As Chen Yuan was comprehending the rules, new reactions were occurring throughout the world.

Under the Jishi Bodhisattva's preparations, the Buddhist sect, which had been preparing to deploy more troops to the Central Plains, suddenly halted its advance, focusing primarily on defense.

This was because the Western Regions were the fundamental base of the Buddhist sect.

The Buddhist sect wanted to expand its influence, spread its doctrines throughout the human realm, and establish its orthodoxy as the strongest in the world, but the primary prerequisite was to stabilize the Western Regions.

A thousand years ago, when the human world was embroiled in war, the Buddhist sect entered the Western Regions and began to develop. After more than a thousand years of dedicated teaching, all thirty-six kingdoms recognized the existence of the Buddhist sect above them.

Mount Sumeru was supreme.

Buddha was unparalleled.

This vast territory and population provided the Buddhist sect with a continuous source of development potential. With everyone working together, the Buddhist sect, located on the periphery, became the leader of the Ten Immortal Sects, and even arguably the head of the entire human realm.

Whether it was the Buddha or others on Mount Sumeru, they all knew the importance of the Western Regions. Now, a force calling itself Mahayana Buddhism wanted to subvert the Buddhist sect and shatter its foundation.

How could they tolerate it?

Even if they abandoned the Central Plains, they had to protect the Western Regions!

However, Mahayana Buddhism was another path explored by Moro and Jishi Bodhisattva for hundreds of years of diligent study of Buddhism. Many of its doctrines were contrary to the orthodox Buddhism of Mount Sumeru, and were even better.

Their hope was to create a true supreme Buddhist kingdom, where believers would be free from worry, immune to all diseases, enjoy longevity and pleasure, and be free from the oppression of nobles.

They also wanted to create a truly egalitarian world, without the exploitation of the Buddhist sect.

In the Western Regions, the people were already close to being exploited to the extreme. Many did not want to rebel, but they had to bow their heads because of the power of Mount Sumeru.

When the accumulated anger reached a certain point, the reaction almost burned with the speed of a prairie fire.

Mahayana Buddhist disciples had developed for many years, and were almost all over the Western Regions. Now, with a single eruption, they quickly caused great turmoil in the Western Regions, and countless common people responded.

Mount Sumeru was furious, and the Buddha was furious, directly issuing decrees to suppress the heresy, and eliminate these people as quickly as possible. The entire Mount Sumeru even came out in full force.

They dispersed to the thirty-six kingdoms of the Western Regions, wanting to cleanse the heretics.

But even with the strength of Mount Sumeru, they could not completely eradicate them. Often, after suppressing some people, another group would stand up and preach Mahayana Buddhism.

In a very short period of time, the foundation of the Buddhist sect was severely damaged.

Although Mount Sumeru had the strength to quell the rebellion, it was now unable to draw more strength to attack the Central Plains. When the news reached the Central Plains, it caused a huge shock.

It even increased Chen Yuan's reputation out of thin air, because now the only force in the entire Central Plains capable of competing with Chen Yuan was the Buddhist sect of the Western Regions. Now that the Buddhist sect was in turmoil, who else could resist Chen Yuan?

The master of the Heavenly Demon Palace, Dongfang Sheng, breathed a sigh of relief. If the Buddhist sect continued to fight desperately, the losses of the Heavenly Demon Palace would be very great. It was really not worth paying such a high price for a promise.

Now, they could finally take a break.

Therefore, when the Buddhist sect did not start another war, the entire Lanzhou fell into a strange calm. It seemed that the conflict between Buddhism and demons had suddenly stalemated.

But the peace in the west prompted the turmoil in the east and north to become more obvious.

Rumor had it that the Eastern Ying Wokou (Japanese pirates) had officially launched a large-scale invasion of the Central Plains. Hundreds of thousands of Eastern Ying warriors and warriors from overseas countries were fighting with the strongmen of Wudi City almost every day.

During this period, there was even an immortal battle!

The immortal of the Eastern Ying Yanagi family ignored the separation between immortals and mortals, wanting to bully the small with the big, and destroy the fighting spirit of Wudi City from the upper level, but the result was not satisfactory.

Ye Xiangnan suddenly showed great power, resisting a Sixth Realm immortal with the peak strength of the Fifth Realm, and even forcing him back. For a time, his reputation greatly increased, approaching Xiang Qianqiu.

But there was also news that Ye Xiangnan was almost dying that day. The reason why he forced back the Eastern Ying immortal was because an immortal who had been living in seclusion overseas in the Central Plains did not want to see the people of the Central Plains suffer, so he helped.

The news was mixed. Neither Wudi City nor Eastern Ying responded, and it also caused great discussion everywhere. Some said that Ye Xiangnan's strength was indeed terrifying.

Xiang Qianqiu could fight an immortal, so why couldn't he?

But some people said that in the battle of the Goddess Palace, Ye Xiangnan was forced into a desperate situation by Xiang Qianqiu in a short quarter of an hour. If Chen Yuan had not taken action, he might have even fallen.

He was obviously not as good as Xiang Qianqiu. By analogy, it was definitely because a strong man helped that Wudi City survived this disaster.

After this battle, the Yan army under Chen Yuan's command divided its troops into 100,000, led by Jiang He, and directly entered the territory of Wudi City. Just when some people were ashamed of Chen Yuan for taking advantage of the situation to attack,

The two sides unexpectedly did not have a big battle, directly opening up their defenses and letting the Yan army enter and exit, showing a very peaceful attitude.

After that, the Yan army raised its banner.

Expelling the Wokou and protecting the Central Plains.

This made many people understand Chen Yuan's grand strategy and Ye Xiangnan's broad mind. When the great enemy from overseas invaded, the two directly abandoned their grievances, united as one, and fought against the Wokou.

This attracted countless people to praise them. Even more Central Plains warriors with lofty ideals rushed to the East China Sea battlefield without saying a word, vowing not to return home until the Wokou were destroyed.

But there were also some dissenting voices, saying that Chen Yuan had actually taken Ye Xiangnan into his command long ago. The scene he was doing now was just for the world to see, to win over people's hearts.

Otherwise, how would he explain Ye Xiangnan's help in the battle of the Goddess Palace?

Many rumors formed the chaotic scene in the Central Plains today.

The same was true in the north.

The influence of the war between Liang and the Northern Barbarians had always been strong, but it had been overshadowed by the great turmoil Chen Yuan had caused in the Central Plains in recent months.

Now that the Central Plains had fallen into silence, the war in the north naturally entered the public's view.

The confrontation between the Northern Barbarians and Liangzhou was initially in a stalemate, but as troops were gradually increased and more and more strong men gathered, it was naturally difficult for Wei Jinfeng, a top Yangshen, to resist alone.

Even, at the most critical moment, the old Celestial Master of Mount Wudang showed up, holding the Zhenwu Sword, and launched an immortal battle with the Northern Barbarian God on the grassland.

The ground was cracked, the mountains and rivers were reversed, and countless people died in the aftermath.

In the end, it ended in a draw.

The Northern Barbarians were still attacking, and Wei Jinfeng could only try his best to resist.

Such great pressure also made Wei Jinfeng have other thoughts, that is, thinking that Chen Yuan could help him and let Liangzhou tide over the difficulties.

But the problem was that Chen Yuan's sphere of influence had not yet reached here, and it was almost impossible to send troops, so he thought for a long time and finally gave up.

He decided to take it one step at a time. If it was really impossible, he could only shed the last drop of blood for the Central Plains and hand over the mess to Chen Yuan to clean up.

At this time, Zhongzhou.

Emperor Jianye, Sima Ke, sat high on the dragon throne, staring blankly at the empty Golden Luan Hall.

Since the coup, the civil and military officials in the Golden Luan Hall had been somewhat incomplete. Sometimes, even some low-ranking officials would be sent to the hall as foils.

Now, the court had already been dismissed.

However, the courtiers had left, and the eunuchs and palace maids beside him had also left, leaving him alone in this place, which seemed very lonely. Until now, Sima Ke had realized some things.

Why emperors sometimes called themselves "寡人" (guǎ rén, "lonely man"), because when the general trend was over, he was really just a lonely man. Even if he had already accepted all this, he would still have some daydreams in the dead of night when there was no one around.

"Sasha..."

Footsteps echoed in the empty Golden Luan Hall. Sima Ke raised his head and looked at the source of the sound. The little sadness on his face quickly disappeared and turned into a harmless smile.

"Why does Royal Sister have time to come here?"

As an emperor who was almost a decoration, the power of the entire capital and even the entire Zhongzhou was in the hands of the Eldest Princess Pingyang, who could be said to be busier than him, the emperor.

She had to deal with government affairs every day, and she enjoyed it.

As for him, the emperor, he mostly just went to court as a formality. In fact, the backbone of those court officials was Pingyang. The things that could be used to pretend to be discussing matters had actually been decided long ago.

"The Yan King has sent a letter."

Pingyang walked up the steps step by step.

Sima Ke quickly stood up and gave way to Princess Pingyang, asking:

"What are Imperial Father's instructions?"

Princess Pingyang sat down on the emperor's exclusive seat very familiarly, taking a deep breath. This was not the first time she had sat on it. At first, it was Sima Ke's modesty, but in the process of being modest, she once thought of trying it, and then... she quite liked this hard dragon chair, and would come here whenever she had free time.

"The war in Yunzhou has ended, the Goddess Palace has surrendered, the Old Ancestor of the Gu family has fallen, and the Yan army has taken advantage of the chaos in the Western Regions to occupy most of Yangzhou. They have sent a letter asking you to open all defenses.

The Yan army may enter the Divine Capital City at any time."

"Imperial Father is finally here, hehe... It seems that Imperial Father is quite considerate of our feelings, letting us take the initiative to open the defenses, instead of directly taking action."

Sima Ke breathed a sigh of relief, as if he had let go of the last trace of unease in his heart.

With Chen Yuan's current power, even if the Yan army went straight into Zhongzhou, the Sima family would not have any resistance. The defenses were just a decoration.

It was just that the other forces were worried about the impact, otherwise, the central government of the Great Jin Dynasty would have been destroyed long ago.

Therefore, Sima Ke was sometimes really afraid that Chen Yuan would not fulfill his previous agreement one day, and give him the title of a fatuous emperor and destroy him.

For him, it was just a matter of effort.

Now, sending a letter asking him to open the defenses basically acknowledged the previous agreement, giving him a rich life and enjoying peace and worry-free.

"Just be prepared. Perhaps within a few months, the Yan army will be under the city."

"Royal Sister, don't worry. I have already asked the people below to make a dragon robe based on Imperial Father's dragon flag and his usual preferences, and wait for him to arrive at the Divine Capital City.

He will definitely be satisfied."

Sima Ke laughed. He did not control much power, and could only use these limited powers to strive for as much hope of survival as possible for himself.

"You are thoughtful. Don't worry, you and I both know what kind of person the Yan King is. He will not kill the donkey after it has done its work in the future. Even if it's just pretending, he will give us peace."

"Of course, I am relieved. Not to mention the father-son relationship between us, just relying on the Empress Dowager's side..." Sima Ke nodded repeatedly, expressing his position of always standing on Chen Yuan's side.

He was clear that Royal Sister had already completely resigned herself to fate. The previous few indirect inquiries had not received the answer she wanted, so she would naturally not say anything stupid.

"That's good."

"To be honest, it is both misfortune and luck for us to meet someone like Imperial Father. These days, when I have nothing to do, I have read some books that are banned in the clan.

I found that Imperial Father has the style of his ancestor. How similar is the current situation to a thousand years ago? The Central Plains is in chaos, surrounded by four enemies, each with their own thoughts, killing each other.

How similar are Imperial Father and the Chu Taizu? They are both heroes who appear once in a thousand years and turn the tide, pacifying the four barbarians, unifying the Central Plains, and possessing great fortune.

To oppose such a person, let alone us, even if the Taizu, who may or may not be sleeping, is afraid..." Sima Ke paused and did not say more, just smiled.

"It's good that you understand... I only have one younger brother, and I really don't want you to do anything stupid. If we oppose such a person, the only bloodline of our Sima clan will be destroyed."

Princess Pingyang said, looking at Sima Ke with a smile that was not a smile.

But Sima Ke's heart skipped a beat, and he called out a little guilty:

"Royal Sister..."

"Put away those little thoughts. Next time, I won't say any more."

After saying that, Princess Pingyang dragged her long skirt and slowly left, leaving behind a back.

Sima Ke wanted to cry but had no tears, and shouted quickly:

"Royal Sister, I really have no disloyalty, I just asked people to go to the imperial mausoleum to burn incense according to the ancestral system... Royal Sister... Don't misunderstand..."

I am loyal to the Yan King."

......

Chen Yuan seemed to be immersed in a silent world. There was no sound here, which was more terrifying than falling into an abyss. At first, he was even a little frightened and wanted to escape.

But soon, he thought of what he was doing, and quickly restrained his mind, completely calming his heart.

In cultivation, there is no concept of time. Chen Yuan, who had calmed down his mind, forgot the passage of time. He felt that he had just slept a very comfortable and deep sleep.

He had not slept like this since his breakthrough, forgetting all his worries, abandoning all his hatred, and the whole world only had him.

Lonely, silent....

When Chen Yuan subconsciously opened his eyes, the dark world finally changed. A faint light appeared in front of him, like a wisp of silk thread, illuminating the entire world.

He stretched out his hand and touched it slowly, but the silk thread passed through his body, as if it were nothing. Gradually... more and more silk threads wrapped him in it.

The scenery in front of him returned to the top of the Tangshan Buddha before his retreat.

His eyes were very calm.

The world was still that world, the human realm was still that human realm, and the heaven and earth were still those heaven and earth, but... he discovered some differences....

————

Rest early, good night!