sinovels #450 - Jiang Lei
#450 - Jiang Lei
After a brief moment of awkwardness, Li Bufan, being a worldly person, subtly steered the conversation towards Lu Jing's sensational battle in the capital not long ago.
"I know Li Feilong. He appears to be forthright, but in reality, he is extremely shrewd and ambitious, valuing petty gains over righteousness. However, he is indeed good to his brothers in the gang. It can be said that the Heavenly Dragon Gate was entirely built on his personal charm, and its cohesiveness is very strong."
"Most of the experts under him came to join him because of Li Feilong's reputation. These people are almost all followers of Li Feilong, which makes Li Feilong's position within the Heavenly Dragon Gate extremely stable."
"But everything has its advantages and disadvantages. Once Li Feilong, the backbone, is gone, the huge Heavenly Dragon Gate will not be able to find a second person who can command respect. Therefore, the disintegration of the Heavenly Dragon Gate after Li Feilong's death is almost inevitable."
Li Bufan, as the leader of a gang, clearly explained the current situation and future of the Heavenly Dragon Gate in a few words. In the end, he praised, "Leaving aside his character, Li Feilong is indeed a genuine first-class expert."
"Although his martial arts can only be considered mediocre among first-class experts, Lu Daxia was able to withstand his punch unscathed and then subdue him with a backhand. This skill is truly remarkable. Moreover, I heard that Lu Daxia, your opponents that day were not just Li Feilong alone. You fought three consecutive battles, all against multiple enemies. I, Li, admit that I cannot do that."
"Gang Leader Li is too modest," Lu Jing said, "If it were Gang Leader Li, you probably wouldn't have been surrounded in the first place. You would have defeated these people one by one before they completed their encirclement."
Li Bufan smiled slightly upon hearing this.
Lu Jing knew that his flattery should have pleased Li Bufan.
In fact, if it weren't for the need to expend his internal energy, Lu Jing wouldn't have dragged out the previous battle into a marathon. However, compared to top experts like Li Bufan, his disadvantage in moves was indeed significant.
This could be seen from his previous competition with Yan Yun. If it weren't for the fact that both of them had abandoned their weapons, and the competition eventually evolved into a pure contest of internal energy, Lu Jing wouldn't have been confident in winning against Yan Yun, let alone Li Bufan, a martial arts master recognized by the Jianghu.
Therefore, Lu Jing also politely declined Yu Wenyu's subsequent suggestion for a sparring match.
He was indeed very envious of the powerful internal energy of the two people in front of him. If the two were willing to have a one-on-one or even a one-on-two internal energy contest with Lu Jing, Lu Jing would definitely support it with both hands.
However, in general, such sparring matches focused more on dismantling and breaking moves, confirming each other's martial arts insights, and identifying shortcomings in order to improve one's own martial arts moves.
And this was Lu Jing's blind spot. At least until he obtained the plus version of the Mad Demon One Hundred and Eight Staffs or mastered the Old Blind Man's Four-Square Eight-Stable Stance, it would be difficult for him to gain any advantage in such competitions.
Moreover, Yu Wenyu, the number one swordsman in the Central Plains, would definitely use a sword in a fight. Lu Jing's hope of inducing him to compete in internal energy was probably slim, so he didn't join in the fun.
Yu Wenyu was slightly disappointed that Lu Jing didn't seem to have any intention of taking action. Obviously, he was also quite curious about this young expert who had recently risen to fame in the Jianghu, but he didn't force it.
Afterwards, Li Bufan sighed again, "The Heavenly Dragon Gate has always had a bad reputation in the capital because many of Li Feilong's subordinates are desperadoes. But in any case, with Li Feilong around, there is still someone to restrain them. If the Heavenly Dragon Gate breaks up, wherever these people go, they may become new scourges."
Hearing this, Yu Wenyu also nodded and said, "The world is turbulent, and bandits are rising everywhere. I have killed many people on this journey, but it is actually useless because the world is like this. In the past two years, there have been many natural and man-made disasters in various places, and more and more people cannot afford to eat. If they don't become bandits to steal and rob, they will starve to death."
"And because of their existence, those who honestly farm and do business lose everything, and eventually they can only join in and rob others, which makes the banditry in various places intensify. However, the imperial court has sent all the capable troops to suppress rebellions or guard the borders, and they don't have enough money on hand, so they can only watch the situation continue to deteriorate."
"The various sects in the martial arts world are now mostly watching from the sidelines, minding their own business. On the contrary, those guys from the Demonic Path are becoming more and more active, and their methods are becoming more and more treacherous and unpredictable. If we let them grow like this, we will only become more and more passive in the future."
Yu Wenyu stopped halfway through his words. Then, Lu Jing saw a thin, unremarkable man in black walking from not far away.
He had obviously seen Lu Jing and the others, but he had no intention of greeting them. Instead, he walked past the three of them as if they didn't exist at all.
Lu Jing turned his head to look at Li Bufan and Yu Wenyu, and there was no surprise on their faces.
After the man in black entered the house, Yu Wenyu explained to Lu Jing, "The one who just passed by was Hall Master Jiang of the Thunder Fire Hall."
Lu Jing raised his eyebrows, "Is he Jiang Lei?"
"Yes." Li Bufan said with a wry smile, "Don't worry, he doesn't have any opinion on us. He's just always had that stinky face. The last time I saw him was four years ago. We only said two sentences that day."
"It is said that he is obsessed with concocting gunpowder and doesn't like to interact with people. He spends most of his time in his bunker. His wife helps him manage the daily affairs of the Thunder Fire Hall. He only shows up for major events, and... he has also encountered some trouble recently."
"Is it the conflict with the Yunshui Jingci Pavilion?"
"Oh, the Thunder Fire Hall and the Yunshui Jingci Pavilion have recently had some friction, but it's not as serious as the outside world says. The main thing is that a few days ago, news came out that someone offered a price of 100,000 taels of gold to buy his head."
"What a large sum," Lu Jing said in surprise upon hearing this. "Who is the person offering the price?"
"The people from the Thunder Fire Hall have already started investigating when the reward was released, but there have been no results so far. It's probably one of his enemies. The Thunder Fire Hall has risen very quickly, and it has offended many people along the way. If it weren't for Madam Jiang's superb skills and friends all over the world..."
Yu Wenyu seemed to realize something was wrong when he said this. He shook his head and didn't continue. "In short, with the current power of the Thunder Fire Hall, dealing with this matter shouldn't be a big problem. In addition, Hall Master Jiang also has the Buddha's Wrath to protect him. There aren't many people in this world who would dare to touch him."
The three chatted for a while. Seeing that it was almost time for Wei, a maid finally came to invite them to take their seats.