The Great Lineages' Struggle

Si Ming immediately replied, "No problem. According to the rules, I will act as your guarantor this time, and I will also give each of you 1,000 contribution points as a congratulatory gift."

Once you join, do you really expect to escape the fate of "buying, buying, buying" in the future?

Chapter 347 The Struggle of the Aristocratic Clan

After settling things off with the exorcist master and apprentice, Si Ming then approached Qiu Dahu and said, "I plan to open a branch of the Heavenly Martial Alliance in Longxiang County, and you will be in charge here. The money and manpower will be allocated to you soon. Are you confident you can do a good job?"

Qiu Dahu wasn't particularly good at management, but he immediately thought of his friend. If he could get the support of Tong Qingshan and the Spirit Ao Sect, it would be equivalent to having a foothold in Longxiang County. After that, implementing the alliance system would be a natural thing to do. He didn't think any martial artist in the Jianghu could resist the temptation of cultivating Higher Vehicle martial arts.

Therefore, he resolutely replied, "I will certainly not fail the alliance leader's trust!"

"Okay, I'll give you three months. Within three months, bring over 90% of the sects in Longxiang County into the alliance. If you can do that, I'll appoint you as a steward of the Heavenly Martial Alliance, upgrade your martial arts privileges, and provide you with 1,000 contribution points every month for free."

If you want someone to work hard, you have to offer them generous compensation, and Si Ming won't be stingy with that.

In the martial Qiu Dahu, it is said that a true man will die for one who understands him. Qiu Dahu said excitedly, "Thank you for your kindness, Alliance Leader. I am willing to go through fire and water for the Alliance, even unto death!"

After dismissing Qiu Dahu, Si Ming summoned his apprentice Zhao Jiaren and said, "You've already entered the basics of martial arts, but what you lack is experience and refinement. As the saying goes, 'The master leads you through the door, but the cultivation depends on yourself.' From now on, you must learn to walk on your own."

Back then, his master Yan Jinghong taught him in the same way, and now he has grown into someone "outstanding," proving that this educational method has its merits. Therefore, he decided to carry forward this educational approach.

Zhao Jiaren thought for a moment and said, "This disciple doesn't know which direction to go. Please guide me, Master."

To know what you know, and to admit what you don't know, to be truthful and pragmatic—this is the quality that Si Ming admires most about Zhao Jiaren. Although he studied Confucianism, he doesn't have the bad habit of pedantic scholars who pretend to know what they don't to save face or act unfathomable.

Later Confucianism had a bad habit of "avoiding taboos," which did not refer to people's names, but rather to one's own shortcomings.

They talk at length, but only about what they know. They avoid talking about what they don't know. If someone asks them a question they don't understand, they immediately become arrogant and criticize the other person for being clueless and having problems with their character, making them lose face. Instead of thinking, "Since I don't know, I'll find a way to understand it," or simply admitting that they don't know, they lack the spirit of craftsmanship.

Of course, Confucian School has always looked down on workers, dismissing them as frivolous skills, and probably also looked down on the spirit of craftsmanship.

Master Kong said, "It is not shameful to ask those who are less knowledgeable than oneself." His disciples and followers were not ashamed to ask others for help, and even considered it a great shame to discover that they did not know something. From this point of view, it is not unreasonable for Confucian School to admire the past. Later generations are indeed far inferior to their predecessors.

"Your biggest problem right now is that you're too bookish and lack the spirit of a martial artist, or to put it more bluntly, you lack a bit of banditry. People can tell at a glance that you're not a member of the martial arts world."

Zhao Jiaren asked seriously, "Then how should I change things? Should I challenge each sect in turn?"

Si Ming hurriedly said, "Don't do things that make you a public enemy of the martial arts world before you have enough skills. If someone can't beat you, they won't hesitate to poison or kill you. Do you know what those great heroes often do?"

"To help the weak and punish the strong, to uphold justice on behalf of Heaven?"

"Wrong, it's robbing the rich to help the poor."

Zhao Jiaren paused for a moment, then hesitated, "But this kind of thing seems to be illegal."

Si Ming retorted, "A knight-errant uses his martial arts to break the law. You don't even dare to break the law, so do you have the guts to kill someone?"

Zhao Jiaren still looked troubled. After all, he was a scholar and couldn't get around this issue. For their group, the law or the system was their only support. Without the system, they were nothing.

Si Ming had no choice but to persuade him, "Let me ask you, is it wrong to rob someone of their illegally acquired property?"

Zhao Jiaren was quite clear on this point. "Since it's ill-gotten gains, there's naturally no need to be polite."

"That's fine then. Nine out of ten officials are corrupt. You can't go wrong by targeting those officials. If you're still not comfortable with that, do some research on the local customs and find out about the official's conduct from the people."

Even in modern society, with strict disciplinary review and supervision, corrupt officials still emerge one after another. It is said that if they were all killed, there would be injustices; if they were lined up and killed one at a time, there would be fish that escaped the net. So, in a feudal society where officials could cover up everything, their character is unimaginable.

The saying goes, "A county magistrate can ruin a family, and a prefect can exterminate an entire clan." In feudal society, local officials held immense power over civil affairs, taxation, justice, and education. They were the true "parent officials" and "upright officials." If they disliked any of their subjects, they could easily find a reason to imprison them, or in severe cases, even cause their families to be destroyed.

With power virtually unchecked, expecting officials to restrain themselves with morality is a joke; even if you kill nine out of ten, there will be some who escape.

"Robbing corrupt officials... I understand."

After a while, Zhao Jiaren finally came to his senses and came up with a reason to persuade himself.

Seeing this, Si Ming swallowed back the concept of "legal ill-gotten gains." One must eat one bite at a time; a person will only die from overeating, not from becoming fat overnight. If too much is instilled in him, he worries that Zhao Jiaren's worldview will be shattered and his head will be blown off.

After dismissing Zhao Jiaren, Si Ming pondered, "Now the funding problem for opening a branch is solved. All we need to do is send some people who know management. It's time for the Heavenly Martial Alliance to expand outwards. We can also promote the crowdfunding method of robbing the rich to help the poor."

Over the next three months, the Heavenly Martial Alliance expanded rapidly. The martial arts exchange system was an irresistible temptation for ordinary people in the martial arts world, and its significance was no less than that of the college entrance examination. Although not everyone can change their fate through the college entrance examination, it at least gave people hope of changing their fate. As for whether they could seize it, it depended on their own opportunities and efforts.

Once the Heavenly Martial Alliance's power has accumulated to a certain level, fools like the former leader of the Three Rivers Gang will no longer appear. Or rather, he wasn't actually foolish. If he had been facing the current Heavenly Martial Alliance back then, he would have obediently cooperated and would never have had any crooked thoughts. Otherwise, he would have been crushed by the huge snowball.

In the past, the best praise for an army was that it was disciplined and deeply supported by the people. Wherever it went, the local people would bring the old and the young, and line the streets to welcome the army into the city with food and drink. The Heavenly Martial Alliance has received the same treatment. As soon as it expanded its influence to a county, the martial arts sects in the neighboring county sent people to ask when the alliance branch would be opened there.

In just six months, the Heavenly Martial Alliance's influence had reached one-sixth of the Western Martial World, and the reputation of its leader, the Sick Young Master Sima Liang, had also soared, becoming the hottest topic in the martial arts world. Now, if you meet someone and don't talk about the Heavenly Martial Alliance and the Sick Young Master, people will think you're a country bumpkin.

To maintain secrecy, the martial arts manuals of the Heavenly Martial Alliance were kept in the Flame Transmission Tower at headquarters. Only a small number of low-grade martial arts manuals were distributed to various branch headquarters. Si Ming was well aware that there would inevitably be acts of embezzlement and abuse of power during this period. For example, the heads of local branch headquarters would not use their contribution points and would privately read all the martial arts manuals. However, he did not care much about this. It was just a minor problem and could not shake the overall upward trend of the Heavenly Martial Alliance.

Ultimately, Si Ming didn't really care whether his martial arts skills were leaked. He would have liked to make the martial arts manual public to everyone in the world, but unfortunately, he didn't have the power to do so. Therefore, he mainly wanted to maintain fairness. Since it was done secretly and no one knew about it, and it didn't have any bad effects, then so be it. If the water is too clear, there will be no fish.

Moreover, each branch only receives about ten manuals, and they are all rubbings without any Soul Intent Diagram. Truly ambitious martial artists look down on these low-grade martial arts; their attention is focused on the headquarters.

Pingyuan Commandery, originally an ordinary county, has become a martial arts mecca in the Western Martial World because the headquarters of the Heavenly Martial Alliance is located here. Every day, martial arts masters from all over the country gather here to complete missions, exchange martial arts techniques, or spar with their peers, creating a strong martial arts atmosphere in the area. You can easily find several well-known masters and top-notch experts just by taking a stroll around the streets.

At the headquarters of the Heavenly Martial Alliance, Si Ming looked at a large cage in front of him. Inside the cage was a wild boar the size of an elephant, and the boar's tail was a venomous snake.

This is a beast that has been parasitized by Monster Race. Several top-notch martial arts masters worked together, setting traps and secretly poisoning it, to capture it alive. Now it lies dying in its cage, its eyes filled with fear, because it had just tried to resist and was punched by Si Ming, breaking its spine.

Si Ming reached out and grabbed the other's tail. He channeled his Blazing Sun True Qi and quickly devoured the other's Anomalies essence, converting it into his own power.

"Phew, I've already reached the peak of level nine. Just a little more and I'll break through to level ten. This feeling of getting something for nothing is really great. No wonder so many people are willing to walk the Evil Dao and plunder ready-made things. It's much more enjoyable than cultivating hard."

Capturing Anomalies creatures is one way to obtain a large amount of contribution points, and the rewards for capturing Monster Race are even more astonishing. Although the risks are huge, people are willing to die for wealth, and birds are willing to die for food. There are many ruthless people in the martial arts world who lick blood from the edge of a knife. It is all about seeking wealth and honor in danger. Therefore, although Si Ming has not cultivated any Internal Cultivation in the past three months, he has still broken through to the Internal Cultivation Level Nine. He has killed more than four-figure Anomalies and more than a dozen Monster Race. Unfortunately, their cultivation levels are not high, and they have not even reached the level of Hairy Zombie. It can only be a matter of accumulating sand to form a tower.

"It's rare to see you in such a good mood. I have some bad news to tell you." Si Jingyu walked over. "Our branch in Donglang County was destroyed by the powerful Jin Lineage Lineage. Everyone on the team perished."