The starting point is auspicious; the fiancée will not call off the engagement.

The Azure Stone King had regained consciousness and was calming his spiritual energy as he struggled to get up.

His gaze towards Fang Zhou was filled with terror; he would rather die than experience the pain he had just endured again. But the Green Stone King understood perfectly well that the young man before him would not allow him to die so easily, and even if their positions were reversed, he would not allow it.

"Are you awake now?"

Fang Zhou patted Xiao Yue, comforting her who had been tense because of the Green Stone King's screams, and then looked at the Green Stone King.

"If you do not wish to suffer any longer, treat the people better. If the people are doing well, the color of your sin mark will lighten, and you will suffer less. Eventually, the sin mark will disappear, and you will be freed."

"Senior," King Qing Shi stood up, wiped his face, his voice hoarse, "I want to ask, after I'm freed, what will happen to me?"

The spiritual energy within the Azure Stone King's body flowed, wiping away the lingering pain. At this moment, his mind was clear, and he did not believe that everything would be alright after the sin mark disappeared. He wanted to know the fate of the Azure Stone royal family.

"You will die."

Fang Zhou looked at the King of Qing Shi and spoke the cruel ending: "You stand above the people and have already caused the deaths of countless people, and you did it intentionally. Even if you repent, you cannot easily atone for your sins. You should pay with your lives."

Upon hearing Fang Zhou's words, the Green Stone King knelt in despair, his life force seemingly fading. But a warning instantly emanated from the mark of sin on his forehead, severing his thoughts of suicide, which only deepened his despair.

"I won't go to extremes."

Fang Zhou sighed and gave the Qing Shi King a glimmer of hope, "If you can gain the support of the vast majority of the people of the Qing Shi Dynasty when the Sin Mark is about to disappear, you will have a chance to survive."

He wasn't deceiving anyone, nor was he heartless. But if he went too far, he didn't know what the Green Stone King would do in despair, and he didn't want to become like the Green Stone King, wantonly destroying others' futures, so he gave them a glimmer of hope.

King Qing Shi went from great sorrow to great joy, and immediately kowtowed in gratitude.

"Thank you for your kindness, senior."

"Take care of yourself," Fang Zhou sighed and said softly, "I've given you the chance. How well you do is entirely up to you."

Before King Qing Shi could answer, Fang Zhou disappeared into the courtyard.

After a long while, the Green Stone King finally stood up from the ground. With a surge of spiritual energy, he swept away the dust from his body and his expression returned to its usual calm, as if nothing had happened.

Is there even a glimmer of hope?

King Qing Shi stood motionless, lost in thought. He hadn't been acting; a fake performance couldn't fool Da Xiu. He was indeed in despair and pain, but he knew what the weak should look like and could accept reality.

Now that things have happened, the most important thing is to resolve them. Moreover, the conditions Fang Zhou offered weren't difficult; he simply offered fairness and equality to everyone. As long as no prodigy emerges within the dynasty to threaten his rule, he was confident he could eliminate the mark of sin within two hundred years, provided Fang Zhou's words were true.

King Qing Shi gathered his thoughts and looked at his subordinates who had collapsed on the ground and betrayed him without hesitation. A murderous intent surged in his heart, and then a trace of pain came from the Sin Mark, as if it were a warning.

He quickly suppressed his murderous intent, recalled the crimes they had committed, and judged them by law, sentencing them to death. The mark of sin no longer held him back.

So, you can't kill arbitrarily, but you can still have a trial? Are there any limitations to this law? Can it be amended?

King Qing Shi temporarily put aside his thoughts and ignored the group of useless people. He would experiment with the Sin Mark again later and then he would know what to do next. As for now...

He looked at the old ancestor who was still sleeping in the courtyard, took out a jade talisman, and infused it with spiritual power.

Before long, a servant hurriedly entered the courtyard, ignoring the mess, and knelt down in front of King Qing Shi.

"Have someone make sure they are settled in properly, and have the imperial physician treat their wounds."

While sensing the state of the sin mark, King Qing Shi gave instructions to his attendants.

"Then go and see the other members of the royal family, see if they have any marks on their foreheads, and forbid them from killing or causing trouble, saying it's my order."

"Yes, ma'am."

The attendants walked out of the courtyard, and then others came to pick up the people who were sleeping in the courtyard. As for King Qing Shi, he remained standing in deep thought, and no one dared to disturb him.

On the other side, Fang Zhou returned to the courtyard of Wanmin Academy, lay down on a recliner, casually put Xiaoyue down, and looked at the full moon in the sky.

"Did I do a good deed?"

Fang Zhou smiled and stopped thinking about it. He had done what he wanted to do, and he didn't want to care about anything else.

He would stay a while longer to see the Qing Shi Dynasty, and then leave to go to a larger place, like the Da Min Dynasty.

He hadn't forgotten his purpose in coming to the northern continent; he'd heard there was fighting every day there, but he didn't know the details yet.

Just as I was about to close my eyes, I suddenly felt something and looked towards the southeast.

Somewhere on the Eastern Continent, it was already late at night where Fang Zhou was, but the sun was shining brightly where Ye Ninghan was.

Ye Ninghan stood in the void, her colorful robes fluttering in the wind, her body radiating powerful spiritual energy. A bright moon, above the sun, hung above Ye Ninghan's head, emitting an undeniable moonlight.

Beneath her feet, a massive array had been activated, its abundant spiritual energy seemingly testifying to its extraordinary nature.

"My lady, has my Crimson Flame Mountain offended you in any way?"

An old man stood in the formation, his clothes tattered and covered in frost. The aura of a mid-stage Dao Infant emanating from him was fluctuating, as if he were injured.

"You have not offended me."

Ye Ninghan's expression was cold. Holding a long sword, she looked down at the massive formation. "But I am not pleased that you have been secretly slaughtering cities and instigating conflicts between other sects, directly or indirectly causing the deaths of millions of mortals and cultivators."

"Fairy, they are merely a million mortals, why such fuss? I swear on my Dao heart that I will protect millions of mortals from now on, what do you say?"

The old man swallowed a pill, feeling his injuries rapidly healing, and began to stall for time.

Ye Ninghan's gaze grew even colder, and even though the sun was high in the sky, snowflakes began to fall.

Snowflakes fell onto the formation, creating ripples, and the formation's spiritual energy was consumed slightly faster.

"I won't reason with you, and you're not worthy to listen."

Ye Ninghan looked at the others from Crimson Flame Mountain, her voice piercing through the formation, and reiterated her purpose.

"I have come here to punish the ringleaders and sever the legacy of Crimson Flame Mountain. If you do not wish to be buried with them, leave as soon as possible."

The old man in the formation hardened his eyes, said no more, and told the others to continue maintaining the formation so that he could recover as soon as possible.

After a moment, Ye Ninghan saw that the formation was still in operation, and took out a blue snowflake from the ring on her left hand.

This is a formation-breaking artifact made by Saint Cold Peak. Although it cannot break all formations in the world, it is only ineffective against fifth-order formations that correspond to the law. The current formation has barely reached the fourth order and cannot withstand this artifact.

"Stubborn and obstinate."

Ye Ninghan said no more and used a secret technique to activate the snowflakes, causing a massive snowstorm to break through the formation.

Fang Zhou watched from the courtyard with a somewhat subtle expression. He was contemplating the management of the dynasty, while Ye Ninghan was launching a killing spree. He really didn't know what to say.

On the contrary, the conflict between mortals and cultivators is more complex here. Killing can only solve the problem temporarily, but cannot eliminate the root cause.

He wondered if there were no dynasties for mortals considered here.

Most cultivators were once mortals, but now that they are cultivators, they are high above others, as if they are not of the same race as mortals.

Fang Zhou sighed, stopped thinking about it, and continued to look at Ye Ninghan.