said readily:

"When the little brother is done with the ring and is free, you must come to the headquarters of our Golden Blade Group to visit. We will certainly sweep the mats and wait for you!"

After speaking, he cupped his hands, turned around, and jumped off the stage.

"Hiss, that's four already, four Martial Arts Masters already..."

"Could this outsider be the reincarnation of some ancient fierce general? No, that's not right; even the reincarnation of some peerless fierce general might not have his kind of strength..."

"I think so too, otherwise it's impossible to explain how he could have such unbelievable Godly Strength at his age!"

"Four Martial Arts Masters are no match for him; do you all think there is anyone left in Jinjin who can deal with this kid? Could it be that we really have to invite Wu Taidou to step in?"

At the same time, the thousands of people in the crowd below began to clamor and shout loudly as if they hadn't had enough, seemingly looking forward to the next challenger taking the stage.

Since the fourth Martial Arts Master stepped down, the mindset of many onlookers had changed; from the initial anger as if they had been provoked, it had instead turned into witnessing the birth of a legend, with their hearts becoming increasingly expectant and respectful, wanting to know how far Lu Yuan could go on the stage.

Amidst such clamor, although Lin Xingchao and the others were still clicking their tongues in wonder, they had already accepted such an incredible event. Only Huang Shihu, whose side of the Martial Arts Association had been completely defeated, looked at Lu Yuan on the stage with a face as black as the bottom of a pot.

So far, a total of four Martial Arts Masters had taken the stage; the other three all took one punch and then gracefully stepped down on their own. Only he, not believing in evil and being stubborn, took two punches head-on and was miserably blasted off the ring.

Although the other three Martial Arts Masters would certainly have been unable to take the second punch just like him, he was undoubtedly the one who had lost the most face.

Just as he was feeling annoyed in his heart.

Right after Cao Futian stepped off the stage, an old man in brocade clothes walked with the stride of a dragon and the step of a tiger amidst the crowd and slowly ascended the stage.

Below the stage, many people recognized the old man's identity at once and shouted one after another:

"It's the Deputy Leader of the Cao Gang, Deng Xiaolin! This person actually came to join in the fun too!"

"The Cao Gang... although this Deputy Leader is also a Martial Arts Master of the Embrace Dan Realm, he is not necessarily stronger than the famous veterans of the Martial Arts Association or Cao Futian. Why is he going up?"

"Could it be that he has some trump card, or is he like the Golden Blade Group, coming up to recruit this outsider?"

Amidst the various waves of clamor, the old man in brocade clothes who had ascended the stage turned a deaf ear to the noise outside; he only looked at Lu Yuan and smiled:

"Little brother Lu Yuan has Godly Strength that covers the world; even Martial Arts Masters cannot defeat him. You are truly a peerless talent."

This person's ascent to the stage caused the crowd below to discuss heatedly; clearly, his identity was also extraordinary. Lu Yuan scrutinized him:

"Who are you?"

The old man in brocade clothes smiled:

"This old man is Deng Xiaolin, one of the three Deputy Leaders of the Cao Gang. I did not come up to take a punch or compete in the ring; I simply want to make friends with you, little brother.

Although you, little brother, are not a local of Jinjin, our Cao Gang makes friends far and wide, and we have always been thirsty for talent. It is extremely suitable for a person like you, little brother, to exert your talents and show your skills. I wonder if you are interested? If you are willing to join our Cao Gang, you can directly become the Chief Guest Elder of the main hall, with a status on par with us!"

Chief Guest Elder?

Deng Xiaolin's recruitment could not be described as anything less than sincere. The thousands of people in the crowd let out a clamor, their gazes filled with both envy and surprise.

The Cao Gang was known to have one hundred thousand members in Jinjin, covering all walks of life. If one were to grab an eligible man on the street at random, there was a high probability he would be from this gang. Their influence could be described as extremely vast and at its zenith.

The power of the Cao Gang was so strong that people in the Martial Arts Association generally did not want to provoke them easily. Being able to become the Chief Guest Elder of such a top gang in Jinjin, or even the whole country, could be said to be a meteoric rise.

However.

Faced with Deng Xiaolin's warm invitation, Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow, showing a completely different attitude than before.

"The Cao Gang... is the one you speak of the Cao Gang that traffics in opium and traffics in people to other countries?"

His expression was indifferent, without the slightest intention of being evasive:

"I have no interest in such a den of filth!"

Compared to the Golden Blade Group, the Cao Gang, as the largest gang in Jinjin, was in a certain sense also the biggest tumor in this major Coastal city.

Recruiting disciples widely, colluding with officials, trafficking in opium, kidnapping and extortion, sharing the spoils, opening casinos and brothels, bullying the local area...

In the time Lu Yuan had spent visiting and inquiring, the Cao Gang's reputation was extremely poor, and the evils they had committed were too numerous to record.

Especially since the Holy Roman Powers bombarded the national gates and established a Concession in Jinjin, the Cao Gang had somehow made connections with the Holy Roman foreign merchants in the Concession, secretly contracting and distributing opium, becoming the largest opium distributor in Jinjin.

Although the Jin Dynasty strictly prohibited opium after experiencing the harm of the Great Opium, the Cao Gang, as the local snake, bribed officials, contracted opium from the Holy Roman foreign merchants, and then distributed it from Jinjin to various places. At least several of the thirty-six provinces bought opium by the crate through them, selling it secretly and causing it to spread like a plague.

For this point alone, they were unforgivable in Lu Yuan's eyes.

But the evils of the Cao Gang were enough to make both gods and men angry, and they were too numerous to list; it did not stop at this point.

Lu Yuan also learned from his visits and investigations that for the past dozen years or so, the Cao Gang had begun to constantly use working and gold panning as excuses to lure young laborers and even women in Jinjin and other Coastal cities, and then sell them to the New Continent in Xizhou to work as coolies.

The New Continent in Xizhou was a continent discovered by the Shenluo People in the far west of the ocean many years ago. They had been immigrating there one after another, slaughtering the natives to establish a new federal country.

This emerging nation occupies an entire continent, enclosing land for its own use; countless cities need to be built, and vast amounts of land and mines are urgently awaiting development. Naturally, it requires a massive number of coolies to work themselves to death, so it set its sights on countries like the Great Jin, which are weak and incompetent yet possess a large population.

In order to recruit cheap labor, foreign merchants from the New Continent crossed the vast oceans to the Coastal regions of the Great Jin to recruit laborers. They primarily cooperated through foreign firms, Great Jin merchants, and even gangs like the Cao Gang, distributing highly enticing promotional flyers and boasting of the wealthy life and generous rewards for laborers in the New Continent, attracting many impoverished commoners trapped by their livelihoods to step onto large ships and cross the ocean.

However, once they arrived at the Xizhou New Continent, the recruiting foreign merchants would reveal their vicious true colors, directly treating these impoverished commoners like slaves to be distributed and sold, and then, as if driving pigs, forcing them to pan for gold, mine, build railways, and do all manner of heavy and dangerous work.

Just as on the land of the Great Jin, these coolie laborers were never treated as human beings; they struggled to survive as humbly as pigs or dogs. Every year, thousands were whipped, frozen, starved, or suffered severe injury or death due to work accidents, their circumstances being extremely miserable.

In recent years, many commoners have learned that going across the ocean to pan for gold and work is a complete scam. But under the pressure of foreign merchants in the New Continent who still have a huge labor shortage, local bullies like the Cao Gang in various major Coastal cities have gradually begun to traffic labor through despicable means such as deception, kidnapping, and imprisonment to reap huge profits, becoming notorious.

Piglet trafficking and credit-indentured coolies—these kinds of insane industries are now increasingly perfected, and gangs like the Cao Gang are the chief culprits aiding the evildoers. With Lu Yuan's temper, he naturally would not be polite to a leader like Deng Xiaolin.

"Hmm?"

Seeing Lu Yuan speak so impolitely, Deng Xiaolin's expression suddenly stiffened, and the speech he had prepared was stifled in his throat.

"Little brother, you can eat whatever you want, but you cannot speak whatever you want!"

Under the gaze of the crowd, his expression suddenly became extremely gloomy, even revealing a hint of murderous intent:

"Opium is a substance strictly prohibited by the Great Jin Dynasty, and my Cao Gang has always been law-abiding; how could we sell such evil things? As for what you said about trafficking people to other countries, that is even more of a baseless rumor. Every laborer who boards a merchant ship signs a contract voluntarily to go to other countries to pan for gold, and there are no shortage of those who live prosperously or even strike it rich. They are too busy thanking my Cao Gang to be called trafficked! In such an occasion, how dare you spout nonsense and slander the reputation of my Cao Gang?"

"Is that so?"

Lu Yuan sneered:

"Using glib words to confuse right and wrong, daring to do it but not daring to admit it—people from the Cao Gang are not worthy of stepping onto my ring. Get down!"

"How preposterous!"

Having never been subjected to such contempt and insult, Deng Xiaolin, as the Deputy Gang Leader, was completely enraged and dropped his facade:

"You little bastard, what a huge dog's gall! I came with good intentions to invite you, yet you dare to spout such nonsense here? When I, Deng Xiaolin, were roaming Jinjin, you were still nursing in your mother's womb. Just because you used a trick to defeat a few Martial Arts Masters, do you think you are already invincible under Heaven? Let me tell you, my Cao Gang can make you tonight..."

Boom!

However, before he could finish his sentence, Lu Yuan, having no patience for more talk, stepped forward and threw a punch!

Completely different from before, he did not hold back with this punch. The direction of his fist exploded with a series of rumbling, muffled thunder-like Qi sounds. The rolling sound waves were still echoing and spreading, and the air explosion was still roaring, when it was shattered to pieces.

The air tore apart, air waves surged and clashed, and the sound of the rolling sound waves exploded and rang out as one. Space became like the surface of water, twisting and rippling in circle after circle.

This punch from Lu Yuan seemed to make the surrounding air resonate together, subsequently setting off a frenzy, immediately giving one the feeling of being in the middle of a vast ocean during a storm, ready to capsize at any moment!

Not expecting Lu Yuan to act like this, nor expecting such a shocking sensation when facing it personally, Deng Xiaolin's scalp couldn't help but explode in that instant.

In this moment, he felt as if he were facing thousands of troops, a violent storm, and the angry roar of thunder, as if Heaven were collapsing and the earth sinking, while he was all alone, stark naked, without any defense whatsoever.

This punch—it cannot be blocked!

As the alarm bells in his mind rang wildly, this feeling rose inexplicably in Deng Xiaolin's heart while his face twitched violently.

But he had no way to avoid such a violent and swift punch; he could only roar in a frenzy, grit his teeth, and raise his arms to block!

Boom!

The next moment, fist and arm collided, like a thunderclap on flat ground; terrifying ripples and a huge roaring sound suddenly spread out.

Lu Yuan's punch landed, his figure as steady as Mount Tai, unmoving and unshaken.

At the same time, the air and his tendons and bones exploded in a chain reaction, releasing surging air waves. The shocked and terrified Deng Xiaolin felt in that instant as if a ten-thousand-ton giant ship had slammed into him. While his chest felt extreme pain, his vision suddenly went black.

A terrifying, indescribable giant force rumbled through his entire body, crushing through his skin, bones, and internal organs like a tsunami, striking directly into his soul. Extreme pain and the sound of shattering echoed incessantly. In this instant, it was as if his soul had left his body; he could faintly feel as if he had left the ground, flying backward at high speed!

Under the gaze of the crowd.

As he flew through the air, the sound of blood spraying wildly came from Deng Xiaolin's mouth, along with the sounds of bones falling apart, cracking, and even the snapping of his entire body like broken bowstrings.

That was the result of Lu Yuan's punch; the terrifying force superimposed and vibrated, crushing through him, making his upper body's tendons, bones, and even flesh unable to withstand such terrifying power, causing him to collapse on the spot!

(End of chapter)