Chapter 143 (1): Swift and Severe Repercussions

Everyone was stunned by the contents of these fliers.

Dongfang Orders were, as the name suggested, orders that came directly from Dongfang Sansan, and this particular order had extremely wide-reaching implications.

Zhao Shanhe's jaw had dropped straight to the ground.

This Dongfang Order had come right after the incident outside the city. Was this really a coincidence?

All of a sudden, Zhao Shanhe didn't even dare to look at Fang Che.

As the group reached the city gates, they discovered a group of people waiting for them, led by Zhu Yuntian, the leader of the Zhu Clan.

He immediately rushed over to An Ruoxing as he wailed, "I've come to apologize, Brother An!"

His face was almost bruised and swollen beyond recognition, and it was clear that he had just been subjected to a vicious beating.

The other clan leaders with him weren't in much better condition.

"We're sorry, Brother An. We've failed to discipline the children of our clans and allowed them to grow up into degenerate scumbags! Is this Chief Administrator Fang? Please forgive us, Chief Administrator Fang! We've already killed those bastards!"

Fang Che put on a bewildered expression as he replied, "There's no need for you to apologize to me. I've already taught them a lesson for harassing my wife, there was no need to kill them!"

Only after the clan leaders had a chance to apologize profusely was Fang Che's group finally able to leave the city.

The clan leaders began making their way back to their clans as they discussed the situation with sullen expressions.

"Our patriarch is truly angry this time. I was only allowed to come out because I had to come here and apologize. There are quite a few people in my clan who are still being beaten as we speak!"

"Same."

"Apparently, what those little bastards did outside the city was the direct catalyst behind this Dongfang Order."

"If that's true, then there are going to be some difficult times ahead for all of us. Let's make sure to keep our children in check from now on. Honestly, hearing about what happened made me so angry that I also wanted to kill someone! Even if we set aside the fact that the target was the wife of one of the southeastern representatives, even if she had just been some ordinary woman, it's still absolutely unacceptable for her to have been harassed like that!"

"I fully agree! The one from my clan didn't have much aptitude for warriorhood, so we thought we'd just let him do whatever he pleased and live out his life in peace. Who could've imagined that he would do something like this?"

"This ordeal is going to be particularly hard on our clans. Once everyone finds out why this Dongfang Order was released, the other clans are all going to target us."

"There's no helping that, we'll just have to deal with the hardships as they come."

"Alright, I gotta head back. Our patriarch is still itching to beat me..."

***

Immediately after the release of the Dongfang Order, Dongfang Sansan had already prepared another secret order.

Not only was he going to whip all of the clans into shape, he was also going to take this opportunity to replenish the troops on the front lines.

After all of the clans have carried out their investigations and the dust has settled, I'm going to start conscripting people to the front lines.

The secret order dictated that all clans from the second rank to the seventh had to contribute a certain number of warriors of various tiers to replenish the Protectionists and the Guardians.

It was not often that a Dongfang Order was released, and Dongfang Sansan was determined to take full advantage of the opportunity to force all of the prominent clans into sending warriors to the front lines.

It wasn't that Dongfang Sansan was doing this under some pretense of righteous fury. Instead, he had been truly infuriated by this incident, and it wasn't just because it had happened to Fang Che.

The thought of the widows of Guardians who had perished on the battlefield being harassed and assaulted by the very same people their late husbands had died to protect was enough to make Dongfang Sansan see red.

After so many years, all of the prominent clans should have many powerful warriors to spare. They've lived in comfort and complacency for all their lives, so I have to send them to some of the more dangerous places. Otherwise, it'll take them far too long to develop. Essentially, I'll be sending the majority of them to their deaths, but that'll serve as a punishment to all of the clans so they learn their lesson and never allow similar transgressions to happen again.

In any case, Guardians and Protectionists are constantly dying every single day, and it makes no sense that those who come from ordinary backgrounds have to die, while the prominent clans remain safe and sheltered. As a matter of fact, the prominent clans should be taking up more of the mantle than the warriors of ordinary clans! They get to enjoy superior privileges and resources, and they should be made to pay a heavier price for those luxuries!

Dongfang Sansan immediately made up his mind.

He knew that not a single clan on the entire continent could return a spotless report card following an exhaustive investigation, so all of them were going to have to send people to the front lines.

The measures felt extreme, but they were fully justified.

If all of the clans had stuck to the straight and narrow, then they wouldn't have been forced into conscription. Instead, they had thought themselves to be above the law, and they now had to pay for their arrogance.

Could they blame Dongfang Sansan when they were the ones at fault?

***

There was a mountain.

All of the paths were formed by strange and rugged rocks, as was the entire mountain.

The mountain was enormous, and starting at the foot of the mountain was a huge city.

The city crawled its way up the mountain, and there was no end to it in sight.

"This is Rocky City," Zhao Shanhe introduced. "Legend has it that this place was once a mountain at the center of the continent, but the mountain was decimated by a meteor shower, and that's why it's so pitted and rugged. The force of the meteor shower was so immense that half of the mountain was forced into the earth, and all of the meteorites also fused as one with what remained of the mountain."

Standing at the foot of Rocky City, everyone was struck by a sense of awe and veneration.

"Due to the infusion of meteorite material, the entire mountain has exceptional structural integrity, and it's all one single entity," Zhao Shanhe continued. "If anyone wants to move even a single rock from the mountain, they'll have to recruit the services of a powerful warrior to chop off the rock using a formidable weapon. When it came time to choose a place to establish the Guardian headquarters, Master Nine immediately picked out this mountain, constructing the headquarters on the summit.

"From there, countless people began to settle on the mountain, giving rise to Rocky City. However, the upper half of the entire mountain, from roughly the halfway mark all the way to the mountain summit, is occupied only by a single building, and that's the Guardian headquarters. The path running up and down the mountain was completely naturally formed, and it would make for an extremely arduous and perilous hike for the average person.

"Mater Nine once said that the rocky mountain path is analogous to the hardships of life. In order to succeed in anything, whether it be scaling the mountain or any other worthwhile endeavor, one must overcome all of these rocky obstacles."

This was Fang Che's first time here in two lifetimes, and he felt extremely honored to be in such close proximity to the person that he respected and revered the most.

He stared in a daze at the path leading up the mountain.

Every single rock on the path had been polished incredibly smooth by the countless pairs of feet that had trodden upon it throughout history, to the point that they were all gleaming under the light of the sun.

Countless heroes had walked down this mountain path en route to the battlefield, never to return again.

Just as many people had scaled this mountain path to travel to the Guardian headquarters, their hearts filled with awe and veneration.

While making their way up and down the mountain, countless individuals had stroked the rocks that they passed by, relishing the opportunity to touch a part of the sacred mountain.

Zhao Shanhe had already lost count of how many times he had been here, yet even he made sure to reach out and affectionately stroke every single rock that he could reach while scaling the mountain path.

"Master Nine has personally released an order, strictly prohibiting anyone from causing any form of damage to the mountain. He says that the souls of all deceased Guardians will return to this mountain, so it's the manifestation of the lives of countless seniors.

"In that sense, this mountain is the embodiment of every single Guardian that has ever existed! Master Xue and Master Bing fortify this mountain every single year, and whenever I gaze upon it, I feel like I can see all of our heroic fallen seniors! Every time you walk up and down this mountain path, it's a deeply spiritual experience that is to be savored and cherished."

Fang Che reached out to stroke a nearby rock, and he felt a sense of warmth, as if all of his fallen predecessors were speaking to him, urging him to never forget the importance of his duty.

All of a sudden, an immense wave of emotions arose in Fang Che's heart, and he felt a lump take shape in his throat, while his eyes began to tear up.