Twin Dimension Yin-Yang Mirror: Attaining immortality through the martial path
Chapter 533 - 453 Chapter Elder Please Help+454 - Respectful Gift from Hong Ye

Chapter 533: 453 Chapter Elder Please Help+454 Chapter Respectful Gift from Hong Ye

"Speak in detail."

Zhou Ping’an felt greatly surprised.

He looked at the gaunt man with a scar on his face.

He knew this person, who was a secret agent under the Green Lady, and one of the earliest Red Lotus Sect Followers to infiltrate the Pinghu area, named Skinny Dog Lin.

His name was not pleasant, yet he was very reliable.

On the day when Ran Sifei occupied Pinghu City, Skinny Dog Lin didn’t expose himself but hid among the common people, silently driven to labor as a civil labourer building city walls.

Before Zhou Ping’an arrived at Pinghu, this man also managed to send out several pieces of useful information.

Due to his contributions, he now served as the squad leader of the third battalion, fifth squad of the Azure Scale Cavalry.

His cultivation was only at the Blood Exchange Realm, but he was extremely cautious and thorough in his actions, considered an elite among the Azure Scale Cavalry.

"The squad I lead was hiding in the Pingling Mountain, hunting beasts and picking fruits by day to satisfy hunger, and sheltering in the wilderness by night, always following the Red Lotus Army from a distance..."

"At the fourth watch today, I was startled awake and saw a dense formation of the Red Lotus Army appearing at the foothill of Pingling Mountain. Knowing that something big was happening, I dared not get too close, just cautiously observed from the outskirts..."

Skinny Dog Lin reported the blitzkrieg he had witnessed.

At that moment, the five thousand cavalry of the Imperial Court’s Army had barely responded when three experts broke into their camp, with others specifically starting fires.

The scene was thrown into chaos in an instant.

Qiu Huaiying reacted the fastest, donning armor and mounting his horse, rushing left and right, managing to gather over a thousand cavalry. Just as it seemed he might reverse the tide of defeat, a lady in red descended from the sky and slapped him on the forehead. He was struck so hard that blood poured from all seven orifices, his armor exploded and shattered, and both man and horse fell dead on the spot.

With the death of the Vanguard General of the Imperial Army, the remaining cavalry immediately dispersed and fled in all directions.

The Red Lotus Army easily regained control over Pingshan County yet did not rest, dispatching their forces directly towards Yunjin.

"I overheard the Red Lotus Soldiers loudly declaring their intention to break through Yunjin and advance to Gu Quan, pressing directly into Huangze. Without further delay, I switched horses and hurried back to report."

"Good, I’ll remember your contribution, reward!"

Hearing this news, Zhou Ping’an suddenly remembered the aura he had felt the previous day when Zhang Taiyan arrived at Pinghu.

At the time, he suspected it was a True Martial Realm expert from the Red Lotus Sect spying on them.

He was still considering how to guard against a surprise attack.

However, contrary to his expectations, they did not attack Guangyun County City but instead turned to attack Huangze County.

This indicated that the person was likely not from the Saintess Yunling’s Lotus Heart Palace branch.

Dressed in red, at the True Martial Realm...

"Could it be that the Palace Master of the Red Leaf Palace has personally come down the mountain."

"This Spirit Tide is stirring, the world is truly about to descend into chaos."

Zhou Ping’an felt a slight anxiety rise in his heart, then suppressed it again.

He thought that as long as he improved his abilities quickly enough, the pace of the Spirit Tide’s resurgence would not be able to catch up with his rate of growth, so there was no need for too much worry.

"Yes, I heard that the Red Leaf Palace’s forces are assaulting Xiling and Huangze Counties in Yunzhou, with their main force still in Xiling County. Could it be that the Red Leaf Palace is preparing to confront Xiao Yuanfang head-on? This doesn’t seem like bad news for us."

The Green Lady, upon hearing the news, first felt a bit worried, but then her thoughts shifted and she felt a bit of schadenfreude.

Having managed agriculture for some time, she inevitably came to see herself as part of the legitimate Imperial force, sometimes even forgetting her origins as a rebel, that their base was a target for the Imperial Court to strike down.

The Imperial Army’s march southward, sweeping through the Red Lotus Army, wasn’t focused solely on the Red Lotus Army. They wouldn’t mind shooting rabbits while gathering grass.

Their three cities, standing on the western bank of the Li River and unable to flee, would surely become the enemy if the Imperial Army passed by.

Even the forces of Huangze County could potentially aim for their territory.

Should the Red Lotus Army stand in the way and wear down the power of the rebel-quelling army in advance, entering the heart of Yunzhou, presumably those people wouldn’t have the inclination to attack.

"Yes, it indeed doesn’t seem like bad news, rather it solves a huge problem for us. What does it mean to clear the way for the king? The actions of the Red Lotus Sect are exactly that."

Zhou Ping’an shook his head with a smile.

The news was truly uplifting, at a time when his own forces were sharpening their weapons, preparing to march on Guangyun County City.

Why say that this solved a huge problem?

It’s not about the issue of identity or confronting the Imperial Court.

It’s about the land.

In the last years of the dynasty, land consolidation had become too severe.

In any state or prefecture, if not all, then at least a large part of wealth and property, including land, was in the hands of Noble Clans and distinguished families. In such circumstances, even if Zhou Ping’an could conquer territories, the redistribution of land and whether to retain officers would be a troublesome matter.

At the start of the establishment of his base, he did not wish to force all the wealthy and powerful families to oppose him by using brute force.

At least, not openly.

Otherwise, once the narrative is manipulated to portray his force as naturally opposed to Noble Clans and the noble gentry, progress would be tremendously difficult.

Leaving aside other considerations, at the very least, the talent from all over the world would be almost impossible to gather.

Except for the desperate, who would join a peasant bandit force?

But that brought about a problem: upon conquering a territory, surely you can’t just leave the fields, mines, shops, and so on to the original Noble Clans?

Wouldn’t that render the conquest pointless?

Hence, the best scenario at this time was for a band of rebels to charge ahead, demolishing everything in their way.