bookbashuk Page 53
Page 53
Yaoyue and Li Hanyi stood on his left and right sides respectively.
Ye Ruoyi, Tian Nv Rui, Jiang Yuyan, and Sikong Qianluo stood on the four sides, making Su Chen in the middle look like an immortal descending to earth.
After settling down, Su Chen looked around and felt quite satisfied.
Just as he had predicted.
Although it was the first "Heavenly Secrets Monthly Review," at least 100,000 people from the martial arts world attended.
This is even with many people hearing the news but not having time to get there in time.
As for how many people will attend the next episode, that depends on how this episode goes.
Thinking of this, Su Chen wasted no time, unfolded his folding fan, and said loudly:
"The time has come, and the first round of Heavenly Secrets Monthly Review officially begins."
"As I said before, I will re-rank the Bei Li champions in this issue of the Heavenly Secrets Monthly Review."
"Anyone from Beili, whether in the martial world or the imperial court, is qualified to be included on the list."
"First, announce the top four players, in order of ranking."
"Ranked tenth on the list, the patriarch of the Dark River family, Su Changhe."
"Ninth on the list of champions, Snow Moon Sword Immortal, Li Hanyi."
"Ranked eighth on the list of unparalleled masters, Dao Jianxian, Zhao Yuzhen."
"Ranked seventh on the list of unparalleled masters, Lone Sword Immortal, Luo Qingyang."
After Su Chen finished speaking, the fifteenth floor of the Ascension Pavilion fell into a deathly silence.
Especially the masters who had left Beili Jianghu, all of them stared wide-eyed.
Although they already knew that none of the original top four on the Beili Ranking were on this list.
But when I heard the rankings, I couldn't help but feel a shock.
Luo Qingyang, Zhao Yuzhen, and Li Hanyi are all experts at the half-step Divine Realm, yet they can only barely make it onto the list.
For the first time, the masters who had left the martial world realized just how powerful the martial world they lived in truly was.
In the sixth private room on the west side of the fifteenth floor, Wuxin said softly, "Su Changhe, the big boss of Dark River, I didn't expect there to be such a powerful figure in Dark River."
Ji Ruofeng, standing beside him, took a sip of wine and sighed, "As expected of the Celestial Mystery Immortal, we at the Hundred Knowledge Hall consider ourselves well-informed, yet we can't find a single clue about the Dark River."
"When the Celestial Mystery Immortal told Li Hanyi's fortune before, he said that the Dark River and the Tang Clan had joined forces to deal with the Lei family and Li Hanyi."
"Now it seems that this underground river is indeed quite something."
Xiao Se stroked his chin, analyzing the situation with great interest.
Lei Wujie said angrily, "I don't care how strong the Dark River is. If they dare to mess with the Lei family, I'll never let them off the hook."
"Don't rush, wait a moment." Xiao Se patted Lei Wujie's shoulder and said calmly, "Since it's a monthly evaluation, it's definitely not just about announcing names, but also about giving a brief introduction."
Everyone nodded in agreement and walked together toward the white jade platform in the middle.
The Dark River Organization is the leader of the Beili Jianghu (江湖, the martial arts world), and also the most mysterious entity. So mysterious that even Bai Xiaotang (百晓堂, a legendary figure known for his wisdom and resourcefulness) couldn't figure it out.
This time, we can finally lift a little veil over it.
Standing on the white jade platform, Su Chen felt the gazes around him, smiled slightly, and said slowly:
"Since this is a monthly review, I'll also give a brief evaluation of those who made the list."
"Let's start with the 90th person, Su Changhe, the big boss of the Dark River."
"The Dark River Organization, you all in the martial world have heard of it, haven't you?"
"It has existed for a long time, it seems to have been around since the establishment of the Beili Dynasty."
"This organization has a lot of experts; even if you look at the whole world, it can rank in the top ten."
"There are more than a dozen experts in the Free and Unfettered Heaven Realm alone."
"Su Changhe is the highest-ranking leader in the Dark River, and his cultivation has reached the half-step Divine Travel realm."
"Moreover, he is different from the previous leaders."
"He is the only leader of the Dark River in the past two hundred years who is not from one of the three major families."
"At the same time, he was also the most courageous leader in the history of the Dark River."
"Before him, the Dark River was a tool of the imperial court, or rather, a secret organization unknown to the public."
"It wasn't until Su Changhe appeared that everything changed completely, turning the Dark River into a true force in the martial arts world."
“Su Changhe’s ambitions don’t stop there.”
"Under his leadership, Dark River has been completely transformed and may even dominate the martial arts world of Beili."
After Su Chen finished speaking, there was a gasp of amazement in the hall.
The once-mysterious Dark River organization has finally revealed a bit of its true colors.
What's most shocking are Su Chen's last few words.
The underground river is actually a weapon of the imperial court!
This is big news.
In everyone's eyes, Dark River is a gang organization.
But now it seems that it has intricate connections with the imperial court.
This is quite unusual.
Since ancient times, the martial arts world and the imperial court have been at odds.
In the two hundred years since the Dark River existed, countless martial arts practitioners have died at their hands.
If it's just a江湖 (jianghu) organization, then it's only a matter within the jianghu itself.
But if it has the backing of the imperial court, then the nature of the matter is completely different.
Unfortunately, Su Chen's comments this time were too brief, and no one could learn more details.
In the sixth private room on the west side of the fifteenth floor, Ji Ruofeng's heart couldn't help but beat faster.
As the head of the Hundred Knowledge Hall, he was always troubled by his inability to find out about the underground river.
Moreover, he had long felt that there seemed to be a mysterious force protecting the Dark River.
It was this force that prevented Bai Xiaotang from obtaining any information about the Dark River.
After listening to Su Chen's comments, he suddenly had a feeling of enlightenment.
In the entire Beili region, only the imperial court can protect the Dark River.
This guess was too bold; he had never thought of it before.
Ji Ruofeng certainly wouldn't let such a good opportunity to unveil the mystery of the underground river slip by, and immediately stood up and said:
"Ji Ruofeng, the head of Baixiaotang, pays his respects to the Celestial Mystery Immortal, saying, 'Greetings, Celestial Mystery Immortal.'"
"I am willing to offer three million taels of silver to humbly request the Celestial Mystery Immortal to tell me the true nature of the relationship between the Dark River Organization and the imperial court."
His words immediately resonated with the entire audience.
This is exactly what people in the Beili Jianghu want to know.
At the same time, many wealthy businessmen were shocked.
Three million taels of silver is an astronomical figure for many wealthy people, let alone for martial arts sects.
Only an organization like Baixiaotang, which specializes in selling intelligence, could accumulate so much money.
On the white jade platform, Su Chen nodded in satisfaction; this was exactly the effect he wanted.
He wanted to expose some secrets of the Dark River organization to raise more questions and thus achieve his goal of fortune-telling.
This is about creating demand where there is none.
Although Ji Ruofeng's luck wasn't great, even a small mosquito bite is still meat.
Thinking about all this, Su Chen didn't delay and directly activated the system, looking at Ji Ruofeng.
The system responded quickly:
"The fortune telling for Ji Ruofeng was successful."
"Congratulations, host, on obtaining the peerless lightness skill, 'Nine-Nine Returning to Origin Step'."
Su Chen nodded calmly, recognizing the skill as top-tier.
Anyway, this is a fortune telling, there will be plenty of opportunities for divination, so he's not in a hurry.
So he opened his folding fan and said slowly:
"The relationship between the Dark River Organization and the imperial court has to be traced back to its origins."
"Two hundred years ago, there was a top sect in the martial arts world called Shadow Sect."
"Yi Shuihan, the leader of the Shadow Sect at the time, was ambitious and not content with merely dominating the martial arts world."
"He secretly supported a young man named Xiao Yi, helping him to seize the world and establish the Beili Dynasty."
"Thus, the Shadow Sect became the guardian behind the imperial court, secretly protecting Tianqi City."
"But at that time, the dynasty had just been established, the martial arts world was in turmoil, and all the major sects were not convinced by the court, and the court had no power to subdue them."
"So Yi Shuihan came up with a plan, sending the Su family, who were skilled in swordsmanship, the Xie family, who were skilled in knife techniques, and the Mu family, who were skilled in trickery and medicine, to infiltrate the martial arts world. Together they formed the Dark River Organization."
"This is the origin of the three major families of the Dark River Organization."
"Because of its large manpower, the Dark River organization has strict rules and a clear hierarchy."
"The highest leader is the patriarch, and below him are the leaders of the Twelve Spider Shadows, codenamed 'Puppet'."
“Each puppet is personally selected by the patriarch, is the most trusted, and is also a candidate for the next patriarch.”
"The members of the Twelve Spider Shadows are all elites selected from the three major families, and they are codenamed after the twelve zodiac animals."
"Once they join Spider Shadow, they no longer belong to any one family, but obey the orders of 'Puppet' and are directly under the control of the head of the family."
"Below the patriarch and the puppet are the heads of the three major families."