Chapter 330: Send Him to His Death

On the other side.

In the capital of the Great Yin Divine Dynasty, the Cabinet Chief Counselor's residence.

Within the deep mansion courtyard, sandalwood fragrance wafted.

In a secret chamber exquisitely arranged, several high officials in scarlet official robes, their chests embroidered with flying beasts, sat opposite each other.

These men, even a casual stomp of a foot, could cause three tremors throughout the Great Yin Divine Dynasty's officialdom.

They were the core nexus that controlled the Six Ministries of the Divine Dynasty and represented the interests of aristocratic families across the realm.

Minister of Personnel Cui Hong lifted the Jian‑kiln rabbit‑hair tea cup before him, lightly brushed away the tea froth, and sneered:

"The lowborn scion from Qing Prefecture named Gu Ziyuan has already received the seal and set out for Jiuyou County."

"Lord Cui, this overt rise and covert fall is truly a masterstroke."

The Left Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, seated below, stroked his beard in admiration,

"His Majesty thinks that granting him a seventh‑rank official position will make him a knife in the emperor's hand to cut into our clan's flesh. Little does he know, the knife hasn't even been sharpened before we tossed it into the smelting furnace."

"Hmph, born a saint? Talent turning into a dragon?"

Cui Hong slammed the tea cup onto the table with force, a flash of dark raptor flashing in his eyes,

"This world is co‑ruled by our clan and the imperial family! The fate of this Divine Dynasty has been built by our ancestors with blood and heritage!"

A penniless scholar who sprang from some unknown stone crevice wrote a nonsensical essay, provoked a minor celestial anomaly, and then dared to break the rules we set? Dream on!

Another official furrowed his brow and said with some concern:

"However, that youngster did trigger the Heavenly Golden List, even reviving the emperor's destiny golden dragon."

If he truly survives Jiuyou County and even achieves political merit, three years later the emperor will surely use that as an excuse to transfer him back to the central administration, and then this boy will become a great threat to our clan.

"Survive? What livelihood does he have?"

Cui Hong seemed to hear a colossal joke and couldn't help but scoff aloud,

"Do you think Jiuyou County is just any place? Beneath it lies a millennial dark vein! The ancient demon of Black Mountain that dwells there has long surpassed ordinary fourth‑rank officials, and even a third‑rank scholar's righteous qi may not suppress it!"

Our clan must pour countless resources and blood offerings into Jiuyou County each year just to barely placate that monster and keep it from crossing the boundary.

Cui Hong rose, walked to the hanging map of the Divine Dynasty's territories, and hammered his finger onto the black dot at the far edge of You Prefecture:

"A fresh youngster who just received a seventh‑rank bronze seal and has not a single trace of official qi in his body, going there is like tossing a piece of fat meat into a starving wolf's mouth!"

Within three days, his heart, liver, spleen, lungs and kidneys will become the cold dish for the Black Mountain demon's wine!

The talent bestowed by Heaven will be utterly polluted by the dark vein, turning into nourishment for demons!

"His Majesty intends to use him to cure the fate's black spot? That's sheer fantasy."

Cui Hong turned, his gaze cold and forest‑like sweeping over everyone present,

"Send a missive to the aristocratic families of You Prefecture, have them greet the local tyrants of Jiuyou County. I will make that Gu Ziyuan, on his first day of appointment, experience what it means to cry to heaven in vain and to earth in silence!"

"Yes, Lord Cui, your wisdom!" A chorus of assent rang in the secret chamber.

In their eyes, Gu Yuan's fate was sealed the moment he accepted the Jiuyou County magistrate's great seal.

……

Half a month later, You Prefecture, Jiuyou County.

The dying sun, like blood, stained the distant clouds a nauseating dark red.

A solitary carriage trudged slowly along the uneven, pitted mud road, finally stopping before a ruinous city gate.

The plaque above the gate had long since rotted and broken, the characters for Jiuyou only half remaining. Black moss covered the walls, and the air reeked with a strong putrid stench and suffocating demonic aura.

This is the Great Yin Divine Dynasty's gateway to the underworld, Jiuyou County.

Gu Yuan lifted the carriage curtain and stepped down.

He still wore that faded blue cotton robe, but now a seventh‑rank bronze seal hung at his waist, signifying his status as county magistrate.

The driver assigned by the system, upon seeing the Jiuyou County gate, trembled in terror, dared not even demand his wages, and turned the horse around, fleeing like a madman.

Gu Yuan ignored the fleeing driver, stood with his hands behind his back, and his divine awareness instantly spread over the entire county like a tide.

"Tsk, what a fine place."

A satisfied curve lifted Gu Yuan's mouth.

In his view, the county bore no resemblance to a human settlement.

The wandering townsfolk on the streets were gaunt, pale, eyes vacant; atop their heads, besides gray threads linking to the Dynasty's fate, thick black tentacles coiled.

Those black tentacles pierced deep into their souls, continuously siphoning their vital essence.

Beneath the county, a terrestrial vein stretching hundreds of li had turned entirely jet‑black.

It was not a spirit vein, but a purely necrotic, resentful, demonic vein of extreme darkness!

At the core of this dark vein lurked a terrifying mass of demonic aura of staggering size.

Its strength was such that, in some respects, it had already warped the laws of this realm.

"Little Ai, the emperor of the Great Yin Divine Dynasty is also a weirdo."

Gu Yuan communicated with the system in his mind,

"Having such a massive demon sleeping beside the imperial couch, yet not dispatching a great army to eradicate it, instead allowing the aristocracy to manipulate it and sending a swarm of seventh‑rank magistrates, it's no wonder the destiny's golden dragon develops black spots."

However, another matter concerned Gu Yuan even more.

That emperor seemed to wield considerable power.

Yet why continuously let the demon grow stronger?