Immortal Refiner

In the north of Maple Country, chaos reigned. With the complete fall of Yun Province, the people of the realm had utterly lost faith in the imperial court.

In a mass exodus, the populace of several northern provinces began fleeing south, fearing death beneath the Marauders’ iron hooves.

The imperial court, too, realized that its current military strength was utterly inadequate to withstand the Marauders’ relentless advance.

Finally, in a state of profound grief, the Taiwen Emperor issued a decree to relocate the capital south.

Fleeing in disarray, the sovereign of a nation felt his heart bleed.

This retreat, even if Maple Country survived, would forever brand him as a disgrace in the annals of history.

The legacy painstakingly built by generations of emperors before him had been utterly squandered in his reign.

While crossing Small Jade Ridge would guarantee absolute safety, the treacherous mountain range served as a natural barrier, making it nearly impossible for ordinary armies to traverse.

However, retaking the lost territory would become an insurmountable challenge. He was leaving his descendants a problem of epic proportions!

At this thought, the Taiwen Emperor even felt an impulse to commit suicide in the Golden Hall.

”Why has it come to this? Why has it come to this?”

In his bedroom, the Taiwen Emperor continued to lament, his eyes bloodshot, resembling a stray dog.

Shengtian’s preparations for the southward relocation were proceeding at full speed, while a persistent cloud of sorrow hung over the entire palace.

This once resplendent and extravagantly luxurious imperial city was about to change hands.

On the eve of their departure, another earth-shattering case was solved!

The Grand Councilor had embezzled over 80,000 taels from the three armies. Over the years, he had even been selling strategic resources like salt and iron to neighboring countries, amassing a vast fortune!

This news sent shockwaves across Shengtian and even most of the Maple Country.

In an instant, the Maple Country’s government lost all public trust, and this rickety old boat was once again revealed to have a gaping hole.

The Taiwen Emperor flew into a rage, even blaming the Grand Councilor for the entire war’s failure.

He immediately ordered the Maple Guard to arrest the Grand Councilor as quickly as possible and execute him publicly before the relocation.

Unfortunately, the Grand Councilor, having gotten wind of the impending raid in advance, had already made meticulous arrangements for his escape. He had long since fled.

By the time Commander Qian Hong of the Maple Guard arrived at his mansion with her troops, the place was deserted.

Boom!

With a grim expression, Qian Hong kicked down the mansion’s gate.

”Search the place! Arrest any survivors!”

The remaining Maple Guards swiftly sprang into action, thoroughly ransacking the mansion with utmost efficiency.

Soon, a Maple Guard emerged and reported, ”Commander Qian, we’ve discovered a hidden cellar underground. We found a cache of property that hadn’t been moved yet.”

”Lead the way!” Qian Hong commanded coldly.

In the mansion’s backyard, a cellar concealed beneath a pile of hay suddenly came into view.

As Qian Hong entered, her cold, elegant face was instantly etched with frost.

Before her lay a substantial pile of silver, clearly left behind in the Grand Councilor’s haste to escape.

”This silver here barely exceeds thirty thousand taels. That means he must have taken at least another fifty thousand taels with him!”

What an outrageous sum—fifty thousand taels of silver! It was simply too shocking to behold.

Just the mountain of silver piled before her was enough to make anyone gasp.

Bang!

Qian Hong slammed her fist into a nearby wooden shelf. The force of the blow shattered the wood into splinters, reducing it to nothing but sawdust.

”This silver represents the pensions for soldiers who died on the battlefield, the wages sent home by soldiers stationed on the border for years, the supplies of salt and iron sent to the army, the blood and sweat of countless taxpayers, and the lives of countless people!”

The more she spoke, the more Qian Hong’s body trembled with rage. She hadn’t felt such unbridled fury in a long time.

Having served with the army for years, she knew all too well what this silver represented.

”At any cost, no matter where that dog of an official flees, he must be captured! I will personally flay him alive!”

At the border of Yun Province, several horse-drawn carriages loaded with overflowing chests of gold and silver sped along the road.

Inside the lead carriage, Grand Councilor Gao Yudong sat, his face etched with the relief of surviving a near-death experience.

”That was close. I have no idea how the Maple Guard got wind of this, but the whole scheme was exposed.”

”We could have taken this money and followed the court south. Now, we have no choice but to throw ourselves into the arms of the Marauders.”

Also in the carriage sat a young man of sixteen or seventeen, his face pale with shock.

”Father, are we really going to join the Marauders? When will we ever be able to return to Shengtian?!”

Gao Yudong smiled warmly. ”Don’t worry, son. It won’t be long before we’re back in Shengtian. Now it’s the Grasslanders’ turn to rule the world.”

Hearing this, the handsome young man’s face lit up with a cheerful grin. ”So our family is actually this rich! Why didn’t you tell me before, Father?”

The Grand Councilor shook his head. ”Silly boy, I wouldn’t have dared to use it before. My plan was to retire in a few years, take this money south, and spend it however I pleased.”

”It’s alright now. Once we join the Grasslanders, we’ll offer a portion of these silver taels to them. Then we’ll buy an official position and return to Shengtian!”

”...”

Several days later, a heavy snowfall began, signaling the arrival of winter.

The Marauders’ advance finally reached Shengtian, but they were met with an empty city—the Imperial Capital, completely undefended.

In the winter of the twelfth year of the Taiwen era, the Marauders entered the pass. Tuwa Ha’er effortlessly seized the Maple Country’s Imperial Capital, Shengtian!

The Maple Country’s Royal Family and court, along with the entire nation, fled south, relocating the capital to Jiangzhou.

In early spring of the following year, the Grasslanders formally established their own kingdom, naming it Great Wu!

The founding era was designated Taiyuan.

In the first year of Taiyuan, the various Grassland tribes completely conquered several provinces of the former Maple Country, leaving the land in ruins.

Large-scale migrations from the Bandong Grasslands began, with the Grasslanders bringing their elderly, weak, women, and children to repopulate the conquered provinces.

Meanwhile, Gao Yudong, the Grand Councilor who had embezzled tens of thousands of silver taels, was appointed to a minor official position in the Wu Dynasty.

When this news reached the Southern Maple court, they were enraged, grinding their teeth in fury and wishing they could tear Gao Yudong limb from limb.

In the first year of Taiyuan, Tuwa Ha’er, who styled himself the Sage Ruler, issued two decrees.

The first ordered the capture and execution of all Martial Artists across the land, along with the search for any remaining Divine Weapons and Magical weapons hidden within the Jianghu.

The second decree offered a substantial reward to any blacksmith in the world capable of forging Divine Weapons.

The first decree immediately sparked resistance from Martial Artists everywhere.

(End of the Chapter)

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