226: The country is destroyed but the mountains and rivers remain

Chapter 224: The Country Is Broken, Yet Mountains and Rivers Remain

Xu Mujun's figure emerged from behind the numerous Longxiang Army soldiers, his single-armed figure appearing incomparably desolate.

Having experienced massive bloodshed, there was not a trace of a bloody aura on his body, as if he were a wandering hero taking a stroll through a city.

"Great General...!"

A soldier said with a trembling voice, "T-They are all, all commoners, this-this subordinate cannot bring himself to strike..."

"Commoners?"

Gazing at the fanatical and chaotic crowd, Xu Mujun slowly closed his eyes. "It is true that they are commoners, but right now they are even more so rebel soldiers Gu-bewitched by the White Lotus Sect!"

"Only by killing them can we save more commoners!"

"Kill...!"

"General!"

Xu Mujun stepped forward, and wisps of bloody Evil Qi suddenly appeared from the Void Realm, transforming into blood-colored blades that slashed toward the front.

"Pfft!"

"Pfft, pfft!"

In an instant, dozens of old people and women all fell in pools of blood.

Even... there were a few children.

"Wuwuwu..."

"Wawawa..."

Some children were frightened into crying bitterly, but many more people remained incomparably fanatical.

"Eternal Mother, Vacuum Hometown!"

"Eternal Mother, Vacuum Hometown!"

"Eternal Mother, Vacuum Hometown..."

"Commoners, commoners..."

Xu Mujun continued forward, boundless blood-colored Evil Qi taking his body as the center and slashing out in all directions.

Any White Lotus Sect members who dared to approach him were all cut down!

Even old people, women, and children were not spared!

"Kill...!"

"Brothers, keep up with the Great General!"

Quite a few Longxiang Army soldiers were shocked by what Xu Mujun had done; they roared one after another, closely following behind Xu Mujun as they charged to kill this group of White Lotus Sect rebels.

As time passed, more and more of the elderly, weak, women, and children died at Xu Mujun's hands.

Even the Longxiang Army under his command joined the ranks of the massacre.

Not knowing how long had passed, Xu Mujun's figure had long since stopped in place.

The surroundings were full of corpses of the elderly, weak, women, and children.

But for some reason, bloody tears slowly flowed from Xu Mujun's tightly closed eyes.

"Commoners, commoners... Slaughtering commoners, what is this truly for?"

"The success of one general is built upon ten thousand bones?"

"Or rather... the stability of the country, the prosperous age ushered in after the slaughter?"

He slowly opened his eyes once more, and the bloody tears stopped.

Wherever his gaze reached, there was nothing but slaughter.

A fierce Longxiang Army soldier charged alone with a saber among the White Lotus Sect members, having not a single enemy who could withstand a single blow in his hands.

An old man leaning on a crutch was beheaded with a single slash.

A scrawny woman was knocked down by an elbow strike, and immediately trampled into a pulp of flesh.

Further away, ruined walls and debris were everywhere.

Countless adult men, old people, women, and children roared fanatically and frantically, holding crude weapons such as sickles, firewood choppers, and even scissors in their hands, fearlessly blocking the Longxiang Army's charge.

Their frail bodies were utterly unable to stop the Longxiang Army.

But even so, they remained just like this.

Using crude weapons, or even their teeth, they would pull down one Longxiang Army soldier after another, then rush up to surround and kill them.

Beacon smoke rose, and the sounds of shouting and killing, weeping and crying, angry roars, and chewing vaguely drifted into their ears.

Or rather, getting further and further away.

In the end, there was not a trace of sound left by Xu Mujun's ears.

All that remained were the sounds of wind and rain, and faintly, there was even the sound of reading.

"Anciently, the rise of the Three Dynasties relied on loving those who benefited the country and detesting those who harmed it. Therefore, making clear what is loved makes the virtuous and wise numerous, and making clear what is detested causes the wicked and perverted to perish. Thus, the world is at peace, and the commoners live in harmony."

"Who says we have no clothes? I share the same robe with you. The king raises his army, and we repair our weapons and spears, sharing the same hatred with you!"

"Our bodies being dead, our souls are spiritual; our heroic souls shall be kings among ghosts..."

In a daze, he seemed to see more than a dozen children sitting in a private school, shaking their heads as they recited ancient texts.

In a daze, he seemed to see Your Majesty sitting high in the imperial court, issuing decree after decree of state-founding policies.

In a daze, his figure appeared ten thousand meters in the air, overlooking the rivers, mountains, and vast land.

In the northern lands, savage wolves from beyond the borders knocked on the passes, galloping across the Central Plains and wantonly slaughtering commoners.

In the south, ambitious scoundrels also levied exorbitant taxes and raised rebellions, intending to get their hands on Great Yu's Realm.

Throughout Great Yu's rivers and mountains, beacon fires filled the land, rebel kings rose one after another, and the commoners suffered indescribable misery.

Calling to heaven brought no response, calling to earth brought no answer.

"Great Yu, the Realm... the rivers and mountains, the altars of state..."

Xu Mujun muttered to himself, a trace of sudden enlightenment rising in his heart.

He recalled once more a conversation he had with Emperor Zhengyong several years ago.

"We also want to enjoy ourselves, but We desire peace in the world even more."

Aristocratic families were deeply entrenched, officials and gentry levied exorbitant taxes, and great Sects bullied good citizens.

If this continued, the country would cease to be a country, so how could anyone enjoy themselves?

Only by forcing them to launch rebellions could all the ambitious schemers be exposed, and then troops could be dispatched to exterminate them and sweep clean the universe.

This is called... destruction followed by construction!

Developing water conservancy, building the Grand Canal, providing disaster relief to victims, relief through labor, building schoolhouses, the Martial Arts Ban, the military merit system...

Weren't Your Majesty's policies, one after another, all for the stability of Great Yu?

But...

This group of people harboring rebellious intentions, the ambitious schemers, feudal lords, aristocratic families, and Sects, launched rebellions and Gu-bewitched refugees for their own selfish interests.

They truly... deserve to die!!!

Throughout Great Yu's Realm, beacon fires were everywhere, and the commoners were displaced and suffered bitterly.

But... fortunately.

Great Yu had Your Majesty, and also had a group of loyal and righteous people running about for the sake of Great Yu's Realm and the common people.

In a flash, Xu Mujun's eyes suddenly flew open, a strange divine light flashing through them.

He took a step forward, and in an instant... the wind stopped.

Boundless will of heaven and earth began to surge toward Xu Mujun's body.

Endless clouds and mist, violent winds, and even thunder all erupted at this moment.

The violent winds struck, all surging onto Xu Mujun.

With a step he took, a violent sound of thunder suddenly came from the Void Realm.

"Rumble...!"

In an instant, those fanatical White Lotus Sect members who had been slaughtering within the crowd all froze.

The earnest teachings of the Eternal Mother and the Holy Mothers that had originally echoed in their minds, as well as their fanatical devotion to the White Lotus Sect, were slowly disappearing at this moment.

Some of them lowered their heads to look at the weapons in their hands, their eyes incomparably panicked.

As for those elderly, weak, women, and children who had already been heavily injured and collapsed on the ground, they shrieked even more miserably at this time.

"Ah! H-How did I get here?"

"Save me! Quick, save me, wuwuwu..."

"Dad, Mom, where are you, wuwuwu..."

"Q-Quick, run! S-So many soldiers..."

"Military lord, don't kill me, I-I have nothing left!"

"W-White Lotus Sect? Wh-Where is the Eternal Mother? H-How could I have believed in them..."

Countless panicked discussions came from among the commoners, and some quick-witted ones had already turned their heads and bolted.

Within the entire Guangqing City ruins, it was even more chaotic at this moment.

Amidst this panicked state, Xu Mujun walked forward step by step.

"General!"

"Great General!"

"Marshal Xu...!"

Amidst the cries of the Longxiang Army, Xu Mujun acted as if he didn't hear them, continuing to walk forward step by step.

All sorts of inexplicable auras gushed out from his body, making his entire person look somewhat illusory at this moment.

Just at this moment, an old man with a broken leg crawled on the ground, fleeing backward in a panic.

But with a broken leg and heavy injuries, how could he possibly escape?

Xu Mujun walked up before him and asked in a low voice, "Uncle, are you alright?"

"Bah! You dog official!"

Who would have thought that this old man actually spat out a glob of saliva, then cursed, "It's all of you, you snatched away my farmland, my old woman was killed by you too, and my grandson..."

"This old man is not afraid of you! Come and kill me!"

"Kill me!"

"I'm sorry, Uncle."

"Y-You, what did you say?"

"I said... I'm sorry."

Xu Mujun said calmly, "Protecting the home and defending the country is originally a soldier's mission, yet I failed to accomplish this."

"But rest assured, from now on, such a thing will never happen again."

The old man was startled and hesitated, saying, "Y-You, what are you saying, w-who on earth are you?"

"Me?"

Xu Mujun smiled faintly, "Xu Mujun, merely an ordinary soldier of Great Yu."

"But as for now, I have entered the Martial God Realm."

"What?"

The old man raised his head to look, only to see that the big man who had just been standing before his eyes was already walking toward his back.

Behind him were countless commoners running for their lives in panic, Gu-bewitched by the White Lotus Sect.

And behind them were extremely fierce White Lotus Sect members.

They were the true White Lotus Sect members.

They hacked and slaughtered a path through the commoners, viciously charging to kill Xu Mujun and the Longxiang Army.

The Holy Mother's strategy had taken effect!

Using divine arts to Gu-bewitch the commoners to charge and disrupt the Longxiang Army's formation—killing the Longxiang Army would be best.

Even if they couldn't be completely killed, it would still cause them heavy losses.

Right now, it seemed the effect was exceptionally good.

As long as the remaining Longxiang Army were killed...

"Eternal Mother, Vacuum Hometown!"

"Kill!"

Amidst an explosive roar, Xu Mujun had already collided head-on with a White Lotus Sect member.

"Bang!"

A slight collision sound suddenly rang out, only to see White Lotus Sect members being inexplicably knocked flying, collapsing to the ground in miserable screams.

"Kill!"

The remaining Longxiang Army also launched a charge, and the two sides once again engaged in a bloody battle.

Under this circumstance, Xu Mujun continued forward.

In the Void Realm, boundless bloody Evil Qi suddenly gushed out from the fighting forces of both sides, transforming into wisps of blue smoke that enveloped Xu Mujun's body.

"Th-That is... what?"

Xie Jiuque not far away abruptly constricted his pupils; he had long since sensed strange changes occurring in the surrounding heaven and earth Origin Qi.

Yet at this moment, as he looked toward Xu Mujun, he shockingly discovered that his body was shrouded in boundless bloody Evil Qi, which was slowly condensing into a blood-colored suit of armor!

As the amount of bloody Evil Qi grew more and more, the blood-colored armor condensing on Xu Mujun's body also grew increasingly solid.

Very quickly, a scarlet blood-colored armor had completely condensed and formed.

Looking closely, this armor was merely the most ordinary scale armor, yet it was not forged from steel, but rather formed from a strange blood-colored aura.

Looking closer still, streams of images were actually slowly flowing across the surface of the armor.

Those were... rivers and mountains, the common people, curls of smoke from kitchen chimneys, as well as wind, rain, thunder, and lightning.

Upon the exquisite armor, there were actually carved blurred and fractured diagrams of the rivers, mountains, and altars of state.

"Great General... Th-This is what Realm exactly?"

Xie Jiuque said in shock, "Innate? Or could it be the Spiritual Communication the Great General mentioned before?"

"N-No, no, no..."

He hurriedly shook his head, saying in shock, "It is not Spiritual Communication!"

"This, this is the Martial God!"

"Great General Xu has advanced to the Martial God Realm!"

Xu Mujun continued forward, the images on the armor growing increasingly clear.

Those layers of fractured places were also repairing themselves at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"The country is broken, yet mountains and rivers remain; I desire to... mend the heavens with a single hand!"