Chapter 240: Chapter 174: I, Jiang Shu, am back! Confronting the Fuso Land Overlords, the Sixth Brigade!_2
Jiang Shu flicked his fingers four more times, sending the small squad to their reunion.
He looked up at the sky, at the few small black dots drawing ever closer.
Feeling the ground tremble beneath him, he listened to the sound of tank treads, like an advancing tide, surging from the distance.
He held a Treasure in one hand: the Array Plate of the Small Five Elements Saber Formation.
Five precious sabers spun and flew, one after another.
He had considered that after he left Fusang, peace might return here. The Tokyo Tower would be rebuilt, once again becoming a tourist attraction. If that were the case, he had ten thousand ways to safely leave this place. Even if Fusang’s lockdown was strict, he believed he could find a way out.
But clearly, Fusang had no intention of letting him go.
Despite half a year having passed, the place was still heavily guarded.
Jiang Shu’s gaze was as unfathomable as an abyss. His muscles and bones resounded with a popping sound, and his entire physique reverted to its original state. His handsome face, as if chiseled by knife and axe, was unforgettable. His Spiral Energy and Acupoint Passage Realm had brought his body to the peak of perfection.
Howling sounds tore through the sky.
Cold light glinted from gun muzzles as bullets rained down like thunderous punishment from above.
Layers upon layers of bullets formed an iron web, like one woven by a giant spider, intent on trapping Jiang Shu firmly in place.
For the first time, Fusang revealed its true strength before Jiang Shu. Its majesty. Its absolute firepower dominance.
It was as if declaring that no matter how strong a martial artist or how advanced their Martial Arts Realm, they were merely displaying personal combat prowess; before a true great nation, they were insignificant.
Fighter jets blockaded the sky. Helicopters filmed the scene.
A line of tanks encircled the area, their massive cannons aimed directly at Jiang Shu in the center.
Even against a Fourth Rank Mutant Beast, they were confident they could bombard it until its Scale Armor shattered, blood flowed freely, and it collapsed in death, unable to struggle further.
Let alone a mere Martial Artist?
Victory in this battle was assured!
「The Fusang Cabinet.」
Jiang Shu’s figure once again appeared on the large screen.
"Regarding the last incident, I find it difficult to shirk responsibility," the Fusang Prime Minister said. "The Martial Arts Jiang Shu has mastered, in my view, are definitely not limited to those of Xia Country. He very likely obtained some tremendous opportunity within a Heaven and Earth Secret Realm!"
Half a year ago, Jiang Shu’s sudden disappearance had shocked the entire Fusang Martial Arts community.
Countless Martial Arts Grandmasters had repeatedly watched the footage from that time, trying to deduce Jiang Shu’s Martial Arts.
But not a single person could discern what Jiang Shu had learned or used.
In their eyes, Jiang Shu’s Martial Arts Realm seemed to have been bestowed by the heavens, appearing out of nowhere.
He clearly hadn’t reached the Spiral Energy Realm, yet he was able to slay the Fusang Sword God. Such combat power was definitely not achievable by cultivating Xia Country’s Martial Arts!
"Prime Minister, the main issue was that we didn’t expect Jiang Shu to conceal his strength so well," one of the cabinet ministers followed up. "But no matter how much he hides his strength, once he reveals himself, he is doomed. No one can survive an assault by Fusang’s fighter jets!"
The other cabinet ministers nodded in agreement.
Since the appearance of the Heaven and Earth Secret Realms, the whole world seemed to have evolved from the Bronze Age to the Steam Era in an instant.
Every day could bring significant changes.
Martial Arts, genetics, even the Mecha of Freedom Country.
Xia Country’s Martial Arts were indeed maturing, but in the eyes of the current Fusang elite, it was too slow and too weak.
No matter how strong Martial Arts were, against modern weaponry, they were as frail as clay chickens and pottery dogs, utterly vulnerable.
Especially since Freedom Country’s first-generation Mecha had recently gone into official production and battled a Fifth Rank Mutant Beast, it had shown them the future.
Martial Arts can only enhance an individual’s combat strength. Only the combination of genetics and Mecha can dominate Xuanxing!
"If it had been several months ago, I might have ordered the soldiers to capture Jiang Shu alive," the Prime Minister began, his voice growing more intense, like a surging tide. "We wanted to interrogate him about the cultivation of Spiral Energy Martial Arts and even his personal fortuitous encounters and secrets. But now it seems that even at the pinnacle of Martial Arts cultivation, one is still bound by a mortal body. Advancing into the Spiral Energy level only enhances one’s spiritual power. A single missile can reduce them to ashes."
Although he was over sixty years old, Fusang had already extracted longevity genes from certain Mutant Beasts. After safe injections, his lifespan had increased to one hundred and fifty years.
His age remained unchanged, but his body felt younger; he could clearly sense vitality coursing through his internal organs.
"Leaving a complete corpse will suffice for research purposes. After all, Jiang Shu’s appearance definitely suggests he has reached the Spiral Energy level, or even higher. I have no idea where he was hiding before that we couldn’t find him. Could there be a portal to another dimension that allowed him to enter?"
At this, the Prime Minister couldn’t help but laugh. Clearly, he was joking.
"’My lord Prime Minister jests. Should we broadcast this live?’" a cabinet minister proposed.
The live broadcast he referred to was not for the general public but for the Martial Artists of Fusang.
After all, that peak battle in Tokyo had completely broken the backbone of Fusang’s Martial Arts.
Even Hua Jing Masters were utterly dispirited, let alone ordinary Martial Artists.
Furthermore, Fusang’s subsequent policies had shifted focus from Martial Arts to genetic enhancement.
Thus, even after six months, Fusang’s Martial Arts had not only made no progress, but many Martial Artists had also converted into gene warriors, seeking to improve themselves through other means.
"Broadcast it. Aren’t there still some stubborn Martial Artists who believe Martial Arts have a bright future? Let them see how the power they once deemed invincible struggles for survival like an ant beneath our fighter jets and tanks!"
Seeing Jiang Shu—who had killed but a few soldiers—now completely surrounded by fighter jets and tanks, dodging and resisting a hail of bullets, the Prime Minister scoffed. Martial Arts, genetics, even the currently most powerful Mecha, all must be controlled by authority! In every country, it’s the same!
「Online, on Fusang’s forums, the discussion exploded:」
"This is... Jiang Shu! That devil Jiang Shu! He’s actually reappeared!"
"I just saw fighter jets fly by and thought there was another issue with a Heaven and Earth Secret Realm. I didn’t expect Jiang Shu had been spotted. Evasion? Resistance? Hahaha, Jiang Shu, Jiang Shu, you finally meet your end today!"
"A military encirclement! This is a real military encirclement. Before, it was just the security forces. How could ordinary firearms stop Jiang Shu, who killed the Sword God? But this time, facing our Sixth Brigade, Jiang Shu is doomed!"
"He’s definitely doomed! Bombard him! Let the Martial Arts circle of Xia Country also witness the fall of a powerhouse!"
The Sixth Brigade was an early military formation in Fusang.
Its artillery, communications, engineering, and logistics squadrons totaled over six thousand personnel.
It could be said that a brigade was a true hegemon on land.
Moreover, this time they even had the support of fighter jets.
No matter how one looked at it, Jiang Shu was on a path to certain death.
Martial Artists flocked to Fusang’s forums, shocked and delighted.
They never expected that Jiang Shu, who had been silent for so long and whom they thought would remain hidden forever, would voluntarily reveal himself, only to be surrounded by the military.
In their view, the primary reason for the decline of Fusang’s Martial Arts was that battle in Tokyo! If the Sword God were still alive, Fusang might have produced several more Great Grandmasters. Things would absolutely not be as they are now, with large numbers of Martial Artists resorting to Genetic Potions to become gene warriors. To them, Jiang Shu was the chief culprit. Irredeemably evil! He deserved to be sliced into a thousand pieces and condemned to the eighteenth layer of hell!
All sorts of venomous curses flooded the comment sections of the posts.
Every Martial Artist was venting their dissatisfaction.
「Meanwhile, in Xia Country, at the Martial Artists Alliance...」
A post shot to the top with incredible speed, spreading rapidly.
It had only a title and a short, few-second video:
"Grandmaster Jiang Reappears, Confronts Fusang Military’s Sixth Brigade!"