"It's good to see you, Zhu Mao. You're still the same as always" Tang Sheng gestured for him to stand.
"We can catchup after the situation is dealt with, now isn't the time for reminiscing, am I right, Disciple?"
Remembering the city invasion, Zhu Mao snapped out of his stupor and replied politely with a bow of his head. "Master, thank the god's you have returned. I was beginning to think you passed on! Hahahaha!" He regained his courage and laughed, "Will You help me retake the city? Our communications throughout China are still mostly functioning, some regions have experienced earthquakes of a high magnitude, or like us, have been invaded with no pretence or warning. We can only rely on ourselves for now, after we retake the city, I can contact the government to ask for an explanation." Zhu Mao explained. He seemed far too calm concerning the fate of his Sect members and civilians, as if it didn't' concern him at all.
"Little Mao, I've heard the general situation from Elder Pao earlier. Go and reinforce the north and have your men go West, ill re-take the East for you." Tang Sheng calmy stated.
Zhu Li, finally able to stand, held a communication device in his hand and at this point interrupted the conversation between disciple and master. "Founder, the majority of civilians are now safe in the inner city, with the defences being much higher in addition to our forces being pulled back, I suggest we retake the North immediately in order to regain control of our radio tower and backup generators." He meekly asked.
"Go little Mao. When you are back, Ill introduce you to your newest junior" He pointed towards Mia, still standing respectfully at his side listening.
"New Junior? Good, good! I'll have to introduce myself properly when I get back!" He said with a grin staring at Mia.
After splitting up, the master and disciple duo, Mia and Tang Sheng, continued through the inner city to reach the East side. Dilapidated houses caught on fire, bodies lying on the road and pathways, smashed glass and blood covering the ground and the sounds of screeching made the city alike a scene out of hell. The villagers were instructed to wait in the inner city with the other civilians including Eric, as Sheng had no intention of extending their initial deal.
Approaching the east border, large hordes of goblins could be spotted with Orcs not far behind. 'It seems like these goblins are cannon fodder used by the Orcs as scouts or a clean-up crew' he thought. Echos of gunfire could be heard from the rare civilian that could obtain a gun, but firing one was akin to a death warrant in this empty part of the city. A horde of over 50 goblins charging over towards the high rise building the gunshot was heard from. This was likely the only unforeseen downside to the lack of government military presence in the area. With high RPM machine guns, these Orcs wouldn't have conquered more than a few buildings if properly used.
Throughout the walk to the east hordes, Tang Sheng had been occasionally giving pointers to Mia and showing her some martial arts stances in order to prepare her for rigorous training. Surprisingly, she had showcased much greater talent than his previous disciples by a landslide, impressing Tang Sheng. A new era seemed to be dawning, with young warriors experiencing life or death battles so frequently, it would further improve their rate of training.
Approaching the horde, Tang Sheng used them as fodder to increase the battle prowess of his newest disciple. Killing some himself and separating other Orcs and goblins for Mia to kill. He now didn't need to maim them or cripple them for Mia to thoroughly best the beasts in combat. She had also reached Level 6 and gained a new skill, [Pierce] - Critical Hit Rate +25%. Her class, however, was named [Mortal Empress] (Unique). This was the only other unique I had come across, with the exception of himself so far.
[Level up] [Level up] [Level up] [Level up] [Level up]
'Slaughtering hordes of goblins and orcs led me to gain a much-appreciated increase in strength, now at
Class - Martial Reaper (Unique)
Level - 10 (8%)
Strength (80)
Vitality (80)
Intelligence (20)
Skills - Tang Illusionary Fist (S) Tang Air Kick (S) Heavenly Smith (SS) Aura of Chaos (SS) Soul Control (Unique)
'Finally, an intelligence increase at level 10, but what is this Soul control skill? Witchcraft? or perhaps it has something to do with my class?' Tang Sheng waved it off for now, he had to catch up with his disciple.
Cleaning up the eastern side of the city, the duo made their way back towards the inner city, where his second disciple was waiting for him along with the elders of the Zhu sect and its sect master Zhu Li.
During their conversation, Tang Sheng was finally able to understand the power balance of the world, and in particular, China. He also found out what his other disciples were up to and what forces they belonged to. The firepower of the Chinese government wasn't something martial arts could go against anymore. With the exception of Grandmaster martial artists and higher, the martial arts era had been considered over once weapons of mass destruction were invented. Afterall, it doesn't matter how strong an individual is, can they escape a nuclear bomb? Although this example is extreme, it's true that martial arts doesn't stand at the peak of power in this era. If, perhaps, the Chinese government once again launched a campaign to retake lands from the Zhu Sect, Zhu Mao may not be enough to stop them, hence, they were very wary of any firearms or government personnel in Nedong district. The reason the Chinese government hadn't moved to reclaim their lands already, was actually due to Tang Sheng's first disciple, Tao Jue, who had surprisingly become the advisor to the president in the light, and the head of black forces in the dark, working for the new government - Seemingly following his master's profession, Tang Sheng assumed with a smile. With him at the forefront of the Chinese government and holding great power, he ensured the government withheld retaking Negong lands. The government military and its generals, however, were very dissatisfied with this decision, occasionally holding 'weapon testing experiments' close to Negong territory, attempting to threaten the Zhu Sect.
The Chinese government was not the only influential faction in China's lands. There existed the imperial faction, waging skirmishes against Chinas new government and in favour of the old system, and the Martial alliance, an alliance consisting of over fifty sects spread throughout China, for the purpose of ensuring longevity and avoiding being closed down by the new government.
The Imperial faction, specifically, held a lot of political power due to the older generation's wealth and connections exceeding the new government by a large margin. They were also in favour of keeping Sect's as an internal force within the government, controlled largely by the imperial Clan at the time. This is the reason all three factions have been waging a cold war against each other. The Martial alliance refuses to both be controlled or disbanded, the imperial faction wages political and economic battles to overthrow and replace the government, and the new government is struggling to stay afloat, with enemies from all sides within its own country.