For the first time, Wang Ping faced the fury of departed souls head-on.
This was no spell attack like the ones unleashed by the Master of Soul-Drooping Study. Countless souls were simply releasing their raw indignation, yet it immersed Wang Ping far more deeply than any sorcery ever could.
*The common folk are not human.*
A mere handful of words had stripped them of every right, reducing their already humble lives entirely into human livestock to be milked and ground down until death.
*This is beyond ridiculous!*
*A feudal society is backward enough, but looking at the state of these commoners, history has gone completely into reverse, tumbling right back into a slave society.*
At this moment, Wang Ping felt a wave of helplessness. He finally understood Shouchong's train of thought. The wrath of countless wronged souls had already been forged into tangible murderous intent. In ten days or half a month at most, these souls serving as a petri dish would naturally give birth to fiends, unleashing a bloodbath throughout the county seat.
Yet before long, he shook his head.
"Doing this is utterly meaningless."
Wang Ping's tone was calm, yet he directly and unequivocally rejected the souls' rage. "Even if you slaughter everyone in the city, it won't help your plight in the slightest."
"This is only the first step."
At the far end of the spirits, Shouchong's figure materialized, his gaze profound. "Slaughtering a single county seat may not be enough to sway the imperial court's mind.
"What if we slaughter an entire commandery? What if we slaughter a whole circuit?
"If all else fails, we keep slaughtering until everyone who isn't of the common folk is dead. When that time comes, everyone will be commoners, and universal harmony will naturally reign across the world.
"To achieve final victory, no matter how much sacrifice is paid along the way, it will be worth it. After all, a rebellion is not a dinner party—how could there be no bloodshed? Besides, the common folk can revive without end, and they will retain no memory of what happened before their deaths. To them, it is nothing more than a long dream; once they awaken, they will enjoy blessings.
"Since that is the case, why not do it?"
His impassioned words reverberated like rolling thunder, immediately drawing resonance from numerous wronged souls. Yet Wang Ping merely raised an eyebrow, followed by a cold sneer.
"Shallow."
Looking at Shouchong, Wang Ping said indifferently, "Even if everyone under heaven becomes the common folk, does that mean no one will commit evil? Does it mean there will be no more bullying and oppression?
"In the end, it is nothing more than changing into a new skin.
"Or is it that you merely wish to vent your wrath, that you simply want to kill?" Wang Ping turned his gaze toward the throng of wronged souls. "Could it be that you were born serial killers?
"That isn't right, is it?" Wang Ping said in a low voice. "You only want to survive, to live a better life... Isn't it because someone refuses to let you live that you want to kill them?"
As the words fell, ripples of unrest stirred among the wronged souls.
Wang Ping struck while the iron was hot.
"Your goal should be how to survive, how to live better. Killing is merely a means, not the end. Never put the cart before the horse.
"Senior, one thing you said was very true."
Wang Ping turned his head to look at Shouchong and continued, "A rebellion is indeed not a dinner party, but neither is it as simple as shedding blood and making sacrifices.
"It means you will face difficulties beyond imagination. Friends who once shared life and death with you will become enemies; enemies who once seemed unforgivable will become friends. You must tolerate things you previously could not stomach, compromise with people you once refused to yield to, and unite everyone who can be united.
"Only by doing so can you hold fast to the single thing that must never waver.
"Yet even then, you can never settle everything once and for all.
"The moment battles in the open come to an end, the battles in the shadows will begin. The moment external threats are resolved, internal contradictions will sprout anew.
"Did you think that by slaughtering every enemy, winning a war, and defeating some mastermind behind the scenes, you could rest easy and bring everlasting peace to the world?"
At this point, Wang Ping let out a scoff.
"If it were that simple, you wouldn't have been reduced to this state."
His deafening words echoed through the throng of wronged souls. The howling, baleful miasma of resentment began to scatter, even revealing a tinge of at-a-loss bewilderment.
Even Shouchong blinked in astonishment.
After all, while "a rebellion is not a dinner party" was indeed his heartfelt belief, Heaven knew he had never thought that far ahead when speaking those words.
Before long, the restlessness among the wronged souls grew increasingly pronounced. They were souls corroded by baleful resentment, gripped by deep obsession. Since Wang Ping had flatly rejected the plan to slaughter the city, he had to offer an alternative they could accept; otherwise, the souls would turn on him in a backlash.
It defied all reason.
Yet in the end, they were long dead, entangled in baleful resentment. They were never beings one could reason with, much less entities capable of holding onto rationality.
Seeing this, Shouchong's expression shifted slightly as well.
*Not good!*
*If the wronged souls lash out and clash with this divine artifact spirit, resulting in mutual destruction, wouldn't that just hand an easy victory to the Imperial Academy and the imperial court?*
With that thought, he hurriedly spoke up: "Good disciple, leave first.
"Wait until I pacify these wronged souls, then—"
"No need."
Wang Ping cut Shouchong off without hesitation, his cold eyes sweeping over the agitated souls. "You pray to deities, you pray to the emperor, and now you pray to me?
"Am I the one struggling just to stay alive?
"It is you!
"A person must rely on themselves!"
As the words fell, the wronged souls erupted into a frenzy. A chaotic deluge of consciousness battered Wang Ping's sea of consciousness, wild and disorderly, yet unable to shake him in the slightest.
In silence, a thought seemed to whisper:
*But we are too weak. We have no power.*
"That doesn't matter."
Wang Ping nodded and continued, "I have power. Follow me, and I can grant you strength—the strength to survive."
With that, he unfurled the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Flag.
On the other side, Shouchong, who had initially felt a flicker of relief seeing Wang Ping seemingly quell the riot of souls, froze upon seeing this. Immediately after, his face twisted.
*Wait... something isn't right!*
*These are all members of my White Lotus Sect, the seeds of fiends I accumulated over more than a decade of roaming north and south in rebellion! Now you're telling them to follow you?*
*You little brat, you're poaching my foundation right out from under me!*
"Wait a moment—"
Shouchong leapt up on the spot. But as before, wronged souls were driven purely by obsession and lacked reason; naturally, they would not obey.
In the next instant, the previously rioting souls rushed headlong into the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Flag in a single swarm. Wang Ping drove the profound workings within the flag with all his might. The moment a soul stepped in, it was refined into a fiend on the spot, then strode back out to transform into the expanding shadow beneath Wang Ping's feet.
Watching this, Shouchong felt his heart bleed.
"You beast!"
Finally, he could not hold back a curse.
Wang Ping, however, did not care in the least. He continued drawing upon the power of the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Flag, and soon two more fiends walked out from within.
Compared to the others, these two were exceptionally formidable.
*Thump!*
As the two great fiends dropped to their knees, the other fiends formed from the common folk—as well as those originally dwelling in the flag—responded in kind, kneeling across the ground one after another.
It was clear that these two held a commanding position among the fiends.
*Senior Brother Guo, the Master of Soul-Drooping Study...*
Evidently, when powerful cultivators were transformed into fiends, they not only possessed greater strength, but also retained a measure of spiritual intelligence that allowed them to command the others.
Wang Ping nodded in satisfaction.
When he turned around, he was met with Shouchong's wrinkled old face, his eyes dripping with bitter grievance. "Good disciple, these were all members of my White Lotus Sect..."
"Is that so?"
Wang Ping spread his hands, keeping the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Flag unfurled. "Then call them back. As long as you can call them back, I promise I won't stop you."
Shouchong was left speechless.
"Give it up. Forcing something never turns out well."
Right before Shouchong's eyes, Wang Ping gripped the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Flag tightly. "They've long been shaped to my liking, and I'm the only one who can satisfy them."
For a moment, Shouchong's weathered face flushed crimson with fury, smoke practically billowing from his orifices, and the temperature throughout the meditation chamber noticeably rose. Yet just as Wang Ping suspected the old bastard was about to turn hostile, the elder suddenly exhaled a long breath and actually chuckled. "Fine, fine, fine... The pupil truly surpasses the master.
"Good disciple, you really were born to be a rebel."
Shouchong smiled. "Since that's the case, do as you see fit."
Wang Ping eyed him skeptically. "Old fellow, since when are you this good-natured?"
"What choice do I have?" Shouchong said with complete honesty. "The wronged souls were taken by you and are no longer under my control. My plan has gone up in smoke.
"Turning hostile serves no purpose."
At this point, Shouchong appeared quite nonchalant. "And don't forget, I am of the common folk as well. By the mercy of Liansheng Bodhisattva, I cannot die.
"If you succeed, all is well and good, and I will be glad to see it... If you fail, it merely means I must prepare for the next time.
"I have plenty of time."
With that, Shouchong took a step back, concealing himself within the meditation chamber's shadows, leaving only his lingering voice echoing in the air: "So, what do you plan to do next?
"Side with the emperor, stop the Imperial Academy from slaughtering all the common folk, and prevent them from extracting the lifespans of the law-abiding citizens?"
"More or less," Wang Ping nodded.
"You should know that treats the symptoms, not the root cause."
"Having more people survive is never wrong," Wang Ping replied, thoroughly indifferent. "No matter what, let us go save the common folk outside the city walls first."
Shouchong let out a sigh. "Clearly filled with resentment, clearly possessing infinite resurrection as the common folk's sole weapon—why refuse to use it? After all, they won't truly die."
"Even so, living still has meaning." Wang Ping shook his head. "They should not seek death; they should strive to live."
Upon hearing this, Shouchong looked at the fiends behind Wang Ping and murmured in a low voice:
"They are already dead."
Wang Ping smiled.
"Some are still alive."
As the words fell, Shouchong spoke no more, melting completely into the darkness. Before long, his presence faded away; he seemed to have quietly departed.
At the same time, Wang Ping slowly turned around to look at the ranks of fiends kneeling before him. After a brief pause, he said softly:
"Stand up."
Go thwart the Imperial Academy, shatter the Longevity as Old as Heaven Gourd, and seize back our stolen lives from all this injustice!
Chapter 70