489: Miaojiang's ambitions and Chujiang's personal army's strength surged

Yue Province, the entire Yue Province City, was enveloped in a strange atmosphere.

Jianghu heroes came and went in an endless stream in the taverns, the red-light districts were filled with singing and dancing, and countless street performers plied their trade.

Inside Tianxiu Tavern.

Several Jianghu figures from Yue Province were discussing.

"These people from Miao Territory are truly getting out of hand. After eating their rice, my whole body feels weak. I heard that even Tie Bi Liu Yidao of the Beggar Sect has fallen victim and is now in seclusion, recuperating!"

An old Jianghu expert took a sip of strong wine and said in a deep voice.

The table was already laden with various dishes and drinks, but not a single grain of rice.

After the Miao Territory rice disaster a few days ago, the entire Yue Province, including its major cities, was in a state of panic. People no longer dared to eat rice, not only from Miao Territory, but even rice produced in other regions.

"Tie Bi Liu Yidao is a Ten Realms of Dharma Idol expert, a big shot close to the Heaven and Earth Realm, and the head of the Beggar Sect's branch in Yue Province City. Even he couldn't resist and couldn't detect the problem with the yu zhi fragrant rice?"

A young female hero asked, puzzled.

"Let alone the Faxiang Realm, I even heard that a Heaven and Earth Realm expert also fell victim. This yu zhi fragrant rice looks fine on the surface; only those with extremely strong Divine Sense can detect a hint of a problem."

"The Demon Suppression Division has already invited experts to investigate, but no latest information has been announced. We, as small figures, have no way of knowing the true situation."

Another middle-aged man said.

"Perhaps the situation has already been investigated, but since the Three Prefectures are autonomous, the official level of Yue Province finds it inconvenient to directly express its stance, having some concerns, and can only secretly give notice."

"Hmph, these past few years, this Miao Territory truly doesn't treat us neighbors as people. It's either secretly abducting people or poisoning them. Why don't they deploy the army to suppress them?"

"They do it secretly, and you have no concrete evidence. Even the Yue Province Demon Suppression Division has no way to deal with their Three Prefectures, unless the Chu Emperor personally steps in to abolish the Three Prefectures and put pressure on them."

But that's impossible. The autonomy of the Three Prefectures is a rule established by the Great Chu ancestors thousands of years ago and cannot be easily shaken.

"Afraid of wolves in front and tigers behind, alas... If Lord Chu could come to Miao Territory, with his personality, he would certainly not be so cowardly; he would definitely go on a killing spree!"

A young man said indignantly. His younger sister had eaten the yu zhi fragrant rice and still hadn't recovered.

But his Family's strongest member was only in the Golden Core Realm, as fragile as an ant in front of the behemoth that was Miao Territory.

"Don't say that, if Lord Chu could come here, at least he could make them behave for a few years, and let us settle down."

"That's a good idea, but Miao Territory, and the neighboring Xiang and Yue Provinces, are generally peaceful. Unlike the constant chaos in the Border Three Prefectures to the east, how could such a high-ranking figure, who is busy with countless affairs, come to us?"

"Alas..."

"Indeed!"

A person dressed in plain clothes mingled among the crowd.

After listening, he quietly disappeared from Tianxiu Tavern.

...

Yue Province Demon Suppression Division.

Demon Suppression Hall.

Pacification Envoy Cao Zhengchun sat in the main seat, his expression indifferent.

Thump-thump!

Commander Jin Feng entered the hall and cupped her hands towards Cao Zhengchun, saying, "Lord Pacification Envoy, the people from Miao Territory still refuse to admit that the Immortal Rice from Yue Province's counties and towns has problems. They say it's slander and want to report us to the Imperial Capital, to impeach us!"

"And they refuse to cooperate. Now they don't even bother to pretend."

"Lord Pacification Envoy, although all the Immortal Rice on sale in Yue Province has been confiscated, and the sale of any rice from Miao Territory has been prohibited, if the source is not resolved, new troubles will still arise..."

People from Miao Territory could enter their area freely, but they needed layers of approval to enter Miao Territory.

It had clearly become a state within a state.

This trend had become increasingly obvious in the past few decades.

Before, they could still exchange goods, but now they didn't even bother to greet each other.

"How is the reconnaissance of the Bing Shen Plan progressing?"

Cao Zhengchun's eyes were calm and unwavering. He knew very well that the Three Prefectures were special, and without solid evidence, the imperial court would not act there at all.

"Progress is slow. It may have entered a critical stage now. Our people find it difficult to access the core areas; the defenses are very strict."

Jin Feng responded.

"Lord, our people have lost two souls after eating rice produced in Miao Territory. Isn't this a major crime?"

They had not yet announced this problem, and relevant personnel had been issued a gag order, temporarily unable to speak.

Cao Zhengchun shook his head and said, "This is only suspicion. They will say that during transportation, outsiders tampered with it, and it has nothing to do with them. Unless we can catch them personally tampering with the rice on video, then it can be done."

It must be legitimate; a military expedition must have a just cause.

Miao Territory was powerful and could not be rashly moved.

The two discussed some other issues, then dispersed.

...

Taiping Inn, third-floor private room.

A middle-aged man in a green robe and a white-haired old man sat in the private room.

The table was laden with dishes and drinks, all of top quality, colorful, fragrant, and delicious, extremely luxurious.

The two were named Yun Lin and Song He, respectively, and were the spies sent to Yue Province by the Miao Territory Elder Council, responsible for transmitting intelligence.

Yun Lin's face was solemn as he said, "Elder Song, aren't the actions on the Miao Territory side too big now? The Pacification Envoys of Yue and Xiang Provinces are already quite dissatisfied and have secretly prepared evidence, ready to launch an attack on us."

Song He was silent for a moment, then said,

"The Bing Shen Plan has reached a critical juncture. As long as we push through and complete the War God's creation, our Miao Territory will be able to completely separate from Great Chu and establish an independent nation."

"At that time, it won't be a question of whether Yue and Xiang Provinces will cause trouble, but a question of whether our Gu Nation will annex their two provinces."

The Great Chu Dynasty's Luck was exhausted; everyone wanted to carve a piece of flesh from it, and his Miao Territory Three Prefectures were no exception.

Originally, his Miao Territory was a unified entity thousands of years ago, but after being conquered by Great Chu, it was forcibly split into Three Prefectures, not hesitating to venture deep into the perilous Ten Thousand Great Mountains, paying huge resources to Great Chu every year to retain autonomous rights.

Over these thousands of years, how many resources of his Miao Territory had been swallowed, all benefiting Great Chu.

Now, it was time to make them spit it all out.

Yun Lin lowered his head. Recently, his eyelids had been twitching. He always felt that Great Chu could not possibly allow Miao Territory to create the War God.

"Relax, the sky won't fall. This time we have made full preparations. Even if the King of Heaven came, he wouldn't be able to change the overall situation."

Song He smiled calmly and patted Yun Lin's shoulder, saying.

...

Amidst the sea of clouds, on the Heaven-Reaching Warship, Chu Jiang stood with his hands behind his back, looking at Yue Province City dozens of miles away. It had taken two and a half days to travel from Ling Province in the east to the edge of the Southern Nine Provinces.

Fu Yunxuan held the Demon Suppression Blade, her short hair fluttering in the wind, looking heroic and valiant, standing on the left side.

Boom boom boom!

Nearly a thousand people sat cross-legged within the warship.

The sounds of Breakthrough were incessant.

Chu Jiang had used the purple gold gourd to refine the tens of thousands of demons he had recently slain, as well as the Snow Moon Wolf King with royal blood, and the undying Brahma True Demon, into Demon Refining Elixir.

The top-grade Demon Refining Elixir with royal blood not only contained immense energy but also effectively improved Cultivation Aptitude.

His personal army's strength had once again soared.

After plundering the Cultivation resources and high-grade demon elixir from the aristocratic families of Wu, Yue, and Lan Provinces, their strength had a second boost.

Now, no one was below the Divine Power Realm, the Faxiang Realm had broken through to two hundred people, and the Heaven and Earth Realm had ten new additions, totaling forty-three people.

Zhang Huan, Shui Yunji, and the other ten personal guards had all reached Level 5, Qiankun and above.

Wang Chao, Ma Han, Zhang Long, and Zhao Hu had broken through to the Qiankun Tenth Level.

Their combat power could be called the Great Chu's number one army.

After a quarter of an hour.

Swish swish swish!

More than a dozen figures entered the warship's deck and cupped their hands towards Chu Jiang, saying, "Lord, the situation has been largely investigated. There are three Miao Territory offices within Yue Province City. Although the Demon Suppression Division has issued a ban, subordinate counties and towns still have aristocratic Families who, for exorbitant profits, mix the disaster rice from Miao Territory with normal rice for sale."

"And also..."

The arrivals were precisely Zhang Huan and the other ten personal guards who had gone to gather intelligence.