Chapter 299: Loyalty Abounds on the Coast

【At thirty-five, you declared war on the four great rebel kings, offering your loyal and courageous heart to the court!】

【Then you issued the divine edict, ordering the six counties under your command to form an elite force; the army totaled eight thousand, all of them young and strong, well-equipped and seasoned.】

【They are also the good students you have educated over the years; their literary talent may not be outstanding, but they possess basic literacy, and having long been immersed in your teachings, each has a kind heart, showing no mercy to enemies and treating the common folk as kin.】

【Military discipline is strict, upper and lower united; they can fight and dare to fight.】

【Most importantly, they hold infinite loyalty to you, the divine spirit and sect leader! They are also willing to offer their loyalty to you!】

【Thus, you named them the Loyalty Army, and appointed your personally transmitted disciple Houzi as commander, requiring a hundred victories in a hundred battles.】

【……】

【The Loyalty Army launched from the six counties, choosing as its first target the East King's Rebel Army.】

【The East King's Rebel Army was pillaging the prefectures and counties; upon hearing of your arrival, they could not help but panic.】

【The East King could only hastily assemble an army, attempting to meet you in battle… but how could the East King's Rebel Army, composed mainly of refugees, be a match for you?】

【After a day of fierce fighting, although the East King was far stronger than the young West King, and his buff spells on his troops were even more potent, it was obvious he could not prevail against Houzi personally leading the troops!】

【In just one day, the East King's great army collapsed! However, thanks to the magical protection, there were actually no casualties; the entire force was captured and, after the magic faded, uniformly escorted to the rear for arrangements.】

【As for the East King himself, Houzi beat him bare-handed until his divine visage was utterly ruined, and he was finally captured alive amidst terror.】

【The East King was greatly shocked, for he could clearly see that the monkey before him was truly a monkey… a monster? How could there be monsters in the world?】

【He is no fool; he knows perfectly well that there are no monsters in the world, only various wild gods wandering about.】

【But… how could this monkey be explained? After all, this monkey not only speaks human language, but can also fight him with magic; the main reason for the army's defeat lies precisely in this strange monkey…】

【Feeling his three views utterly smashed, the East King was finally captured alive by Houzi in a daze, after which his divine image was sealed and he was escorted to the rear to await the sect leader's disposition…】

【Having defeated the East King, Houzi immediately led his men nonstop toward the next rebel king.】

【But the consecutive defeats of the West and East Kings had already sounded the alarm for the remaining rebel kings, who then spontaneously gathered together.】

【The South and North Kings gathered under the Central King; after the three kings combined their forces and weeded out the old and weak, they ended up with nearly fifty thousand troops.】

【Houzi felt no fear, and the eight thousand elite troops surged straight at the three great rebel kings!】

【……】

【And you, far in the rear, are also closely monitoring Houzi's battles, for this war is a letter of allegiance; if you cannot win swiftly and cleanly, the value of subsequent stabbing battles will diminish, which is unfavorable for gaining the court's favor.】

【Fortunately, Houzi's years of incense offerings were not in vain; with nearly twenty years of incense supply, and since it does not expend massive divine power like you do toiling as a beast of burden, it has accumulated abundant strength, even surpassing that of you, its master.】

【This time letting it personally lead the troops is precisely to win splendidly.】

【And it did not disappoint; after three days of successive fierce battles, it finally captured the three rebel kings and fifty thousand rebel troops!】

【In less than half a month of mobilization, the Five Emperors Temple's years‑long preparation for this major uprising turned to dust: the West King was slain, and the East, South, North, and Central Kings were captured.】

【After this battle, the renowned rebel organization Five Emperors Temple was nearly uprooted, its main personnel mostly captured, leaving only some insignificant remnants…】

【Thus, at this juncture, the court that had suffered continual defeats finally took notice of you; after urgent deliberations up and down, under the empress dowager's guidance, the present emperor issued an edict inviting you to the capital for an audience!】

【The amnesty you had long awaited has finally become reality…】

【But on the question of whether to go to the capital in person, you fell into contemplation…】

【You harbor doubts about whether to personally go to the capital in response to the summons; reason tells you that you should not go yourself.】

【But after all, the strategy has been set; your future development direction is to cling closely to this great tree of the court and then step by step reach the top—if you do not go, you worry it will affect the implementation of the strategy.】

What if the court deems your rebellious intent exposed and directly lists you as the top target for suppression? Although the court is declining, to have held the realm for three hundred years it must have some skill…

【Ding! You feel uneasy about implementing the strategy, unsure how to choose, so you can only pin your hopes on "another self"… you choose: (?)】

【A: Go, the arrow is on the string and must be released; matters have progressed to this point, allowing no hesitation! B: Do not go, life and property are important; having come this far with difficulty, how could you recklessly entrust your life to an untrustworthy court?】

【Looking at this dilemma, Zhao Si fell into contemplation: "To go, or not to go?"】

【Zhao Si fully understands Lin Liu's thinking.】

【In terms of development strategy, Lin Liu has settled on lying low to develop until the formal uprising to overthrow the court, so his strategy has always been stability first.】

【If it weren't for his territory being too small, hindering incense accumulation, Lin Liu would even want to cultivate all the way to becoming the Ten-Li Slope Sword God, then storm the court head‑on! But that would take far too long, and the court is already in its decline; waiting for him to mature would likely see the dynasty change already, and a vigorous new court would only be more troublesome than this decaying one…】

【As for secretly expanding territory and spreading teachings as before? The idea is good, but a moment's thought shows it's impossible, for the court, though ill, is not dead. If he truly seized control of a prefecture‑level region, no matter how he concealed it, the court would surely detect it and then unleash full firepower on his clan, which would surely be disastrous…】

【Therefore, Lin Liu decided to actively submit a letter of allegiance to obtain an official façade, so as to legally expand his power.】

【But right now, the court's edict clearly disrupts his plan: if he does not go, the development strategy he had painstakingly laid out would become useless, for the court is very likely to deny him an official post, severely hindering his development.】

【Going, however, is also very dangerous…】

【"Since learning from the West King's lesson, Lin Liu has always cherished his life; if he can avoid danger, he will."】

【"If he weren't truly worried about affecting strategic development, he wouldn't have these doubts at all, for he simply could not go."】

【Zhao Si thought and thought:】

【"If he did go…… there probably wouldn't be too much trouble, right?"】

【According to ordinary thinking, the court is in a tumultuous autumn, with natural disasters rampant and rebel armies everywhere; at this critical juncture, a civilian faction actively flying the banner "Respect the Emperor, Expunge the Rebels" shows its loyalty…】

【Such a good deed, if the court weren't addle‑brained, it would certainly not strike down its own allies.】

【Therefore, in theory, this trip should pose no major problem even if he goes; at worst he might receive a reprimand.】

【"Moreover, now everything is shrouded in the fog of war; if Lin Liu doesn't quickly produce a map and worldview, he'll be like a headless fly…"】

【Zhao Si, however, recalls that the previous protagonist, Xue Xuan, is none other than the Heavenly Emperor of this realm, proving that this world is not entirely unrelated to the primordial wilderness; yet the differences here are enormous, and if he wants to know the exact situation, he must hurry to meet Xue Xuan.】

【And to see the Heavenly Emperor Xue Xuan far in the heavenly realm, one must inevitably carve out a domain in the mortal world… Moreover, the West King once said that the human emperor is the Heavenly Emperor's running dog; contacting those lackeys in advance is also a shortcut to reach his master! "Let's give it a try!"】

【Holding the intention to open the worldview, Zhao Si made a choice:】

【"Choose A!"】

【You chose option A, to go—the arrow is on the string and must be released; matters have progressed to this point, allowing no hesitation!】

【Seeing that "another self" had already made the choice, you no longer hesitated, immediately seeking out Houzi and informing him that you would soon obey the summons and go, entrusting all major and minor affairs in your domain to him for the time being.】

【Houzi hesitated for a moment: "Master, I'll protect you on the way!"】

【Obviously, it is not at ease about your safety.】

But you just shook your head, indicating it was fine, and earnestly instructed it on various matters, letting it take good care of this hard‑won land…

"Don't worry, I'll come back!"

…

A few days later, you had settled the territorial affairs, and brought along the four captured rebel kings as a gift to demonstrate loyalty to the imperial court, heading all the way to the capital…

Finally, you reached the capital for the first time in your life!

Upon seeing you truly arrive, the imperial court hastily made preparations, performed some rites and music, and you were granted a personal audience with the emperor!

This was your first time seeing the emperor, so you were a bit curious: he was a frail young man, roughly twenty years old, and what impressed you most was his obvious delight.

"I never expected there to be such a loyal and righteous official in the coastal region!"

The young emperor seemed quite excited, which made you wonder: has the dynasty already fallen into such peril?

Before you could even think it over, the emperor expressed an obvious intention to win you over: "What is your name, sir?"

"I am a commoner, surname Lin, given name Six…"

"Six?"

The emperor raised an eyebrow: using a number as a name—this name is far too crude; it seems you don't come from a particularly good background…

"Your name is too simple… how about I give you a new one?"

"Huh?"

Before you could react, the emperor had already thought up a new name for you.

"You are so loyal and brave—why not take 'Loyalty' as your name? How about 'Quanzhong'?"

You: …

…

(End of chapter)