Chapter 74: The True Meaning of "Heavenly Soldiers"

At these words, the several black-clothed men at the door immediately turned to look. Chu Yang felt wave after wave of bone-chilling killing intent lock onto him.

Iron Dragon City's words were like a breakthrough, instantly shattering the dam of killing intent!

Beside Chu Yang, another wave of killing intent erupted like a mountain flood, sweeping and spreading. This killing intent was even purer and sharper! One against four, yet he did not fall behind!

It was Gu Duxing, who stood quietly beside Chu Yang!

Gu Duxing's hand was already on the hilt of his sword! His eyes revealed a dazzling light that could only be emitted by gathering all his strength! Intimidating, yet calm!

Gu Duxing's killing intent clashed with the four men's killing intent, and suddenly the entire shop felt like it had fallen into an ice cave. A bone-chilling aura filled half the street.

In Gu Duxing's eyes, no matter who these people were, no matter what power or achievements they had, they were still from the Lower Three Realms! The Lower Three Realms could never compare to the Middle Three Realms!

What does it matter if they are generals, or even emperors?

Chu Yang was now his greatest reliance and the only hope to save Little Miaojie! If these people were to target Chu Yang, they would have to step over his corpse!

At any cost, if you dare to make a move, I will dare to kill!

Iron Dragon City looked at Gu Duxing in surprise, then waved his hand backward. Instantly, the four waves of killing intent vanished. Gu Duxing snorted, reined in his aura, and resumed his cold, zombie-like expression. He stood motionless behind Chu Yang.

The four men opposite also reined in their killing intent, each looking at Gu Duxing with cautious and wary eyes. Such killing intent, and such a young man, was a huge shock to them!

"Very good," Iron Dragon City praised, not sure whether he was praising Gu Duxing or the sword. He looked at Chu Yang and slowly said, "In the three days since you opened, your shop has faced dozens of crises that could have led to its closure! Do you know that if I hadn't given the order, you and your shop would have been reduced to ashes long ago!"

"Why?" Chu Yang clenched his teeth inwardly, thinking, _Why hasn't anyone come to cause trouble? It turns out it was you, old man, playing tricks behind the scenes. Old man, you've disrupted my plans, and now you want to take credit?_

"For the two words 'Heavenly Soldiers'!" Iron Dragon City suddenly raised his head and looked at Chu Yang. "To be able to choose such a name and openly set up a sign on the first street of Iron Cloud, it shows that you are deeply scheming and have a far-sighted vision! You have grasped the true weakness of Iron Cloud! I had to come and see what your true intentions are! Otherwise, a small shop like yours, even if it were filled with divine weapons, would not be worth my personal attention!"

"What intentions?" At these words, the girl beside him also couldn't help but raise her head and look at Chu Yang.

"Indeed, this person has ulterior motives! However, if it were just ulterior motives, it wouldn't be worth my coming," Iron Dragon City said, hands behind his back. "The reason I, Iron Dragon City, came in person today is for a specific reason. And before this, I had to prevent anyone interested in Heavenly Soldiers Pavilion! No matter who they are, as long as someone comes, the shop owner can smoothly achieve his plans through them! Although I don't know what his plans are, directly sealing it off can indeed prevent any plans from having the time and space to take effect!"

"This shop, in essence, is not about selling weapons; it is about creating trouble!" Iron Dragon City coldly concluded, almost revealing Chu Yang's true intentions.

"Directly sealing it off is the simplest and most effective method. If it were another time, I would have let it run for a while. But with the Fifth Qingrou already deploying in the southwest, not a moment can be spared!"

Chu Yang was shaken, and cold sweat trickled down his back.

Who says everyone in the world is a fool? This Iron Dragon City is simply terrifying!

He didn't know my plans, but just a simple seal has completely ruined them! There is no more follow-up power.

"The Fifth Qingrou's plan against Iron Cloud began ten years ago. Ten years ago, a large number of assassins suddenly infiltrated Iron Cloud. These people did not assassinate princes, generals, or military leaders, but they killed all the famous blacksmiths in Iron Cloud! This caused a bloodbath ten years ago."

Iron Dragon City's eyes became as sharp as needles: "To this day, the official records still list these cases as mysteries. All the blacksmiths with the highest forging skills, who could produce high-quality weapons, were killed. Then, the blacksmiths in the military also died mysteriously! Across the country, more than thirty thousand blacksmiths were killed! Especially the master-level blacksmiths, none of them survived!"

"The entire Iron Cloud, with the richest and most abundant mines on the continent, became a desert of blacksmiths! Such an absurd thing actually happened!"

Iron Dragon City grunted, "Those damn people in the Ministry of Punishments treated this as a common case and handled it carelessly!"

"Only when the three largest military forging bases and seventeen domestic and foreign weapon suppliers of the Great Zhao were completely destroyed did they realize that this matter had shaken the foundations of the state. But by then, it was too late to regret!"

"The worst part is that the homes of these master blacksmiths were also burned to the ground! Their life's work was destroyed, and the valuable experience they had could hardly be passed down!"

Chu Yang was deeply shaken.

So, the reason Iron Cloud became a desert of blacksmiths was because of this!

Fifth Qingrou's move to cut off the roots was indeed extremely vicious! And the ones who died were just blacksmiths, so it didn't initially raise the alarm of the Iron Cloud elite. But by the time they realized, the slaughter had already ended.

Tens of thousands of lives, destroyed for Fifth Qingrou's ambition, with no evidence left behind. Such a ruthless and shocking move!

Moreover, after this slaughter, even if the Great Zhao unified Iron Cloud, they wouldn't have to worry about any rebellion in Iron Cloud! How many blacksmiths can a country have? Iron Cloud, being a mining hub, had tens of thousands of skilled blacksmiths; but after this slaughter, how many would be left?

Even young men who might have chosen this profession would be deterred after such a slaughter.

Raising an army, the key is in the word "raising"; the word "army" not only refers to soldiers but also to weapons! Without weapons, how can one rebel? With bare hands? That's a joke!

Such a thing made Chu Yang shudder just thinking about it. Tens of thousands of lives, not just pieces of wood, and they were all civilian blacksmiths. This was a purely inhumane slaughter!

What kind of person could issue such an order, how cruel, how ruthless, and how insane?!

And not long after that, the Great Zhao, under the leadership of Fifth Qingrou, began annual wars. The frequent battles between the Great Zhao and Iron Cloud meant that the soldiers' weapons were in constant demand. But at this time, Iron Cloud had no blacksmiths who could forge high-quality weapons!

This matter, which seemed to be just a ruthless and inhumane slaughter, actually affected the outcome of the war between two great nations.

"Once the war started, frequent battles ensued. Iron Cloud, with the richest mines in the world and an inexhaustible supply of iron and steel, could not forge top-tier weapons! The weapons of the military leaders, if damaged, could not be replaced with suitable ones and had to use ordinary soldiers' weapons!"

"Ordinary soldiers were not in danger because they used ordinary weapons. But who would have thought that the other side's behavior, slaughtering the lowest-level blacksmiths, was actually aimed at our military leaders?"

Iron Dragon City growled, "A person who can wield an eighty-pound weapon, forced to use a seven or eight-pound sword, which breaks or shatters upon contact with the enemy's weapon, would see their combat effectiveness drop by more than one level! This is why Iron Cloud has been able to only defend itself for years, unable to eliminate external threats, and unable to attack. This is a major reason!"

"On the battlefield, soldiers with inferior weapons charge into battle, and after one collision, their weapons shatter! How absurd! How many heroes have died at the hands of opponents who were not as skilled as they were!"

"Thus, Iron Cloud suffered defeat after defeat! The soldiers were determined to kill the enemy, but powerless to change the situation! They watched as the surrounding seven states and forty-eight counties fell into the territory of the Great Zhao, also making Fifth Qingrou famous!"

"For eight years, Iron Cloud has relaxed all requirements for blacksmiths, but it still cannot make up for the losses of the past eight years. Moreover, the brothers who have already died will never return! The quality of weapons is the greatest pain of Iron Cloud! Now, you have opened Heavenly Soldiers Pavilion on the most prosperous street in Iron Cloud City?!"

Iron Dragon City looked at Chu Yang coldly: "Just the two words 'Heavenly Soldiers' have already touched the most sensitive nerve of Iron Cloud! What are your intentions?"