Chapter 414: The Four Powerhouses 50 Years Ago!
eventually”It was the first time I saw my master fought!” Niu Qingshan smiled. “My junior brothers too were shocked by how powerful our master was. We thought he was a G.o.d. On that night when we returned, my Fourth Junior Brother, who was merely eight, knelt before my master. He wanted to make him his master.
“My master asked why, and I remember what my junior brother said until now. He said, ‘I want to kill them! I want to kill the b*stards. I want them to fear me’. I still remember how my Fourth Junior Brother looked when he said that as if it had just happened yesterday. I only found out later on that his parents were killed.
“Fourth Junior Brother was more matured than us. Compared to him, we seemed very much like fools. We were shocked by what he said, but we admired his courage. However, Master refused to take him in. He said that Fourth Junior Brother’s killing intent was too strong. He would go down the wrong path sooner or later. Instead, Master took us in. As I was the oldest, I became the eldest senior brother.
“However, Fourth Junior Brother was determined. He knelt at the door, and he said he’d kneel until the day he died if Master did not take him as a disciple. Sadly, Master asked us to ignore him. After that night, we heard that Commander Ma’s residence was destroyed. Even Commander Ma himself was killed!
“Everyone thought that Commander Ma had gotten the karma he deserved for the evil things that he had done. Only Fourth Junior Brother and I knew that Master killed Commander Ma because we didn’t see Master that night.”
Ye Chen asked, “Is your master still around?”
He agreed with the Dragon King’s master’s way of handling things. However, if it were him, he would not have taken revenge at night. Instead, he would have destroyed the residence directly as soon as he was attacked by Commander Ma’s men.
This man had been a Martial Dao master over 100 years ago. If he was still alive, he would possess a petrifying ability.
“He’s no longer around!” Niu Qingshan shook his head lightly.
Ye Chen secretly lamented to himself. He thought it was the same for ancient martial artists too. No matter how powerful one was, they would still be human. There was no way to escape death.
Niu Qingshan continued, “Fourth Junior Brother knelt at Master’s door for seven days and seven nights. His sincerity eventually moved Master. That night, the four of us knelt before our master at a tea ceremony. We were made his disciples according to our age. Master only said one thing to us: ‘How do we make tens of millions of houses to give refuge to the people in need?!’
“Master wanted us to have a pure and righteous heart, and to never use our power to bully the weak. I went back to my hometown later on and found out that my parents had died of sickness. After praying to them, Master took us into the mountain to hide from the war.
“Back then, Fourth Junior Brother asked why didn’t Master kill all of the bad guys since he had such a powerful ability. Master asked while smiling, ‘Do you chop off an epileptic person’s limbs to stop him from twitching?"”
Ye Chen got the underlying meaning faintly.
“The four of us stayed in the mountain with our master for 15 years. Later on, we traveled with him for ten years,” Niu Qingshan said, “Throughout the ten years, we killed the bandits that we saw along the way. Although Fourth Junior Brother was the youngest, he has the most talented among us. He broke through to peak-stage Illuminating Pulse within a short few years. Later on, he broke through to Martial Dao master before all of us did.
“On Master’s 98th birthday, we made him a bowl of longevity noodles for dinner. We even bought him a bottle of wine. However, Master told us that he was dying. He wanted to fulfill a dream of his after finis.h.i.+ng that bowl of noodles.
“I sensed something off about Master’s tone immediately. I asked by instinct, ‘Is it possible for you to die, Master?’. He said while smiling that everyone in the world would have to die. He’d die without regrets if he could fulfill his dream before he pa.s.sed on!
“All of us cried as we knelt and refused to let him go. However, Master left in determination after finis.h.i.+ng the bowl of longevity noodles, including the soup. He laughed three times before he left.”
Niu Qingshan’s hand that was holding the pipe shook a little as he spoke to this point. “Since then, we couldn’t find him. We weren’t even sure if he was still alive. We waited for him for a year, five years, then ten years. Eventually, we confirmed that he was dead. We erected a cenotaph for him!”
“Did your master go to Shang Santian?” Ye Chen asked.
Niu Qingshan took a good look at Ye Chen, not expecting him to guess it right. He nodded. “That’s right. Many people came out of Shang Santian during troubled times. These people are arrogant, and they care nothing about others’ lives. My master said that Shang Santian is the root of evil. Therefore, he wanted to eradicate the evil.”
“And your master was killed there!” Ye Chen sighed softly.
“We didn’t know about Shang Santian’s existence back then!” Niu Qingshan said with his deep voice, “Fourth Junior Brother suggested that we go separate ways when we failed to wait for Master’s return. Given that Second Junior Brother and Third Junior Brother were eager to go out into the world, I couldn’t stop them. Eventually, the four of us went our separate ways.
“Ten years later, four powerhouses who shook the world appeared: Tyrant Niu, Lei Feihu, Dai Tinglou, and Guan Shanyue. Guan Shanyue was the most popular after he defeated a few men at Mount Hua. He was named as a martial arts legend!”
“I suppose the other three are your junior brothers.” Ye Chen slowly understood where he was heading, so he smiled lightly.
“That’s right!” Niu Qingshan nodded lightly and said, “Lei Feihu is my Second Junior Brother, Dai Tinglou is my Third Junior Brother while Guan Shanyue is my Fourth Junior Brother. The gap between the four of us grew as we have different ways of thinking. Eventually, we became enemies. I, Tyrant Niu, founded the Dragon Soul. Lei Feihu resides in Hong Kong while Dai Tinglou resides in Shanghai.”
“Meanwhile, your Fourth Junior Brother founded the Heavenly Palace. He’s the Palace Master!” Ye Chen revealed the truth before Niu Qingshan was done speaking. However, he was secretly shocked.
He had just killed Lei Feihu’s son, and now he found out that Lei Feihu was the Dragon King’s junior brother. Would that mean that he had offended his junior brothers at the same time?
“You figured that out too?” Niu Qingshan was surprised.
“It’s actually easy to understand that!” Ye Chen chuckled lightly. “Judging by your ability, there are only a handful of people who can compare to you in this world. I’m sure your three junior brothers are among them. Moreover, you said it yourself that the four of you aren’t close. The only person who can harm you should be the martial arts legend of the past, Guan Shanyue. Then, he must be the Heavenly Palace’s Palace Master!”
“You’re something!” Niu Qingshan shook his head lightly. “That’s right. My Fourth Junior Brother Guan Shanyue is the Heavenly Palace’s Palace Master. We share the same status in China. However, he has a more powerful ability than I do and is more talented than the three of us. Before that, he was the first to break through to becoming a Martial Dao master. And he was the first to break through to venerable stage.
“Therefore, my Dragon Soul has been suppressed by the Heavenly Palace throughout the years. I chose to retreat, but I never thought that you, Mad Southern Ye, would trigger a battle between my Fourth Junior Brother and me.”
He forced a smile. “I was only a half-step martial venerable during the battle on the Heaven Lake. After fighting him, although he was terribly injured, I was almost killed!”
Theoretically, a half-step martial venerable and a martial venerable had a great gap between them. It was rare for both to survive a battle. However, although Tyrant Niu was old, he was fearless of death. n.o.body could put out his fire.
Meanwhile, Guan Shanyue had been winning throughout the years. He refused to be hurt, and he seemed rather distracted during the battle. That was how Niu Qingshan had caught his flaw.
He could not help but look at Ye Chen as he spoke to this point. “In reality, I’ve been watching you since the very beginning, including the times when you killed Yuan Bupo, Northern Devil Jiang, and the rest. I thought you would become my Fourth Junior Brother who would kill for fun, and I wanted to kill you.”
“Why didn’t you do it?” Ye Chen said wryly.
“Well, you stopped the American navy and Commodore Barton, into our sea territory on your own. You even yelled out, ‘Those who offend my country will be killed even if you’re far away!’ after killing him. I gave up the plan of killing you since then!” Niu Qingshan said, “At that time, I didn’t think you’d become another Fourth Junior Brother. That’s why I didn’t kill you. The truth has proven that I was right about you. Although you’re overbearing, you have your bottom line and principles!”
He shook his head. “However, you shouldn’t have killed the people from Shang Santian. Not only have you offended my junior brother, but you’ve also offended Shang Santian, especially my Fourth Junior Brother, Guan Shanyue!”