Chapter 1 The Overall Situation

The administrative divisions of the Great Xia Dynasty were roughly structured as provinces, prefectures, subprefectures, counties, and villages. The land was divided into twenty-four provinces, each province containing multiple subprefectures. The major cities in each subprefecture were also known as prefectures, and below them were counties and villages. Although there were some other administrative divisions with different names mixed in, the hierarchy was generally like this.

The region where Zhou Jing and his group were currently located was Jing Prefecture, in the Luhe (Province) area. The prefectural seat was called Anlin Prefecture, a prosperous and bustling city.

The group left Wu Family Village and headed straight for Anlin Prefecture.

The south was full of wild forests and complex environments. The group sometimes traveled on official roads and sometimes through forest paths, their faces covered in dust, but they weren't in a hurry.

Even though they had caused a commotion in Wu Family Village and would be pursued by the government, news didn't spread quickly in this era, coupled with the bureaucratic habits and inefficient administration.

Even if a wanted notice was issued, the portrait would differ too much from the real person's appearance, making it almost impossible to identify them.

As the saying goes, "For every policy from above, there's a countermeasure from below." Ordinary bounty hunters wouldn't take general arrest warrants seriously unless pressured by their superiors. Otherwise, no one would want to casually provoke strongmen on the run. They would just handle it perfunctorily.

The reason why green forest heroes like Li Chun and his companions could still roam freely, and even dared to go to the prefectural capital, was due to this kind of environment. It was possible to encounter green forest people and martial artists traveling everywhere in the world.

Zhou Jing wasn't idle on the road. Whenever he had time to rest, he would practice his martial arts. The martial artist's basic training method and Gale Style were his main focus, and he also practiced the Zhongping Spear Technique a lot.

Due to the No. 4 Star Realm Apostle’s purple martial arts aptitude, and the assistance of accelerated training, his martial arts progress was extremely fast, far exceeding that of his main body.

In just a few days, the No. 4 Star Realm Apostle activated the martial artist's extraordinary system, giving birth to the first wisp of martial arts qi flame, and entering the first realm, "Foundation."

However, unless it was a particularly urgent situation, he didn't plan to easily release his martial arts qi flame. Otherwise, the characteristics would be too obvious, and when explorers from the main world came in the future, they would know something was wrong with him.

But that didn't mean he wouldn't use the martial arts system. The martial arts qi flame flowing within his body could still provide attribute bonuses. The Foundation first realm didn't have many special effects, making it very deceptive and looking no different from the martial arts of the current world.

In addition, Zhou Jing had in-depth communication with Li Chun and his companions to understand the martial arts and extraordinary system of the current world, and he did gain some insights, learning some information that differed from the main world's data.

Martial arts were no longer a secret in this world. In fact, it was very widespread, and even ordinary people could practice a few moves. It was more like a skill that everyone could learn, like "fishing" or "growing vegetables," and wasn't rare.

Even if you didn't understand any kung fu, as long as you worked hard to build up your strength and ate well, you could strengthen your body over time and easily beat two or three people.

But this level was just a fake show in the eyes of those who truly understood martial arts.

The orthodox martial arts system of the current world was mainly based on various moves. Learning a set of moves and practicing them frequently was cultivation. If you practiced diligently, you could strengthen your blood and qi, and slowly cultivate a breath of inner qi, thereby greatly increasing your strength and making great progress in kung fu, becoming stronger than ordinary people.

You could beat ten or so people.

Only those who had cultivated a breath of inner qi were qualified to be called masters of martial arts.

For example, Li Chun and his companions were all martial artists like this, some strong and some weak, but all far exceeding ordinary people. To put it another way, the three could be regarded as "elite units."

It was said that martial artists were best at this, constantly honing and strengthening their inner strength. They could jump high and move quickly, display light body techniques that allowed them to walk on walls, and all kinds of moves had greatly increased power in their hands, making them more powerful than ordinary martial artists.

However, the inner strength of the current world didn't have those magical manifestations of plucking leaves and spitting out energy. At most, it made people agile and capable of dealing with dozens of people at the same time, and it was rare to fight against a hundred alone.

Therefore, in the main world's judgment system, it still belonged to low martial arts.

According to Zhou Jing's understanding, although the inner strength of this world didn't have fancy effects, cultivating this breath of inner qi broke the extraordinary bottleneck, allowing the physical fitness at the limit of mortals to have room for further improvement.

In addition, what he cared about most was that the level of martial arts in the current era wasn't declining, but was actually stronger than in the early Great Xia Dynasty, and had been constantly improving.

In the outdated data in the main world, inner strength in the "d19 plane" was only a doubtful rumor for the people of this world, and not many people cultivated it successfully. But now it had been confirmed by the world and was becoming more and more known.

Even if some martial arts practitioners didn't know the reason, they could now break through the limits of mortals while practicing and possess inner strength without realizing it.

If explained with the main world's theory, it was that the energy density of this world was in an upward trend.

In short—this wasn't a world where the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was slowly declining, but a world where spiritual energy was constantly reviving, and extraordinary power would become more and more active.

It would become easier for ordinary people to cross this extraordinary threshold by training themselves. If martial arts continued to develop, the level of martial artists would also become stronger and stronger, and the degree of transcendence had the potential to "upgrade."

Li Chun and his companions didn't know much about the extraordinary powers outside of martial arts, but they had heard some country rumors.

There were many Taoists and monks in the world who roamed the martial world under the banner of calling for wind and rain, drawing talismans to catch ghosts, and fortune-telling, but they were basically just pretending to be mysterious to collect money, and were most common in weddings and funerals.

But rumors said that some of them had real abilities, but Li Chun and his companions had never seen them, and didn't know if they were true or false, and only thought that ignorant villagers were being deceived and spreading false information.

Zhou Jing just kept it in mind and would visit them again in the future.

Besides his own cultivation, he also taught Zhang San and the others martial arts on the road.

Of course, what he taught wasn't the main world's martial arts, but the "Zhongping Spear Technique" and some practical knife skills.

Zhang San and the other five followers were all villagers and farmers before, and didn't know any martial arts at all. They had long been malnourished, and were full of strain and pain, and their foundation was very poor.

If they wanted to achieve success in martial arts, they would need years of nourishment and hard training, and it would be impossible to achieve results in a short time.

However, Zhou Jing didn't expect them to be able to stand alone so quickly, as long as they weren't so weak that they couldn't even hold a chicken, so he only taught them some simple and practical moves for the time being.

For example, when using sticks, they only practiced basic movements such as sweeping, thrusting, splitting, and hitting. Other advanced applications such as body techniques and routines were not learned now.

In this way, what Zhang San and the others practiced was more like straightforward battlefield skills.

Zhang San and the others were determined to follow him, and were grateful for Zhou Jing's kindness in teaching them skills, so they practiced very hard.

In addition, Zhou Jing didn't avoid Li Chun and his companions when teaching Zhang San and the others. When he talked about knife skills, it attracted Lu Xinniang's interest.

Lu Xinniang was also a knife expert, and when she discovered that Zhou Jing also knew how to use a knife, she asked him to exchange experiences.

Unexpectedly, after an exchange, she was surprised to find that Zhou Jing had rich experience in using a knife, even more than her, and couldn't help but develop the idea of asking for advice, pestering Zhou Jing along the way to humbly ask for guidance.

Zhou Jing wasn't stingy and gave her some pointers.

Although this Star Realm Apostle hadn't practiced knife techniques, the knowledge and skills in his mind wouldn't disappear. With his lv8 knife skills experience, it was more than enough to teach Lu Xinniang.

After getting along for a while, Zhou Jing roughly understood the personalities of Li Chun and his companions.

Li Chun was the strategist of the mountain stronghold. It wasn't clear how good his strategies were, but his words and deeds had their own set of rules, and he usually came forward to interact with people.

Lu Yunzhao had learned martial arts since he was a child, and his personality was fairly straightforward. He also liked to make friends, but he always revealed a feeling of being educated by a wealthy family. Although he wasn't very polite, he didn't have as strong of a green forest aura.

Lu Xinniang was different from her brother. She valued green forest righteousness more and was vaguely a martial arts fanatic who loved knives and spears more than makeup.

Zhou Jing's interactions with the three were fairly pleasant, and he also inquired about a lot of information, gaining a deeper understanding of the current world.

The group traveled and stopped, and after seven or eight days, they were only a few dozen miles away from Anlin Prefecture.

It was noon, and the sun was scorching.

The group saw that the weather was hot and wanted to find a place to rest.

The group walked two or three miles and found a tavern by the side of the road, so they moved in, planning to eat lunch before continuing on their way.

There were only two tables of guests in the tavern.

One table was a few guests dressed as merchants, chatting casually. When they saw that Zhou Jing and the others didn't look easy to mess with, they quickly stopped talking and buried their heads in their food.

The other table was a square-faced man, wearing a bamboo hat and green tights, with a whip wrapped around his waist, and a luggage and a red wooden long staff with iron-wrapped ends next to him.

The square-faced man was drinking and eating meat by himself. When he heard someone enter the store, he turned to look at everyone, glanced around, and finally landed on Zhou Jing, revealing a curious look of scrutiny.

Zhou Jing and his group of nine people sat down at two tables, called the waiter to order food, and also asked for some wine and began eating and drinking on their own.

Gu Jin

The square-faced man next to them frequently cast his gaze over, seeming to be identifying something.

Seeing this, Li Chun's heart stirred. He simply picked up a bowl of wine, raised it towards the square-faced man from afar, and said with a smile:

"Greetings, good fellow. If you don't mind, why not come over and have a drink with us?"

The square-faced man didn't refuse. He clasped his fist and said "excuse me," then took his luggage and sentry stick and sat down at Li Chun's table.

Li Chun cupped his hands and asked, "Good fellow, how should I address you?"

The square-faced man returned the greeting: "My name is Fang Zhen."

Zhou Jing couldn't help but glance at his face.

As expected, the person matched the name, this face was really square.

Li Chun exclaimed in surprise and hurriedly said, "Could it be that you are brother Fang Zhen, known as the Mountain-Overturning Tai Sui?" (referring to someone who is excessively powerful and causes trouble)

"You're too kind, that's me." Fang Zhen looked around, clasped his fist solemnly, and said, "If I'm not mistaken, are the few people present the Red Cloud Mountain leaders, Qingfeng Fan Li Chun, Divine Mace Lu Yunzhao, and Embroidered Blade Lu Xinniang in person?"

"That's us."

Li Chun stroked his beard and smiled, his eyes eager.

This Fang Zhen was a wandering green forest hero with outstanding martial arts and a considerable reputation. What was commendable was that he hadn't joined any mountain stronghold yet.

When he encountered such talent, Li Chun's old habit returned, and he wanted to recruit him to join the mountain stronghold.

Fang Zhen said "I've heard a lot about you," then turned to look at Zhou Jing, cupped his hands solemnly, and asked:

"And this burly good fellow, if I'm not mistaken, is brother Urging-Life Yama Chen Feng, right?"

"I'm Chen Feng." Zhou Jing raised his eyebrows and asked curiously, "Urging-Life Yama? When did I get this nickname?"

Fang Zhen laughed heartily when he heard this:

"Haha, brother, you don't know. Your recent feat of single-handedly defeating hundreds of people at Wu Family Village has spread throughout Jing Prefecture. I don't know who gave you the name Urging-Life Yama, but it has spread along with it. I happened to hear about this when I passed by this place, and I really admire your skills. I'm also very impressed by your righteous actions and your generosity in sharing wealth with the people. How could I not get to know you when we meet at this moment?"

Zhou Jing nodded in understanding, but he felt a little helpless in his heart.

The nickname Urging-Life Yama, although it was quite fitting, wasn't very pleasant to hear.

But oh well, at least he had a preliminary name, and he couldn't ask for too much.

"So that's how it is. Brother Fang Zhen has a forthright personality and is also a good fellow. Come, let's drink a bowl together!"

Zhou Jing composed himself, gave a compliment, and didn't act coyly. He directly clinked glasses with him and drank.

Because Fang Zhen was also a green forest person, the group chatted for a few words and saw that their temperaments matched, so they accepted him to drink with them. With Li Chun's frequent praises, the atmosphere at the table became lively, and they quickly became sworn brothers.

After chatting for a while, Zhou Jing learned that Fang Zhen had come from another direction. He asked a little and knew that the government hadn't posted his wanted notice yet.

The matter of Wu Family Village was still in the process of fermenting, and the government procedures hadn't been completed.

So he could swagger into the city without fear of being stopped.

Li Chun tried hard to befriend Fang Zhen at the table. Although Fang Zhen was quite receptive, he was obviously more interested in Zhou Jing and wanted to take the initiative to befriend him. It could be said that the falling flowers were intentional, but the flowing water was unintentionally. No, it should be that they were like-minded.

After eating for a while, Fang Zhen took a sip of wine and suddenly asked curiously:

"I forgot to ask just now, why are the three leaders traveling with brother Chen Feng? Could it be that brother Chen Feng has already joined Red Cloud Mountain and taken a seat?"

Hearing this, Li Chun turned to look at Zhou Jing, thought about it, and told the truth:

"We were originally going to the prefectural capital to handle some matters, but we met brother Chen Feng at Wu Family Village and admired his character, so we helped him. Brother Chen Feng originally planned to see the world, so we invited him to travel with us and take care of each other."

"So that's how it is." Fang Zhen's eyes lit up, and he looked at Zhou Jing: "I also love to travel around. Since I met brother today, if brother doesn't mind, why don't we travel together for a while?"

He roamed around without any particular destination, but now he wanted to act with Zhou Jing and make friends with him.

Zhou Jing was a little surprised, thought about it, and didn't refuse, saying with a smile, "I'm honored that brother Fang looks up to me. Why would I mind? It's a pleasure to have a brother accompany me on the road!"

"Haha, that's settled then." Fang Zhen was overjoyed.

Seeing this, Li Chun was a little depressed.

He wanted to invite him to join the mountain stronghold, but he didn't expect that before he could even say the words, Zhou Jing had already poached him.

But after thinking about it, if he could get Zhou Jing to join, then Fang Zhen would most likely join as well, killing two birds with one stone. Thinking of this, Li Chun relaxed and his mood became lighter again.

At this time, Fang Zhen looked at Li Chun again and asked, "Three leaders, I don't know what you have to do in the prefectural capital? Is there anything I can help with?"

Li Chun smiled, lowered his voice slightly, and said:

"It's not a secret, so it's okay to tell brother. We're going to the prefectural capital to handle three things. First, a friend of ours has a connection and can let us buy some armory weapons for the mountain stronghold. I'm here to meet this middleman to see if we can make a deal. Second, in the Anlin Prefecture prison camp, I have an old friend who is also a good fellow in this world. I'm just stopping by to take care of him. The third is to pay a visit to the local good fellows and make friends widely."

Zhou Jing had asked about the tasks of the three people before, so he wasn't surprised at this time.

He just secretly complained that Li Chun was looking for talents and making friends everywhere. He was said to be the strategist of the mountain stronghold, but in reality, he was probably the director of human resources of Red Cloud Mountain, right?

At the same time, in Anlin Prefecture, inside the Anhe Academy.

Students wearing buns and blue robes were gathered in groups of three or five in the pavilions and corridors of the academy, reading books and discussing Daoism, a scene of scholarly atmosphere.

Wu Zheng had a wisp of a beard, wearing a blue robe, with jade pendants hanging from his waist, and had a rather outstanding appearance.

He was the eldest son of the Wu family, and wasn't at home. He was sent to the state academy early to study, waiting to take the imperial examination in the future, and was highly expected.

The students in this Anhe Academy were all from wealthy families. They spent their days reading, talking, drinking, and making love everywhere.

At this time, Wu Zheng was standing in a small pavilion, holding a book in his hand, with a smile on his face, chatting and laughing with his classmates, leisurely and happily.

At this moment, a book boy rushed into the courtyard, ran over in a hurry, shouting in panic, breaking the peaceful atmosphere of the academy:

"Young Master! Something bad has happened! A strongman has caused trouble in Wu Family Village, killing the old master, the second young master, and the third young master. The family property has been occupied by the local villagers!"

As soon as the words fell, Wu Zheng was stunned, his face full of disbelief.

The next moment, his eyes suddenly rolled back, and he fell to the ground with a thud, actually fainting directly because his emotions were too intense.

"Brother Wu!"

The surrounding academy students were shocked and rushed to the side, scrambling to pinch Wu Zheng's philtrum to treat him.

After a while, Wu Zheng woke up slowly.

His face was bloodless, and he quickly grabbed the forearm of his book boy, and trembled:

"Quick, take me to my sister's family for help! My Wu family property must be taken back!"

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