Chapter 93

In the outskirts of Pingchuan City, amidst the broken walls and ruins, clusters of flames could be seen, crackling and popping. The air was thick with the smell of burnt objects and a heavy, bloody stench that could be detected even ten miles away.

Amidst the ruins, severed limbs, shattered bodies, and dark, coagulated bloodstains were scattered.

As the low-altitude aircraft landed, Du Qian, who had just jumped off, was met with a numb glance from the surrounding crowd, who then continued to search the ruins for any surviving companions.

Teams of soldiers, defense forces, and police officers walked by from time to time, their faces more filled with anger than fear.

People had long forgotten how many years it had been since the city had last been attacked. Just yesterday, Pingchuan City suffered the largest-scale spirit beast invasion in its history.

A spirit beast invasion? It sounded so unfamiliar and absurd.

While it was true that the behavior of spirit beasts was driven by instinct, as the concentration of spirit energy in their bodies increased, their intelligence would also significantly improve. Such suicidal behavior should not have occurred.

Not to mention the city's outskirts, even within a hundred miles of the city, it was rare to see spirit beasts. If they did appear, they would be cautious and wary, always on the lookout for humans.

"Brother, what's going on?" Du Qian grabbed a team of police officers and asked. From their attire, it was clear that they were detectives.

Du Qian, who had started as a patrol officer, didn't particularly like detectives, who always acted superior in front of patrol officers, which was annoying. But at this moment, Du Qian didn't care. In the city's outskirts, he mostly saw soldiers and detectives, while patrol officers were likely responsible for maintaining order in the city.

The lead detective frowned slightly and said patiently, "The spirit beasts attacked Pingchuan City. Didn't you see it?"

Du Qian was young and dressed in ordinary clothes. If he hadn't come down from the low-altitude aircraft, the detective might have verified his identity.

"Aren't we prepared?" Du Qian asked in surprise. Although it was just the city's outskirts, the extent of the destruction and the numerous bodies indicated significant losses for Pingchuan City.

"The army was prepared, but we weren't, and neither were the civilians."

"But it shouldn't have been like this." Du Qian understood that it was for confidentiality that the general public couldn't be informed in advance. Even so, being prepared and unprepared were two different things. The army should have been able to keep the spirit beasts at bay a hundred miles away, and the city shouldn't have been affected.

"Hmph, what shouldn't have been? If it weren't for your timely return, you would have seen much more damage."

"Your Excellency?" Du Qian was taken aback. The title "Your Excellency" wasn't used lightly in the Zhou Shan Empire. If you didn't have the status to use it, you risked severe consequences. Did you think the imperial system was a joke?

"Your Excellency Jun Shan, don't you know?" The lead detective looked at Du Qian with suspicion. If he hadn't come down from the aircraft, he would have already arrested him.

"Your Excellency Jun Shan... he's in Pingchuan?" Du Qian was shocked.

Speaking of Your Excellency Jun Shan, he was well-known in Pingchuan City. His name had been celebrated for over a hundred years, a source of pride for the people of Pingchuan.

In Pingchuan City, there were four characters and two names that were held in the highest regard and revered: Dongyue Jun Shan.

These four characters did not represent a direction or a mountain but the names of two individuals: Master Dongyue and Master Jun Shan.

Master, the pinnacle of martial cultivators, was a title given only to those whose combat power reached over ten million.

Whether in the Zhou Shan Empire, Zhenhai, or Butian, Masters held the highest status and were the strategic foundation of a nation. Without the presence of Masters, it would be impossible to establish a country.

This world was not limited to the three major countries of Zhou Shan, Zhenhai, and Butian. Beyond these superpowers, there were dozens or even hundreds of smaller nations struggling to survive in the gaps between the three major powers.

Any country needed at least one Master to anchor it. If a country lacked a Master, it would be better to dissolve or join another country.

The three superpowers were called superpowers because they had a significant number of Masters. It was due to these Masters that the three countries could continuously expand their territories, swallowing up smaller nations and strengthening themselves.

The emperor's power was supreme, and this power came from the support of the majority of Masters in the country. The continued development and survival of a country also depended on the protection of Masters.

In an empire like Zhou Shan, the establishment of each city represented the emergence of one or more Masters. Without a Master, a secondary city could not be built, as the surrounding spirit beasts would pose a significant threat to humans.

Of course, once the city system was established, whether a Master was present or not was not as important. After all, a secondary city with a population of over a million had War Masters, as well as numerous War Kings and War Spirits.

The resources around the city had been largely depleted by humans, and spirit beasts had no interest in such places. Without resources to survive, why would they fight to the death?

The Zhou Shan Empire had one main capital and four secondary capitals, nine major cities, and nearly five hundred secondary cities. The number of these cities alone demonstrated the empire's strength.

Each city represented the emergence of one or more Masters.

In the empire, the emperor, the three dukes, the nine ministers, and the twelve army commanders were recognized as major figures and could be addressed as "Your Excellency."

Besides these individuals, all Masters were also eligible to be called "Your Excellency." Additionally, powerful talisman masters and the legendary soul masters also had this privilege.

In a secondary city like Pingchuan, only Dongyue and Jun Shan were eligible to be called "Your Excellency." Even the city lord was far from this title.

In Pingchuan City, the legendary stories of these two figures were well-known. Perhaps those who could become Masters were extraordinary, as normal people could not understand their behavior.

It was said that Your Excellency Jun Shan had already become a Master a hundred years ago, with exceptional talent, and it took him less than sixty years to advance to the Master level.

Well, these were all legends, and legends were often unreliable. Du Qian understood it this way.

A simple calculation showed that if he became a Master sixty years ago and left Pingchuan City a hundred years ago, he would be over 160 years old now.

This sounded somewhat unbelievable, but not entirely out of the question. After all, with combat power over ten million, the impact on the body was significant. It was said that Masters could live two to three times longer than ordinary people, meaning they could live up to 200 or even 300 years.

Du Qian had never seen a real Master, and the ones on TV were fake. Real Masters seemed to be very busy and had no patience for boring TV shows.

Sixty years ago, Your Excellency Jun Shan advanced to the Master level in Pingchuan City and lived there for a few years before deciding to leave to seek a master and learn.

Well, every time Du Qian heard this part of the story, he felt like banging his head against the wall. Damn, you're already a Master, and you still need to go out to learn? What for?

Anyway, the story went that way. If you asked the storyteller why a Master needed to learn, the answers would vary. Some would say it was about seeing mountains as mountains and water as not water, a bunch of philosophical jargon that left both the storyteller and the listener confused.

Regardless of whether you understood it or not, Your Excellency Jun Shan went out to learn, returning to Pingchuan every ten years. After all, his descendants still lived in Pingchuan City.

It must be said that a family's spiritual energy seemed to be fixed. Your Excellency Jun Shan, who had gathered all the spiritual energy, was a standout among Masters, but his descendants were one worse than the other. After a few generations, none of them amounted to anything.

Your Excellency Jun Shan had extremely strict requirements for his descendants. You could be incompetent, but not ignorant; you could be wealthy, but not frivolous. As a result, the Jun family had a good reputation in Pingchuan City. While no outstanding talents emerged among the descendants, there were also no incidents of harassing women on the streets.

Over the decades and centuries, the Jun family's scholarly pursuits flourished. There were few martial cultivators, but scholars emerged one after another. A martial cultivator family had transformed into a scholarly family.

It was said that among the Jun family's descendants, several outstanding scholars had emerged, writing books and leaving a legacy.

Well, in this era, having knowledge was not as valuable as having a flexible mind. In Du Qian's view, a man like Lu Yi, who was repulsive, was more reliable than a true scholar and would live longer and better.

It was truly confusing. Lu Yi was trying to become a scholar, while scholars envied martial cultivators. Even the most powerful martial cultivators needed smart people like Lu Yi to guide them.

Well, the ecosystem was powerful, with each link connected to the next. No one should think they were more powerful.

"Fortunately, Your Excellency Jun Shan returned to Pingchuan yesterday, or we would have been in big trouble."

"Didn't Your Excellency Dongyue return?"

"Of course not. Your Excellency Dongyue hasn't returned to Pingchuan in fifty years."

"What kind of spirit beast was it?" Du Qian finally remembered to ask the main question. He was so shocked by Your Excellency Jun Shan that his mind was filled with the legendary stories of Jun Shan.

"I don't know, but it was a very powerful spirit beast. We have big trouble in Pingchuan City."

"Trouble? What kind of trouble? Didn't Your Excellency Jun Shan take action..." Du Qian wasn't stupid; he couldn't finish his sentence.

Damn, there really was trouble.

A simple thought revealed that yesterday's spirit beast invasion must have included one or several extremely powerful spirit beasts, which caught the army off guard despite their preparations. They were so powerful that even the army couldn't stop them.

As a result, they led their subordinates straight to the city, killing countless soldiers, and finally reached the outskirts of Pingchuan City.

At this moment, Your Excellency Jun Shan appeared and took action. The detective said there was trouble...

Damn, Your Excellency Jun Shan didn't kill the leading spirit beasts; he just drove them away?