A Three-Person Team, a Minor Rogue Cultivator!

Hearing this-

Qin Lu gave it some thought and nodded in agreement.

He was just like that, merely holding the titular position of chief Sima while traditionally leaving specific matters to the jurisdiction of Yan Quan...

As a dignified Qi Condensation cultivator, how could he possibly spend his days keeping company with mundane affairs!

At this point-

Qin Lu considered this unexceptionable; in itself, it served more of a symbolic function.

Subsequently-

Huang Liang continued speaking:

"Based on this, the situation of local strongholds carving up territory is already a foregone conclusion..."

"Yet if localities grow too strong, it proves disadvantageous to the imperial clan's control, hence the need for checks and balances, which later gave birth to the Hundred Arts Office..."

"The cultivators of the Hundred Arts Office are all rare talents who have mastered immortal arts."

"Especially the Four Arts cultivators, whose status is inherently transcendent and revered by many parties. The imperial court uses this as a basis to curb the localities."

"If one wants the products of the Hundred Arts..."

"One must inevitably forge cooperation with the Hundred Arts Office, thereby obeying the imperial court, much like a dog chain..."

"Chaining them to death!"

"The interests of the collective and the small household are difficult to reconcile, yet cultivators in their training can hardly part from the Four Arts."

"Thus, this situation was formed..."

"Fellow Daoists Wu, Gongsun, and Ge originated as rogue cultivators and attached themselves to the imperial court, thus they represent the will of the court."

"Hence they are called: imperial dynasty cultivators."

"Unlike the two of us, who are both proficient in the Four Arts and yet are lineage cultivators, stuck in the middle and in the most uncomfortable position..."

"On one hand, we enjoy the various benefits brought by the Hundred Arts Office; on the other hand, we have to consider our households, making things difficult to handle..."

"Therefore..."

"Old Huang chooses to sit on the wall and watch, wishing to drag Fellow Daoist Qin along to act..."

After listening to Huang Liang's explanation-

Qin Lu finally understood the ins and outs of the matter, and this was easy enough to comprehend.

Remaining neutral and making one's stance clear would suffice.

"What about you, Fellow Daoist Zhang?"

Beside them, Zhang Xuan drank his spiritual tea, let out a long sigh, and looked rather worried...

"The Zhang household is weak in strength, and the four old families of the prefecture are repeatedly reluctant to accept the Zhang clan, so I thought of joining Fellow Daoist Qin to travel together..."

"After all, a great battle is about to begin, and this poor Daoist cannot guarantee that I can protect myself."

"Hence, I allied with Fellow Daoist Huang, and coupled with Fellow Daoist Qin, an alliance of three households will at least offer some company, preventing us from standing in isolated helplessness..."

"Besides..."

"This poor Daoist does not wish to trouble the Hundred Arts Office, nor does he wish to make things difficult for the four families, so he can only choose to be a wall-straddling reed, hehe..."

"It is merely to preserve oneself."

Having heard this-

Qin Lu already understood it thoroughly, grasping the current game in Longchuan.

On one side were the local emperors dominated by lineages, on the other were the imperial dynasty attendants dominated by the court, along with the three of them acting as wall-straddling reeds...

One had to say, the affairs of the world are truly inconstant!

"Right, Fellow Daoist Qin."

"Is this junior who has been following you your descendant?"

Hearing this-

The gazes of the three finally fell upon Zhuo Wen, who had been silent the entire time, keeping his head down and remaining as inconspicuous as a quail...

"Him..."

"An inner disciple of the Floating Cloud Sword Sect in the Zhengyuan Dao District of Daliang..."

"My original intention was to present this child to the Xiashang Dao Academy in exchange for a reward, but now, the two fellow Daoists and I have formed an alliance."

"Therefore, I have changed my mind."

"If our three households join forces and use this child to lure and slay the Qi Condensation ancestors of his sect..."

"I imagine the harvest therein will certainly not be ordinary!"

"And I have already figured out their details; within this Floating Cloud Sword Sect, there are merely two Qi Condensation cultivators, the one with the highest cultivation..."

"Being no higher than the fourth level of Qi Condensation! As for the other, he is on par with myself..."

"I wonder what the two fellow Daoists think of this?"

Upon hearing these words-

The eyes of the two lit up quite satisfactorily, and both nodded in agreement...

Just at that moment-

An old man appeared from nowhere!

His terrifying presence was merely slightly revealed, yet it crushed the gathered cultivators, making it difficult for them to speak and weighing down heavily upon their hearts...

Not a single sound could be issued!

"The people have all arrived..."

"You shall each select your target for decapitation and set off immediately!"

As his voice fell-

A giant scroll materialized in the vault of heaven. As it slowly unfurled to reveal its full appearance, its grandeur was vast and magnificent, seemingly encompassing thousands of rivers and mountains!

The images upon it leaped into motion...

Following that, the markings of the entire Zhengyuan Dao District emerged, totaling one to two hundred large and small Qi Condensation forces!

Soon-

Someone selected a target, merely tapping it gently with spiritual power...

The next second!

That person transformed into a streak of escaping light, charged straight into the scroll, and vanished amidst it!

"What is..."

"What sort of method is this?!"

"Is a Dao Foundation grandmaster truly this terrifying? Can they instantly transport people ten thousand li away?!"

Qin Lu was struck dumb in a daze-

Only thinking that upon reaching this place, leaving a mark would allow one to be transported via the scroll to the place of one's thoughts!

Indeed-

A Dao Foundation mighty figure was truly this terrifying!

"Fellow Daoist Qin..."

"There is no need to marvel; we only need to look up at such great might..."

"That is the foundational treasure of the Xiashang Dao Academy, a fourth-tier superior law treasure: the Myriad Li Rivers and Mountains Map. I hear it has been passed down for over ten thousand years..."

"Nurtured through ten thousand years of time, it has already grown infinitely close to a fifth-tier heaven-reaching spirit treasure!"

"This right here is a true master of divine abilities!"

Zhang Xuan spoke up in explanation-

The admiration in his words was already overflowing and apparent!

Mortals looked upon them as immortals descending from the heavens...

When they looked upon this item, they finally learned that there are heavens beyond the heavens!

Once the three of them recovered their senses-

They quite tacitly left their marks upon the scroll together...

Following that, three adults and one child.

Transformed into four strange streams of light, escaping into the Myriad Li Rivers and Mountains Map!

When they opened their eyes again-

The three adults and one child had already landed deep within a boundless bamboo forest...

Qin Lu looked up toward the upper void and saw a black hole slowly healing in the void. Presumably, this hole was the passage that had transported them...

"Zhuo Wen, where is this place?"

Hearing this-

The little fellow who had remained inconspicuous scurried over to Qin Lu's side and fawned with a flattering expression:

"According to junior's observation just now, this place should be the Zhuyun Space..."

"It is a natural spirit-gathering place where low-tier Demon Beasts frequently roam. Heading northeast for about one or two hundred li..."

"Will bring us to the upper reaches and source of the Ying River, which originates from a great marsh boasting a thousand lakes. Because it is year-round shrouded in clouds and mist, it resembles a dream realm..."

"Hence it is bestowed the name: Yunmeng Marsh!"

"My sect, the Floating Cloud Sword Sect, is situated at the northern end of Yunmeng Marsh, occupying eighteen thousand square kilometers around it and governing over a million ordinary folk."

"It has several hundred to a thousand sect disciples, eighteen hundred menial servants, and tens of thousands of mortal attendants..."

As his words stopped here-

The expressions of the three varied, yet none of them held him in any regard...

The numbers sounded exaggerated, but in truth, it amounted to barely two thousand immortal slaves whose cultivation fell short of the True Martial Four Realms, and several hundred ants whose cultivation failed to reach the seventh realm...

Within any ordinary county prefecture of the Great Zhou State.

There were nearly a thousand warriors and several hundred warrior households residing within...

In a large county relying on an immortal clan like Yingchuan County, the number of warriors was even more countless, numbering not just ten thousand.

At the very least, there were two or three thousand people!

The warriors who simply attached themselves to the Qin family and worked to the death for them numbered no less than a thousand people, to say the least...