[Triggered achievement [Stronghold Chief]!]
[Received 2,000 Astral Points!]
[Triggered achievement [Green Forest Great Outlaw]!]
[Received 4,000 Astral Points!]
[Triggered achievement [Invincible in War]!]
[Obtained 3,000 Astral Points, [Aptitude Enhancement – Command (Small)] ]
[Life objective [Gathering the Mountains] has been completed.]
[Acquired 40 Information State Particles]
[Current Apostle Permanence Progress: 163/240]
“I’ve finally completed a life objective, although it’s the simplest one… After I completely subdue the Huyang Water Bandits, I should get another wave of Information State Particles.”
Zhou Jing closed the interface and exhaled.
Currently, he had only completed one of the five life objectives. However, his actions had been causing an impact so far, so the progress of achieving permanence had been slowly increasing. Now, it was already two-thirds full.
He walked out of the house and looked around the stronghold on the island, taking in the sight of the vast lake and misty spray caused by the endless waves. There were many ships training on the lake at the moment.
This was one of the sand continents on Yueshan Lake. The stronghold here originally belonged to Fan Zong. After Zhou Jing incorporated the other party, he brought all his brothers over and moved to this place to change it into his official base.
Currently, Zhou Jing had taken over most of Fan Zong’s forces. He had many territories and tens of thousands of sailors under him. He was also a huge bandit in the Huyang area. The signboard of the Chaotic World Demon was becoming more and more renowned in the Green Forest.
“I’ve been expanding rapidly recently. I’ll rest and develop for a while first. I’ll deal with the other two flood dragons next spring and summer.”
Zhou Jing looked at the scenery of Yueshan Lake and calculated in his heart.
Although his momentum was currently fierce, he thought for a moment and gave up on striking while the iron was hot. He did not plan to use troops for the time being.
Firstly, although there were many factions under him, they were still once Fan Zong’s troops. Now that they had a new boss, the morale of the people was fluctuating. He still needed to reorganize himself and spread the martial arts and train them to suppress Fan Zong’s thoughts of rebellion.
Secondly, it was because of the weather. It was already winter, and the lake water was bone-chilling. The lackeys could not tolerate it. Thirdly, the other two flood dragons were helping each other and guarding against him at the moment. If he dealt with one of them, he would also be attacked by the other party. He was not prepared yet.
It was quite troublesome to manage tens of thousands of people, but Fan Zong already had a mature team under him. At this moment, they were still in charge of managing all kinds of internal affairs. As long as he took care of this group of people and placed some of his brothers in to learn, he could let the faction continue to operate. There was no need to worry about everything.
Fan Zong and the other leaders had no choice but to surrender, so they naturally had no loyalty now.
Zhou Jing knew this very well, but with his own strength, he could temporarily prevent this group of people from acting rashly.
Moreover, during this period of time, many more people from the Green Forest had come to submit. As more and more heroes came to seek refuge, the faction composition within the stronghold would become more and more complicated. As a surrendered army, Fan Zong’s group would naturally be restrained.
However, a military counselor called Du Ying came to express his goodwill in private and explained the various situations in the stronghold to him in detail. He seemed to be sincerely loyal.
Du Ying was quite talented, but unfortunately, he failed his examinations repeatedly. Later on, he became an outlaw and knew some methods of marching and fighting. He was a rare civilian talent.
Zhou Jing thought about the current situation before patrolling the stronghold.
Not long after, he arrived at the beach and watched the navy train. From time to time, he would chat with the leaders beside him.
At this moment, a messenger rushed over.
“Reporting! Chief, someone wants to see you!”
“Who is it?”
“This person calls himself a disciple of the Southern Hua Sect. He said that he has something important to discuss.”
Hearing this, Zhou Jing was a little surprised.
“The Southern Hua Sect… Isn’t this a large sect in Huyang? I don’t seem to have anything to do with them. Why are they suddenly looking for me?”
He thought for a moment and nodded. “Then let’s meet. Invite him over.”
Soon, a disciple in a Daoist robe was brought over by a lackey.
“I’m Qiu Ziren from the Southern Hua Sect. Greetings, Stronghold Chief Chen.”
This person cupped his fists and bowed, his attitude a little reserved.
“Why are you looking for me?” Zhou Jing asked directly.
Qiu Ziren coughed and took out an invitation from his sleeve. He handed it to Zhou Jing.
“I believe Chief Chen took quite a few secret manuals back in Jiangchun. Although there’s a reason, this matter broke the rules of the martial world. Fellow martial artists in the martial world heard the rules set by Chief back then, so they decided to hold a martial arts conference and compete in martial arts. If we’re lucky enough to win a move or two, please return the martial arts secret manuals of the Wu Mountain Sect and the other sects and don’t leak them everywhere. This is an invitation. I sincerely invite Chief to attend the meeting on the 18th of March next year.”
“So that’s what happened. The cultivators are here to settle the score with me…”
Zhou Jing touched his chin and said playfully, “Oh, your Southern Hua Sect wants to be the one that sticks its head out for others?”
Qiu Ziren said solemnly, “This is the axiom of the martial arts world. It’s the consensus of all the major sects in the world. It’s not a matter of our Southern Hua Sect.”
Zhou Jing pursed his lips and could not be bothered to expose him. He took the invitation over and looked at it.
“I’ve indeed set this rule. No matter which sect it is, as long as someone can defeat me in a move or two, I’ll hand over all the secret manuals I took to them. Are you planning to gather the experts of the world to challenge me in this martial arts conference?”
Qiu Ziren nodded, “That’s right, but sparring is the most important. It’s only a matter of who’s stronger and who’s weaker.”
“Why? If it’s a matter of life and death, do you not dare to cause trouble?”
Zhou Jing clicked his tongue.
“…”
Qiu Ziren swallowed and did not dare to answer.
What nonsense. If not for the fact that they were afraid that he would start a massacre, why would they hold a martial arts conference? Everyone would have long come to kill this demon.
It was only the wishful thinking of the various sects to spar and not kill., so he was a little worried that Chen Feng would not agree to this condition. If they wanted to determine life and death, there would probably only be 20% to 30% of the sects who rushed over to participate in the martial conference.
Moreover, this person had now become a Green Forest great outlaw. They did not dare to face such a huge force and only wanted to resolve it in the manner of martial artists, only targeting individuals. In the end, it was actually quite disadvantageous to Chen Feng. Qiu Ziren’s heart was pounding, and he was not sure if the other party would agree.
However, Zhou Jing did not hesitate and said casually, “Then it’s settled. We’ll only spar in martial arts and not to the death. On the 18th of March next year, I’ll participate in your conference. If you have any ability, just use it.”
When Qiu Ziren heard this, he was overjoyed. He raised his thumb and praised, “Chief Chen, you’re courageous and heroic. I’m impressed.”
“Alright, get lost.”
Zhou Jing waved his hand and asked his lackeys to send this person out.
After this person left, Hong Dingxian spoke in a surprised tone,
“Brother, these martial arts sects are holding a martial arts conference to deal with Brother. They have ulterior motives. Why did Brother agree to them?”
“That’s right! This fellow actually dared to send a battle invitation in person. He simply doesn’t care about Second Brother. In my opinion, we should beat this envoy up and throw him out!” Fang Zhen echoed loudly.
Zhou Jing waved his hand, “It’s fine. I’ll play with them.”
Guo Haishen frowned and said, “Second Brother, this group of martial artists said that it was a spar, but once you show signs of weakness, they will most likely rush forward to get rid of you. How can they believe what others say? Moreover, no one knows if these martial artists have any hidden moves. You’re already a stronghold chief. Why take the risk?”
“Haha, Big Brother, you’re thinking too much. If I go, they’ll be the ones in danger. They just want to win against me and take back the secret manual, but if I win, there will be a prize. Whoever loses, I’ll snatch their secret manuals as well. At that time, they have no choice but to accept this request.”
Zhou Jing laughed and deliberately put on a bold expression.
This was a good thing for him. With so many experts gathered, he could capture them all in one go. He did not have to run around to find experts to challenge.
Back then, when he plundered the secret manuals of the Jiangchun Sect, it was also to let the people of the martial world unite against a common enemy so that it would be easier to complete the task of becoming the number one in the world. At this moment, the change caused by this was obvious.
Therefore, when he found out that the martial arts world was holding this martial arts conference that was clearly targeting him, Zhou Jing was not angry but happy. He was only worried that not enough experts would come.
If the scale of the Martial Arts Conference was large enough, he might be able to complete the milestone of being the number one in the world through that one event.
If not for the fact that it was inappropriate, he would have personally funded the travel expenses of the various experts to have more come over.
“The time of the battle is at the beginning of spring next year… Heh, the season of recovery, just suitable for stretching my muscles.”
Zhou Jing’s lips curled up.
The leaders at the side looked at each other. They felt that this was quite risky, but they could not dissuade Chen Feng. They could only stop dissuading him and make up their minds to bring more people with them to boost the Chief’s reputation.