A massive ball of fire ascended into the sky.
Amidst the crowd of over ten thousand people, such sparks ignited, and after the flashes, corpses with mangled limbs and broken bodies littered the ground.
Everything happened too quickly. Yang Dezhi failed before he could even comprehend what was happening.
It all occurred too suddenly; no one had time to react. Only one person understood what was going on: Ye Tiancheng knew what this was.
The four great families suffered heavy losses in this battle, leading to their downfall. They could no longer pose a threat to Ye Tiancheng in the city-state of Duogunna.
Ye Tiancheng left the four great families no room to recover. On that very day, he annihilated all four families, leaving none behind.
He knew that in his position, he could not afford to be soft-hearted. Letting even one escape might allow them to reproduce and eventually seek revenge with a large family.
Ye Tiancheng would absolutely not leave them any opportunities, nor would he put himself in danger. Everything he did was solely for his own benefit, and regardless of whether others were willing to accept it or not, he would carry out his decision without regret.
Ye Tiancheng elevated his status to its current peak. Thus, the rule of the four great families in Duogunna city-state ended. Now, Duogunna city-state had only one ruler: Ye Tiancheng.
From this day forward, Ye Tiancheng was the lord of Duogunna city-state. His transformation was incredibly rapid. Those who had been his good friends in the past felt as though Ye Tiancheng's life was on cheat mode.
"I want to bring this entire continent under my command. In the past, I always felt that others managed things poorly here and there. Now, I will do as I please according to my own ways. Hahahaha!"
Ye Tiancheng resided in the most luxurious mansion in Duogunna city-state, enjoying all sorts of abundant resources.
At this moment, his happiness was at its peak. It turned out that having power and influence truly allowed one to do as they pleased.
Having tasted the sweetness of power, his ambition grew even more. His next target was Caishi City.
After capturing this city, he could then attack the next, more prosperous city called Shuixiang City.
However, to capture Caishi City, it had to be done before autumn arrived. Fighting during the harvest season would inevitably lead to significant losses of grain. This is because Caishi City is close to a snow mountain, and their autumn is very short; usually, before the harvest is completed, heavy snow begins to fall.
Therefore, Ye Tiancheng had two months to prepare. This was a very tough bone to chew, and he had to mobilize his troops.
Time passed quickly. Before he could do anything, a week had already gone by. The people here did not know what a Sunday was, as their beliefs were in strange deities; they had no unified faith.
This week, Ye Tiancheng made them believe in God.
Doing these things was not without purpose. Only by giving them a firm faith could their thoughts be unified, and then a brainwashing process could begin, making them utterly devoted.
After such brainwashing, they would become exceptionally foolish. This was very beneficial for Ye Tiancheng, as it made his subjects incredibly naive. Thus, he would never reveal these secrets. Once his subjects discovered these secrets, all his tricks would become ineffective.
As someone who had also come from another world, they understood very well why Ye Tiancheng was doing this, especially Lin Qingjia.
During this period, she watched Ye Tiancheng's every move. Although she didn't say anything, she felt a little distressed. She didn't want to see someone she cared about become so evil.
Therefore, when she saw him, her gaze became very melancholic.
As a woman who understood very well why this world had become this way, she desperately wanted Ye Tiancheng to turn back from his path. However, Ye Tiancheng would never change his mind because of it. He always looked at them with a habitual expression, believing that eventually, all sentiments would fade, and everything would proceed according to his will.
"I actually know what you're thinking, sister, but I want to tell you that it is most appropriate for me to do these things. If I don't do them, someone else will. The role of the villain will always be played by someone."
Ye Tiancheng spoke with great conviction.
Hearing these words, Lin Qingjia shook her head helplessly.
She never expected her younger brother, who once wanted to be a salted fish, to become like this. Perhaps everything began with a conspiracy when they arrived in this world. The omnipotent God, the power that brought them to this world, must be hiding in some corner, secretly watching all of this unfold.
"What you say is very right, but also very wrong. I don't know what to believe. My mind is very confused."
Lin Qingjia said with great pain.
Ye Tiancheng, who had previously wanted to develop through economics, had long strayed from his original intention. The young man who used to roast sweet potatoes no longer contacted him, as he found that his status and Ye Tiancheng's status were worlds apart.
If he were to seek out Ye Tiancheng again, it might lead to a fatal disaster due to the entanglement of wealth and status. Since ancient times, serving a monarch has been like walking with a tiger; no one who follows a ruler can retreat unscathed. Once they step into this muddy water, they are destined to die in it, for people are fickle.
Therefore, once one enters the struggle for power, everyone wants to possess the most power and decide the fate of others. Because if you don't decide the fate of others, your fate will be decided by them.
Ye Tiancheng, who understood all of this, had already realized this from his own era. Therefore, he had also cultivated diligently in that era, wanting to become someone superior. Only those who become superior can decide the fate of others and stand at the pinnacle of all beings.
"Do you know why emperors call themselves 'solitary'? Because they are people whom no one can trust. They are forever accompanied by loneliness."
Ye Tiancheng gave a helpless bitter smile. Having finally reached this day, he no longer concealed his inner thoughts. As long as someone was willing to listen to him, he would definitely want to express his hatred for this world.
If only this world were like Mars, without life, and without such painful things ever happening.
"Forget it, I can't talk to you."
Lin Qingjia looked at Ye Tiancheng with disappointment and then left his side. In the end, he was destined to be a lonely person because none of them could ever trust him; his reliance was always on himself.
His so-called reliance on capable subordinates was merely a transaction of power. He granted these capable individuals the greatest authority, satisfying them to serve him. Therefore, managing talent was nothing more than giving them what they desired. As for those with ambition, no matter how powerful they were, they had to be eliminated to prevent them from threatening his position.
"Continuous growth leads to becoming a different person. Therefore, sometimes, relatives are not always relatives, and friends are not always friends. The reason we walk together is merely a bond formed by mutual interests."
Having seen through the fact that this world exists solely for profit, he did not get angry. Instead, he desired to possess even more intensely those things that drove him mad.
The month of preparation would be carried out in the following week. Ye Tiancheng wanted to create an iron shell, and then in a memorial place, he would create smokeless gunpowder. By mixing nitroglycerin with stalagmite powder, its performance would become more stable, which is the legendary blasting gelatin.
This was invented by Nobel. He had read about these things in that civilized era, so the production of nitroglycerin was very urgent.
It must be mentioned that he was brilliant in chemistry during college. Therefore, as long as he found the raw materials, he could refine nitroglycerin. Finding nitroglycerin was half the battle.
Finally, he had to make detonators, which could ignite the blasting gelatin.
Everything had a direction and a clear goal. However, next, he had to find talent. Although he was considering it from a perspective of self-interest, he also had to feign sincerity. Finding someone knowledgeable in chemistry in this era was extremely difficult, as this was a primitive era. He also had to find those who had transmigrated from their civilized era.
Although these people had been slaughtered by the four city lords, some had survived. These survivors were more or less intelligent. For example, they could foresee misfortune and good fortune.
People with such wisdom were not simple. They were very sensitive to the times and acted cautiously at the slightest disturbance. Such people were very suitable for living in this era. Therefore, Ye Tiancheng began to search for such individuals. For the next two days, he was engaged in the same activity.
He wandered through the streets and alleys, dressed in ordinary clothes. His eyes occasionally swept across everyone's faces.
He observed everyone, trying to see what he wanted to see in their expressions.
But unfortunately, after wandering the streets for half a day, he didn't find anyone who caught his eye. Most of them were vulgar people, showing no sign of wisdom.
These people hurried along, mediocre and unremarkable. Therefore, their lives passed by in this manner, and they believed in the ridiculous principles instilled by Ye Tiancheng, acting like fools. Yet, this group of people exuded happiness.
"Perhaps you see them as people who achieve nothing, living a mediocre life. But people, even if they cannot reach paradise, are content with having paradise in their hearts. At least they find a reason to live. Whereas you, people like you, live only in darkness."
Suddenly, Ye Tiancheng heard a very loud voice. He hadn't noticed how this person appeared beside him, but the fact that they could suddenly appear beside him was enough to show that they were very capable.
Therefore, Ye Tiancheng looked at him with great surprise and began to size him up. He noticed that the person was wearing a red sable fur coat.
Wearing such clothes in the middle of summer seemed very peculiar. His hair was very long and unkempt, obscuring his face. His dark eyes, peeking through his hair, gave him the appearance of an eagle.
Disturbed by this strange person, Ye Tiancheng immediately asked.
"Sir, you are a very peculiar fellow. I'm afraid your independent demeanor is not to make others think you are a superior person. They would more likely think you are crazy."
Most secular people tend to think that those who are different from them are either madmen or fools. In their eyes, only they themselves are the smartest, and everyone who walks a different path is either a bad person or a lunatic from a madhouse.
"Therefore, secular people are forever unsuccessful because they cannot see what we madmen see. They are eaten and still smugly mock those who understand and then eat people."
This fellow in the red sable coat, whether a man or a woman, spoke in a nasally tone.
What he said was similar to Ye Tiancheng's words, things that went against the grain of the world.
"The benevolent see benevolence, the wise see wisdom, like minds seek each other... Meeting you at this time, our words are somewhat similar, so we are all the same kind of people, that is, people they consider to be divine."
Seeing the fellow's peculiar demeanor, Ye Tiancheng couldn't help but laugh.
"What benevolence see benevolence and wisdom see wisdom? We are all just people who eat people... Hahahaha..."