Master of Strange Dao

"Display the page they want to enter."

The An History Book turned automatically, indeed to the page Dean Wu intended to enter.

"In the year 2354 of the Dingmao era, Dingyou City.

"A siege of a hundred thousand Daqian troops, including three thousand elite White Feather Army soldiers and three Ninth Tier cultivators."

"The Prefectural Governor of Dingyou City, Si Lan, fought to the death without retreating, exhausting the last man, burning all Qi-Blood and True Yuan, along with his lifespan, invoking the power of the Divine Dynasty to seal them all away."

What did they want with that page?

Did they want to bring out the hundred thousand troops, or the three thousand elite soldiers of the White Feather Army, or maybe those three Ninth Tier cultivators?

But that doesn't seem right; for Dadui, these are all disasters that have been sealed.

How can it be considered resolving a disaster without dealing with them?

Or, could it be that those three Ninth Tier cultivators carry some treasures that they desired?

Yu Ziqing didn't understand the reasons but was certain they should not be allowed to enter.

Subsequently, Yu Ziqing decided to go first to see and understand the situation better.

Turning back to some previous pages, Yu Ziqing stretched out his hand and swiftly entered one of them.

After a short while, Yang was also sent in, appearing right beside Yu Ziqing.

"Let's go and see who those two people who arrived are."

In this sealed area, for thousands of miles, there was not a single green plant to be seen; the earth was cracked, and the side of the road was littered with skeletons.

One could occasionally see starving ghosts as well.

Now was not the time to be in a rush to unravel the seal, so Yu Ziqing and Yang headed over to Dingyou City.

At the moment, the city already had the atmosphere of an impending disaster; people hurried along the streets, cultivators flew overhead.

Yu Ziqing, accompanied by Yang, waited near the east gate, as anyone intending to come to Dingyou City would inevitably enter from the east gate under the guidance of the An History Book.

After waiting a day, they saw an old man, accompanied by a well-dressed middle-aged man, enter Dingyou City.

Yu Ziqing glanced at Yang, who nodded in acknowledgment.

After a moment, when those two had walked some distance away, Yang spoke.

"They are from the Shi family of Daqian. The older one once held the position of Assistant Minister at the Ministry of Revenue before he stepped down to focus on cultivation."

"This old fellow, I don't know if he chanced upon some great opportunity or if it was due to his innate talent and accumulation, but he advanced to the Ninth Tier just before his lifespan was about to run out."

"That one following him is his second son, wholly devoted to cultivation, once studied at the Langya Institute, never entered the court to become an official."

"Do you know why the two of them want to go to that Sealing Formation?"

"I have no idea. To be honest, I am quite surprised to see them here.

The Shi family has always been a staunch supporter of the Crown Prince, and they were openly supportive.

I don't understand what benefit they would get from mingling with Dean Wu and meddling in the affairs here."

"Let's not bother with them for now; let them stay trapped here for a while. We'll go check out the Sealing Formation they're interested in first."

Yang took the initiative to shrink in size and slip into a Storage Bag, and Yu Ziqing carried him away from the area.

Yu Ziqing turned to that page and entered.

After entering, he released Yang; Yu Ziqing was in no hurry to enter the city.

He waited outside, first observing the situation here.

This was a lesson Yu Ziqing had learned from his previous visits to minor disasters in the Dingmao era.

In the later periods of the Dingmao Era, the discrepancies between the records and actuality varied; some were slightly off, while others were tremendously exaggerated.

Like that incident where the County Magistrate of Guichou City sealed himself away to cover up his crimes, there were several such cases.

After waiting for a day, Yu Ziqing saw an army gradually emerge from the Void on the eastern side of Dingyou City.

The leaders were the fully armed Daqian White Feather Army soldiers, each wearing white feathered helmets, seasoned warriors with formidable strength.

But behind the three thousand White Feather Army, the so-called one hundred thousand-strong army had an unusually large number of impostors.

In that army of one hundred thousand, many were dressed in tattered clothes and were just ordinary people.

Yu Ziqing entered Dingyou City with Elder Yang.

An hour later, Dingyou City shut all its gates and activated its protection Formation, even those who had not managed to enter were completely blocked outside the city.

Seeing this scene, Yu Ziqing knew that this account, like what he had anticipated, must contain discrepancies.

The Prefectural Governor of Dingyou City issued an order not to open the city gates, nor to allow the people outside to come in.

As time passed, a day later, the tens of thousands of commoners brought by the Daqian army gathered under Dingyou City, and the Prefectural Governor of Dingyou City still issued strict orders not to open the gates and not to allow the entrapped victims in.

Yu Ziqing could somewhat understand that under these circumstances, opening the city gates would certainly lead to defeat.

The forces inside Dingyou City couldn't possibly withstand the three thousand White Feather Army of Daqian.

Moreover, according to the records, there were three Ninth Tier powerhouses among the White Feather Army.

However, after a day, the account began to differ completely from the records.

On the west side of Dingyou City, an army from Dadui appeared.

Ten thousand elite Dadui troops faced the three thousand White Feather Army.

And the so-called three Ninth Tier members turned into one on Dadui's side and two on the side of the White Feather Army.

The battle was extremely fierce, Divine Light surged, and the air filled with the scent of blood and death.

Yu Ziqing stood atop the city walls of Dingyou, watching the distant battle, while the Prefectural Governor of Dingyou still issued strict orders not to open the gates and not to join the fight.

When Daqian's warriors came to ask for reinforcement, the gates remained closed.

One of Dadui's Ninth Tier, bolstered by the Battle Array, fought valiantly against Daqian's two Ninth Tier, neither side giving ground even in the face of death.

In the end, after fighting to the last man, the Ninth Tier Cultivator burned his lifespan and exhausted his Qi-Blood, fiercely sacrificing himself to take down two enemies.

Yet, the Prefectural Governor of Dingyou City still wouldn't open the gates.

Even when the Cultivators inside wanted to join the battle, he was unwilling to open even a part of the Big Array to let them out, instead, he executed them on the spot.

Yu Ziqing's hands trembled with anger watching these events.

They were so close, just a little bit of strength, and they could have won.

But that Prefectural Governor just refused to take the risk, to join the battle.

He had already lost his courage, petrified by Daqian's White Feather Army.

When he realized that Dadui's entire army had been annihilated, that two of Daqian's Ninth Tier had fallen, and the White Feather Army had suffered heavy losses.

He still didn't dare to join the battle, to evade responsibility, he covered up all the truths along with the Sealing, even erasing the existence of the Dadui army that had come to assist.

Yu Ziqing, following Elder Yang, hovered in midair, their presence concealed, watched as the Prefectural Governor of Dingyou personally recorded the account in An History Book.

Then, this person who refused to open the city gates or to join the battle, stealthily opened a section of the Formation on the southern side, sending out his own family.

At that moment, upon hearing his last words, Yu Ziqing finally understood why the Shi family had come.

"Now that we are at war with Daqian, if my crimes are discovered, all of you will die. It's better if I alone take the blame and seal it all away.

After you head south, go to Daqian, and from then on, you are no longer from the Si family.

Once I am gone, you shall change your surname to Shi.

Dadui is already at the end of its strength, on the brink of collapse, and one day it will be destroyed.

When that day comes, you can enter the seal, dissolve it, and reclaim our family name.

Retrieve what's left here, and leave quickly!"

As his family departed into the distance, the seal thus came to a halt, ready to begin anew.

Yu Ziqing wore a look of disbelief, shocked for a long time, unable to say anything. He could never have imagined this outcome.

"Fuck!"