Chapter 509 Opening Before the Schedule
“I’m not going. I don’t want to see those people for the time being.”
Li Mu declined Fan Zu’ang’s invitation and did not attend the so-called “Heads’ Meeting”.
As his Broadsword Intent Zone could cover an area within 50 kilometers, he knew everything that was happening in the whole Martial Arts Gym as well as the palm of his hand. He had observed the heads of a.s.sorted martial arts sects and all the martial arts cultivators and learned that their strength varied considerably. Li Mu could do without meeting any of them. Besides, the main reason was that Li Mu did not feel like revealing his ident.i.ty so early, and he wanted to observe them in the dark for a longer time.
Of course, the release of the video of the battle in Mount Qilian by the Publicity Department had been approved by Li Mu.
That day when he met with several leaders of the country, Li Mu was moved by what they had discussed.
All that the people at the top cared about, concerned, questioned, and brooded, was how to serve the country and the people. It could be said that they had devoted their entire energy and thought to the nation. Before the meeting, Li Mu was worried to see the scenario described in a poem by Li Shangyin— “The emperor sought to see virtuous talents and summoned a banished official to his court. Official Jia Yi was truly knowledgeable and talented. Only that when the meeting proceeded till midnight, all the emperor asked was not about the folks but heaven and h.e.l.l.” Fortunately, such things did not happen. The issues that the leaders cared about were either beyond the Milky Way, or concerned the nation, or about the people’s livelihood. They all took pains to make the country stronger, and none of them asked Li Mu to help them extend their lifespan.
In fact, as the Spiritual Qi emerged on the earth, the country also began to control some martial arts forces. The merging of technology and Taoist magic arts was far more profound than ordinary people had imagined. The healthy keeping of the national leaders also benefited from this, which made them quite healthy and ensured that they had enough energy to deal with their job.
The desire for power was a genome ingrained in the human genes. Most men would be dying to become a matchless master.
However, even if there was the Spiritual Qi and the Cultivation Method, not everyone could become a peerless master. That also required perseverance, opportunity, apt.i.tude, the timing, the appropriate age, and good luck.
In this world, however, not everyone wished to become a powerful expert.
To be the leader of the country was the wisest choice those talents with unparalleled perseverance and wisdom would give up everything in exchange for.
The leaders Li Mu had met did not pursue the power to become the unrivaled master. Instead, they were seeking the interests of the nation and the people, which made Li Mu feel relieved.
In the past half a month, Li Mu had been to Mount Kunlun to look for the clues the old faker might have left.
But there was unmistakably nothing to be uncovered.
Clearly, the old faker did not want others to find his traces.
Li Mu reckoned that the old faker must have believed that he would definitely come back in 20 years, so the old faker probably left no clues to let himself follow, or the clues would appear only 20 years later, or the old faker would take the initiative to look for him in 20 years… In short, Li Mu gradually gave up the idea that he could find the old faker by himself.
The reason why he agreed with the National Publicity Department to broadcast clips of the video about the brutal battle in Mount Qilian that day was that he hoped to let the old faker know that he had come back early and then the old faker might show up voluntarily.
Li Mu gave up the idea of looking for the old faker on his own initiative.
At present, there were only three things that called for his attention.
First, he needed to teach Xiao Dong, the “Little Wax Gourd”.
Second, as a Martial Arts Society a.s.sembly would be held for the election of the Chief of the martial arts society, Li Mu hoped to find a few more talented candidates like Xiao Dong and train them.
The third was the soon-to-be opening of the Qinling Heaven.
That was the one that intrigued Li Mu the most.
In Qinling, all kinds of strange phenomena continued emerging. Based on the experience of the prior openings of the Heavens in the country, the one in Qinling was supposed to be open already. But for some unknown reason, there was no definite sign of the opening of the Heaven. However, on the northern side of Qinling, the Spiritual Qi between heaven and earth grew richer, and the density of Spiritual Qi there was higher than in other places. Undoubtedly, a large Heaven was about to open, which would be much larger than all the previously found Heavens in the country. Therefore, it had attracted countless people’s attention from both domestic and abroad.
Since Li Mu found the traces of the evil extraterrestrial sect when he killed Dessert Camel and Machete, he deduced that the evil cultivator should have come to Earth through a Heaven, which led Li Mu to some speculations. So, he needed to enter a Heaven and verify them personally.
That night.
At the end of the first Heads’ Meeting, Lu Haoran was a little disappointed.
The discussion they had at the meeting was not pleasant. When the martial arts cultivators were ordered to sit down and have a meeting in an orderly manner, it was not surprising that they all ended up quarreling with each other, and the result was not very desirable.
As the saying went, there might be no definite first place in literature, but there was certainly a ranking in the martial field.
If it weren’t for the presence of the high-level military officers, the people attending the meeting would probably have gotten into a fought.
But, of course, the most disappointing thing was that the “senior” did not appear at the Heads’ Meeting that night, which let down many people who came there just to have a look at him.
When the meeting was dismissed, the crowd filed out from the number one conference room.
“Well, this senior has put on quite some airs. The high-level officers of the military, along with the heads of the major martial arts sects, are not enough reasons to get him to attend the meeting,” Ling Hewu, Head of the True Spirit Sect, said wickedly. She was more than 60 years old, but her hair was still as black as ink. Her skin was well maintained and she looked quite pretty for her age. It was said that in order to maintain her looks, she had searched for secret prescriptions on many occasions and was famous for being particular about her appearance in the Wulin.
“After all, he’s an immortal. It’s only natural that he doesn’t see the mortals.” Gu Chen, Head of the Ancient Yue Sect, remarked.
Hearing this, Ling Hewu sneered and contradicted, “If he is an immortal, why does he still meddle in the mundane affairs? He slew 1,000 people in Mount Qilian in one day. How many living creatures’ lives were taken? If it was only for the sake of establis.h.i.+ng national prestige, he could have just banished them. But why has he killed them all?”
She had held some resentment against the “senior”.
That was mainly because it was rumored that this “senior” was likely to be Li Mu, the G.o.d of Ma.s.sacre, who had killed a future leader of one of the three branches of the True Spirit Sect and then crippled her junior fellow apprentice, Ling Hezi, as well as her promising disciples, He Fei, and He Yu, in Baoji City. In that case, the “senior” would be a sworn enemy of her sect. Thus, it was normal for her to bear a grudge against him.
“What are you talking about?” Lu Haoran, who had always kept a low profile and his mouth shut, finally could not stand it and said, “Those who don’t belong to our clan must have harbored different intentions. Those savage cultivators had invaded our country, killed our people, and harmed our soldiers. We should, of course, kill them all. Only in this way can we show the majesty of China. Since they dare to covet the resources in our country, they must be killed. How can we just drive them away?”
As the top cultivator of the Seven Sacred Sects, Lu Haoran enjoyed a great deal of prestige. So, when he spoke, his words made Ling Hewu’s face turn red and burn with anger. Although she was upset, she did not dare to complain. After all, Lu Haoran was very much respected in the martial arts circle.
The heads of the sects went away in twos and threes.
At this time, some truth could be seen.
The heads of the close sects also had a good relations.h.i.+p with one another. This time, they also came to the Martial Arts Gym in the desert as different small groups. As the government offered them a t.i.tle as the chief of the martial arts community, that naturally aroused their ambition. In private, the sects also form cliques, hoping to take this opportunity to seek benefits.
It was plain that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If a man could attain some position in the Martial Arts Society a.s.sembly, he would be able to achieve great things in the future. That would also establish his position in the martial arts world for the upcoming decades or even centuries.
The crowd dispersed.
Fan Zu’ang and Su Cuo finally walked out of the number one conference room. Looking at the backs of the sect heads, they both sighed.
It was easy to discipline scholars but difficult to tame martial arts cultivators.
Although they had expected that the first Heads’ Meeting might not go smoothly, the noise and chaos during the process still exceeded their imagination. Before the meeting, the military had also conducted some investigations and had combed the relations.h.i.+p among the hundreds of sects and gangs. However, it seemed that they had not done a thorough work yet.
It now seemed that it was not an exaggeration to use the word “wild gra.s.sroots” to describe the martial arts circle in old times.
There were heroes in the wild gra.s.s, but there were bad guys as well.
“It seems that it will take a dozen Heads’ Meeting to reach a solid agreement.” Fan Zu’ang smiled bitterly. “This matter can’t be rushed. The superiors want us to make a const.i.tution for the Martial Arts Society a.s.sembly under the policy of ‘respect, understanding, freedom, and tolerance’… Tut tut, it’s a little difficult given the current situation.”
Su Cuo said, “A truly capable cultivator is always modest and open-minded. He never cares about personal gains and losses while fighting for his nation. By contrast, those dabblers are petty and fussy, just like sycophantic merchants.” To be honest, she looked down on some of those people. They were totally vile people who cursed one thing while pointing to another and behaved eerily.
“There are also patriotic people among them. For example, Lu Haoran, Head of the Divine G.o.d Sect, can be said to be a role model of China’s martial arts cultivators,” said Fan Zu’ang.
Su Cuo nodded. She was also extremely respectful towards the elderly man.
Talking along the way, the two of them came to the office.
“Sir, here is an urgent doc.u.ment from headquarters.” All of a sudden, a secretary hurried over. He tapped the door and handed over an electronic file to Fan Zu’ang.
Fan Zu’ang looked through it and his expression changed dramatically. “Hum? The Qinling Heaven has opened?”
Su Cuo was also startled. “So fast? According to the energy monitoring, didn’t they say that the Spiritual Qi would take about a month to reach the density that an opening of a Heaven requires? Why did it open now?”
Fan Zu’ang said, “An earthquake just occurred at the source of the Jialing River. After that, the sky was filled with thick fog and the Heaven suddenly opened.”
Su Cuo fell silent, but she understood that the earthquake was not a coincidence.
“Our headquarters has made a decision. After the Martial Arts Society a.s.sembly, we must immediately select reliable martial arts cultivators to go to the source of Jialing River in Qinling to explore the Heaven. Since there was no sign to track when the first three Heavens opened, the country failed to make sufficient preparation to go into the Heavens. But this time, we must get the resources in the Heaven so that it will be used by the country and not become a private possession of others,” Fan Zu’ang urged.
“I’m afraid there will be another ma.s.sacre. The omen of Qinling Heaven’s opening is too impressive. Some people have already been lurking outside it for a long time. In addition to the domestic martial arts forces, there are also foreign experts.” Another officer said, “Some martial arts forces refused to come to the Martial Arts Society a.s.sembly just to have a head start in the opening of Qinling Heaven.”
Su Cuo remarked, “We have to invite a really powerful cultivator to take charge of the situation.”
“Then we have no choice but to seek Mu’s help,” Fan Zu’ang suggested.
“Hum? How did you get yourself like this?”
Lu Haoran returned to the accommodation of Divine G.o.d Sect only to see his grandson, Lu Xun, who was bare-chested, applying Divine G.o.d Sect’s special liquid medicine for traumatic injuries in the Taoist field. His face was black and blue, and his body was covered with bruises, which made him look quite woebegone.
“Uh, I accidentally fell…” Lu Xun stuttered when he saw his grandfather walked in.
“Yan’er, tell me, what happened?” Lu Haoran asked, staring at Lu Yan’er.
Lu Yan’er appeared to be quite pleased to see her brother suffer. She blurted out, “Eldest Senior Fellow Apprentice fought with that soldier again. But this time, he was knocked to the ground like a defeated bear and couldn’t even get up. But he still refuses to admit defeat. So, the two of them have agreed to have another fight again tomorrow.”
“How can that be?”
Surprised, Lu Haoran asked, “That soldier failed to defend himself when you beat him this morning. But how come he becomes so strong this afternoon?”
Lu Xun said with indignation, “He had a master give him tips behind my back. It’s weird, come to think of it. When we fought tonight, the combat skill that kid used was still the gymnastic-like punching method during the day. But I just couldn’t beat him this time… I’m so p.i.s.sed off!”
“Really? Tell me about it.” Lu Haoran was suddenly intrigued.