Taiyi Dao Fruit

The blood mist thickened, and in the blink of an eye, the dilapidated county town had become a hazy scene.

After a brief moment, a buzzing sound began as tiny crimson dots crawled on corpses already reduced to blood and bone, rapidly absorbing the blood Qi and growing in size; with each breath, they transformed, and after more than ten breaths, they had become the size of fingers and were flying all over the sky.

They were blood-colored locusts.

These Blood Locusts grew by absorbing the blood Qi and plague Qi, buzzing chaotically, and spreading the plague Qi further.

But before the blood plague could spread further, Jiang Li had already arrived at the front.

A misty aura like clouds and dance emanated from his body, filling the air and making contact with the plague Qi. In an instant, the redness faded, the plague Qi twisted, and turned colorless, dispersing with the wind.

As for the blood-colored locusts, the moment they came into contact, they fell straight from the sky, dead to the core.

However, the blood plague Qi was incessant; as soon as the front was cleared, more came from behind, filling the void.

"There are too many," Jiang Li slightly shook his head.

Too many people had died.

Natural disasters, human calamities; even if the court relocated in advance, Buddha Country muddled through, and Taiping Sect took the opportunity to recruit, the number of dead and injured still reached millions. Just the battle of Donglin City alone had killed hundreds of thousands, painting the surrounding mountains and rivers with blood.

And that was just the people; it didn't include the animals.

If counted by the number of living creatures, the number would be astonishing.

The corpses of these dead and injured creatures had become breeding grounds for the plague, and the number of Blood Locusts hatched was almost incalculable.

If this continued, Jiang Li's inexhaustible power could indeed purify the plague Qi, but it required time, quite a significant amount of time.

"Not worth it."

Extending his hand, he transformed Qi into a wall to block the spreading plague Qi, while Ochre Whip swung back, Innate Qi rippling like waves, cleansing the plague from the bodies of the remaining soldiers.

Jiang Li turned and said to Gongsun Qingyue, "So they think we can be bullied because we are outnumbered."

"Although the Taiping Sect has sacrificed quite a few, they still have at least a hundred thousand followers, all usable people."

Having heard this, Qingyue's eyebrows slightly furrowed, "I have previously calculated with the Wordless Heavenly Scripture that those Yellow Talismans were likely made for divine strikes. Once consumed, they directly channel divine power into the body, at the expense of physical collapse to unleash strength. For a short duration, their power is comparable to that of a Ninth Grade."

The price being instant death after the effect wears off.

"Not a hundred thousand, but at least a million," Jiang Li added, "Everyone in the occupied areas now has no choice but to accept the faith of Taiping Sect. Those who do not join face the affliction of the blood plague; they have no choice."

And once the faith is accepted, people cannot escape.

Advanced spiritual secret techniques such as Buddha's voice from Buddha Country might not be available to the Taiping Sect, but using Incense Fire Thought Power to control ordinary people is still achievable.

"This is sheer madness!"

A voice of condemnation came as two Confucian scholars approached.

Among them, one man with perfectly harmonious facial features, sculptural in detail, was Zhong Shenxiu, who Jiang Li had dealt with before.

The other, dressed in light cyan Confucian garments and a jade crown, appeared to be around thirty years old with a refined and gentle demeanor. Although currently furious, he still maintained his scholarly grace.

"Director Ming Shaowei, greetings to the Commandery Princess."

Upon arriving, these two first greeted Gongsun Qingyue, and then turned to Jiang Li, "Family Head Jiang, our greetings."

After mutual salutations, Ming Shaowei continued the previous conversation, "I shall send a message to my teacher, asking him to personally take action to quell this plague. Imperial College is also willing to exert all efforts to suppress this Taiping Demon Sect."

"I am willing to volunteer to persuade the Jingping Army stationed at Bado," Zhong Shenxiu also said.

Since the Jingping Army, previously allocated by the court, remained stationary due to interference from certain individuals, they were more concerned about defending against the identity-exposed Dragon King's Son-in-law than combating the enemy.

With Zhong Shenxiu representing Imperial College in advocacy, it was indeed likely that the Jingping Army would be mobilized.

Additionally, once this news reached the Divine Capital, it would also allow the Princess to legitimately send more troops for aid.

But—

"Not worth it."

Jiang Li shook his head, "If the Great Sacrificial Officer's departure allows Earth Uncle an opportunity, it would then be a loss instead. However, it might be worth trying with the Jingping Army."

"Sister," Jiang Li looked at Gongsun Qingyue.

"I understand. I will take control of the Jingping Army," Gongsun Qingyue nodded.

Jiang Li continued, "Jiang will deal with the blood plague. Once the plague Qi stops accumulating, we will dispatch the Jingping Army to crush the Taiping Sect. This battle seeks nothing else but swift action; we can't afford to give the Taiping Sect any breathing room. Otherwise, not to mention other things, just take King Shu for example—if he recovers, that's another strong enemy."

Whatever the enemy wants, we must thwart.

The more the Taiping Sect seeks time, the less Jiang Li can afford to let them succeed.

"Swift resolution... With that, we would be facing both the Taiping Sect's fourth-rank and a million usable soldiers," Ming Shaowei frowned.

While they were all makeshift soldiers that sprouted too quickly, they couldn't compare to a well-trained army of a hundred thousand Heavenly Soldiers in actual combat. However, for auxiliary purposes, high-quality wasn't necessary; just supplying "Qi" would suffice.

Like a million sticks of kindling blazing fiercely, the heat generated is what the enemy needs; there's no need to consider whether the kindling can withstand chopping.

If we could lead soldiers ourselves, we could cut the kindling to disrupt the temperature or cover it with another kind of heat. But in the current situation, we are already lacking in soldiers, let alone leading additional people into the plague-infected area.