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Chapter 493: Chapter 489 Immortal Country
"Buzz, buzz!"
Just then, waves of flowing light began to permeate from the towers surrounding the city wall.
This was...
Gu Jinlai’s brows furrowed.
A sign that the City Protection Array was about to be preactivated.
At the same time, there was also the Divine Thought of Cao Wudao, the Army Commander of the City Guard Army, sweeping across the city at an extremely fast speed, "A Demon Slayer has reported that a large number of devils are converging in the Dragon Tears Valley in the direction of Liuhuo City. It is suspected to be devil activity, and to ensure the safety of Wind and Rain City, the City Protection Array will enter a preactivation phase for the coming period! Once the specific movements of the devils in Dragon Tears Valley are confirmed, it will be deactivated!"
The resources consumed in one day of the City Protection Array’s activation were astronomical.
Even if only preactivated, the resources consumed each day still exceeded a hundred million.
And this City Protection Array...
Defending against the Dragon Emperor and the Demon Emperor was one reason, another reason, I’m afraid, was to guard against him, Gu Jinlai.
"I wonder if Zhao Hua has reported the movements in Dragon Tears Valley to the Supreme Elders of the Six Great Cave Heavens..."
Gu Jinlai pondered in his heart.
For now, the Dragon Tears Demon Emperor had not made any major moves, and although he was gathering devils, he had not explicitly stated he would attack Wind and Rain City.
Moreover, every city’s City Protection Array in the Holy Dynasty was crafted from a great amount of energy, effort, and resources. With the power of the array, the activation of Divine Weapons, and the Saints presiding, they could bring out the full potential of the Divine Weapons, thereby possessing the power to face the Demon Emperor head-on,
This was also why almost every City Lord was bestowed with a Divine Weapon.
With such a combination, so long as the scale of the demonic tide stirred up by the Dragon Tears Demon Emperor wasn’t too large, it wasn’t difficult for Wind and Rain City to withstand the sweep of the demonic tide.
In this situation, if Zhao Hua reported the matter to the Supreme Elders of the Six Great Cave Heavens, one wrong step could lead the higher echelons of the Holy Dynasty to feel his capabilities were limited and insufficient to control the situation in Wind and Rain City or to defend it.
Following this clue...
"Wind and Rain City."
Gu Jinlai gathered his Divine Sense.
His figure flashed, heading outside the city.
In front of Zhao Hua, he had killed Zong Yan in the Demon-slaying Hall, thoroughly offending the City Lord, and with his rise inevitably touching the interests of Zhao Hua and others, a battle between them was inevitable.
He could possibly strike first and decisively attack Zhao Hua, but since Zhao Hua was appointed by the Holy Dynasty as the Wind and Rain City Lord and one of the Sealed Border Officials, without sufficient evidence and reason to kill Zhao Hua, it would be a provocation of the Holy Dynasty’s rule, and he would inevitably face retaliation from the entire Holy Dynasty.
Therefore...
He must either patiently investigate to obtain undeniable evidence of Zhao Hua’s crimes,
Or... 𝓃𝓸𝓋𝓅𝓊𝒷.𝓬𝓸𝓂
Wait for his Cultivation to progress further.
In a world harnessing myriad mighty forces, as long as one’s own strength was powerful enough to execute a dimensionality reduction strike, the need for evidence would become irrelevant.
At that time, his word would be evidence.
"I have completely adapted to the rules of this world."
Gu Jinlai sighed internally.
He glanced at the Inner City, where the warning Formation had now fully risen, his figure like light, streaking through the void, falling toward the Zone Master Mansion.
With Zhao Hua activating the array, despite it only being a preactivation, he also blocked the path for the Martial Kings and Primordial Spirit True Monarchs to freely enter and exit Wind and Rain City.
They would have to use a few of the gateways left by the Formation to flee back to the city. As long as Gu Jinlai had people guard these gateways, the Outer City and the Inner City would be essentially isolated.
Next, he could thoroughly sweep the Outer City without worrying about anyone escaping inside.
Of course, those with a good background and quick minds probably already fled to the Inner City. What’s left in the Outer City District were probably just the small fry.
...
As Liu Feiyun and others led troops quickly towards Wind and Rain City, the news of Chi Long Territory being swept away also spread.
Furthermore, as Gu Jinlai spread the news broadly in the Outer City District, the Outer City, and even the Inner City, fell into a state of excitement, cheering for the brilliant victory Gu Jinlai, the Zone Leader, had brought to the Human Clan.
In such an atmosphere, preparations for accommodating millions were spontaneously carried out by various departments.
Countless temporary dwelling houses were rapidly constructed.
Some old clothes were also donated and managed in piles.
The entire Outer City District began operating at high speed.
It seems the words Gu Jinlai had Jin Fantian convey took effect; days later, an internal meeting was held in Wind and Rain City, appointing Gu Jinlai as the fourth Deputy City Lord of Wind and Rain City, in charge of all matters in the Outer City District.
No sooner was the appointment made than the staff, who had been somewhat uneasy with following Gu Jinlai in the confiscation of various powers, were instantly spirited, each throwing themselves into their work with even greater enthusiasm.
In Wind and Rain City’s hierarchy, there seemed to be all sorts of thoughts, with everything considered from their personal interests.
After all, without such ruthlessness, they wouldn’t have reached the upper echelons.
But the grassroots officials still held a sincere heart, earnestly wanting to contribute their insignificant strength for the Human Clan’s battle against devils.
...
Zone Master Mansion.
In the office.
It took Gu Jinlai six days to completely sweep the Outer City District.
There may still be a small number who slipped through the net, but the manpower and resources required for these remaining individuals were more troublesome than dealing with those larger forces, so it could only progress slowly.
"One hundred and eighty beams of Starlight."
Gu Jinlai sensed the situation in his Spirit Realm.
These lights were not enough to bring his Chaotic Star Light Body to the brink of Perfection.
As for the Outer City District...
Many people had received news in advance and escaped to the Inner City, so even if he swept through the area repeatedly, the amount of Starlight he could gain was estimated to be only around ten or eight strands.
"The chaos of Wind and Rain City has been singled out by the high-ranking officials of the Holy Dynasty, which forced Zhao Hua to find a ’knife’ to try to clear up the situation and deal with the investigation from above... In the entire Wind and Rain City, those who are extremely wicked are not few in number, and including those who escaped from the Outer City District, if the entire Inner City were to be purged... I’m afraid that five or six hundred strands of Starlight could be obtained."
Gu Jinlai pondered.
However, Zhao Hua and his allies were already on guard, with the City Protection Array in a state of pre-activation, and with the threat of the Dragon Tears Demon Emperor imminent, it was impossible for him to charge into the Inner City and start a massacre.
Moreover...
The Thunder Magnetic Elemental Gold that Jin Fantian said would arrive in three to five days hadn’t been delivered yet.
"Hmm!?"
At this moment, Gu Jinlai felt as if he sensed something and looked forward.
After a moment, a breeze appeared silently in his office, and it closed the doors and windows.
It was Ding Zhongyuan, the Demonic Cultist ranked third on the Clearing Department’s list of extremely dangerous individuals.
Moving twelve billion.
"Ancient Martial Saint."
After appearing, Ding Zhongyuan respectfully saluted, "Thank you, Ancient Martial Saint, for breaking the Li Long Domain, liberating my tens of millions of the Human Clan, leading them away from deep distress."
"You should have heard of my actual strength. Now that you appear before me, do you still think you can escape from my hands with your Divine Power movement technique?"
Gu Jinlai said to the Demonic Cultist.
"The Ancient Martial Saint is different from others. You’ve just arrived at the Holy Dynasty and haven’t been tainted by the high-ranking officials’ corrupt environment. This can be seen from your actions in Wind and Rain City during this period."
Ding Zhongyuan said respectfully.
This attitude was much better than when the two first met.
"You’re not here just to flatter me with a few words, are you?"
Gu Jinlai said indifferently.
In fact, Ding Zhongyuan had previously provided him with quite a bit of evidence of Zhao Hua and others persecuting their kin and even colluding with Devils.
But those pieces of evidence...
He had looked into them.
They could bring down some ordinary people but were powerless against the likes of Zhao Hua, who controlled a city.
It’s like an ordinary person embezzling tens of thousands could face a decade or more in prison, but a top official embezzling billions might only receive a warning.
As long as it doesn’t touch upon fundamental interests or sensitive issues like subverting the Holy Dynasty, to those high-ranking officials, these are all trivial matters.
"This time, I have actually come to extend an invitation to the Ancient Martial Saint."
Ding Zhongyuan said.
"An invitation?"
Gu Jinlai looked at him.
Ding Zhongyuan organized his words for a moment before slowly saying, "Actually, regarding the crimes imposed on us by the Holy Dynasty, we admit to the point of ’splitting the Holy Dynasty.’ After all... the current Holy Dynasty, from top to bottom, is indeed utterly corrupt. Many people, even if they want to save the Holy Dynasty, either cannot rise to the Upper echelons and exhaust their efforts at the lower level without creating any impact, or they’re just assigned dangerous tasks, encountering unforeseen dangers, or even end up like us—branded as Out-of-Control or Demonic Cultists; that’s not strange at all."
He sighed, "Under these circumstances, instead of watching these warm-blooded and righteous people being persecuted to death by the corrupt officials and system of the Holy Dynasty, it’s better to take them with us away from here, heading to a truly hopeful sanctuary."
"A truly hopeful sanctuary?"
Gu Jinlai understood the reason he admitted to "splitting the Holy Dynasty."
"So, which power do you represent?"
"Immortal Country!"
Ding Zhongyuan said emphatically, "We represent the Immortal Country!"
He looked at Gu Jinlai, his eyes shining, "There are rumors outside that the Ancient Martial Saint might be related to the Li Yang Cave Heaven, and these past few days we have had people secretly infiltrate those civilians you rescued from the Chi Long Territory to quietly gather information, and indeed you are a hidden major figure from Li Yang Cave Heaven. As such, you must know about the Immortal Country, right?"
"Immortal Country."
Gu Jinlai heard the name but didn’t appear too surprised.
This power had existed for a long time.
In both the memories of the Aries Star Lord and the rumors he heard afterwards, this power was present.
In the memories of the Aries Star Lord, it was a huge power formed by many cultivators who couldn’t bear the creator’s oppression of cultivators.
They gathered together, creating an immensely vast World of Cave Heaven, known as Immortal Country.
This World of Cave Heaven seemed particularly special.
It was said that once the creator was curious to probe inside the Immortal Country to find out what these cultivators were up to, but he couldn’t set foot in Immortal Country even a little.
Even later, when he joined forces with several friends to invade Immortal Country, they still couldn’t enter it.
That was what made Immortal Country vaguely qualify to stand on an equal footing with the Holy Land, Gods Mountain, Sea God Temple, and other creator powers.
Many top powerhouses gathered there, researching the path above True Immortals—Immortal Masters.
And this caused the creators to feel threatened. They mass-produced Divine Weapons, trying to fundamentally seal off the path of cultivators, while also intensifying their extraction and research of the Spirit Realm.
Eventually...
A Spirit Realm storm erupted, leading to the destruction of the Heavenly Master Civilization.
"The Holy Dynasty has completely fallen. We sincerely hope that you, the Ancient Martial Saint, will join Immortal Country, to truly strive for the expelling of Devils and the resurgence of the glory of human civilization!"
Ding Zhongyuan said earnestly.
