353: Xu Yuan made the decision

“Eternal Night Clan?”

Xu Yuan naturally understood what Yue Yu was thinking.

It had been four years since he arrived in Eastern Ghost Dao Province. During these four years, he created various opportunities, but the Eternal Night Clan never appeared, clearly seeing through his intentions and choosing to lie low.

As for whether the Eternal Night Clan would sit idly by, he didn't believe it. If that were the case, those Saint Eyes Wielders wouldn't have suffered various assassination attempts.

Yue Yu nodded, “Yes! This bloody incident’s victims were all forces that had submitted to the Province Lord Manor. Everything is too coincidental. This old man has a premonition that this suddenly appearing ‘ 詭’ (Guǐ), even if it has no relation to the Eternal Night Clan, is connected to those rebels!”

The so-called rebels referred to the remnants of the forces Xu Yuan had annihilated years ago. These individuals secretly united and formed the Saint Execution Alliance.

It was said that their Alliance Leader had Cultivated to the Half-step Dao Lord Realm, just half a step away from the Dao Lord. Although they had been suppressed by the Province Lord Manor over the years, they hadn't lost much strength.

Yue Yu didn't believe that there weren't other forces involved behind this.

It must be known that although the entire Eastern Ghost Dao Province seemed to have the Province Lord Manor's power grow in recent years, this Eastern Ghost Dao Province was full of hidden talents. On the surface, there were six first-rate forces, all with Dao Lord experts. Although the strongest were only in the Dao Lord Early Stage, who knew if there were even stronger individuals secretly?

“Isn’t this just right?” Xu Yuan’s lips curved slightly. “If it’s the Eternal Night Clan, they’ve been hiding in the dark, making them hard for me to find. But if this Guǐ is connected to them, then I can just round them all up in one go.”

“As for the rebels? They’re nothing but a bunch of rabble. I’ve only kept them around all these years to train the troops! Otherwise, could they still be jumping around under my nose?”

As he spoke, Xu Yuan’s gaze turned towards a pavilion behind him. There, a spatial domain gate existed, connecting to the Xu Family in Cloud Mist Mountain of the Lower Realm.

Like Moon Lake in Kase Heaven Realm, this was also one of the Xu Family's strongholds. He had thought of this the moment he accepted the mission.

Over the years, the Xu Family disciples who emerged from this place had already been sent by Xu Yuan to the Azure Firmament Ancient Realm for tempering.

And the Xu Family’s Ten Great Heavenly Armies, under Xu Yuan’s orchestration, were scattered among the three thousand Dao Provinces of the Eastern Cang Celestial Territory.

In the Lower Realm, strong individuals were pitifully few, and the growth of the Heavenly Army was naturally restricted. But upon arriving at the Ancient Land of Dao, the Heavenly Army experienced rapid growth.

No other reason: there were many strong individuals here. Even a desolate place like Eastern Ghost Dao Province had a level that the Eternal Continent of the Lower Realm couldn't compare to.

Taking Eastern Ghost Dao Province as an example, the entire Dao Province had over ten million Emperor Realm existences, while how many were there in the Lower Realm? If those ancient races weren't counted, the number of Emperor Realm individuals probably wouldn't exceed three hundred!

Ten million compared to three hundred—what a ridiculous disparity!

And so, in four years, through the Primordial Heavenly Pool and the Primordial Heavenly Pool, the Battle Intent of the billion Heavenly Army rapidly soared. The lowest cultivation was Heavenly Monarch Early Stage, with Battle Intent comparable to an ordinary Great Emperor.

As for the highest commanders, the Ten Great Army Lords, their lowest cultivation was Divine Lord Peak, while Shang Zhang and Efeng, the two great Army Lords, had even reached Divine Lord Perfection, comparable to a Dao Severing Perfection Realm king.

In just four years, the billion Heavenly Army had achieved a qualitative leap, and all of this came at the cost of over a hundred billion lives.

Among these beings, most were heinous criminals, so Xu Yuan didn't care how many died. Even if there were innocents, so what? This was inherently a man-eat-man world; the strong survive, the weak perish, nothing more!

And in these years, apart from the Black Xuan Cavalry, which he used as a visible army, he secretly left a million-strong Heavenly Army from the Shang Zhang Heavenly Army, led by a Divine Commander. They were hidden throughout the Dao Province, suppressing various beings and forces he deemed worthy of death.

As a result, this Heavenly Army advanced very quickly. The Divine Commander's cultivation alone was Divine Lord Late Stage, comparable to most Heavenly Army Marshals.

Yue Yu listened to Xu Yuan's words and immediately found them reasonable.

Battle Intent bloomed in his eyes. As Xu Yuan's Dao Protector, he naturally wouldn't allow anyone to threaten Xu Yuan. If the Eternal Night Clan didn't have an Immortal existence, why would he wait for them to come knocking? He would have directly invaded their tribal land.

Below Immortality, though he dared not claim invincibility, after receiving Xu Yuan's bestowal, his cultivation had reached Dao Lord Perfection, and his Battle Intent was enough to rank among the Peak of the Dao Lord Realm, easily crushing many Half-step Dao Monarchs, and even capable of exchanging a few blows with an ordinary Immortal and safely escaping with Xu Yuan.

With such Battle Intent, he possessed absolute confidence, so upon hearing Xu Yuan's words, he raised no objections.

“Young Lord, what do you intend to do?”

Xu Yuan's eyes narrowed, and a plan quickly formed in his mind.

“Since it’s the subordinate forces that were annihilated, I naturally cannot sit idly by. Furthermore, with such a major incident occurring in the Eastern Border Region, various forces will more or less receive news and will certainly be watching this place. If we ignore it, those allied forces will likely feel insecure.”

“Notify Nanshan to go personally and try to make a grand show of it. Then, let him find an opportunity to deliberately spread news of the Guǐ!”

“Additionally, have Zhang Xuan secretly gather the Heavenly Army in the Eastern Border Region, using the incident sites like the East Sword Sect as points, and tightly seal this pocket for me!”

Nanshan was the Black Xuan Cavalry Army Lord. The army he commanded was the Black Xuan Cavalry's most elite Black Xuan Guard, numbering only ten thousand. However, the lowest cultivation within it was Dao Severing Early Stage, and the commander, Nanshan, was even a Dao Lord Early Stage expert.

Xu Yuan was able to subdue him partly due to Yue Yu's strength, and also because when he first met Nanshan, the latter was only Dao Severing Perfection. It was Xu Yuan who gave him a Jade Slip of cultivation, helping him Breakthrough.

Now, outsiders only knew his cultivation had broken through to the Half-step Dao Lord Realm, but they didn't know he was also one of Xu Yuan's trump cards.

Compared to the Black Xuan Guard, the Ten Great Heavenly Armies still lagged far behind the Black Xuan Guard in terms of the number of king-level combatants. However, the advantage of the Heavenly Army was that they were inexhaustible; as long as their core wasn't shattered, they could recover quickly.

Furthermore, the Heavenly Army didn't require military rations, nor did they need to Cultivate or rest. Coupled with Battle Array enhancements, if the two truly fought, the Heavenly Army's advantage would be extremely obvious.

Therefore, after dispatching the Black Xuan Guard, Xu Yuan also sent a million-strong Heavenly Army led by Zhang Xuan, hoping for unexpected efficacy when dealing with creatures like Guǐ or suppressing the rebels.

Yue Yu frowned upon hearing this: “Young Lord, in Eastern Ghost Dao Province, everyone talks about Guǐ with fear. If news of the Guǐ is reported, it will likely cause panic, and by then, the entire Eastern Border Region, and even Eastern Ghost Dao Province, will fall into chaos!”

“Currently, there are rebels openly and the Eternal Night Clan secretly. If Eastern Ghost Dao Province descends into chaos, it will likely give some people an opportunity to exploit!”

Xu Yuan smiled, “No destruction, no construction! A few years ago, we killed too suddenly and too ruthlessly, causing many anti-Province Lord Manor individuals to hide in the stagnant water of Eastern Ghost Dao Province. I intend to use this Guǐ incident to ferret them out!”

“As for the Eternal Night Clan, they have always feared that I have a hidden hand from the Dao Academy behind me. If they don't ascertain this, they will never make a move. Since that's the case, I will give them this opportunity.”

“Tell Nanshan, if possible, give the Guǐ a chance to grow, and let it mature quickly, to the point where it can force out the trump card behind me!”

As a being who achieved Breakthrough with the cultivation Jade Slip, Nanshan would completely execute Xu Yuan's orders.