The First Sage of Military Strategists

"By the way, I heard that the palace has been forcibly recruiting beautiful women into the palace again recently. I wonder what's going on?"

Not far away, several wandering knights sat around another wooden table, whispering among themselves.

"That's right. I've heard that in the alleys of Dongcheng alone, no fewer than a thousand young women have been forcibly conscripted into the palace."

"If this continues, all the young women in our capital will be plundered."

"Sigh, what kind of world is this?"

"Hush! Are you out of your minds? To speak ill of the Emperor is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family!"

...

Han Qing listened to their discussions, downed his tea in one gulp, and sighed inwardly: "The world has suffered under the Yu dynasty for too long. Without the support of the people, even if Emperor Yu Han Yi had extraordinary abilities, he could not stop the dynasty from collapsing. The trend of the world is irreversible, and we can only go with the flow, but we cannot reverse it."

With that, Han Qing took a step and disappeared from the teahouse without anyone noticing anything amiss.

The next moment, Han Qing was already standing on the street, with the Luo family mansion in front of him.

With a thought, a layer of mysterious light suddenly covered his body, completely enveloping him like a water curtain. Instantly, his aura was completely concealed, and no one around could detect him despite the comings and goings.

Then, he strode toward the Luo family gate, the guards on both sides ignoring him.

Han Qing easily stepped into the Luo family mansion, where he saw winding and secluded corridors, artificial hills and flowing water, lush trees, and beautiful scenery.

Upon closer inspection, one could see that the corridor had a smooth avenue paved with golden flooring, gleaming in the sunlight. In the distance, the pavilions were covered with a layer of colorful glazed tiles, and the domed ceilings inside the pavilions were inlaid with dazzling, garlic-sized luminous pearls, truly the epitome of extravagance.

As Han Chiang Mai walked through the area and witnessed these scenes, he couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

"Behind the red gates, meat and wine go to waste; on the roads, frozen corpses lie."

“Outside the capital, the bones of refugees litter the fields, while inside the capital, the powerful and wealthy indulge in a life of debauchery, reveling every night and living an extremely extravagant life. This is a sign of the country’s demise.”

“These powerful families and nobles in the capital are like parasites sucking the blood of ordinary people. If they are not removed, the world will not be at peace.”

"The Han and Luo families are the leading clans in the world today. The transformation should begin here!"

...

After a short while, Han Qing walked through several winding corridors and suddenly stood outside a spacious courtyard. In the courtyard was a bamboo forest, and in the forest was an old man practicing his spear technique.

"Luo Lie!"

Han Qing whispered that he had heard the conversations of everyone in the Luo family mansion clearly while he was walking in the courtyard, and thus learned a lot of information.

The old man in front of us is the actual controller of the Luo family. He is low-key and cautious, and only claims to be a Luo family retainer.

Han Qing felt that since Luo was the one in control, killing him would surely yield a lot of important information, and perhaps even reveal the exact location of the Primordial Seal that sealed the Heavenly Demon of Lust.

With a creak, Han Qing pushed open the door and entered.

The old man was engrossed in his marksmanship when he was suddenly startled awake. He turned around abruptly and glanced around.

"Who?"

Han Qing smiled and said, "Luo Lie, come with me. I have something to ask you."

Luo Lie gripped his spear tightly, his body tensing up. He realized that Han Qing was standing in front of him, yet he couldn't sense her presence at all. Even when he swept his spiritual power over her, he only felt emptiness.

Such a situation is extremely rare; the last person to give him this feeling was the leader of the Mohist school.

"Who are you?" Luo Lie was poised and ready to strike at any moment. "Who I am is unimportant? Fine, judging from your posture, you're not planning to cooperate with me, so don't blame me!" Han Qing's figure flashed and disappeared from the spot.

Luo Lie was shocked and suddenly let out a deafening roar.

"Han Qing, prepare to die!"

The roar created a sound wave that swept across the area like a storm, destroying an entire bamboo forest and spreading rapidly in all directions, quickly reaching the Luo family and even half of the capital.

Luo Lie was a Golden Body Realm Third Stage Refiner, possessing powerful combat strength comparable to a leader of a Holy Land. He was also extremely perceptive of good and bad fortune. At this moment, he was filled with a strong sense of life and death crisis, so he called for help without hesitation.

Kyoto is a place teeming with hidden talents and powerful figures; he intended to use this to force Han Qing to leave.

However, Han Qing dared to step into the capital, prepared for an attack, and had no intention of retreating.

He suddenly flashed and arrived in front of Luo Lie in an instant.

Luo Lie's eyes flashed with a fierce light. He raised his spear and turned it into a dagger, letting out another roar.

"Chongshan!"

Han Qing countered with a Heaven-Shattering Fist Technique, but the force of the punch caused Luo Lie to explode in terror, his flesh, blood, and soul completely annihilated.

With Han Qing's current strength, he could easily kill a Holy Land leader-level expert with a single punch if he were to suddenly approach him.

Then, in a flash, he soared into the sky and proclaimed loudly, "I am Han Qing! The Luo family forcibly bought young men and women to help the Crown Prince cultivate the evil arts of the Yin-Yang Sect. Today, I act on behalf of Heaven and kill Luo Lie, the head of the Luo family. One day, I will surely exterminate the entire Luo family!"

Han Qing's voice was also powerful and resounding throughout the entire capital.

In an instant, the expressions of the Luo family members and all the guests changed drastically.

"what happened?"

"There are assassins!"

"Who is so arrogant as to act recklessly in Kyoto? Don't they have a death wish?"

...

At this moment, Han Qing had already flown above the capital city and directly absorbed Luo Lie's soul light points. In an instant, he obtained a large amount of information.

"The Primordial Seal that sealed the Demon of Lust has been refined by Emperor Yu."

"The Demon of Lust has been slain, and Emperor Yu has inherited his legacy."

"The inheritance of the Lustful Demon can enhance combat power by absorbing the yin energy of women and accumulating emotional threads. This is also the reason why Emperor Yu suddenly recruited young and beautiful women to enter the palace."

...

Han Qing frowned: "It seems we'll have to make a wasted trip. But that's normal. The imperial court has deep resources, and now that it's joined forces with the Golden Armor Sect, they'll surely find a way to quickly eliminate the Demon of Lust."

As he was pondering, a figure suddenly flew rapidly from a distance. Han Qing immediately noticed and realized that the pursuer was Han Yi. So he paused and deliberately slowed down to wait for Han Yi to arrive.

"Since the inheritance of the Demon of Lust has fallen into the hands of others, there is no need for me to stay in the capital any longer. However, since Han Yi has come after me, I might as well try to kill him. Even if I fail, I can still find out how strong he is now," Han Qingxin thought.

Although he is now extremely powerful, he does not dare to underestimate Han Yi. Han Yi is a true martial arts genius. In addition, Emperor Yu Han Yi has used the power of the whole country to strengthen himself, and his strength can be said to change every day. If he underestimates his opponent, there is no guarantee that an accident will not happen.

As the thought flashed through his mind, Han Yi had already leaped and charged in front of Han Qing, his gaze cold and menacing as he stared at Han Qing: "You audacious scoundrel, you have no regard for the law. Instead of staying in Shu, you dare to come to the capital and cause trouble. Today, I will make sure you die here."

Han Qing chuckled, "Han Yi, it seems you haven't realized the difference in our current strength. A few years ago, I was indeed as insignificant as an ant in your eyes, but now, my strength is enough to control everything!" (End of Chapter)