Chapter 342: One Word Slays the Demon King, the Clans Tremble

Yuzhou Border, the outskirts of the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains.

A continuous sea of black, oppressive tents were stationed in a valley less than fifty li from the Da Yin Divine Dynasty's border pass.

Intense demonic Qi solidified into a fetid wind, causing all the surrounding trees to wither and die.

Inside the central camp's main tent, a massive demon king bearing a blue lion's head was clutching a human's thigh and devouring it greedily.

It is the ruler of this mountain range, the Blue Lion King.

"Lord, by the calculations, the day promised by the Yuzhou Prefect's Office for opening the gates is today."

A fox demon strategist stepped forward, flattery in his tone, and handed over a cup of blood wine,

"As long as our great army drives straight in, the hundreds of thousands of blood feasts from those few counties on the Yuzhou Border will be ours to claim."

The Blue Lion King spat out a bone and let out a snarling laugh:

"Cui Yuandao, that old fox, dares to sell even his own people's lives just to overthrow a newly arrived prefect. Humans, indeed, are more ruthless than our demon race. Send the order, gather the army! Once the border formation is lifted, let this king feast!"

The hordes of demons roared excitedly, making the valley hum.

However, their revelry did not last long.

Outside the camp, the Heavenly Dome darkened without warning.

It was not a cloud cover, but an entire chunk of space was abruptly folded and covered by a brutally forceful method.

The Blue Lion King sprang to his feet, his beastly instinct causing every strand of his blue fur to stand on end. He kicked open the tent with one foot and looked up.

In midair, a young human clad in a Da Yin Divine Dynasty fourth‑rank scarlet official robe stood with both hands raised.

He emitted no magical aura at all, not even a protective talisman, yet he stood leisurely atop the heads of the hundreds of thousands of demon troops.

"Who are you? How dare you trespass into my domain!"

The Blue Lion King drew the ornate flower‑patterned battle axe from his back, demonic Qi soaring, attempting to crush the human above with overwhelming pressure.

Gu Yuan lowered his head, gazing down at the myriad demons covering the mountains, his eyes as if viewing a thriving field of leeks.

"Cui Yuandao is dead; he cannot fulfill the blood feast he promised you."

Gu Yuan stated the fact,

"However, I have always been hospitable; since you have traveled so far to the Yuzhou Border, it would be improper to return empty‑handed."

"Arrogant human!"

The Blue Lion King laughed furiously, having no regard for the scholar before him who emitted not even a true essence ripple, "Minions, shoot him down!"

Tens of thousands of demon archers drew their bows, coating their arrows with deadly poison, raining them down like a storm.

Gu Yuan did not dodge.

He simply raised his right hand slowly, fingers splayed, palm facing down.

"Inner World, open."

In silent instant, the void behind Gu Yuan collapsed completely.

A colossal, word‑unspeakably massive phantom of a divine tree radiating multicolored sunrise light crossed dimensional boundaries and descended over the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains.

Those poison arrows aimed at Gu Yuan, upon entering the hundred‑zhang radius of the World Tree Illusion, were instantly assimilated by higher‑dimensional laws into primal spirit‑energy particles, vanishing without a trace.

The Blue Lion King's snarling grin froze, his throat rolling as it emitted a bellows‑like screech. His proud demon‑king intuition was now frantically warning, every cell screaming to flee.

That was not the power of the Da Yin Divine Dynasty! It was a supreme might capable of creating heavens and earth, reshaping reincarnation!

"Run! Quickly!" The Blue Lion King dropped his axe, turned, and attempted to tear through space to escape.

"Since you're already here, what's the hurry?" Gu Yuan clenched his five fingers tightly.

Upon the World Tree Illusion, billions of transparent law‑root tendrils fell like divine whips, thundering down.

The law‑root tendrils pierced precisely into the bodies of every demon beast.

Whether ordinary demon soldiers or the Blue Lion King, comparable to a human third‑rank official, none had any right to resist before the World Tree's devouring law.

In merely a dozen breaths, the hundreds of thousands of demon army stationed in the valley, along with their demon pills, flesh, and even souls, were completely extracted, turning into clumps of ash that drifted away on the wind.

The massive life essence and primal demonic power flowed along the tendrils into Gu Yuan's Inner World.

The World Tree's branches rustled joyfully, and the Inner World's boundaries expanded outward by several thousand li once more.

Gu Yuan withdrew his hand, the void healed, as if nothing had occurred.

He took a single step, shrinking the distance to a foot, and returned directly to the rear hall of the Prefect's Office in Yuzhou City.

Sitting at the desk, Gu Yuan removed the prefect's silver seal and placed it flat on the table.

The Yuzhou clans have been fully cleared, the border's demonic threats eradicated, and the populace's faith energy continues to gather incessantly.

Now… I can delve a bit deeper.

Take full control of the Qi Yun Golden Dragon as early as possible…

Then the mission can be completed sooner.

Under Gu Yuan's control.

He not only intercepted all Qi Yun produced locally in Yuzhou, but also began reverse manipulation.

He silently channeled the purified yet World‑Tree‑infused chaotic Qi Yun from the Inner World along Yuzhou's Qi Yun toward the capital.

In other words.

On the surface this Yuzhou Qi Yun still appears Yuzhou's, but in reality it has long taken Gu Yuan's form.

Above the capital, the purple‑gold Qi Yun Golden Dragon coiled atop the Forbidden City, eyes closed in slumber.

Suddenly, an extremely pure energy surged from the north into its body.

The energy was so pure that the Qi Yun Golden Dragon generated no repulsion, instead greedily absorbing it.

Yet, at the instant the pure energy merged with the dragon's core, a faint gray‑purple pattern silently appeared on a highly concealed scale of its belly.

It was not the black spot left by Zang Tian Ge, but a law imprint belonging to Gu Yuan's Inner World.

Gu Yuan leaned back in his chair, his fingers lightly tapping the tabletop.

As long as he does not actively expose himself, the emperor and all the civil and military officials of the Great Yin Divine Dynasty, even the extermination envoys of the Now Faction: Zang Tian Ge lurking in the shadows, will believe that Youzhou is continuously supplying high-quality fate to the Divine Dynasty.

This process.

It shouldn't take long.

……

……

Great Yin Divine Dynasty, the capital.

The residence of Minister of Personnel Cui Hong is located on Zhuque Avenue, the most prosperous street in the capital.

This sprawling luxurious mansion not only reveals the Cui family's foundation as a top aristocratic clan, but also serves as the power hub countless officials in the Great Yin bureaucracy sharpen their heads to try to squeeze into.

Today, the Cui mansion is as bustling as ever, with many officials posted outside the capital and the capital's nobles queuing to see Minister Cui.

However, in this seemingly tranquil morning, a piercing wail suddenly shattered the serenity of the Cui household's inner quarters.

"Not good! Something major has happened, sir! Something major has happened!"

The chief steward of the Cui mansion, a steady old man with a sixth-rank cultivation who usually remained unflustered even if Mount Tai collapsed before him, now acted like a ghost‑seen madman, scrambling and crawling into Minister Cui's study. His face turned ashen as paper, and he clutched an exquisite sandalwood tray, his hands shaking violently.

Minister Cui was seated behind his desk, holding a cup of fine Da Hong Pao tea; hearing this, he frowned and snapped displeasedly, "Panicking like this—what propriety is this! Has the sky fallen?"

"Sir… the… the sky really has collapsed!"

The chief steward fell to his knees with a thud, holding up the sandalwood tray high.

On the tray lay neatly arranged over a dozen crystal‑clear natal jade tablets.

These jade tablets are the life tokens of the Cui family's core descendants and important posted officials; as long as the person lives, the tablet remains warm and smooth like jade, but if the person dies, it shatters.

Yet at this moment, the over a dozen jade tablets on the tray had all shattered into powder!

Minister Cui's gaze casually swept over the tray, and the next second his pupils contracted to the extreme.

"Clang!"

The priceless Da Hong Pao tea cup in his hand crashed to the floor, splashing scalding tea onto his official robe, yet he was utterly unaware.

"These… these are Yuan Dao's natal jade tablets?! And also the jade tablets of my Cui family's descendants holding key posts in Youzhou's prefectures and counties?!"

Minister Cui shot to his feet, grabbing a pinch of the jade powder from the tray, his voice turning sharp and hoarse from extreme shock and fear:

"All shattered? How is this possible! Yuan Dao is a fourth‑rank prefect of Youzhou, holding command of the Youzhou Garrison! Who could kill him? Who would dare to kill him?!"

"Old… old servant doesn't know!"

The chief steward, face grim with grief,

"Just half an hour ago, the jade tablets enshrined in the ancestral hall almost simultaneously shattered one after another! Moreover, I have just received an urgent report: the Wang, Li, Zhao families… all the capital clans with roots in Youzhou, their clan heads and core descendants' life tablets left in Youzhou have also all shattered at the same time!"

"Boom!"

Minister Cui felt as if five thunderbolts had struck his head, his vision went dark, and he nearly toppled forward onto his desk.

The Youzhou Prefect, Cui Yuan Dao, is dead.

The heads of all thirteen top aristocratic clans of Youzhou are dead.

This is no longer a matter of a few deaths; it is the utter eradication of Youzhou's aristocratic power— the very foundation that those clans have built in the north for centuries, cut down in a single stroke!

"Who is responsible?! Did the demon tribes of the Hundred Thousand Mountains revolt, or has some rebel faction broken through Youzhou's city walls?!"

Minister Cui roared as if gone mad.

"No… it's not the demons, nor rebels…"

The chief steward swallowed hard, his voice trembling so much it was barely audible,

"I used the highest‑grade communication array to contact a distant relative in Youzhou City. He said… he said…"

"Speak! Speak quickly!" Minister Cui seized the chief steward's collar.

"He said, it was Gu Ziyuan! It was the newly appointed Youzhou Inspector Gu Ziyuan who did it!"

The chief steward closed his eyes and blurted out the intelligence brought back by the covert agent in one breath:

"Last night at midnight, Gu Ziyuan led the fifty Imperial Forest Guards left by the Second Prince, stormed the Prefect's residence, and beheaded Minister Cui and the clan heads who were secretly conferring! Afterwards, he ordered the four gates sealed, seized command of the Youzhou Garrison, and led his men to raid and exterminate all thirteen clans!"

"He… he even distributed all the confiscated grain and land publicly to those lowly peasants!"