All Heavenly destiny reduced to ashes
Chapter 399 - 42: Linjiang City Lord (1/3)

Chapter 399: Chapter 42: Linjiang City Lord (1/3)

Embracing the Void Realm, Linjiang City.

Time flew by rapidly.

Though Linlang Commerce Chamber had hundreds of Martial Artists and over a thousand employees, with the capture of the few core Inner Strength Martial Artists and the leaders, the remaining Inner Breath Martial Artists were like headless flies, only able to flee.

A small part of them was captured by Xu Tai and Bai Qinghan, as evidence of Linlang Commerce Chamber’s exploitation of the people, while the others fled Linjiang City, spreading the fame of An Jing even further.

The families remaining in the city had enough grain stored for a few days, and they had the patience to await the promised ’distribution of food’ from An Jing, which indeed started on the second day. They could see gigantic puppets dragging heavy food carts, delivering food to each household.

The quality of this food was exceptional; the quantity was substantial. Although some grain was packaged in a strangely durable and semi-transparent material, it could be easily cut open with scissors, and the condition of the grain was clearly visible, which was very reassuring.

Although everyone was clueless about where these puppets came from and clearly, the grain was not local, because it involved Divine Mandate, nobody entertained the idea of pondering deeply about it.

"This is indeed the True Transmission of a true person!"

"Divine Mandate is truly beyond belief..."

"Since City Lord An arrived, peace has returned to Linjiang City!"

On the third day, a public announcement resonated throughout the city—in the name of An Jing, the current de facto ruler of Linjiang City, he requested that every family send at least one person to the city center for an announcement.

Once this notice was issued, families that thought less simply began to discuss who should go out, while families that thought more began to wonder why An Jing had asked everyone to gather in the city center.

Gathering everyone in the city could likely lead to unrest, something even Linlang Commerce Chamber would not wish to do.

Unable to find answers through contemplation, and seeing An Jing’s demand as a command, they complied.

Recently, the snowstorms had been mild, and although the Earth Vein Great Formation no longer had Divine Weapons to suppress it, it could still divert the snow to some extent. The icy paths in the city were also trampled open by the puppets, and people, with varying thoughts, made their way toward the city center.

As the earliest group arrived at the city center, the site once occupied by Linlang Commerce Chamber, they all stood frozen, staring dumbfounded at the small mountain before them.

A small mountain made of bags of grain and boxes of rice oil!

The former ruins of Linlang Commerce Chamber had been cleared, and at the original government location, only a column still slowly burning with the fire of the Blood Fiend remained, as proof of An Jing’s oath.

Behind this column, a mountain of grain that was as high as five or six stories took up everyone’s field of view.

It was stacked in layers, extremely neat, surrounded by four puppets painted with black and red warning signs. A small team of martial artists from the Hanlang Escort Agency was using a strange amplifying Magic Artifact, coupled with their own Inner Breath, to make an announcement.

However, at first, no one could discern what they were saying because all the people—those tormented by scarcity of food, driven by hunger to the point of anxiety—were stunned by the sight of the grain mountain.

Instinctively, some people wanted to reach out to take a bag of grain from the mountain—only to have their hands swiftly slapped away by others. Under the indignant gaze of the one whose hand was slapped, the person who warned him looked back more sternly and gestured towards the other side of the grain mountain.

There, suspended, were seven or eight badly wounded people, among whom two had already expired.

[Thieves of grain shall be punished, destroyers of grain shall be executed.]

On a large wooden board, eight characters were painted in blood-red, and each person, including the corpses, had heavy plaques hanging on them, listing their crimes.

[Fleeing martial artist of Linlang Commerce Chamber, intending to set the granary on fire, executed.]

[Fleeing martial artist of Linlang Commerce Chamber, intending to poison the grain, executed.]

[Thief of grain, attempted to steal premium grain weighing over a thousand catties, one hundred lashes, to be displayed publicly for three days.]

[Thief of grain...]

No one dared to reach out.

The large alert puppets with their red monocular eyes patrolled the surroundings. Their programming and detection arrays allowed them to keenly capture any movement of creatures larger than a cat.

A few people, perhaps lured by the aroma of the grain, subconsciously approached the boundary line, but the massive puppets immediately displayed dexterity and speed disproportionate to their size. Constructed of steel and Evergreen Wood, their half-wooden, half-mechanical joints crudely picked up these individuals and flung them, causing them to roll in the snow while groaning, and making the onlookers view these puppets with even more awe.

Although in the Tianyuan Realm, this process was so rudimentary it could only track moving targets, being virtually blind to stationary ones and almost incapable of penetrating the invisibility cloaks of the Puppetry, it could at best be described as a knockoff product.

But in the Embracing the Void Realm’s Linjiang City, this Puppetry, cobbled together from semi-discarded parts and just able to move, was already considered a high-tech creation.

Only at this time could people clearly hear what those Escort Masters were shouting through the loudspeakers.

"A one-month supply, distributed as needed, one box per household, collect every three days!"

"Don’t worry about running out of food! There are mountains of grain, enough to last the whole city until summer! Those who need rations must register; no registration, no rations!"

On the other side of Grain Hill, a group of martial artists clad in moon-white attire manned eight counters, registering citizens who, upon registration, could claim a box of rations every three days with a token—a piece of Mysterious Iron.

Behind these martial artists of unknown origin, adorned in moon-white, stood eight huge wooden slogan boards.

[A notice from Linjiang City’s temporary City Lord An Jing to the public]

[Distribute according to need, do not let the public go hungry]

[Save food, strive to be a good citizen of Linjiang City]

[Voluntarily comply, uphold the disciplines, policies, and regulations]

[Do not steal, do not claim ignorance as an excuse]

[Crack down on hoarding, stabilize prices within Linjiang City]

[Illegal reselling, ruin your own future]

[Welcome self-recommendations, Linjiang needs more strength]

It was evident that these martial artists in moon-white attire were not quite comfortable with the overflowing positivity of these slogans, nor accustomed to doing simple service work like registering the public.

However, since it was an order from the Divine Lady and Divine General, even martial artists from the Demon Sect had to act like diligent civil servants at this moment.

Beyond that, they also held admiration for a certain young Divine General who had come up with these catchy slogans—how had someone so young thought of them?

Perhaps that was what cultural heritage meant.

From beginning to end, An Jing was not present, but this was of no consequence.

As the City Lord, he needn’t and shouldn’t be directly involved in every grassroots operation; he only needed to make occasional appearances to maintain his presence, for in the Embracing the Void Realm, it was the City Lord’s duty to provide martial force and spend his days cultivating to improve his strength.

Moreover, such grand gestures, such stable order, these martial artists and Puppets that had appeared out of nowhere, along with the massive amounts of food, all served to prove one thing.

That was, this Divine Mandate genius was not just strong in a fight—he also had the ability to take over a large city and maintain order and "law" at any moment!

To have both the sword and the law... this was a sign of a true ruler!

Without seeing An Jing—or rather, precisely because An Jing was unseen.

The very fact that An Jing’s presence was unnecessary to maintain order gave the people of Linjiang City an unparalleled sense of security.

The fear and panic lurking in people’s hearts due to the past actions of the Linlang Commerce Chamber were smoothed over, little by little, by this order.

"Not bad, no unrest, it seems I’m not needed to step in."

Watching from the clouds, An Jing, riding on his Tengshuang White, overlooked Grain Hill and the orderly queue of citizens registering and collecting rations, nodded slightly: "And I really have to thank the Linlang Commerce Chamber, otherwise, people might not be so cooperative."

Although An Jing wasn’t planned to make an appearance, for the first citywide announcement, he definitely had to be prepared to stabilize the situation—if necessary. But for now, it didn’t seem needed.

The people of Da Chen were accustomed to compromise. With the example of the Linlang Commerce Chamber, a cautionary tale, An Jing’s Puppets and the warning display of criminals and corpses on the gallows suddenly seemed approachable.