932 Setting the Flag

w.a.n.g Zhong quietly watched this scene, but there was no hint of pity in his heart. The so-called elites among the Zhao Family guards had all stained their hands with the blood of the innocent, right? The weak were the prey of the strong. It was now time for them to pay back for their deeds.

A golden rune dazzled in his hand. In the blink of an eye, golden light surged out. The Heroic Souls on Earth were not even worth mentioning to the current w.a.n.g Zhong. In fact, any random Holy Disciple from the Holy Land could face a hundred of such Heroic Souls by themselves.

There was almost no resistance. They did not even manage to distract w.a.n.g Zhong, who was looking at the petty Zhao Wuxin. However, he did not intend to chase after him as there were already two figures catching up with him.

Zhao Wuxin could only feel his heart beating wildly. Even though his ancestor’s attack had helped him to buy time and heal from w.a.n.g Zhong’s strike, his chest was still in intense pain and was trembling. In the distance, he could see that w.a.n.g Zhong seemed to have been distracted by the final attack from the 100 Zhao Family soldiers and did not chase after him. This left Zhao Wuxin with a pleasant surprise. He was 46 years old, but for a Heroic Soul soldier, he was still very young. The Zhao Family still had countless riches, and he still had a lot of time to enjoy his life. As long as he was able to avoid the disaster from today and borrow the power of the Great Teacher in the Holy City as well as the disciples who partic.i.p.ated in the Holy Battle, he would have the chance to lead the Zhao Family to rise up again!

That demon did not see him. That demon…

Bam!

Zhao Wuxin was. .h.i.t with a thump and fell on his back. To a Heroic Soul soldier, it was a minor attack that would not bring him any pain. However, the attack had landed on his existing injury, causing pain to spread through his entire body, making him feel as if he was about to fall apart. His rib instantly fractured once again, almost causing him to faint.

Bam!

“Don’t kill me! I am the leader of the Zhao Family, Zhao Wuxin. I can give you anything! We can discuss any conditions! Cough cough cough!” His elegance as the leader of the Zhao Family was non-existent. Zhao Wuxin’s entire body was trembling. Pain, fear, panic, remorse. Countless emotions and feelings surged in his heart. He shouted at the top of his lungs, aggravating the injury in his chest, causing him to cough up large amounts of blood. It was a sorry and woeful sight.

But the small hand that stopped him did not plan to let go. Beside them, a panting noise rapidly approached them. After all, Ma Dong was not a combat type. Although he had forcibly advanced to the Heroic Soul Stage over the past year, he was still much slower than Emily.

“Take a good look at us.” Emily raised him in front of her, letting him see her and Ma Dong’s faces clearly.

“The a.s.sa.s.sin…” Zhao Wuxin trembled. There was hatred in his eyes, but there was even more fear. “We can discuss! The Zhao Family still has…”

Squelch…

Before Zhao Wuxin could finish speaking, his eyes flew wide open. An extremely sharp dagger had pierced through his chest. It contained a toxin with powerful corrosive effects, causing Zhao Wuxin to feel as if thousands of insects were biting his heart.

At that moment, the pain was unbearable. However, Zhao Wuxin suddenly stopped shouting. He suddenly thought about all the higher-ups in the Zhao Family who had died over the past year. They had discovered a form of poison that eroded the heart, and an a.n.a.lysis by a researcher from the Zhao Family indicated that those who had died from this poison would suffer from an excruciatingly painful death. This caused countless people in the Zhao Family to be upset, but he never expected that he would experience this today.

A gleaming blade appeared in Ma Dong’s hand, and he squatted down. He grasped the blade in one hand and Zhao Wuxin’s hair in the other. His voice was calm and steady. “It’s the end!”

Screech!

The blade gleamed and flashed past Zhao Wuxin’s eyes. He could not see the intense pain in his chest. His vision turned upwards. The sky and the ground spun in the last moments of his consciousness before his head. In the end, he slowly lost all meaning of his existence.

Rumble… Zhao Wuxin’s head rolled on the floor and fell into a deep crack that had been formed from the battle, never to be seen again. Only his headless corpse was left lying on the floor.

The autumn wind blew past, and there was a slight chill. The scorched ground was filled with the corpses of the Zhao Family, including the Heavenly Soul ancestor of the Zhao Family and the Heroic Soul soldiers who typically showed off their strength. They all lay on the chilly surface of the ground, never to move again.

The only ones left were the young figure floating in the sky as well as the a.s.sa.s.sin siblings who were silent after taking their revenge.

No matter whether they were on-site or secretly observing through Skylink, they were silent for a long period of time.

The Zhao Family, one of the 10 Great Families in the Federation, was once a very glorious name. However, just like the various great families who had disappeared from history, they had broken into pieces with a crash. But was there joy in taking revenge?

Ma Dong and Emily did not feel any joy. They were not cruel people by nature, but this was a form of redemption for the dead. This also brought peace to their hearts. By finis.h.i.+ng off the Zhao Family, they had taken revenge and gained a new life for themselves.

“The Holy City, the Holy Battle…” Mo Wen could best visualize w.a.n.g Zhong’s confidence and power.

“According to the rules of the Mo Family, the children of Mo Jiu are prohibited from partic.i.p.ating in the Holy City as well as any disputes involving the Holy City, even as protectors…” Mo Jiu was beside him. However, there was a subtle change in where he was standing compared to a few months ago.

A few months ago, Mo Jiu stood in front of Mo Wen as the leader. He had brought Mo Wen to carry out stone rubbing on the Golden Stone Slab and activate the power of the Soul Guards. But now, Mo Jiu was quietly standing beside Mo Wen.

“Grandpa Jiu.” Mo Xingchen smiled. “The rules of the Mo Family are only there to preserve our power and quietly wait for the situation to change. Now that the Great Era is about to happen, the Mo Family must also change.”

“The Great Era?” Mo Jiu was slightly dumbfounded, and beads of sweat started to appear on his forehead. Of course, this was not because he believed in the so-called Great Era. This prophecy had been pa.s.sed down in the Mo Family for hundreds of years. Generations of people had been guarding the family and waiting for the Great Era, but this had turned into a habit. They were uncomfortable with the sudden change and would subconsciously oppose. What made Mo Jiu break out into a sweat was the fact that he had to defy and advise Mo Wen and Mo Xingchen. A few months ago, they were still children, but their aura had grown more and more powerful. They had grown far too quickly, often making Mo Jiu feel a sense of pressure. Recently, this pressure had grown even stronger. Opposing them made a veteran Heavenly Soul like Mo Jiu panic slightly. “That was a joke. According to the a.n.a.lysis of various resources, the Holy Battle in the Mizobudapi World does not necessarily mean that the fabled Great Era is upon us. If we are going to do so just for that fellow…”

“Of course not.” Mo Xingchen looked like the same old Mo Xingchen. There was no change in her age or appearances, but the pure aura that she exuded became even more graceful, to the point that people felt as if they could not see her face clearly, as if she was shrouded by mist. Her voice was calm and gentle but sounded like the whisper of a G.o.d. “The sun and the moon have s.h.i.+fted, and changes have occurred in celestial phenomena. The rate of dimension invasion is getting faster. Even the low-leveled mutated creatures on Earth have grown more restless as a result. We have seen the omens. Mo Family, it is time for us to release the light that we have acc.u.mulated over the past few centuries!”

The fabled Great Era prophesied a terrifying war. Over the past centuries, countless generations of the Mo Family had protected the truth. Perhaps this was only a preview. But…

Mo Jiu was stunned.

The Mo Family’s prophecy did not spread in the Federation. In fact, other than a few core members of the Mo Family, no one else knew about this. Of course, even if the information spread, they would not care about knowing this secret information.

Compared to this illusory prophecy, the Federation was drawn to the various earth-shaking changes that would occur after the fall of the Zhao Family.

Just as w.a.n.g Zhong had expected, none of the 10 Great Families who had once supported the Zhao Family appeared. In fact, they were mostly busy with hitting the Zhao Family after they had fallen, ready to divide everything the Zhao Family had amongst themselves.

The people who benefited the most were evidently the Gui Family, who were once the closest to the Zhao Family. At first, these two great families had worked together to control the underground world. Now that the Gui Family had become the most powerful family, they took in all the territories and remaining power that the Zhao Family had once possessed in the underground world. In fact, no one sensed this s.h.i.+ft in authority. All opposition completely disappeared two or three hours after the Gui Family started work, and all changes in owners.h.i.+p occurred overnight. Their actions were so quick that everyone could only stare dumbfounded.

The so-called brother family who was hand in glove with the Zhao Family was the first one who targeted the Zhao Family when they fell… The people of the Federation got to know the Gui Family once again. They were sinister and malicious. They were unreasonable, but the sheer power that they possessed caused people to tremble in fear.

What was most important to the Federation families on Earth? It was definitely wealth and manpower!

Only with great amounts of wealth would they be able to continuously construct various pathways to the Holy Land and provide the Holy Land with countless resources that were only available on Earth. Only then would they be able to obtain even more resources from the Holy Land and recruit even more experts from the Holy City… Furthermore, more manpower meant that even more experts would be born among them. Only then would they be able to strengthen the foundation of their strength… Although these were easily destroyed in the hands of a super expert, it was not easy building them up. However, a great power definitely could not lack these either.

To raise a simple metaphor, the Earth was similar to the various secret-realm worlds that great powers in the Holy City possessed. However, the Earth was much larger and was a standard level-2 civilization. Furthermore, it was rapidly developing. It was also the birthplace of humans, with countless complexes and many unique goods and materials that were indispensable to humans. With these in mind, the Earth could be said to be the most important secret realm in the Holy Land. Even though the Earth was divided among the 10 Great Families, the Earth was still under the control of the Patriarch Society in the Holy City. No family had the right to monopolize the Earth, let alone own it.

The Gui Family had now absorbed the enormous underground power that the Zhao Family once possessed. No matter whether it was in terms of wealth or manpower, the Gui Family had grown significantly. Some people even placed the Gui Family and Stuart City on par and thought that the Gui Family was starting to gain power to challenge the Stuart Clan.

The second family to earn the most benefits was probably the Stuart Clan. After all, on the surface, they were the kings among the 10 Great Families. Their name and morality brought them great convenience, allowing them to successfully obtain the entire Heavenly Dragon City. Euphemistically speaking, in order to maintain the former order in the Heavenly Dragon City and protect the citizens of the city from attacks by nearby mutated beasts, the Stuart Clan sent 30,000 soldiers to the Heavenly Dragon City and set up city defenses. They supervised the Parliament of the Heavenly Dragon City and issued a series of policies and actions to buy popular support.

This seemed very awe-inspiring, allowing the citizens of the Heavenly Dragon City to receive benefits and not be involved or affected by the collapse of the Zhao Family. However, in reality, the owners.h.i.+p of the Heavenly Dragon City had changed completely, including a few mines and resource areas near the Heavenly Dragon City that once belonged to the Zhao Family.

Apart from this, besides the Potter Clan who usually did not fight for benefits and had no power to do so, only the Mo Family did not compete for manpower and resources. They stayed aloof from these matters.

The colossal Zhao Family collapsed overnight like the a.s.sa.s.sins and disappeared in the dust of history. History was like a wheel that rolled over the Zhao Family, leaving no trace behind.

Of course, people were still looking forward to what the Great Teacher from the Zhao Family who had chosen to hide — as well as thousands of children from the Zhao Family who had been sent to the Holy Battle — would do. It would be best if both they and w.a.n.g Zhong suffered, but these would only occur later on. Half a month after the Zhao Family had fallen, there was still no news from the Great Teacher who was in the Holy City. Perhaps he was undergoing closed-door cultivation and had not received the news. Perhaps he had misgivings about w.a.n.g Zhong’s current reputation and position in the Holy City, as well as the Sacred Teacher behind him… No matter what, they could not look forward to anything, at least for now.

There were still the elite soldiers from the Zhao Family who were partic.i.p.ating in the Holy Battle. Needless to say, the Zhao Family had suffered greatly when their soldiers were transferred to the Holy Battle. However, there was nothing fair about this. The battle was beyond their reach. Furthermore, when faced with w.a.n.g Zhong, who could face two Heavenly Souls one-on-one, even if thousands of Heroic Soul soldiers from the Zhao Family were on Earth, would they be able to change the outcome of the battle? Those who were supposed to die would still die. They would only serve to stain w.a.n.g Zhong’s hands with even more blood.

He had completely eliminated the Zhao Family. As the victor, w.a.n.g Zhong definitely had a share in the winnings.

The a.s.sa.s.sins disappeared along with the Zhao Family, but Ma Dong and Emily had not disappeared. On the contrary, they rose to power under another name.

The New World. It was said that there was another new, rising power in the Tutankhamun desert called the New World, which was controlled by someone in the Federation. People could not help but suspect that there was something between them and the a.s.sa.s.sins. But when this new power appeared, people did not bother to guess the relations.h.i.+p between the two organizations due to the series of major changes. They were simply shocked at the series of vigorous and speedy actions.

The former powers in the a.s.sa.s.sin gathered again and set up their base in the Disorderly Burial Lake Region, Tianjing. Construction works there were almost complete, but the Stuart Clan had taken over owners.h.i.+p of the region. Now, Ma Dong had formally received owners.h.i.+p of the region, which was now named New World City.

Even though w.a.n.g Zhong was able to defeat two Heavenly Souls from the Zhao Family by himself, no one thought that he actually had the ability to challenge the Stuart Clan. The Sacred Teacher behind w.a.n.g Zhong was his greatest source of support. If a conflict broke out between w.a.n.g Zhong and the Stuart Clan, alerting the great Sacred Teacher, it would be an interesting development to watch.

Ever since the flag of the New World was put up in the abandoned ruins of the city, everyone in the Federation was waiting for something interesting to happen. But the results were surprising.

The Stuart Clan did not impose any punishments on them. On the contrary, they sent a commissioner to officially build diplomatic ties with the New World. In addition, they had also handed over the legal construction processes and land deeds that involved the Disorderly Burial Lake Region. They also brought the various infrastructure that they had demolished from the ruins. Furthermore, they even sent a group to help them in construction. This group had a large number of professional construction talents who helped the New World to complete the remaining construction works in the region. Euphemistically speaking, they had only preserved and taken care of this region for the a.s.sa.s.sins. Now that their owner had returned, the Stuart Clan had returned the region to its owner in perfect condition.

Ma Dong was not foolish. He understood the relations.h.i.+p between them and would not be influenced by Stuart Clan’s small favor. However, there was no doubt that they definitely had to accept these. Furthermore, they had to act as if they were very close to the Stuart Clan. If a new power wanted to rise, they definitely could not be exposed to enemy attacks on all sides. This was a change in the wind. This was also how they declared their own position.

The chief offenders, the Zhao Family, had already been executed. Thus, the a.s.sa.s.sins would not haggle over past grievances. As a result, the other families felt comfortable and tacitly consented to the rise of the New World. They remained aloof when the situation did not directly affect them. The fall of the Zhao Family and the rise of another power that took them over was a normal change of authority that occurred in the history of the Federation. Even the veteran Stuart Clan had made their position known. Thus, there was no need for the rest to interfere. They could calmly observe with a cold eye.

However, this calmness and tacit consent quickly brought suffering to the great families.

This group of people… was far too impolite!

Just after the new base was completed, Ma Dong issued a command in the New World City. “Return what you have taken from me and spit out what you have eaten from me!”

His? What was his? Everything that once belonged to the a.s.sa.s.sins was his! But who had taken what was his? It could be said that among the 10 Great Families, other than the Mo Family and the Potter Clan, everyone had taken something! What was he going to do? Declare war on the entire Federation?

However, the Stuart Clan just had to do this in advance. Before Ma Dong had said anything, the Stuart Clan had returned the legal construction processes and land deeds that involved the Disorderly Burial Lake Region. They had even included additional gifts to help them build their new city.

This… How were the other families supposed to deal with this? Were they supposed to suddenly turn hostile? Not only would they offend w.a.n.g Zhong, it would also mean that they no longer supported the Stuart Clan. They would be standing on the wrong side! Furthermore, the Stuart Clan had many soldiers who were not afraid to die. They glared at the rest of the families menacingly, ready to shoot the bird that sticks out! A group of rascals would be ready to risk their lives and fight you.

To be honest, back when the families had shared the a.s.sa.s.sin’s possessions among themselves, they did not receive much. After all, the a.s.sa.s.sins were an ordinary first-grade family. Most of their possessions had been split among the Zhao Family, the Gui Family, and the Stuart Clan. The rest of the families only obtained the leftovers. They did not mind returning what they had taken, but most importantly, they had been humiliated! The 10 Great Families were extremely impressive and stood by their words, but a junior had climbed over their heads and humiliated them. He even asked them to spit out what they had eaten!

But no matter how humiliated they felt, they had to do what they were supposed to do.

The other great families unwillingly made their position known. They sent congratulatory gifts to celebrate the establishment of New World City. They also returned their earnings from the a.s.sa.s.sins and multiplied them. A reform was surging forth with full force, and the cards were being reshuffled. Ma Dong would not show any mercy.