Spring Cleaning

Tianlu and Elder Zhen's resolution; the struggle between Embers and Stagnant Rot; the war between the Association and the Profound. In less than half a day, news of it had spread across the entire mortal realm... In fact, within five minutes, such an immense disturbance on the Endless Sea had drawn who knew how many Aether sensors, and satellites were peering down from the sky. How could anyone fail to know what had occurred? What was more, neither side had made any attempt to hide it from start to finish. Having laid all their cards on the table, they had openly delivered their challenges, unanimously resolving to fight each other to the death! In fact, from the very instant Tianlu and Elder Zhen met, it had already begun. Just like two nations going to war, each repeatedly reiterating the righteousness and justice of their cause—even rebels would raise a banner calling to "purge the wicked counselors from the sovereign's side." It isn't that our Profound wants to stir up trouble; it's that there are traitors within the Embers! Listen to me, everyone, the Supreme Goodness didn't want this to happen either; Tianlu must have concealed our plight from Him... Elder Zhen's words were not even directed at Tianlu; every sentence pointed straight at the Association's accumulated ills and the craftsmen's plight. Meanwhile, Tianlu had thoroughly exposed the Profound's dirty laundry as well: rotten as they were, they still had the gall to criticize others; what sane person in their right mind would welcome Great Sin with open arms? They'd have to be utterly unhinged! Wagging tongues was futile, yet not entirely useless. After all, the contest between artisans would ultimately be decided by their hands. Yet the attitude, capability, and finesse currently demonstrated by the Profound held undeniable appeal for those discontented with the Association's current state. In a forest so vast, all kinds of birds nested. Lost in the mountains, how many could truly see their own position and the reality around them? This was a poison in itself—colorless, odorless, symptomless, seemingly harmless. Yet the moment you heard those words and began contemplating their meaning, a seed was already sown, whether large or small. There was no need to expect them to "abandon darkness for the light." If they merely wavered while weighing the options—no, the moment the thought of "weighing" them crossed their minds—Elder Zhen had already achieved his goal. Elder Zhen's ability to patiently lurk behind the scenes, quietly laying plans across the Endless Sea for a century without revealing a whisper or trace, was proof enough of his resilience and patience. Having endured all these years, quick victories were the last thing he coveted; he had all the patience in the world to take his time. For all these years the Association's Absolute Sentence squads had hunted and slaughtered, but hadn't Elder Zhen's influence remained persistent and impossible to eradicate? Over the centuries, the Nanyun lineage, the Four Seas lineage, and the Haze lineage had fallen into his hands one after another, becoming his subordinates. Stubborn, ruthless hardcases like Jiang Tongguang, who charged into the Profound in a fury and slaughtered his own entire clan, were exceedingly rare. Right now, the one smiling the happiest was probably not Elder Zhen, but Delong, the previous Chairman of the Council who had just stepped down last year. He was probably crying tears of joy even in his dreams—just by a hair, by the thinnest hair, his legacy had been spared! For such a massive landmine not to detonate on his watch, his ancestors must have accumulated a staggering mountain of virtue—smoke was practically pouring from their graves. As for how bad Gustav's stomach ache was and how badly he wanted to die, perhaps only he knew. Now, if the Association wished to preserve its very foundation and prove its legitimacy, there was only one thing to do, just as Tianlu had said: fight! Not fighting was out of the question! They had to fight! And they had to fight to the bitter end, regardless of cost or consequences. Not only did they have to win, but they also had to win beyond all reproach! Unless they thoroughly chopped off the claws the Profound had extended and made the Profound swallow a massive pile of shit, this would never be over! When a colossus like the Ring of Taiyi—an organization that had accumulated the achievements of countless artisans over centuries—truly mobilized, its impact was not confined to a single city, a single place, or a single moment; it shook the entire mortal realm. Far too many aspects were affected. The prices of alchemical creations and raw materials across all markets began to skyrocket, and even the price of phlogiston began spiraling out of control. Countless massive projects ground to a halt, while unimaginable amounts of manpower and material resources converged. Both the Federation and the Empire were forced to mobilize all quarters to issue emergency permits to facilitate the effort. By that afternoon, the optical sensors of half the satellites in the entire mortal realm were nearly burned out by the terrifying flash of light erupting from that sector. Who knew how many hardened Aether lenses were blinded and shattered on the spot. In less than half an hour, more than six terrifying shockwaves erupted. The turbulence in the earth veins directly triggered several magnitude-seven earthquakes thousands of miles away, vast quantities of seawater evaporated, and a hole was blasted clean through the mortal realm's atmosphere. And this was merely a warm-up, a casual exchange of testing blows. After more than a dozen numbered Masterworks took turns bombarding the area, the entire sea zone suffered a complete breakdown of order and physical distortion, transforming into an abyssal realm. Within such a hellscape, the artisans of the Association and the Profound had already locked eyes in standoff, once more probing each other. Even more artisans were answering the Association's mobilization, streaming in without pause. Rubbing their hands, eager and impatient! To slaughter their peers! "Huh? They started fighting?" Receiving the call, Ji Jue gasped in shock. "I dunno! Nobody told me... No idea, not in the loop. Grandmaster, you know me—I'm an academic artisan, completely above worldly strife, tolerating hardship for the public good! How could I possibly get involved in something like this? Why don't you guys take me along so I can broaden my horizons?" "Heh!" On the other end of the line, Yellowbeard scoffed coldly, too exhausted even to swear. Over the past two days, the Grandmaster had been carrying his flamberge and leading his men along the northern White River Belt, hacking his way from one end to the other without blinking. In total, he hadn't slept for even two hours... Did he not know whose whistleblower letter had poked open this hornets' nest? What was even more absurd was... had the dog really given up eating shit? The single biggest shit-stirrer of this generation in the entire Association had suddenly stopped stirring? Who would believe that?! "With something this massive going on, do you really plan to stay on the sidelines?" Yellowbeard pressed. Indeed, by normal logic, as a mere Golden Ribbon, Ji Jue had no business meddling in such high-level affairs. But the crux of the matter was that this dog bastard never followed normal logic! Even before he became an artisan, his stats in high-tier matches were practically MVP material, alright? Besides, who still treated him like an ordinary Golden Ribbon nowadays? "Even if both sides are really going to war, a couple of days won't make a difference, right?" Ji Jue sighed helplessly, letting slip a kernel of truth. "I've still got some trouble on my hands here that I have to clean up first." "What trouble could be bigger than the Association?" Yellowbeard frowned. "Wait, why is it so noisy on your end? What are you doing?" "Spring cleaning. Exterminating pests..." Amid deafening cheers and roars that practically boiled over, Ji Jue waved his hand. Instantly, atop the gallows in the square, batch after batch of swings began to sway once more. Drifting in the wind, a sight of exquisite beauty. "Ah, enough said, let's talk next time!" After hanging up his fourth phone call of the morning, Ji Jue threw himself back into his current work. Raising his head, he waved his hand. "Next batch!" Instantly, amidst the thunderous roars of the crowd, the sixth batch of weeping and howling "guests" was brought up. It was the Thousand Islands, after all—terrible manners. Once they got up here, they didn't call anyone "brother" or drink any liquor, putting everyone in a foul mood. After being rushed through the routine procedure, they were sent to the swings and carried away, followed by the next batch. And then the batch after that... Amid cheers, shouts, wails, and furious roars, the dense crowd filling the square was practically boiling over, their faces flushed red. Even in front of the television screens broadcasting the live feed, countless pairs of eyes burned crimson with uncontrollable emotion. At first, they had wasted time reading out the indictments. But after a defendant was literally frightened to death with a snap before their charges were even finished reading, they simply skipped the reading entirely. To prevent the near-riotous witnesses from storming the stage to beat the defendants to pulp and flay them alive, Ji Jue decided to snatch them from the Grim Reaper's hands. The indictments were slapped directly onto the bulletin board beside them, and then they were swiftly sent on their way! *Clack—* Uniform, crisp snaps sounded incessantly, again and again, each one setting off an avalanche of shouts and roars. The entirety of the Seven Cities' people—the true Seven Cities itself—stood here witnessing the judgment! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Every single fucking one of you, die! The pest control campaign raged like wildfire throughout the entire morning. From nine o'clock until half past twelve, layers upon layers of indictments were plastered densely over the bulletin boards, stacked one upon another, until they were a full six centimeters thick! Over four hundred people were sent swinging on the spot, so densely packed that there was hardly room left. The higher-ups of the Seven Cities who had miraculously survived the aberration—before they could even breathe a sigh of relief after dodging disaster—would never need to breathe again. And this was only because Mr. Ji hated waste. Even among the unforgivable, anyone who wasn't so vile that breathing counted as wasting air was shipped off to Blessing Park to benefit the mortal realm. Otherwise, the scale of the executions would have been at least ten times larger, if not more! The people executed today were prime vermin, meticulously handpicked by Ji Jue after much head-scratching to find the very worst of the worst. Compared to these scumbags, even minions of Great Sin seemed affable, kind, and upright. For the uplift and vigor of the people's hearts, for the Tianyuan order of the Seven Cities, and for a clean break with everything of the past, someone's life and blood had to be paid to draw a final period on that long history. Ji Jue had originally thought taking over everything would be somewhat troublesome, but in reality, there was zero resistance; it had fallen into place as naturally as water flowing into a channel. When he gave the order, and the factory security forces from Luo Island and Xiangzhou marched out to every corner to take charge of order and administration, it was hailed as the will of the people. The rebuilt Law of Tianyuan had blanketed the entirety of the Seven Cities. The choice made by the hearts of the masses upon Chixiao's completion had subtly permeated every aspect of society. Barring the futile struggles of the vermin. Pity they never even had the chance to resist... Earlier, the infection and budding of the Domain of Degradation had all stemmed from the despair at the bottom of the Seven Cities, but when the aberration and mutation truly manifested, they had ultimately converged upon those standing above the masses. And so, it was finally time for those who had always enjoyed the fruits of it all to receive their "blessing."