You Say This, and I'm Not Sleepy Anymore!

The emperor said, "Three days ago, the National Teacher, along with several of his Direct Disciple, began to pass on his skills from house to house, and they have not returned yet."

Xiao Ran said, "A Golden Core cultivator with excessive Spiritual Power can only survive for one day in the Netherworld. Don't you even know that?"

The emperor paced back and forth, sipping his tea, and said, "The Imperial Preceptor Changchun has reached the pinnacle of his cultivation, and has dispersed his power into the Netherworld Mist. He is now just a mortal."

Is this even possible?

No wonder Chuyan didn't suspect the National Teacher at all when she saw he had no Cultivation Level...

However, dissipating one's power is not an easy thing.

Could it be that they all Tidal Power, and can dissipate their power at will? Thinking this, he looked at his radiant but inactive Master, hoping she could help him analyze the situation.

After all, he's still very inexperienced in terms of Cultivation Method techniques.

Lingzhou Yue drank for a long time before she finally understood Xiao Ran's meaning.

"Why are you looking at me? This is your internship assignment. I'm only responsible for evaluating you. I don't know anything about it, and even if I did, I wouldn't tell you. Solve it yourself and don't ask me."

"I understand, you really didn't know!" Xiao Ran turned back to the Golden Throne Hall and carefully examined the chicken blood, grains, and incense used for cultivation.

These are all ordinary things and offer no benefit to spiritual practice.

After asking around, I found that the mental cultivation method of Everlasting Spring Art was quite interesting.

Meditation, Spirit Severing, fusion, and awakening can theoretically enhance the activity of the soul after the separation of the soul and body.

If cultivators practiced this Cultivation Method, it would be quite interesting.

Ordinary people are still far from being able to cultivate themselves.

But in the underworld, everything is different.

With the help of the thin mist within Da Ming's body, the efficiency of mortals cultivating the Everlasting Spring Art is greatly improved.

If a cultivator has high enough comprehension and cultivates for a long enough time, it is indeed possible to master the first level of the Everlasting Spring Art.

True Person Baoguo is playing for big stakes! This isn't some religious consolation; this guy is serious...

Is he Apostle?

The Apostle's doctrine is to summon the Wraith, hasten Wraith destruction, and eliminate human sin.

The Apostle are probably the Cultivation World.

The founder may be Ye Wenjie from the Cultivation World.

He is a traitor! But True Person Baoguo's Everlasting Spring Art does not have the function of summoning the Wraith. Rather, it is a high-level soul technique that can truly reclaim the body of the Wraith after being cultivated to a certain level and scale!

Xiao Ran suddenly remembered Ye Fan.

After Ye Fan died, his body was possessed by the Wraith within him, rather than being summoned by the Wraith.

Does that mean he possessed the body of the Wraith before his death?

Time waits for no one! Xiao Ran immediately made a plan.

He then said to the emperor, "Issue an announcement immediately that from this moment on, I will take over Flamefree City and my power will be above everyone else, including you, the National Teacher, and the foreign cultivators."

The emperor was slightly taken aback, but quickly realized that the patriarch wanted to have a legitimate reason for his actions and to intimidate the entire city.

"What does the patriarch want to do?"

Xiao Ran said, "If it were an ordinary Netherworld, I wouldn't be confident in saving people; but this time, the more the cultivators are unable to leave, the more I feel that I might have a chance to save the entire Imperial City."

Really? I don't believe it.

The emperor's face was full of doubt.

Fortunately, he had long since ceased to contend with the world, though he remained very respectful in his words.

"Alright, what title does the patriarch want... for example, is 'Emperor Emeritus' acceptable?"

The retired emperor? How dare you take advantage of me? Don't you know how many generations have passed between us?

People who don't know the situation might think I had something going on with your mother.

Xiao Ran paced back and forth in the emperor's bedchamber, then suddenly stopped and said:

"I am hereby appointed as the Grand General of Wraith Extermination, wielding the Imperial Edict Sword, to behead tyrannical emperors above and treacherous ministers below, and to command the entire army."

Xiao Ran used an imperative sentence, and even the emperor dared not refuse.

Besides, the retired emperor was just joking; at least the Grand General of Wraith Extermination gave the emperor some face.

The phrase "punish the underworld" seems to contradict the National Teacher's plan to attain enlightenment, merge with the underworld, and ascend to paradise as soon as possible.

The emperor tentatively asked, "Does the Grand Master have a problem with the National Teacher?"

Xiao Ran shook his head and said, "Not yet. Let him continue to pass on his skills."

Not yet...

The emperor nodded.

"I have a lot of complaints!" Xiao Ran immediately summoned Lin Bao.

Three announcements.

"First, Xiao Ran is hereby appointed as the Grand General of Wraith Extermination, and temporarily put in charge of the entire city."

"Secondly, imperial grain will be made available to grain merchants in the city at a fair price."

"Thirdly, the Imperial Guards will be conscripted with 30,000 men to maintain martial law throughout the city... Money is not a problem; Zongzhi Mountain will take full responsibility."

"Execute immediately."

Lin Bao looked at Xiao Ran with a surprised expression.

He had assumed this person was a relative or Dao Companion of Elder Lingzhou, but to his surprise, this person not only had a high talent for cultivation, but also knew how to govern a country at such a young age. He was truly worthy of being the Master of the Royal Grand-Aunt.

"Yes!"

After Lin Bao left, Lingzhou Yue stared at Xiao Ran with a half-smile, feeling that this disciple was her destiny.

"Well done Zongzhi Mountain took full responsibility for the debt. That's how I came to owe the sect 90,000 Spirit Stone."

Xiao Ran was taken aback.

"A debt of 90,000... Spirit Stone?"

"Indulging in the truth while drunk," Lingzhou Yue said, rubbing her forehead.

"You misheard, it's nine Spirit Stones."

In this Dharma Ending Era, you spent 90,000 Spirit Stone of the sect over 500 years? Xiao Ran suddenly felt a little sorry for Elder Huangfu.

Lingzhou Yue, feeling embarrassed, prepared to slip away.

"I'll go out and wander around the neighborhood, observe the local conditions, listen to the gossip, and see if there's anything fishy going on in the city. I guess that's how I'll help you out."

Xiao Ran nodded.

After fusing with the Blood Jade Bone, not only could his Master pinpoint his location, but he could also sense the danger he was in.

On the contrary, if he wanted, he could also use the Resonance Power to locate his Master in reverse, sense the danger around her, and even reverse the Tidal Power to transmit a certain amount of power.

When traversing the Wraith Barrier, Xiao Ran relied on this very skill to find his Master amidst the strange spatial turbulence.

With that in mind, he had nothing to worry about.

"Go ahead, but don't get too drunk, or someone will pick you up while you're still drunk."

Lingzhou Yue didn't even turn her head as she said:

"In this world, besides you, who else would dare to take me as their teacher?"

Xiao Ran thought to himself, "Seeing you chop off five heads with one sword today, I won't dare to do it again."

Xiao Ran learned about the city's grain reserves in advance.

To prevent siege during wartime, the Imperial City usually kept several months' worth of grain reserves, known as imperial grain.

With the Gray Mist from the underworld entering the body, people's requirements for food and water are greatly reduced, and it is not a problem to sustain themselves for more than half a year.

After all, people may not live that long.

Therefore, Xiao Ran's first step was to distribute the grain.

The notice announcing the release of grain has been posted, and 90% of the imperial grain will be sold to major grain merchants at the original price.

Food and water supplies are not a problem; the next step is to stabilize the currency.

Therefore, Xiao Ran offered very attractive conditions for recruiting soldiers, with salaries three times higher than before, to compensate for the losses of property in the city.

Three times, no more, no less.

Too little and it's not appealing; too much and it looks fake.

To the three million citizens, Xiao Ran was Zongzhi Mountain 'Direct Disciple, and Lingzhou Yue was the alter ego of the Sword-Wielding Elder... Many people believed this.

Sending someone of such status into the city suggests that Zongzhi Mountain may genuinely be trying to save the world, rather than just one or two people.

Secondly, Xiao Ran's move was to conscript soldiers in order to impose martial law on the entire city and restore order.

This is extremely attractive to those who want to spend their last peaceful days in the apocalypse, as well as former Imperial Guards who left the army to go home and take care of their families.

Moreover, the heads of the six cultivators were still hanging at the head of the Palace Moat, which meant that Xiao Ran and Lingzhou Yue's strength was enough to intimidate the cultivators in the city.

Really.

On that day, the cultivators were much more well-behaved.

Most chose to wait and see, and a few free hunters even defected to Xiao Ran.

There's still no news about the Wraith Hunter; it's unclear whether they've all died.

The speed of conscription is astonishing.

Within five hours, 30,000 people had been recruited, and more people continued to sign up, so Xiao Ran made an exception and recruited 50,000.

It should be noted that the Imperial Guards originally numbered less than 20,000.

Among these 50,000 people, there must be some scoundrels, or even criminals.

But it doesn't matter. Putting these scoundrels in the army will at least make them behave a lot more.

We'll settle the rest after we break through the Netherworld barrier.

The new Imperial Guards was thus recruited.

Veteran soldiers mentor new recruits.

Since there weren't enough uniforms, they simply tied a white cloth strip with a jade seal to the right arm.

When weapons were insufficient, they purchased a batch from the common people and used a mix of knives, spears, swords, and halberds.

A 50,000-strong Imperial Guards was thus established.

After five hours of training, martial law was declared throughout the city! The Imperial Guards took to the streets in large numbers, prioritizing the stabilization of food, water, and currency in order to restore commerce.

Furthermore, Xiao Ran ordered that if any troublesome cultivators were encountered, the Imperial Guards nearby could forcibly arrest them if there were more than ten members, including three veterans.

After all, cultivators don't use their Spiritual Power easily. If they really had to deal with three veterans in the Body Tempering Realm and seven men wielding weapons, even if they escaped, they would still be badly injured.

This, in turn, forced the cultivators to become even more obedient...

After fifteen hours, Xiao Ran was extremely exhausted. Coupled with the effects of the Wraith Fog, he was too tired to continue, so he returned to the General's Tent that the emperor had prepared for him to rest.

Although it's called General's Tent, it was actually converted from the bedroom of an Imperial Concubine had escaped.

Xiao Ran lay on her bed in her boudoir, trying to locate her Master.

They discovered that she was still working in gambling dens, brothels, and taverns, observing the lives of ordinary people, which was quite arduous.

Then I felt relieved.

Xiao Ran was afraid that she would actually put in the effort to investigate something, which would put her in danger at any time.

After confirming that his Master was safe, Xiao Ran drifted off to sleep.

At this moment, a beautiful palace maid with a delicate face and a graceful figure pushed open the door and came to Xiao Ran's bedside, carrying a basin of water for washing his feet.

Xiao Ran didn't open his eyes, still groggy, and asked in a cold voice, "Who?"

The palace maid said, "General, you are tired. Your Majesty has sent me to serve you."

Xiao Ran rolled over and got up!

Now that you've mentioned this, I'm no longer sleepy.