Chapter 130 Three Years Master
Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, three years have passed since Zhu Chengwu's unsuccessful martial arts competition.

During these three years, Zhu Chengwu died in the Fu'an Marquis Mansion.

However, many major events happened in the outside world.

In the central court, the struggle between Zhao, Queen Zhao, King Ming and the Crown Prince became increasingly fierce.

In this unprecedentedly fierce political struggle that lasted for three years, court officials, generals and even dukes fell one after another.

As the prince's vanguard, the Zhuo family, which has been a family of nobles for generations, was the first to bear the brunt of the attack.

Zhuo Zhonglian, the second-rank governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, was the first to be discovered by Zhao, who found evidence of him accepting bribes and committing corruption and abuse of power.

Faced with the ironclad evidence, even if King Ming and the Crown Prince wanted to protect him, they could not.

The foundation of the court is law and rules. Once the king and the crown prince take the lead in violating the extremely important rules of propriety, they will inevitably become the party that loses support.

But even if you can't keep your official position, you should still try your best to keep yourself as a person.

After all, Zhuo Zhonglian has made contributions to the central court and the prince over the years.

King Ming and the Crown Prince had originally planned to remove Zhuo Zhonglian from his post as Governor-General of Yunnan and Guizhou to save his life, and at the same time to save his son Zhuo Jixian's position as Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. However, the unexpected prisoner rescue by Zhuo Yihang, grandson of Zhuo Zhonglian and son of Zhuo Jixian, disrupted all the arrangements of King Ming and the Crown Prince.

Zhuo Yihang's impulsive behavior did earn him the reputation of being a man of integrity and righteousness, but it also put his grandfather in a dead end.

And because of Zhuo Yihang's prisoner rescue, Zhao took the opportunity when the Crown Prince and Zhuo Jixian were distracted by covering up for Zhuo Yihang, and also found evidence of illegal activities by Zhuo Jixian, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

From then on, the Zhuo family's foundation in officialdom was uprooted by the Zhao family.

The only one left was Zhuo Yihang, who was roaming around in the martial arts world.

This is also the norm among officials. Officials above the ninth level cannot help but dig up the past and conduct a thorough investigation.

Once someone is targeted and their tail is discovered, they will be easily brought down, and may even be dragged down with the dirt, leading to a scene of widespread corruption.

Of course, after the prince's right-hand man Zhuo Jia was deposed, King Ming and the prince did not sit idly by.

The many ministers who were close to the Zhao family were dismissed or demoted by the Ming King based on reasons they found. Even if there was really no reason to do so, the Ming King would still reprimand them.

The counterattack of King Ming even became more and more fierce as time went on. In the end, even the head of the Zhao family, Zhao Jinyu, the second-rank Minister of War, was thrown into jail by King Ming. While in prison, Zhao Jinyu was even pierced through the collarbone by the jailer, destroying all his martial arts skills.

After Zhao Jinyu fell from power, Zhao Yugang suppressed his grief and returned to the stage, leading the Zhao family to fight back and seize the flaws of the prince's mother's family and his wife's family, the Fang family.

Zhao Yuguang made a big fuss in the court and demanded the execution of the head of the Fang family, the Minister of Revenue Fang Xuedao.

Unfortunately, it was forcibly suppressed by King Ming.

The two men confronted each other in the court, in front of all the civil and military officials.

At this time, Zhao Yushan directly issued an edict as the queen to severely punish the Fang family.

After discovering that the queen's order had no effect, Zhao Yushan, who was enraged by the tragic condition of her brother and the decline of the Zhao family, visited the Fang family in person as the queen and killed the head of the Fang family who did not practice martial arts in the Fang family's house.

The queen once killed someone with her own hands, which was a precedent since the founding of the Ming Dynasty.

King Ming was so enraged that he didn't even care about the relationship between them and his wife for more than 30 years, nor the vague preference for Zhao Yushan in his heart, and announced that he would abolish Zhao Yushan's position as queen.

But at this time, Zhao's troops were frequently moving.

Zhao Yugang even brought Huashan Divine Sword Feng Qingyang and the couple of Red Flower Ghost Mother to the Ming Palace. Despite being blocked by the Grand Zongzhengyuan Zongren Ling Qi Guogong, Zuo Zongzheng Gong Yan Guogong, and the Grand Chamberlain Wang Chengen, they forcibly arrived at the Qinzheng Palace and argued with the Ming King...

In the end, King Ming had to withdraw his order.

After much calculation, King Ming finally found a reason to publicly dismiss Zhao Jinhu and Zhao Jinbao, the backbone of the Zhao family, who had repeatedly disobeyed his orders and acted recklessly with their two elite troops, the Tiger Tooth Guard and the Thousand Mile Leopard Cavalry.

Unfortunately, Zhao Jinhu and Zhao Jinbao ignored King Ming's order and tightly controlled their elite troops and refused to accept the order.

In the end, there was a huge battle in the army, and the person who announced the King's will was directly killed.

They said that the person who was supposed to announce the decree had an accident on the way and they did not receive the decree from the King.

But how could the great battle in the army at that time be hidden from the spies?

This is simply calling a horse a zebra and openly breaking off relations with the Ming King.

It is said that after receiving the reply from Zhao Jinhu and Zhao Jinbao, King Ming was so excited that he smashed his favorite inkstone in the Qinzheng Hall.

Soon, Zhao Jinhu was assassinated in the army.

But the Zhao family did not sit idly by and directly put the blame for the assassination of Zhao Jinhu on the Northwestern Chang family who supported the prince. Zhao Jinbao took away half of the army defending against the Qing Dynasty in the north and brought them to the northwest, fighting to the death with the Northwestern Chang family.

Although Chang Qingshan is a master, he is helpless facing Zhao Jinbao, who is surrounded by a large army and guarded by junior master-level experts.

What's more, at this time, the Earl of Jing'an in the northwest also intervened at the right time, and even captured alive three generals under Chang Qingshan, which involved a large part of the northwest border army's forces.

The Zhao family and the Ming King almost openly tore their faces apart, and the border troops defending against the Qing and Yuan dynasties attacked each other and pulled each other back. This gave the Qing and Yuan dynasties an opportunity and they took the opportunity to attack the border.

Under the threat of the Yuan Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty, King Ming and the Zhao family finally suspended their struggle.

Because at this time, under the overwhelming public opinion inside and outside the court, the party that does not stop may cause public outrage.

This has led to many fence-sitters, hesitant people, and bystanders completely turning to the other side.

Allow the other side to increase its power greatly, end the civil strife, and then face the threats from the Qing Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty.

The struggle in the court was fierce, and the world was not peaceful either.

Taoist Zi Yang, who had just resigned as the chief leader of Wudang, disappeared when he went down the mountain to protect his beloved disciple Zhuo Yihang who was trying to rescue a prisoner.

It was finally discovered that he was poisoned and had been ambushed by the Red Flower Ghost Mother, a master from outside the Great Wall.

When the Wudang Grand Elder was about to find the Red Flower Ghost Mother to seek justice for their resigned chief leader, Taoist Sizhu "accidentally met" the strange man Gongsun Yiyang.

Both sides fought fiercely and suffered losses.

Zhu Chengwu even secretly left Xuzhou City under the name of testing the world's martial arts, and arrived in time when the Wudang Grand Elder Qingfeng Taoist found the Red Flower Ghost Mother and Jin Duyi and his wife.

He fought a fierce battle with Taoist Qingfeng outside the important Ming Dynasty city of Sun City.

It was also this battle that completely solidified Zhu Chengwu's status as a martial arts legend and completed what Zhu Chengwu had not yet accomplished at the Jiuhua Mountain Martial Arts Competition in Xuzhou City.

Even though two years have passed, outside of Sun City, there are still burnt holes left by Zhu Chengwu's Great Sun True Flame and the Tai Chi pattern left by Taoist Qingfeng.

Although Zhu Chengwu did not completely defeat Taoist Qingfeng in this battle, Taoist Qingfeng was unable to do anything to Zhu Chengwu during the three days and three nights of fighting.

After fighting with Taoist Qingfeng for three days and three nights without losing the upper hand, who would dare to question Zhu Chengwu's strength and potential? Who would dare to say that Zhu Chengwu is not a martial arts legend comparable to Taoist Sanfeng?
Although Zhu Chengwu still did not kill any master.

But who is Qingfeng?
He was the supreme elder of Wudang who dominated the Ming Dynasty for sixty years as a grandmaster. He was the greatest foundation and pillar of Wudang, the largest sect in the Ming Dynasty.

With his mastery of Tai Chi internal energy, Tai Chi boxing and sword, he is an absolute powerhouse even among the masters.

Given the identity of Taoist Qingfeng, if it was said that he cooperated with Zhu Chengwu in a fake match and helped Zhu Chengwu to rival the reputation of Wudang founder Taoist Sanfeng, and that Zhu Chengwu prevented him from avenging the former chief of Wudang, no one in the entire Ming Dynasty would believe it.

They will just spit in the face of anyone who questions them.

Let them grow their brains back and then talk.

It was precisely because of this battle between Zhu Chengwu and Taoist Qingfeng that the Zhao family in the court was able to fight against King Ming for so long.

This made so many aristocratic families and important officials in the court willing to sit on the fence.

It’s really the present and the future, they have no choice!
Choose Zhu Chengwu!

The pressure and power that King Ming is under now are no joke. During his 30 years as King Ming, he has many loyal followers. Even Zhao Jinyu, the head of the Zhao family, has been deposed!
Choose Ming Wang!
If Zhu Chengwu is not completely crushed, who can withstand the next Taoist Sanfeng's Jiazi demon-slaying!

They are all waiting!
Wait until the dust settles!
They are on the side of the victor.

While many fence-sitters were waiting, time passed slowly.

On this day, strange phenomena occurred again in Xuzhou City.

At this moment, representatives of many open forces and many secret spies in Xuzhou City once again turned their attention to the Fu'an Marquis Mansion not far away.

Although Xuzhou City has now completely become Zhu Chengwu's private territory, it is impossible for a city to completely eliminate the representatives and spies of other forces.

Because as long as there are people, there will be all kinds of ideas, and it is impossible to completely prevent information from leaking.

And power is the way to gather people. It is said to be a reappearance of the strange phenomenon because three months ago, a strange phenomenon occurred in Fu'an Marquis Mansion.

At that time, many people believed that Zhu Chengwu had successfully broken through to the Grandmaster level.

But in the end it was confirmed that it was Cui Shuyun, the wife of the Marquis' Mansion, who achieved the realm of refining the spirit and the Yin spirit.

Three months ago, when this news was confirmed, it made people outside suddenly realize it, but also made many people outside shocked.

The reason I suddenly realized it was because the vision at that time was too small. It was really unlike the vision caused by achieving mastery.

Moreover, it is generally recognized in the martial arts world that the more a martial artist has accumulated, the higher his potential and the greater his vision.

If the vision was caused by Zhu Chengwu's achievement of Grandmaster status, many people would probably be disappointed or overjoyed.

Because if it was a grandmaster's vision, it would probably be the worst grandmaster's vision, and Zhu Chengwu's potential would be greatly questioned.

The reason for being terrified is that when a Yin God is achieved, strange phenomena will occur in heaven and earth, which is not common.

Or it is extremely rare!
Although the spirit cultivation method focuses on the soul, unlike warriors who focus on the body, the connection between the spirit and the world is much stronger than that of warriors.

However, there are only a few people in every hundred years who can cause strange phenomena in heaven and earth when they achieve the status of Yin God.

Moreover, for every talented person who causes strange phenomena in heaven and earth when achieving Yin God, the probability of achieving Yang God in the end will be more than 90%, as long as there are no accidents in the middle.

That is even more Yang Shen talent than the so-called Yang Shen talent!
Marquis Fu'an was a legend in martial arts, and his wife was a genius in magical arts.

Such a combination makes many powerful forces tremble with fear.

Grandmaster martial artists are the nuclear deterrents of major forces, and Taoist Sanfeng, a former martial arts legend, has dominated the martial arts world for a decade.

If Taoist Sanfeng were accompanied by a Yangshen-level spiritual cultivator...

After learning the news, countless forces wanted to destroy Zhu Chengwu and Cui Shuyun in the bud.

But it's too late now!

Zhu Chengwu has grown up.

Even the most powerful King Ming in the Ming Dynasty was helpless against Marquis Fu'an.

In order to completely destroy the current Zhu Chengwu and Cui Shuyun, the many major forces in the Ming Dynasty must join forces.

But people's hearts are hidden.

Who knows if the big forces joining forces will lead to betrayal by their allies.

If it were really that easy for major powers to join forces, the major powers of the Ming Dynasty would have joined forces to destroy Zhu Chengwu long ago.

It is scary to have a Yangshen following Taoist Sanfeng, but Taoist Sanfeng alone is enough to dominate the world!

When the combat power overflows, there is no essential difference between having one more nuclear weapon or one less nuclear weapon.

It was a misunderstanding three months ago!
So what about this time?
Many warriors and spies in Xuzhou City looked at the strange phenomenon above the Fu'an Marquis Mansion and pondered in their hearts.

As a contemporary martial arts legend, no one would think that the Grandmaster's bottleneck, which is like a fall from the sky for ordinary martial artists, could trap Zhu Chengwu.

Everyone is waiting for the day when Zhu Chengwu breaks through to the Grandmaster level.

Although Zhu Chengwu is only in his twenties and less than thirty years old, he still has more than ten years before his physical fitness declines and exceeds the age limit for becoming a grandmaster.

But after the battle with Taoist Qingfeng, everyone believed that Zhu Chengwu would be able to break through and become a master in the near future.

After all, he could tie with an absolute strong man among masters like Taoist Qingfeng. How far is the master level for Zhu Chengwu?
This is also the reason why after Zhu Chengwu's battle with Taoist Qingfeng, King Ming and the Crown Prince became more and more radical in their struggles with Queen Zhao and the Zhao family.

Prince Ming even disregarded the relationship between husband and wife, intending to upset Zhu Chengwu's mood by deposing him and forcing him to go to the capital.

But Zhu Chengwu's composure exceeded King Ming's expectations.

Feng Qingyang's appearance also caught Ming Wang off guard.

In fact, Feng Qingyang's cooperation with Zhao Yugang to break into the palace was not entirely because of Zhao Yugang, but also partly because of Zhu Chengwu.

After the battle between Zhu Chengwu and Taoist Qingfeng, almost everyone in the martial arts world understood that the next few decades would belong to Zhu Chengwu.

As Huashan Sect currently has only a few big and small cats, it is not too afraid of Ming Wang's current threat.

Considering the current number and power of Huashan Sect, Feng Qingyang was really forced into a corner. At worst, he would give up Huashan Sect, whose power had already shrunk to the extreme due to insufficient numbers.

He brought his elite disciples to Xuzhou City to join Zhu Chengwu.

After Zhu Chengwu came to dominate the world, Huashan was still the Huashan of the Huashan Sect.

Feng Qingyang has great confidence in Zhu Chengwu. After all, he is a ruthless man who dares to plot against the Grandmaster and intends to kill him when he is at the first-class level.

Three years ago, in Xuzhou City, no one knew that when Zhu Chengwu met Feng Qingyang for the first time, he had already had a small-scale fight with Feng Qingyang in the room.

Having proven his strength, Zhu Chengwu immediately proposed a plan to assassinate the Grandmaster who might be sent by the King of Ming to interfere with the martial arts test conference.

Zhu Chengwu did not ask Feng Qingyang to intervene too much.

He just asked Feng Qingyang and Nie Kunpeng to hold back the other masters, giving Zhu Chengwu a chance to confront one of the masters head-on.

Because Zhu Chengwu didn't think that after the Battle of Xuzhou City, the Ming King would only send one master to interfere with the martial arts test conference.

That's simply delivering food to Zhu Chengwu.

The Ming King is not a fool!

Two, three, or more...

This is Zhu Chengwu’s judgment.

That's why Zhu Chengwu chose to suddenly visit Feng Qingyang when Nie Kunpeng and Feng Qingyang met.

Nie Kunpeng was also part of Zhu Chengwu's plan.

Although Nie Kunpeng is only a junior grandmaster, he is a junior grandmaster after all.

Cooperating with Feng Qingyang is enough to hold back the two masters for a short period of time.

This is also the reason why Nie Kunpeng couldn't hide his bitter smile when he left Feng Qingyang's room after Zhu Chengwu left Feng Qingyang's room.

Zhu Chengwu dragged him into the water.

But he didn't dare to refuse Zhu Chengwu.

Unfortunately, in the end, the Ming King was more skilled and did not send any grandmaster to disrupt the Jiuhua Mountain Martial Arts Test Conference. Instead, he prevented other grandmasters and junior grandmasters from coming to Jiuhua Mountain to participate in the Martial Arts Test Conference, which fundamentally reduced the credibility and influence of the Jiuhua Mountain Martial Arts Test Conference.

All of Zhu Chengwu’s plans came to nothing.

In addition to betting on the future, there is another important reason why Feng Qingyang took the risk of following Zhao Yugang to break into the Ming Palace, and that is the sin that Feng Buping had committed in the past.

Feng Qingyang hopes that through his dedication, risk-taking and contributions, he can resolve the grudge left in Zhu Chengwu and Zhao's hearts by Feng Buping's past actions.

Yue Buqun has Ning Zhongze, the daughter of his mentor Yue Qingyu.

Feng Buping also has his own confidante.

That’s Tong Yao.

Because of the relationship between Tong Yao and Ai Jingxia, Feng Buping once helped Ai Jingxia and Tong Yao block the wedding procession of Fu'an Marquis Mansion and snatch the Fire Lotus.

This directly led to Zhao Xinghan, one of the three heroes of Fu'an and also Zhu Chengwu's cousin, using the "Heavenly Demon Disintegration Method" to his death, thus completely losing hope of breaking through to the master level.

In Feng Qingyang's vision, the future of the Ming Dynasty's martial arts world belongs to Zhu Chengwu.

Feng Qingyang naturally had to try his best to resolve the negative impact caused by Feng Buping's previous behavior.

Three years ago, it was because Gao Yao recognized Feng Buping during the fight that he used ruthless moves in the martial arts test conference, each of which targeted Feng Buping's vital points.

In order to hide his identity, Feng Buping's moves were not connected smoothly, and he was finally defeated by Gao Yao in fifty-six moves.

After being recognized by Gao Yao, Feng Qingyang, who found out everything about Feng Buping afterwards because of his abnormal behavior, didn't even have the chance to help Feng Buping conceal the truth. He could only find ways to resolve the conflicts and grudges.

(End of this chapter)