114: Chapter 114 Excavator Goes Up the Mountain, Ancestor: You Have No Martial Morality!

As that turtle shell known as the "Nine Heavens and Ten Earths Golden Light Glazed Array" dissolved into golden dust filling the sky, the cold wind from deep within the Qinling Mountains poured in without obstruction.

Xiao Aotian only felt that the wind was bone-chilling, drilling directly into his thin, ancient-style white robe.

"Enter the site."

Gu Changan stood by the command vehicle, not even sparing a glance at the "Immortal Venerable" slumped on the ground, merely spitting out two words coldly into the walkie-talkie.

Rumble—!

The earth began to tremble.

This was not a Cultivator's Spell; this was the pure, violent roar of industrial machinery.

At the end of the makeshift road, dust billowed.

Charging up first were twenty heavy excavators painted in bright yellow. They formed two columns, their massive tracks crushing the white marble tiles of the plaza, emitting a teeth-grinding "creak." The high-raised buckets flashed with a cold metallic luster under the sunlight, the shovel teeth still caked with mud and gravel from clearing the path.

Following closely behind were several engineering vehicles equipped with hydraulic breakers, their sharp drill bits pointing straight ahead.

This was a demolition brigade made of a torrent of steel, approaching with an unstoppable Aura.

"Stop! That is this Venerable's Enlightenment Platform!"

Xiao Aotian watched as the bucket of the leading excavator was about to smash into a giant rock in the center of the plaza. It was the "Divine Stone" he had spent 8 million Reputation Points to exchange for, said to increase Comprehension Ability when sitting on it to Cultivate.

"I'll fight you to the death!"

Xiao Aotian sprang up from the ground, his eyes burning red. The Formation was broken, the Dao field had collapsed; if even this last bit of property were destroyed, he would truly have nothing left.

He drew a spare soft sword from his waist. Although not as good as the previous Flying Swords, it was still a Sharp Weapon produced by the System.

"Gu Changan! You forced my hand!"

Xiao Aotian roared, the remaining Spiritual Qi in his body circulating frantically. With a tap of his toes, he leaped three meters into the air, his soft sword shaking out a bloom of sword flowers, stabbing directly at the cab of the lead excavator.

"Let you witness the Aotian Sect's ultimate technique—Demon-Slaying Sword Art!"

In normal times, this strike would be enough to cut through metal and jade; it could even pierce through a tank's armor.

The driver in the excavator cab was a veteran with twenty years of experience. Seeing a lunatic in ancient costume jumping up with a piece of iron to poke his glass, his hand jerked on the control lever.

Just then.

Gu Changan stood in the distance, pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, and a trace of an indifferent arc curled at the corner of his mouth.

"System, activate Law Enforcement Domain."

[Ding! Law Enforcement Domain covered.]

[Target detected in a state of violent resistance to law enforcement.]

[Halo stripping procedure initiated... Cultivator Physique suppressed... Spiritual Qi blocked...]

Hum.

There were no special effects in the air. Only Xiao Aotian could feel the Spiritual Qi surging like a river within him suddenly cut off, as if the main valve had been shut.

That feeling of being light as a swallow vanished.

The confidence of "one sword strike chilling nineteen provinces" collapsed.

Xiao Aotian felt his body sink, and his airborne form was instantly and ruthlessly captured by gravity.

"Eh? Eh?!"

He flailed in mid-air. That "Demon-Slaying Sword Art," which once swallowed mountains and rivers, turned into a chaotic, messy scramble due to the loss of Spiritual Qi support.

Splat.

Xiao Aotian fell like a pheasant with broken wings, landing flat in front of the excavator's tracks, face-first.

The soft sword clattered to the side, bent into a comical arc.

The scene was deathly silent, save for the rhythmic "putt-putt" of the excavator engine.

Xiao Aotian lay on the ground, his head buzzing. He tried to mobilize Spiritual Qi, but within this hundred-meter radius, it was like a vacuum of Spiritual Qi. Forget Spiritual Qi, he couldn't even fart out a bit of it.

At this moment, he had completely turned back into the delivery-driving Mortal, Xiao Aotian.

"How is this possible... My cultivation... My Golden Core..."

Before he could figure it out, a large shadow cast over his head.

The excavator's bucket moved.

The driver saw the scammer finally land and regained his composure, stepping on the gas pedal.

Clang!

The massive bucket fell ruthlessly. It didn't smash into Xiao Aotian, but passed over his body and slammed hard into the "Divine Stone" behind him.

Crack.

The Divine Stone, claimed to be indestructible and containing the truths of the Dao, was like a crisp biscuit before the shovel teeth forged from modern alloy steel, instantly shattering into a pile of slag.

Immediately after, the bucket turned and swept horizontally.

The plaque engraved with the three gold-plated characters "Aotian Sect," carved from thousand-year-old agarwood, was rolled under the tracks.

Creak—Snap!

Wood chips flew.

That was Xiao Aotian's reputation, and the Aotian Sect's signboard; now, mixed with mud, it was ground into the dirt.

"No!!!"

Xiao Aotian let out a wail like a blood-crying cuckoo. He no longer cared about the dignity of an Immortal Venerable, scrambling over to hug the mud-covered tracks of the excavator, refusing to let go.

"Don't demolish it! Big Brother! Boss! Please, I beg you, don't demolish it!"

Xiao Aotian's face was covered in tears and snot; his previous arrogance and wildness were gone, replaced by the despair and helplessness of a commoner facing forced demolition.

"This is money! This is my life!"

"I was wrong! I was really wrong! Can I redo the paperwork? I'll pay the fine! I'll pay whatever you want! Even if you make me take out a loan, or sell a kidney, it's fine!"

He hugged the cold tracks, crying like a two-hundred-pound child. The System's task was to establish a Sect; if the Sect was gone, the System would deem the mission a failure. By then, not only would his cultivation be completely ruined, but he would also be erased.

Even if this Sect was an illegal construction, it was still his lifeline!

Gu Changan stepped over the gravel-strewn ground, walking step by step to Xiao Aotian. His black leather shoes stopped by Xiao Aotian's mud-caked hands, his pant legs straight and spotless.

"Pay the fine?"

Gu Changan looked down at him, his tone as flat as if he were explaining the law to an ignorant, non-compliant vendor.

"Xiao Aotian, you still don't understand the situation."

"This is the Qinling Mountains, the national Central Park, and the Dragon vein and ecological barrier of China. Every blade of grass, every tree, every brick, and every tile here does not accept any form of commercial development or private illegal construction."

Gu Changan bent down, his eyes devoid of any emotional fluctuation, holding only cold order.

"Even if you paid one hundred billion, even if you bought this mountain, this illegal construction must be demolished. This is the red line, and it is the bottom line."

After speaking, Gu Changan stood up straight and waved to Chen Xiaobei beside him.

"Chen Xiaobei, calculate the bill for him."

Chen Xiaobei immediately ran over holding a calculator and a thick stack of receipts, a professional fake smile on his face, holding a tape measure, and began to measure in front of Xiao Aotian.

"Mr. Xiao, according to Article 50 of the 'Administrative Compulsion Law,' the costs of forced demolition implemented by administrative organs in accordance with the law shall be borne by the party concerned."

Chen Xiaobei pressed the calculator while reciting the numbers, his speed as fast as reading off a menu.

"China Construction Third Engineering Bureau heavy machinery deployment fee, twenty excavators, ten hydraulic breakers, plus fuel consumption and depreciation, currently stands at 3.8 million."

"Directional blasting operation fee, including explosives, detonators, and expert consultation fees, 1.2 million."

"Geological disaster assessment and subsequent mountain restoration project budget, this is the big one, because you destroyed the rock layer structure, requiring anchor rod grouting and reinforcement, preliminarily estimated at 75 million."

"And the ecological compensation for those rare trees you cut down..."

Beep, beep, beep—

Chen Xiaobei pressed the final equals sign and shoved the calculator screen in front of Xiao Aotian.

"A total of 136.45 million. And this doesn't include your fines and criminal liability compensation."

Xiao Aotian looked at the string of dizzying zeros, feeling his vision go black and his head buzzing.

Over 136 million?

This damn thing—selling him wouldn't even cover a fraction of it! All his savings had been converted into Reputation Points and dumped into this broken Sect, and now it was all ruins.

"No money? It doesn't matter if you have no money."

Gu Changan looked at Xiao Aotian's dazed expression, his tone still steady. "The court will initiate compulsory enforcement procedures. All assets under your name, including but not limited to those pieces of junk in your System space, will be auctioned off according to the law."

"Additionally, given the massive amount and your inability to repay, you might spend the rest of your life in a prison labor factory."

Gu Changan patted Xiao Aotian's shoulder and said a heart-piercing sentence with earnestness:

"If you want to Cultivate, you should let go of everything. These gilded illegal structures will only become Heart Demons on your path of cultivation. I helped you demolish them to help you break your obsessions and assist you in attaining the Dao sooner. No need to thank me; this is what I should do as a public servant."

Pfft!

Xiao Aotian couldn't hold back a mouthful of old blood and sprayed it directly onto the excavator's tracks.

Damn the breaking of obsessions! Damn the helping me attain the Dao!

I am a Cultivation System! My mission is to build a Sect and be the boss! You demolished my home and say it's for my own good?

This Gu Changan is simply a devil! He is a Yama in human skin!

"Gu Changan... you are so ruthless..."

Xiao Aotian pointed at Gu Changan's nose with a trembling hand, "But I haven't lost yet! I still have the Scripture Pavilion! That is the ley line node of Taibai Mountain! It connects to the underground river! If you dare to touch that, the entire water vein of the Qinling Mountains will be destroyed by you!"

After speaking, he violently pushed aside the Special Police and scrambled towards the small pavilion hanging alone on the cliff in the back mountain.

"Disciples! Retreat to the Scripture Pavilion! That is our last position!"