Chapter 571

The Yin-Yang Daoist was busy in the netherworld.

Wu Tie's true self was also busy, and even more so than the Yin-Yang Daoist—more hectic and more exhausted.

The Imperial City Military Affairs Bureau's administrative and military affairs were tangled with various palaces and departments, especially needing to be wary of Gongyang Sanlü's backlash; the reorganization of the Four Gardens Twelve Guards Forbidden Army—provisions, fodder, armor, bows and crossbows, mounts, especially those standard warships—kept everyone swamped beyond coping.

As for provisions, Yu Prefecture could raise them on its own, and in this regard Wu Tie held a tremendous advantage.

But fodder, armor, bows and crossbows, mounts—especially the main cannons of those large standard warships and floating war fortresses, each requiring superb craftsmanship and huge amounts of rare materials to forge—were problems Yu Prefecture alone could not solve.

Lao Tie and Pei Feng, bringing Huang Lang and Li Ergouzi, led large detachments day after day to various palaces, bureaus, and offices—both civil and military—slamming tables, smashing doorways, even splashing chicken blood on people's gates, demanding all kinds of equipment and supplies.

Anyang City was thrown into chaos by Lao Tie and Pei Feng, yet no matter how hard they tried, it was like a giant throwing a punch into a muddy swamp—soft and limp, utterly without effect.

Every civil and military office they approached put on the attitude of 'I'm a dead pig, come kill me,' and no matter how Lao Tie and Pei Feng stirred things up, regardless of whether they had justification or not, and regardless of whether they held imperial edicts or imperial orders, they simply refused to cooperate, and you couldn't even squeeze out a grain of grain or an arrowhead from them.

What Wu Tie feared most, Gongyang Sanlü's retaliatory action, had not yet arrived.

Or rather, Gongyang Sanlü's retaliation had already arrived, but he chose to kill with a soft blade, using yin-like means to restrict the Imperial City Military Affairs Bureau's reorganization and development, without resorting to hard-handed direct confrontation with Wu Tie.

These days, Wu Tie clearly felt that the entire administrative system of Anyang City was opposed to the Imperial City Military Affairs Bureau, which had fallen completely into an invisible black hole, empty all around, with no assistance whatsoever, only endless resistance.

Helpless, Wu Tie could only expend Yu Prefecture's reserves, open the treasury, pull out piles of gold and silver, seek out various reliable and unreliable channels, and purchase all the supplies needed for the Imperial City Military Affairs Bureau's reorganization.

These channels were somewhat shady, and the quality of the equipment they provided varied—some were so poor that Wu Tie almost wanted to fly into a murderous rage……

Relying on the even more unreliable equipment supplied by those shady channels, Wu Tie painstakingly searched through piles of donkey dung for a few shiny, smooth pieces, and stumbled along, barely managing to complete the reorganization of the newly formed Four Gardens Twelve Guards Forbidden Army.

At least on paper, with all the prescribed equipment, mounts, and heavy weapons, the forbidden troops under the Imperial City Military Affairs Bureau barely reached full strength; as for the combat power they could actually exert… Wu Tie could only look up to the heavens.

By day he worried over these tedious administrative tasks; by night Wu Tie focused intently, honing his magical power and contemplating the divine fetus, while using the power of the Canghai Divine Pearls to gradually merge the 1,296 grand dao principles contained in the 108 Canghai Divine Pearls with the divine fetus.

Because of the brand left by Ao Chi, Wu Tie had already mastered the Canghai Divine Pearls almost perfectly, uniting their grand dao with the divine fetus; it was merely a matter of time.

Wu Tie intended, with the aid of the Canghai Divine Pearls, to use the 108 Canghai Divine Pearls to sever his final incarnation—a triple-purity avatar formed from a single qi.

However, the grade of the Canghai Divine Pearls far surpasses that of the Yin-Yang Two-Qi Vessel and the five Five-Element Secret Treasures; each pearl contains the power of a world, and the power of 108 worlds stacks together. To wield this terrifying power to sever an avatar, Wu Tie's present reserves are insufficient.

He can only silently nurture the divine fetus, comprehend the grand dao, and thicken his reserves until his merit is sufficient; then, naturally, stones will split and flowers bloom, seas will dry up and treasures appear, and a dao fruit will form of its own accord, allowing him to sever this final and strongest avatar.

In this process, Wu Tie's cultivation also rose like water lifting a boat.

The immense power and vast resources stored in the 108 worlds, together with the inexhaustible essence of heaven and earth continually pouring into him, cause Wu Tie's Nine Turns Mystic Technique to rise like water lifting a boat; his cultivation advances step by step, and each day he feels his fleshly body and divine fetus receiving tremendous strengthening.

The Nine Turns Mystic Technique is profoundly wondrous; turning one qi into three purities is a supreme dao method, and the Primordial Scripture encompasses all things, pointing directly to the ultimate source of heaven and earth. Wu Tie's several methods advance in tandem, gradually polishing his dao heart to crystal clarity, flawless, and he faintly feels a sense of roundness, as if the entire cosmos were his own body.

More importantly, with the great aid of the 108 Canghai Divine Pearls, the supreme treasure Seven Jewels Ruyi from the Great Square Adept has already been successfully refined by Wu Tie at any cost. Under the push of the vast worldly power, Wu Tie violently overawed the Seven Jewels Ruyi's ego consciousness, leaving his own soul imprint within it, and thus fully mastered this secret treasure of astonishing lethal power.

The three future avatars: the Yin-Yang Daoist possesses a Yin-Yang Two-Qi Vessel, the Five Elements Daoist possesses the Five Elements Secret Treasure, the planned Canghai Daoist is the strongest, wielding 108 Canghai Divine Pearls; Wu Tie's true self also possesses the supreme treasure, the Black Heaven Cauldron, which combines offense and defense, he also has the Seven Treasures Ruyi, lethal in slaughter, and carries myriad supreme divine abilities—with such a combination, Wu Tie even dares to directly challenge those so-called spirits.

Time passed little by little; as Yuzhou's wealth continually flowed out, the Imperial City Military Command's directly controlled Four Gardens and Twelve Guards gradually took shape.

Wu Tie recalled the edict issued by Sima Fa, which placed him in command of the provincial troops of over a hundred prefectures surrounding Anyang City… He then sprang into action, beginning to rectify the several prefectures around Yuzhou.

Directly dispatched from the Imperial City Military Command, supervisory envoys took up residence in each province's military headquarters; together with the spies of the Forbidden Demon Hall mobilized by Sima You, within just two or three days Wu Tie ordered the beheading of seven provincial army commanders; implicated in various corrupt and sordid affairs, over two hundred officers were executed, while thousands more were stripped of all military posts and had their families exiled to the frontiers.

After only a few days of calm, Wu Tie again acted boldly, and in an instant Anyang trembled.

A senior military official stormed into the palace, confronted Sima Fa, and accused the Imperial City Military Command of 'overstepping its authority and acting recklessly'.

Sima Fa, indeed an outstanding among the foolish rulers, has recently become enamored with tattooing techniques; from the market streets of Anyang City, he lavishly hired over a dozen 'calligraphic masters' into the palace to teach him the art of 'azure tattooing'.

To facilitate his 'studies,' Sima Fa specifically ordered the palace guards to scour Anyang City for well-born youths who were tall, sturdy, straight-built, and jade‑white skinned, bringing them into the palace to serve as 'teaching aids,' allowing him and the troupe of calligraphic masters to tattoo various exquisite patterns onto their skin.

When the military officials entered the palace, Sima Fa was holding a set of tattooing tools, inking a light‑ink watercolor‑style koi carp onto the arm of a young gentleman.

The military officials, all hot‑tempered, seeing their divine ruler absent from court for days, instead holed up in the rear palace engaging in such 'lowly' pursuits, instantly flew into a rage, stamping their feet and pointing at Sima Fa's nose as they unleashed a torrent of abuse.

What kind of person is Sima Fa?

He is the epitome of foolish rulers—among the Sima imperial clan's lineage of foolish emperors, he is the one whose foolishness is most distinctive.

Did the military officials dare to insult him? Moreover, they dared to do so in front of all those handsome youths, causing the lofty Divine Emperor Sima Fa to lose all face before his subjects… This scoundrel actually activated the palace's formation restrictions, detaining several military officials who had come to lodge complaints, then ordered the guards to seize their canes, strip those officials of their clothes, throw them face‑down on the bustling Forehead Imperial Way, and beat them soundly.

The senior officials of the Divine State of Great Jin's military were all experts in body cultivation, each possessing a physique of steel and iron; the guards' cultivation was limited, so they could hardly affect them, inflicting only minor harm.

But this humiliation—being stripped naked before countless eunuchs and palace maids, then publicly caned—thoroughly enraged these hot‑tempered military officials.

The few military officials expelled from the Imperial City returned to their mansions, cursing all the way; shortly thereafter, Wu Tie's rectification of the provincial troops immediately ran into enormous trouble.

That day, early in the morning, Wu Tie had just taken his seat in the council hall of the Imperial City Military Command when an urgent military report, marked 'ten thousand fires urgent,' was placed before him.

Next to Yuzhou, the provincial troops of Zhouzhou suddenly erupted in uproar, shouting the slogans 'Depose the tyrant, kill the treacherous minister' and raising banners to avenge their beheaded commander; a million provincial troops besieged Zhouzhou City, slaughtering to the last the supervisory envoys Wu Tie had sent, as well as the Forbidden Demon Hall investigators dispatched by Sima You to assist.

The rebel troops slaughtered the Zhouzhou provincial headquarters, sparing no one from top to bottom; thereafter they continued chanting 'Depose the tyrant,' leaving nothing undone, and thoroughly blood‑washed the Zhouzhou prefectural office as well; then the marauders fanned out, wiping out dozens of great and small fiefdoms within Zhouzhou's territory.

Among these, the most critical fiefdom belonged to a maternal relative of the Sima imperial clan; although its title was merely a third‑rank duke, the current duke's great‑grandmother was in fact a direct‑line princess of the Sima family.

What made matters worse, the rebels explicitly declared that the 'treacherous minister' was named Huo Xiong, and his title was the Duke of Yuzhou.

When Zhouzhou stirred, the provincial troops of the several other prefectures that Wu Tie had just pacified also began to stir restlessly.

The supervisory envoys Wu Tie had dispatched were powerless to suppress these provincial troops; when the troops in the camps took to their warships, rose into the air, and marched on the prefectural cities, the envoys and the Forbidden Demon Hall spies sent by Sima You could only flee in panic, then rushed back to Anyang with the news as quickly as possible.

The more than a hundred prefectures surrounding Anyang City were the land where the founding Divine Emperor of the Great Jin Divine State rose to power; they were the true fertile heartland of the Great Jin Divine State, and for countless years the most stable and peaceful premier region.

Not to mention provincial rebellions, even bandits were exceedingly rare among these over a hundred prefectures.

Thus, when the incident broke, it shocked the world; while dealing with the Imperial City Military Command's transfer documents and allocating supplies and armaments to its subordinate units, the normally sluggish bureaucratic system suddenly sprang to life, broadcasting the news via the official gazette at top speed and spreading it far and wide.

Within an hour of receiving the military report, the Great Jin Divine State's gazette system, operating at peak efficiency, had already published the account in full, spreading it to hundreds of prefectures, and then proceeded to disseminate it even faster across an even vaster territory.

Outside the gates of Anyang City, and outside the four directional gates, suddenly a sizable transport fleet appeared at each.

Amid the rebukes of Anyang City's defense forces, the four transport fleets halted, slowly descending to the ground; then, in groups, the elderly, weak, women and children—each clad in tattered, blood‑stained garments—stumbled out of the holds, leaning on one another.

These elders, women and children each clutched a small three‑legged incense burner of varying size, with three thin sticks of incense inserted; they bowed three times with every step, weeping and wailing as they slowly approached the gate of Anyang City.

"Heaven has eyes… why haven't those evildoers who commit myriad wicked deeds been struck by heavenly thunder yet?"

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty… please grant justice to us, the people who have suffered endless humiliation and grievous injustice!"

"Kill the treacherous minister, kill the treacherous minister… the realm is in turmoil, the treacherous minister deceives the holy sovereign… Depose the tyrant, slay the treacherous minister, restore the bright universe of Great Jin!"

"Injustice, injustice… the Imperial City Military Command acts wantonly, wreaking havoc in the army, unlawfully slaying senior generals, plotting rebellion… Your Majesty, open your eyes and behold the wolf‑hearted, dog‑gutted visage of that treacherous villain!"

"Your Majesty, you are a peerless holy sovereign; you must surely discern right from wrong… the heart and liver of the Duke of Yuzhou are wholly black—if you do not believe me, dig them out and examine them closely; you will surely find a black heart and a black liver."

Wails shook the earth, the weeping carried far off; the four transport fleets brought at least a million ragged, blood‑soaked 'good commoners,' their earth‑shaking sobs drawing ever closer, step by step, to the gates of Anyang City.

On the southern gate tower of Anyang City, Linghu Qingqing, clad in heavy armor, stood tall with head held high.

Behind him were the core clansmen of the Linghu family, such as Linghu Jian and Linghu Wenwen, who were respectful and cautious.

The Linghu Qingqing before them was not the stand-in who had been beaten by Gongyang Sanlü in the court that day, but the true Linghu Qingqing himself, returned.

His spirited vigor and radiant glory could not describe today's Linghu Qingqing; his whole being seemed to glow, with an extreme intensity of confidence, an overwhelming fervor of ambition, and a scorching desire as if to grasp the whole heaven and earth in his hand—these things were like a volcano, blazing fiercely within him, causing every pore to emit terrifying light and heat.

"Whose method is this? Using public opinion to intimidate the heavenly emperor?" Linghu Qingqing placed both hands on the city wall's battlements, smiling, and said: "The method is a bit crude, but as long as it works—we soldiers fight; we don't play those sneaky tricks. If we can kill the enemy with a single thrust, that's good enough."

Taking a deep breath, Linghu Qingqing said in a solemn voice: "How innocent these common folk are! Yet they have fallen into such a miserable plight… The originator of this shall receive severe punishment."

Raising his right hand, Linghu Qingqing shouted sternly: "Someone, convey the order of the Left Minister… The Grand Commander of the Imperial City's Military Affairs, Duke Huo Xiong of Zhou State, has acted lawlessly, suspected of disrupting military discipline. The Military Judiciary Bureau shall send people to strip him of his armor and robes, cast him into the military prison, and await disposition."

Linghu Qingqing exuded an ultimate domineering aura from his entire body.

As soon as he spoke, he intended to put Wu Tie to death.