World-saving Plan: The Only Savior

Chapter 1623 - 421: The Dynastic Upheaval (Part 2)

Given this, many passionate heroes began to organize secret plots, determined to assassinate the rebellious Jing Heng before he became too powerful, in order to resolve the crisis in Chang City.

It is said that this event caused quite a stir at the time, attracting many masters from the Martial World, including numerous top-ranking masters and even a Heavenly List master.

After all, this was a world of martial arts, and people naturally became accustomed to this way of living. Many commoners placed their hopes on these martial artists.

Some martial artists, leveraging their influence and strength in the Martial World, attempted to directly advise Prince Jing Heng to stop his rebellious ways.

Others took advantage of the night to sneak into the Prince Mansion, planning to "shoot the horse before the rider, capture the king before the rebel"; if they could kill the mastermind of the rebels, the remaining rebel army would surely collapse.

However, whether it was renowned figures entering openly or heroes sneaking in at night, once they entered the depths of Prince Jing Heng’s mansion, they never returned.

These individuals seemed to have vanished into thin air, alive they were not seen, dead their bodies were not found.

Time after time, even the passionate martial artists gradually sobered up, as if doused with cold water, feeling a chill all over.

It turned out that there were masters inside the mansion.

Everyone realized they had underestimated this Prince. If he dared to plot rebellion, he must have been well-prepared, and the mansion surely had hidden Martial World masters, ensuring no one returned.

By this point, few martial artists were willing to make a move.

While it was righteous indignation with the court’s affairs, simply helping out on the side was one thing, but risking one’s life was not worth it.

After all, to the vast majority of people in the Martial World, who became Emperor didn’t really matter much; their carefree lives would continue unaffected either way.

However, things took a dramatic turn when a martial artist who attempted an assassination managed to escape from the mansion.

The only one to escape from the mansion was a Heavenly List master known as "One-Armed Rock Shattering," named Duan Ping’an.

This man was a large, muscular fellow, born with a deformity leaving him with only one arm. Yet, it was said that his single arm could shatter rocks with ease, its power unmatched.

However, even such a formidable figure was barely alive when he escaped the mansion.

When discovered, he was so weak he couldn’t even speak clearly.

People saw him bleeding from his seven orifices, lips pale, eyes devoid of spirit, muttering incessantly about "monsters" before finally succumbing.

Seeing this, everyone immediately recalled rumors from two years prior and the incident in Han Yue City.

Could it be that there truly were Demons at work?

Could Prince Jing Heng have been harmed by demons, and the one in the mansion was a flesh-eating monster!?

Everyone was shocked, but if not for this, the events were indeed hard to explain.

Even a Heavenly List master couldn’t take down that prince, and returned in a state of extreme fear, which only added to the suspicion.

"Why don’t we seek the Immortal Master in Han Yue City?"

Someone suggested.

It was well-known that an Immortal Master resided in Han Yue City, and for the past two years, they had been hosting the Immortal Fate Conference, gathering those with potential for cultivation.

In this age of restricted communication, though the Immortal Fate Conference’s news hadn’t spread worldwide, news of it reached Chang City, as it wasn’t too far, and many learned about it from traveling merchants.

However, someone questioned that the Immortal Master of Han Yue City had never meddled in worldly affairs, and thus had no reason to involve themselves in Prince Jing Heng’s rebellion.

"Not entirely," someone responded. "This matter is no longer just about rebellion. Didn’t Brother Duan just say there are monsters in the mansion? Look at Brother Duan’s condition; even the demons of the Martial World wouldn’t act so horrifically. I suspect something sinister is in the mansion. If we present this reason, the Immortal Master likely won’t refuse us."

With this reasoning, everyone agreed and immediately planned to leave for Han Yue City to request assistance from the Tianyuan Sect’s Immortal Master.

However, plans could not keep up with change. Suddenly Chang City was sealed off, and no one was allowed in or out. Commoners were ordered to stay inside their homes, and anyone found outside without prior notice to the patrols would be killed without mercy.

With such an order, the people were all miserable, but the law was sharper than the sword, and after a few stubborn individuals were killed, no one dared to wander outside.

Some Martial World figures, confident in their Lightweight Skill, attempted to scale the tall city walls and leave in style.

Although they couldn’t defeat the monster in the mansion, they thought they could escape from the ordinary guards easily.

Unfortunately, they overestimated their abilities. The guards were vigilant, and with their strong bows and crossbows, it was difficult for even martial artists to escape.

Even if some managed to break away, the trees outside had been felled long before, leaving a snowy plain as far as the eye could see, where movement was conspicuous, leading to quick deaths.

However, some true masters of the Martial World did manage to escape the death zone outside the city walls, only to be attacked by eerie shadowy monsters on their way to Han Yue City.

Under the shadowy attack, the powerful martial artists couldn’t resist and were quickly slaughtered.

In the thirteenth year of Xuanyang, the entire Chang City was sealed, with people living in constant fear, unable to rest easy.

As time moved to the fourteenth year of Xuanyang, this year, Prince Jing Heng led an army southward, conquering territories with unstoppable momentum.

Emperor Jingxuan dispatched elite troops to fight his uncle east of the Li River in Yangping County.

In this battle, the Imperial Army fielded a million soldiers, while Prince Jing Heng’s rebel army had fewer than a hundred thousand, seemingly with no chance of winning.

Strangely, the battle lasted only one day before reports came from the frontlines that the rebel forces had triumphed, dealing a heavy blow to the Emperor.

From this point, the war situation shifted, as some city lords from nearby cities, for various reasons, willingly opened their gates to the rebels.

The defeat in Pingyang County dealt a heavy blow to the court, with millions of troops lost in a day, a bizarre occurrence that few believed.

Yet, despite disbelief, the facts were evident, leading to widespread rumors among the people that Emperor Jingxuan was illegitimate, and Prince Jing Heng seemed to be the true person of destiny.

Of course, these rumors were likely spread intentionally by the rebels, a notion that the truly wise wouldn’t buy into.

However, with the war reaching this point, belief didn’t matter much anymore. If needed, they’d turn a blind eye to claims of Jing Heng being a Heavenly God Descent.

As time moved forward, about a month had passed since the battle in Pingyang County.

In the ravines of Pingyang County, the ground was littered with countless corpses, and for a hundred miles around, not a single living creature was seen, not even birds dared to fly over.

A month later, despite enduring several rainstorms, the bloody stench lingered on the land.