44: Chapter 44 Unification of Changye County

[Year 12]

[Boundless suddenly flew into your meditation room.]

["What is it? Didn't I say not to disturb me unless it's something important?"]

[Boundless flapped its wings, fluttering before your eyes: "Great King, it's your subordinate, Zhu Qiang. He has allied with over a dozen Innate Realm experts and rebelled."]

["Oh?"]

[Someone actually rebelled?]

[Over these years, you had handed all matters over to your subordinates, giving them significant power and resources. You didn't expect to be backstabbed.]

["What are they planning to do?"]

["They are preparing to defect to the Prefecture Governor."]

["Idiots."]

[The Chen Kingdom's government is barely able to take care of itself; how could they possibly recruit this lot? Besides, they are just a bunch of trash who betray their masters for personal gain.]

[You didn't care in the slightest and said offhandedly: "Then you handle it. Remember to do it cleanly and leave no traces."]

[Over these years, Boundless's strength had also been continuously improving alongside yours. Its methods were very powerful, so you were quite at ease.]

["Rest assured, Great King."]

["With me handling it, success is guaranteed."]

[Boundless left excitedly.]

[You quietly went to Qingyun City to test Zhao Dachui and found that, just like before, there was still no change.]

[Returning to your residence, you couldn't help but wonder: "Could it be that Zhao Dachui isn't a Transmigrator, but a native villain?"]

["Could it be some peerless Devil Head who suddenly awakened their memories?"]

[Thinking of this, you felt even more nervous.]

[So, without further hesitation, you returned directly to Qingyun City.]

[Facing your return, Zhou Zhuan looked pleasantly surprised: "You'er, it's been twelve years. Where exactly have you been?"]

["Dad has really missed you."]

[He couldn't wait to embrace you.]

[The corners of your mouth curled up into a faint smile as you casually took the poison-coated dagger from his hand: "How did you find out?"]

[Zhou Zhuan's expression changed, and he no longer hid it: "At first, I had accepted all of this, but later on, the more I thought about it, the more wrong it felt."]

["If my child had won, even if there were repercussions, they wouldn't be this great. Moreover, your strength improved too quickly... too quickly for me to believe."]

[Zhou Zhuan closed his eyes: "Those forces in Qingyun City were also your doing, right? I really don't understand, what exactly are you trying to do?"]

["You could have clearly killed me directly, so why keep me..."]

[You didn't speak, just walked past him.]

[You circulated your Taiyuan Gang Strength, and Zhou Zhuan turned into an ice sculpture. You stored him in your space, turning him into a figurine.]

[However, due to the side effects, the final figurine was just a box.]

["Why?"]

[You recalled his words and shook your head gently. Let this answer remain a secret forever.]

[After taking down Zhou Zhuan, the entire Qingyun City remained under your control.]

[You specifically adjusted your residence so that the place where Zhao Dachui practiced was very close to yours, to facilitate your observation and experimentation at any time.]

[Over these past few years, Zhao Dachui had already broken through to the True Qi Realm.]

[Her appearance was still unremarkable, with a huge difference from the one in your memory.]

[At dusk,]

[A black light flew over and landed before your eyes; it was Boundless who had returned.]

["Great King, a total of 135 people have all been executed, including their thousands of subordinates. Not a single one was left."]

[You waved your hand: "No traces left, right?"]

["Naturally, everyone was burned to nothing by my Demonic Qi."]

["Good. Go and arrange for some people to fill their positions."]

[Boundless nodded, used its Protective Aura to pick up the nearby pen and paper, and began writing the transfer orders.]

[It wasn't the first time it had done this; it was very practiced.]

[These days, many people want to climb up, and the conditions you offer are very generous, so you don't have to worry about lacking subordinates.]

[However, having learned from this previous lesson, you decided to micromanage a bit more.]

[And so, in every city and mountain stronghold, you planted some people you had personally trained to supervise the others.]

["Although it won't last forever, maintaining it for fifty years is no problem."]

[After fifty years, will this world still exist?]

[You weren't sure; after all, this was just Zhao Dachui's one-sided account.]

[You only trust what you see with your own eyes.]

[In the following time, you continued to practice and test.]

[Zhou Zhuan's disappearance was covered up by an excuse you found, and Zhao Dachui didn't seem surprised either; she seemed to truly trust you.]

[Her feelings for you were very special.]

[You noted this point and constantly calculated in your heart.]

[Your subordinates all knew about the previous rebellion and were all on edge, acting more cautiously. You took the opportunity to raise welfare levels, buying their hearts, and their loyalty became even higher.]

[In Year 13, your Taiyuan Gang Strength became increasingly profound, even allowing you to directly condense Gang Strength into various forms of ice to use as weapons.]

[These were real, physical objects, different from the previous Protective Aura; it was truly magical.]

[In Year 14, your cultivation progress was slow.]

[Cultivation in the Refining Strength Realm is like this: it's a process of grinding, advancing day by day, bit by bit.]

[Year 15]

[You suddenly received a request for help from the Changye Prefecture Governor.]

[Boundless reported to you immediately: "Great King, a Great River Gang has suddenly risen in the west of Changye Prefecture, expanding crazily and annexing forces."]

["It has now taken control of that prefecture and is expanding toward Changye Prefecture."]

[Great River Gang?]

[You hadn't heard of it in your previous simulations.]

[But before, you hadn't actively paid attention, or perhaps it was too far away, and you simply didn't know.]

["How strong are they?"]

[Under normal circumstances, it is already quite good for a prefecture to produce one Inner Gang Realm expert.]

[The Changye Prefecture Governor's office happens to have three Inner Gang Realm experts, who are currently contending with your side.]

["Probably one Innate Realm expert."]

[Only Innate?]

[You waved your hand: "Go notify the Prefecture Governor's office. The Great River Gang will be completely annihilated, but from now on, there can only be one voice in Changye Prefecture."]

["And that will be me..."]

[Boundless was a bit confused: "Why did you stop, Great King? I was just getting fired up!"]

["Let me think."]

[You were thinking of a name.]

[Yes, this faction you created still didn't have a name until now.]

[Those subordinates just called you 'My Lord'.]

[Very quickly, you thought of a standard, proper name.]

["And that is my Taixu Hall!"]

[Boundless was stunned: "Taixu Hall? It reads okay, and it sounds okay too."]

["Hmm, go on. Handle this matter beautifully."]

["Warn them that we only care about Changye Prefecture; everything outside the prefecture has nothing to do with us."]

[This was your external stance.]

[All you needed was a quiet environment to practice, while waiting for Zhao Dachui's changes.]

[Boundless personally took action, using its Demonic Qi to condense a black shadow to act as its physical body. Facing any enemy, it would kill them in seconds with a single blast of Demonic Qi.]

[Everything went smoothly.]

[Thus, the entirety of Changye Prefecture belonged to you.]