Zhu Houzhao looked at Jiang Ning with a burning gaze: “Brother Jiang, your martial arts are so high, and you are very capable. Since you have great ambitions, why don’t you work for the court? Why don’t you work for me? There is a saying among the people that if you learn the arts of literature and martial arts, you can serve the emperor. Since you have a lot of skills, why waste them in the disputes of the rivers and lakes? Wouldn’t it be better to come to the court and give full play to your ideals and abilities and benefit the people of the world?”

Zhu Houzhao spoke with passion and his eyes were very bright. The young emperor was full of passion and vitality, and he wanted to work hard to change this country.

“The Ming Dynasty is now sick, and it is seriously ill. There are too many termites sucking its blood, making it weak and unable to protect its people. I want to heal it, but my own strength is not enough. I need more people to heal it with me and give it new life. Brother Jiang, I need your help. This is not an order from the emperor, but a request from a like-minded friend. Brother Jiang, help me! Help the Ming Dynasty!”

Zhu Houzhao was very emotional and his words were very contagious. If other people had heard that the emperor valued them so much, they would have been deeply moved by now.

Jiang Ning laughed. He looked at Zhu Houzhao and then turned to look at the lake.

“I’m just a gangster who knows how to fight and kill. You want me to help you. What can I do for you? Or what do you want me to help you with? Kill someone?”

Jiang Ning didn’t think that Zhu Houzhao wanted to use him because he had a strong ability to govern the country. In Zhu Houzhao’s eyes, he was just a gangster who only knew how to fight and kill. So what did Zhu Houzhao want him to do by using this gangster?

The purpose is nothing more than to use him to eliminate dissidents and get rid of those disobedient officials. To put it more clearly, they want to make him a tool and use him to seize power.

Zhu Houzhao’s passion was poured down by Jiang Ning’s words like a bucket of cold water.

Zhu Houzhao had no way to answer Jiang Ning’s words.

To be honest, that’s what he really thought in his heart.

There was no other way. Jiang Ning’s superb martial arts made him too suitable to be a killer. Especially after Zhu Houzhao decided on something, he felt that Jiang Ning was right for him. He had even decided that if Jiang Ning really agreed to do things for him, he would let Jiang Ning assassinate those officials and ministers.

But now that Jiang Ning had made the matter clear, he didn’t know how to respond.

When dealing with smart people, you don’t have to worry about them not understanding you. However, because smart people are too smart, there is no way to hide things from them or take advantage of them.

“good.”

Zhu Houzhao was calm.

“I do think so, but the Ming Dynasty does need to be rehabilitated. Some things have to be done. I want to reform and establish a better system. Only in this way can the Ming Dynasty stand up again and protect its people. The people of the Ming Dynasty can live under a new system and the world will be united.”

Jiang Ning smiled.

“I don’t deny that I do want to eliminate all the evil in the world, but I also can’t deny that the evil in the world will never be eliminated.”

Jiang Ning admitted that he could not completely eradicate all the evil in the world because it would never be eradicated. No matter in the past, present, or future, evil would never be eradicated and would not change due to human progress because it was in people’s hearts.

People are not always the same. They are complex, diverse, and changeable. People will undergo new changes at a certain time and stage, depending on the environment they encounter or the major changes they encounter. Perhaps this person has been a good person for the past few decades, but because of the major changes he experienced, he completely turned evil. He became insidious and cruel, killing innocent people indiscriminately, and finally became evil.

Zhu Houzhao was stunned.

“You want me to help you, but history always repeats itself. No matter how good a system is, it will eventually fall behind. People will eventually die. Throughout the dynasties, there are many examples of regimes ending after the death of leaders. After I die, no one will do what I did. Similarly, after you die, your descendants may not necessarily continue what you did. Even if your descendants want to do it, you were born in the palace, you should understand.”

Listening to Jiang Ning’s words, Zhu Houzhao’s heart slowly sank.

After getting to know Jiang Ning, he became very interested in Jiang Ning. He really hoped to win Jiang Ning over to work for him, but he understood that a man like Jiang Ning would not submit to others unless he was completely convinced. So Zhu Houzhao said a lot of sharp words today. The purpose was to suppress Jiang Ning’s thoughts, make Jiang Ning convinced of his thoughts and his abilities, and allow Jiang Ning to work for what he wanted to do and become his right-hand man.

But Zhu Houzhao now understood that this was no longer possible, because the other party did not refute him and understood his point of view very well, but Jiang Ning remained the same.

He just thought that Jiang Ning’s thinking was naive, but now he thinks that Jiang Ning is not naive at all. He knows a lot and his thinking is not limited. It’s just that he believes that no matter how good a system is, it will become corrupt and there will always be people who will be oppressed. So compared to this, he would rather use the sword in his hand to fight his way out of the world because this is more in line with his expectations.

Thinking of this, Zhu Houzhao couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

He knew that Jiang Ning would not be used by him.

“But I don’t reject your point of view. I can help you.”

Jiang Ning turned and looked at Zhu Houzhao with a smile on his face.

“Although I still think your so-called world peace is very empty, if there really is such a day in the future, I think I would be willing to illuminate the dawn of darkness when it appears, even if I don’t see it in my lifetime. It doesn’t matter if I succeed or not.”

Listening to Jiang Ning’s words, Zhu Houzhao looked at Jiang Ning without saying anything.

After a while.

“hahahahahahahaha.”

Zhu Houzhao laughed out loud.

He had always found the other person interesting, and now he felt even more so.

“But I still won’t be your tool to kill people.”

“of course.”

If Jiang Ning had agreed to him before, Zhu Houzhao would only treat Jiang Ning as a tool, a killer, but now Zhu Houzhao truly regards Jiang Ning as a fellow traveler, he will not treat Jiang Ning as a tool.

Jiang Ning didn’t say anything else.

Zhu Houzhao looked at him and suddenly became curious.

“Brother Jiang, everyone in the martial arts world calls you King Ning. I heard that you are now the third best martial artist in the righteous world. I want to see how good your martial arts skills are. Can you let me see it?”

Zhu Houzhao was really curious. He was curious about how powerful these martial arts masters were.

“You want to see it?”

Jiang Ning was surprised. “How do you want to see it?”

Zhu Houzhao waved his hands repeatedly when he noticed that Jiang Ning’s eyes were not right.

“I don’t mean to fight with you. Don’t you martial artists practice something? It seems to be called internal force? Yes, it is internal force. Can you let me see how strong your internal force is?”

“can.”

Jiang Ning thought about it, nodded, and then drew the Zhenwu sword from his waist.

He did not take off his sword when he entered the palace, and the eunuch who brought him in did not say anything like he was not allowed to carry a sword.

Seeing Jiang Ning drawing his sword, the guards around him were shocked and wanted to come up to guard the emperor, but Zhu Houzhao waved his hand to signal them to retreat.

Jiang Ning poured his internal energy into the Zhenwu Sword, and the Zhenwu Sword instantly emitted a chilling chill.

Jiang Ning looked at the lake surface, then raised his sword and swung it. An extremely huge sword energy came out of the sword and slashed the center of the lake. The lake surface seemed to be cut in half, splashing water several feet high.

Zhu Houzhao was stunned.

Chapter 549: Zhenwu

Jiang Ning’s move not only shocked Zhu Houzhao, but also made the guards look as if they had seen a ghost.

“Brother Jiang.”

Zhu Houzhao looked solemnly at the lake surface which had returned to calm, then turned to look towards Jiangning.

“Do all of you Jianghu people have such strong destructive power?”

Jiang Ning’s move really shocked Zhu Houzhao, so much so that he couldn’t help but ask this question.

“That’s not the case.”

Jiang Ning smiled and sheathed his sword.

His words made Zhu Houzhao feel relieved, as if he was laughing at himself.

He was overthinking it. Jiang Ning’s martial arts ranked third in the righteous way. He did not represent the entire martial arts world because he was already at the top of the world. The people below him did not have such terrifying power.

But Zhu Houzhao thought of another question and asked curiously, “Brother Jiang, your martial arts skills are among the best in the martial arts world. How many people do you think can do what you did just now?”

Jiang Ning thought about it and shook his head.

“do not know.”

Zhu Houzhao asked again: “How many people do you think can beat you?”

Jiang Ning still shook his head: “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know this either?”

Zhu Houzhao was surprised.

“Since you are ranked third in the righteous path, it means that there are only two or three people in the world who are more powerful than you. How come you still don’t know?”

Jiang Ning really didn’t know.

The world is so big. In addition to the masters in the open, how many masters are there living in seclusion in the mountains and forests? For example, there is a Feng Qingyang living in seclusion on the Jade Maiden Peak of Huashan Mountain. What about other places? Are there also unknown top masters living in seclusion?

Jiang Ning never belittles himself and thinks that he is still very weak. He is indeed very strong, but he is not arrogant either. He always knows that there will always be someone better than you.

Arrogance and inferiority complex are both roadblocks to progress. All Jiang Ning has thought about until now is to take one step at a time until he reaches the top, until no one can be ahead of him.

Listening to Jiang Ning’s thoughts, Zhu Houzhao didn’t know what he felt.

Don’t be arrogant when you win, don’t be discouraged when you lose, don’t be overbearing when you are strong, and don’t be humble when you are weak. How can such a person not succeed?

At this time, many guards and eunuchs outside the garden came towards this side.

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty.”

These guards and eunuchs were terrified, thinking that something had happened to Zhu Houzhao, and they were in chaos.

“Don’t make any noise, don’t make any noise!”

Zhu Houzhao rebuked these people: “I have nothing to do, all of you retreat!”

The power of Emperor Zhu Houzhao calmed them down and they all said they would leave.

At this time, Zhu Houzhao looked curiously at the Zhenwu sword on Jiang Ning’s waist.

“Brother Jiang, why did your sword suddenly emit such a chilling cold aura?”

Jiang Ning explained: “It’s a little special. It becomes like this after I inject my internal energy into it.”

“Oh?”

Zhu Houzhao became interested after hearing this: “Can you lend it to me to have a look?”

Jiang Ning did not refuse and took off the Zhenwu Sword for Zhu Houzhao to see.

Zhu Houzhao took the sword, drew it out and looked at it, then exclaimed.

“Zhenwu?”

Zhu Houzhao looked at Jiang Ning in surprise: “Brother Jiang, is this sword called Zhenwu?”

Jiang Ning nodded.

“It’s strange.”

Zhu Houzhao was amazed: “I heard that there is also a Zhenwu sword enshrined in Wudang Mountain. That sword is the sword of Zhang Zhenren, the founder of Wudang, and is regarded as the sect’s treasure by Wudang Sect. Brother Jiang, you also have a Zhenwu sword in your hand, which is really strange.”

Jiang Ning asked, “Have you seen the Wudang Zhenwu Sword?”

Zhu Houzhao shook his head.