Chapter 174: Turbulent Upheaval, Every Man for Himself

"Ah!"

"Spare my life, Master, save me!"

"Stop, all of you, stop at once!"

"I am a Junior Vice Minister, a pillar of the Great Jin; how dare you curs act like this!"

Inside the inner city, within a magnificent official residence, gunfire and cannon blasts rang out, and the sounds of shouting and screaming shook the heavens.

Hundreds of Han soldiers armed with new-style weapons had completely surrounded the residence of Junior Vice Minister Duo Hong. Under repeated artillery fire, the tall perimeter walls were breached in many places, and the tough guards inside were riddled with holes by a hail of bullets the moment they poked their heads out.

A crowd of New Battalion soldiers swarmed in like starving wolves. During their search, they quickly dragged out Junior Vice Minister Duo Hong and his entire family and offspring, and after verifying their identities, began public executions by beheading.

At this moment, in the vast courtyard, corpses lay everywhere and blood pooled on the ground. Duo Hong, who had once held the highest rank among subjects and enjoyed boundless glory, was now like an old dog, his hands bound behind his back by two military experts, kneeling on the ground and wailing with snot and tears streaming down his face.

The reason was simple: these New Battalion Han soldiers had not only broken into the mansion without a word, but had also carried out a bloody massacre upon entering; all his offspring and family members had just died one by one under the guns of these bandit soldiers.

In the courtyard, a deputy general sneered with a look of triumph:

"You actually dared to secretly plot against an Immortal, not knowing that the Immortal sees through all heavenly secrets. Today, it is not just you, Duo Hong; those others will also have their homes raided and clans exterminated. Just go on your way obediently!"

As he spoke, he signaled with his eyes, and a personal guard holding a large saber stepped forward quickly. With a flash of the blade, he severed Duo Hong's head, which went rolling and tumbling in the pool of blood.

Such scenes were not only playing out at Duo Hong's residence but were happening successively in several places within the city. Under the command and coordination of New Battalion Colonel Zhou Yunye, the newly formed New Battalion dispatched over three thousand men, carrying eight Small Cannons to surround the residences of those Jin Clan officials Lu Yuan had mentioned, breaking in and slaughtering them without a shred of wasted breath.

At the same time, large amounts of gold, silver, and jewelry were discovered in these people's homes, with almost every household counting their wealth in the millions.

Such immense wealth was naturally sealed up under the supervision of Peng Yidao and others, awaiting Lu Yuan's arrangements; no one dared to reach out and embezzle it.

Such a massive commotion could naturally not be hidden from the city's commoners. Countless people watched from afar, and after hearing bits of the inside story, they were both terrified and excited:

"Well killed, well killed indeed!"

"Heaven has eyes! Duo Hong's son ran rampant and bullied many decent women without ever receiving any punishment. Now that an Immortal has descended to the world, retribution has finally come!"

"Kill them! These Jin Clan power-holders all deserve to die! Even if you kill them all, there won't be a single innocent one among them!"

Watching the downfall of these few Jin Clan power-holders, countless commoners who had suffered bullying gritted their teeth, feeling a sense of great satisfaction, and some even wept with excitement.

As for the small number of Golden Clan people among the onlookers, they were as pale as death and slipped away in terror, not daring to stay a moment longer.

At the same time.

The embassy district in the eastern suburbs of the city.

In front of the Shenluo Embassy.

Not long after Zhou Yunye had personally led over a thousand elite soldiers to surround and blockade the embassy inside and out, a streak of Immortal light flashed across the distant horizon and hovered above their heads.

Zhou Yunye hurriedly saluted:

"This subordinate pays respects to Immortal Lu!"

"No need for formalities."

Lu Yuan scanned the embassy before him with a casual gaze and discovered something amiss:

"Where are the Shenluo People?"

Zhou Yunye said with resentment:

"Reporting to the Immortal, when this subordinate brought men here, I found the place already empty. After making inquiries, I learned that the foreigners in this embassy had already secretly left yesterday and taken a train to Jinjin; they are likely hiding in the Jin-Jin Concession now."

"Oh?"

Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow and sneered:

"They ran quite fast. Since that is the case, let it be for now; I will keep this account in mind."

Originally, he had intended to use the Shenluo People's petty actions to kill the chicken to warn the monkey, but since these people had already fled at the first sign of trouble, they were not worth his further effort.

After all, to repel foreign aggression, one must first settle internal affairs. His primary task now was to rebuild the New Nation and let Shenzhou be reborn from the ashes; he did not have the energy to specifically hunt down a few small fry.

Thinking of this, he looked at Zhou Yunye and instructed:

"Gu Yinzhen has already been executed by me, and the Jin Clan soldiers of the Western Battalion are without a leader. Later, I will have Long Kexing disband all those soldiers. You take the New Battalion to collect their weapons and equipment to prevent a mutiny. Anyone who dares to make a move, kill them on the spot.

Once these people are all disbanded, I want you to re-recruit Han soldiers to form the Western Battalion and take complete control of the defense of the entire Tianjing City. Can you do it?"

Zhou Yunye was both shocked and overjoyed, saying excitedly:

"At the Immortal's command, this subordinate will surely complete the task even if it means being smashed to pieces!"

"It is just that the Capital Battalion has a quota of eighty thousand; I wonder about the arrangements for military pay?"

Lu Yuan said:

"The homes of those officials I had you raid should be filled with wealth. Once it is confiscated, have my Gatekeepers count it together, then keep a portion for military pay and send the rest to the palace to fill the national treasury."

Zhou Yunye: "Yes, this subordinate obeys!"

In extraordinary times, one must take extraordinary measures. Lu Yuan had no one else to use, so he could only make this arrangement: he immediately flicked his sleeves lightly and flew into the blue void.

In the time that followed, the entire Tianjing City fell into continuous turmoil.

Following Lu Yuan's instructions, Zhou Yunye quickly cooperated with Nine Gates Commander Long Kexing to disband the Jin Clan soldiers of the entire Western Battalion in separate batches, while also seizing all weapons and equipment and controlling strategic locations such as the gunpowder bureau and the Weapon Bureau in the suburbs.

During this process, most of the Jin Clan soldiers had long since been scared out of their wits; no one resisted, and after receiving a sum of military pay, they left looking like they had lost their parents.

However, there were also some Jin Army generals who had been arrogant in the past and were unwilling to hand over power to Han generals like Zhou Yunye, whom they had previously trampled underfoot. The result was that they were lured into ambushes and killed on the spot, and their trusted personal guards and subordinates were all slaughtered.

Nowadays, the combat effectiveness of the Jin soldiers was not as good as that of the Han people, and Han soldiers made up the majority of the rank-and-file. In this great upheaval, at least two or three thousand Western Battalion Jin soldiers who dared to resist were slaughtered, which stirred up even greater panic and turmoil in the city.

The panic naturally came from all the Jin people. At least one-third of Tianjing City's three to four million population were of the Jin Clan. After Xici died and Lu Yuan took over the palace, these people had already been like frightened birds for several days, and hearing the news made them even more terrified.

In particular, what made them even more fearful was that after learning the Western Battalion had been disbanded and the military power of the entire Capital was held by Han generals, dark undercurrents began to surge in the city. Restlessness and unease grew, and various insults, sieges, and attacks against the Jin Clan—especially those high-and-mighty Banner Person masters—occurred one after another, causing these Jin Clan Banner People, who usually ran rampant and threw their weight around, to hide in their homes like tortoises, not daring to go out.

As time passed, the entire Tianjing appeared calm on the surface, but in reality, a thick atmosphere, as if a powder keg were about to explode, permeated the whole city.

As for Lu Yuan, because his energy was limited, he could only control a few key figures and did not notice this. Just like that, nearly half a month passed.

In the Qinian Hall.

Lu Yuan sat cross-legged on a prayer mat, his hands forming seals, directing a figure before him that was condensed from clear Dharma Power, whose brows, eyes, beard, hair, expression, and temperament were all identical to his own.

Under the control of his mind, this figure performed various actions vividly and could even utilize very basic Dharma Power, which looked inconceivable.

Until a moment later.

With a "pop," this clone formed by Dharma Power shattered, dissipating into the air as tiny specks of light rain.

Gazing at this scene, Lu Yuan couldn't help but stroke his chin:

"Trying to use this Clone Technique to slack off really isn't going to work for now."

【Clone】: By using this technique, one can split into multiple clones, or split other objects; at a profound level, one can even split into billions.

He had unlocked this technique previously for the World Martial Arts Tournament, but after taking control of the Imperial City, he had to be busy with cultivation while also paying attention to the changes in the world; his time and energy were truly insufficient, so he had thought about whether he could make use of this Dharma Technique.

However, looking at the current result, he was still a hundred and eight thousand miles away from truly being able to split into various clones to handle all sorts of matters like the Monkey King; both his cultivation and the level of his Earthly Fiend Arts were far from enough.

Even though his current clone had reached the Earth Tier, its use was limited to confusing enemies and assisting in attacks; its utility was truly limited.

A rough assessment suggested that he would at least need to reach the Transformation into Divinity realm, plus advance the 【Clone】 to the Supernatural Power level, before it would be possible to truly split off a clone capable of helping him handle other miscellaneous tasks.

"Advancing to the Supernatural Power level is simple enough; it's just that my cultivation is still quite far off. It seems I can only wait a while."

At this thought, Lu Yuan's heart stirred, and he communicated with the Heavenly Book:

【Luck Power】: 32,256 units

Half a month later, news of the upheaval in Tianjing had clearly spread throughout the thirty-six provinces, causing his Luck Power to surge crazily by nearly twenty thousand during this period; it had now broken through the thirty-thousand mark!

Such a sum of Luck, even now, was still increasing at a rate of several hundred units per day, and Lu Yuan hadn't even decided whether to upgrade 【Ingestion】 and 【Guidance】 to the Supernatural Power level, or save it to unlock Nine Breaths Serving Qi.

"The two techniques of Ingestion and Guidance must be used in coordination; upgrading both to the Supernatural Power level will take nearly thirty thousand."

"And the Heavenly Book says that Nine Breaths Serving Qi, which inhales the Original Qi of the Heaven and Earth, is the number one Qi Refining method of the Daoist school, clearly combining the functions of both. Since that is the case—"

Lu Yuan only pondered for a moment before deciding to save up a bit more to unlock Nine Breaths Serving Qi.

After all, with his cultivation efficiency of one wisp of Dharma Power per day, he would complete Refining Essence into Qi in less than two years; the speed could not be considered slow at all.

Furthermore, if this world truly had some kind of upper limit, perhaps this number one Qi Refining method, Nine Breaths Serving Qi, could break through that limit.

However.

Although the Luck Power needed to be saved, there were still a few Earthly Fiend Arts that Lu Yuan could upgrade first to more effectively improve his cultivation efficiency or means.

Those were 【Boiling Stones】 for alchemy, 【Medicine】 for balancing potent drugs, and 【Pot Heaven】 for carrying items on one's person.

Upgrading the three Earthly Fiend Arts to the Earth Tier would cost less than three thousand Luck; Lu Yuan immediately moved his mind to communicate with the Heavenly Book, then burned the Luck Power to upgrade these three techniques one by one.

As golden light bloomed in his mind, a massive amount of insight and experience surged from his heart; his comprehension of these three Earthly Fiend Arts rocketed upward, and before long, he stepped into a new realm.

He opened his eyes with a look of joy and stood up, just preparing to go find a place to test these three upgraded Earthly Fiend Arts, when he had just walked out of the main hall and saw Peng Yidao with several disciples, as well as Zhou Yunye, who had just become the chief general of the Capital Battalion, rushing over.

Because manpower was truly insufficient, Lu Yuan had specifically let Chen Zhantang return to Jinjin to deliver a message and bring over forty more disciples as helpers, including former members of the Iron-Blooded National Salvation Society who had defected to the martial arts hall, finally making it barely possible to attend to all sides.

At this moment, seeing Peng Yidao arrive before Lu Yuan, he bowed with a grave expression and said quickly:

"Hall Master, something has happened in the city. Recently, the Jin Clan nobles in the city have begun to flee one after another. They usually act tyrannically and have blood debts on their hands; many Han victims have now united to block these nobles, wanting to demand an explanation."

"As a result, there were some among these people who didn't know life from death and actually ordered their subordinates to beat several victims into serious injuries on the spot. This was equivalent to lighting a powder keg; the surrounding commoners were incomparably enraged and besieged them, leading to dozens of deaths and injuries on both sides. It wasn't until the Eastern Battalion's New Army arrived that they were barely suppressed, and then those Jin Clan nobles were executed in public to appease the anger."

Lu Yuan nodded upon hearing this:

"Handling it this way is correct. And then?"

Zhou Yunye smiled bitterly:

"Immortal, you may not know, but how many millions of Han people in this city have been abused and oppressed by the Jin people? This incident acted like a fuse; thousands of commoners in the city, and even Han forces like martial arts halls and gangs, began to spontaneously take to the streets, smashing and burning the Jin people's restaurants and shops, and even hunting down Jin Clan people on the streets. Those notorious noble families were surrounded and attacked by enraged commoners. Now the city is in complete chaos. This subordinate does not know if this situation should be suppressed by sending troops, or...?"

"Oh?"

Lu Yuan's heart stirred:

"Let me take a look first."

As he spoke, he flicked his sleeves, and a gust of wild wind roared forth, sweeping up Peng Yidao, Zhou Yunye, and the others as they flew into the high sky.

After flying for a while at an altitude of nearly a hundred zhang, Lu Yuan only needed to scan with his eyes to discover that there were fire and thick smoke rising in many places in the distant urban area, which was in a state of chaos.

Bringing everyone closer to look, they discovered that in large areas of the city that should have been bustling markets, tens of thousands of commoners of all kinds had gathered into a wave of anger, which was constantly spreading and crashing in all directions.

Within the wave, most of the luxurious restaurants, shops, and high-walled mansions were suffering from massive sieges; thousands of commoners holding torches, grabbing stones, and carrying hoes and rakes were attacking crazily.

Firelight, thick smoke, and shouts of killing rose one after another to the clouds. In various parts of the city, Jin Clan people were fleeing in terror, pursued and killed by the furious commoners. Almost everywhere, ragged commoners were seen swarming to drag luxuriously dressed Jin Clan people out of nooks and crannies, either hacking them to death with knives and cutting off their heads, or setting them on fire or hanging them on the spot.

And when those luxuriously dressed Jin Clan people died, the surrounding commoners were either stunned or weeping and roaring, as if a great vengeance had been satisfied.

Such a situation could only be described as a city-wide riot; high in the sky, Zhou Yunye and Peng Yidao's eyelids were twitching wildly:

"It's chaotic, it's chaotic, it's completely chaotic!"

"If this continues, the Jin Clan people might be killed off, and these commoners will also suffer heavy casualties."

"Immortal, do you think we need to move immediately to stop it?"

Lu Yuan scanned the myriad states of life burning in the blood and fire below, his tone plain and calm, without a ripple:

"Stop what? Every debt has its debtor; when the Jin soldiers entered the pass back then, the number they killed was more than ten times what it is today."

"However, this situation does need some interference. Mobilize the New Army to guard the Weapon Bureau and other vital locations so they aren't destroyed. In addition, send some people to patrol the streets; kill those who take advantage of the chaos to loot on the spot, try to avoid involving innocent people, and don't let the vengeful commoners suffer too great a loss."

"As for the Jin Clan nobles... let them pray for their own luck."