Chapter 191 - 113: So What if the Three Demons Are Comparable to a Qi Cultivation Grandmaster? To Get By, You Need Power and a Background

Chapter 191: Chapter 113: So What if the Three Demons Are Comparable to a Qi Cultivation Grandmaster? To Get By, You Need Power and a Background

The snow howled through Inner Anning Street.

With the new year approaching, the liveliest place in Anning was undoubtedly the bustling market street housing the Three Great Halls and the County Yamen. It was far more prosperous than the East and West Streets, or even the Outer City District.

Everything related to the festive season—opera troupes, dragon and lion dances, fireworks, firecrackers, shopping for new year’s goods...

Most of it happened on this very street, where, even late at night, large red lanterns glowed like a lingering sunset.

But as Demons entered the County—the White Ape, the Red Python, the Thunder Roaring Leopard, and countless other birds and beasts swept up in the chaos—their numbers and variety became impossible to tally.

Some of them crashed headlong into the Inner Street. Compounding the chaos, the first instinct of the displaced refugees from the outskirts was to flee toward the County Yamen for safety.

As a result, the once-prosperous Inner Street was trampled into a complete wreck.

However, the chaos also roused the armored, crossbow-wielding County Soldiers, along with the disciples and lineage holders from the dozens of Martial Arts Halls, large and small, that lined the street.

Liao Yuanhua, the elderly Hall Master of the Whale-Slaying Saber Hall, took the lead. He brought his head disciple, Xu Qiong, and led thirty to fifty disciples, each armed with a War Body Saber.

He immediately joined forces with the other two of the Three Great Halls—Instructor Wang of Overlord Spear and Instructor Hua of Profound Bird Sword. They fulfilled their duties as Instructors, coordinating all the halls on Martial Street and assembling a veritable flood of Martial Artists!

The massive commotion also jolted Zhao Jiu awake in the County Yamen.

One moment, he was still half-asleep, secretly complaining about not being able to return to his estate for the new year. The next, he was snapped wide awake by his subordinate’s report.

He was stunned for only a few breaths.

Zhao Jiu’s expression changed drastically. He hurriedly ordered his old servant, Elder Liang, to gather the County Soldiers, secure the Inner Street, and join forces with the Martial Artists from the Three Great Halls. Their mission: round up the refugees, coordinate everyone, and slay the Demons.

He then hastily and deftly donned a suit of Seventh-Grade Treasure Armor that had been forged for him by Fengg Zhaoyuan, a Qi Dao Grand Craftsman from Jiangyin Prefecture.

Wrists, neck, faceplate... he was armed to the teeth, with not a single gap left exposed.

Then, with a Treasure Sword at his waist and flanked by County Guards holding torches, he strode out onto the blood-soaked street.

The moment he stepped out, the acrid stench of blood assaulted his senses, nearly making him pass out.

He stared at the Inner Street, where order was barely being maintained and the slaughter had turned the snow-covered ground into streams of steaming blood...

Zhao Jiu felt his temples throbbing. He clutched at his chest; his heart was bleeding for his county.

’If the Inner Street is already like this... ’

’...then I can only imagine the state of the rest of Anning County.’

’A Demon assault on the city, without any warning, and on such a massive scale!’

According to the records, there were only two possible reasons for something like this.

One: a Newborn Great Demon had appeared—one that didn’t know the rules and wanted to come into the city to "play" and feast on blood and flesh. Two: the Abyss Ruins Qi had surged, causing the Demons’ bloodlust to erupt and drive them into a frenzy.

Whichever it was...

’I’m destined to take the blame for "failure of oversight." There’s no escaping it.’

After today, when Jiangyin Prefecture heard the news from Anning County, they would certainly send someone to hold him accountable.

Although he, Zhao Jiu, came from the Wine Shop and was of its Direct Lineage, so they wouldn’t make an example of him...

...but with an incident this massive, no matter how good his background was, any hope of future promotion based on merit was now impossible.

Thus, beneath his Treasure Armor, Zhao Jiu’s body trembled with rage.

"A demon frenzy should have shown some warning signs. Logically, the moment there was a threat, the Eighteen Linked Mountain Towns and the Hunting Manors would have sent someone to raise the alarm and call for aid. But why...?"

He had just come face-to-face with Instructor Liao—whose hair and beard were stained with blood as he shouldered his Whale-Slaying Saber, his face etched with fatigue—and before he could even sort out his thoughts, he saw something.

Outside, among the clamoring throngs of refugees that had been continuously pouring into the Inner Street, he noticed something strange. Though their faces were filled with terror, not many of them had actually died.

Zhao Jiu had just been finding this odd.

And right after,

He saw someone with considerable authority appear behind the refugees, causing them to instantly part and form a long path...

When he saw the leader of the group—a man with a crescent-moon-shaped scar running from his brow to his forehead, whose muscles and bones seemed cast from gold, and whose Skin Membrane shimmered with a jade-like luster, all while dressed in yellow robes...

Zhao Jiu’s heart sank.

’The Central Yellow Sect?’

When he got a clear look at the leader’s face, his own expression grew even uglier.

’The Great General Altar Master who serves the Spirit Summoning and Saint Manifesting General... Wei Changjiao, the youngest of the Ten Thieves of Chaotic Heaven who raised hell in Jiangyin Prefecture over a decade ago!’

’So you’re the one who orchestrated this demon uprising!’

Wanted posters for Wei Changjiao were plastered all over the Prefecture and County, so he was instantly recognizable.

And for Zhao Jiu to have secured the position of County Magistrate, even if he spent his days slacking off, he was crystal clear on the things he needed to be.

One such thing was the favorite proselytizing method of the Divine Beings of the Central Yellow Sect: reaping Incense and Candlelight from suffering.

And if there was no great suffering, disaster, or famine to be found? What then?

They would manufacture it themselves, cast themselves in the role of saviors, and point the finger of blame squarely at the Great Xuan’s Government Office, Sects, Noble Clans, and Martial Artists.

Even if the Central Yellow Sect’s uprisings were eventually suppressed, the ideological scars they left on the common people were exceedingly difficult for the Government Office to erase.

If, during that time, remnants of the sect were not completely eradicated and continued to stir up trouble among the populace, encouraging them to worship at Divine Shrines...

...it would provide a continuous stream of Incense Qi to those Divine Beings, strengthening their anchor to this world.

It could even allow them to birth a Divine Power Dharma Body, independently create a cross-planar passage, launch a ’Divine Expedition,’ and declare war on the Great Xuan!

Of course, a single Dharma Guardian General was certainly not powerful enough to do so.

But in the past...

...there had been cases of the Central Yellow Sect’s ’Holy Great Venerables’ doing exactly that!

That was why the Great Xuan’s crackdown on them was so severe.