Killing Dao Fruit
Chapter 283 - 280: I Call You Brother, You Call Me

Chapter 283: Chapter 280: I Call You Brother, You Call Me

Three days later.

"My ministers, bow——!"

Following the proclamation by the ritual official.

On the majestic and solemn Imperial Palace, the young prince Zhou Jingliang, though dressed in luxurious Crown Robes, had not yet come of age as he ascended the throne.

The ceremonial guards were stern, drums and music rang out together, and all the officials bowed in unison to the new monarch.

After performing the highest level of salute in Great Yan, which was five bows and three prostrations.

New Emperor Zhou Jingliang then formally ascended the throne as he received the "Imperial Jade Seal" offered by the ritual official!

Moan!

The Qi Fortune Golden Dragon perched above the great hall seemed to moan weakly in response, as if unenthusiastically.

It seemed even the Dragon Energy was lamenting the downfall of an empire.

The Emperor is the "Sacrificial Master," and among all abilities, "Dragon Energy" is of utmost importance.

For the stability of national governance, the Dragon Energy was originally entirely biased towards the princes, and other members of the royal family were mostly treated like pigs being fattened before the decline of the dynasty.

Even if the prince’s talents were poor, they were likely still far superior to those of the same clan.

According to the plans of No-Life Dao and Xue Jiexi, the Eldest Prince Zhou Jingzhi was supposed to drown, and the Second Prince Zhou Jinhuan was supposed to die either by a change in the course of the Turbid River or by the hand of Jiang Baimei.

Thus, the Third Prince Zhou Jingliang could naturally ascend the throne without any controversy.

Unexpected to everyone, the plan, which was initially very meticulous, encountered an anomaly along the way.

"Shen Sheng died at home, heavy ears were safe abroad." It just so happened that Zhou Jinhuan, who was far away in Dengzhou Prefecture, miraculously escaped the disaster.

But with Zhou Xinglou and Xue Jiexi holding the handle of the knife, naturally, they weren’t worried about failing to resolve this issue.

Starting from the Director of the Imperial Observatory, they went ahead and beheaded the five Sense Spirit Platform officers one by one.

They did not even need six strikes in total, and easily "beheaded" for Zhou Jingliang the aspect of a "Human Lord."

Unfortunately, Dragon Energy does not lie. Even Zhou Wenrui himself did not meet the nine-five standard, let alone an underage Third Prince?

After this new monarch fell short of the nine-five standard, the dynasty’s Qi Fortune Golden Dragon, though not immediately collapsing, was also rapidly dissipating.

And the Qi Fortune Golden Dragon, which had been quite normal just three days earlier, grew a dozen or so heads of flood snakes from its neck the day after the news spread.

As time passed, the number of heads continued to increase.

This signified that the flood snakes lying dormant in the nation had begun to reveal themselves and were no longer subject to the suppression of the Fire Dragon Qi.

Later, when the new monarch hosted a banquet for his ministers,

a small banquet comprising only three people was held in Wuying Hall, which had become the new center of power.

It was exactly the representation of the three forces coming together and dividing the dynasty’s power: Zhou Xinglou, Xue Jiexi, and Su Yuru.

On the surface, their faces appeared amiable, seemingly harmless; the regent and Martial Saint Zhou Xinglou, while looking at the multi-headed dragon above the Imperial City, frowned and said,

"The speed of the collapse of the Dragon Energy is faster than we imagined, and there is not much time left for us.

Perhaps only a few months remain before even the frame of this True Dragon cannot be maintained."

Among the other two, Su Yuru, who took up the throne of the Empress Dowager and represented moral legitimacy, couldn’t help but give this Martial Saint a few more glances.

Appearances are deceiving; even now, she found it hard to believe.

This royal supporting backbone, known to the world as a "Martial Fool," was the very same vicious snake that consecutively brought doom to Xu Chuanyun, Zhou Wenrui, and Zhou Jingzhi — the three generations old, middle-aged, and young of the Zhou family.

Meanwhile, representing civil servants and scholars, Xue Jiexi, as the direct instigator, knew very well the thoughts of this "Martial Fool."

He played the "Martial Fool" because "Military Skill" never deceives anyone; with resource investment and sweat, there is a return, and the practice grows stronger until becoming supreme in the world!

But some things are not like this.

While those direct descendants of the royal family enjoyed a life of glory and luxury,

this outstandingly talented member of a collateral branch of the royal family was shackled, bearing more and more of the dirty work that royals could not discuss with outsiders and blocking countless overt and covert "poison arrows."

He safeguarded the publicly magnificent splendor of the royal family like a garbage bin.

As many enjoyed their sheltered lives in righteous self-contentment, they forgot that he, Zhou Xinglou, also carried the surname Zhou, a descendant of Emperor Taizu!

"Everything I own I have earned through my own efforts, and it has nothing to do with you useless parasites!

Why should you remain untouched by dust, why should your garments stay spotless?

Why should you sit amidst turmoil yet remain outside fire and water? You don’t deserve to sit high, you should fall down.

You self-righteous people should fall into the dust, dirty like me!"

Driven by such long-suppressed emotions, once he received the opportunity provided by "No-Life Dao," he immediately bit back at Xu Chuanyun, who raised him.

He played the part of "a dog that bites does not bark" to perfection.

At this moment, without any commendations or hastening to court, he entered the palace with sword and boots, responding to emergencies, wielding immense authority.

He almost reached the historic extreme of all powerful ministers.

But this was not what the three of them wanted.

Hearing his words, Xue Jiexi put down his wine cup and nodded:

"The first edict to be announced to the world will be issued today.

Moving the wealthy households from all over the country to the capital, as much as possible before the situation becomes utterly uncontrollable, to infuse a potent medicine into the dynasty’s Dragon Energy,

and let us truly complete the Blood Sacrifice."

Though a nation cannot be without a ruler for a day, Zhou Wenrui, still clinging to his last breath after suffering the backlash from the Dragon Energy,

They were so eager because they wanted to—perform the Blood Sacrifice in Yunjing City as soon as possible!

The initial plan was, once "No-Life Dao" had conquered the whole world, to use the Dragon Energy to deceive the Human Dao and ascend to the supreme throne of the Mortal World (Chapter 226).

Once again, they made a blood sacrifice to "No-Life Old Buddha" to break the backbone of the human clan, turning billions of people into two-legged sheep offering flesh and souls to the Heavenly Officials!

They consigned the human clan to remain at the bottom of the food chain, serving as basic sustenance for demons, the Weird, and the Heavenly Officials...

But plans often deviate from expectations.

The One-Eyed Stone Man failed to escape, Jiang Baimei died unexpectedly, especially that meddlesome "Peach God Tao" Song Bingyi, also made them somewhat suspicious and distrustful of their original allies.

Thus, two birds in the bush are not as good as one in the hand!

They simply decided to forcibly relocate the wealthiest households marked by the strongest Dragon Energy from all over the country to the capital before the Imperial Family’s credibility completely collapsed, doing their best to gather all the Dragon Energy within the Great Yan Realm.

Then, they would sacrifice the entire core of Dragon Energy to "No-Life Old Buddha," giving the "No-Life Dao" an unmatched head start in the upcoming chaos.

Even after the further destruction of Dragon Energy, the power of the Heavenly Officials could infiltrate further from behind the Heavenly Gate.

Stretching the already stretched resources of the "Nine Soldiers" to its limits, leaving them running ragged.

Of course, the most crucial part was, the promise of "Killing and Stealing the Fruits" they gave them all hinged on this blood sacrifice.

How could they not be concerned about it?

Xue Jiexi mentioned this, then raised another troublesome issue:

"Xie Tianke still has not responded to our envoy, and I fear that even with increased stakes, he might not be swayed."

Zhou Bingsheng, who knew the world’s number one swordsman better than anyone, was unconcerned.

"For now, we need not worry about him too much, we should just hurry with our plans.

A gentleman can use deceit strategically.

Even if we are ruthless, for the sake of the nation’s greater good, he and those other fools must advance and retreat, obediently guard White Cloud Pass, and not allow Red County Shenzhou to be steeped in bloodshed.

It’s the perfect opportunity to use the hands of the Naiman Five Tribes to eliminate these generals loyal to the human clan!

For each of these people we remove, there will be one fewer spirited rebel among those ’cattle’ in the future!"

For the three of them, power was secondary to immortality.

Even Xue Jiexi, whose entire family tree had been wiped out, had long since let go.

As long as he could achieve immortality, wasn’t the Xue family as plentiful as he desired?

His gaze shifted to the Empress Dowager Su Yuru, whose slightly protruding abdomen was concealed under her Luan Robe, a smile of satisfaction spreading across his face.

In their lighthearted banter, with an efficiency unmatched by any Weird, they stepped ruthlessly over countless lives,

Truly embodying the saying "killing and arson earn you a golden belt, while repairing bridges and roads leaves no trace."

...

In the midst of a grand coronation ceremony in Yunjing City, there was also fanfare at Mirror Lake in Yunhe County, with loud suonas playing harmoniously.

Amidst the bustle.

Zhou Jinhuan, who had been relentlessly busy for three days, had to seek out Wang Yuan once again.

By now, the two additional Daoist Soldier battalions that Jiang Baimei had brought out—the Divine Might Army and White Tiger Elite Soldiers—had been personally tricked by Zhou Jinhuan into moving to Dengzhou Prefecture.

Along with the Divine Machine Camp, Tiger Rider, and Dragon Martial Army under Pei Yulou’s command, after losses, about eleven thousand soldiers remained.

After three days of recuperation, those screened carefully by the Living Yama, the City God System, and the Trial Stone, had secretly lost several hundred more, and were thoroughly vetted.

All the remaining Martial Saints, Military Leaders, and Dao Generals, upon learning that the "No-Life Dao" had usurped the throne, shifted their allegiance to crown Prince Jing, Zhou Jinhuan.

Furthermore, the journey had showcased Dengzhou Prefecture as a transparent, peaceful, and prosperous place, much like paradise.

The ultimate pursuit of an agricultural empire could be nothing more than this.

"We’ve just contended with ’No-Life Dao’, and they are well aware of our strength. For now, Dengzhou Prefecture might be one of the toughest nuts to crack in the realm.

Moreover, with Yu State backed by Dai State and the neighboring East Mountain Taishan serving as the main base for the ’Nine Soldiers’ and the frontline guardian of the Heavenly Gate,

We needn’t worry about being targeted by ’No-Life Dao’ for a while.

However, there is a critical issue now..."

Zhou Jinhuan calmly looked at his cousin.

"Boss Wang, you see..."

He rubbed his thumb and index finger in front of Wang Yuan, giving him a "you know what I mean" look.

The only problem was the tight supply of provisions; maintaining these eleven thousand Daoist Soldiers cost more than sustaining two hundred thousand regular soldiers.

If his family didn’t have a big financial backer, Zhou Jinhuan would be so poor he’d have to pawn his pants.

Wang Yuan was straightforward; he swiftly wrote a requisition order for the Deceit Market, waved it in front of Zhou Jinhuan, and returned a "you know what I mean" look.

Zhou Jinhuan glanced at the groom’s outfit on his cousin and then at the requisition order, and grudgingly called out,

"Bro...ther-in-law..."

Wang Yuan burst out laughing, clapping him on the shoulder:

"Xiao Zhou, that’s more like it! Say it openly, and you’ll get used to it soon.

From today onwards, each to his own: you call me brother, and I call you brother-in-law—nobody loses!"

Zhou Jinhuan silently cried inside. Ever since Qingyan had escaped, his standing in the family had kept decreasing without cease.

Although originally he had his cousin as a cushion, now he had climbed up the branch to become the brother-in-law.

Was this fair?

Military Pay: It’s fair!

At that moment, the sounds of music and festivities rose from outside the door.

Thanks to the leniency of his mother-in-law, Wang Yuan and his significant other, cultivated for fifteen years since childhood, were finally reaping the fruits of their labor today.

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