Chapter 245: Chapter 176: A Single Punch to Avoid a Hundred! Martial Saint Jiang Shu! Fusang Bows!_2
But the power of the Dan Jin was still within their understanding.
A Great Grandmaster at the Dan Jin level had marrow as frosty as ice and blood as liquid mercury. Their essence, energy, and spirit were unified, in perfect harmony with heaven and earth, with spiritual power that was unimaginably strong; every Dan Jin Great Grandmaster could go without sleep for days and nights, their spirit remaining whole and completely unaffected.
Some Great Grandmasters who had settled in the Dan Jin for some time could even unleash their Qi, capable of killing people without leaving a trace.
But this was still just individual combat ability.
Faced with an army, even a Dan Jin Great Grandmaster, at best, could only use guerrilla tactics, picking off targets one by one.
This was only effective against small armed groups.
For large forces like Fusang’s Sixth Brigade, even if ten Dan Jin Great Grandmasters went, in a head-on clash, they all had only one fate—death!
"Above Dan Jin was Gang Jin! According to the Dan Jin Great Grandmaster from the last lecture, once one reached Gang Jin, they became a Martial Saint! Lifespan shot up to over two hundred years; in ancient times, that was long enough to outlive an entire dynasty! But more than longevity, the true terror of a Gang Jin Martial Saint was their ability to refine Qi into Gang, with Gang Qi blanketing their whole body—no bullet could ever get near them."
"Gang Jin Martial Saint, just think about how many in Xia Country could truly be called Saints. At this Martial Arts Realm, they were saints walking the earth! Their status was so high, even the emperor of a nation couldn’t compare. Grandmaster Jiang... no, Martial Saint Jiang, had absolutely reached Gang Jin! Look at that Qi Shield in the video, that was clear proof of refining Qi into Gang!"
Even Hua Jing Masters couldn’t sit still, and began posting replies.
"Martial Saint Jiang stepped into Gang Jin; as long as he didn’t challenge the bottom line of the major powers, he could roam the whole world as he pleased. Even though he was deep in Fusang now, as long as Martial Saint Jiang didn’t show up alone in open spaces, what could Fusang’s leaders do—bomb all of Tokyo?"
"The world was undergoing tremendous changes; mutant beasts kept rising out of the seas. Fusang had always had a low birth rate, and now had started forcibly drafting soldiers to fill its ranks. At a time like this, if they wasted energy trying to capture Martial Saint Jiang, that would truly be a loss outweighing the gains—even Fusang’s own people wouldn’t allow it."
"Sacrificing people to mutant beasts was acceptable, since it was to defend their homeland, but going to war with Martial Artists, especially someone like Martial Saint Jiang, brought nothing but harm!"
"I believe, it won’t be long before we see Martial Saint Jiang return home!"
This bold prediction instantly steadied the hearts of a whole wave of Dark Force Martial Artists.
"Before, when the forum hyped up Martial Saint Jiang’s talent, I thought it was exaggerated, but now, Martial Saint Jiang used facts to show me what a true genius really was. This was way beyond a so-called boy Grandmaster—this was a Saint come down to earth, living a second life!"
"I never would’ve imagined, one man against a thousand troops—even in the era of hot weapons! If this kind of strength was in ancient times, one person could dominate an entire era. That was the charm of Martial Arts: even now, even the great nations would study Martial Saint Jiang’s history. They’d rather befriend him than be his enemy."
"Witnessing history! We were witnessing history. This was the first confrontation between Martial Arts and hot weapons. Martial Saint Jiang used facts to prove that, at his level of cultivation, he could stand up to whole armies. And now, Martial Saint Jiang was just a kid, what, twenty years old? If he cultivated a few more years, where could Martial Arts go? Might really become near-Immortal, flying through the sky, moving mountains and filling seas! This wasn’t Martial Arts—this was legend!"
"Unbelievable, unrepeatable! For Martial Saint Jiang to win, it was obvious the Sixth Brigade underestimated him. Who would’ve thought a Martial Artist could explode with such earth-shaking power? That strike of his was no longer regular martial arts, but an Immortal descending, one slash opening a new era! Once this video got out, I bet citizens from lots of little countries would rush to Xia Country to learn Martial Arts. Say what you want about Freedom Country, their ’safe’ gene mods still have obvious side effects. Only Martial Arts truly strengthen the body!"
"Exactly. Even Mechas were just external tools. And not to mention, Mechas were insanely expensive. Even Freedom Country, the world’s biggest superpower, took three years just to make one—how many people could even pilot it? But with Martial Arts, anyone can learn. Once Martial Saint Jiang returned home, the momentum would be unstoppable—a Martial Arts frenzy will sweep the nation!"
"He’ll definitely come home. With Martial Saint Jiang’s power, Fusang could no longer contain him. In just half a year, he went from Hua Jing Master to Gang Jin Martial Saint. Give him another half a year, what Realm would he reach then? By that time, I bet even cabinet ministers would drop dead! Fusang was way too small—it could never hold down the True Dragon that was Martial Saint Jiang!"
In the Martial Artist Alliance, the reply speed of the post reached a terrifying level.
Xia Country, too, made a decision instantly.
Monitoring the sea, guarding with everything they had.
They prepared absolute safety for Martial Saint Jiang’s return!
"No matter what Fusang wanted, Jiang Shu, we must protect you! That strike—some of you think it was trouble, I thought it was brilliant!"
"Now that Fusang was completely locked down, if things didn’t escalate in big cities like Tokyo, the moment he made it to the coast—even if a Gang Jin Martial Saint’s body was as tough as a mutant beast’s, could he really survive a missile strike?"
"That strike by Jiang Shu, I think, was anything but reckless—it wasn’t about lacking restraint, it was both brave and wise, a real grasp of the essence."
"Strike first with a heavy punch and you won’t need to take a hundred hits!"
In the meeting room,
The leader’s words fell like iron, echoing through the hall.
...
Wandering through Tokyo, Jiang Shu naturally had no idea what was happening in Fusang and Xia Country at that moment.
He destroyed all the surveillance cameras along the street; blending into the crowds, his form kept shifting, the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi around him rippled outwards, and soon after, he vanished from satellite view, slipping into a house that’d obviously been abandoned for a long time.
Sitting cross-legged, he slowly adjusted his state.
Before the Sixth Brigade had arrived, he actually had a chance to escape.
But such an escape would’ve been meaningless.
The moment he showed himself, Fusang would surely lock down its entire territory; returning to Xia Country would be next to impossible.
He could take on ordinary troops, but if he tried crossing the endless ocean, one stray missile—no matter how high his Martial Arts Realm—he couldn’t survive it.
Forget Acupoint Passage, even someone in the Detachment Realm would...
...only have death to look forward to!
Missiles, even nukes—that was the real confidence of major powers.
*Who knew, after the Hundred Dynasties War, if he reached the True Martial Sect and rose above the Detachment Realm, could he tank a nuke head-on?*
*Jiang Shu wondered silently, Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi slowly gathered to him, healing the wounds inside his body.*
Several of his acupoints, already loosened before, broke through smoothly after the battle, storing even more Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi.
*That strike of his must have scared the Fusang soldiers out of their minds.*
*Fusang’s leaders must be going crazy, too.*
*He just didn’t know what those higher-ups would do next.*
*Mind going blank, as if entering a uniquely silent sky—a bolt of thunder rose up from the depths of his heart.*
"Vermilion Palace Thunder Technique, Acupoint Cultivation Chapter."
Jiang Shu never stopped cultivating, and the proficiency on his status panel slowly climbed higher and higher.
The higher his Martial Arts Realm rose, the more benefits his status panel brought; however difficult the cultivation technique, as long as he had entry-level grasp, he could keep progressing.
Outside his cultivation, every day, he would head out at random, listening for the latest news.
Until three days later,
"According to our latest report, the lockdown across the entire region, which lasted for half a year, was about to be fully lifted. Foreign visitors inside Fusang should return home as soon as possible..."
Tokyo Television, the host’s voice was crisp, as if reporting ordinary news.
In that instant, the whole world was shocked.
Everyone who knew the inside story couldn’t help but think of that name.
Think of that earth-shattering battle.
2029, August 15th.
Fusang, to a man from Xia Country... lowered its head.