Chapter 206: Purgatory for Cultivators, Paradise for Mortals

Almost on the very next day after Master Chongguang's reincarnation, True Lord Qingcheng Feixue personally came out of seclusion to take command, then summoned Yinshan True Person and Lu Yang to the Holy Flame Cliff.

"This southern campaign shall be led by Duanmu Duanmu Yuan Tu."

True Lord Qingcheng Feixue sat upright at the head seat and said calmly, "I will personally hold the line to ensure the Jin Dan True Lords do not interfere in this southern campaign."

"Beyond that, most Foundation Establishment Great Perfection True Persons will not take part either. Everyone has their own selfish motives. For them, with Chongguang walking out in front, it's practically a gift—they won't obstruct him in earnest. As for late-stage Foundation Establishment Great True Persons, most of them seek perfection and won't join in either."

"Moreover, Chongguang has already made arrangements."

"Even if some Great True Persons truly do join this battle, you need not worry. There will naturally be people to deal with them. Your opponents will only be mid-stage and early-stage Foundation Establishment."

Lu Yang breathed a sigh of relief at once upon hearing this: "This disciple accepts the order."

Master Chongguang's arrangements were still reassuring—he wasn't being made to fight across realms, only facing mid-stage and early-stage opponents. He still had some confidence in himself now!

"Very good."

True Lord Qingcheng Feixue nodded, and a sudden flash of killing intent pierced through her embroidered brows: "This time I want you to charge into Qing Country, annihilate the sects, and strip them of their spirit veins!"

"Qing Country is the nail the Dao Court has driven into our Jiangbei. Under its rule are five Foundation Establishment powers: the Zhaoxia Clan, the Yuanchen Clan, the Five Elements Gate, the Climbing Clouds Sect, and the Upper Mysterious Sword Sect. Of the five, the Upper Mysterious Sword Sect leads. Its Zhang Sect received support from the Sword Pavilion, and has now reached mid-stage Foundation Establishment Great Perfection."

True Lord Qingcheng Feixue gave a brief account.

For a True Lord, the background of mere Foundation Establishment powers was naturally as plain as the lines on a palm. Once spoken, there could not be the slightest error or omission.

In the end, True Lord Qingcheng Feixue spoke even more crisply:

"This concerns Chongguang's quest for gold. After heading south, do not hold back—kill, loot, destroy. I've long had it in for that wonder of Qing Country!"

Without a second word, Lu Yang immediately bowed low.

"I humbly obey the True Lord's decree!"

A moment later, Lu Yang and Yinshan True Person rose on escape light and left the Heaven-Connecting Sea of Clouds. Of course, Master Chongguang could not have assigned only the two of them to head south.

In fact, they were more the ones in overall charge.

And this time, with True Lord Qingcheng Feixue personally issuing the order, the force behind it was far greater than the old annihilation of the Divine Martial Sect. One written directive from the True Lord, and all of Jiangbei was responding.

Clearly Master Chongguang had been laying this out long before. Today's Qing Country had long been surrounded so tightly by Jiangbei's various sects, great and small, that not a drop could leak through. Currently both sides were locked in a standoff, sitting idle for months on end—like a powder keg, just waiting for someone to come and set it off.

On the road, Lu Yang did not forget to exchange words with Yinshan True Person.

"Although the True Lord has ordered me to take charge this time, I am after all young, and I lack sufficient experience and judgment. I am far inferior to Senior Brother Yinshan in steadiness and prudence."

"Therefore I ask Senior Brother to guide me often, to point out my gaps and make up my shortcomings."

"Duanmu Duanmu Yuan Tu is too kind."

Yinshan True Person waved his hand, though his expression clearly showed he was rather pleased. Clearly Lu Yang's respectful and courteous manner made him feel he had saved face.

On top of that, the two of them were already bound by shared interests on this campaign, so Yinshan True Person did not hold back. Repaying kindness with kindness, he said: "Junior Brother must not look down on this Qing Country. Senior Brother Chongguang and I once divined the heavenly secrets and studied it carefully. That wonder has truly been fortified by the Dao Court like an iron barrel."

"Or rather, the Dao Court's system is just like that."

"When it comes to outward expansion, perhaps they lack the strength, but in defending their own territory, Qing Country is like an eternal empire—its rules are very hard to overturn."

"The Dao Court's system carries out the Heavenly Hunt in the heavens' stead?"

Lu Yang's brow furrowed slightly. To this day he had never truly visited the territories under other powers, and even Jiangbei itself he had never properly seen.

This campaign was, in fact, a chance.

Thinking of this, Lu Yang looked again at Yinshan True Person and asked curiously, "Please explain, Senior Brother. What exactly is different about this Qing Country, or the Dao Court?"

Yinshan True Person was silent for a moment before continuing:

"To put it in a single phrase: a purgatory for cultivators, a paradise for mortals."

"What one learns from books is always shallow. I can only tell you here—you won't grasp it deeply. Wait until you arrive and see it with your own eyes, then you'll understand."

Jiangbei, Qing Country.

This wonder spanned five provinces, with more than a million common folk under its rule. Past this place lay the Great Dragon River, which divided the four powers of east, south, west, and north.

Lu Yang and Yinshan True Person rode their escape light and quietly arrived here, but they did not hurry to meet the various Jiangbei powers gathered in this place. Instead, they first came to a sparsely populated city, currently garrisoned by a Jiangbei Mo Sect, the Xiangqu Sect.

"This place was originally under Qing Country's rule."

Yinshan True Person explained, "Although it has now been driven out, Qing Country's influence still lingers and has never fully recovered to this day."

"Hoho—"

Lu Yang's face showed surprise. Then, with a sudden stretch of his hand, he fetched a book from afar—one a household in the city had privately hidden away.

The cover bore only two large characters: Dao Zang!

"The Dao Court governs the world, using the Dao Zang to set examinations and select officials. Mortals can only become cultivators by earning scholarly rank. Without rank, they are wild fox Chan."

"Therefore the first step of cultivation is to read the Dao Zang and pass the Tongsheng Examination."

"Next come Xiucai, Juren, Jinshi… but these are all reserves for cultivators—empty titles with no real cultivation."

"Only after obtaining the rank of Jinshi, with connections greased above and below, seeking masters and visiting friends, and finally receiving a Dao Court grace and being assigned an official post, does one truly enter the gate of cultivation. Even so, under the Dao Court's rule, these mortals with scholarly rank are not easy to provoke."

"For under the Dao Court's rule, all dharma is forbidden!"

"Cultivators below Foundation Establishment, without the Dao Court's scholarly rank or official status—even if they are at Qi Refinement Great Perfection—still cannot display the slightest supernatural feat."

"Because under the Dao Court, the world's spiritual Qi all has ownership."

"Even a single wisp of spiritual Qi belongs to the Dao Court. For a cultivator without rank to inhale and exhale the world's spiritual Qi is theft of public property, punishable by execution of the nine clans."

"Under such circumstances, any mortal with scholarly rank—even just a single angry shout—can make an illegal cultivator collapse limp to the ground."

Regarding this, the Dao Zang even has a specific account: a ninth-rank county magistrate of Qing Country was once held in hatred by an illegal cultivator, who refined a Wudang flying sword and tried to assassinate the magistrate. Yet the magistrate shouted him down, his magic power scattered completely, and he was finally beaten to death by the constables' clubs.

"What a Dao Court!"

Seeing this, Lu Yang finally understood Yinshan True Person's earlier description. Such a governance truly deserved to be called a purgatory for cultivators!

As for a paradise for mortals—

"I don't think that's necessarily so," Lu Yang said, his gaze dark and deep.

Admittedly, under the Dao Court the common folk lived and worked in peace, with favorable weather. Yet the classes had completely solidified, with almost no room for upward mobility.

In essence, it was still herding the people like livestock.

"It's just that the Dao Court's table manners are somewhat more presentable."

Does feeding the beasts until they are full, fat, and plump mean they cease to be beasts? In the end, it is all for show; they must still be eaten!

Moreover, if they truly begin to eat, the people under the Dao Court's rule will not even possess the power to resist!

One must know that even in Jiangbei, there have been great sects under the Holy Sect's rule that produced True Lords; if they truly attempted to govern the people of Jiangbei, they would face resistance.

However, in Jiangdong, such things would not occur.

With a single decree from the Son of Heaven of the Dao Court, no matter how many die, no resistance will be met; under the Dao Court's rule, the superiors hold the power of life and death over the inferiors!

(End of this chapter)