143: Spare his life!

The sky in the distance was turning a fish-belly white.

Gazing at that faint light, Zhou Yan couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

"Reality is indeed much more troublesome than the game; the missions truly are one after another."

During last night's interrogation, Zhou Yan exchanged a vow for Qiao Wenbin's intelligence.

Judging by his calm demeanor when narrating, the illusion and pressure did affect him greatly, but if Zhou Yan hadn't proactively revealed his identity as a true Disciple of Qingxu Grotto-Heaven, Qiao Wenbin probably still wouldn't have spoken.

The reason he would rather die than speak before was precisely the current Grand Duke, the venerable General Chen Jingyuan, who had made countless military achievements.

His subordinates were actually collecting Soul Crystals.

Initially, Zhou Yan thought this was just some scarce resource, but Qiao Wenbin's subsequent words shattered his understanding.

The Grand Duke collaborated with the Truth Cult of Great Yu to capture heinous criminals, extract their Souls, and refine them into crystals, which were the "Soul Crystals."

It was indeed like that at first, but even in the vast Great Yu, there would eventually come a day when all heinous criminals were apprehended.

So the Grand Duke began to expand his influence, extending his reach to various prefectures and even counties.

Under his arrangements, many gray businesses and industries flourished.

This not only continuously "produced" evildoers but also reaped enormous profits, just like the black market outside Jiangzhou.

The Lianxing Pavilion's branch did big business in Great Yu and had a strong background, but a black market could never reach such a scale without local support, to the point where even public officials like Huo Zhongshan went there to make a living.

Therefore, this Grand Duke played an even more outrageous game than the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister merely cooperated with the Truth Cult to Cultivate "Spirit Fish," taking the path of sustainable utilization, where one person could be used repeatedly. The Grand Duke, however, directly harvested at the unit of prefectures.

Moreover, the Grand Duke not only colluded with the Truth Cult but also contacted the Lianxing Pavilion, and might even be involved with Guixu.

As a top dignitary of the Dynasty, he was entangled with all Three Demonic Sects and held absolute control over financial power. It was no exaggeration to say that he was now the most powerful person in Great Yu.

From Qiao Wenbin's mouth, Zhou Yan also learned about the current power structure of Great Yu.

The Grand Duke's status was above the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister's above Prince Kang, and Prince Yu's above The Emperor. This was precisely why Qiao Wenbin would rather die than reveal it.

As for the "great undertaking" he mentioned, it referred to the "Dragon King Project."

The Human Race's power was ultimately limited. After years of fighting with the Northern Border, Great Yu suffered heavy losses, and even the old Emperor died on the battlefield.

The Emperor's death had a huge impact. If Qingxu Grotto-Heaven hadn't adhered to "governance by non-action," making the various forces in the Northern Border not dare to easily break the existing structure, Great Yu would probably have long since disintegrated.

Therefore, the imperial court urgently needed a powerful combat force to stabilize the various forces within its borders and re-establish order.

Transforming into a Dragon through national destiny was undoubtedly the best way. The Truth Cult's Half-Demon Cultivate method, refined over a century, was now almost mature.

Next, he only needed to obtain the Dragon Clan's flesh and blood, Soul, etc., as a base, complete the Half-Demon transformation, then ascend to the throne, sacrifice the lives of the entire Capital and all Soul Crystals, and forcibly refine himself with the national destiny to complete the metamorphosis.

This action would allow him to leap past the Body Integration Stage directly into Void Refining, becoming a Void Refining stage Dragon Clan Great Demon.

Under the protection of the national destiny, even if the Void Refining Grand Sages of the Three Sects and the Yao Race made a move, they would not be able to harm him easily.

What the Prime Minister did was roughly the same: cultivating Spirit Fish, accumulating Foundation, and also wanting to achieve his goals through national destiny.

This was a big problem now.

After returning, Zhou Yan contacted his cheap Master to report the matter.

Fourth Elder's response, however, was unexpected.

"The Dynasty's current cultivation system is a special product combining the old imperial system and the new system. Although cultivation is fast, the strength is superficial."

"Even if that old man truly transforms into a Dragon and achieves Void Refining, it won't shake the status of Qingxu Grotto-Heaven. We can easily kill him."

"What's more, they rely on the imperial system. Acting so recklessly now will only destroy their Foundation. Even if they achieve Void Refining, it won't last long. Just let them be."

He told Zhou Yan to focus on Cultivating, emphasizing that Qingxu Grotto-Heaven had its own rules and there was no need to interfere with internal changes in the Northern Border.

Upon hearing this news, Zhou Yan was greatly disappointed.

It would have been fine not knowing, but now that he knew, how could he just watch as hundreds of thousands of people might die because of it?

Zhou Yan pondered for a long time, until dawn, and finally decided to enter the game himself and go to the Capital.

Qiao Wenbin had only told him this information; Wang Yao and the others were unaware. Otherwise, with Wang Yao's temperament, he would probably have already rushed to the Capital.

And from Wang Yao and Shi Suiyan, Zhou Yan accidentally learned that the Sect possessed a means to resurrect Disciples.

This way, if he went personally, with the Sword Seal as a fallback, he could at least unleash Soul Transformation combat power.

Even if he died in this crisis, the Sect would still step in to eliminate those people.

With his identity, resurrection shouldn't be a problem, no matter how great the cost. Even losing the qualification to become a Saint didn't matter; he had a cheat, so whether or not he had the Saint position wouldn't affect his future.

At this moment, Zhou Yan's state of mind seemed to return to that moment when he decided to go to Langqi Village to confront Chen Yan.

Back then, he acted with a playful attitude towards life, because he had a cheat, so he would intervene if he didn't like something. He had lived an extra life anyway, so there was no loss in being reckless, and besides, the Sect had his back.

But now, Zhou Yan no longer viewed all beings from the perspective of an NPC; he genuinely wanted to do his best to save more people, and moreover, the Sect still had his back.

At this moment, he couldn't help but recall Sage Xiao's words.

"There's no other reason, it's just because my thoughts aren't clear."

"If you want to go, then go. That's what 'experience' is."

After making up his mind, Zhou Yan was in a good mood and cheerfully headed to the execution ground, preparing for today's noon beheading.

"Oh, right, I almost forgot about that person."

Zhou Yan instructed Huo Zhongshan to send the Recording Stone to Qiao Wenze.

Inside was a pre-recorded image from Qiao Wenbin, used to persuade his brother not to do anything foolish.

Although mentioning Qiao Wenze raiding the execution ground was just a casual remark before, his younger brother believed it, which meant this person might actually do it.

Just in case, it was better to give a heads-up in advance.

Although the Heart Demon oath flashed and disappeared because Zhou Yan couldn't be chosen, since he had promised, he would still do it if he could.

After all, old Qiao was indeed not a bad person, and he was already old, so let him have a peaceful end if possible.

Sitting on the main seat of the execution ground, to prevent other accidents, Zhou Yan also invited Li Cheng.

Li Cheng was currently temporarily acting as the Jiangzhou Assistant Magistrate. He was once a Peak Nascent Soul stage powerhouse. Although the national destiny's blessing weakened after his retirement, he still retained Early Stage Nascent Soul strength.

And now that he had regained national destiny replenishment, although his cultivation hadn't recovered much, his combat power had returned to its Peak.

Having him in charge would save a lot of trouble.

This was also why Qiao Wenbin was certain that if Qiao Wenze raided the execution ground, he would surely die.

However, to be absolutely safe, Zhou Yan suddenly said with a mischievous smile to the executioner.

"In the past, shouting 'Execute!' and then executing was too unoriginal, and I'm sure you're tired of it too."

"How about this: later, I'll shout 'Stay your blade!', and then you chop. Consider it rare entertainment."

The executioners looked at each other and all agreed.

Anyway, they were just carrying out the execution; how they shouted didn't matter. Since this lord liked it, they would just do as he said.

With everything arranged, Zhou Yan returned to the main seat and settled down.

It was noon. With his command of "Execute!", the executioners raised their great swords high, their bodies enveloped in a temporary national destiny protective buff.

Zhou Yan clearly saw that this buff was on the same level as the national destiny on the officials they were about to execute.

So that's how executions worked. No wonder his cheap Senior Brother said there had to be sufficient charges.

"Stay your blade!"

A loud shout came, and the executioners had already swung their blades down in response.

It wasn't until heads rolled that they realized the voice wasn't from the execution platform, but from the other side of the execution ground.

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound, only to see Judge Chen's face turn ashen as he looked at the scene before him, roaring furiously.

"I already shouted 'Stay your blade!', what are you still chopping for?!"