Chapter 370: A Grandmaster of a Generation

The four great families were aggressive and menacing, wishing nothing more than to kill Xu Zhiyuan to satisfy their hatred, yet the next moment, fireworks flashed in the firmament, followed by a sudden change in the wind and clouds.

The wind howled like cranes, and every tree and blade of grass seemed like an enemy soldier.

Shouts of "beat them" and "kill them" rang out, like ghosts on a battlefield, followed by a verse to set the scene, neither quite prose nor poetry.

"My rebellion is Heaven's will, your rebellion is sheer audacity; how dare you use schemes and plots to harm us, you bastards, you absolute bastards!"

It was none other than Chen Gongming; he was broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, wearing sixty-six catties of Heavenly King Armor. This Heavenly King Armor was forged throughout with bear and leopard motifs, bound with Tiger Soul and locked with the soul of a Flood Dragon; it was both a divine weapon of armor and a refined Magic Tool. Wearing it on his body, he looked just like a Protector Heavenly King from a temple come to life.

The weapon he wielded was none other than a firearm. The firearm had a bayonet, and swirling patterns were etched upon it, possessing extraordinary magical properties; it was forged from the spine of a Flood Dragon mixed with steel.

Refined with Tiangang Thunder Law, it could both discharge thunder-fire and serve as a cold weapon for dueling with others.

He truly was a demon-subduing lord descended from the heavens, looking just like a Taishui God among men.

Besides this, there were three hundred Tiangang Thunder-Fire Dao soldiers holding flintlocks, each full of vigor and spirit, wearing Rune Tactical Suits with bulletproof chainmail underneath, and two Mass-produced Jade Porcelain Divine Thunders tucked into their belts.

"You are surrounded," Chen Gongming said. "Master was right; we really do have to see blood. Treating you with mercy and thinking we could negotiate was no good; it was too reactionary."

As he spoke, one of them with decent martial arts kicked off the ground, leaping three or four zhang into the air, intending to flee the scene.

Yet the next moment, Chen Gongming fired a shot at his back, and the man immediately tumbled down like a lump of rotting meat, a hole clearly visible in his back where he had been shot through.

"Amitabha, how virtuous, how virtuous." Chen Gongming chanted of mercy, but the corners of his mouth curled up. "Good light-body technique, leaping three zhang high; it must be the legendary wall-vaulting and roof-walking. Your movement technique was light to the extreme, but it still wasn't faster than my gun. Sigh, for someone like me who trains in brute force, I don't have such lightness."

"Firearms!"

These people were not ignorant, but when had they ever seen such formidable firearms?

At this moment, a clan elder stomped his foot, rolled his eyes upward, and shouted, "Invite the ancestors to possess me!"

The next moment, true Qi surged through his body, his muscles expanded, and his skin emitted a metallic luster; he was clearly already in the "Vajra Indestructible Body" state.

He charged up with a "wa-ya-ya" cry, his face ferocious.

Yet the next moment, several Jade Porcelain Divine Thunders were thrown; with a boom, nothing could be seen at the scene, only a fishy stench and several severed limbs.

"Tragic, too tragic," Chen Gongming sighed. "Your ancestor practiced the Vajra Indestructible Hardened Divine Skill, but unfortunately, it couldn't protect you. This Jade Porcelain Divine Thunder can blow over even an Earth Immortal; shattering mountains and rocks is nothing to it."

He then looked at the members of the four great families who were drawing lots to select death squads: "You are truly not bad, all full of youthful vigor. Come again; stop the assassinations. If anyone can beat me to death today, won't this matter be over?"

"With such shameless firearms, how can we fight?"

"Are you joking? If I have firearms and don't use them, but use fists and feet instead, how could I achieve the status of a Grandmaster? Forgot to tell you, I, Chen Gongming, am the Military Grand Marshal of the overseas Luzon Dao Kingdom, and concurrently the Commander of the Jiangnan West Circuit Revolutionary Army. Hmm, how should I put it? I lead troops in battle, protecting the people and exterminating the bandits."

"Those two just now didn't finish listening to me, so they were definitely bandits. Are you bandits or are you the people?"

"Bandits occupy fertile fields, forcibly seize women, and exploit the commoners. Have you done these things?" Chen Gongming's expression turned fierce, and he fired a shot into the air, scaring them into a shiver.

Those clan elders all stood up tremblingly: "We are the people."

"If you are the people, what were you doing just now? Who were you trying to assassinate? Who is the mastermind behind this, and who initiated it? Which people participated and agreed to it? Confess to me one by one."

………

The land of Nanchang Prefecture was all under the control of the Shunji Little Dragon King. Moreover, Poyang Lake was the demon capital of the Jiangnan West Circuit. Now that a Demon Affairs Office had been established, whether water demons or land demons, they basically all obeyed the teachings. Their conspiracy, though held in the ancestral hall with Incense Fire, Ghost Gods, and the spirits of ancestors shielding the news, could not stop the fact that there were little demons living in the "pond" opposite this ancestral hall.

Those in the water, whether carp or loach, as long as they had some dragon nature, were all incorporated into the Water Mansion establishment. Streams, ponds, wells, and ditches were all divided according to regulations and assigned to specific demons. Although they could not be conferred as gods, they were barely on the same level as an "Underground Lord" or "Underground Commander," and could have a small Dongfu in the Dharma Realm, living securely and freely, absorbing the energy of the Dharma Realm to supply their cultivation—that is, a Daochang to settle down and establish their life.

In short, "having a house" was a matter "worth protecting" for these little demons, no less significant than the Equal Field policy for bankrupt farmers.

In other words, the hearts of the people and the hearts of the demons were all with me.

This was the prototype of the new order that Xu Jia wanted to establish.

……

At this time, Xu Jia was on Three Pure Ones Mountain and had no heart to manage the affairs of Nanchang. In fact, Xu Jia was now facing a difficult problem.

He was sitting cross-legged on the cliff peak of Three Pure Ones Mountain, with the Three Sovereigns Ten Thousand People Umbrella above the peak, like a Canopy, covering the four directions.

Under the umbrella, a wandering soul, dim and indistinct, drifted and swayed, landing before Xu Jia.

This wandering soul was none other than the Prefect of Nanchang who had committed suicide.

The death of the Nanchang Prefect, in some mysterious way, conformed to a certain quality, sensing the Heavenly Origin Qi, and was about to "confer him as a god."

Generally speaking, once this wandering soul became a Yin Spirit, it would sense the common people, have them build temples and offer sacrifices, and then local officials would propagate the matter. Suicide for the sake of the country was a superior way to die. Then, after a change of dynasty, the emperor would reward merits and issue great decrees to the world, also posthumously honoring some famous ministers and Virtuous ministers of the previous dynasty.

But the problem was, what Xu Jia was doing here was not the cycle of dynasties at all. Whether it would succeed or fail, who could say? Fate had its own choices.

It was merely a matter of human hearts encouraging each other. The Nanchang Prefect, at least for now, had no foundation to establish a shrine in Nanchang, and thus drifted to this Heavenly Master of the Lingbao school, Xu Jia.

The soul of the Nanchang Prefect looked calm, without too much intense emotion; instead, there was a sense of relief.

Xu Jia said: "Nanchang Prefect, tell me, where would it be appropriate for me to confer you? With your body, you can only follow the path of a City God. But I am about to break the superstition of Ghost Gods, and I will smash your temples and Golden Bodies one by one. We will not be slaves or beasts of burden for the emperor, nor will we be slaves or beasts of burden for the Ghost Gods; we will only have a relationship of equal cooperation. So, how to cooperate equally? This is another problem I am thinking about."

"Ghost Gods are also transformed from humans. When humans cannot do something, they think of Ghost Gods; when Ghost Gods cannot do something, they think of Heaven. If human power can achieve it, there is no need to seek Ghost Gods."

"What humans pray to Ghost Gods for is nothing more than life and death: seeking health and peace for the living, and tranquility for the dead. How to achieve health, safety, wellness, wealth, and freedom from worry? How to achieve tranquility, a good beginning and a good end, without resentment or regret?"

"If the human heart does not know contentment, Ghost Gods will surely have flourishing Incense Fire. If the great matters of life and death cannot be solved, then people will surely foolishly believe in gods and Buddhas."

(End of chapter)