Villain Cultivator

Chapter 433 – Winter Chaos – Part 2

Liu Yan was enraged, yet he hesitated if he should kill Guo Jia right here.

In the history and the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Guo Jia was known to be a farsighted individual. Under the service of Cao Cao, he predicted many outcomes of various events and advised his lord of the most efficient action against other hostile warlords.

Guo Jia predicted Liu Bei's Uprising, Sun Ce's Demise, and Yuan Shao's Defeat. He set up countermeasures and capitalized every opportunity he had, resulting in the advantage of Cao Cao Army. Also, the Campaign against Lu Bu and the Campaign against Yuan Shao's Sons became successful under his guidance.

His insight was so significant that he was sometimes compared to Zhuge Liang in various What-If Scenarios. Many modern scholars debated if Guo Jia might have been able to defeat Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu during the Battle of Chibi had he been alive by that time.

In short, Guo Jia's intelligence, political ability, and leadership might be comparable to Zhuge Liang!

Liu Yan was cautious of this counterpart of the legendary figure from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. He had cold feet, thinking that Guo Jia might have laid a trap for him.

"Are you trying to instigate a war between me and the Yuan Clan, brat!?"

Guo Jia shrugged, "As I said, I'm a messenger. I have only one job, and I did just that!"

"Good, very good," Liu Yan gritted his teeth and glared at the youth. "Arrest the messenger. As he wishes, we shall mobilize our troops and pay Yuan Shu and Yuan Shaoqing a visit!"

Several bodyguards rushed to Guo Jia to apprehend him.

But the scholar smirked and tore a talisman inside his robe sleeve.

"As I said, I'm a messenger. Now that I've completed my task, please excuse me."

WHOOSH

Just like that, Guo Jia vanished into thin air!

Liu Yan and every orc in the throne room widened their eyes. They spread their Qi sense to find the scholar.

But they couldn't find him.

He was gone!

"FUCK!"

Liu Yan smashed his fist on the armrest of the golden throne, destroying it. Now, he felt like he had been played by a simple childish trick.

Despite being frustrated, Liu Yan took several deep breaths to control his temper. He carefully analyzed Guo Jia's motive and his action.

"I believe he's trying to distract you from another force, Lord Liu," The 9th-stage Oni advised the orc lord. "My men informed me that Siren City and Xuan City are gathering a massive force to counterattack against us. I think that brat wants to distract us from them, so we will end up fighting Yuan Shaoqing and Yuan Shu when they are preparing their armies."

"Will it be that simple?" Liu Yan was paranoid.

"If that is not the case, then Yuan Shu and Yuan Shaoqing are the idiots, and that brat is a fool."

"Doubt it. That man shouldn't be this simple. There must be a hidden ploy…"

Liu Yan had a deep frown on his face. He glanced at Liu Biao, who was left behind in the middle of the hall.

"You know what?" Liu Yan had an idea, "Instead of worry what that asshole is planning, let's just destroy them all at the same time. Senior Ushi, could I ask you to take care of the eastern campaign? I'll let Huang Hansheng deal with Siren City while Aoi's troops will be sent north."

Ushi Douji, another no-good son of Kishin Douji, was the leader of Heavenly Goose Planet's expedition force. He had been cooperating with Liu Yan as he had received an order from his father.

The order was simple.

Kill Mao Miaomiao and Yuan Hua's allies!

Although Ushi had no idea what his father had been plotting against one of his allies, he accepted the order nonetheless.

"Fine. No need for soldiers, I'll wipe out the humans myself."

"Thank you for your cooperation."

…

WHOOSH

Guo Jia's body appeared on an altar of an underground shrine. He slowly opened his eyes and checked his surroundings.

Upon finding out that he had arrived at the altar, he grinned.

"Welcome back, Comrade Guo."

An attractive succubus queen with long wavy black hair, pale skin, and a dark dress smiled at the youth.

She was Zhu Huifang, Zhu Qiao's mother and the current Clan Patriarch of the Zhu Clan. Most of the runaway women from the Silver Phoenix Sect had joined her, and she had been hiding her forces in Guangling City, north of Jianye City.

"Ah, Senior Zhu, I've returned."

"How was it? Did you meet the person from the Holy Land?"

"The son of the Great Liu Clan's patriarch? Of course, I met him."

"How is he from your point of view?"

Guo Jia snickered, "He's just another arrogant idiot like Yuan Shaoqing."

"Oh? Really? Then, will they stay away from Siren City?"

Zhu Huifang's expression changed when she talked about Siren City. She was worried about her daughter, who had been sacrificed to establish a good relationship with Miaomiao.

Like others, Zhu Huifang wanted to secure the best location for Zhu Clan's new home. As the east side of the continent was barren while the west was flourishing, she was tempted to move her clanswomen to the better place with dense Qi.

"Liu Yan will mobilize his forces to attack every human settlement soon. Surely, they will still attack Siren City, but they will spread their forces too thin. With Mao Miaomiao and his mysterious supporters from the higher realms, they will easily crush Kishin Douji's goons. As for the other sects and clans, they will unite their forces to resist Liu Yan Army eventually. Then, Liu Yan's forces will be pushed back by the union of humans and demons of Aves Continent."

"You seem confident."

"My prediction is never wrong."

"…"

Guo Jia left the underground shrine while Zhu Huifang followed after him. They emerged at Guangling Government Hall as the exit was connected to the secret door inside the building.

Before Guo Jia and Zhu Huifang parted, the latter asked the counterpart of the legendary strategist, "I never asked you. What were you trying to achieve for helping us?"

"Simple." Guo Jia brightly smiled, "The immortal that I serve is a fan of a certain DaoTube and he bet a lot of soul stones on him. He wants that channel owner to succeed."

"Is there other immortal vessels like you in Aves Continent?"

"Aside from me..." Guo Jia was in deep thought, but he revealed a secret, "There is someone, no, a few guys at the southern region."

"Who are they?"

"Pang Clan, Zhuge Clan, and Sima Clan."

…

= Siren City =

While Liu Yan was waging war left and right to take control of Aves Continent, Jia Shan, Ma Ping, and the elders returned home and learned about Miaomiao's plan from Ma Moxi. They agreed to this move and cooperated with Miaomiao.

Ma Moxi was busy when Miaomiao and his wives were having their private time. He ran out to coordinate with the local beastmen, the Sun Clan, and the dryads to organize their new sect buildings.

While Ma Moxi was at it, he visited the prisoners of the war game.

As someone from the modern world, Ma Moxi understood how useful the prisoners were. Qu Yi agreed to join the Ma Clan while Zhang Liao chose to pledge his allegiance to Miaomiao.

Two nascent soul cultivators joined the elder ranks, which brought joy to the local population.

The good news didn't end as Jia Wenhe suddenly gained an epiphany while he had fun in the bamboo forest. He condensed a compound element, the Chloro Blood Element, and his cultivation base soared. The night later, he consolidated his golden core and daos, reaching the late stage of Core Pillar Realm.

Ju Shoufen, Ma Shoucheng, and Pang Lingming also received the boons after they had visited the world tree. All of them broke through the bottlenecks and reached the 7th-stage. Moreover, they could now use Light Element and Wood Element due to the abundant Qi in the dryad forest.

Although Miaomiao's allies were growing and getting stronger, Sun Wentai faced a problem.

Several elders of Jiangdong White Tiger Sect and 90% of inner disciples betrayed the sect - They stole their cultivation resources from the vault and ran away to join Liu Biao's forces at the southern region of the continent.

After a thorough investigation, Sun Wentai found out that descendants of the Yuan Clan, who had joined the former's sect as a disciple, were in cahoots with Liu Biao's men. The youth was the ringleader of this incident.

This caused Jiangdong White Tiger Sect to suffer a heavy blow. Sun Wentai didn't have enough essence cores or refined stones to pay his disciples and elders, and his cultivation manuals, treasures, and pills were lost.

Fortunately, a group of elders, such as Huang Gongfu, chose to stay behind. Even Son Bofu managed to convince a dozen of his friends to stay.

Thus, Sun Wentai harbored a grudge toward Yuan Shu and Liu Biao. He swore that he would get stronger and get his revenge.

Because of the grudge, Sun Wentai took drastic action. He mortgaged the flying island to Wei Yuan and borrowed her money to strengthen his clan. As for Jiangdong White Tiger Sect, he disbanded it, leaving only his clan under his control.

Without the sect, Qiongqi cub, Zhu Qiao, and Gan Ning were freed. Yet, Gan Ning and Qiongqi cub rejoined Sun Wentai's clan as they felt like it was wrong to leave them.

As for Zhu Qiao, she joined the Yin Slave Mansion as instructed by her aunt. Her mother also texted her to confirm her order.

While the Sun Clan was on a temporary decline, Huangjin Monastery flourished as more cultivators decided to join the monkhood. Many wondering monks also returned with commoners, who wished to become immortals through the path of Buddha.

The World Tree Forest became popular as well. Many curious cultivators came to visit the tallest tree in the world.

However, dryads and ents warded off all intruders. They set up fences, wooden walls, and barricades to warn visiting travelers about the danger inside.

Many good visitors followed the regulation and only admired the tree from the authorized distance. These people received a token from the dryads, allowing them to purchase elixir from Siren City at a cheaper rate.

As for rowdy and arrogant cultivators, the dryads, ents, and the local beastmen showed them no mercy. No corpse was even left behind after they were done with them.

Siren City Region became a polarizing place – Many areas were friendly toward visitors while others were dangerous. Visiting cultivators had to be cautious of their manner and the local custom.

Even with the mixed reputation, many young cultivators flocked to Siren City through the south and the west main roads.

Xun You, Xun Yu, and Sima Fang had spread rumors about the founding of a new sect, and these people wanted to see the opening event. Some of them also came here to try their luck, hoping to join the sect as a disciple.

Merchants and opportunists from various villages and cities even relocated their families to set up a new village near Siren City. Even if they couldn't get the authority to settle in the territory, they still chose to migrate here due to the richness of Life Essence Qi and Wood Qi.

And today, Miaomiao and all elders showed up at the eastern platform in front of the city. They put a massive boulder there and a giant signboard at the center.

The newly established sect, Ten Paths of Nirvana, would welcome new disciples!