Chapter 80

In recent days, the lives of the heroes of the jianghu have become increasingly difficult. The court has ordered the stabilization of prices and the suppression of illegal guilds. With the Wujin Hall's sharp blade, the aristocratic families and officials have become more brazen, extending their claws into the territories of the jianghu factions. The heroes have felt that the government's control has become increasingly extensive.

On one hand, there is a settlement of accounts with factions that have accumulated blood debts. On the other hand, the merchants and powerful families have become increasingly assertive. Many wealthy families no longer send their children to martial arts sects to learn martial arts but instead send them to the capital, to the Military Academy and the Imperial Guard. The grand era of the Song military can better protect their businesses.

The experts of the Six-Fan Gate have also become stricter in their control over the jianghu. Together with the Wujin Hall stationed in major cities, they strictly enforce the thirty-six martial prohibitions, forcing the jianghu heroes to retreat step by step. Many sects that once had a foothold in local areas have been forced to mix with the lower classes, mingling with the riffraff.

A more brutal and naked survival law has gradually spread in the jianghu. Large factions like the Beggar Gang have become closely linked with the government, thriving in maritime trade and in the Western Xia. The sect members collude with the government, forming a kind of aristocratic faction, suppressing the lower levels of the jianghu, making it hard for them to breathe.

The various factions of the three teachings and the nine streams have mixed into the marketplaces. The increasingly prosperous maritime docks have become a haven for jianghu heroes. The boundaries between sects, the jianghu, the court, and order have been broken, gradually forming a new stability and balance.

The Song Empire has become much more peaceful in many places. Merchants and commoners no longer hear news of the establishment of new jianghu factions. The unscrupulous knights and fast hands have disappeared from the countryside and small towns, concentrating in the coastal cities. In these corners of wealth and filth, the jianghu heroes have lost their stable income.

For wealth and status, they fight even more fiercely. The jianghu seems to have disappeared from the lives of the common people, hiding in more secret places, while the Wujin Hall and the Six-Fan Gate maintain this order. Without the disturbances of the factions, life in the countryside has become much better, but the places where wealth and commerce converge have become darker.

Some simple and universal martial arts have spread throughout the land, practiced not only in the military but also diligently by the factions. With the rise of a spirit of martial arts among the martial arts sects, the Song court, and the jianghu factions, a culture of the strong preying on the weak and the respected being the powerful has increasingly become the new order of the jianghu.

The martial arts world formed by the sects, the jianghu formed by the factions, and the court represented by the Six-Fan Gate and the Wujin Hall have undergone more complex changes. In the daily lives of ordinary people, the martial arts world seems to be gradually fading away, but in other places, a larger, more tumultuous jianghu is rising.

At the moment when the giant ships set sail, and the four great experts of the Wujin Hall forced the submission of the Indian kingdoms, the flowing gold, silver, and bronze wealth, the vast lands, and the flourishing of medicine and martial arts have become the battleground for the jianghu people.

The Wujin Hall's Mo School of Mechanism and the rising Gongshu family in the jianghu have made huge mechanical warships dominate the seas.

After suffering heavy blows from the Wujin Hall, sects like Shaolin have had to turn their attention overseas, to the South Seas, the New Continent, Taiwan, the South China Sea, and Japan. On the vast seas, the flying fish flag of the Wujin Hall roams freely.

The prosperous heartland of the Central Plains is ultimately less attractive than the chaotic overseas regions. Several third-rate martial arts experts have established their own estates in the South Seas and returned home in glory. Many jianghu people, looking forward to the wealth overseas, have rushed to the four seas.

In a small town on the East China Sea, Huang Shang looked at the intelligence report in his hand with a complex expression and sighed, "After the Duke left, the eunuch Tong Guan and his cronies have seized power, deeply trusted by the emperor. With the four great experts—Jiumozhi, Murong Bo, Duan Yanqing, and Xiao Yuanshan—assisting him, the Wujin Hall has become a tool for the court to oppress the jianghu. The way is blocked, so I will float on the sea in a raft!"

He led a small child and boarded a large ship, "Doctor, follow me to the overseas world and live as a recluse!"

Amidst the smoke and fire of war.

"Yunqing, come with me!" On the Song-Liao battlefield, a young general firmly pushed away the white-robed woman in front of him.

"Ying, the restoration of the Yan and Yun regions is my lifelong ideal. I will not leave now."

"Tong Guan will not let you go, Yunqing. You have the handwritten 'Tao Te Ching' of the former Wujin Hall director Chen Ang. The jianghu rumor says that 'Tao Te Ching, the one who obtains it can be invincible in the world.' Tong Guan fears Chen Ang the most and will not let the 'Tao Te Ching' fall into others' hands!"

"Director Chen is a man of great righteousness and has made countless contributions to the state. He conquered the Western Xia in three months and pacified Tibet in three years. Now, with the great Song Empire about to achieve its glory in our hands, Ying, don't believe the jianghu rumors!"

Inside the Song Imperial Palace.

A young eunuch carefully opened the door of the library, peeked inside, and hurriedly took off his hat. He took out a book and placed it on the shelf. Under the dim light, the four characters "Yuanfu Xianlan" shone brightly.

The young eunuch carefully took out a "Prajna Heart Sutra" and a "Comprehensive Guide to Snakes" and put them in his hat. He quickly retreated, and a small snake slipped out from his sleeve, slithering through the door crack and coiling around the window.

On the vast grasslands.

A young man carrying Luneng galloped away. Behind them were dozens of Six-Fan Gate pursuers.

"Hongqi, go quickly! Tong Guan will not let me go. The former director's legacy must not fall into his hands. This 'Prajna Heart Sutra' contains a great secret, but I only have the upper volume. I hid the lower volume in the imperial library. Take it and run! Run!"

Luneng slapped his body, angrily leaped up, and struck three palm blows at the pursuers. The pursuers raised their crossbows, the sharp arrowheads pointing at his body.

At this moment, a bold voice shouted, "Little brother, what's happening?" Xiao Feng rode a horse, pulled Hongqi up, and saw the pursuers behind him. He unleashed the Dragon Subduing Palm.

He held Luneng with one hand and carried Hongqi with the other, forcing the pursuers to struggle to counter the palm force, and galloped away. "Ha! Little brother, we meet again. Such a coincidence, Zhu will cook you a bowl of beef soup later!"

In the Dali Imperial Palace.

Duan Yu picked up the memorial and frowned deeply.

A cute little child looked curiously at the memorial in his hand, but his hand secretly reached for a "Yi Yang Zhen Jing" on the table. Duan Yu smiled, picked him up, and said, "Zhixing, don't move! This is a gift from a very powerful person to your uncle."

Ten years after Chen Ang's departure, the jianghu saw the emergence of countless extraordinary martial arts. The "Comprehensive Martial Arts Manual" and the "Hundred Martial Arts" had already been published throughout the land. Countless people practiced boxing and breathing techniques. The Central Plains were dormant, while the new continents overseas were stirring. A great and intense era was about to begin.

By this time, Chen Ang was already in the "Endless World." He stood on a high core energy building, gazing at the deep blue energy light. Suddenly, someone called him.

"Doctor, Platform One is ready!"

Chen Ang glided to Platform One through the air. A huge machine was placed at the center of the platform, and the old doctor, trembling, said, "Doctor, the evolution serum is ready! Your genetic stability has reached an extremely high level, and you can now receive the evolution serum!"

"Why is the cultivation of Blood Orchid so slow? Is the new generation of evolution serum still dependent on Blood Orchid as a stabilizer?" Chen Ang frowned.

"The cultivation of Blood Orchid requires a very precious, naturally occurring substance that cannot be artificially synthesized. This is the source of its medicinal effects. We cannot cultivate it on a large scale. Without this stabilizer, the mortality rate of the evolution serum would be extremely high," the old doctor replied.

"How is the research on the interaction between qi and Blood Orchid?"

"The progress is smooth. Some evolved individuals claim to have sensed qi! According to the blood samples you brought back, their lifespan could reach three hundred years. The promotion of qi on the effectiveness of the evolution serum is too significant!"

Chen Ang lay on the experimental table, and the blood-red serum was injected into his body. The old doctor was surprised to see Chen Ang's eyes turn deep blue, and his body began to tremble violently but was quickly controlled.

The small objects around him suddenly floated uncontrollably. The old doctor was shocked and shouted, "Quick, quick, Level 4 supernatural phenomenon, Group One record, Group Two observe." He hurried to Chen Ang's side.

Chen Ang gently lifted a piece of paper, and a white paper floated in the air, quickly folding, refolding, pulling, and folding again. Soon, a paper frog appeared in his palm.

The floating objects around him suddenly fell, but only the paper frog, like a real frog, hopped, as if it had a life of its own.

"Is the phenomenon clear?" Chen Ang suddenly asked the experimental personnel.

"We can't detect any physical quantities; we can't observe its reaction! If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe it. No, I still suspect my eyes are playing tricks on me. The instruments won't lie, but our eyes are more easily deceived," a female researcher with glasses said, disbelieving.

"Perhaps it's not a problem with the eyes or the instruments, but with the world itself, which hides these things." Chen Ang precisely measured his effort, which, in terms everyone could understand, was about five pounds of force.

He could only vaguely sense some subtle changes, but under the layers of concealment, it was hard to see clearly. The nature of the ability, this world seemed like a big lock, unable to affect the internal energy originating from the body, but it seemed to have an effect on physical laws and natural rules.

Chen Ang had a hypothesis: different world laws and spatial environments might bring some limitations. Some abilities, effective under certain special conditions in a particular world, might not work in places with vastly different environments.

There is no absolute truth in the universe; science is always relatively correct. Some things that work in water would be hindered on land. An internal combustion engine is a joke underwater but sparked a power revolution on land. Thus, without tracing the fundamental truth and summarizing the laws, some abilities can only work in one world.

Internal energy seems to be a more fundamental thing, at least after so many worlds, it has remained stable. Brain development is even closer, which is likely related to their origin from the body. However, things that affect the body externally are not so simple.

"Perhaps, I need a new laboratory!"

Chen Ang smiled, "A world of abilities?"