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"They are selected from within their respective families and wield the power of their families."
"On the surface, the Dark River Organization is led by one of the three major families who are elected as the head of the family, but in reality, it is directly controlled by the Emperor of Beili."
"If the emperor wants to eliminate a certain Jianghu force, he will send the order to Huangquan Pawnshop."
"The head of the Dark River must take the Sleeping Dragon Sword to the Yellow Springs Pawnshop to receive the imperial decree."
"The imperial court used the name of the underground river to quietly eliminate the enemy and, incidentally, stir up conflicts in the martial arts world, greatly weakening the threat posed by various sects to the imperial court."
"And so, this system continued for a full two hundred years."
"Until Su Changhe appeared."
As soon as Su Chen finished speaking, the hall erupted in chaos.
Oh my, it's Baymax!
After listening to Su Chen's explanation, all the big shots in Beili Jianghu suddenly understood.
It turns out that the Dark River Organization was not a gangster force at all, but an institution secretly set up by the imperial court.
It's like a sheep in wolf's clothing; it appears to be a江湖 (jianghu, a world of outlaws and江湖义气, a code of honor among outlaws) organization, but in reality, it's just like the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard—they just don't do it openly.
Come to think of it, for over two hundred years, the martial arts world of Beili has been completely controlled by the imperial court.
Thinking about it this way, everyone got angry and started complaining:
"So that's the origin of the underground river. No wonder it has existed for so long."
"The Dark River has been mysterious and powerful from the very beginning, and now I understand why."
Over the past two hundred years, countless sects have tried to subdue the Dark River, but none have succeeded. It turns out they have the support of the imperial court!
"The imperial court is utterly shameless! Were all those masters and sects killed by the Dark River orchestrated by the imperial court?"
"The Dark River isn't some kind of江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the martial arts world) gang at all; it's just a lackey of the imperial court. It must be wiped out!"
What does "'until Su Changhe's time' mean? What exactly did Su Changhe do?"
Inside the sixth private room on the west side of the fifteenth floor.
Ji Ruofeng's eyes lit up, and he muttered to himself, "So the underground river is directly under the jurisdiction of the imperial court. No wonder we couldn't find out its relationship with the court."
"Using the name of the Dark River to clean up unstable factors in the martial arts world is a ruthless tactic, but it works quite well."
"The reason why the imperial court has been able to suppress the martial arts world for the past two hundred years is probably due to the underground river."
"Now that their identities have been exposed, Dark River is probably in trouble."
Xiao Se acted as if nothing had happened, speaking casually as if the matter had nothing to do with him.
"As the Celestial Immortal once said, Su Changhe has turned the Dark River into a pure Jianghu organization."
"I wonder how he did it?"
Wuxin chuckled and chimed in.
His reminder made everyone remember what Su Chen had said earlier, and they immediately became curious.
Judging from Su Chen's words, the three families in the Dark River all came from the Shadow Sect behind the imperial court.
No one could understand how such an underground river could escape the control of the imperial court.
Just then, a loud shout rang out:
"Lei Yunhe of the Jiangnan Thunderbolt Hall greets Mr. Su."
"I am willing to offer a thousand thunderbolts, plus the ultimate skill 'Thunder Finger' as payment."
"Please tell me, Celestial Immortal, what exactly Su Changhe did, and what his ambitions and plans are."
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone's eyes in the Dengtian Pavilion focused on a private room on the thirteenth floor.
This guy used to be a big shot in the martial arts world of Beili.
His "Thunder Finger" technique was unmatched, earning him the reputation of "Thunderclap Shakes Heaven and Earth, One Finger Pierces Nine Thousand Miles of Sky," which propelled the Thunder Sect to the heavens.
But a few years ago, he suddenly disappeared and never showed up in the martial arts world again. Everyone thought he was dead.
Who would have thought he would actually appear at the Ascension Pavilion?
Everyone had a "I knew it" expression when he asked the question.
If we're talking about which force in the martial arts world is most concerned about the Dark River right now, it's definitely the Lei family of the Thunderbolt Hall in Jiangnan.
Because the Dark River Sect has joined forces with the Tang Clan, their first target is the Lei Family.
As one of the four heroes of Leimen, Lei Yunhe naturally wanted to know the details of the Dark River.
Others were also quite interested in this question.
The Dark River has been lying low under the imperial court for two hundred years. What changes have occurred that have given it a chance to dominate the martial arts world of Beili?
Su Chen smiled, never expecting that he would get two fortune-telling opportunities for free just because of Su Changhe.
Feeling extremely pleased with himself, he didn't care about the reward Lei Yunhe offered and directly brought up the system to start the deduction.
"The fortune telling for Lei Yunhe was successful."
"Congratulations, host, for obtaining the first move of the Great Wilderness Imprisoning Heaven Finger."
Su Chen's eyes lit up immediately upon hearing about the reward.
This is a top-tier finger technique; even in a fantasy world, it would be considered a top-level martial art.
Unfortunately, there's only one style.
Otherwise, with just this one finger technique, he could roam freely in this martial arts world.
This made Su Chen admire the arrangements made by the Heavenly Secrets Monthly Appraisal even more.
The Nine-Nine Return to Origin Step!
Great Wilderness Prisoner Sky Finger!
This is only the beginning, and they've already acquired two top-tier martial arts techniques.
Chapter 34: Even More Admiration
Having obtained the result, Su Chen didn't rush to speak. He first took a sip of tea before slowly opening his mouth:
I've said this before.
Su Changhe is the most unique leader since the establishment of the Dark River.
Because he broke the two-hundred-year-old rule of the Dark River and became its leader despite not being a member of the three major families.
Although his surname is Su, he is not from the Su family among the three major families. He was originally an orphan without a name or surname.
Besides taking in experts from the three major families, the Dark River also takes in many orphans, throws them into the furnace for trials, and selects the most powerful ones.
Su Changhe was selected through such a brutal trial. According to the rules of the Dark River, he was just a 'nameless one' and could not become a leader at all.
But Su Changhe harbored ambitions and secretly established the Other Shore organization, recruiting many nameless individuals in an attempt to break the rules of the Dark River.
"Logically speaking, the three major families of the Dark River are very powerful, and the newly established Other Shore Organization is definitely no match for them."
"But due to an unexpected event, the three families started fighting amongst themselves, resulting in the deaths of many experts."
"Su Changhe seized the opportunity to rise to power, demonstrating his formidable strength and forcing all forces to acknowledge him as their leader."
"But this is only the first step in his plan."
"After becoming the leader, he immediately began to plan how to free the Dark River from the control of the imperial court."
"Finally, with the combined efforts of him and Su Muyu, the head of the Dark River Su family, the Dark River successfully destroyed the Shadow Sect in Tianqi City and killed its leader, Yi Bu."
"From then on, the Dark River completely broke free from the constraints of the imperial court and became a powerful force in the martial arts world."
"But Su Changhe was still not satisfied."
"His ambitions are even greater; he wants to dominate the entire martial arts world of Beili."
"With the strength of the Dark River Sect, it is certainly not able to go head-to-head with all the Beili Sects."
"Therefore, Su Changhe plans to get involved in the struggle for the throne, support a prince to ascend the throne, and then use the power of the imperial court to realize his dream of dominating the martial arts world."
"He outwardly supported King Xiao Chong of the White Kingdom, but in reality he sided with King Xiao Yu of the Red Kingdom."
"It was Crimson King Xiao Yu who, together with Dark River and Tang Clan, devised the plan to destroy the Lei family."
As soon as Su Chen finished speaking, the hall erupted in chaos.
Su Changhe's journey was full of twists and turns.
Although Su Chen didn't go into details, everyone could imagine how cruel the Dark River's method of selecting members was.
Su Changhe not only survived, but also broke the two-hundred-year-old rule of the Dark River as an 'unknown'.
Just think about it and you'll know how hard-won his position as leader was.
But Su Changhe did not stop there. He broke the rules and cut off the shackles that the imperial court had kept controlling the underground river for two hundred years.
From this perspective, it is no exaggeration to say that he is the most courageous person since the establishment of Dark River.
What shocked everyone the most was Su Chen's last sentence—Su Changhe had actually gotten involved in the struggle for the princes and secretly sided with the Crimson King Xiao Yu.
This is a big deal.
Since ancient times, the martial arts world and the imperial court have been mortal enemies, and any behavior that gets close to the imperial court is a major taboo.
However, Su Changhe led the Dark River to join the Red King Xiao Yu, and even devised a plan to destroy the Lei family for him.
It's obvious that he wants Dark River to become the second Shadow Sect!
Only now do people realize why Su Chen said that the Dark River has the potential to rule the Beili Jianghu.
If the Crimson King were to truly seize power, and the Dark River were to have the imperial court's backing, it would indeed be possible for it to sweep across the entire martial arts world.
Immediately, the people in the hall began to chatter again:
"That's really amazing. Su Changhe climbed all the way from the bottom of the Dark River as an 'unknown nobody' to the position of leader. His methods are truly admirable."
"Given his background, it's quite remarkable that he's managed to get to where he is today, especially considering the incident of destroying the Shadow Sect, which caused a sensation throughout the martial arts world."
"This Su Changhe is ambitious. After becoming the leader, he still wants to break free from the control of the imperial court. Now he has also gotten involved in the struggle for the throne."