Chapter 93

On Tuesday, the Deer and the Cauldron ended.

That night, Lin Sha returned home in high spirits!

He had a deeper understanding of his own strength and his position in this martial arts world. ○

From Elder Qian, he learned about the basic situation of the martial arts world in the entire Yunnan province, and at the same time, he gained a general understanding of the entire江湖 (jianghu).

At this time, the jianghu was very similar to the Yuan Dynasty era of The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, with various martial arts forces and rebel organizations closely linked, or willing to serve as the government's henchmen and do their dirty work.

Of course, compared to the martial arts of the era of The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, the martial arts of this era were all rubbish.

Because of this, the major sects and martial arts organizations were powerless to resist the government. They either relied on anti-Qing armed forces to grow and develop, or relied on the government to show off their might, or maintained neutrality to survive in the cracks. In short, they all relied on power to win, and there had never been a case of a master who could fearlessly face an army.

Just like the Diancang Sect where Elder Qian was from, it was a local overlord in Dali, the largest landlord and strongman in the area, but it still had to rely on the Pingxi Wang's mansion. Otherwise, they would not have a good end.

Even the Wuduzhao, which had a significant influence among the Miao people, had to bow down to the Pingxi Wang, the true boss of Yunnan province. Although they had some small actions in secret, they did not dare to go too far.

Knowing this, his heart was temporarily relieved by half.

With his current status in the Yunnan army, the Wuduzhao did not dare to act recklessly. Unless he was alone or had few guards around, giving the Wuduzhao a chance to catch him off guard, otherwise, the Wuduzhao would not dare to do anything to him openly!

And after a thrilling martial arts competition with Elder Qian, he understood his current strength and his position in the entire jianghu.

Elder Qian's strength was indeed very strong, not much worse than the first enforcer of the Mu Wang's mansion, 'Iron-Backed Azure Dragon' Liu Dahong. His Diancang Fast Sword and lightness skills were both very powerful.

But Lin Sha's strength was even stronger!

Without mentioning anything else, he didn't even use his hidden strength techniques. Just relying on his increasingly powerful overt strength spear techniques, he was invincible and even slightly suppressed Elder Qian. As time went on and Elder Qian's physical strength was greatly depleted, he was no match for Lin Sha, who had better endurance!

In other words, after the internal strength training over this period and the addition of the internal strength he cultivated yesterday, his physical fitness was much stronger than when he fought Liu Dahong.

According to the post-battle assessment by Guard Mao at the dinner table, Lin Sha's martial arts skills were considered first-class in the jianghu, enough to roam freely and live a carefree life.

Of course, this was partly flattery, and Lin Sha only believed about half of it. If he added his hidden strength, his current strength might indeed be at the first-class level in the jianghu.

It should be noted that in the most glorious period of national arts, the Republic of China, a hidden strength master was also considered a top expert. The martial arts level in the Deer and the Cauldron world was even lower than that of the Republic of China, so becoming a first-class expert in the jianghu was not an exaggeration.

Moreover, Elder Qian demonstrated to him how a top expert with profound internal skills fought.

Internal skills enhanced various physical attributes, could be transmitted to the sword to increase its power, made the body as light as a swallow and swift and agile, and could burst with immense strength in an instant!

In short, the effects of internal skills were very broad, and the enhancement effects in jianghu battles were obvious.

But, that was it!

In this era, internal skills had become a supporting ability, of course, except for those supreme experts who had completely unblocked the twelve main meridians.

From the martial arts experts Lin Sha had encountered, so-called internal skills experts, apart from their lightness skills being somewhat baffling, their other explosive power, physical strength, and speed were not much different from those of internal family boxing experts. The key was individual differences, depending on each person's physical foundation.

Lin Sha's overt strength spear techniques, according to Elder Qian, were extremely powerful in the entire jianghu, and he couldn't easily break them.

With these gains, he was very satisfied with this meeting.

But when he returned to his mansion in high spirits, the steward quietly told him a very bad situation.

That night, Fang Yi and Mu Jianping went out for some fresh air and were coincidentally seen by Prince Wu Yingxiong. The prince's behavior was very abnormal, and his personal guards quietly followed them to the outside of the mansion.

What the hell is Wu Yingxiong up to?

Even a fool could guess that he must have taken a fancy to one of the two women, or maybe both?

His heart was instantly filled with anger, and his opinion of Wu Yingxiong plummeted to below freezing.

He had been hesitating about whether to warn Wu Yingxiong to be careful of Wei Xiaobao to avoid a tragedy for men, but now it seemed unnecessary.

He seriously asked the steward if the two women knew about this, and upon receiving a negative answer, he was relieved. Sometimes, not knowing was better than knowing.

It seemed that he couldn't stay in Kunming for the time being. Unless he wanted to leave the Yunnan army, his current strength and status were not enough to confront Prince Wu Yingxiong.

...

After making up his mind, he attended the regular morning meeting at the general's office the next day. After the meeting, he found Hu Guozhu and requested a transfer.

General Hu was greatly surprised and asked why Lin Sha was doing this when everything was fine.

Lin Sha didn't hide anything and told him about the possibility of Prince Wu Yingxiong taking a fancy to the women in his mansion. General Hu fell silent and, after a long while, asked gloomily if it was worth it for those two women with ambiguous identities.

Did he even need to ask?

Since Lin Sha had brought the two women into his home, he naturally had the responsibility to ensure their safety. Although their identities had long been exposed and the entire Yunnan military and political elite were aware, Lin Sha had paid a significant price to make the elite turn a blind eye. At this point, he couldn't just give up, and he couldn't get over it in his heart.

Hu Guozhu was very reluctant to let him go, but seeing Lin Sha's firm attitude, he had no choice but to reluctantly agree to arrange for him to be transferred to Chuxiong as a garrison commander, which would temporarily avoid the prince. Once the prince married the princess and returned to the capital, he could be transferred back.

Lin Sha readily agreed, thanked General Hu for his care and support, and before leaving, he finally gave a warning: it was best not to spend too much energy on the prince!

Hu Guozhu was surprised and asked why.

Wasn't it obvious?

Lin Sha rolled his eyes and said irritably, the one in the Forbidden City was in high spirits, and there were no obstacles in the court at present. The next target would naturally be the three feudal lords. Recently, there had been frequent high-level official changes in Guizhou and Yunnan provinces, and the court had already begun to lay the groundwork for the reduction of the feudal lords!

There was no need to say more. Wu Sangui was already old and had lost his former ambition. Wu Yingxiong, who wanted to smoothly inherit the title of Pingxi Wang, naturally did not want any turmoil or rebellion in Yunnan, as it would be of no benefit to his succession.

Moreover, Wu Yingxiong had been living in the capital for a long time, and his every move was under the court's control, making him a puppet of the court. However, the reduction of the feudal lords did not align with the interests of the Yunnan army's top brass, such as Hu Guozhu...