This state of affairssted for almost twenty days.


    The pampered Young Masters didn’t return to their respective homes even on the New Year’s Eve... all for the sake of the sword. They were worried about one thing, [What if we leave today, and the sword appears tomorrow?]


    The best decision in this situation would obviously be to stay there till the end, and wait for the others to leave.


    However, some ns went back home; the first ones to do so were the Dong n, Luo n, and Ji n. Many other ns chose not to go back, and continued to remain standstill.


    This caused a great deal of trouble for Diwu Qing Rou.


    He would need to appease this gang of ’second generation little ancestors’ all day long. This weighed him down with anxiety. He felt as if there were a hundred knots of worry inside his intestines.


    Meanwhile, the Great Zhao’s royalists were trying to use tentative attacks and impeachment tactics to suppress the Diwu faction. Surprisingly, they were sessful in every attempt to defame the Diwu faction.


    This emboldened the royalists. They began to mess with the important personages from the Diwu faction. They would stop immediately in order to maintain the status quo if they thought that Diwu Qing Rou was going to counterattack.


    However, Diwu Qing Rou didn’t retaliate; no matter what happened.


    This was incredible. All kinds of rumors began to spread throughout the Great Zhao. [Diwu Qing Rou has fallen out of favor. The Emperor has already revoked all of his powers and privileges. In fact, he has resigned from his office, and is lying low at home...]


    Bigger waves began to rise and fall as time passed. Some of the royal courtiers were still waiting and watching. Most of the old fogies had been staying dormant for years, while some of the others had been suppressed by Diwu Qing Rou a long time ago...


    However, they all began to rise from the shadows slowly and gradually.


    It seemed as if even the Heavens would be overturned by these raging waves.


    The Great Zhao’s Emperor was sitting quietly at the helm of his fishing boat, and observing the flowing winds. However, His Majesty caught the smell of the unusual atmosphere prevalent around him as the mood and activities of the royal courtiers became increasingly intense. He then began to change out of his former low-key profile in order to gain more visibility.


    [Diwu Qing Rou has made a blunder by offending the super ns of the Middle Three Heavens. Now, they’re all set to make his life a living hell. It seems that his life is going to end very soon.]


    His Majesty burst intoughter as soon as he verified this piece of information.


    He then began to deal bravely with some high-profile matters owing to the recent developments.


    He took an initiative... [Huh? I only had to exercise my rightful powers as an emperor, right?]


    [Damn it! That went very smoothly.]


    After that, His Majesty began to conspire the initiation of his big reform. He started by having discussions in secret. Then, he took those discussions to small banquets. Finally, they transformed intorge-scale official discussions in the royal court’s main hall.


    Therefore, a bold and resolute reform was kick-started.


    His Majesty ended-up sharing his inner-most feelings with the Empress after he got drunk. He sighed as he did so, [We had ascended the throne twenty years ago. But, we’ve tasted the joy of being the Rulers of Great Zhao only today.]


    Two army divisions had been summoned from the distant parts of the nation. His Majesty had a clear-cut stand on the matter, [Execute Diwu! The royal entourage must make sure that this tyrant is purged. Exterminate Qing Rou, and bring back the good-old days.]


    It seemed as if the entire Great Zhao had be blustery.


    A strange sense of tranquility had spread everywhere since King of Hell Chu hadn’t engaged in any activities during this period of time.


    Minister Chu knew that this phenomenon was a result of Diwu Qing Rou’s secret conspiracies. Diwu Qing Rou was capable of using his iron fist to gainplete control over the Great Zhao. So, such turbulent developments were impossible without his consent.


    [The reason behind these turbulent times is perhaps hidden in the possibility that Diwu Qing Rou is nning on starting something big very soon.]


    [Therefore, I mustn’t get involved in the current state of affairs.]


    This would ensure that Diwu Qing Rou wouldn’t be able to trace the vines and grab the melon. Otherwise, there might be a possibility of Minister Chu ending-up being used unjustly, and then dying a resentful death.


    Therefore, King of Hell Chu was sitting on the mountain, and watching the tigers fight. He was more than satisfied with his current lifestyle inparison with hisfortable life in Iron Cloud. He looked forward to seeing the mayhem caused by the members of the aristocratic ns every day.


    Diwu Qing Rou’s life had been made a living hell by only about a dozen of these ns. In fact, Diwu Qing Rou couldn’t even set about the task of reconstructing the Golden Horse Riders Department headquarters as these ns were causing nuisance in a continuous manner.


    Someone else could possibly take the me and responsibility for something that might or mightn’t have happened... However, someone else’s way of dealing with such things would be entirely different whenpared to Diwu Qing Rou’s personal involvement in this matter.


    [The more time you all spend in making this noise and ruckus, the longer shall be the dy on my part. You may as well just drag it for a year-and-a-half if you truly want to keep dragging this on... I couldn’t care less, wahaha...]


    Even the royalists were praying for the aristocratic ns to get rid of Diwu Qing Rou as soon as possible.


    However, the brutal reality soonnded a solid blow to the faces of King of Hell Chu and Great Zhao’s royalists.


    A summoning order had arrived from the Middle Three Heavens, [All n juniors who are currently outside must rush back to the Middle Three Heavens immediately. There’s an emergency.]


    Several aristocratic ns went back as soon as this summoning order arrived. Ao Xie Yun was among the ones who had retreated. He wouldn’t be much bothered if the Moonlight Sword was to fall into someone else’s hands as he had already obtained the Sunlight Saber. After all, the person that would obtain the Moonlight Sword would still have toe to him.


    Xie Dan Qiong and Ou Du Xiao also left for the Middle Three Heavens.


    Mo Tian Yun was left with no other option but to go back home.


    Li Xiong Tu pestered for a long time. He was left in a bind since he hadn’t gained anything even after he had spent so much time. Therefore, he opened his big mouth like a lion, and swept away as many gold and silver treasures as he could before leaving.


    Tu Qian Hao followed suit. He took the same course of action as Li Xiong Tu.


    Several other aristocratic ns put forward a variety of demands which boiled down to, [We all feel the need to be rpensed for this wastage of time.]


    Diwu Qing Rou was forced to resolutely shed his blood as he sent away each and every one of the second generation little ancestors.


    The Continent Center Citadel was left devoid of any Jianghu people as soon as the root cause of all this mess departed. Diwu Qing Rou flipped out as he assessed the situation. He found out that his Golden Horse Riders Department was in an utterly disordered state and the Continent Center Citadel was in aplete mess. He had put all of his efforts into gathering the manpower to deal with all this chaos. But, he couldn’t gather more than three-thousand people.


    The arrogant royalists and royal n members who were being rampant some time ago were now faced with Prime Minister Diwu’s dreadful wrath.


    The Great Zhao’s Continent Center Citadel found itself surrounded by three massive army corps on the very next day of the aristocratic ns’ departure from the Lower Three Heavens.


    The three enormous and mighty army corps marched into the Continent Center along with the city guards and a few other units. All the major streets had been imbued with soldiers within a single day; ferocious-looking soldiers were stationed at almost every two steps.


    Diwu Qing Rou had long been nning to materialize this purge. There was no scope for mercy in his approach now that it had finally started.


    The entire Continent Center was dyed red with blood on the third day. One could even smell the unbearable stench of blood rising straight towards the sky.


    Han Bu Chu was d in a thick marten coat. He was towing a heavy round-backed wooden armchair. He finally took a seat at the Meridian Gate. A team of Martial Warriors stood right behind him; each of them possessed terrifying and murderous aura that soared high into the sky.


    The Martial Warriors were constantly riding in and out on their horses to give reports. One could clearly see drops of blood dripping from the tip of their des.


    Han Bu Chu was holding a thick pile of lists containing the names of the people who had been lined-up to be massacred during this genocide. It was simr to drawing a lottery... The names of the people were crossed after they were killed off. The list would be discarded as soon as all the names on the sheet were crossed. It would then be reced with a new list of names.


    Entire families were nabbed and beheaded at the same time.


    The entire nine generations were executed in one go.


    Diwu Qing Rou had never ordered a massacre on such a scale before. However, it seemed that he had been forced to make a tough and irreversible decision this time; there was no turning back for him. There was no scope for taking back the order to kill once it was issued.


    Diwu Qing Rou would rather kill the innocents than allow the guilty to escape.


    The Ex-Prime Minister, senior officials, the Royal Censor, and several more from the administration were there in the list. Even royal princes, a few royal uncles, and the Emperor’s rtives as well as his sons-inw had been lined-up for execution.


    The soldiers would invade the courtyards ofrge families like a bunch of wolves and tigers. There would only remain a pile of corpses on the ground by the time these army troops would leave the scene after having finished their task. The loud yet pitiful screams would continue to linger in the atmosphere for a long time. The sky seemed to have been painted red by the streams of soaring blood.


    In the Imperial Pce...


    General Manager Lu Ren Jia saw the guarding generals smile as he ordered them to fight against the rebelling army. Then, the guarding generals opened the main gate to wee the rebelling army. It was an unexpected scene which seemed simr to that of a bunch of sons respectfully greeting their fathers.


    After that, a relentless genocide urred.


    This had happened because Diwu Qing Rou had once said, [Those court eunuchs are the most hateful creatures in the entire world.]


    These words had led to the massacre of the court eunuchs of the Imperial Pce; no one was spared. The general who was given the responsibility of killing the court eunuchs had once been persecuted by General Manager Lu Ren Jia. Therefore, he did justice to the task by doing his job in the most exciting manner... Hemanded his men to save Lu Ren Jia for thest. The general would shove Lu Ren Jia’s face into the neck cavity of the court eunuchs as their heads were cut-off. He would do so in order to ensure that the wild sshes of hot blood were sprayed all over Lu Ren Jia’s face.


    Lu Ren Jiao’s torment didn’t stop until each and every court eunuch had been executed.


    General Manager Lu’s entire body had been soaked in blood a number of times. He could only issue a frightened cry, "Aaahhhhhhh..." before his limbs twitched, and the floor was stained by an eruption from the front and back of his lower body. He slumped down in a pile of muck which had originated from his own body... as if he’d been struck by paralysis. He was scared to death.


    Those who knew the inside story spat as they said, [You had iting.]


    He had indeed got what he deserved. Thousands of deaths could’ve been avoided if it hadn’t been for his actions. The smile on the faces of everyone present resembled the fake smiles on the faces of the men who carry the pnquin at the time of a marriage; [How can people just mingle, and then stay attached for dozens of years...]


    It was an undeniable fact that Lu Ren Jiao’s actions had led to a big conflict; it had made the present situation unavoidable.


    Themon people saw this massacre as an oue of Diwu Qing Rou’s catharsis. And, they believed that this catharsis was a result of the grudges that he had been umting, [Are you dissatisfied with me? Weren’t you all plotting against me all this time?]


    [Fine then! I’ll kill all of you, and save myself from getting involved in your petty plots].


    However, only a small number of discerning people could see through the real motive behind this well-nned purge. It was done as a part of the preparations to deal with King of Hell Chu, Tie Bu Tian, and the imminent war that they would bring.


    Diwu Qing Rou hadn’t been involved in a war for several years. But, he would need to takemand this time in order to establish his ownnd under the Heaven.


    No obstructions could be permitted in a war against powerful arch-enemies. There must be no ce for any unharmonious songs either. He wouldn’t allow those sly people to conspire and backstab him while he went out to fight a war.


    One’s miscalction regarding the food provisions, weapons, warhorses, army logistics, and other things could lead to damage beyond redemption.


    Diwu Qing Rou couldn’t afford to be negligent while facing this tough alliance whichprised of King of Hell Chu, Tie Bu Tian, and Tie Long Cheng. Any negligence could potentially destroy his entire army.


    He hadn’t cared much about this earlier as he was confident of his control. However, several failures over the recent years had made him more vignt than he used to be. This was true even though the damage that had been done to him was partial, and hadn’t harmed him in any way.


    Several waves of purges reeking with blood spread throughout the nation as soon as the purge of the Continent Center started.


    The positions being vacated were upied by Diwu Qing Rou’s people.


    It was a thorough merger.


    It was said that Diwu had been seen standing at the helm of Continent Center Citadel after the conclusion of the purge... He had been gazing at the whirling fog of blood containing the vengeful ghosts of countless innocent people.


    "I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – I shall unify everything under the Heaven, and contain it in my hands. And, even if it can’t be contained in my hands... it’ll still have to pass through them!


    "What’s the worth of a million human livespared to bing the Master of the universe?!"


    The cold and biting winds hunted down the gs fluttering over the Great Zhao as Diwu Qing Rou proimed. They then carried the gs thousands of miles away as a sign of the arriving spring.