Chapter 207 - 150: Activation
The five disciples from Changle Martial Arts Hall traveled south.
As they passed through Jia City, they could see how tense the border between the Holy Sect and Daliang had become.
Jia City was heavily garrisoned by Lu Changfeng. Most of its citizens had been moved inland, and the city was now primarily occupied by soldiers and their families.
The checkpoints for entering and exiting were extremely strict.
On the newly published maps—even those made by Daliang—Jia City and Qin City were now marked as part of Yunyang Prefecture’s territory.
This was Daliang’s way of showing goodwill to the Yunyang Prefecture Holy City.
But whether the Holy Sect would accept this gesture, no one knew.
The clone, Lu Jun, and her companions presented their household registration documents and briefly explained their mission.
The group was finally allowed to pass.
"You young ones be careful. Don’t go showing off in Daliang just because you know some Martial Arts."
"But don’t be afraid of being bullied, either. Remember, if anyone gives you trouble, the Holy Sect has your back."
So said the general guarding the border in Jia City.
The clone, Lu Jun, nodded to herself. ’Lin Erfeng’s methods of governance are quite effective.’
Now, everyone in the Saint Demon Sect, from the Demon Sects above to the common people below, was brimming with confidence.
The tide of public opinion could turn easily.
Under the strong leadership of Saint Master Lu Changfeng, some Martial Artists in Yunyang Prefecture who were well-versed in history naturally began to draw comparisons to the Holy Dragon Country, which the Holy Sect had once founded.
The people all believed that this was the dawn of a new era for the Holy Sect’s resurgence.
After the group of five left Jia City, the first thing they saw was an artificially created barren borderland.
To prevent enemy spies from hiding nearby, dozens of miles of land had been burned to a wasteland.
Along the way, they could still see many daring merchants crossing the border, risking great danger to travel between Daliang and the Holy Sect’s territory to profit from trade.
Amidst the admiring murmurs of the other disciples, they traveled south from Jia City and arrived at the first city in Daliang.
The attire of Lu Jun, Wei He, and the other three clearly marked them as Martial Artists, so as soon as they approached the checkpoint, they were surrounded by a group of Daliang soldiers.
Lu Jun frowned slightly and presented her identification documents.
After confirming that Lu Jun’s group of five were Martial Artists from Yunyang Prefecture, the Daliang soldiers’ attitude did a complete one-eighty.
"So you’re Martial Artists from Yunyang Prefecture. What business brings you to Daliang?" the Daliang soldier captain asked, clearly treating the occupied Jiangnan Prefecture as their own national territory.
Wei He stepped forward. "We are heading to Wang City to pick someone up."
"Who are you picking up?" the captain pressed.
"That, we cannot say," Wei He said with a frown.
The soldier captain looked at Wei He, Lu Jun, and the others, then finally waved his hand. "Go on, then. Hope you have a pleasant time in Daliang."
The five of them entered the territory with their heads held high.
This was the strength and confidence that came from the top down.
At that moment, on the other side, a group of Martial Artists from Cyan Mountain Prefecture were stopped. "Why do they get to enter so quickly?"
A Daliang soldier sneered, "They’re Martial Artists from Yunyang Prefecture, under the rule of the Saint Demon Sect. What makes you people from Cyan Mountain Prefecture think you can compare to the Saint Demon Sect?"
The Martial Artists from Cyan Mountain Prefecture were speechless. Someone muttered under their breath that next time, they should just say they were from Yunyang Prefecture.
...
After crossing the border, Lu Jun’s group of five had a smooth journey.
Through his clone, Lu Jun, Lu Changfeng discovered that Daliang Country had indeed been well-prepared.
In a short period of time, the cities of Jiangnan Prefecture had been repopulated with people from Daliang.
These Daliang People, who had arrived by boat from Daliang, were each given free houses and free land.
It was as if they had become nobles just by taking a single boat trip.
Meanwhile, the local people of Jiangnan Prefecture, aside from those who had been slaughtered, had been stripped of their wealth and reduced to the lowest, penniless class.
They had to toil for the Daliang Alien Race just to earn enough to eat.
The laws of the Daliang Alien Race were extremely harsh, directly dividing people into a rigid caste system.
The highest, first tier was for the Daliang nobility. Below them were the Daliang commoners. And because Daliang wanted to stay on good terms with the Holy Sect, people with Yunyang Prefecture household registrations were placed in the same tier as Daliang commoners.
The third tier consisted of people from the other prefectures. The fourth tier was for the indigenous people of Jiangnan Prefecture, and the fifth tier was for those indigenous people of Jiangnan who, for various reasons, had been demoted to the "lowly" class, as well as criminals.
Currently, the vast majority of Jiangnan Prefecture’s indigenous people were in the fifth tier; very few even remained in the fourth.
Daliang was suppressing the original inhabitants of Jiangnan Prefecture to the greatest extent possible.
For the people of Jiangnan, whose spirits had been broken, just being alive was a blessing. As for resistance, under Daliang’s oppressive rule, it was impossible for the time being.
There were still subtle differences in appearance between the Daliang People and the Song People.
As a result, when the clone Lu Jun and her four companions walked the streets of Daliang’s cities, they were often provoked by the Daliang Alien Race.
Left with no choice, the five of them hung the tokens representing their Yunyang Prefecture status in a conspicuous place on their waists.
Only then did they encounter much less trouble.
In times of peace, Martial Artists at the Blood Forging Realm were strong enough to complete most missions that required crossing between cities.
But in this current era of war, Wei He and the others had to be extremely careful.
They traveled nonstop for several days, growing ever closer to Wang City. To complete their mission faster, the group decided to travel day and night along the county roads.
They only stopped to rest at a post station when the moon had risen above the treetops.
"We should be able to reach Wang City by noon tomorrow."
"It would be best to find Li Xiao the same day. That way, we can rest for a day and head straight back the day after," Wei He said.
Wei He was the strongest in the group, and given his relationship with Lu Changfeng and the high regard Han Fan had for him, he had been the leader of the team throughout the journey.
The other four, including Lu Jun, all nodded in agreement.
As the only woman in the group, the clone Lu Jun took a private guest room at the post station.
Night fell.
Several vines gradually extended out from the area around the post station.
It was Hua Chengyu, who had come on Lu Changfeng’s orders.
Silently, Hua Chengyu drained the blood from several Daliang Alien Race soldiers at the post station, turning them into desiccated corpses.
Hua Chengyu released a strange, floral scent.
Everyone else inside the post station fainted and collapsed to the ground.
"Someone with an Ancient Bloodline should have noticed by now," Hua Chengyu murmured.
Sure enough, the next moment, the main door of the post station swung open.
Wei He stood there, longsword in hand. His expression changed the moment he saw the desiccated corpses outside.
Inside, his junior brothers and sister had fainted. Outside, the post station soldiers had been killed by a mysterious person.
Wei He’s brow furrowed, a flicker of various emotions crossing his eyes as he clearly struggled with a decision.
A moment later, with a loud RUMBLE, a wall of one of the guest rooms was smashed to pieces.
Wei He’s heart leaped in alarm. That seemed to be where Lu Jun was staying.
Wei He no longer hesitated and instantly activated his Ancient Demon Fiend Bloodline!
Bloodline Talent: [Ancient Chaos Demon Dragon 45%, (Ancient Level Demon Fiend Bloodline)]
The Ancient Chaos Demon Dragon was one of the ancestral dragons. Its bloodline came directly from the three thousand ’Primordial Demon Gods’ and possessed immense power, a full tier higher than the Divine Dragon Bloodline of the Yunfo Temple’s abbot!