Chapter 714: Violent Suppression
Yang Haoran’s decision to hand over the two individuals' souls and their Guardian Spirits to Tang Shi naturally stemmed from his own considerations.
He gave their souls to Tang Shi because he wanted Tang Shi to extract their final value. Both of them were Spirit Mediums, possessing some knowledge of Spiritual Arts, so Yang Haoran wanted them to divulge all the Spiritual Arts they knew, which would then become part of his collection.
Regardless of the quality of the Spiritual Arts, he would accept them all. After all, even trash has its use; the key lay in how one utilized it. Moreover, even the most common Spiritual Art was far superior to mere garbage.
As for their Guardian Spirits, Yang Haoran intended for Tang Shi to properly discipline them and see if they could be put to his service. If they could be subjugated, that would naturally be ideal, adding more power to his arsenal. Especially the old town head’s Guardian Spirit, whose strength was not far from Tang Shi’s current level; if it could be subdued, it would undoubtedly be a formidable helper.
He didn’t worry about how these two tasks would be accomplished. He trusted Tang Shi’s methods and capabilities, certain that he would receive a satisfactory outcome.
After leaving the Ghost Cave, Yang Haoran did not return to the villa but went directly to the Death God Temple, where he found Old Master Wu.
In the meeting room of the South Lake Death God Temple, Yang Haoran sat on the sofa, informing Old Master Wu of the intelligence he had gathered and making some arrangements and deployments.
In the time that followed, Yang Haoran personally led teams to several locations within Lecheng based on the information he had obtained. These places shared a common characteristic: remoteness.
Without exception, these Spirit Mediums appeared in these remote locations to recruit more believers for the Spiritual God.
And they had indeed recruited many believers for the Spiritual God. In almost every place they had stayed, the vast majority of ordinary people had become followers of the Spiritual God, with only a tiny fraction of stubborn individuals being exceptions.
These so-called stubborn individuals either already held other deeply ingrained beliefs or simply had no intention of having any faith at all, and thus the Spirit Mediums’ proselytizing did not shake their resolute hearts.
However, such stubborn individuals were ultimately a small minority. The vast majority of people still chose to become believers of the Spiritual God, leading to significant gains for these Spirit Mediums.
The Spirit Mediums’ success was not only due to their series of moving tactics but also closely related to the circumstances of these ordinary people themselves.
Due to their remote locations, the Administrative Courtyard simply couldn’t concern itself with their well-being, and even other sects rarely sent missionaries there. This inevitably led them to feel abandoned.
Especially in the current chaotic situation, with demons and ghosts emerging everywhere, their safety was severely threatened. Lacking a sense of security, they naturally found it difficult to resist the Spirit Mediums’ methods.
Yang Haoran showed no mercy to these proselytizing Spirit Mediums. Anyone he uncovered was taken down without exception.
As for the Spirit Mediums who had left after their proselytizing, Yang Haoran did not know where they had gone. He could only order the Night Watchers to investigate as thoroughly as possible, regardless of whether useful information could be found, the investigation had to proceed.
However, Yang Haoran did not cruelly slaughter the ordinary people who believed in the Spiritual God. After all, there were elderly, women, and children among them, and these believers had merely sought psychological comfort for themselves. There was no need to kill them too.
Furthermore, these believers had only recently embraced the Spiritual God, and their faith was not yet deep, so it might still be possible to turn them around.
Yang Haoran entrusted this matter to Old Master Wu, instructing him to arrange for people to educate these ordinary folk. It would be best if these ordinary people could be persuaded to believe in the Death God. Even if they were unwilling to believe in the Death God, they absolutely could not be allowed to continue believing in the Spiritual God.
Originally, Yang Haoran had considered having the Administrative Courtyard handle this matter, believing that if the government officially prohibited the public from believing in the Spiritual God, it would certainly have a significant effect. Although he knew the possibility was slim, he still decided to give it a try.
The result was unsurprising; the Administrative Courtyard indeed refused to do so. Given the complex current situation and their limited power, they did not want to offend anyone – neither the Underworld Office nor the Spirit Mediums.
Yang Haoran understood the Administrative Courtyard’s difficulties. Besides, Bai Xue was still working for the government, and sometimes he needed to leverage their power, so he didn’t force the Administrative Courtyard. For now, he decided that the Underworld Office would handle this matter themselves.
Lecheng, after all, was just a small place with limited resources. No matter the sect, none placed great importance on it, including the Underworld Office and the Spirit Mediums themselves.
Therefore, Yang Haoran believed that even without the help of the Administrative Courtyard or other factions, resolving this issue shouldn’t be a big problem for him.
Within a month, almost half of the Spirit Mediums in Lecheng had fallen into Yang Haoran’s hands. Such a harvest was due not only to his formidable strength but also to his method of following clues.
Initially, he obtained some information from the old town head and another Spirit Master. After eliminating other Spirit Mediums, he used the same method to gain more information. By continuously following these threads, he reaped bountiful rewards, leading to more than half of Lecheng’s Spirit Mediums dying by his hand.
The remaining small fraction of Spirit Mediums had survived because they had not revealed themselves, staying deeply hidden, and thus escaped this calamity.
Of the Spirit Mediums who died, some had actively exposed themselves, while others, though not active, were known by those who had been eliminated, thus suffering the consequences.
Yang Haoran had no information about the remaining small fraction of Spirit Mediums. If he did, he would certainly have acted with thunderous force, not allowing them to continue living. He could only speculate that some Spirit Mediums might still be lurking in the shadows.
Without any news of these Spirit Mediums, Yang Haoran could do nothing but wait and see. He would strike a fatal blow when they eventually revealed themselves.
During this month-long operation, Yang Haoran not only eliminated many Spirit Mediums but also successively destroyed several Spiritual God temples. As long as he served as the Emissary of Death in Lecheng, he would absolutely not allow Spiritual God temples to exist within its borders, because their presence would only bring him harm, not benefit. Thus, he would not permit such temples to remain in Lecheng.
The Spirit Mediums had barely emerged in Lecheng before Yang Haoran violently and ruthlessly suppressed them. All their recent achievements, apart from a small number of remaining believers, were utterly destroyed by Yang Haoran.
Yang Haoran’s actions filled the surviving Spirit Mediums with bitter hatred, wishing they could flay and dismember him.
At the same time, other organizations and forces in Lecheng gained a deeper understanding of Yang Haoran.
The Spirit Mediums’ proselytizing and recruitment of believers seemed to serve as a wake-up call for other sects and forces. Major sects scrambled to dispatch missionaries to recruit more followers for their respective deities.
Previously, they had not sent out missionaries because the situation was too complex, and nine out of ten sent would not return. Now, with Lecheng’s situation relatively more stable, they felt it was time to recruit more believers for the deities they worshipped.
The Underworld Office was no exception; Yang Haoran also sent out Night Watchers to proselytize everywhere, recruiting more believers for the Death God.
He did this simply to achieve more, to accumulate more merit, which would bring him greater benefits.
Yang Haoran was an ambitious man, and his ambition was vast, no less than that of the current Spiritual God. For he, too, desired to become a god; his ultimate goal was apotheosis.
However, he hadn't even opened his Earth Soul yet, and his strength was extremely limited. Becoming a god was still too distant a prospect for him.
In Lecheng, his strength was undoubtedly top-tier, but Lecheng was merely a small, insignificant place. Outside Lecheng, in other major cities, his strength would amount to nothing.
Yang Haoran understood that becoming a god was still far off. Thus, until his strength met his ideal requirements, he would not reveal his ambition. He would continue to perform his duties conscientiously, striving to gain more benefits, while simultaneously proceeding with his plans, gradually approaching his set goal, and finally astonishing everyone!
Precisely for this reason, all his surface actions were those of an Underworld Official, always considering the Underworld Office and serving the Death God.
But what he truly thought in his heart, only he himself knew!
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