Family Cultivation: My entire family are Villains

Chapter 332: 179. The Changing Winds and Clouds, The Situation of the World (Part I)

New Yu Era 1322, the first day of August

Yongzhou was located to the north of the Yunlan River, with its terrain predominantly consisting of plains, and the entire prefecture generally stretched from northwest to southeast, divided into three roads and eight prefectures.

The three roads were Shangyuan Road, Zhongyuan Road, and Xiayuan Road.

The eight prefectures, based on terrain, could generally be divided into Xingnan Prefecture in the southeast direction, and Chi Li Prefecture at the southernmost, which both fell under the jurisdiction of Xiayuan Road;

Hongyuan Prefecture to the direct north, Zhongyuan Prefecture where the capital city of Yongzhou was located, and Hongdu Prefecture south of Zhongyuan Prefecture, all belonged to Zhongyuan Road;

The last, Shangyuan Road, also had three prefectures, namely Anyuan Prefecture to the northwest of Zhongyuan Prefecture, Dingyuan Prefecture to the southwest, and Jiuling Prefecture at the far northwest, already bordering Bingzhou.

The eight prefectures governed sixty-four counties, with a population nearing four hundred million. Despite everyone being under the rule of the Rakshasa Holy Sect and venerating the Holy Church as supreme, there were still some subtle differences in local customs and habits due to different geographical locations.

For instance, the entire Yongzhou revered black, and most people wore tight-fitting and short garments, but if one looked closely, they would still notice some subtle differences.

The people of Xingnan Prefecture, near Xuzhou, had a more varied style in clothing colors, especially influenced by Xuzhou, white gradually became favored by a small group of people;

The people of Chi Li Prefecture at the very south, influenced by the different tribes of Nanjiang, a good number of them liked wearing decorations made of beast skins or beast fangs.

Other places were similar, and so naturally, was Jiuling Prefecture which bordered Bingzhou.

The ruler of Bingzhou was the Blood Spirit Demon Sect, where the Demon Path mostly advocated the law of the jungle, preferring to reason with fists, and the Blood Spirit Demon Sect was no exception. To some extent, in Bingzhou, the Blood Spirit Demon Sect had even intensified this rule, to the point where they became associated with evil.

Speaking of which, one cannot avoid to mention the origins of the Blood Spirit Holy Sect!

Meng Qiuli, the founding master of the Blood Spirit Demon Sect, better known as the Red Cloud Fairy, was originally just a common consort in the harem of Jiang Tianming of the Yu Martial Sect.

It was rumored that she entered the palace in the 21st year of the Wuzong, and initially, did not receive Jiang Tianming's favor. Later on, she somehow came across the Blood Spirit Holy Method, and after mastering it, her strength and charm surged, firstly gaining a measure of favor from Wuzong.

Later, Meng Qiuli deliberately displayed her wisdom, earning Wuzong's increasing trust, to the extent that on one occasion she was exceptionally allowed to handle state affairs on his behalf. What was only meant to be a test turned out to show that although a woman, Meng Qiuli was not inferior to men in managing state affairs.

After several instances, not only were her handled affairs impeccable, but she also couldn't be faulted by anyone inside and outside the court, hence Wuzong grew even fonder of this consort, conferring upon her the title of Great Yu Heavenly Spirit Holy Consort, her status second only to the Empress. Later on, he ignored the opposition of the courtiers, entrusting her with even more state affairs. Rumor had it that, in the end, this led to him skipping the morning court sessions for twenty-five consecutive years.

Such a Demon Consort, one can imagine her reputation among the officials and people of the Divine Court at that time, but Meng Qiuli was no easy target. Using the power of handling the Divine Dynasty's state affairs, she courted the Grand Marshal of Soldiers and Horses, Zhao Yulong, suppressed rivals, solidified her own position, and managed to retain her imposing presence in the court for nearly a hundred years.

It wasn't until the signs of chaos began to appear across the world, and Wuzong suddenly realized the need to reform, that he regained control of the authority. Although he did not depose Meng Qiuli, under pressure, he started to neglect her, significantly reducing her status.

How exactly the once-mighty Great Yu Divine Court fell is still a subject of various speculations with no definitive account, but the notion of the Demon Consort disrupting the country for a century is universally accepted, so whenever Bingzhou and the Blood Spirit Holy Sect are mentioned, the calamities brought by Meng Qiuli still come to mind.

The Great Yu Calendar spanned a total of 2991 years. During the 159 years that Wuzong was on the throne, the world had already become increasingly troubled, especially during the last fifty years, when the world saw frequent wars and chaos. When Zhao Yulong openly defied Great Yu, the Divine Dynasty also began to rapidly disintegrate.

At that time, the Great Yu Heavenly Spirit Holy Consort, Meng Qiuli, was unwilling to sit idly by. Seeing that she couldn't rely on Zhao Yulong, she allied herself in advance with the Imperial Guard General, Yuwen Hongzhang. Together, they rebelled, taking five hundred thousand troops and fleeing to the north, swiftly seizing You, Yu, Fen, and Bing states, establishing the Great Jin Holy Dynasty. The two emperors coexisted under the same sky, causing a sensational stir, and they nearly unified the six northern states, vying for supremacy over the world.

Unfortunately, the two had only joined forces temporarily and were divided at heart. Furthermore, they faced resistance from the Demon Derivation Holy Sect, Rakshasa Holy Sect, and also the Righteous Path who didn't want to see the Great Jin Holy Dynasty unify the north. Hence, they had to act conservatively.

Though the Great Jin Holy Dynasty was at its zenith at the time, facing the warlords of the world, they were forced to yield, and eventually, the two parted ways.

Meng Qiuli received Bing and Fen states to establish the Blood Spirit Demon Sect, while Yuwen Hongzhang kept You and Yu states, continuing the Great Jin Holy Dynasty.

Latterly, Meng Qiuli encountered a mishap in her cultivation, leading to internal conflicts within the Blood Spirit Demon Sect and its development falling behind, while on the contrary, Yuwen Hongzhang's Great Jin Holy Dynasty, after an initial stabilization of the world, immediately emulated the governance methods of the Great Yu Divine Court. Over centuries, their strength soared dramatically, quickly becoming the leader of the Demon Path.

In New Yu Era 891, 431 years ago, the Blood Spirit Demon Sect fell into civil unrest, and Great Jin took the opportunity to annex Fenzhou. The Blood Spirit Demon Sect was left with only Bingzhou; were it not for the intervention of the Demon Derivation Holy Sect, Rakshasa Demon Sect, and the collective forces of the Righteous Path, which made Great Jin wary, Blood Spirit Demon Sect might not have even retained Bingzhou.

Despite the dubious origins of the Blood Spirit Demon Sect and the not so glorious personal history of its founding ancestor Meng Qiuli, it was still one of the ten Holy Lands of the world, and as the saying goes, 'even a decaying ship has three thousand nails'—the strength of Blood Spirit Demon Sect should certainly not be underestimated.