The Fool Ruined Me

With the authorities forcibly confiscating the wealth of merchants and coercing the powerful to contribute grain, the situation in Chizhou has gradually stabilized.

So far, only Chizhou has been targeted for confiscations. In other regions, the Xuanwu Kingdom has refrained from such measures, opting instead for government-led negotiations to borrow or purchase grain.

After all, Chizhou had teetered on the brink of chaos. Rather than executing desperate peasants, it made more sense to eliminate unscrupulous merchants seeking to profit from the crisis.

But in relatively stable areas, such ruthless tactics could not be employed without restraint.

Different circumstances demanded different solutions.

Merely confiscating the assets of Chizhou’s wealthy households was insufficient to fully quell the disaster.

At best, it served as a temporary measure to stabilize the current situation.

For now, the displaced refugees have gathered along the western line of Chizhou, where the imperial court has centralized relief efforts.

Regardless, with food now reaching the refugees, the situation has stabilized somewhat. The once powder-keg-like tension in Chizhou has eased.

For most, this is a welcome development.

After all, it offers a glimmer of hope for survival.

Naturally, there are those who despise this turn of events.

Li Zhong is one such person.

Strictly speaking, he is a man caught in the middle.

He possesses spiritual roots—better than the average mixed roots, but only marginally so. Though it was a struggle, he managed, through sheer luck, to step onto the path of cultivation.

Despite numerous setbacks, Li Zhong scraped his way into the Foundation Establishment realm by leveraging every advantage his mediocre spiritual roots afforded him.

But upon reaching Foundation Establishment, his middling talent seemed to hit a wall.

The realm of Golden Core was a distant, unattainable dream—a height he could only gaze upon in awe.

For an ordinary cultivator like him, such a realm was beyond reach.

But what cultivator isn’t greedy?

Or rather, who would willingly resign themselves to eternal mediocrity?

Li Zhong considered himself fortunate, always stumbling upon opportunities and seizing them with keen instinct.

Whether it was cultivation techniques, minor magical artifacts, or that fleeting chance to break through to Foundation Establishment—he had grabbed them all.

This time, he believed he had seized another opportunity: the Xuanwu Sect.

A name that sounded utterly ridiculous.

With an even more absurd core doctrine and teachings.

The sect’s central belief revolved around "liberating" the Xuanwu, which they claimed was imprisoned by the Xuanwu Kingdom.

Their teachings glorified the Xuanwu to absurd degrees—extolling its boundless compassion, its mission to save humanity, and how it had been treacherously ambushed while attempting to deliver salvation.

In essence, it was a recycled version of other sects’ myths, clumsily repackaged with a Xuanwu-themed twist.

Li Zhong, a cultivator hailing from a remote mountain village, was no scholar and had little exposure to classical tales. Even so, he found these fabricated stories laughably unconvincing.

Yet, while the tales were poorly crafted, the promises the Xuanwu Sect dangled were enormous.

So enormous that any sane person would scoff—"Are you out of your mind?"

Exaggeration was one thing, but this was outright delusion.

In short, the sect claimed that successfully freeing the Xuanwu would instantly elevate its lowly followers to the status of celestial soldiers.

According to their doctrine, once the Xuanwu was liberated, not only would the Xuanwu Kingdom crumble, but even the mighty Central Continent would be shattered, paving the way for their dominion.

Any rational person hearing this would likely respond with a slow, disbelieving shake of the head.

As such, the Xuanwu Sect naturally attracted few sane individuals—mostly those with a few screws loose.

The kind who genuinely believed that an all-powerful Xuanwu could be imprisoned by a mere kingdom like the Xuanwu Kingdom.

Li Zhong often wondered if these people had been born with underdeveloped brains.

His reason for joining the Xuanwu Sect had nothing to do with their ludicrous doctrines.

It was the regular distribution of cultivation resources and spirit stones that drew him in.

Compared to the far-fetched promises of future ascension, these tangible rewards were far more valuable. After all, the path to Golden Core began with a single step.

For the most part, the Xuanwu Sect remained in hiding, allowing Li Zhong to freeload off their resources for a long time.

But recently, these fanatics seemed to be preparing for real action.

This development left Li Zhong puzzled—"Could there actually be a Xuanwu?"

At the moment, however, he had no time to dwell on it.

Much like his middling cultivation talent, Li Zhong occupied a middling rank within the Xuanwu Sect.

This was the worst position to be in—because the sect’s upper echelons were not fools. In fact, they were frighteningly shrewd.

Li Zhong’s daily routine involved dealing with these razor-sharp superiors, completing the tasks they assigned, and then managing his own group of dim-witted subordinates to execute those tasks.

Interacting with these people had taught him one thing—when someone said, "You’re as dumb as a pig," it wasn’t always an insult. Sometimes, it was just a statement of fact.

His current mission was to destabilize Chizhou at all costs, incite rebellion among the populace, and gather forces.

Given the absurdity of the Xuanwu Sect’s teachings, Li Zhong doubted the latter objective was achievable.

So he focused on stirring chaos in Chizhou.

And the safest way to do that was through spreading rumors.

Li Zhong dispatched all his subordinates to the refugee camps where the Xuanwu Kingdom was distributing relief, instructing them to sow discord while also lining up for the free porridge.

After all, given their incompetence, consuming more of the kingdom’s relief supplies might do more damage than their half-baked rumors ever could.

At the very least, every extra bowl of porridge they ate was an irreversible loss for the Xuanwu Kingdom.

From his vantage point atop a tall building in the city, Li Zhong observed the relief efforts in the distance, accompanied by his marginally less idiotic aide.

Today’s distribution was nearing its end, and the refugees remained orderly as ever.

Unsurprisingly, the rumor campaign had failed spectacularly.

But the porridge-drinking operation had likely been a resounding success—his subordinates never disappointed in that regard.

Just as Li Zhong turned to leave, pondering how to spin this "achievement" to his sharp-witted superiors, his aide’s trembling voice called out from behind.

"Boss…"

"What now?" Li Zhong snapped, turning around impatiently—only to freeze.

Before him stood a lean, muscular man clad in black. His expression was icy, his gaze sharp as a blade. One large hand rested heavily on the aide’s shoulder.

A chill ran down Li Zhong’s spine.

This man had approached without triggering his spiritual senses—despite being a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he hadn’t detected the slightest ripple of energy.

Now, scanning the stranger, he still sensed nothing. No fluctuation, no presence.

This was no ordinary opponent.

Crushing Li Zhong would require no effort at all.

The man spoke, his voice cold.

"You’re with the Xuanwu Sect?"

Li Zhong’s heart pounded, but he forced himself to remain composed.

"I… I’m not," he denied hastily.

The burly man's face twisted into a sinister grin as a thick, blood-red aura surged around him—so dense it seemed forged from the lives of countless souls.

Seeing this, Li Zhong quickly let out a relieved sigh.

So it’s a demonic cultivator! And here I thought it was someone from the Xuanwu Kingdom coming to arrest me!

His expression shifted into an ingratiating smile as he hastily corrected himself, "I’m from the Xuanwu Sect. May I ask what business you have with us, Senior?"

The burly man eyed Li Zhong and replied, "I’m from the Evil Spirit Sect of the Central Continent. I’d like to discuss a trade. Care to take me to someone who can actually make decisions?"

"Of course!" Li Zhong nodded eagerly.

Demonic cultivators were perfect—short on words, ruthless in action, and definitely not the righteous type. This counted as recruiting strength, right?

Surely this would earn him merit points?

This guy had to be at least at the Golden Core realm. Who knew how many rewards this would bring?

As for the burly man’s true intentions—that wasn’t Li Zhong’s problem. Let the higher-ups deal with that.

Still, after a brief hesitation, Li Zhong couldn’t resist asking the question nagging at him:

"Senior, if I may… how did you know I was from the Xuanwu Sect? And how did you find me?"

Li Xingtian pointed toward the relief camp.

"When you stirred up the crowd, did you really have to preach your Xuanwu Sect doctrines at the same time?"

Li Zhong’s face twisted into a look of exasperation—those idiots had given him away.

Were they… working for free or something?