Martial Saint with Passives

While Jiang Che was in the Level A Cultivation Room, single-mindedly pushing for a higher peak on the Martial Dao,

the world outside had been turned completely upside down in the mere month of his seclusion.

After a perfunctory investigation from the General’s Mansion, the "Cangzhou Demon Extermination Alliance" had taken action.

Led by figures such as Xie Songnian, Vice Sect Leader of the Cangyun Sect, and Zhao Qianjun, Vice Sect Leader of the Taiyuan Sect, the Alliance launched a second, massive "demon extermination" campaign!

This time, they seemed to have learned their lesson and no longer attacked blindly.

No one knew where they had obtained their "precise intelligence," but their operations were surprisingly successful!

In just a few days, one deeply hidden Demon Sect stronghold after another was rooted out!

Even more shockingly,

as the investigation deepened, some minor Sects and Noble Families, long held in high regard in the Jianghu,

were exposed one after another, their core members revealed to have long been infiltrated by the Demon Sect!

Entire families had even become the Demon Sect’s hidden tusks, lying in wait among the righteous factions!

"Shocking Scandal! The Sect Leader of the Century-Old ’Iron Sword Sect’ is a Demon Sect Guardian!"

"The Entire Qingfeng Xu Family are Demons! An Evil Altar for Human Sacrifice Found in a Secret Chamber of Their Home!"

One shocking revelation after another spread like wildfire throughout Cangzhou Prefecture via channels like the *Cangzhou Wind and Cloud Chronicles*.

For a time, the bloody storm that had annihilated the You Family was re-enacted on a massive scale!

The entire Martial World of Cangzhou Prefecture went mad!

"Kill them! Avenge my fallen martial brothers!"

"Blood for blood! Wipe out all the Demon Sect scum!"

Undeniably, what initially drove the righteous Martial Artists to raise their blades was a bone-deep, unforgettable hatred.

However, when the first "Demon Sect Noble Family" was wiped out and a search of their estate revealed mountains of gold and silver, Martial Arts Secret Manuals, and precious Elixir Pills—all of which were divided among their exterminators—

everything changed.

Hatred was gradually replaced by a more primal, more naked greed.

The so-called "exorcism and defense of the righteous path" quickly devolved into a bloody carnival of "robbery" in the name of "justice"!

"Did you hear? Black Water Stronghold was wiped out! Their Stronghold Lord’s treasured saber, said to cut through iron as if it were mud, was snatched up by the Heaven-Sundering Sect!"

"That’s not all! The Liu Family Manor was razed to the ground! Their family’s heirloom, the *Wind Following Step Technique*, is said to make a person as light as a swallow. Who knows whose hands it has fallen into now!"

"Hurry! To Flying Eagle Castle! I hear their Fortress Lord is a Demon Sect spy too! If we’re late, there won’t even be scraps left!"

Countless Martial Artists swarmed in from all directions, like sharks that had smelled blood.

Their eyes red with bloodlust, they no longer cared to distinguish between actual members of the Demon Sect and the innocent people who had been framed.

The moment a name appeared on the Alliance’s "Demon Extermination List," they would swarm in, tear the target to shreds, and then madly carve up their centuries of accumulated wealth!

Eventually, even many Independent Cultivators and Gangs who weren’t part of the Demon Extermination Alliance at all

began to take advantage of the chaos, burning, killing, and looting under the banner of "Exorcism" to settle personal scores.

The entirety of Cangzhou Prefecture was plunged into a tide of blood and fire!

Yet, the most bizarre and unsettling thing of all

was the attitude of the General’s Mansion.

In the face of turmoil great enough to shake the very foundations of Cangzhou’s Martial Dao,

Qin Fuhu, with 300,000 soldiers of the Qilin Army at his command, chose to...

stand by and do nothing!

He ordered his army to blockade all major routes leading out of Cangzhou Prefecture, forbidding anyone from entering or leaving on the grounds of "preventing Demons from the Demon Sect from escaping"!

It was as if he intended to trap this bloody "plague" and let it burn itself out within the prefecture’s walls!

Beyond that, he made no other move.

He just sat there quietly in his lofty General’s Mansion, coldly watching as the Jianghu Sects tore each other apart like rabid dogs, slaughtering one another.

No one could fathom his reasoning.

But regardless, the extermination campaign led by the Demon Extermination Alliance had spiraled completely out of control, sliding into an endless abyss.

And the once highly anticipated "Young Alliance Leader" selection tournament had long since been completely forgotten amidst the bloody frenzy, never to be mentioned again.

...

While the entire Martial World of Cangzhou Prefecture was mired in a frenzy of blood, fire, and chaos,

the center of power in Cangzhou Prefecture—

the General’s Mansion—was a stark contrast, an oasis of solemn tranquility.

「Deep within the mansion.」

Within a study, unadorned save for a vast landscape map of the nation hanging on one wall,

the rich scent of ink mingled with the faint smell of blood in the air.

General Qin Fuhu was dressed in simple, dark robes, not his armor.

But the Iron Blood Evil Qi he exuded—an aura forged on countless battlefields, honed amidst a Corpse Mountain and Blood Sea—was more intimidating than any suit of Armor.

He stood before the massive map, hands clasped behind his back, his profound gaze fixed on a region to the north that had been colored a startling crimson.

Behind him stood his adjutant, a man built like a tower with a savage scar across his face, hands held respectfully at his sides.

This was his trusted commander, Long Xiang.

"Your Excellency," Long Xiang’s voice was low, yet it held a trace of irrepressible excitement. "Your ’wolf devouring the tiger’ strategy is truly brilliant! The Cangzhou Martial World is in a complete uproar. Those so-called prestigious sects are slaughtering one another, their Vitality greatly depleted. Once they’ve worn each other down, all we need to do is..."

He made a gesture of closing a net.

Qin Fuhu did not turn around. His gaze remained locked on the map as he let out a cold snort.