Master of Strange Dao

According to the experiences described in "An History Book", in the final period of the Dingmao Era, Dadui's overall strength had greatly diminished.

In fact, Yu Ziqing had occasionally thought about it: a dozen or so Ninth Tier, if it were the end period of the Dingmao Era, they could probably steamroll through everything.

After all, by the end period, Seventh Tier could become Prefectural Governors.

Now, it seems that the situation here is somewhat different from that described in the "An History Book".

Is it possible that the official power hasn't weakened terribly, but is too strong, making it impossible to become a Prefectural Governor?

If Dadui's overall strength had genuinely become that weak, then why could it still engage in protracted battles with Daqian?

History that has yet to settle still bears some discrepancies.

Carrying the temple, Yu Ziqing flew along, and when he saw a river, he slowly passed over it from high above.

He saw in mid-air, as if suddenly a layer of radiance appeared, descending from the sky, falling onto the ground.

After the temple slowly passed through, that descending radiance began to twist, as if space itself expanded out of thin air, allowing the temple to pass through.

Having passed through the radiance and looking back, the river was no longer visible, nor were the distant tendrils of light smoke gathering strength, hovering above the city.

Yu Ziqing stored the temple away and flew back to where the world was normal again.

Although the wilderness was desolate, it lacked that otherworldly, ghostly aura.

Vast fields, now overgrown with weeds, and large swathes of ripe crops, left unharvested.

Yu Ziqing flew all the way to Wuzi City, where he now saw no sign of life, with the place broken and dilapidated, some areas showing traces of fire damage.

Entering the city, its defenses had dissipated, with no power remaining.

Yu Ziqing took out the County Magistrate Seal of Wuzi City, its light flickering, still faint, as if covered in dust.

He casually entered a large house, where a thick layer of dust had accumulated, indicating that no one had been there for at least decades.

The city as a whole was not much different from what he saw in the inner world, the only difference being that the City God Temple here was not as grand and imposing as the one inside.

This temple was just an ordinary small one with no power whatsoever.

There was another spot where a large pit appeared, which was where Yu Ziqing had previously excavated the temple.

Yu Ziqing guessed correctly; the temple did not belong to the inner world but was special in that the Incense-eating People could see and enter it.

After exploring for a short time, Yu Ziqing suddenly stopped; Big Ghost, holding the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, appeared behind him.

A person wearing a metal mask appeared atop a building, watching Yu Ziqing from a distance.

Yu Ziqing's thoughts flickered, and his hands formed seals, changing them dozens of times in succession.

The person opposite was slightly startled, immediately put away the covert methods, and responded with seals as well.

This was a unique method of communication among the Faceless Men, intricate and myriad, capable of confirming one's identity as long as it was used.

Yu Ziqing announced his identity as Faceless Man Yisaner, which meant he had inherited Yisaner's identity.

The person with the metal mask flew over and performed a midair salute.

"Dadui Faceless Man, Bing Bajiu, at your service, my lord."

"Seeing me, do you know where I came from?"

"Yes, the identity of Yisaner has been archived for a long time, so my lord must have met Yisaner himself to inherit his identity."

"So long as you're aware. What exactly is the situation here?"

Yu Ziqing breathed a sigh of relief; he had found a living person, someone who was sealed here while alive, which meant he surely knew a lot.

The two landed, and Bing Bajiu slowly recounted the situation here.

At the end of the Dingmao Era, internal strife and external threats prevailed, leaving the people destitute.

The Dadui Seal was misused, and over the long years, local tyrants in cities and regions completed their consolidation of power, starting to monopolize all important positions.

The phenomenon of solitary families ruling entire cities became increasingly common.

The court's prestige gradually declined.

After the affair of the Demon Concubine ended and the court engaged in reckoning to clean up related individuals, they inadvertently fostered the rise of a new favored minister.

This favored minister rose quickly, with vast networking power.

Facing internal and external crises, and gradually losing control over the localities, this minister proposed an ingenious solution.

The court has always been about balance and checks.

With control over the localities starting to slip away amid incessant natural and man-made disasters and continuous threats from inside and outside, the key was to first balance and stabilize the interior.

His brilliant idea was to start making more use of the Earth Deities.

After all, many of these Earth Deities were conferred by imperial decree, respectable figures with excellent character.

Moreover, the Earth Deities could not leave their ordained territories; departing would lead to a sharp decline in their powers by over ninety percent, losing their foundation. If they fell, they would die completely.

Furthermore, an Earth Deity's conferment could only be issued by the Emperor himself.

Using Earth Deities to supervise the localities, while also adjusting local hydrology and climate, was multifold advantageous.

Then, Emperor Dui believed the favored minister's words and began to implement this major reform.

Of course, there was resistance, but with top-down enforcement, combined with the fact that the Earth Deities were local virtuous elites, the progress was somewhat smooth.

Initially, the local tyrants indeed restrained themselves, and under the supervision of Earth Deities, sometimes proving more effective than the Faceless Men.

Those frequent natural disasters also decreased substantially, and the climate seemed to normalize.

However, with the aggressive expansion and the sinister minister amassing great achievements, power surged day by day.