Stop it, Taoist, Your Fight almost Ruins the DAO!
Chapter 998 - 539: True Technique Twenty-Seven Layers, Electromagnetic Manifestation True Monarch Yi Chengzi, Six Divine Envoys Hunt Pure Yang! (Part 2)

"Taoist Priest, rest assured, I am but a mere common man whose worthless life should have ended alongside my comrades in that dreadful battle long ago. Even if you were to take my head, let alone this arm, what is there for me to fear?"

"A common man does not fear death; he merely fears a death without meaning."

The one-armed middle-aged man gave a carefree smile, set down his musical instrument, straightened his clothes with one hand, and with a flourish of his robe, he knelt before the Taoist with a thud, as if he were pushing a golden mountain or toppling a jade pillar.

"Taoist, three years ago, we faced defeat after defeat, retreating faster than the blizzard."

"With the power of Monsters and Demons unchecked, Corrupt Officials obscure the heavens, making every place a frontier."

"I still remember the last battle, the mountains and fields littered with dead and wounded comrades, among them children barely ten years old."

"Those longevity locks stained with blood, the beacons lit ablaze, burning for seven days without ceasing."

"I do not know why the promised reinforcements delayed their arrival by seven days."

"When I awoke, I had lost an arm, regretfully not having perished alongside my comrades."

"I went to question those reinforcements, to ask why they arrived so late."

"The General rewarded me with three taels of gold, suggesting I look within myself for the reason."

"Taoist, what do you think that reason could be?"

The middle-aged common man lifted his head, his fists clenched, his bloodshot eyes staring straight at the Taoist.

Without waiting for the Taoist to reply, he continued to speak on his own.

"We pawns are but playthings in the games of those with power."

"One death is a statistic, a hundred, a thousand, a million, they're all just numbers."

"Perhaps this rotten life of mine was always fated from the moment of my birth!"

"So, I left the military, braving winds and frost to come here."

"Along the way, the land echoed with the sound of prosperity, the merchant's daughters ignorant of the nation's woes, still singing 'The Courtyard Flowers beyond the River.'"

"The actors mock my missing limb, not worth a few whispered words from her that earn a thousand taels of gold."

"The merchant mocks my foolishness, my shattered armor and tattered clothes, showing off his troupe dressed in golden-threaded garments."

"But Taoist, the Sun and Moon Holy Dynasty needs a few unwise men like myself!"

"Common man Chang Baisheng! Humbly bows his head! On my knees, I beg the Pure Yang Saint Master, may the Imperial Uncle of the Sun and Moon Holy Dynasty act, to right the wrongs, to purge the administration, to end the political strife!"

"I, Chang Baisheng, am willing to fight swiftly for the Sun and Moon Holy Dynasty. I still wish to battle once more, to see how many Monsters and Demons this half-body's worth of flesh and blood can exchange for!!!"

Suddenly, the middle-aged common man struck his head against the ground, his voice crying like the mournful cuckoo, sharp and indescribable, his fingers digging into the ground until bloody.

"Common man Chang Baisheng! Humbly bows his head! On my knees, I beg the Pure Yang Saint Master, may the Imperial Uncle of the Sun and Moon Holy Dynasty act, to right the wrongs, to purge the administration, to end the political strife!"

"I, Chang Baisheng, am willing to fight swiftly for the Sun and Moon Holy Dynasty. I still wish to battle once more, to see how many Monsters and Demons this half-body's worth of flesh and blood can exchange for!!!"

At this moment, the five Female Cultivators in the room all turned pale upon hearing his words, looking at their patron Xiong Kui with shock and fear mixed with admiration, never expecting this generous customer to actually be the Guardian God of the Sun and Moon Holy Dynasty!

Faced with the middle-aged man who was nearly fainting, the Taoist's gaze sharpened like the edge of a blade, he suddenly sat up straight, leaned forward, and said coldly:

"What a Chang Baisheng you are, you want this Imperial Uncle to rectify the administration and end the political strife, so then, which party do you belong to?"

"Is it the clean stream, the Crown Prince, the current Emperor, or a party of the Family?"

"Being able to find this place, who is behind you?"

Faced with the Taoist's questioning, the middle-aged common man stopped knocking his head and started to speak sorrowfully:

"Holy Master, ever since the shocking events at Shuimu Fort, the Sun and Moon Holy Dynasty has been declining day by day, princes and dukes scattered throughout the world, deeply rooted and intertwined,

"Royal Family members and Eunuchs from the palace, officials of all ranks who occupy half the world's land, exempt from taxation, while the small folk, who own less than half the land, must pay all the world's taxes, these truths are known to all, yet nobody speaks of them!"

"They siphon the fat and marrow of the people, taking everything down to the last copper, squandering it like mud and sand!"

"Affairs of state become tools for political strife!"

"The late arrival of reinforcements is because our Yishan Army—does not belong to any party, Holy Master!"

"We are seen by the powers of the Sun and Moon Holy Dynasty as bad folk, you ask us which party we are, then we are that party!"

Amidst trembling voices, the one-armed middle-aged common man forcefully tore off the longevity lock hanging around his neck that was blackened with oxidized bloodstains and held it high,

"This belonged to a thirteen-year-old child, my youngest comrade who died before me, leaving it to me, who should have died."

"He was quickly conscripted into our group, as all able-bodied men from the city had perished."

"Before dying, he asked me why the city they lived in was now covered in blood, why despite promises to hold for two days, the reinforcements didn't move and took seven days to arrive, waiting for our Yishan Army to be annihilated before showing up belatedly!"

"Perhaps it's the protection of this longevity lock that allowed me to survive and walk out of that battle, so I want to ask the Holy Master for clarity, seeking justice!"

With a sweep of his arm, the darkened longevity lock in the one-armed middle-aged common man's hand fell into the Taoist's hand.

The longevity lock was not intricate, quite rudimentary even, made from just a piece of iron leftover from plow production, but polished to smoothness, evidently the previous owner treasured it greatly.

Looking at the longevity lock, the Taoist showed a complex expression, sighing deeply before saying in a solemn voice, "Chang Baisheng, let this poor Taoist voice the words that are in your heart but you have not said."

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