Chapter 153: Official Business and Assignments: Assisting the Stronghold

"You are Lu Jianqing?"

In the Outer Courtyard plaza, Zhou You looked at the youth before him, sizing him up a few times.

It was not uncommon for the martial arts hall to take in new recruits, but no newcomer had yet had the honor of having Jianxiong Laoye personally speak up to look after them.

Zhou You had heard rumors that this Lu Jianqing had been introduced by Zhong Shaoying and possessed quite excellent aptitude.

"Lu Jianqing, greetings to Senior Brother Zhou."

Lu Jianqing, this unremarkable farm boy, had set a record the moment he entered.

He skipped the basics entirely, learned the 108 Tiger-Subduing Fists, unleashed his force, and was promoted to an official Apprentice that very day.

The entire martial arts hall was in an uproar, knowing that a genius had emerged in the Outer Courtyard.

That wasn't all; ten days later, after he became familiar with the routines of the Tiger-Subduing Fists, he had another breakthrough, advancing to Intermediate Force.

By this time, Lu Jianqing's fame had already spread to other martial arts halls.

Especially at Mao Laoliu's Jiba Martial Arts Hall, everyone knew that Jianxiong Martial Arts Hall had recruited a new Apprentice with aptitude comparable to Mao Lang.

In a mere ten days, he had gone from a beginner to Intermediate Force, walking the path that took others ten years in one go.

Undercurrents were surging both inside and outside the martial arts hall.

Discerning people could see that Lu Jianqing's appearance had been orchestrated entirely by Zhong Shaoying.

Ever since Zhou You advanced to a Blood-Qi Warrior, the balance of power between the City Faction and the Local Faction had been lost.

Although Zhong Shaoying had more people, he only had one Blood-Qi practitioner, making it difficult to oppose the duo of Shen Sijing and Zhou You.

Therefore, he unearthed this good seedling, Lu Jianqing, and brought him into the martial arts hall with the goal of strengthening the Local Faction's power.

Lu Jianqing was of pure roots and red seedlings, a tenant farmer's son under Jianxiong Laoye, and his talent for martial arts was a rarity in a hundred years.

It was common knowledge that Mao Laoliu and Wang Jianxiong had to compete over everything.

Only in the matter of Mao Lang was Jianxiong Laoye slightly inferior to Mao Laoliu.

The appearance of Lu Jianqing made up for this regret.

Zhou You ignored the gossip from the outside world, focusing on practicing his fists and martial arts, and regularly went to the Outer Courtyard to provide Instruction.

He knew clearly that Lu Jianqing's rapid progress was surely due to Zhong Shaoying feeding him moves and guidance in secret.

At best, he was just a second Mao Lang.

One month later...

"Lu Jianqing's force is proficient; go report this to the Hall Master quickly."

Lu Jianqing had been in the hall for over a month and had already reached the peak of the Jinli Level, becoming one of the few top-tier Apprentices in the Outer Courtyard.

With this, he had become the number one person below the Inner Court Disciples.

For the same proficiency in force, others took ten-plus or even twenty years; he only took one month.

The massive gap brought by a genius left every Apprentice in despair.

At this point, Lu Jianqing was only one step away from breaking through to Blood-Qi.

To others, it seemed that catching up to Zhou You's progress was merely a matter of time.

At this stage, there was no need to continue staying in the Outer Courtyard to learn fist techniques behind Zhou You.

After the news spread, the martial arts circle of Gongliang City no longer had any doubts, listing Lu Jianqing and Mao Lang together as the Twin Jades.

Their master, Wang Jianxiong, was in high spirits; one could often hear him laughing heartily while standing in the Outer Courtyard.

One morning, Lu Jianqing simply did not report to the Outer Courtyard.

"Starting from today, Lu Jianqing is no longer in the Outer Courtyard; he has moved into the Inner Courtyard to learn arts under the Hall Master."

It was said that last night, Jianxiong Laoye took Lu Jianqing out to a banquet, and at the banquet, he encountered Mao Laoliu, who had brought Mao Lang; it could be said he held his head high and wiped away his past shame.

At this point, everyone knew that Lu Jianqing's rise to the sky was inevitable.

He reached proficient force in just over a month, and now he had the Hall Master's favor, being taken by his side for training; he would break through to Blood-Qi by the end of the year at the latest.

Adding another person to the Inner Court Disciples was a foregone conclusion. The pressure was placed directly on Zhou You.

In the past, the person who followed Wang Jianxiong out for social engagements was Zhou You, but now it had become Lu Jianqing.

This was not a simple case of favoring the new over the old; in the eyes of others, it was undoubtedly a signal that Zhou You had fallen out of favor.

Zhong Shaoying had won this round, and the Local Faction was far in the lead.

At the height of the controversy, an order was delivered to Zhou You.

"Jiang Hua, Zhou You, transport the artillery machine out of the city overnight and rush to the headquarters of Chen Qian three hundred li away."

After the artillery machine finished bombarding Tie Feng Martial Arts Hall, it had been stored in the hall's warehouse, and now it was to be returned to its rightful owner.

The person who brought the Hall Master's order was Jiang Hua, who carried a cold aura.

"Senior Brother Jiang, we are leaving overnight?"

Jiang Hua nodded, "Chen Qian is launching a suppression campaign against Moyun Stronghold and is in urgent need of equipment; he has ordered us to deliver it without stopping day or night."

Moyun Stronghold was the most vicious group of bandits entrenched within a radius of several hundred miles.

Zhou You had heard of them while hunting hunters; there were thousands of martial artists in the stronghold, with countless people at the Jinli Level and Blood-Qi realm, and even more than one Martial Master. Gangs were just small-time play compared to them, and no martial arts hall in the city could hope to reach them.

When merchant firms in the city passed the foot of Moyun Stronghold, they had to pay a tribute, otherwise, they would lose both their people and their wealth.

This time, Chen Qian was taking men to wipe out Moyun Stronghold, with all 1,500 elite soldiers under his command mobilized, to the point that even equipment was running short.

No wonder they had to transport the artillery machine by starlight.

Zhou You had personally operated this artillery machine and understood its power clearly; pushing over mountains and pulling down strongholds was as easy as anything.

"With me gone, who will take over the Outer Courtyard?"

"Shi Gaofei."

"In that case, I am relieved."

Shi Gaofei's nickname was Lazy Tiger; he couldn't muster any energy for anything, but instructing Apprentices was not a problem.

Zhou You and Jiang Hua picked a few Strength Apprentices, retrieved the massive artillery machines from the warehouse, and transported them out of the city overnight by horse-drawn carriage.

Along the way, the wind carried dust, wolf howls echoed from afar, and thick mists drifted across the wilderness.

Outside the city, the bonfires of the Release God Sect burned day and night, incinerating the corpses brought in, with black ash falling like snow.

Several Apprentices felt their scalps tingle; life in the martial arts hall had been decent, so how could they have known there were so many dead people outside?

"Some time ago, a dozen villages to the southeast had an outbreak of the Plague; it is said to have been brought by refugees from Su Cheng, killing thousands, and those infected suffered from withered limbs and spinal deformities, making life worse than death for the survivors."

"Nearby, many village wells have run dry and rivers have dried up; people fought fiercely over water, and the dead were piled high in the threshing grounds, leaving no room to dry grain."

"The young and strong who farmed had no food to eat and turned directly to banditry; the Blacksmith shops are doing a roaring trade, melting down farm tools to forge swords and blades."

Leaving the area covered by Gongliang City, the road became even rougher, and starved corpses appeared more frequently by the roadside.

Wild dogs and vicious wolves could be seen everywhere, tearing at and fighting over corpses to fill their bellies.

The ground looked as if it were covered in a pitch-black carpet, but at the slightest disturbance, it turned into a black cloud of green-headed flies.

The journey was shocking; there was never a moment without seeing the dead—those who died of hunger, those who died of illness, and those who died from fighting each other.

Human life was as cheap as grass; along the road, one could see emaciated skeletons walking along, only to suddenly collapse and die.

What has happened to this world? The group from the martial arts hall were all young and strong practitioners of martial arts, yet even so, they encountered robbery more than once.

Tattered straw sandals, rusted iron shards, and eyes turned green from hunger!

These amateur bandits didn't even need to be punched; a single breath could blow them to the ground.

Amidst the devastation, the group hurried along and arrived at the foot of the mountain of the Cloud-Touching Stronghold several days later.

On the horizon, a cluster of flags danced in the wind, and in stark contrast to them lay a massive military camp on the ground.

The fifteen hundred elite soldiers led by Commander Chen were stationed here! (End of chapter)