A thousand images flashed through Liu Huai's mind.
One moment, he saw Yang Jiande's palace drenched in blood, slaying his own kin and children with his own hands.
The next, he saw himself having mastered the demonic arts, exacting revenge for his lord—storming Linzi, bathing the Qi palace in blood, and executing that old Jiang man right in the hall.
Then again, he stood before Yang Xuance's corpse, while his former lord Yang Jiande, face smeared with blood, glared at him. "Dog slave! I told you to protect my last remaining son. Why did you kill him instead?"
"Ahhh!"
Liu Huai tore himself free from his frenzied visions, gasping violently.
His face and body were already drenched in dense beads of sweat.
Yet those blood-red words still churned through his mind, growing clearer and clearer with each passing moment.
"No, no, I can't!"
He screamed several times in madness, then suddenly struck his own head with a backhand palm—exploding his skull!
Red and white splattered across the floor.
Liu Huai's corpse lay on the ground, his flesh and skin now slack, no longer tensed with the terror that had gripped him moments before.
However...
The window was shut, yet a wisp of wind crept in from somewhere unknown.
The wind swept up the ash left from the burned beast-skin book on the table, scattering it lightly over Liu Huai's corpse.
The ash gradually vanished, and Liu Huai's body slowly disappeared.
In the end, not even a trace of red or white remained on the ground—no flesh, no bone.
Only the clothes Liu Huai had worn in life lay there, and upon them—
An ancient beast-skin book!
...
...
The Blood Demon Cultivation of Severing Emotion and Desire had stirred waves in the State of Rong, but it had no impact whatsoever on Yang territory.
The people here welcomed the rule of the State of Qi amid their fear and unease... but they quickly adapted.
There were, of course, many reasons for this.
There was "the last spine of the Yang court," Huang Yixing, and there was the "peerlessly benevolent" Marquis of Qingyang.
Both had done their part to stay the butcher's blade. Huang Yixing had secured the peace of Hengyang Commandery, while Jiang Chen had built a sanctuary amid the chaos of war in the city domain of Jiacheng, Rizhao Commandery. Both had saved countless lives.
Naturally, Jiang Chen's reputation had been able to rival the former largely due to Chongxuan Sheng's tireless efforts in promoting him. Now, of the three commanderies of Yang territory, only the position of Rizhao Commandery's pacification commissioner remained undecided—testament to the great resistance—but the people's calls for Jiang Chen had already grown loudrown considerable.
Jiang Chen had placed some hope in this as well.
Only after being granted the title of Marquis of Qingyang did he truly begin to enjoy the benefits that Qingyang Town's domain bestowed upon him.
Titles and official ranks had never been mere honors. They were intimately tied to a court's governance of the state, and naturally, they also enabled one to partake in the nourishment of the state's fortune.
Specifically for a particular office, it influenced the official's power and determined what "feedback" they could receive.
For instance, Xi Munan could issue edicts bearing the seal of Jiacheng's city lord precisely because he drew upon Jiacheng's collective will. Gathering the people's will was useful not only for warfare—its more practical effect lay in aiding one's cultivation.
Take Jiang Chen himself, for example.
He had long since achieved actual control over Qingyang Town's domain, but it was lacking in propriety—he couldn't claim it rightfully. Only when his soul had fallen into the Flying Snow Tribulation had he unexpectedly received some feedback. But that was not through legitimate means.
That Carp-Patterned Crimson Banner could have helped him gather the people's will for his use, but unfortunately it had been destroyed by the Dragon-Bone Masked One before it could fully merge with Qingyang Town's domain.
But now, with all of Yang territory belonging to Qi, a single edict from the Qi court made Jiang Chen the rightful lord of Qingyang Town. The saying, "The people's will rises and falls like the tide"—only now could he truly understand it.
Manifested in his cultivation, the collective will of Qingyang Town's domain flowed into his noble seal at every moment—that was a small seal two finger-widths wide and two knuckles long, with the characters "Seal of the Qingyang Marquis" carved in intaglio.
Keeping this seal by his side, he could feel his soul force being nourished and strengthened. Of course, this process was extremely slow. But if sustained over years, the progress would be considerable.
And if he could secure the position of Rizhao Commandery's pacification commissioner and cultivate this region well, it would mean more collective will and faster soul strengthening.
Many officials neglected their duties not because they couldn't see such benefits. Rather, because this nourishment was slow and steady, while embezzlement and extortion often yielded immediate, tangible gains.
Generally speaking, the more prosperous the state, the more officials devoted themselves to the people, seeking long-term stability. The more precarious the state's situation, the more short-sighted the bureaucrats—unable to be certain they would reap long-term rewards, they simply wanted to seize their windfall and flee.
The saying goes, "In a strong state, scholars settle the realm; in a dying state, officials are worse than chickens." It is precisely this principle.
It means both that the power they command operates on entirely different levels, and that the feedback they receive differs by heaven and earth.
Returning to the State of Qi's rule over Yang territory:
In Jiang Chen's view, the reason Yang's people could so quickly accept Qi's rule was indeed thanks to Qi's years of infiltration, the gradual absorption of customs and traditions, and the effects of former Chancellor Yan Ping's policies.
But the most direct reason was that after completing their de facto occupation of all Yang territory, the Qi army had immediately purged all the ferocious beasts within their borders, resolving the scourge that countless Yang people had despised.
The vast majority of Yang's people had never set foot outside Yang territory in their lives. For the first time, they discovered that ferocious beasts could be eradicated, that the wilderness was not so dangerous, that outings were not confined to just a few miles beyond the suburbs... and they experienced the stable life of being a citizen of Qi!
This was perhaps something Qi's own people took for granted. But having experienced the heroism of Sanshan City firsthand, witnessing countless tragic scenes from the State of Zhuang to Yang, no one understood it better than Jiang Chen.
If a state was willing to eliminate the scourge of ferocious beasts—could a city lord like Dou Yuemei, whose heart truly belonged to the people, still guarantee loyalty to the State of Zhuang?
The matter of ferrous beasts, though common and widespread, involved far too many secrets. To this day, Jiang Chen had not been able to discern their true origins. When he asked Chongxuan Sheng, even the answer was vague and incomplete—it was hard to say he truly understood.
Qingyang Town. Within the quiet chamber.
Jiang Chen slowly concluded his cultivation session, guiding his Dao Meridian Tenglong to fly back to the solitary island between heaven and earth, ending today's exploration of the Sea of the Body.
The Mist of Ignorance was indeed terrifying, but the areas he had explored were recorded in his mind, forming a map known only to himself. As more locations were charted, sooner or later he would be able to survey the entire expanse of the Sea of the Body. Once every direction was clear in his mind, the terror of the Mist of Ignorance would be greatly diminished.
"Master." Dugu Xiao's voice came from outside the door.
She was a sensible girl—she rarely disturbed Jiang Chen during his cultivation.
"What is it?" Jiang Chen asked.
"There's an old monk waiting for you in the courtyard!"
"A monk?" Jiang Chen was baffled.
Apart from facing all manner of opponents in the Ethereal Realm, he had no recollection of ever having dealings with anyone from the Buddhist sect in his current life.
And an old monk, no less!
But Dugu Xiao seemed just as perplexed: "He says he has a karmic connection with you, Master!"