Chapter 298: Going Against the Grain

Hu He officially took office.

On the first day of her tenure, she held a press conference, and under the witness of numerous natives and players, announced the basic policies of the Justice Alliance to the outside world.

First: The Justice Alliance is sacred and inviolable; those who offend the Alliance shall be punished, no matter how far away they are.

Second: Within the area controlled by the Justice Alliance, individuals and groups interacting with the Alliance must follow the rules established by the Alliance.

Third: The Justice Alliance upholds peace and encourages any group or individual to carry out cooperation with the Alliance in various ways.

Fourth: Any group or individual may join the Justice Alliance through an application.

Fifth: Alliance members must actively safeguard the interests of the Alliance and abide by Alliance regulations, otherwise they will be expelled.

Sixth: The Alliance advocates freedom of speech and freedom of the press...

The press conference lasted for about one hour.

Hu He, whose new image had been deliberately designed by players, looked heroic and spirited; she no longer had a shred of the fox-like coquettishness unique to a demon fox, and looked exceptionally capable.

That day.

The cover image of *Justice Weekly* was Hu He.

Previously, *Justice Weekly* was printed in simple editions directly in other cities via player live streams and then sold. But now, the Magpie Bridge connected the Capital, Qinglong Cheng, and the surrounding Basic Cities, allowing the exquisite publications printed by color printers to spread rapidly...

The once obscure Hu He appeared as the spokesperson for the Justice Alliance, rapidly surpassing the status of Xu Longyun, Xiaobai, and Jiang Qingqin in the hearts of the common people.

After all.

Hu He's own image was perfect enough.

At this time, the eyes of the whole world were focused on the Justice Alliance; with this wave of powerful publicity, it would be difficult for her not to become famous.

After Lin Bai settled down, the world returned to prosperity, and it seemed that even the Heavenly Descended had become cute.

Using the Magpie Bridge required a fee, but even ordinary commoners were happy to take out their savings to experience the convenience and speed of the Magpie Bridge, traveling to cities they had never been to before to broaden their horizons.

Merchants relied even more on the Magpie Bridge.

With the Magpie Bridge available, using the original transportation methods was practically no different from courting death; mobilizing a large amount of manpower and material resources for cross-city transport cost far more than the Magpie Bridge.

In order to cope with the coming and going of merchants and pedestrians, Zhen City had at least a hundred Magpie Bridges open to the outside simultaneously; despite this, the Magpie Bridges remained busy, and the Bridge Guardians almost never had a moment of rest.

The Taiyi Kingdom Government, the Justice Alliance, and the Magpie Bridge Bridge-Guards were all making a fortune.

The faces of those using the Magpie Bridge were also filled with happy smiles...

Hu He's reputation was hyped up, and the final missing piece for the five disciples was completed.

The task for the disciples of the Haoweirenshi System System System to make a name for themselves was finally finished.

Lin Bai received a new item: a ruler.

The ruler was about one foot long, made of bamboo, and looked plain and unremarkable; its description stated that it was used for punishing disciples, and disciples could not evade it.

The Haoweirenshi System System System also provided a new task:

【The disciple has already made a name for themselves; congratulations, you have taken another step forward on the path of a master teacher, and the number of disciples you can teach has increased to 36.

As the old saying goes, "The blue dye is extracted from the indigo plant but is bluer than the plant," only then can you prove your success as a teacher. Make a disciple's achievement in a certain area higher than your own; Reward: Bestow (You may bestow one of your own skills upon a disciple to use, and it can be reclaimed)】

Make a disciple's achievement higher than his own?

Lin Bai looked at the new task and felt a headache coming on.

Another task as difficult as ascending to heaven!

He was so outstanding; how many people in the world could surpass him?

However.

The combination of the "Bestow" and "Being Read Mind" skills was enough to make the Fazhe Zhidao pass for the real thing; he really wanted it!

As the tasks progressed, the rewards given by the system were becoming increasingly practical.

But to let a disciple's achievement surpass his own?

Sigh!

Lin Bai sighed and turned his attention back to the ruler; the Haoweirenshi System System System allowed the number of disciples he could take to increase to thirty-six.

Once he announced this news, the temptation of a fifty percent increase in cultivation speed would ensure the disciple slots were filled in minutes.

But when disciples were disobedient, he couldn't always tie them up with Binding Immortal; that would leave no dignity for the Teacher Dao. This ruler was a good thing; he had to test its power.

Lin Bai spread his Spiritual Sense across Zhen City, found Ye Song, arrived near him with a few Flashes, aimed at him, and threw the ruler out.

Four of his five disciples were his own people; to test an item, he naturally had to find the one he wasn't familiar with...

At this moment.

Ye Song was holding a small manual on the cultivation of "Words Manifesting into Reality," asking a player named 【Zidu】 what signs there were when passing the first level of Words Manifesting into Reality.

Ye Lan stood beside him, looking up at the sky in boredom.

Suddenly.

A sound of breaking through the air came.

Both of them turned at the same time and saw the flying ruler.

Ye Song raised his hand to strike at the ruler, but the moment he raised his hand, he was suddenly frozen in place, obediently extending his left hand with the palm facing upward.

Ye Lan raised her arm straight up, and a black light flew out from her palm, striking toward the ruler.

But the moment the black light touched the ruler, it naturally dissipated, as if it had never appeared; before Ye Lan could even release a second black light, the ruler had already arrived in front of her, bypassed her in a flash, and slapped Ye Song's palm with a "pop."

"Ah!"

Ye Song couldn't help but let out a cry of pain.

Pop!

Ah!

Slap!

Ah!

The ruler struck three times in succession.

Ye Song cried out three times in a row, his expression ferocious, a fine layer of sweat beads emerging on his forehead.

The surrounding players watched, stunned.

Ye Lan watched the ruler striking her master's palm, her lifeless eyes blinking twice; on her dead-looking face, there was actually a hint of pleasure.

Lin Bai waved his hand to recall the ruler, and only then did Ye Song return to normal, rubbing his palms vigorously while hopping on one foot, angrily saying, "Which bastard is backstabbing me?"

*Cough! *

Lin Bai gave a light cough and Flash-ed in front of Ye Song, holding the ruler: "It was your master who hit you."

"Master!?" Ye Song's eyes darted toward the ruler in Lin Bai's hand, his brow twitching several times, and he couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva, "What kind of Divine Artifact is that?"

"After taking you as a disciple, I gained some insight into the Teacher Dao and condensed it into a ruler, specifically for disciplining unworthy Disciples." Lin Bai looked at Ye Song, pointing the ruler at him, making a gesture as if to strike again.

Ye Song stood straight immediately and extended his left hand.

Then.

Both of them were stunned.

Ye Lan blinked her eyes, gloating: "Master, you have your days too. Misfortune is what fortune depends on, and fortune is what misfortune hides; how could your cultivation speed possibly increase by fifty percent for no reason?"

"Shut up." Ye Song's old face darkened, and he scolded.

Lin Bai looked at Ye Song and retracted the ruler.

Ye Song regained his mobility.

Lin Bai raised the ruler again.

Ye Song stood at attention once more, obediently extending his left hand to wait for the beating, looking just like a marionette.

This happened again and again.

Ye Song was about to cry: "Master, can we stop playing? There are so many people watching!"

*Cough! *

Lin Bai coughed once and retracted the ruler into the Master's Path System: "You are the Disciple, and I am the Master. I finally obtained a Law Artifact; isn't it appropriate to use you to test it?"

"A Law Artifact?" Ye Song froze, looking at the ruler again. Thinking of the fear of being dominated by that small bamboo board, he suddenly felt he had boarded a pirate ship.

The benefit of a fifty-percent increase in cultivation speed was not so easy to take; Lin Bai had five disciples in total, and the other four were involved in ambiguous relationships with him...

It turned out this damn Law Artifact was prepared just for him alone...

F*ck!

At the thought of this, Ye Song's complexion became even uglier.

"Yes, a Law Artifact." Lin Bai nodded with a smile, "Tell me, what did it feel like to have your palm struck just now? I see you are in the Great Vehicle Realm, yet you were almost beaten to tears."

Taking a deep breath, Ye Song calmed his turbulent Dao Heart and said with a mournful face: "When the ruler hits the palm, any protective True Qi loses its effect. Moreover, it looks like it hits the palm, but in reality, it is like whipping the Spirit Soul. That kind of pain is simply unbearable..."

"So that's how it is!" Lin Bai's eyes lit up instantly, and he stroked the ruler, his face full of joy.

Watching Lin Bai's joyful expression, Ye Song's eyelid twitched again. He gathered his courage and said, "Master, can I make a request?"

"Speak," Lin Bai said.

"Is it too late for me to leave the sect now?" Ye Song looked at the ruler with lingering fear, his face bitter.

"In your dreams. What do you think the Justice Alliance is, a place you can enter and leave as you please?" Lin Bai glared at him and flashed away, "Stay in the Justice Alliance with peace of mind; I will whip every one of you into shape."

"Master, if I were Lin Bai, I wouldn't let you quit either," Ye Lan said faintly. "He has five disciples in total, three wives, and one mother-in-law. If you quit, who else can his ruler hit?"

"You don't know a damn thing." Ye Song rolled his eyes at her. "Even a Law Artifact has been condensed, which proves that the Fazhe Zhidao is absolutely true. Who would quit such a sect?" He hid his hands behind his back and said proudly, "Besides, do you think the ruler was for nothing? The three strikes shook many impurities out of my Spirit Soul. How could a Law Artifact be as simple as just hitting people?"

"The Spirit Soul has always been pure; when has there ever been talk of impurities!" Ye Lan looked at Ye Song, her lifeless eyes filled with skepticism.

"There wasn't before because there was no Law Artifact..." Ye Song snorted and said, "You haven't been hit by a Law Artifact, so how would you know?"

"Master, it is correct for cultivation to enter the civilian world." At the Alliance headquarters, Xu Longyun put aside the official documents in her hand and looked at Lin Bai, who had suddenly arrived, her eyes full of admiration. "Now, the Magpie Bridge only connects the Capital, Qinglong Cheng, and Zhen City, yet the national treasury is already much fuller. Transporting supplies is convenient, and the cost of living for the common people has actually decreased as a result. It is hard to imagine how prosperous the country will be once the Magpie Bridge is rolled out across the entire Taiyi Kingdom? Master, this is all your credit."

"It is everyone's credit." Lin Bai was overjoyed to have obtained a new Divine Artifact. "I could not accomplish such a great undertaking alone."

The smile Xu Longyun wore was very sweet: "Master, you don't need to be self-deprecating. You have pioneered a new era. Without you, perhaps everyone's focus would still be on how to deal with the Heavenly Descended! In the end, I fear the whole world would have been turned into a mess by the Heavenly Descended!"

"Perhaps," Lin Bai said dismissively.

"Whenever I think about how the Seven Righteous Sects and the Demonic Five Sects control the Cultivation World without making any contribution to the world, I get filled with anger. Civilization is suppressed by this group of selfish people, which is why it has stagnated for thousands of years," Xu Longyun snorted, saying with dissatisfaction.

"Have you learned about the civilization of the Heavenly Descended?" Lin Bai asked.

"Yes." Xu Longyun gave a forced smile, nodded in disappointment, and then regained her spirit. "Master, if things continue at the current pace, it won't be long before the world only knows the Justice Alliance and not the Seven Righteous Sects. We have already touched their fundamental interests; those guys won't let it go, so we must be careful and guard against them..."

"I think they should be the ones guarding against me," Lin Bai looked at Xu Longyun strangely and said.

"..." Xu Longyun choked, shook her head and said, "Master, you still cannot let your guard down. The Heavenly Descended are not content; they want to gain a foothold in this world and will not allow the world to be truly peaceful. They will definitely interfere. They cannot deal with you openly, but it is very likely they will play dirty tricks in the dark. You are the foundation of the Justice Alliance; once you fall, the Justice Alliance will fall apart."

"Are you suggesting we take the initiative?" Lin Bai asked with a smile.

"Master, I am not joking with you." Xu Longyun looked at Lin Bai seriously and suddenly asked, "The ancestor of the Justice Sect cannot return, right?"

"..." Lin Bai asked curiously, "Why would you think that?"

"I'm not the only one who thinks so." Xu Longyun rubbed her temples and said, "If the Nine Ancestors hadn't truly appeared in my mind, I would even suspect that the Justice Sect didn't exist in the world at all."

"..." Lin Bai praised her in his heart and asked, "How did you figure that out?"

"Everything the Justice Sect does is illogical." Xu Longyun looked at Lin Bai and sighed to herself, "Master, everything you do is based on laws. But if we assume there are no laws, then everything points to another result: you are not cultivating the Heavenly Dao, but are using this to conquer the entire world. Or rather, you are a different kind of Heavenly Descended, one who is hostile to the current Heavenly Descended..."

She is indeed the woman he chose; she is truly intelligent!

But even if Xu Longyun had guessed it, he could not lose the foundation he had worked so hard to build.

Lin Bai looked at Xu Longyun, revealed the ruler in his hand, and said: "Stop overthinking. Without laws, everything I do is meaningless. Moreover, I have just condensed a Law Artifact from the laws of the Teacher Dao."

"An artifact of laws?" Xu Longyun was also stunned.

"Correct, I'll tell you later; I have something else to find you for." Lin Bai smiled, put away the ruler, and said, "The Heavenly Descended are indeed restless, not just the Heavenly Descended on our side, but also those on the Shenmo Dalu side. One day, the two worlds will collide, so my Heavenly Dao cultivation cannot stop."

"Do you want me to cooperate with your cultivation of 'Words Manifesting Laws'?" Xu Longyun's face flushed slightly, and she stole a glance at Lin Bai as she asked.

"No, it's another matter." Lin Bai said, "Magpie Bridge, Binding Immortal, Heavenly River—I am walking further and further down the Dao of Love, and it has already seriously interfered with my Heavenly Dao cultivation. I need you to notify the Duke of the State and have the Taiyi Kingdom stop all propaganda regarding me being the Love God. I have heard that commoners have already spontaneously built temples among the people to worship me. If this continues, I fear the Heavenly Dao will fall into someone else's hands."

The Seven Righteous Sects wanted to scheme against his laws, and Xu Longyun and the others did not want him to cultivate the Heavenly Dao; Lin Bai had a new mission for the Yuelao System, so he simply decided to go against the grain.

"I think the Love God is quite good!" Xu Longyun muttered, "The Love God's laws are so powerful, they can also save the world!"

"It's different. All of the Love God's divine abilities serve love and cannot harm people." Lin Bai frowned, "Only the Heavenly Dao's 'Words Manifesting Laws', which establishes rules, can truly prevent the Undying and Indestructible Heavenly Descended from descending into this world. You go contact the Duke of the State to explain this matter; later, I will have *Justice Weekly* issue a formal statement to clarify this. Once the Magpie Bridge is completed, I will no longer cultivate the Great Dao of Love."

Ancestor Yuan Qing did not return to the Heavenly Dao Sect, but instead stationed himself at a subordinate sect called Xuanmiao Temple in the Taichu Kingdom. This place was closest to the Taiyi Kingdom, so if the Justice Alliance had any movements, he could respond in time.

It was not just the Heavenly Dao Sect; the Heavenly Sword Sect, Shengji Sect, and other sects all made the same choice, with some people returning to their sects to preside over affairs, while the rest almost all remained around the Taiyi Kingdom.

At this moment.

Beside Ancestor Yuan Qing were all the latest issues of *Justice Weekly*. Next to him were more than ten high-level members of the Heavenly Dao Sect, all of whom were in the Great Vehicle Realm. Their Spirit Souls were restrained, and each one possessed a celestial air, as if they were immortals descended to the mortal world.

On Ancestor Yuan Qing's left side was a young Daoist with red lips and white teeth. Between his brows was a vertical mark, looking as if he had opened a Heavenly Eye. He was the new generation's prodigy of the Heavenly Dao Sect, the legendary Dao Child. The Dao Child was resting with his eyes closed, and the cultivation he revealed had reached the Void Refinement Realm, far exceeding the prodigies of the same level by an entire grade.

Inside the great hall, there was only one player, who was the leader of the Xinlong Financial Group's entry into the game, 【Far-sighted Eagle】. Facing the group of Great Vehicle Realm experts in the room, the demeanor he displayed did not fall behind in the slightest. If one looked closely, one could see that his attention was not on Ancestor Yuan Qing, but on the Dao Child beside him.

(End of this chapter)