On the special train back to Lanling City, Li Fei noticed something odd outside and walked over to the window to look out.

Then he was stunned.

“Damn!”

He was shocked at the sight of the gigantic golden Dharma Form and the golden coiling dragon in the distance.

That direction was towards Jinshan Prefecture City.

The train had departed from Daluo Town several days ago, passed through the provincial capital after leaving Yidu Prefecture, and had entered the territory of Jinshan Prefecture.

Now, they were about to leave Jinshan Prefecture and Ming Province.

“Is that Qingxu True Monarch’s doing?”

Li Fei immediately sent his Void Thought into the Dream Command to consult True Man Qingding.

“What happened?”

True Man Qingding inquired.

The Dream Command was in a “sleeping” state and inherently possessed a powerful ability to shield against divination; with True Soul Qingding residing inside, it was almost completely cut off from external perceptions.

Li Fei swiftly used the Dream Building Technique to construct and show the scene he witnessed to True Man Qingding.

“He’s launching his plan now? Why? Has he gone mad?!!”

True Man Qingding was agitated upon seeing the scene constructed by Li Fei.

“What’s wrong, is something not right?”

Li Fei asked calmly.

“The amount of Dragon Energy he’s stolen is still insufficient; he’s not fully prepared. Why launch now?!”

True Man Qingding was furiously upset, even more so than when Qingxu True Monarch had suddenly betrayed him.

“Hmm?”

Li Fei suddenly realized a problem.

After True Man Qingding’s death, his True Soul had been drifting above Daluo Peak before entering the Dream Command, leaving him unaware of the subsequent events.

Before he died, Qingxu True Monarch had told him to seal the mountain for ten years, so he assumed Qingxu True Monarch planned to use that time for undercover cultivation.

However, he did not know that Qingxu True Monarch was no longer the Master of Daluo Sect.

Thus, Li Fei quickly informed True Man Qingding about the subsequent events.

True Man Qingding fell silent after hearing the explanation.

Qingxu True Monarch killed him to give an explanation to the court, then strategically sealed the mountain, retreating as an advancement to buy himself time.

In fact, Qingxu True Monarch was almost successful, as the Emperor had planned to temporarily spare him and take full control over the Taoist forces first.

But one person disagreed.

Ye Ze’an insisted that Qingxu True Monarch must step down!

Although the Grand Secretary didn’t know Qingxu True Monarch’s true plans, he wasn’t willing to give Qingxu more time.

Without his position as Master and having handed over the Daluo Token,

It would be impossible for Qingxu True Monarch to enter the forbidden area behind the mountain again, let alone control the Qi Fortune Golden Lotus in the Thunder Pool.

This meant all his plans would come to nothing.

He couldn’t tolerate this!

So, Qingxu True Monarch took advantage of this one opportunity to follow Tai Yu into the forbidden area behind the mountain and rashly launched his plan!

“He couldn’t have lost to Tai Yu; he must have conceded due to considerations about Yun Shu True Monarch, and then found a chance to launch his plan early.”

True Man Qingding said.

Li Fei, “Since he launched early, do you think he still has a chance of success?”

“I don’t know…”

“Now that he’s revealed, what’s the point of you continuing to hide him?”

“With insufficient Dragon Energy and an early launch, he has only one path to take… I didn’t expect him to make such a choice.”

“What exactly is the choice?!”

Li Fei was getting impatient as well.

It was really frustrating to have a conversation stop halfway.

“It’s a Blood Sacrifice!”

“What did you say?”

“Blood Sacrifice! Qingxu wants to establish a Tao Country, but with insufficient Dragon Energy and inadequate preparations, his only method is through a Blood Sacrifice.

The Emperor’s Dragon Qi is essentially a conglomerate of a large amount of human Qi. Human Qi, as it is, represents a person’s life force. When the life forces of millions of people congregate under the coordination of the country’s national power, it can form the Emperor’s Dragon Qi.

If Qingxu had more time, he could slowly find other methods to replenish the human Qi, but with a sudden launch, he can only use the method of Blood Sacrifice, in the most brutal way to replenish human Qi!”

Interactions between thoughts are much quicker than speaking, and Li Fei almost instantly understood True Man Qingding’s intentions.

Understanding the meaning of Tao Country and what a Blood Sacrifice entailed.

From the literal sense, it was not hard to understand: through massive slaughter to forcibly extract human Qi!

As they say, great achievement costs many lives, and if one looks at human history, the establishment of every new nation is built upon countless bones.

Only through war, slaughter, can there be peace and order.

Breaking the original peace and order and paving the way with killing and blood, finally establishing a new peace and order.

The turnover of nations has always been like this!

Thus, Qingxu True Monarch using a Blood Sacrifice to replenish human Qi, and also as his last step in establishing Tao Country, is in fact in accordance with fate, seizing the opportunity to do so.

Even had he not lost the position of Master and successfully sealed the mountain, covertly made all preparations, and launched after a few years,

There would have been a ‘Blood Sacrifice’ to establish the country.

Only, that ‘Blood Sacrifice’ would have been an external massacre, a confrontation with the Da Lan Dynasty, requiring relatively fewer lives.

Now, the ‘Blood Sacrifice’ would be an internal slaughter, needing far more lives to fill!

And the chance of success had also diminished.

Qingxu True Monarch is taking a huge risk!

“Qingxu now needs how many people’s lives for the Blood Sacrifice?”

Li Fei looked expressionlessly at the distant Dharma Form of Qingxu True Monarch and asked True Man Qingding.

True Man Qingding, sensing the murderous intent and anger in Li Fei’s Void Thought, could only tell the truth,

“At least…. a million people.”

“….”

Li Fei took a deep breath, about to say something when the train they were riding on suddenly braked sharply, gradually coming to a stop.

“Everyone off the train!”

The voice of State Preceptor Yun Shu spread throughout the whole special train.

Li Fei turned around, grabbed the Ghost Slash Blade, pushed open the carriage door, and strode out.

…

Chong City.

This is a city within Jinshan Prefecture with a total population of two hundred and seventy thousand.

Under the night, many parts of Chong City were still lit, and although the streets were not as bustling as the prefecture city, many places were crowded and bustling with noise.

Unbeknownst to the people here, Qingxu True Monarch’s Dharma Form had appeared in Jinshan Prefecture City, as they were separated by several mountains.

Only the Chief and some privileged individuals inside the city received phone calls, knowing that a rebellion had occurred in Jinshan Prefecture!

Fu Guangyong, the Chief of Chong City, ordered an immediate city-wide martial law, and all the City Guard Army were stationed on the city walls.

Then he ordered the Zhi Ge Court and the Inspection Bureau to immediately surround the Righteous Court!

“Have you made contact with the provincial capital yet?”

Fu Guangyong asked his subordinates in his mansion.

“Sir, there’s a reply! The Imperial Camp Army has rebelled, and the Inspector has died! The Inspection Department, Zhi Ge Department, and City Guard Army camp have all fallen, Jiang Shouzun has already fled!”

A subordinate reported in panic.

Upon hearing this, Fu Guangyong sat down abruptly on a chair, his face drained of blood.

With the Inspector dead, the Inspection Department, Zhi Ge Department, and the City Guard Army camp all fallen, and the only Martial Arts Master having fled,

the provincial capital could be considered lost!

How long had it been?

Jinshan Prefecture City had fallen, and now the provincial capital as well, could Chong City withstand this?

What could Chong City use to withstand it?

“Sir, Grand Secretary Tong has arrived, he’s outside the mansion, asking to see you.”

Another subordinate rushed to report.

“Is Tong An here?”

Fu Guangyong was stunned, instinctively feeling alert.

Tong An was the Chief of the Zhi Ge Court in Chong City, and also the only Tao Foundation Stage powerhouse in Chong City.

Originally, Xing City had four Tao Foundation Stage powerhouses, which was an unusual situation.

Normally, it was like Chong City, with only one Tao Foundation Stage in the entire city, or at most two.

“Is he alone?”

“Grand Secretary Tong only brought a driver.”

“Send a squad of the City Guard Army over.”

“Yes.”

“Forget it!”

Fu Guangyong stopped his subordinate who was about to run out, and shook his head with a bitter smile.

Given the current situation, with the Righteous Court sure to have turned already, if Tong An had also turned, what could he, as the Chief, use to resist?

It might indeed be possible to kill a Tao Foundation Stage with the lives of the people below, given that Tong An’s realm wasn’t very high.

But would there really be that many people willing to die for him, the Chief?

This was a civil war, not a national war.

“Escort Grand Secretary Tong to the main hall in the front yard, I’ll meet him there, have tea prepared.”

Fu Guangyong regained his composure and ordered.

Soon, he met with Tong An in the main hall.

“Grand Secretary Tong.”

“Chief Fu must already be aware of the current situation, right?”

Tong An got straight to the point.

Just looking at the other person’s composed expression, something gripped at Fu Guangyong’s heart.

He knew the worst had happened!

“It seems Grand Secretary Tong has also thrown in his lot with the Daluo Sect?”

“I wouldn’t say thrown in, I was secretly nurtured by the Daluo Sect from the beginning.”

Tong An calmly said.

Fu Guangyong stared fixedly at him:

“So you’re all confident that you can successfully carry out this rebellion?”

“Whether we can succeed is beside the point for now, currently, fifty from the Imperial Camp Cavalry along with several dozen martial artists, and more than 300 inspectors and 200 members of the City Guard Army are on their way here.”

Tong An looked calmly at Fu Guangyong, “Chief Fu, do you think Chong City can withstand this?”

Fu Guangyong’s face turned ashen, and he slumped down.

With both Zhi Ge Court and Righteous Court, the two most important military forces, having turned, Chong City definitely couldn’t withstand such a force.

Furthermore, with Tong An right by his side, killing him would be too easy!

Bitterness in his eyes, he looked at Tong An: “What do you want me to do? Just say it outright.”

“Simple, open the gates to welcome the arrival of my Tao Country’s large army.”

Tong An stated.

“Tao Country?”

Fu Guangyong shook his head, “And then what?”

Tong An: “Then gather all the residents from all districts except Upper District and An Yue District.”

“What are you trying to do?!”

Fu Guangyong immediately became wary.

The Upper District and An Yue District were the ‘main urban districts’ of Chong City.

Those who could live in these two districts, at the very least, belonged to the middle and upper strata of society.

“The rest you don’t need to ask about, just cooperate well, and perhaps you’ll even have a chance to continue being the Chief of Chong City.”

Tong An calmly said.

“What exactly do you want to do? Even if you want to establish a country, stabilizing the locality would be most beneficial to you!”

Fu Guangyong gritted his teeth.

He was, after all, the Chief of the area, and though he didn’t love his people like his children, he still cared about the security of his subjects.

“Yes, stability is indeed important, so we can first transfer all the inspectors and the families of the City Guard Army to Upper District and An Yue District.”

Tong An’s expression remained calm, as if discussing something trivial:

“As for the rest of the people, they’re actually not that important.”

“What are you trying to do? Are you planning to kill people?!”

Fu Guangyong became intensely uneasy and confused, “Why do it this way? What good does killing people do for you?”

“Chief Fu!”

Tong An’s gaze suddenly turned cold, enveloping Fu Guangyong with a formidable aura, causing him to tremble and slouch helplessly in his chair.

A common person in front of a Tao Foundation Stage powerhouse was like an ant in front of a tiger.

“I called you ‘Chief’ out of courtesy, don’t you think?”

Tong An scoffed, “I don’t need to explain to you, what you need to do is cooperate with us, that’s how fewer people in Chong City will die!”

“….”

Fu Guangyong was completely at a loss for words.

“Go and do it, do the last thing you, as a Chief, can do, unless you want your whole family to die with you.”

Tong An said, then lifted a nearby teacup and took a sip.

Soon, a ‘Chief Order’ was issued:

Apart from Upper District and An Yue District, all other districts were sealed off, no entry or exit allowed.

The families of all the inspectors and City Guard Army were immediately moved to Upper District and An Yue District.

Everyone else was instructed to assemble in the nearby squares.

Under the cover of night, the citizens of Chong City, roused from their sleep, gathered in confusion.

The so-called Tao Country’s large army was still more than three hours’ drive away from Chong City.

In just over three hours, the fates of hundreds of thousands would be changed!

The proverb goes, for one to accomplish great things, countless others must suffer.

History books merely skim over the details, but behind them lie countless lives, humble and fragile.

….

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