Positive Influence

Cècè helped Yu Ziqing out of the ground cave, and the villagers had also come out.

The Village Chief looked at Yu Ziqing, his eyes reddening slightly. He stopped giving instructions to others and stepped forward himself to support Yu Ziqing.

"Village Chief, do we have any food?"

"Yes, yes." The Village Chief nodded repeatedly and immediately glared at Er Han, who was standing by with a silly grin. "Hurry up and go."

Someone quickly brought out tables and chairs, and others began to build a fire and boil water. They knew Yu Ziqing had a peculiar habit: he liked to drink hot water.

Old Yang walked over to Yu Ziqing on his four hooves, his expression somewhat complicated.

"You don't need to say anything else. Rest assured, there's still a little food left in the village. We definitely have something to eat."

Yu Ziqing slumped there, watching the villagers busily attending to things without anyone asking any questions. He couldn't help but grin.

This was the unspoken rule and tacit understanding that had developed after everyone learned to rely on each other.

No one pried into where he had been for the past few months, nor did they ask how Cècè, who was supporting him, had emerged from the abyss of despair.

This feeling was wonderful because everyone trusted him unconditionally. They all knew that their survival and return were thanks to Yu Ziqing. That was all they needed to know; nothing else mattered.

The Village Chief looked at Yu Ziqing with great concern, constantly urging the kitchen aunties to prepare food.

Old Yang stood aside and spoke to himself.

"I checked earlier. Ever since the mine fell into the void, all the Jinlan Mushrooms inside have withered.

That's because this plant needs the nourishment of abundant earth energy. Once it leaves the earth of the Wasteland, it naturally withers.

It's the same with the Jade Tomb here. The Jade Tomb was slumbering peacefully, waiting for the day it could be nourished and revived by the life force of a world. When it fell into the void, its hope of revival was lost, so it naturally became agitated.

The accumulated power began to erupt, taking its resting place and us along with it, back to the Wasteland.

Ziqing, this was a last resort. From now on, you must never think of trying to wake the one slumbering in the Jade Tomb."

Old Yang spoke without excluding others; everyone present heard him.

Yu Ziqing knew Old Yang was worried because people are naturally curious. If you don't explain some things, others will imagine the worst. If you do explain, they might just ignore it or even say, "What's it to me? So what?"

This was to define the nature of this incident.

This was how things were, and no matter how it was investigated in the future, it would remain this way. The King of Hungry Ghosts had fallen into slumber, and no one could refute it.

The other villagers didn't understand, but they weren't afraid. The hungry ghosts hadn't harmed them, nor had the King of Hungry Ghosts. Instead, they had brought them back to the Wasteland. The village didn't have the bad habit of judging people by their appearance. When they saw the large group of hungry ghosts, they actually felt a sense of familiarity.

Because those hungry ghosts might have once been villagers here, and they were also the starving ghosts who had saved them before.

But Old Yang was different from the villagers. He might not have fully understood, but he was terrified. He feared that even the slightest influence could lead to unpredictable changes, so he immediately wanted to define the situation.

Yu Ziqing grinned and glanced towards the back mountain.

The Jade Tomb was truly unfortunate. It was bad enough that the villagers constantly drew power from it for their well-being, but now it had to take the blame for everything.

It was good that it took the blame. After all, anyone who could leave behind a Jade Tomb must have been a powerful figure in their life.

With such a powerful figure slumbering in the village, it would also be much safer here.

Yes, that's how it was. It was all the work of the King of Hungry Ghosts, and it had nothing to do with me, Yu Ziqing.

Seeing Yu Ziqing look outside, Old Yang immediately added, "All the powerful cultivators who came before have left. Among them, someone must have deduced the truth and dared not disturb the one slumbering in the Jade Tomb any further. Rest assured, for a long time to come, we will be very safe here."

It would be safer than the imperial capital of Da Gan.

Because anyone with any strength at all didn't dare to approach this place. The stronger they were, the more hesitant they were.

They couldn't afford to gamble, nor could they afford to lose.

Just thinking about the terrifying scene before, Old Yang naturally thought of the earliest cultivators.

The same progress of one level per day.

After ten days, it hadn't even been eleven days, and it was already enough to heavily defeat those three who brought the nation- trấn giữ artifact.

If it had reached twelve days, it was highly likely that everyone would have perished together.

They had suffered heavy losses this time. According to the usual procedures, this place would probably be designated as a forbidden zone.

As for retaliation, it was out of the question. Who would they retaliate against?

If he wasn't mistaken, what happened here would immediately be classified as top secret. The vast majority of people probably wouldn't know exactly what happened. At most, they would guess whether a disaster like the Great Sun Descends had occurred in the Wasteland again.

Most people would only see a new forbidden zone added to the latest map of the Wasteland, a zone certified by the three great Divine Dynasties of Da Gan, Great Li, and Great Zhen.

However, this place did seem to be a forbidden zone for Qi Refining cultivators...

It wasn't entirely unreasonable.

Watching Cècè feed Yu Ziqing water, Old Yang shook his head. Ever since he stopped being human and completely transformed into a goat, the absurd and unprecedented things he had encountered had truly become more and more numerous.

He used to think that the path he was now taking, a path he had never imagined, might be wrong. But now, he felt that he had truly found his own way.

Especially after he started Body Refining and demon transformation, this feeling grew stronger with each passing day.

Peace was restored to the village. Although it was a bit colder than before, everyone was very happy.

The Jinlan Mushrooms in the ground cave had all withered, and the village was running out of food. In a few days, someone would have to go out to find food, but that was not Yu Ziqing's concern for now.

He was the first priority to be taken care of, a decision personally made by the Village Chief that everyone agreed with. Yu Ziqing's opposition or agreement wouldn't change the outcome.

In a side hall of the Da Gan Imperial Capital, Jian Zhen was recounting the truth, with a historian diligently writing beside him.

Once the writing was complete, the historian spat out a mouthful of blood, spraying it onto the history he had just finished writing. The blood transformed into blood-red runes, imprinting themselves onto every word before slowly dissipating. From that moment on, every word written there became unalterable.

"From today onwards, this is the unchangeable truth in the history books."

"Seal it."

The Qian Emperor, standing with his back to everyone, gave the instruction. Immediately, someone took the history book away to be sealed. Ordinary people were not qualified to see it, and even if someone managed to see it through great effort, this was still the truth.

An eunuch escorted the historian away with generous rewards of highly nourishing items.

Jian Zhen looked at the Qian Emperor's retreating back and bowed.

"This old subject takes his leave."

"Master Jian Zhen." The Qian Emperor suddenly spoke. He gazed at the map on the jade tablet and asked, "These..."

"This is the truth," Jian Zhen interrupted the Qian Emperor with a solemn expression.

Even now, the scene of the King of Hungry Ghosts' aura rising without obstruction, climbing in a straight line, made Jian Zhen feel a chill all over his body. He could not allow any perception that might influence the outcome to exist, because there was a very high probability it could influence the sleepwalking King of Hungry Ghosts to do something they couldn't afford.

The King of Hungry Ghosts must have fallen asleep again, waiting for countless ages before there was even a slim chance of waking up again.

And this countless ages might be many, many epochs later, possibly having no relation to the descendants of those present.

As he said before, if the hungry ghost race exists, then the King of Hungry Ghosts must sleep.

Jian Zhen looked up, staring at the Qian Emperor. He could not allow the Qian Emperor to have even the slightest improper thought, no matter the cost.

"I understand," the Qian Emperor sighed. He extended a finger and pointed at the map on the jade tablet, drawing a circle on the Wasteland. The area within the circle dimmed, turning into a black spot.

On the jade tablet map, which was the size of an entire wall, there were dozens of black spots, large and small. Some were even within the borders of Da Gan. These were all forbidden lands, but those comparable in size to this forbidden land of the Wasteland were only three or four on the entire map.

Jian Zhen secretly breathed a sigh of relief, bowed again, and withdrew.

Great Li and Great Zhen also unreservedly believed the words of Daoist Dragon Tiger and listed them as the truth.

However, there was a slight difference on Great Li's side.

The woman in the phoenix robe, who had returned to the Great Li Imperial Palace, rested her single arm on her head, leaning on a low couch, lost in thought.

Beside her was a brazier with a high pile of ashes, and a crimson-gold flame burned within. After a moment, a half-molted Vermilion Bird emerged from the ashes, floating in the flames, looking listless and having fallen into slumber.

After a long while, she seemed to recall something.

"How many semi-blessed lands are there within Great Li?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, there is only one," the female official waiting nearby replied immediately. "There are quite a few blessed lands, but semi-blessed lands are rare, requiring fortuitous circumstances to form, and their value is not high. The only semi-blessed land is within Duke Lin's fief, and General Gongze is also a member of a collateral branch of Duke Lin's clan."

"Go and leave a calling card. I wish to visit the Duke's mansion."

Mentioning Gongze, the culprit who blasted the Jinlan Mine into the void, she thought again.

"Was someone living in that Jinlan Mine all along?"

"There were people before. We traded Jinlan Ore with them twice."

"Before..."

The woman's brow furrowed. She understood the meaning of those words.

"Go, send a reliable person to the border of the Wasteland to observe and see if any mortals from the Wasteland emerge."

She felt that this matter was not that simple. Although she truly did not dare to provoke the King of Hungry Ghosts anymore, after returning, she had discussed it with several big figures from Lihuo Academy in the Heavenly Secrets Chamber. Those individuals had clearly told her that if they had dared to continue their actions at that time, it was highly likely to lead to an uncontrollable, world-sweeping, catastrophic disaster.

It was also their good fortune that Daoist Dragon Tiger had encountered the King of Hungry Ghosts in the void first. Upon his return, he had immediately stopped them.

They even suspected that Daoist Dragon Tiger knew more secrets but dared not reveal a single word upon his return.

After much deliberation, she felt she needed to look at the problem from a different angle. Thinking of the mortals who once lived in the Jinlan Mine, and then recalling the scene she saw overlooking the land when she returned from the Wasteland, she issued another order.

"Take my golden plaque and issue an imperial decree from the Eastern Palace, summoning the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. Have him personally allocate grain and supplies to the western Wasteland border for disaster relief, ensuring that the citizens there can get through the winter smoothly this year and preserve next year's spring plowing. Grant him the authority to act at his discretion, and have the Western Desolation Army provide full support. If a single person starves to death within Great Li's western territories this year, both he and the Great General of the Western Desolation will lose their heads."

Thanks to "No Name" for the 10,000-point tip, thank you for your love and support.

I accidentally set the scheduled time incorrectly last night and clicked on a frequently used time, setting it for midnight. However, it doesn't affect anything. Today, I've posted a total of 8,000 characters.