Chapter 248: Chapter 248: Arrangements and Coordination

Zhu Ge looked up.

It was Sui Niang and the Witch Dao practitioners from the major tribes, all at the Nourishing Body Realm!

"Yes! Sui Niang!"

Zhu Ge smiled and stood up.

Sui Niang landed, accompanied by a few others—men and women, both old and young.

Their leader was an old woman.

"Silver Witch, my thanks for your help this time," Zhu Ge said, cupping his hands in a salute.

This Silver Witch was the Witch of Sui Niang’s Yi Tribe.

Sui Niang had originally come from a small tribe, which was one among a larger confederation of tribes.

When Zhu Ge had previously been liberating the city, he had encountered Tongzhen. Unsure at the time whether Tongzhen was friend or foe, he had not revealed anything about Sui Niang.

In reality, Hua Liusha had already found Sui Niang. Through her, they had contacted the Witches of the various tribes, which is what led to the Ancient Witchcraft Array that ultimately weakened Hongmi Immortal.

"Zhu Ge, you’ve rid our Red River Prefecture of a great menace!" Sui Niang said, her face wet with tears.

In truth, the root of all this was that one plague.

Without the plague, the Scholar would never have left.

It’s even possible that the previous Jingzhe Official would not have died.

And the tragedy that befell Sui Niang’s family was but a microcosm of what happened in Jianshan Village.

Jianshan Village, in turn, was merely a microcosm of Red River Prefecture and Yunjiang.

On a grander scale, tragedies like these were unfolding all across the land.

"Indeed, Zhu Ge. All of our tribes thank you!" the old woman said with a warm laugh. "Now that this great menace has been eliminated, our tribes will follow your leadership, join the Six Paths Palace, and fight on your behalf."

As she spoke, the old woman gave a slight bow.

The others did the same, their expressions full of respect.

Even though they were at the Third Realm, Zhu Ge had thoroughly won them over this time.

Even a master strategist like Hongmi Immortal, a being who had been laying plans for decades, had fallen to Zhu Ge’s schemes.

They knew that even if they all joined forces, they would have been as helpless as a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

Therefore, they had already made up their minds in advance.

If Zhu Ge won, they would simply submit to the Six Paths Palace.

After all, Zhu Ge’s goal was to unify Red River Prefecture and annex Nanyue Mianhuang.

Decades or even a century ago, such an ambition would have shaken the imperial court to its core and brought a great army down upon them.

But now?

Every region could barely fend for itself. No one cared what happened in a remote border territory.

To be frank, an age of chaos is also an ideal world for heroes and ambitious men.

There was another point these members of the Witch Race were considering: Zhu Ge also cultivated the Witch Dao.

"We have not produced a Great Witch in many, many years," the old woman sighed, continuing where she left off. "We only hope that after you become a Great Witch, Palace Master Zhu, you will help us."

A Great Witch!

Zhu Ge nodded slightly upon hearing her words. "I understand. If I find a way to advance, I will be sure to inform you all through my avatar."

How difficult was it to reach the Great Realm?

Let alone becoming a Great Witch.

A Witch communicates with heaven and earth, with Ghost Gods, with the sun and moon, with mountains and rivers, and with all living things.

But the Witches of today, for the most part, only possess methods to control fire, insects, and water.

It is merely control.

It’s like the difference between using a lighter to make a fire and being able to breathe fire yourself.

In the Ancient Witch Dao, one could directly commune with the Great Dao of heaven and earth to spew flames.

The Witch Dao of today, however, cannot achieve this.

The same was true for the Gu Dao of the Ancient Witch Dao.

The ancient Great Witches could transform their bodies into insects, becoming one with them—not at all like the clumsy practitioners of today, who can only manipulate them.

However, the memories Zhu Ge had obtained from his Bone Monster Avatar were incomplete. He had no idea how to actually cultivate the Ancient Witch Dao and could only take things one step at a time.

After all, with their heritage in decline for hundreds of years, no one in these Witchcraft Tribes had managed to break through to the Great Realm. Zhu Ge wasn’t arrogant enough to think he could single-handedly help them succeed.

"Sui Niang, what are your plans now?" Zhu Ge asked, turning to her.

Sui Niang gave a faint smile. "After Xianxian passed, I was left with no worldly attachments. Now, I only wish to properly cultivate the Witch Dao. In the future, I will wander the land and use my Witch Fire to burn away all injustice."

Zhu Ge nodded slightly at her words.

"Then we shall take our leave," the old woman said with a smile. "We will return to our tribes to make preparations. Then, we will bring our young and able-bodied members to gather at this place."

Zhu Ge bade them farewell.

Then, the troops of his Six Paths Palace arrived.

Yu the Scholar was at the forefront, leading Zhao Tieshan and the others in a vast and mighty procession.

After this period of fighting, the Soldiers of the Six Paths Palace were no longer as green as they had been at the start.

While they couldn’t be called a truly battle-hardened army, they were all now elite veterans.

Many who had possessed no Cultivation before now had the strength of the Anger Realm.

Many of the Confucian Scholars had also achieved breakthroughs.

"Zhu Ge!" Yu the Scholar’s face was wreathed in smiles, his white hair whipping about him in a way that was utterly dashing.

It was a pity that while his hair was dashing, his body was covered in bloodstains and his clothes were torn, making for a somewhat wretched sight.

"Scholar!"

Zhu Ge nodded slightly, a relaxed smile also spreading across his face.

The battle for Yuan Yang City would, of course, come to an end.

It was just that, at this moment, the original Third and Second Realm masters of Yuan Yang City had remained behind to oversee the reconstruction and disaster relief efforts.

Of course, Zhu Ge knew that after everything that had happened with Hongmi Immortal, many people in Yuan Yang City would surely find the truth hard to accept.

That was why they simply had not appeared.

"Zhu Ge, where are we fighting next?" Ji Fuhui asked, his face full of expectation.

Zhu Ge chuckled. "As for our next arrangements, let me lay them out for you..."

And so, Zhu Ge began the long process of making arrangements and laying out his plans.

Thanks to [Kunpeng] and [Spider], he had always maintained his own pace and system for managing the Six Paths Palace.

The first step, naturally, was to not follow the old system of officials under a City Lord.

Instead, things had to be structured differently.

For example, of the taxes and levies under Red River Prefecture, the levies were to be completely abolished, while taxes would be collected only in small amounts.

He also organized those who cultivated the Agricultural Dao to begin spring and summer planting everywhere.

Farming, irrigation, government, the army... one by one, Zhu Ge systematically put everything in order.

With the combined help of Liu Jianjian and Mazhu, the City Lords from the various cities also hurried to Six Paths Valley.

After learning the general course of events, they all expressed their fealty.

Next came the tasks of ensuring internal stability and waging external campaigns.

Internal stability was paramount. Zhu Ge directly assigned several Third Realm members of the Demon Race to remain at the Six Paths Palace and conduct patrols everywhere.

Anytime they found a Human Race village or fortress being disturbed, they were to directly kill the local trouble-making Demons, Ghosts, Spirits, and Monsters.

This ensured a baseline of peace; after all, Third Realm beings possessed Divine Sense.

Furthermore, the Demon Beasts subdued and refined by the Demon Hunting Divine Technique would also obey Liu Jianjian’s commands.

The rest of the army was personally led by Yu the Scholar on a campaign into Nanyue Mianhuang. Yan Liyuan and others, along with the various City Lords, joined this expedition.

With no war within Red River Prefecture, the City Lords no longer needed to stay cooped up in their cities protecting the common folk.

The power of a Third Realm expert would be of immense use in Nanyue Mianhuang.

Meanwhile, the Bone Monster Avatar was stationed at Six Paths Valley, where it handled important messages from the various regions and cities and trained more Soldiers, Martial Artists, and Confucian Scholars.

By the time Zhu Ge had arranged everything, True Monarch Minmian was just waking up.

"ACHOO!!!"

After True Monarch Minmian let out a series of seven or eight sneezes, Zhu Ge finally came to a conclusion.

True Monarch Minmian had caught a cold.

"Never mind whether I have a cold or not! Zhu Ge, hurry and look! This Hongmi Immortal left some good stuff behind!!"

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