Astral Apostle

Chapter 497: Calming Down (1)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

“Brother Tan was poisoned by his enemy, and his corpse hasn’t turned cold yet. We have to take revenge. It’s just that Chen Feng’s courage is shocking, and he has elites under him. I know that my brothers are deeply indignant, but we still have to consider this matter at length.”

In the hall of the Azure Water Stronghold, which was heavily guarded, the leaders were having a meeting.

The position of chief that originally belonged to Tan Peng was now occupied by the second-in-command, Yan Yuan. He was mobilizing everyone using a tone of common hatred.

As for the other leaders, they were still sitting at the bottom. However, compared to before, there were many empty seats.

Yan Yuan addressed everyone seriously, “That Chen Feng is eyeing us covetously. Our brothers’ lives are tied to this place, and we can’t have internal strife. If anything happens to us, then our brothers will be abandoned! I’ll temporarily give the orders on behalf of the leader of the stronghold. We’ll talk about other things after we survive this calamity.”

When everyone heard this, they cupped their fists in response, but they each had different thoughts in their hearts.

The change in the stronghold leadership left everyone jittery and on high alert. At this moment, a portion of the leaders present were people who supported Yan Yuan’s rise to power. These people were the ones who had secretly harmed Tan Peng.

The other ones were the neutral leaders who had not participated in the murder of the Chief. They were the targets of Yan Yuan’s words of comfort. He still needed them to work hard to resist Chen Feng, or else there would be no one for him to utilize as the Chief. Thus, his focus was towards roping them in.

Many neutral leaders knew that something was wrong, but they did not dare to object rashly. They could only feign civility and agree.

As for those trusted aides who were loyal to Tan Peng, they were not here at this moment. They had all been placed under house arrest by Yan Yuan and the others. He knew that these people would not compromise easily. They were all unstable factors.

Tan Peng had never accepted the suggestion of being recruited and blocked the way out of many of his brothers. Yan Yuan and the others were already dissatisfied. Now that they were enemies with Chen Feng, they did not want to accompany Tan Peng until the end.

In their opinion, Tan Peng’s refusal to join the Imperial Court was simply unreasonable.

Everyone’s heads were tied to their belts. Who didn’t want to fight for wealth and glory? Now the Imperial Court had thrown out an olive branch, but Tan Peng refused to leave the bright path and insisted on taking a shoddy wooden bridge?

Wasn’t this delaying the future of his brothers!

Therefore, they contacted the Imperial Court’s envoy in private. After a discussion, they finally decided to go all out and move away from Tan Peng, who was a blockade. They would usurp the position and take charge of the Imperial Court’s recruitment.

Murdering their big brother was an unacceptable act in the Green Forest, so they naturally could not admit that they had done it. Coincidentally, there was an external enemy, Chen Feng, so they could blame everything on this person. They could also arouse the hatred of the lackeys.

Other than coveting fame and fortune and pursuing the orthodoxy, these people chose to be recruited because they were afraid of Chen Feng.

They had all seen how powerful Chen Feng was, and they really did not have the confidence to defeat this enemy alone. Since they were going to be enemies from both sides, they might as well obtain the help of the Imperial Court.

Even though they had already committed the crime of killing their leader, they were not afraid that the Imperial Court would burn the bridge after crossing it. They felt that Chen Feng was the greatest threat to the government and was far more threatening than them. Therefore, even if the Imperial Court had other intentions, they would continue to support them before Chen Feng was defeated. They would not sit back and watch them die, allowing Chen Feng to grow stronger again.

At this moment, a lackey walked in anxiously and reported that Chen Feng showed signs of invading.

As soon as he finished speaking, the expressions of the leaders present tightened.

Yan Yuan said in a deep voice, “With the enemy in front of us, we can’t panic. Mobilize our troops to face the enemy.”

He was not surprised by this. He had long expected that the internal strife in the stronghold would attract Chen Feng’s attack.

However, the two sides had just fought some time ago. Chen Feng had yet to completely reorganize his army and was still tired. Even if another war took place right now, they would probably not be able to do anything to each other.

Therefore, in his opinion, although he was gambling at this juncture, he still had a chance of winning. As long as he stabilized his own stronghold, it should not be a problem to resist Chen Feng.

As long as he could hold on for a period of time and drag the battle out, he would be able to wait for the Imperial Court to send reinforcements. At that time, he would be able to stabilize his position and all his plans would be complete!

Yan Yuan did his own calculations as he schemed.

…

As the saying went, speed was the most important thing in war. Taking advantage of the change in the enemy’s stronghold, Zhou Jing gathered the troops and navy and attacked the enemy’s territory at lightning speed.

The army advanced majestically and quickly faced the enemy at their pass.

However, the enemy was displaying a large number of troops here. Taking advantage of the geographical advantage, they took a defensive stance, making it difficult for Zhou Jing’s army to conquer them for the time being.

On this day, Zhou Jing was discussing the war with the leaders in the camp when his subordinate came to report that someone had come to seek refuge. It was a leader from the other party’s stronghold.

Zhou Jing immediately received this person. From him, he learned that this person was indignant that Chief Tan had been harmed by a such a vile plot, so he came to submit to Chen Feng instead.

This person had come up with a plan to be a mole. Not only did he not have to stay on the same ship as that group of people, but he could also avenge Tan Peng.

After thinking about it again and again, Zhou Jing decided to adopt a plan and act according to it.

With the help of the inside and the outside, they could easily obtain the enemy’s pass.

Then, the army marched straight in, breaking through the stronghold passes and breaking into enemy territory effortlessly.

Yan Yuan’s troops were retreating step by step. More and more leaders turned to join Zhou Jing, and for a good while, they were unable to fight back.

Although the Imperial Court wanted to help, Zhou Jing moved too quickly, making it difficult for them to interfere.

The envoy from the Imperial Court who had participated in the conspiracy to harm Tan Peng was even more furious.

Before he could finish all the procedures, Yan Yuan and the others had already been attacked. He could not help but curse the Green Forest boors for being so incompetent. Yan Yuan was too impatient and acted too fast, leaving a gap for Chen Feng to exploit.

Throughout the fierce battle, Zhou Jing’s faction grew like a snowball. Soon, he forced Yan Yuan and the others into a corner.

Yan Yuan and the others could only retreat to the stronghold with the remaining troops and hold on bitterly.

After Zhou Jing thought about it, he did not attack forcefully. Instead, he got the enemy leader who came to seek refuge to shout in front of the formation day after day, repeatedly saying that Yan Yuan and the others had poisoned Tan Peng’s death.

After enduring this for half a month, internal strife finally erupted in the enemy stronghold. Some leaders tied up Yan Yuan, opened the door, and raised the stronghold to surrender.

In the main camp, Zhou Jing sat at the head of the table. Many leaders were gathered together on the sides of the table.

Yan Yuan was tied up and escorted in by his lackeys. When he saw those “traitors” who had sided with Zhou Jing, his eyes could not help but spit fire as he gritted his teeth in hatred.

Seeing this, Zhou Jing immediately slammed the table and shouted,

“A defeated general still dares to be arrogant?”

Yan Yuan turned to look at Zhou Jing. Knowing that he was definitely not lucky, he smiled bitterly, “The winner takes all. It’s just a slash. Just cut me down!”

“It’s not that easy to die! You killed Tan Peng and splashed dirty water on me. Quickly tell me the reason!”

Zhou Jing shouted coldly.

“You were the one who poisoned Chief Tan. Don’t spout nonsense here!” Yan Yuan refused to admit it.

Hearing this, the leaders present who followed Tan Peng were furious and started to curse at him.

“Shameless rat, how despicable!”

“You’re about to die, yet you still dare to distort the truth!”

Zhou Jing waved his hand, indicating for everyone to be quiet. Then, he snorted,

“Everyone knows how good my martial arts are. There’s no need to use such a despicable method to resort to the death of another. If you tell me the truth, I’ll give you a quick death. Otherwise, I have many ways to torture you and teach you how to beg for death!”

“Come if you have the guts. If Grandpa frowns, he won’t be a hero!”

Yan Yuan straightened his neck and shouted.

“I guess you won’t cry until you see the coffin!”

Zhou Jing suddenly stood up and came in front of Yan Yuan. He pressed his finger on an acupoint on his chest.

Yan Yuan felt his chest go numb. Then, a strange force entered his body and flowed through his entire body. He immediately felt an itchy pain in his bones that was difficult to endure.

With a plop, he fell to the ground, screaming loudly and squirming everywhere. If not for the fact that his hands and feet were tied, he would have torn his flesh apart in order to reach and scratch his bones.

Zhou Jing was expressionless as he slowly spoke,

“This is the bone-piercing force of the West Sand Sect. If you’re hit by it, your bones will itch and feel so much pain that you wish you were dead. It will only subside after an hour, but if I use it, the effect can last for about two hours. If you continue to distort the truth, I’ll give you a ‘treatment’ every two hours to see if your bones are really so hard.”

In the past few months, although he had been fighting, he did not neglect his martial arts cultivation. He had read all the martial arts secret manuals submitted by the various sects and chose some interesting ones to practice.

The fourth apostle, Chen Feng’s martial arts aptitude, had been enhanced previously and had reached the Dark Purple tier. These martial arts moves were all easily mastered and he learned them quickly.

Now, he could be considered to have mastered all the high-tier martial arts of the various sects. Be it using internal force or martial arts aura, he could be described as a master of all trade. In fact, utilizing the latter gave him even stronger combat strength now.

Although the level of these new martial arts moves was not particularly high, with the enhancement of the [Martial Arts Genius], the actual effect far exceeded its original level. No matter what move it was, its power would increase greatly in his hands.

“I’ll confess, I’ll confess! Give me a quick death!”

Yan Yuan screamed repeatedly. This guy was not as strong as he thought. In just a short while, he could not take it anymore and hurriedly begged for mercy. He spilled the beans and explained the cause and effect of poisoning Tan Peng.

After hearing this, the leaders who were originally working for Tan Peng were furious and cursed.

“What a vile person. Chief Tan has been a hero for a lifetime, but he died in the hands of a villain like you!”

“For the sake of recruitment, you dare to murder the Chief, usurp the throne, and call us traitors?!”

Everyone was indignant.

When Zhou Jing heard this, he looked around at everyone and shouted,

“This is clearly a scheme by the Imperial Court to sow discord. Everyone has seen it. This is the outcome of being recruited! Although Tan Peng is my enemy, his bones are tough enough. I also admire him. I’m already like fire and water with the Imperial Court. There’s no possibility of them recruiting me at all. If any of you are unwilling, you can leave on your own. I won’t stop you.”

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone went into an uproar.

“Big Brother, what are you talking about? Since we’ve decided to follow you, we won’t change our minds so easily!”

“Master, are you looking down on our brothers? How can we be like rats like Yan Yuan, greedy for wealth?”

The leaders present loudly expressed their loyalty.

When Zhou Jing heard this, he laughed out loud and said three “Good!” in a row. Then, he pointed at Yan Yuan, who was rolling on the ground, and shouted angrily,

“It’s not too much to mince such a traitor into meat paste, but since I promised to give him a quick death, I won’t go back on my word. Men, pull him down and cut him with a blade. Behead him in public as a sacrifice to Tan Peng’s spirit in heaven!”

“Thank you, thank you!”

Yan Yuan’s tears flowed. He only wanted to die quickly.

The lackeys went forward and escorted Yan Yuan out. Soon, the sound of beheading and execution came from outside the tent.

Without another word, Zhou Jing also cut down Yan Yuan’s accomplices as a mark of sacrifice and successfully took over the faction left behind by Tan Peng.

From then on, Huyang was pacified and only one party dominated the entire area.

The Chaotic World Demon Chen Feng had risen at an astonishing speed. In less than a year, he had eliminated the three flood dragons of Huyang and gathered 70,000 to 80,000 people. He had become one of the top outlaws in the Southern Green Forest, causing people to tremble in fear.

His power grew once again. However, he did not attack the trembling Huyang state capitals en masse. Instead, he rested and began to develop.

Although he did not take any further action, the influence of his dominance over Huyang quickly spread everywhere.

His consecutive battle results in Huyang shocked the world, especially his ability to flip the seas and rivers. It was simply shocking.

Therefore, after the “Death Beckoning Yama King” and the “Chaotic World Demon”, he had a new name that spread widely in the Green Forest Path.

Dragon King Chen Feng!

In the eyes of the people, only dragons could suppress the “Three Flood Dragons” of Huyang.

As for whether this would violate the Emperor’s tabooa?| Why would they care about this?

As for the factions under Chen Feng, they were also known as the Dragon King Stronghold in the Green Forest!