Death… and me

Upon hearing these words, the people dressed in black at the door instantly turned and glared at Chu Yang. He immediately felt an icy, murder-like aura locking in on him.

Tie Long Cheng's words were like a ball of explosives that broke out of its levee, causing the murder-like aura to flood into the room like a gushing tide!

However, there was suddenly another lethal aura that exploded beside Chu Yang.

In comparison to that of those in the black outfits, this lethal aura was much more potent. It was one against four, yet it was not at all weaker!

It was at that moment that Gu Du Xing slowly appeared right beside Chu Yang!

Gu Du Xing's hand was already on the sword's hilt and his eyes were so brightly lit, revealing a body of a martial power of maximum concentration… While he carried a suspenseful aura, he was perfectly calm at the same time.

Gu Du Xing's deadly aura collided with that of the four men in black. This made the front of Heavenly Armament Pavilion feel like an ice cave. It was almost as if this chill had spilled out into half the street as well.

In Gu Du Xing's eyes, he had no regard for how powerful the opponent or his position was. This was because he felt that the Lower Three Heavens will always be the Lower Three Heavens and they could never be compared to the Middle Three Heavens!

It didn't matter if one was a general, let alone an emperor!

At that present moment, Chu Yang was his only pillar of support and his only hope of saving Sister Xiao Miao. Hence, these people would have to step over his dead body first if they were looking to cause trouble for Chu Yang!

He thought, "I couldn't care less for any consequence. I will kill you if any of you make one move!"

Tie Long Cheng stared at Gu Du Xing with great surprise and raised his arm to wave a signal behind. In an instant, the four murder-like auras disappeared without a trace. With that, Gu Du Xing finally gave a cold grunt before returning his original aura. His countenance returned to that of an expressionless face as he stood still behind Chu Yang.

Although the four men in black outside the door had shaken off their evil glares, they were still looking at Gu Du Xing watchfully. They were immensely stunned by the fact that such a young man like him could exude such a strong deadly aura!

"Very good!" Tie Long Cheng praised, although he did not mention if he was praising Gu Du Xing or the sword. He then turned to look at Chu Yang and spoke slowly, "Since your opening of Heavenly Armament Pavilion, this place had been at risk of closure so many times! You should note that this place would have already been reduced to dust and ashes had I not given orders to protect this shop from the start!"

"Why?' Chu Yang asked casually, pretending to be surprised. Secretly, he thought, "It's no wonder that there were no patrons, for this damn old man had caused such mischief. Old man, how dare you take credit for ruining my plan?"

"It's all because of these two words, 'Heavenly Armament'!" Tie Long Cheng suddenly tilted his head and looked straight into Chu Yang's eyes, "You put these two words blatantly on your shop's sign smack in the middle of the biggest street of Iron Cloud Citadel. This proved that you must have thought through your entire business plan and that you have great insights. You have managed to grasp the true weakness of Iron Cloud Nation! I deliberately came here to uncover your true motives! In all honesty, I couldn't care less if this shop was filled to the brim with divine weapons!"

"What motives?" Upon hearing these words, the young lady could not help but turn and gaze at Chu Yang.

"Yes, this person most definitely has ulterior motives! However, your ulterior motives are not worth my coming here!" Tie Long Cheng clasped his hands behind his back and continued, "I came here personally because I have my reasons, but the key objective was to stop all who were interested in this Heavenly Armament Pavilion! Whoever came here could be used by this shop owner to further promulgate his own secret agenda! Although I have no clue of what his real motive is, all I needed to do was to blockade this entire place and his plan would fall apart!"

"The purpose of opening this shop was not to sell weapons, but to create publicity!" Tie Long Cheng asserted conclusively, exposing Chu Yang's plan to the audience.

"A total blockade is the simplest and most effective strategy. I would have left him to his own devices if it was at a different time. However, Diwu Qing Rou has recently initiated movement in the Southwest. Hence, I cannot ignore any little questionable actions!"

Tie Long Cheng's words caused Chu Yang to be panic-stricken. Cold sweat was gushing down his back.

Chu Yang thought, "Who said that the people in this world are fools? This guy, Tie Long Cheng, is really frightful! Although he has no clue of my exact plans, his simple blockade has completely dissolved my plans and there is no way for me to advance…"

"Diwu Qing Rou's strategy for Iron Cloud Nation began 10 years ago when a large number of killers suddenly sneaked into Iron Cloud Nation. Unexpectedly, they did not target any royal member or official. Instead, they massacred the famous blacksmiths of Iron Cloud Nation, creating a wave of bloody wind and rain."

Tie Long Cheng's eyes had a piercing look as he continued, "Up till today, all these murder cases remain unsolved. No blacksmith was spared, be it the most highly-skilled blacksmiths who were capable of crafting the highest grade weapons or the apprentices who were merely learning the craft. More than thirty thousand blacksmiths of Iron Cloud Nation were murdered! In particular, none of the blacksmiths who were at the level of master craftsman were lucky enough to be spared their lives!"

"Iron Cloud Nation had a reputation of being a nation with the most mines in the entire continent, but had not a single blacksmith! It was such a puzzling situation to occur!"

Tie Long Cheng sighed and said, "The worst thing was that the damned officials in the justice department ruled these cases as nothing out of the ordinary, and simply let it slide!"

"Everyone finally realized that the country would be shaken to its core when three of our biggest weapon dealers in Great Zhao and seventeen secret weapon suppliers in various other nations were completely destroyed to the ground. However, it was all too late."

"The cruelest thing was that the master blacksmiths' houses were burned to the ground. Their life's hard work and legacy were all annihilated in an instant. The best bet is that the precious smithing knowledge had been passed down to only a handful of people!

Chu Yang was taken aback upon hearing this.

So this was why Iron Cloud Nation does not even have one blacksmith!

This one dire strategy of Diwu Qing Rou was indeed disturbing! Initially, the deaths of a few blacksmiths had failed to gain the attention of the officials of Iron Cloud Nation. By the time they had taken notice, the massacre was already about to end.

Diwu Qing Rou's ambitions had caused tens of thousands of lives to be lost in such a short span of time! Moreover, the officials were still unable to find any evidence to date. Such a devious tactic was horrifying!

After this massacre, Great Zhao would not have to worry about any possible uprising if they conquered Iron Cloud Nation! How many blacksmiths could a nation have? Skilled blacksmiths gathered in Iron Cloud Nation in large numbers because it was a place with many ore mines. But how many blacksmiths remained after the slaughter?

Even young men who had intentions of learning this craft abandoned their plans after news spread of the massacre.

Weapons were the key to survival. Without weapons, what else would they fight with? With their hands? What a joke!

The more he thought about it, the more traumatized he was. This was the lives of tens of thousands of people and not just mere pieces of wood. Furthermore, even the blacksmiths who had nothing to do with the wars were murdered. This was pure brutal murder!

How cruel, unscrupulous and insane could a person be to give such orders?!

Not long after this massacre, Diwu Qing Rou took over leadership of Great Zhao and began a war campaign against Iron Cloud. The two countries would fight each other countless times every year. As expected, the supply of weapons simply could not meet the demands of the war because of the massacre. During this time, Iron Cloud Nation had no blacksmiths to craft more weapons for the soldiers.

At first glance, the murders of the blacksmiths appeared to be just brutal killing of the innocent. How could anyone have known that this would ultimately determine the outcome of the war between two nations?

"War is continuous; fighting and killing will go on without any ending… But Iron Cloud Nation, which was famous for having the most ore mines and the highest quality of iron ores, could not even produce any decent weapon! Generals and commanders were weakened in their power by using inferior weapons. They were unable to find a weapon of superior quality that was catered to their style and were forced to use the same mediocre weapons that soldiers used!"

"Basic soldiers were not affected for they had always used ordinary weapons. However, how could anyone have known that Diwu Qing Rou was actually targeting the military leaders of Iron Cloud by killing all the blacksmiths?"

Tie Long Cheng growled and said, "A person who was capable of wielding an eighty-pound weapon had no choice but to wield a weapon that weighed only eight pounds. Besides, these weapons would shatter into pieces upon contact with the enemy's weapons… Wouldn't this drop their ability to fight by more than one level? This is the main reason why Iron Cloud Nation could only defend, but never had the means to end the invasion!"

"On the battleground, soldiers wielded these inferior weapons to fight with the enemies, only to witness their weapons shatter upon contact! It was such a joke! Ultimately, countless brave men were at the mercy of the enemies that were inferior to them and died tragically!"

"Hence, Iron Cloud Nation kept losing on the battlefield! Even though all the soldiers tried their best to eliminate the enemy, the tides of the battle could not be altered! Ultimately, they could only watch as seven provinces and forty-eight towns succumbed to the rule of Great Zhao. This allowed Diwu Qing Rou's fame to grow further!"

"Iron Cloud Nation has tried its best to nurture new blacksmiths for eight years but has not been able to make up for all that has been lost. Additionally, all those brothers lost in battle will never return! Thus, Iron Cloud Nation's biggest downfall was high-quality weapons! Yet you dare erect Heavenly Armament Pavilion on the busiest street of Iron Cloud Citadel?!"

Tie Long Cheng stared coldly at Chu Yang, "These two words 'Heavenly Armament' triggered the most sensitive nerve of Iron Cloud Nation! Speak! What are your motives?"