Yefutidaolu

Chapter 326 Conquer
Yang Ling appeared not far behind him, his face pale, his eyes filled with the exhaustion of surviving a close call, and a lingering sense of fear and confusion. He stared at Gao Jian's retreating figure, his voice hoarse as he broke the silence:

"So... everything happened as you thought, Lord Gao." Yang Ling's tone was complicated, with relief, lingering fear, and a sense of powerlessness as if he were being controlled by invisible threads. "Qilin Shen died in battle, Huang Chengshi was annihilated, and the Jin family's top combat power was almost wiped out... Now, no matter how the game in Liangzhou is reshuffled, you will definitely have a share, and the most important one at that."

He neither agreed nor disagreed with the expert's opinion, but simply left calmly.

The gains were indeed substantial, and Gao Jian was already making plans in his mind.

He came as an "imperial envoy" and thus had the power to supervise. Now that the core fighting force of the Jin family has been destroyed, the patriarch Jin Dafu is dead, and the entire Jin family's power in Liangzhou has collapsed, leaving a huge power vacuum, Gao Jian will naturally take over under the pretext of "stabilizing the situation, investigating the rebels, and rectifying the border defenses".

He gained actual control of the border. Yang Ling and his remaining garrison, in order to survive, had to depend on him. Border defense, resource allocation, and personnel appointments were all under his control.

With Qilin Shen's death, the Qilin tribe's high-end combat power has been almost entirely wiped out. The remaining warriors are like rootless duckweed; if they don't want to return to Liren Plain, their only option is to rely on Gao Jian, who controls the border and can provide protection. These fearless and exceptionally powerful warriors will become the sharpest blade in Gao Jian's hands.

Through his association with the Qilin tribe, Gao Jian indirectly influenced and even controlled other "strange beast tribes" who came to the border with the Qilin tribe seeking protection, thus integrating a force of alien races that could not be ignored, which became his unique military capital in Liangzhou.

More importantly, the terrifying intimidation of the "two-stage grandmaster" level that Gao Jian had previously displayed behind him has become a sword hanging over everyone's heads.

This extraordinary power makes any force that covets Liangzhou or is dissatisfied with him think twice before acting.

With the fall of the Jin family, the various tribes of strange beasts submitted to him, and with the border in his hands, coupled with Qin Longhe's own "deterrence," Gao Jian no longer had any real rivals in Liangzhou.

Neither the remaining aristocratic families of Liangzhou nor the forces that the central government of the Divine Dynasty might send can bypass him. The future political landscape, resource allocation, and relationship with the grasslands of Liangzhou will all be dominated by him.

Gao Jian's gaze swept across the battlefield ruins below, which resembled a purgatory, over the soldiers busily collecting corpses, over the deep crater in the distance that looked like the wounds of a giant beast, and finally landed on the last ray of light disappearing on the horizon.

His face showed no ecstatic joy of victory, only a calm and composed demeanor, as if he had taken control of the game.

Liangzhou, this borderland rife with war and conflicting powers, truly fell into his hands from this moment on. Through his own cunning, leveraging existing forces, and using one power to devour another, he ultimately gained control of all three sides, becoming the new ruler of this blood-stained land.

However, for Gao Jian, this is just the beginning.

Liangzhou is merely a border region of the Divine Dynasty. The Nine Realms are considered quite powerful in Liangzhou, but in the Divine Capital, they are... well, not to mention everywhere, but definitely not uncommon in the Purple Palace Enclosure.

However, those at the Ninth Realm are still very powerful. For example, Qin Long, a sword cultivator at the peak of the Ninth Realm, is clearly an ally of Yang Ling. He is an important asset and deterrent to Yang Ling in terms of personal martial prowess.

Now, Gao Jian is preparing to have a good talk with Qin Long.

The wind and sand still howled, sweeping past Qin Long's profile, which was as cold and silent as frozen earth.

At this moment, Qin Long resembled a cold stone statue more than ever before, with only the dark short sword at his waist retaining a trace of life.

Just then, a figure walked steadily over, stepping on the gravel. It was Gao Jian. He didn't deliberately conceal his aura, so Qin Long clearly saw him approaching.

Gao Jian stopped a few steps away from Qin Long, his gaze sharp as a hawk's, piercing through Qin Long's deliberately maintained cold exterior and directly striking the turbulent waves and emptiness within.

"Qin Long." Gao Jian's voice wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally clear, carrying a metallic quality that couldn't be ignored. "This should be our second meeting today."

Qin Long didn't turn around, not even blinking, his gaze fixed on the chaotic line of sand and dust. But his silence itself was a response.

Gao Jian didn't care. He stood with his hands behind his back, his posture calm, as if this desolate border was just his courtyard. "Yang Ling cares about the common people and is compassionate. I admire this sentiment." He changed his tone, which suddenly became as cold and hard as the frozen soil of the border. "But sentiment cannot save this world."

He took a step forward, his gaze fixed intently on Qin Long's profile: "The Hu people and the old farmer of the Divine Dynasty are not from the same world, but this is not because of the Hu people, but because the world itself operates for 'cultivators'!"

“I’ve already heard Yang Ling say this before,” Qin Long finally spoke, his voice dry and hoarse, like sandpaper being rubbed.

"Exactly!" Gao Jian's voice suddenly rose, carrying an undeniable and resolute tone. "The primordial energy of heaven and earth, spiritual veins and mineral deposits, blessed lands and grottoes, divine weapons and magical artifacts, even elixirs for prolonging life... what truly valuable 'resources' in this world don't exist around cultivation? Why are aristocratic families so high and mighty? Because they monopolize the path of cultivation! They use their bloodlines, their clans, and the foundations accumulated over thousands of years to firmly grasp the ladder to heaven of cultivation in their own hands! Mortals? They are nothing more than ants dependent on the cultivation system, the firewood that sustains this system."

"Then do you want everyone to be able to cultivate?" Qin Long asked again.

Judging from the answer given by Gao Jian, this choice seems to be a matter of course. Allowing everyone to cultivate can eliminate this difference, which is an answer that makes "everyone in the same world" possible.

However, to Qin Long's surprise, Gao Jian replied without hesitation, "I can't do it."

His words struck Qin Long's heart like heavy hammer blows, and also struck Yang Ling, who remained silent in the distance.

"Yes, it's impossible." Gao Jian's expression remained unwavering, his eyes deep as an ancient well, reflecting no ripple of emotion. "The resources for cultivation are limited by heaven and earth, not inexhaustible. How many noble families can a single spiritual vein support? How many mortals can it support? Cultivation talent is even more predetermined; eight or nine out of ten are mediocre. Even if a path to heaven is laid out before them, they are like a blind man trying to see the sun. Forcing it will only cause limited resources to be dissipated more quickly among a larger group destined to fail, ultimately leading to a more brutal struggle and collapse. This is the way of heaven, which cannot be defied by human power." His words were calm to the point of cruelty, each word like a cold weight, measuring the ruthlessness of reality.

Gao Jian's words were so absolute and clear that they completely shattered the illusion that "everyone can be a dragon." Yang Ling's figure seemed to sway slightly in the distance, and the words "cannot be done" undoubtedly crashed heavily onto the ruins of his just-shaken beliefs.

In this suffocating atmosphere of despair, Gao Jian's tone shifted subtly, like a venomous snake, remaining calm yet suddenly infusing a chilling undertone:

“However,” he tilted his head slightly, his gaze seemingly piercing through the sandstorm, landing on the unseen powerful families and clans that occupied various parts of the Divine Dynasty, “it is not impossible to make the existing cultivators… treat the mortals beneath their feet better, exploit them less, show more compassion, and give the ants a chance to breathe.”

He paused, his voice still steady, yet like an undercurrent quietly churning in the depths of a cold pool:

"Since the current group of cultivators are used to being high and mighty, used to regarding mortals as worthless, and used to watering their dreams of immortality with the blood and tears of mortals... then it means that they have rotted away and are no longer worthy of occupying this path to heaven."

Gao Jian's gaze slowly shifted back to Qin Long's face. In those deep eyes, there was no anger, no fanaticism, only a chilling, pure and extreme sense of "cleaning," like a craftsman examining an object that needed to have rotten flesh removed.

"Rotten wood cannot be carved, and stubborn diseases must be eradicated." His voice was casual, as if he were talking about a trivial matter. "Since education is useless and persuasion is ineffective... then kill him."

"Change to another batch."

“Replace them with a new group of practitioners who understand ‘reverence,’ ‘compassion,’ and ‘coexist’ with mortals instead of ‘bloodsucking.’ With the old bloodline severed, new rules will naturally be established. It is always better to use the resources of this world to support a group of practitioners who know restraint and moderation than to support a group of insatiable gluttons who regard all living beings as nothing.”

"Kill all the old ones, then establish new ones?" Qin Long's voice was filled with disbelief, his knuckles turning white from gripping the sword hilt so tightly. It wasn't that he disagreed with Gao Jian's analysis of the nature of aristocratic families, but the bloodbath and mountains of corpses behind this "replacement," the absolute ruthlessness revealed in his casual remarks that treated the lives of countless cultivators as worthless, sent a chill down his spine.

Gao Jian nodded slightly, a faint, almost imperceptible smile appearing on his face, but this smile was more chilling than any ferocity: "Why not? Heaven and earth are ruthless, treating all things as straw dogs. The Great Dao operates, and it is necessary to clear away the redundant. Since the old has become a malignant tumor that hinders the clarity of heaven and earth and the survival of mortals, then... let it be cut off."

His words echoed in the wind and sand, calm and indifferent, yet carrying a terrifying killing intent capable of changing the very fabric of the landscape.

"Can you do it?" Qin Long asked in a deep voice.

Just as Yang Ling had shaken his resolve to rebel against the aristocratic families, Gao Jian reignited his hatred for them in a more extreme way. But the way it was reignited was different.

"Can you do it?" Qin Long asked again, his voice heavy as if weighed down by a thousand pounds, each word squeezed out from between his teeth. He stared at Gao Jian's face, which appeared too calm in the wind and sand, trying to find a trace of arrogance or bluff in it.

This plan is too grand, too bloody, too… insane. To slaughter the entire old cultivation class of the Divine Dynasty? Easier said than done! The aristocratic families have a thousand-year history, the immortal sects are deeply entrenched, and there's the unfathomable power of the Divine Dynasty's central government. This is far beyond the capabilities of one person, or even one province.

Gao Jian did not answer immediately. Meeting Qin Long's scrutinizing gaze, he instead smiled faintly, a smile devoid of arrogance, only one of knowing understanding after insight. He raised his hand, not pointing at the unseen powerful enemies, but gently tapping his own chest.

“Look,” his voice wasn’t loud, but it pierced the wind and sand clearly, “the land of Liangzhou is now mine. The Jin family, the Huang family, the Chen family of Longxi… these malignant tumors that have occupied Liangzhou for hundreds of years have had their roots severed, and their branches are withering. Just before today, Brother Qin, do you think… a ‘small fry’ of the sixth realm could have done this?”

Six Realms.

He uttered those two words calmly, yet they carried more weight than any grand pronouncement. In the Divine Dynasty, a cultivator at the sixth realm was by no means weak, but they were certainly not enough to shake the foundation of a powerful family in a province! Yet the facts were right before their eyes.

The world of Liangzhou was indeed turned upside down in a short period of time by an unknown "Sixth Realm" expert. He didn't rely on unparalleled cultivation, but on scheming, leveraging power, and precisely exploiting the long-standing, rotten cracks between aristocratic families and between the aristocracy and the mortal world! This ability to manipulate events and carve out a path from the impossible is itself a terrifying power that transcends realms.

Qin Long's breath hitched slightly. He wanted to refute, to question the even greater resistance beyond Liangzhou, but Gao Jian's almost supernatural, fact-based control at this moment left all his doubts stuck in his throat. Indeed, before this, who could have imagined Liangzhou would be in this state? Who could have imagined that what was orchestrating all of this would be a "mere" Sixth Realm expert?
Gao Jian's gaze shifted from Qin Long's face, as if merely stating a given fact. Then, his eyes turned towards Liangzhou City, where the Jin family's ancestral home was located. His voice remained calm and even, without the slightest ripple, yet it carried an absolute coldness as if proclaiming a final verdict: "The Jin family will be exterminated."

Qin Long looked up.

This sentence contains no "possibility," no "attempt," only "must." It's as if it's an ironclad rule, about to be enforced. The overwhelming killing intent and unquestionable determination contained in these calm words are more terrifying than any roar.

Yang Ling's confusion and despair, the insurmountable chasm between him and Hu Fan, the suffocating oppression of the aristocratic families... all of this bound him like heavy chains. But Gao Jian, this suddenly appearing, ruthless yet insightful sixth-realm cultivator, showed him a path. A path filled with mountains of corpses and seas of blood, shrouded in darkness, yet seemingly... capable of piercing through this iron curtain of despair.

Qin Long's heart was churning with turbulent emotions. Reason screamed for danger, but instinct clung to a rope that seemed like a way to climb out of the abyss of despair. He remembered the helplessness in his master's eyes before he died, the humiliation of his own survival in the cave, and the shame of being less than a dog in the eyes of the aristocratic families.

He slowly, very slowly, lowered his head. His gaze fell on the dark, heavy short sword at his waist. The cold touch came through the scabbard; it was his old companion who had accompanied him through his darkest years. This sword had drunk countless drops of blood, just to ensure his humble survival. Now, perhaps… it could drink blood of something even more "valuable"?

Then, Qin Long raised his head. His face was expressionless, without excitement or fanaticism, only a deathly calm.

He didn't look up at Gao Jian; his gaze remained lowered, as if he were speaking to the short sword at his waist.

Then, very slightly, almost imperceptibly, he nodded.

(End of this chapter)