Massacres at the Border!

Meanwhile, at a border village of the Yin Dynasty, an incomprehensible scene played out.

"GRRR!" Spectral Shadows emerged from the ground, becoming massive hounds that bulldozed their way into the border village.

"Where are those land monsters coming from?"

"Wait, wait…they are—" Barely had the villagers taken note of the beasts' presence that the massive hounds smashed into them, mauling all lives they could get their claws and fangs on into pieces.

Men, women, children, or elderly, it didn't matter. The hounds left no survivor, slaughtering all people before moving on to the next village. For indeed, the same scene was playing out in all border villages of the Yin Dynasty. Spectral shadows would rise from the ground, become monstrous beasts, and rampage through the villages, leaving gored corpses and collapsing ruins behind.

The same beasts then returned to shadow form, sinking into the ground, and reappearing in the forests, mountains and plains where many of the Yin Dynasty's beast tribes lived. This time around, the spectral shadows turned into human warriors—their loud battle cries booming across the land as they smashed into the beast tribes—butchering all they could find without mercy.

"Go, brothers! For each head you cut off, you will be rewarded with three Blood Stones! Slaughter these vile creatures that pollute our lands…till not one remains!" Targeted by the human-shaped Spectral Shadows, the weaker beast tribes couldn't resist, parents and children, friends and soulmates, all watching helpless as their loved ones got shredded into pieces by unforgiving human blades.

"Why? Why?!" A Metallic Bear asked as a trio of human warriors abused his people. One had his wife pinned down, another beheaded his cubs, and the last one now held a blade to his throat, preparing to put him down.

"Because you are beasts, and beasts shouldn't aspire to be humanity's equals," the human warrior said, then drove his sword through the Metallic Bear's neck, effortlessly crushing his defenses before taking his life.

Interestingly, be it in the human border villages or the weaker beast tribes, occasionally, one person would manage to escape the slaughter, fleeing into friendly territory to spread the news of the slaughter.

"It's the land monsters! The neighboring land monsters have betrayed us and slaughtered our village!" Human survivors alerted their authorities, putting the blame for the Spectral Shadows' actions on the land monsters.

"It's the Yin soldiers! They didn't wear standard Yin armor, but I'm sure it was the Yin soldiers! They spoke like Yin people and used martial skills and formations that only soldiers of the Yin army practice! I once served in the vanguard of the Western Duke, so I can't be wrong!" Beast survivors alerted the stronger beast tribes, putting the blame for the Spectral Shadows' actions on the Yin Dynasty's soldiers.

And as the news of these tragedies spread in both camps, the Spectral Shadows regrouped on top of a mountain hill, spreading their Spiritual Senses into the distance, and cackling like demented fiends.

Spectral Shadow: this was an innate ability of the Shadow tribe in the Demon Realm. By relying on their superior innate Spiritual Powers, shadow demons could channel the negativity and Spiritual Power stored in their souls and turn them into Spectral Shadows. The Spectral Shadows possessed formidable battle power, unique Dark Arts, and could shapeshift into anything their master desired.

Shadow demons could also outright rob the shadows of humans, beasts and more. In that case, the Spectral Shadow gained the strength and abilities of the people that had their shadow stolen. But as having people walking around without shadows would be too easy to notice, Huan Yi opted for the first option.

As for how his Spectral Shadows could use Yin martial skills, that was simple. By relying on their Dark Arts, the Spectral Shadows cast an illusion that tricked their beast victims into seeing Yin army skills and battle formations. Those that had no knowledge of Yin army martial skills weren't affected by the illusion. But the ones that had this knowledge all saw the Yin martial skills and formations stored in their brains.

With that simple mind trick, Huan Yi's Spectral Shadows brought the stronger beast tribe proof that the Yin Dynasty's soldiers were trying to exterminate them.

"It is bad enough that we have to spend massive resources to deal with the Sea Monsters' constant attacks. But now, even the Land Monsters are working against us? Hateful beasts! Have they forgotten how our ancestors welcomed them into our nation, granted territories for those that wanted to live outside the cities, and districts to those that wanted to live inside? Throughout the Extreme Plateau, name me one other human nation that welcomes monstrous beasts! We have treated them so well! How dare they massacre our people?!" Outraged, powerful Yin nobles and generals took a stand, ready to lead their troops against the monstrous beasts.

However…

"There must be a misunderstanding! The reason why we've been living in peace with the Land Monsters is that, despite what some of their appearances might suggest, the majority of the Beast Tribes surrounding us are either pacificists or vegetarians. Why would they suddenly launch raids and slaughter the people of our border villages? It makes no sense! My Eye of Revelation will lead us to the truth of this matter!" Wen Tianhua didn't believe the news. And fearing that the entire Yin Dynasty would sink into civil war, the Grand Preceptor, who'd just arrived in Linzi, abandoned the Zi Shou problem to fly towards the Yin Dynasty's borders.

Alas…it was too late.

Due to the Zi Shou debacle, Wen Tianhua currently didn't enjoy the same prestige as he used to with the Yin Dynasty's elites. Their fear of his cultivation base was the only reason why they didn't outright ignore him and send troops. But if the land monsters made another move, the Yin elites wouldn't hesitate to fight back!

That move came quickly.

"Deceitful humans! For thousands of years, they've kept our kin in rundown districts and barren lands, enforcing the separation of species and forcing us to live in poverty all while getting fat and rich on our work!

Because we remembered the kindness of their ancestors and didn't want to break the peace, we endured! We endured it all! We kept enduring! All for what? Now they don't even care about the façade and are openly slaughtering our people! I've had enough! Let's join hands with the Sea Monsters…and bring down the Yin Dynasty!" Burning with hatred, the various beast chieftains united their troops in one Great Horde, sending emissaries to the Sea Monsters for an alliance.

At the same time, the Great Horde set forth, stampeding all in its path as it marched on the Eastern Province where most of the royal family—including the King of Yin—currently resided.

By the time Wen Tianhua reached the borders, tens of millions of monstrous beasts had already set out, making the Grand Preceptor realize…that the recent massacres were only the trigger that let loose centuries of accumulated rage and resentment.

Now, the whole of the Yin Dynasty trembled. And unbeknown to Wen Tianhua, the leaders of the Wen clan relied on the monstrous beasts' actions to start spreading rumors that it was the monstrous beasts that formed pacts with demons, and to destabilize the nation, tried to drive a wedge between Zi Shou and the Yin Dynasty's elites.

Proper scapegoats for the seventh prince had thus been created.

"You see, Zi Shou, sometimes, all you need is a spark…to set the world ablaze." As all this played out, Huan Yi sipped a cup of tea, showing Zi Shou Spiritual Projections of the events turning the Yin Dynasty upside down.