Everyone was baffled. Soon, someone dragged in two burlap sacks. Zhu Wanli bent down to untie them and was immediately startled.
"Wei Mieyang! Li Jue!"
The two men inside the sacks were Thousand-man Commanders of Fancheng, officials who had committed their fair share of wicked deeds on a daily basis!
Fang Zhiyi stood up with a smile on his face. "Please, everyone."
The crowd looked at these two corrupt officials who usually threw their weight around, then looked back at Fang Zhiyi in shock and uncertainty. Had they wronged him?
That was it! What he said earlier must have been out of anger! If he were truly in cahoots with the government troops, why would he capture people of the Thousand-man Commander rank and bring them here?
Besides, few of the people present were kind-hearted souls. Some of them still bore scars from the blades of government soldiers, and some even had old grudges against Wei Mieyang.
The two commanders were equally dazed. They had suddenly been knocked out, and upon waking up, found themselves here. Looking at the unfamiliar surroundings, Wei Mieyang cursed, "Untouchables! How dare you tie me up! Untie me at once!"
The scene quieted down for a moment, and everyone turned to look at Zhu Wanli.
Zhu Wanli felt a bit frustrated. Fang Zhiyi's actions had forced them into a corner with only one way out! These two corrupt officials had seen their faces and definitely could not be released!
After the two men were killed, Fang Zhiyi, who had been watching the show with his arms crossed, finally clapped his hands. "Now, shall we talk about cooperation? Of course, I am entrusted by someone else."
"Cooperation?" someone in the crowd asked in confusion.
Fang Zhiyi smiled. "What is the point of all this killing? Tell me, doesn't the Dragon-Slaying Society just want to rebel?"
His blatant use of the word made everyone's eyes turn cold.
"With you bunch of nobodies, rebelling?" Fang Zhiyi shook his head. The man whose wrist he had broken earlier stared straight at him; though resentful, he did not dare make a rash move.
"As for me, I might not be highly skilled, but I have good luck. The Commander is my good brother. His idea is that he can turn a blind eye to your affairs. You won't have to spend your days plotting assassinations, and they won't have to spend their days figuring out how to encircle you. As long as everyone puts on a good show, we can all live comfortably. Does what I say make sense?"
Zhu Wanli frowned deeply. "Are you trying to trick us?"
Fang Zhiyi rolled his eyes at him. "Cut the crap. If I wanted you dead, I would have had hundreds of soldiers behind me when I walked in. Or do you think anyone here can beat me in a fight?"
Zhu Wanli's brain could not quite process this.
"Are you saying we should surrender to the imperial court?"
Fang Zhiyi sighed. "Surrender to what court? Let me put it this way: isn't the Dragon-Slaying Society the largest underground organization in Fancheng?"
Zhu Wanli nodded.
"And officially, isn't the Commander the highest-ranking official in Fancheng?"
Zhu Wanli nodded again.
"Then that settles it, doesn't it? Among the civilian factions, the Dragon-Slaying Society is the biggest; among the government factions, my brother is the biggest." He bumped his fists together and raised his eyebrows at the crowd.
"So that is how it is!" someone suddenly understood.
"Does that mean we won't have to hide anymore?"
"With the protection of the government troops, our great cause will be achieved in no time!"
Zhu Qingqing, however, poured cold water on them. "Don't celebrate too early. It is just him talking here alone. Who knows if this is a trap!"
Fang Zhiyi felt a bit helpless. This woman had a bad habit: whenever she could not take advantage of a situation, she would grow resentful. Could this be considered a personality defect?
He stood up and lightly slammed his palm on the table. Instantly, the table shattered into pieces.
"Tell me, if I wanted to deal with you, why would I need a trap?"
Sometimes, sheer strength is the most convincing argument. When evenly matched, both sides guard against each other, but when one side displays overwhelming power, the other has to acknowledge certain truths.
"In that case, can you arrange a meeting between me and Tang Zhilin?" Zhu Wanli said in a deep voice.
Fang Zhiyi nodded. "No problem!"
"Uncle! Watch out for a trap!" Zhu Qingqing did not know what kind of trap there could be, but she just could not stand Fang Zhiyi's current demeanor. What right did he have to issue orders now?
But no one paid her any attention. Zhu Qingqing glared at Fang Zhiyi with hatred, yet she was utterly helpless.
The meeting went very smoothly. Tang Zhilin sat there stiffly like a decoration, while Fang Zhiyi discussed future cooperation with Zhu Wanli. Even after Tang Zhilin left, Zhu Wanli was still somewhat amazed.
Having been a rebel for half his life, this was the first time he realized they could actually collaborate with the government troops. Not to mention, it felt good, very good!
Tang Zhilin also did not quite understand Fang Zhiyi's intentions, but figuring that they were brothers, he did not dwell on it too much. Besides, using the Dragon-Slaying Society to eliminate two guys who opposed him put him in a much better mood.
The remaining two Thousand-man Commanders were not fools. They sought him out overnight to swear their loyalty. Whether it was genuine or not, it was enough to please Tang Zhilin.
Furthermore, he now had a group of trusted subordinates, which made Tang Zhilin subconsciously believe that Fang Zhiyi would arrange everything perfectly. All he needed to do was keep climbing the ranks! When brothers are of one mind, their strength can cut through metal!
However, looking at the Talent Promotion System Fang Zhiyi handed him the next day, Tang Zhilin was still a bit baffled.
"This, Hundred-man Commanders are all promoted through accumulated military merits. If we rashly introduce a new selection method, I am afraid they won't accept it," Tang Zhilin hesitated.
Fang Zhiyi waved his hand. "Those Hundred-man Commanders of yours are all fat and useless. Plus, do you know which of them were cronies of those three dead guys? You don't." He stood up. "What you need is an army loyal to you. You climbed up too fast previously, and your foundation is unstable. If you make a single wrong move, someone will want you dead."
"Is that so?" Tang Zhilin pondered. He inexplicably felt a sense of admiration for Fang Zhiyi. He had always thought him meticulous, but he never expected him to consider such things. Still, if he did this, would there be any negative impact.
As if knowing his thoughts, Fang Zhiyi patted him on the shoulder. "Leave it to me. For this wealth and glory, I still need to give you a hand."
The next day, a new order spread through the military camp. The Commander was going to select talent based on merit. Every Hundred-man Commander position would be determined by assessments, and the current commanders were also included in the evaluation scope. In other words, everyone had a chance to climb to the position of Hundred-man Commander in one fell swoop.
For a time, the hearts of the men in the army fluctuated.
This move indeed made some of the current Hundred-man Commanders unable to sit still.
Just as Fang Zhiyi stepped forward, someone expressed their dissatisfaction.
"Lord Commander, this is against the rules!" A plump Hundred-man Commander cast a sidelong glance at Fang Zhiyi. "Even if this man is your brother, it is not his place to interfere in military affairs!"
Tang Zhilin's face was stern. For this guy to question Fang Zhiyi in front of the entire army was akin to questioning him. "Exactly who is the Commander here, you or me?"
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
pression Bureau] Transported to a fantasy world overrun by demons and monsters, Gu Qingfeng becomes a jailer in the Demon Suppression Prison of the Great Yan Dynasty's Demon Suppression Bureau. From this point on, bizarre cases frequently occur in the Demon Suppression Prison, once known as hell on earth and infamous for its gloomy, terrifying atmosphere! Why do the demons and monsters in the prison wail miserably every night? Why has the corpse demon, capable of transforming into various beauties, donned black stockings and switched careers to become a foot massage therapist? Why has the eye demon, expert in soul-snatching and illusions, turned into a VR headset? Why is the fox spirit performing otaku dances? Are all these occurrences a twisted expression of demonic nature, or a descent into moral depravity? After peeling away layer upon layer of mystery, all clues ultimately point to a jailer named Gu Qingfeng. Gu Qingfeng: "Hehehe... My dear demons and monsters, whose card shall we flip today?"
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
