Family Cultivation: My entire family are Villains

Chapter 445: 218, Brahman World Purifying Army

After settling the five hundred cavalrymen of the Hou Clan, Hou Yuxiao sat alone in his tent, with two maps placed before him on the desk. One map depicted a rough outline of the thirteen provinces of Shenzhou, while the other detailed the counties within the three prefectures of Xingyuan Road in Xuzhou.

Both maps were sent by Zhan Taiqing's people.

Technically, for the Battle of Hedong, the detailed map of the three prefectures of Xingyuan Road would be most useful. Still, the fact that Zhan Taiqing also sent a map of the whole Shenzhou was somewhat intriguing.

Hou Yuxiao's gaze remained fixed on the full map of Shenzhou:

The entire territory of Shenzhou was broadly divided into north and south by the Yunlan Ancient River.

To the north of the river, there were eight provinces. The vast northern lands were divided in the middle by Cangyuan Mountain, with Bing, You, Liang, Yong, Yu, and Fen—six provinces of the Demon Path—to the west, and only Zhongzhou and Jizhou to the east.

The five provinces south of the river did not have a particular geographic distinction; if one were forced to differentiate, then Xu, Yang, and Jiao provinces would border the river, with Qing State to the south of Xuzhou, and Yanzhou to the south of Yangzhou and Jiao State.

The peak strength of the Great Yu Holy Dynasty could be glimpsed from Zhongzhou's position on the full map of Shenzhou.

Zhongzhou was located on the northern bank of the Yunlan Ancient River's middle section, and the entire northeast was Jizhou territory;

To the west lay Shenzhou's highest mountain, Cangyuan Mountain, but at the lowest point of the Cangyuan Mountain Range, the only passage to the six Demon Path provinces—Hulao Valley—was just over seven hundred miles away;

To the south, crossing the Yunlan Ancient River, lay the direct passage to Xu, Yang, and Jiao provinces.

At first glance at the map, Hou Yuxiao immediately understood why Great Yu was once so powerful, and also why today's Great Yu had become so weak.

This terrain, while uniquely advantageous, also harbored significant risks and could be seen as a double-edged sword.

If it were during the heyday of Great Yu, this terrain would mean control over Jizhou in the north, a direct threat to the five Demon Path provinces through Hulao Valley in the west, and command over the southern five provinces by controlling the Yunlan Ancient River passage.

But now, Great Yu no longer shone with the glory of the Divine Dynasty and was left with nothing but the name of Supreme Sovereign of the World. In this context, the territory could only be described with the four words: surrounded by wolves.

To the northeast, Jizhou watched covetously, and the terrain towards Zhongzhou was flat, offering no natural defense;

To the west, Hulao Valley was now under the control of the Great Jin Dynasty, and they could cross over the Cangyuan Mountain Range and attack the Zhongzhou Lincang Path at any time;

To the south, the Lu Family, which ruled over the middle section of the Yunlan Ancient River, was on good terms with all five states to the south. Not only could Great Yu forget about extending its reach into the Five States of the Jiang Nan through control of the Yunlan Ancient River, but it also had to be constantly wary of an invasion from the south via the river.

"The Bailu Academy is divided into the Yang and Yan factions, Yangzhou loyalty to the emperor, Yanzhou for the people. Although they are from the same institution, their philosophies emphasize different aspects. It must have been the Yanzhou Faction that could undertake the deed of joining forces with Jizhou to eliminate Great Yu. This would mean that Ji Yanzhi used his own death to prevent the alliance between the Yanzhou Faction and Jizhou, thus buying time for Great Yu!"

Staring at the part of the map where the Great Yu Holy Dynasty—Zhongzhou—was located and combining the words Peony brought to him from Sikong Yue, Hou Yuxiao easily surmised that the death of Ji Yanzhi, a renowned Great Confucian nearly achieving Sub-saint status, would certainly have an impact far beyond the current Battle of Hedong—a fact he had realized long ago.

Yet he had not expected Ji Yanzhi to be so resolute, using his own death to stop the plans of the Yanzhou Faction to have the Bailu Academy join forces with Jizhou to eliminate Great Yu.

But Ji Yanzhi wasn't without his own strategies. Currently, even without the aid of the Bailu Academy, Jizhou had already moved against Great Yu.

"The Battle of Hedong involved six of the Holy Lands, but of what I know, excluding Leiyin Temple, only the Rakshasa Holy Sect, the Great Jin Dynasty, the Wanjian Holy Sect, and the Bailu Academy are currently involved. Sikong Yue has no need to deceive me, so this implies that the Ziqing Holy Sect and Haoran Holy Sect must have joined as well, but which side are they on?"

Logically, the Ziqing Holy Sect and the Haoran Holy Sect are of the Righteous Path. If they are, then they must certainly be on the side of Xuzhou. However, Hou Yuxiao had long since stopped believing in any distinction between good and evil. Each of these Holy Lands harbors its own deceitful schemes, and who knows what their actual intentions are.

The Haoran Holy Sect and Ziqing Holy Sect, both of which don't get along with the Bailu Academy, are very likely to ally with the Demon Path to weaken the Confucian Sect, especially if the Bailu Academy and the Wanjian Holy Sect emerge victorious over the Great Jin Dynasty and the Demon Path, only further elevating themselves.

"Originally, the Great Jin likely just wanted to use the Hedong incident as a pretext for a war with the Righteous Holy Lands. Unexpectedly, Qinjian Villa took the opportunity of the Battle of Hedong to tie down the six Holy Lands and made the first move against Great Yu. This is why they sent Emperor Wanyan Cheng of Yuliang to begin the attack on Zhongzhou.

Both are so eager to eradicate Great Yu; they clearly harbor grand ambitions!"

Great Yu still retains the title of Supreme Sovereign of the World because Zhongzhou remains intact. If Zhongzhou falls, then Great Yu would be utterly finished. If Great Yu is truly wiped out, then the next steps for these two forces become very clear.

All ten Holy Lands dream of unifying the World, and from this perspective, no matter who annihilates Great Yu, the remaining eight Holy Lands would presumably not wish to see it happen. However, the Great Jin is engaged in a two-front war, having fully triggered the conflict in Hedong, and as the arrow is on the bowstring and must be shot, these Holy Lands must fight, or else accept the outcome of losing their territories.

Qinjian Villa saw through this, knowing that the Great Jin would not allow the conflict in Hedong to end. Thus, they preemptively mobilized their troops and attacked the Great Yu Holy Dynasty. Only afterward did the Great Jin react and decide to wage a two-front war."