Chapter 576: The Fuse

The Poison Martial Artists of the Myriad Poison Secret Workshop, like Poison Snakes that had escaped their cages, were wantonly slaughtering.

Within the Fucheng, apart from those associated with the Thousand Faces Hall, other martial artists had originally intended to stay out of it, but these Poison Martial Artists disregarded martial virtue, killing anyone regardless of whether they were enemies or not.

Burning, killing, looting, and spreading poison everywhere, the well water and rivers became sources that extinguished all life.

Countless fertile fields degraded into barren land; hunters, woodcutters, and herb gatherers were also forced by the poisonous insects appearing everywhere in the wild to not dare enter, and for a time, all trades withered under the influence.

Who could endure this?

Many martial masters in the Fucheng, especially the heads of martial arts halls and the upper echelons of the martial guilds, were all great landowners sitting on fertile fields and mines, with a large portion of their wealth being various forms of real estate.

Woodcutting, hunting, herb gathering, and even grazing, all related to daily income.

With such a delay, income plummeted, and the entire martial arts hall would have to drink the northwest wind.

Others might not know, but Zhou You was very clear that the inner disciples of Du Taiyue were by no means loners fighting alone; they were surrounded by many vicious criminals who usually only hid in the Wanli Zhaohai because they could not survive in the outside world.

If these scums were in the outside world, they would either be beaten to death or thrown into the Zhenxiong Yu to rot.

Lu Zhigang had not joined for long and was busy with hard training on weekdays, so he had not cultivated a group of lackeys, but inner disciples like Fu Manlun all had hundreds or thousands of martial artists under their command to be driven.

Inner disciples like Fu Manlun, having received guidance from Du Taiyue, were impatient to break through to the Strong Martial Realm and instigated their lackeys to attack everywhere, killing and looting, which was already nearing madness.

They were not fools; they knew that this perverse act would surely invite a backlash.

But if they could break through to the Strong Martial Realm in one go before the backlash arrived, it would be worth it, and by then, they would have enough capital to protect themselves.

The situation deteriorated day by day as time went on...

It gradually developed to the point where dead snakes, dead scorpions, and other poisonous insects were fished out of the wells in the Fucheng, causing a wave of panic.

However, from the Monarch down to the noble clans and the City Gate Guard, there was no reaction to this.

The martial guilds also understood that they did not want to interfere in this matter, characterizing the event as an internal struggle between two 'sects'.

Since it was an internal struggle, those in power only needed to sit high on the towers, watch the tigers fight, and wait to make a ruling at the end.

Stepping in too early would only dirty their hems and damage their status.

One day, a piece of news arrived, igniting the anger that the Fucheng martial artists had accumulated for many days.

In Weinan Cheng, Cao Xuan'er, a clanswoman of Cao Wudang and ranked 9th on the Beauty Ranking, was abducted by Wu Kui of the Myriad Poison Secret Workshop.

After the incident occurred, the entire Weinan Cheng fell into a frenzy of rage.

The involved party, Cao Wudang, emerged urgently from seclusion, swearing not to stop until the Myriad Poison Secret Workshop was destroyed.

Cao Xuan'er had long been betrothed to a noble clan in Weinan Cheng, and the engagement was thus called off.

Everyone knew that the Wanli Zhaohai contained all kinds of species, but not a single good person; it was full of lecherous, murderous, and cruel people, and the outcome for a weak woman falling into their hands was too unbearable to imagine.

Whether Cao Xuan'er could be rescued was no longer important; the face that Weinan Cheng had lost because of this had to be won back.

The identity of this woman involved the two major forces of the Weinan Cheng martial guild and the noble clans; the trouble Wu Kui had caused had pierced the sky.

Here in the Fucheng, the anger was like a volcanic eruption; these scumbags had bullied people too far.

"Hall Master Zhou, you cannot continue to sit idly by."

Many people came to the door one after another to act as lobbyists, "Your family members include two who are on the Beauty Ranking; it is hard to guarantee they won't be eyed by others."

Before Zhou You could open his mouth, Hua Youxing at his side retorted, "This concubine has already married as a wife and is not on the ranking; although my younger sister is still on the ranking, with the methods of the Clan Head, he can still protect her."

The Beauty Ranking had a rule that married women were not included, but if it were a status like that of a concubine like Qi Fengzi, it was equivalent to an unmarried woman.

Therefore, after the marriage, Hua Youxing had long been removed from the ranking, but Qi Fengzi did not retreat but advanced, leaping to second place.

*Cough cough*, the junior sister Ceng Ruyu was squeezed to third place and had a lot of opinions about Zhou You; she did not give him a good look during her several visits.

The Fucheng martial artists understood clearly that Wu Kui's abduction of Cao Xuan'er was for no other reason than the Thousand Faces Hall. One must know that the Beauty Ranking, the Strange Insect Ranking, and the Weapon Ranking were all compiled under the auspices of the Thousand Faces Hall.

Now that a beauty on the ranking had been abducted, the Thousand Faces Hall could not shirk the blame and had to provide an explanation.

It was heard that Cao Wudang had already set off for the Fucheng to discuss the matter face-to-face with high-level figures like Chi Ri Qianli.

"This, when the lips are gone, the teeth are cold; we cannot let the other side continue to be arrogant."

The lobbyist said a few words sheepishly, and seeing that Zhou You remained unmoved, he stood up and took his leave.

After sending off this lobbyist, Zhou You also felt a bit tired; during this period, there were people every day persuading him to come forward to confront the Myriad Poison Secret Workshop.

But now that Yan Shan was a Strong Martial, he ignored such trivial matters; only if Du Taiyue appeared would he come forward.

Usually in this situation, the people in the martial guild had only one target: Yan Shan.

Trivial matters at the level of martial masters could only be left to the martial guild to resolve on its own.

Screening the entire city, the most suitable candidate was Zhou You.

Zhou You also knew that if he took on this burden, he would surely win the hearts of the people and further solidify the status of the Daqian Martial Arts Hall in the Fucheng martial guild; if handled well, he could also gain both fame and fortune.

However...

The risk was also great.

The Myriad Poison Secret Workshop was a bunch of petty people who sought revenge for the slightest grievance; now that they had turned into mad dogs, whoever dared to step forward would surely become a target of concentrated fire.

Zhou You had a large family and a big business, with parents, wives, and concubines; he could not afford large-scale retaliation.

Therefore, no matter who came to persuade him, he remained unmoved.

Suddenly one day, the Thousand Faces Hall sent an invitation, requesting him to come over to discuss matters.

Zhou You did not even need to ask to know the other party's purpose; the reason he did not decline was because they were not inviting him alone, but also other famous experts from far and near.

In the past, when Zhou You came to the Thousand Faces Hall, it was always a fleeting visit, at most wandering around the service window.

At that time, he came to take jobs as a temporary worker, not like today, being invited as a guest of honor.

It was also his first time entering the inner area of the Thousand Faces Hall, where he saw the initiator of this invitation... Chi Ri Qianli.

The face of a Strong Martial had to be given; this was also the reason why all the invitees, including Zhou You, were present without exception.

Zhou You noticed that Pei Li was also within the scope of the invitation, which was somewhat surprising.

When it came to the ability to protect oneself, Pei Li was a top expert; he should not have been involved in this matter.

"Hall Master Zhou, sit down and let's talk in detail!"

After taking his seat, Pei Li tilted his head and whispered the reason to him.

Wu Kui had abducted Cao Xuan'er, acting with ruthless cruelty; he slaughtered all of Cao Xuan'er's attendants and guards, and the evil thugs he brought along took the opportunity to ravage and murder all of Cao Xuan'er's maidservants, leaving their naked corpses discarded by the roadside.

This was a provocation, and also a blatant display of force.

One of the disciples of the victimized maidservants had joined Pei Li's Jingui Martial Arts Hall and was quite favored.

Upon learning of this, that Disciple knelt outside Pei Li's door, weeping tears of blood and begging him to uphold justice on their behalf.

"There's no other way; no matter what, I cannot avoid this, and I must go up against the Myriad Poison Secret Workshop."

Pei Li quickly explained the ins and outs of the matter.

After a round of conversation, the time was about right, and Chi Ri Qianli finally made an appearance.

(End of this chapter)