Immortality: Starting with a grave, I'm invincible when burying corpses.

Objectively speaking, the Great Qi Dynasty's crackdown on demonic forces in recent years has been the most intense since the founding of the nation, and it is no exaggeration to describe it as having zero tolerance.

Such a forceful attitude inevitably triggered a series of disputes, exacerbating the conflict between local lords and the imperial court.

The world is complex, and no one is always right or wrong, nor can anyone who claims to be righteous gain everyone's support.

There are far too many complex factors to consider; a black-and-white world ultimately only exists in stories.

Eradicating the evil cult is a righteous act, but once the boundaries are crossed, the nature of the matter changes.

Although only some minor vassal states were forcibly invaded by the army, it still caused a great uproar among the various vassal forces of the Great Qi Dynasty.

Today, we can use the pretext of eradicating the demonic cult to bring in the army. In a few days, we might frame them for colluding with the demonic cult and swallow them up completely.

They're all too familiar with testing the limits and gradually eroding one's power.

Testing the limits step by step, subtly influencing the people to get used to it—this was a common tactic used by feudal lords.

The difference is that in the past, they used this tactic on the people under their rule, but this time it is the Great Qi Dynasty that is using this tactic on them.

At first, they appease and offer small benefits. Once people get used to it, they will call a deer a horse, and no one will question it or dare to resist.

When that time comes, the Great Qi Dynasty will declare anyone a member of the demonic sect to be one.

This is intolerable! Absolutely intolerable!

This door must not be opened. If they choose to back down now, the consequences will be dire!

The sordidness involved is clear to all the powerful figures; they're all cut from the same cloth, and everyone knows who else is the same.

These minor lords who were caught are certainly not clean; they may indeed have colluded with the Demon Cult and gone too far, causing considerable unrest, which led to the court obtaining clear evidence against them.

In the initial stages of the trial, the imperial court would not act recklessly; its willingness to send troops must be based on something.

These minor lords are not worth mourning.

Nevertheless, the various warlords tacitly reached a consensus.

Even if some of them did indeed collude with the demonic cult, or even provide shelter for fleeing members of the demonic cult, that was their own business.

The affairs of the feudal lords should be handled by the feudal lords themselves; the court should never be allowed to use this as an excuse to make a big fuss.

In the end, it was nothing more than colluding with the Demonic Sect. If it weren't for the Demonic Sect causing a big incident in Qi'an City and angering the officials in the court, it would have been a minor matter.

In the past, these things wouldn't have been a big deal. Even if people saw them, they would pretend not to. The local people had long been used to these kinds of shady dealings.

Which place doesn't have gangs? Which place doesn't have thugs and criminals?

Which major power doesn't have some underlings who do dirty work?

Such a trivial matter can be handled behind closed doors. What is the meaning of your imperial army coming in?

The line between the demonic path and local gangs is already blurred, and it's impossible to tell them apart without just talking.

Are these local powerful gangs considered evil cults or law-abiding citizens?

What if the imperial court uses this as a pretext to behead them in the future?

The room for manipulation was so vast that all the smaller vassal states trembled with fear and collectively lodged a protest.

More than 900 small and medium-sized vassal lords wrote letters to Qishan Road, the Southern Frontier, and the Northern Border, hoping that these three major powers could convene a vassal alliance to deter the court and set new rules.

Qishan Dao, feeling secure and fearless, chose to ignore the situation at Mu Ling'er's behest.

The Northern Territory is located at the northernmost tip of the Great Qi Empire and is a self-contained system. Due to the harsh environment of the Northern Territory, smaller vassal states cannot survive on their own.

Over the centuries, the situation in the North has been constantly evolving. By a little over a hundred years ago, all the lords in the North had sided with the Duke of Zhenbei.

For over a century, the northern border had only obeyed the orders of the Duke of Zhenbei, and was unaware of who the emperor was, thus forming a unified whole.

Because the entire northern territory is a unified entity and its relationship with most of the feudal lords of Daqi is not close, Zhenbei Gong Shen Yunwei also had no intention of convening a meeting.

Shen Yunwei has been very busy lately. Her Heavenly Fruit position is now vacant, and she is busy trying to break through to become a terrestrial immortal. She really has no time to deal with other things.

Against this complex backdrop, Southern Xinjiang, eager to expand its influence, stepped forward.

Marquis Bai Qingming of Zhennan took up the mantle and decided to convene a meeting of feudal lords in September of the following year.

Under the guise of appreciating the autumn scenery, the Southern Frontier sent out invitations to various lords and leaders of major forces to come to the Southern Frontier to enjoy its autumn landscape.

The invitation was also sent to Qishan Road. According to Mu Ling'er, there was no need to bother with something that looked so troublesome.

Even if the world is in chaos, no one will dare to run wild in their Qishan Road territory.

Furthermore, for some reason, the wording on this invitation, personally written by the Marquis of Zhennan, struck Mu Ling'er as somewhat strange.

Although her words were respectful and in accordance with etiquette, Mu Ling'er always felt that the Marquis of Zhennan, who wrote the invitation, did not seem to really want her to attend.

Mu Ling'er didn't think too much about it, assuming that the Marquis of Zhennan was afraid of making things too big.

After all, Qishan Dao is now considered the most powerful of the feudal lords. If she were to attend in person, it would likely send the wrong message to the outside world.

At that time, many forces will probably think that Qishan Dao intends to stand up and openly confront the Daqi Dynasty.

When it comes to starting a group buy, as long as someone dares to do it, others will naturally follow.

If the person initiating the group had more influence, the outcome would have been self-evident.

If it were Qishan Dao who initiated the uprising, then the world would truly descend into chaos and war would break out everywhere.

Given the current situation, it wouldn't be pleasant if such a thing were to happen.

Mu Ling'er wasn't entirely sure what the powerful figures like the Celestial Master and Xuanling Bodhisattva were planning, but she was very clear about the principle that a tall tree catches the wind.

The greater the power, the more things need to be considered, and the more weaknesses one has.

In order not to cause trouble for Mu An, Mu Ling'er does not plan to expand the influence of Qishan Dao during her lifetime.

Furthermore, Mu Ling'er had serious doubts about the moral integrity of the various feudal lords.

She had no doubt that if she really went there in a grand manner, those unscrupulous feudal lords might just stage a scene of her being forced to wear the imperial robe.

When that time comes, things will get really messy.

Even disregarding these factors, as a staunch anti-demonic cultist, Mu Ling'er did not believe that the Great Qi Dynasty was wrong in its campaign against the demonic cult.

You should know that when Mu An used to kill members of the Demonic Cult, he didn't care where they were.

No matter which state you're in, if you get caught, you're dead!

Anyone who dares to obstruct them will be considered an accomplice of the demonic cult.

The difference is that Mu An is just one person and has no interest in those power struggles; he simply wants to kill the demon cultists.

The composition of the Daqi court was much more complex, and over time it was bound to become corrupt, killing innocent people and claiming credit for others' work.

They even went so far as to call a deer a horse, using this as a pretext to eliminate dissidents.

In Mu Ling'er's view, the matter of eradicating the demon cultists was simply a matter of degree.

Define a boundary within a feasible range, and just don't cross it.

These are things that the feudal lords can handle themselves; she doesn't need to worry about them.

Just as she was about to throw the invitation into the trash can, Mu An suddenly appeared behind her, gazing thoughtfully at the invitation.

"Da'an, what brings you here? Is there a problem with this invitation?"

Mu An shook her head slightly and waved the invitation in her hand.

"Nothing's wrong, I just suddenly remembered some things from the past."

"Oh?"

"I'm planning a trip to southern Xinjiang to see the scenery, do you want to come along?"

Seeing that Mu An rarely said he wanted to go out on his own initiative, Mu Ling'er looked at him with surprise for a moment, then shook her head.

"No, I still have a lot to take care of. You go ahead."

"Okay, contact me anytime if you need anything."