"The Seventeenth Route Stance?"

The Incense Taoist gazed at this force he had never seen before.

This force of Jing Country, if it materialized, must surely manifest "energy."

However, the other forces were mostly elusive, none as direct and undispersed as this Mingjiang force.

"Butcher, why can’t I understand this stance?"

The Incense Taoist asked the Butcher.

The Butcher, holding a cleaver in his hand, said, "If you could understand it, wouldn’t that mean this Seventeenth Route Stance was triggered by you?"

"You really have a way of making people choke, but—thinking about it carefully, there’s indeed some truth to it."

The Butcher said to the Incense Taoist, "Today, I invited you to the Capital Mansion, do you know why?"

"Are you afraid you can’t defeat the ’Earth Child’? Can’t overcome this impregnable city?"

The Incense Taoist speculated.

"I am seeking a safe haven at Wuwen Mountain, I’m not afraid of the Earth Child, if I can’t beat him, I can still run away."

"I purposefully led you away."

The Butcher said.

"Purposefully led me away?"

"If you were in Mingjiang Prefecture, Zhou Xuan couldn’t have triggered this new great force of Jing Country."

The Butcher said frankly.

His words left the Incense Taoist completely puzzled, poking his own nose, shaking his head lightly, he asked: "Zhou’s ability to trigger the great force, what does it have to do with me?"

"If you were in Mingjiang Prefecture, you would have gone to save Zhou Xuan. If you saved him, he wouldn’t face such a great crisis."

"This force is Zhou Xuan’s explosion under crisis."

The Butcher suddenly swung his cleaver, feeling quite self-satisfied, and said: "Old Incense, am I accurate in my calculations? The Sixteen Stances of Jing Country is not the highest level of sword technique, there must be a Seventeenth Stance,

my prediction only came a few days ago, and the Seventeenth Route Stance has already appeared."

"So, you predicted that tonight there would be great danger in Mingjiang Prefecture?"

"Did you not predict it too." The Butcher said: "With the emergence of the Golden Core, the reconstruction of Mingjiang Prefecture, the gathering of Dunjia Taishang in Mingjiang, Zhou Xuan harboring the Green and Red Fish, regardless of which occurs, it would incite those ambitious wolves."

"Are you not afraid that Zhou Xuan might actually perish in Mingjiang Prefecture?"

The Incense Taoist frowned, he held Zhou Xuan in high regard... perhaps... the word regard seemed a bit official and cold, he was quite fond of Zhou Xuan.

"Not afraid."

The Butcher said: "If Zhou Xuan is pushed to the brink, he will resort to our Wuwen Mountain’s Sixteen Stances, when the Sixteen Stances are activated, I can perceive it, and we can still rescue him in time."

"You have a big heart."

The Incense Taoist said as the Butcher already began sharpening his knife.

He stood by the bluish stone on the mountain peak, sharpening, with each stroke, the entire Dunjia Mountain lowered slightly.

This sharp whetstone was indeed made from the entire Dunjia Mountain.

While the Butcher was sharpening his knife, being idle as it were, he decided to tell the Incense Taoist about the "Seventeenth Stance."

"Old Incense, since you can’t understand this force, let me tell you about it."

"Go on, otherwise, you’re just grinding away by yourself, isn’t it a bit meaningless?"

The Incense Taoist grumbled.

"Old Incense, us business people have an old saying..."

"Wait a minute... you’re a business person?"

"Yes, I slaughter pigs."

"How’s slaughtering pigs a business?"

"Many butchers have become local merchant tycoons because of slaughtering pigs and sheep. How can such a profitable trade not be considered a business?"

"Alright, alright, it’s a business, it’s a business."

The Incense Taoist was at a loss for words.

The Butcher continued his unfinished sentence, saying: "Us business people have an old saying—called ’don’t save a sinking ship,’ meaning there’s no need to rescue a ship that’s going to sink, timely loss prevention is the right path."

"Mingjiang Prefecture is the sinking ship?" The Incense Taoist caught the underlying message.

"Yes, this State is destined to be a sinking ship because it is a must-fight-for land for the Buddha Country."

The Butcher sharpening his knife, Dunjia Mountain had already been worn down by a third, from within the mountain, blood seeped out,

while his knife had been ground to a half-transparent state.

The Butcher continued: "Mingjiang Prefecture, fertile land, is the economic hub of our Jing Country, with a large gathering of people, moreover, this State had an affluent past,

the Ancestor Dragon, there were two, there is the Ancient Tree Golden Bell, in one Prefecture, there had been two Heavenly Gods—the Dream Realm Heavenly God, the God of Suffering and Calamity, the sky-high God-level, several in number,

but today’s Mingjiang Prefecture? Lacking in strength, the most powerful painter, music master, only sitting eight looking nine, appear quite weak, and the Ginkgo Ancestor Tree, still whereabouts unknown, Peach Blossom Ancestor Tree, Ancient Tree Golden Bell, if not for Zhou Xuan, one would be lost, the other destroyed."

"This Prefecture City, wealthy and populous, is the first stop that the Buddha Country wishes to invade,

and the Heavenly Fire Clan from the Heavenly Dome wishes to descend, would also first choose Mingjiang Prefecture,

a Prefecture City, being longed for by so many powerful beings, how could it not sink."

Mingjiang Prefecture is too rich, but at the same time too weak, if not for Zhou Xuan appearing, this prosperous Prefecture City would not have survived to this day.

The Incense Taoist said: "Since it’s a sinking ship not to save, Zhou Housheng still went to save it though."

The Butcher laid down his knife, opened his arms, and said to the Incense Taoist: "The sinking ship is so vast."

Then, he gestured with his little finger, saying: "But Zhou Xuan’s strength, in front of the sinking ship, is only this tiny,