No Man's Land, Suppression

The people of Gu Household Village carried their heavy belongings on their backs as they walked along the narrow country lanes.

Having consumed the spirit rice and practiced the martial arts within the system, even though it had only been a short time, his physical condition had already undergone a complete transformation. Instead of becoming sluggish, he moved with light and agile steps.

The entire procession remained silent, broken only by the occasional cry of a child.

Gu Yan lowered his voice and sighed, "It's a pity we don't have enough Energy Points, otherwise we could open Storage Space or Portable Daoist Sanctum."

"This way, all these belongings can be stored away at once, saving us the trouble of carrying them around."

Gu Heng rolled his eyes at him and said, "If we really had enough Energy Points, why would we need to run away on foot?"

Simply use Spatial Teleportation to leave the Yuan Kingdom.

These belongings aren't worth much to begin with; they can be bought anytime from the System Store. I'm only carrying them for travel; I can't just buy them every time, wasting Energy Points."

Gu Yue chuckled and teased, "Second brother is too dense; he can't even understand such a simple principle."

Gu Yan's face flushed red, and she was about to retort when Gu Qing's voice suddenly came, carrying a hint of seriousness:

"Stop talking! We're almost at the main road. Quicken your pace and get out of the Yuan Kingdom territory as soon as possible."

Stepping onto the official road, the group continued their journey swiftly in their predetermined direction without stopping.

They hadn't gone far when a large group of people suddenly appeared ahead, catching both sides off guard and startling them.

Upon noticing the heavy luggage on each other's shoulders and the hurried expressions on their faces, they instantly understood each other.

Without needing to say anything more, they nodded to each other in tacit agreement, then merged into a stream and continued along the official road.

As dawn broke and the morning light bathed the earth, the once empty official road was now packed with a dense crowd.

A steady stream of refugees poured in from all directions, like a swarm of migrating ants, surging towards the borders of the Yuan Kingdom, their momentum growing ever stronger.

Gu Yan stared at the endless crowd, his face filled with shock, and murmured:

"So many people want to leave the Yuan Kingdom? At this rate, won't the Yuan Kingdom become a no-man's land?"

Gu Heng glanced at him, his expression calm, and said indifferently:

"Nobody's a fool. The current situation is crystal clear, and leaving Yuan Kingdom is the best option."

Even members of the royal family have fled, let alone ordinary people?

"Heng'er is right. Everyone can tell good from bad. Even if they're confused for a moment, they'll run away when they see everyone else running away."

The worry on Gu Qing's face gradually faded, replaced by a look of joy:

"With such a massive wave of refugees, even if there were robbers on the road, they would never dare to cause trouble."

It seems the officers and soldiers either fled long ago or turned a blind eye; otherwise, they would never have allowed so many people to leave.

"Let's hurry up and get away as soon as possible; the later we leave, the greater the risk of being discovered by the Wutian Temple."

Having said that, he sped up and strode forward.

At this moment, the Yuan Kingdom is witnessing an unprecedented wave of migration.

Along every official road, densely packed people carrying their belongings hurried towards the border.

Villages, towns, and cities are visibly losing their former vibrancy and gradually becoming deserted areas.

As time passed, and with the mass exodus of the Yuan Kingdom's people, fewer and fewer people went to the Wutian Temple the mortal realm to worship Buddha, until finally it became deserted.

The outer disciples in charge of the Wutian Temple in the mortal realm also noticed something amiss and quickly sent a message to the sect.

A few days later, Abbot Guangyuan of Wutian Temple sent the Eighth Elder Guangzhi, down the mountain to investigate.

Above the Yuan Kingdom, a streak of light pierced the sky, as Guangzhi's Divine Sense swept across all directions.

The villages and towns along the way were all deserted, with only houses remaining, but no people or livestock, as if they had vanished from the face of the earth.

His heart was filled with rage, and he assumed that some other Devil Dao Sect had invaded his territory and robbed the A Mortal within the Wutian Temple's territory.

Although A Mortal are like ants, they are the source of the Wutian Temple's Power of Faith and the very source of its disciples.

Now that A Mortal have vanished without a trace, isn't this severing the very foundation of Wutian Temple?

Without A Mortal, the sect will be unable to recruit new disciples, Wutian Temple will inevitably decline sooner or later.

Recruiting disciples from other places is even less feasible.

Each sect has its own defined sphere of influence, and recruiting disciples from other sects is a blatant provocation that could trigger a major sect war.

Even if Wutian Temple is not afraid of others, it's not worth stirring up trouble for no reason. If a fight really breaks out, who can guarantee they'll escape unscathed?

A moment later, Guangzhi flew over a city and swept his Divine Sense across the entire city.

But the streets and alleys were deserted and no one was around. The whole city was like a ghost town, with only five faint signs of life hiding in the corners.

He moved swiftly and appeared above a latrine in an instant. The pungent stench hit him, making his face turn even more ashen.

He raised his hand and waved, sending a surge of powerful spiritual energy into the latrine, pulling five filthy people out of the air. The overwhelming stench almost made him vomit on the spot.

Despite his churning stomach, Guangzhi unleashed another invisible burst of energy, instantly severing the ropes binding the five men and ripping away the rags gagging them.

He frowned and glared at the group of people before him, suppressing his nausea as he demanded sharply, "Do you know where the rest of the A Mortal have gone?"

The five men, already exhausted from hunger, were so frightened by Guangzhi that they knelt down repeatedly and replied in trembling voices:

"Reporting to Your Majesty, those lowly people have all fled the Yuan Kingdom!"

We intended to rush to Wutian Temple to report the news, but we were captured by those lowly people, tied up, and thrown into this latrine.

We beg you, Buddha, to grant us justice!

Guangzhi's expression changed drastically upon hearing this. He had originally thought that those A Mortal ants had been kidnapped, but he never expected that they would flee on their own initiative, and on such a large scale.

Although Wutian Temple was known for its harsh treatment of its A Mortal, even going so far as to capture people to use as materials for refining weapons, it had never engaged in large-scale massacres.

After all, these A Mortal are the source of the sect's Power of Faith; killing them is tantamount to severing the source of faith.

But why did they flee?

What exactly happened?

How could those A Mortal ants possibly escape so quickly?

This is completely illogical!

Countless questions swirled in his mind, and he immediately sharpened his gaze, demanding in a stern voice:

"Do you know what has happened? How dare those A Mortal rebel?"

Li Chang, the leader of the five, quickly kowtowed and respectfully replied:

"Reporting to Your Majesty, those lowly people are bound to an evil entity called the Fairness System."

They learned martial arts from that evil creature and became exceptionally powerful. Subsequently, some of them secretly fled the Yuan Kingdom, and the number of fugitives continued to increase.

We intended to rush to Wutian Temple to report this matter to the Buddha, but we were discovered as soon as we set off and have been arrested and imprisoned ever since.

After hearing this, Guangzhi's doubts were somewhat resolved, but his confusion only deepened.

What kind of Fairness System is this supposed fairness that could bewitch so many A Mortal into defecting?

His eyes immediately sharpened, and he demanded sternly, "Do you know what kind of evil thing this Fairness System is, and what strange abilities it possesses?"

Li Chang looked troubled. "Your Majesty, we really don't know the details of this Fairness System."

I've only vaguely heard that this evil entity can make people buy Cultivation Method and can communicate with them regardless of distance;

There's also something called "TikTok," which features countless performances by holy maidens and fairies... As for the rest of the details, we know nothing.

Guangzhi was completely bewildered, unable to understand the Fairness System and TikTok's methods, but he also knew that there was no more information about the five people in front of him.

A cold glint flashed in his eyes, and he raised his hand, unleashing a sharp burst of energy that instantly shredded the five people into a cloud of blood mist.

Without lingering, he turned and transformed into a streak of light, flying swiftly towards the capital of the Yuan Kingdom.