On the other side, Lu Chan and her group were raiding homes.
The cultivators affiliated with the Zhao family in the city turned a blind eye, while the generals from the five great families, upon hearing that their homes had been attacked, rushed over with their men in a furious manner, only to be predictably routed.
Lu Chan didn't even need to lift a finger; with just a thought, she could mesmerize a large group of people.
Techniques involving the divine soul were the hardest to cultivate and the most difficult to defend against, and against opponents significantly weaker than herself, it was a complete suppression.
In the absence of True Monarchs in Luo Shui, almost no one could contend with the top ten prodigies of the three rankings; He Huan was at least a former tenth.
As a result, Lu Chan gained a large group of laborers, and the speed of the raid increased dramatically.
At the Luo Shui Post, a swift boat sailed down the river towards Bianjing, covering eight hundred miles in a day.
At this moment, Bianjing City was shrouded in a deathly silence, with countless people casting vague, malicious glances towards the direction of the imperial palace.
It was not that a civil unrest was imminent; the civil unrest of Da Qian had never ceased.
Rather, it was that the Crown Prince had been killed in the streets, and the sanctity of imperial power had completely collapsed.
Even ordinary citizens now understood that Da Qian was finished; even if the national strength were to suddenly recover to its peak, the hearts of the people would no longer recognize the Zhao family.
The Zhao family had poisoned the world for hundreds of years; even the bamboo slips of Nanshan could not fully record their myriad sins.
The waves of the East Sea could not wash away their heinous crimes.
This sentiment had been circulating in the streets and was spreading uncontrollably from Bianjing like a raging fire.
Two post officials rode swiftly from different directions towards the imperial palace, converging at the palace gates at the same time.
The Imperial Guards hurried past several checkpoints with two letters in hand, arriving at the grand hall where the Daoist Emperor resided, a wave of heat blowing out from within.
"Your Majesty, there are two more trivial edicts."
"Mm."
The Daoist Emperor waved his hand, and the two trivial edicts flew into his grasp.
Upon opening them, his previously calm expression shifted slightly.
"A Fourfold Dao Foundation killing a Sevenfold True Monarch; although it was actually a Sevenfold against an Eightfold, the gap between the Golden Core nourishing the body has historically been hard to surpass. The world is unpredictable; how could he be so formidable? Is it my calamity?"
As he spoke, the Daoist Emperor's killing intent intensified.
He had previously dismissed Gu Wen because he did not believe the other could surpass him.
With a perfected Ninefold Dao Foundation and an Eightfold True Monarch, such cultivation was rare in the world; achieving even half of his level was already a prodigy.
But now he felt that Gu Wen could reach his level, and he would become an obstacle on his path to immortality.
The second letter brought good news from Zechuan: Wen Renwu had quelled the rebellion, and only a few remnants of bandits remained.
In the process, he had swept away the local aristocrats of Zechuan, seizing nearly five million taels of silver and countless grains, enough to replenish the court's coffers.
This rebellion was not entirely a bad thing; at least it had refilled the empty national treasury.
With money, they could continue refining pills.
The Daoist Emperor raised a finger, and the still-wet ink on the desk automatically flowed onto the blank document, forming a decree in an instant.
"Send this to the Grand General."
A guard left with the decree, and shortly after, another guard entered, bringing the third letter.
The Daoist Emperor merely glanced at it, his expression darker than before, and said, "Recall the previous decree."
Lin Chuan County had fallen, and the severity of the situation was such that news had almost failed to get out.
Lin Chuan was his medicinal warehouse, far more important than Gu Wen, a prodigy who had yet to fully mature.
Gu Wen was merely a potential obstacle, but the fall of Lin Chuan would immediately render his Longevity Pills unrefinable.
The decree just issued returned to his hand, and he tossed it into the alchemy furnace, turning it to ashes, then drafted a new decree.
In the military camp of Zechuan.
Wen Renwu received two pieces of news in succession.
The first was about Gu Wen killing a True Monarch; although he was merely a complete waste, it still frightened him into immediately rallying his troops, preparing to march to Luo Shui.
He did not want to see the next person become like him, dying as pathetically as that waste in the news.
Clearly, a True Monarch outside could easily kill an ant with a finger, yet in the realm of immortality, they could rely on their talents to trample them beneath their feet.
There was a saying in the cultivation world: "Dead geniuses are like decayed wood," and those with great future potential were often stifled in the cradle.
He sneered, "I am now at the Fourfold Perfection of the Eightfold Dao Foundation; can I not kill you, a mere Fourfold Dao Foundation?"
Then the second piece of news arrived: Lin Chuan County had fallen.
Wen Renwu felt a sense of foreboding but still led his troops towards Luo Shui.
Lin Chuan could be pacified at any time, but the cause and effect between him and Gu Wen had to be settled quickly.
Could he not defeat the Daoist Heavenly Maiden, yet still fear Gu Wen?
As if bound by heavy cause and effect, he had yet to leave the borders of Zechuan when a decree predictably blocked Wen Renwu.
[Pacify Lin Chuan; no mistakes allowed.]
Wen Renwu's tiger-like eyes darkened; despite a thousand doubts, he ultimately had to accept the decree.
"Understood."
Without the Daoist Emperor's assistance, going would only mean death, but Gu Wen could not kill him and let him rest easy!
The army rested and then set off again towards Lin Chuan.
With the supply line from Zechuan, the court's army was more composed than before, but at this moment, a faint gloom hung over the Da Qian court.
The next day, Gu Wen woke up completely unclothed, thankfully covered by a blanket, preventing him from being exposed to the morning sun.
Speaking of which, could one not restrain the body's instinctive reactions?
With a thought, all reactions were instantly smoothed out; the convenience of cultivation lay in self-discipline.
Even normal bodily responses, he had the right to refuse.
"I do not recommend you do that."
A clear and gentle voice came from nearby.
Yu Hua sat in a chair not far away, looking up earnestly as she instructed, "Standing in the Yang Extreme is not just a saying; it is a node in the cycle of yin and yang in the body. You can suppress it without issue, but some people are simply too afraid of feminine allure, and when faced with temptation, they cannot hold themselves back."
"There is a saying: one character is a monk, two characters are a monk, three characters are a ghostly official, and four characters are a hungry ghost in lust. Although it is used to scold the Buddhist sect, it is not inappropriate for the Daoist sect either."
Gu Wen could not tell whether she was teasing him or genuinely lecturing him.
He slightly pulled up the blanket to cover his body, then felt it was too feminine, so he simply sat up, exposing his chest and back.
He asked, "Who brought me back?"
Yu Hua replied, "It was the protector who carried you back. You should rest well and not engage in battles lightly."
"What about my clothes?"
Gu Wen inquired about his clothing, only to see a pile of torn fabric on the ground.
He was not surprised; it was just that his body was inexplicably clean.
Yu Hua, without changing her expression, said, "I washed them for you."
"Ah," Gu Wen's eyes widened slightly, then he thought that since she was a cultivator, she must have some spells or something; otherwise, even the bathhouse master could not scrub so cleanly.
He did not care about bodily purity; it was just that this made him feel a bit strange.
After all, they were just innocent Dao friends!
Yu Hua handed the freshly washed clothes to Gu Wen and said, "You only have one set left. Let me accompany you to buy a few more."
(End of Chapter)