Chapter 1205: Escalation of Chaos
In the past, the vast majority of Yin Officers from the Yin Division were quite overbearing in their conduct. Not to mention small and medium-sized factions, even major powers were often disregarded by these Yin Officers. All of this was tacitly approved by the higher echelons of the Yin Division, for in their view, their control over the Underworld and the Wheel of Reincarnation meant they held sway over the cycle of life and death for all beings in the world. Naturally, they believed themselves superior to other forces, even those with their own deities. Anyone who dared to oppose them would not come to a good end; forgetting reincarnation, merely avoiding eternal torment in hell would be considered lenient.
Other major powers were well aware of the authority held by the Yin Division, which was why most people treated Yin Officers with immense courtesy. Many would even actively curry favor, not daring to offend them in the slightest. This only emboldened the majority of Yin Officers, making their actions even more unscrupulous, and naturally, other factions were held in even lower regard.
Precisely because of this, most Yin Officers inherently looked down upon individuals from other factions. Some even displayed this disdain quite openly, especially towards those from smaller or medium-sized powers, who were practically invisible to these Yin Officers.
However, now the Yin Division faced a crisis. The five Great Emperors of the Yin Division had personally issued an order to use every means necessary to recruit and win over these smaller and medium-sized factions, to make them a force to resist external enemies. The humiliation this entailed for the entire Yin Division was immense. Thus, among the forty-five Guardians present, while a select few maintained their composure, the expressions of the others changed to varying degrees.
Yang Haoran was one of the Guardians whose expression remained entirely unchanged. While there were times he held "face" in great importance, there were also times he did not. His unchanging demeanor this time was precisely because he hadn't taken this matter of "face" to heart.
On the contrary, the order from the five Great Emperors of the Yin Division didn't cause him any worry; instead, it filled him with considerable joy.
This was because a considerable portion of the power he currently commanded did not officially belong to the Yin Division. For instance, there were the Flock of Demons Society and the Medicine God Society, openly operating, and even among his personal confidantes, it was a motley crew—a veritable gathering of demons and monsters.
In truth, none of this was much of a secret; too many people knew, and one could easily find out with a casual inquiry. Yet, he had not suffered any punishment for it.
Furthermore, a crucial point was that the Yin Division had never explicitly stipulated that one was forbidden from associating too closely with those outside its ranks. It was precisely the absence of such a regulation that emboldened him to operate in these gray areas.
However, the fact that he hadn't encountered trouble or received punishment from the Yin Division for these matters thus far didn't mean he wouldn't in the future. If his rivals were to later fabricate issues and blow them out of proportion, he might genuinely find it impossible to escape unscathed.
Therefore, the strict command issued by the five Great Emperors of the Yin Division today would thoroughly resolve this issue for him, leaving him with no more future worries. How could he possibly be unhappy?
In addition to consolidating power and seeking aid, the five Great Emperors of the Yin Division issued another strict command to the forty-five Guardians present: they were to under no circumstances fall, and their administrated territories were likewise not to be breached or captured by the enemy. They had to persevere until the Death God emerged from seclusion; as long as the Death God reappeared, the tide would surely turn once more.
To stabilize morale and prevent the forty-five Guardians from falling into despair over this great war, the five Great Emperors made a pledge to them: they would strive to contact the Death God in the shortest possible time.
Regarding this assertion, some of the Guardians present believed it, reasoning that the five Great Emperors must possess special means of contacting the Death God. The reason they hadn't used it until now might be due to unfulfilled conditions, or perhaps to avoid interrupting the Death God's seclusion, which was why this special method remained unused.
With the current exceptional circumstances, and the entire Yin Division already in dire straits, the five Great Emperors were finally preparing to employ this special method.
However, some Guardians were not entirely convinced by the five Great Emperors' words. In their view, the Great Emperors likely had no special means of contacting the Death God; if they did, they surely would have reached out to him long ago, rather than waiting until now. The reason the five Great Emperors spoke such words at this moment was merely to offer these Guardians a glimmer of hope, for only with hope in their hearts would they possess the motivation to fight the enemy to the death.
Whether the forty-five Guardians believed it in their hearts or not, none of them dared to voice their doubts in front of the five Great Emperors, for such an act was tantamount to courting death. How could they possibly commit such a foolish act?
Although none of the forty-five Guardians raised any questions, the five Great Emperors were keenly aware that some of the Guardians present undoubtedly harbored doubts about their words. However, none of them offered an explanation.
Merits were to be rewarded, and transgressions punished—this principle was also applied by the five Great Emperors to the forty-five Guardians, with a very simple objective: to incentivize them. The five Great Emperors established a ledger of merits for the forty-five Guardians; every achievement the Guardians made would be recorded in this ledger and promptly rewarded. Once this great war concluded, the Yin Division would issue a second round of rewards based on the ledger, with higher-ranked Guardians receiving even more generous bounties.
If a Guardian committed a transgression, the severity of the mistake would be assessed. If a major error was made, one that severely jeopardized the interests of the Yin Division, punishment would be meted out immediately—the most severe being instant execution, the lightest being imprisonment. As for minor missteps that caused little harm, those would require atonement through meritorious service. If even that could not be achieved, then corresponding penalties would still be enforced.
Especially for those who colluded with the enemy or engaged in internal strife, once discovered, the former would be instantly executed, while the latter would be immediately imprisoned, with no mercy shown whatsoever.
Although Guardians were also high-ranking figures within the Yin Division, the current predicament of the Yin Division was quite dire. It couldn't be ruled out that some Guardians might perceive the Yin Division as having no chance of victory and then resort to colluding with the enemy for personal gain. To prevent such occurrences as much as possible, the five Great Emperors of the Yin Division had clarified this point during the assembly, serving as a warning to all Guardians not to cross the most forbidden red line.
As for why internal strife was mentioned, it was because infighting had always existed among the high-ranking members of the Yin Division, whether between Great Emperors or between Guardians, and sometimes it was even a life-or-death struggle.
It was only after the Yin Division suffered increasingly heavy losses at the hands of the Spiritualists that the infighting among the Great Emperors was suspended under Luo Yao's mediation. They also demanded that their subordinate Guardians cease internal conflicts and focus all their attention on dealing with the Spiritualists.
With the orders issued by the five Great Emperors, this situation had indeed improved significantly. After all, even the Great Emperors themselves had temporarily set aside their grievances, so how could their subordinates dare to brazenly engage in infighting as they once did?
However, the five Great Emperors were well aware that completely prohibiting such internal strife couldn't be achieved with a single order. Thus, this matter was brought up again during the current meeting, intended to sound another warning bell for the forty-five Guardians, and simultaneously serve as a reminder to themselves.
The five Great Emperors couldn't guarantee that this approach would definitively prevent further internal strife, but sounding an additional warning was certainly better than saying nothing at all.
This meeting did not last long, but the matters discussed and the arrangements made were all immensely important. After the general assembly, the five Great Emperors each held separate smaller meetings with their nine respective Guardians. Based on the specific conditions of their individual continents, they made targeted and distinct arrangements before finally dispersing the Guardians.
Given the urgency of the situation, Yang Haoran and Xu Meijing exchanged only a few brief words before parting ways in the Underworld after the meeting. After all, the current climate was hardly conducive to romance. Without immediately returning to the mortal realm and making the necessary deployments, there was no telling how extensive the losses might be. Neither of them was the type to mistake priorities, so after a simple reminder to each other to be careful, they returned to their respective territories.
When Yang Haoran returned to the mortal realm, the world had utterly transformed. If one were to describe the chaos of the New Beginning Realm on a scale of one to ten, with five being the level before he entered the Underworld, then upon his brief return to the mortal realm, the chaos had escalated to a terrifying ten.
Yang Haoran's Guardian District and the entire Lecheng remained as safe as ever, being completely under his control and free from external forces. Whether ordinary people or those with special abilities, all were diligently fulfilling their respective duties.
However, within the Ninth District managed by Yang Haoran, with the exception of a very few cities where only the Yin Division held sway, the vast majority were chaotic, with numerous factions. These factions naturally included the Spiritualists and the Talisman Cult.
Now that the Talisman Cult had officially declared its allegiance to the Spiritualists, many local Talisman Cult branches in various cities immediately collaborated with the Spiritualists to launch attacks against the Yin Division. Although the Yin Division had remained on alert, the strength of the local Yin Divisions was, after all, limited. Some cities could still manage against Spiritualists alone, but if they had to contend with both Spiritualists and Talisman Masters from the Talisman Cult simultaneously, it was self-evident they wouldn't stand a chance.
Moreover, some local Yin Divisions were already quite weak to begin with; dealing with Spiritualists alone was a struggle, sometimes even an insurmountable task. With the addition of Talisman Masters from the Talisman Cult, their defeat was naturally even more disastrous.
From the moment the Talisman Cult officially declared its allegiance to the Spiritualists until now, barely two hours had passed. Yet, in this short span, Yang Haoran's Ninth District had already sustained considerable losses. Calls for help from local Yin Division Soul Transporters constantly appeared within the exclusive page for their Ninth District on the Underworld Iron Tome.
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