Chapter 248 (2)

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Before meeting Dao Zhen, Hai Siyuan still harbored some glimmer of hope.

After all, the old man of the arsenal, Li Changshi, also turned to cultivation after retiring from the army, so he harbored no bias against cultivators.

Thinking that since Dao Zhen was a descendant from the isolated city, he should show some empathy towards the old soldiers who had defended the city.

Perhaps Dao Zhen pretends to join the Immortal Gate on the surface, but his heart actually longs for the Lonely City, doesn’t it?

It had been decades since Hai Siyuan last saw Dao Zhen, and his heart was starting to feel a bit chilly.

After many years apart, Dao Zhen showed no obvious emotional fluctuations on his face – no nostalgia, no excitement, no intense love or hate, only a faint sense of… curiosity?

This young Taoist seemed like an inexperienced child, with a kind of… innocence in his eyes?

But this innocence made Hai Siyuan feel a bit frightened.

Just like an innocent child playing with ants, he might throw a piece of meat to watch the ants carry it away when the mood strikes. Or he might pour boiling water over an ant nest when the mood fades.

To a cultivator, ordinary people may seem no different from ants.

"Do you know what kind of place this Great Qin Prefecture is?" Dao Zhen asked calmly.

"It’s the Earthly Immortal Kingdom that the Great Dao Sect intends to establish."

"Here will be a heavenly land created with great effort by Immortal Gate. With soldiers like King Qin’s Blazing Essence Gold Taoist guarding, they can suppress Inhuman Disasters and deal with troublemaking ordinary martial artists."

"Any resident entering Great Qin Prefecture, as long as they worship the Group Immortals of Great Dao Sect devoutly, offer incense to the gods, they can receive protection from Immortal Gate, free from disasters and difficulties."

Hai Siyuan and his friend felt absurd.

"Heavenly land?"

Li Changshi shivered and pointed laboriously to the Great Qin City.

Looking from here, one could see refugees pouring out of the open city gates. Upon closer inspection, blood-stained streets inside the city gates could also be seen, yet to be cleaned.

"Is this the heavenly land you mentioned?" Li Changshi said indignantly.

"This is because ordinary people have rebelled," Dao Zhen said lightly.

"Before you rebels acted, was this Great Qin City not thriving and prosperous, with people living in peace and contentment?"

"Since you mentioned the prosperity, where does the money to build Great Qin Prefecture come from?" asked Li Changshi with a frown.

"The funds come from the royal treasury, they don’t just magically appear. The people moved here from other parts of Zhong Province," explained someone.

"With refugees coming from other regions, it shows that those areas in Zhong Province must be facing great difficulties and suffering," added the speaker.

"That’s true," admitted Dao Zhen calmly, without argument.

"Other areas in Zhong Province are struggling, but it’s beyond our capabilities to help them all," expressed someone.

"While other areas are in turmoil, Great Qin Prefecture can stand as a paradise on earth," elaborated another person.

"As cultivators, we seek to maintain a continuous and stable spiritual energy supply," emphasized another.

"We don’t seek to torment ordinary people, as they are not part of our spiritual pursuits," clarified the speaker.

"So… the benefits of the Immortal Gate are actually not opposed to the benefits of ordinary people. Why would cultivators intentionally torture ordinary people?"

Hai Siyuan felt a chilling sensation creeping into his bones.

"You joined the Great Dao SectImmortal Gate, and your heart changed so much?" Hai Siyuan couldn’t believe it, feeling a bit confused.

Dao Zhen shook his head, "Just by cultivating the immortal path and joining the Immortal Gate, one realizes the vastness of the world, and the perspective is different from before."

"The old soldiers sacrificed for the country, but does Great Yan still remember your names?"

Hai Siyuan was once again speechless.

"So, this is where we can’t agree." Dao Zhen sighed softly.

"If ordinary people don’t cause trouble or rebel, the Great Qin Prefecture will still be a happy place, eventually becoming the Earthly Immortal Kingdom. How did it end up like this now?"

"You think of the Immortal Gate as tyrannical and look down on ordinary people, but do you know how powerful the Nine Immortal Gates are? Resisting is a dead end, only bringing suffering to the people and causing more deaths."

In Dao Zhen’s view, the Great Qin Prefecture smoothly becoming the Earthly Immortal Kingdom is a good outcome.

The Immortal Gate receives offerings. People living there are safe and happy as long as they believe in the group of immortals. It’s a win-win situation.

Cultivators usually don’t care much about ordinary people’s lives, but there are only a few like Dao Xu who act recklessly.

Now that the common people have exposed King Qin’s true identity, the Great Dao Sect can no longer deceive others.

Instead, it would invite disasters and cause more harm than good to the overall stability, resulting in more casualties.

"I…" Hai Siyuan felt nervous and tongue-tied.

Although he held the position of a 3rd rank general, his status was not considered low.



Spending most of his life on the battlefield in the Hundred-mile Desert from the age of twenty, he found it hard to argue with Dao Zhen’s words.

Li Changshi behind him sighed. Being older, he had a deeper understanding of the situation.

"Captain Hai, arguing with him is pointless."

"Dao Zhen is a Heavenly Spirit Root, with exceptional talent, a rare genius in the path of immortality, and an elite among the human race."

"So since he entered the Immortal Gate, he’s no longer with us here."

Li Changshi was feeling a bit discouraged.

Initially, it was Dao Zhen’s older brother General Li Changge who insisted on letting Dao Zhen join the Immortal Gate, hoping at least to send the innocent child into the desert…

"Since we can’t come to an agreement, there’s nothing more we can do."

Dao Zhen reached out his hand, the golden bell shadow was collected by him, shimmering with golden light in his palm.

The lonely city was where he grew up, and these former guards of the lonely city were also familiar to him.

Allowing them to stay here any longer would likely be a dead end.

"Either way leads to death, so why not follow me?" Dao Zhen sighed softly.

"I have already become a powerful Taoist leader, so protecting a few ordinary people is an easy task for me now."

"Come with me back to our Taoist sect’s sacred place."

He waved his robe sleeves and a bright light shot out, pulling these old soldiers into his sleeves.

But at this moment.

From outside the door, a cold voice could be heard:

"Great Tao Golden Pill? I wonder what that tastes like."

Dao Zhen suddenly stopped waving his sleeves and looked back.

Behind him, a tall figure had appeared out of nowhere.

The figure leaned against the door frame, standing calmly with broad shoulders, half-black and half-white long hair cascading down casually. His deep eyes sparkled like an abyss, exuding a powerful presence.

"Is he a martial artist?" Dao Zhen turned around, looking quite surprised.

In just a blink of an eye, it seemed like a strong wind swept by.

Dao Zhen looked down and saw that his robe sleeve was torn apart by a huge force, splitting it in half from the middle.

His body quickly slumped, eventually turning into two pieces of shattered paper, falling to the ground.

"Hmm, ‘inhuman’ refers to a ghostly spirit, he’s just a paper man." The tall man said coldly.

He turned and walked away, showing no intention of stopping.

With his robe sleeve torn open, Hai Siyuan and the others who were just put into it, saw the figure leaving.

Li Changshi watched the figure walking away, feeling a sudden excitement in his heart as he reached his old age, causing his heart to beat faster uncontrollably.

Without thinking, he took a step forward and shouted:

"War…."

He shouted just one word, then fell silent, not saying anything else.

After forty years of brutal warfare, everything had changed beyond recognition.

He hesitated whether to call out "General Li" or "Martial Saint". Sёarch* The NôᴠelFirё.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

The Martial Saint didn’t respond, nor did he turn around, disappearing swiftly into the wind.

…………………

"Adoptive father, have you made up your mind?" Wu Qiankun watched this scene with a complex expression.

"In fact, entering the Great Dao Sect… is not a good breakthrough opportunity."

"In Jiu Province, there are Nine Immortal Gates. Although we martial artists don’t know who is the strongest among them, we can judge from the territories they occupy."

"The Great Dao Sect may seem similar in strength to other Immortal Gates, but since they can control the Zhong Province, they must have remarkable abilities."

"My adoptive father… just by making a move this time, he will turn everything upside down. I thought that, considering the bigger picture, we could first target the Yunxiao Sect in the Qi Province or the Xuantian Sect in the Nan Province."



The Qi Province is a barren land, with many mountains and few people. There are not many inhabitants, so naturally the spiritual practices there are not prosperous.

Therefore, according to the assessment of the Wuji Association, the Yunxiao Sect in the Qi Province, which occupies it, should be the weakest among the Nine Immortal Gates.

As for the Xuantian Sect in the Nan Province… mainly due to the incident of Emperor Yonghe worshipping the gods, they were defeated by a coalition of the other Eight Immortal Gates, and it seems they have suffered severe losses.

"Shut up." The Martial Saint looked indifferently at the gate of the Great Qin City in front of him.

"Over the past few decades, I have had enough of the phrase ‘bigger picture’."