367: extinction

The next moment, they all knelt down, shouting, “Alliance Leader, spare our lives!”

Chen De nodded and granted their wish, with a wave of his sleeve.

The pressure in the field instantly increased countless times, and everything visible turned to dust.

All Zhengqi Alliance Members, at this moment, exploded into a mist of blood.

After completing his task, Chen De put his palms together, “Supreme Holy Mother!”

“Goodness gracious!”

After collecting all the merit from this place, he only gained a dozen or so attribute points.

Chen De shook his head and sighed bitterly; in this day and age, even being a good person was hard.

Turning around, Chen De’s eyes were already tinged with red.

The purpose of this world was far more than just this.

He had been dormant within Lin Ang for so long, gaining more than just this body.

Every person in this world could be directly seen as a part of it, a piece of flesh on its body.

If Chen De tried to influence others, only influencing that piece of flesh and not the person, he would be discovered instantly.

Towards such a world, Chen De could only influence the entire world; influencing an individual person was useless.

The number was fixed, counted at all times; if one suddenly and unreasonably went missing, the source would immediately be traced back, and the actions analyzed, leading to his discovery back then.

So, the current consciousness was still Lin Ang’s, just gradually guided to become Chen De’s likeness.

It was like hypnosis, implanting a personality into him.

If it was like this for ordinary people, what about those who defy heaven?

Chen De had previously detected that the connection between those who defy heaven and this world was deeper than anyone else’s.

Their every step, seemingly rebellious, was actually guided.

This included the Imperial Advisor, who, upon realizing the anomaly of Lin Ang’s appearance, immediately went into seclusion, successfully breaking through to the tenth stage.

His purpose was to eliminate Lin Ang.

Because he was not an anomaly in the Heaven and Earth’s plan; he was not an anomaly set by it.

However, Lin Ang was a genuine local, so the rules of Heaven and Earth could not directly act against him as they did against Chen De.

Because it was the rules, and rules could not violate rules.

It could only indirectly deal with him through certain people and certain events.

Thus, one anomaly caused another anomaly, and that other anomaly caused yet another anomaly... ultimately, triggering a series of chain reactions—the downfall of Great Zhou.

However, Chen De knew that Great Zhou had not yet fallen.

The talk of destiny was false, but the matter of a divinely appointed dynasty was real.

The appearance of the Imperial Advisor was to provide insurance during this process of iteration, replacement, and development.

Now, that insurance had been swatted away by Lin Ang.

The rules of Heaven and Earth would not be unaware of Lin Ang's progress in strength, but it was the rules, so everything had to follow natural laws.

Under the premise of logical rules, the Imperial Advisor at that time was only capable of breaking through to the tenth stage.

Moreover, although the Imperial Advisor was guided and controlled, he genuinely had his own consciousness, only being guided by a personalized customization.

Under the influence of Lin Ang’s anomaly, the Heaven and Earth rules’ influence on the Imperial Advisor would weaken.

The rhythm of the personalized customization was disrupted, leading to the appearance of things that shouldn't have been there.

But he himself was still following the rhythm from before it was disrupted.

So this was why, after he emerged from seclusion and heard of Lin Ang’s existence, he immediately chose to act.

Because in the previous rhythm, if such a situation occurred, he would have acted.

But Great Zhou had not yet fallen, because Chen De had not felt any great changes in Heaven and Earth.

The alteration of an individual's fate is far less significant than the alteration of a nation's fate.

Especially for a dynasty that served as the protagonist of this world.

After lingering for a while, the next moment, Chen De arrived at the imperial palace.

There, he saw the corpses of the eunuchs and palace maids who had been hiding when Lin Ang first arrived.

The men and the neither-male-nor-female were hacked to death, while the women were all first violated, then killed.

In any case, as Chen De looked along the way, he didn't see a single person with intact clothing.

Stepping into the imperial harem, a strong smell of male nucleic acid assailed him.

The concubines in the harem, who had been mercifully put out of their misery by Emperor Zhou, had their bodies defiled even after death.

Some were placed on tables, some on beds, some in ponds... The righteous Chen De couldn't bear to look at these; let bygones be bygones, why go to such extremes!

Ignoring these, Chen De found Emperor Zhou.

This guy's remains were also quite tragic; his head was hanging from a white silk ribbon, a bloody mess.

His body was covered in knife marks, and from the neck down, he had been vertically sliced into strips, all his blood drained.

The Zhengqi Alliance Members wouldn't have had the inclination for this; it was most likely done by those people from the Righteous Army.

After all, if you were to ask who in the world hated Emperor Zhou the most, it would be those displaced people whose families had been destroyed.

Now, having found an opportunity for revenge, none of them held back.

Chen De took a piece of flesh from Emperor Zhou's body, which slowly melted in his palm and merged into his skin.

Then, Chen De clasped that hand, closed his eyes, and sensed carefully.

Soon, he confirmed something and vanished from the spot... “Your Highness the Crown Prince, we’ve run all the way here, those rogue soldiers shouldn’t be able to catch up, right?”

“Fuhai, we should still hide a bit further away.”

A tattered beggar, carrying a dirty, ten-year-old child on his back, fled in a panic.

Although the child was young, his eyes were bright and spirited, and when he spoke, his words were clear, displaying an extraordinary demeanor.

Even while on the run, there was no trace of panic on his face.

He was clearly acting like a little adult, directing Fuhai, who was carrying him.

“Yes!”

Upon receiving the Crown Prince’s command, Fuhai put even more effort into his steps.

“Don’t worry, Your Highness the Crown Prince, the Old Ancestor and His Majesty, before their deaths, entrusted me to protect you well. I would rather die than let a single hair on your head be harmed.”

It was then that the child showed a hint of childishness, “At this point, you are the only one still willing to be so loyal to my Great Zhou.”

“Your Highness the Crown Prince must not say such things. My Great Zhou has dominated the world for many years and is deeply rooted.”

“I believe that many people in the world still support Great Zhou.”

“When you raise your arm and call, it will surely be where the hearts of the people lie and where the tide of events flows.”

“Annihilating the rebel army and restoring Great Zhou will surely be just around the corner!”

As he spoke, Fuhai’s face couldn't help but become frenzied.

Even the child’s face brightened, the tension in his eyes slowly turning to anticipation.

Ultimately, he was just a ten-year-old child; no matter how sensible or precocious he was, he couldn't understand too much about the affairs of the world, even if he tried.

Fuhai was at least a seventh-stage cultivator; from the current perspective, his insight was still considerably higher than that of the child Crown Prince.

But as they ran, they noticed a burly man in armor standing not far ahead.

He looked as if he had been waiting for a long time.

The big man also looked at them then, grinning.

Seeing this smile, a great alarm rang in Fuhai’s heart, and he quickly stopped, turning to run in the opposite direction.

Then, with a bang!

Both of them turned into a mist of blood.