600: Chapter 600 Surrender

The two boys had not committed any major mistakes, and Liu Xuan did not intend to punish them severely; confining them to the Yin Sha Hall for three days of reflection was merely to temper their Heart-Nature.

"Thank you, Husband, for forgiving Heng'er!" Lin Xue'er stepped forward and bowed, blaming herself, "It's all my fault for being too indulgent with him, which is why this happened."

She then gave a solemn bow to Lü Luo beside her, "Madam Lü Luo, I am truly sorry. I apologize to you on behalf of Heng'er..."

Lü Luo quickly waved her hand, "The First Madam does not need to apologize. It's my own foolish son who is a disappointment; it has nothing to do with you."

Liu Xuan disliked these conventional pleasantries. After comforting Lin Xue'er and Lü Luo, he chatted with his sister Liu Miao about the situation at the Clan School before returning to the backyard to listen to music.

Liu Xiaowan, the Saintess of the Joyous Union Sect, was extremely alluring and understanding; Liu Xuan's sense of novelty with her had not yet worn off.

...

The Backyard of the Liu Residence.

After a thorough round of relaxation, Liu Xuan leaned back in a lounge chair and flipped through the reports sent over by the City Lord's Mansion.

The City Lord's Mansion handled the administrative affairs of Biyou City and even the entire Southern Border Beast Taming Sect, so Liu Xuan generally didn't need to worry. However, major matters would be written into reports and sent to him.

Most of the time, Liu Xuan wouldn't even look at them. These reports would go through the motions and then return to the City Lord's Mansion to be discussed and handled by the City Lord and several Deputy City Lords.

Administrative reports were categorized into several levels based on the severity of the matter. Aside from issues the City Lord's Mansion felt they couldn't handle, whether he read them or not depended entirely on Liu Xuan's mood.

Nowadays, Biyou City was incredibly stable. With the Crimson Cloud Divine Bird, a Peak Nascent Soul, making appearances, it was enough to solve all problems.

Even if there were some troublesome matters, there were still Nascent Soul experts from the Academy like True Lord Guanxin to take action; the entire Biyou City was very stable.

How could Liu Xuan have any interest in handling administrative affairs? He was just bored after relaxing and read the reports as a pastime.

When he encountered matters he wasn't interested in or didn't understand well, he wouldn't offer an opinion and would simply send them back to the City Lord's Mansion for them to handle as they saw fit.

Only when he saw something interesting would Liu Xuan look into the situation in detail and provide his own input.

As he read, Liu Xuan suddenly noticed something was off. Half of these reports were petitions from the borders requesting to restart the war against the Endless Demon Court. In many places, fighting had even broken out long ago; some were petitioning for reinforcements, while others were occupying Yao Race territory and reporting their achievements for merit.

The Endless Demon Court was already weak. Had Demon Saint Xuanyu not personally intervened before, the war wouldn't have stopped.

Now that Demon Saint Xuanyu was injured and the Beast Taming Sect had gained a Peach Blossom Demon Saint, the border armies of Cultivators would start fighting on their own without needing Liu Xuan's orders.

"Let them fight; it's good to fight. However, the border should only be pushed forward slowly; the scale of the war should not be expanded."

According to Ghost King Lianyue, Demon Saint Xuanyu only had a few decades of Lifespan left. Liu Xuan only needed to wait patiently to take control of the entire Endless Demon Court; there was no need to cause unnecessary complications.

As the saying goes, a starved camel is still bigger than a horse. Demon Saint Xuanyu was staying in his own territory, the Black Mountain Holy Land, and his Lifespan was nearly exhausted. If they attacked his home now, who knew what kind of trump card the old man might have saved up.

“The wither-thrive life-death cauldron can strip away Lifespan, which happens to perfectly counter the current Demon Saint Xuanyu. Even if he really has some trump card, he probably wouldn't be able to withstand Peach Blossom and me working together.”

“However, the only benefit of killing Demon Saint Xuanyu is gaining one more Rank 5 Spiritual Vein, but it would involve the risk of exposing my strength or even the wither-thrive life-death cauldron. It's not worth it!”

Now that he held the Southern Border Beast Taming Sect, which used to be half of the Endless Demon Court's territory, it was more than enough for the Liu Family's development.

What the Liu Family needed was time, not more territory. The benefits of exterminating Demon Saint Xuanyu were limited, while the risks were many.

By keeping Demon Saint Xuanyu alive, Lady Yaoguang would also have misgivings and wouldn't focus solely on dealing with him. If any changes occurred in the Southern Border, Demon Saint Xuanyu would serve as a buffer, making it easier for the Liu Family to escape.

“The initial layout of the Heaven-Seizing One Qi Secret Art hasn't been fully spread yet. This war cannot end so quickly!”

One of the reasons Liu Xuan had been suppressing a large-scale war was his layout regarding the Heaven-Seizing One Qi Secret Art.

If he waited until all the Southern Border Cultivators had Cultivated True Qi before joining the war, every Cultivator who died would become nourishment for the Liu Family. Those who didn't die would gain the spoils of war, their cultivation would advance greatly, and they would become even richer nourishment in the future.

“True Qi enhances strength and doubles talent, but the Cultivation World also follows the law of conservation of energy. Since talent is doubled, Cultivators who master True Qi will need Cultivation Chambers with more abundant Spiritual Qi and higher-grade Medicinal Pills.”

“In order not to waste their talent and for a better future, these people will be the biggest warmongers!”

According to Liu Xuan's plan, the subsequent war shouldn't be too fast; it would be best if it proceeded slowly and continuously.

He would try his best to arrange for the Cultivators who had mastered True Qi to be on the front lines, giving them the greatest convenience—harvesting them while nurturing them to maximize benefits.

Thinking of this, Liu Xuan took up his pen and crossed out all the reports requesting a large-scale offensive against the Demon Court. He only checked off some local border wars requesting reinforcements and wrote a note to arrange for Cultivators who had mastered True Qi to participate as much as possible, giving them maximum support.

Most Cultivators who mastered True Qi would join the Merchant Alliance. These people were all in their growth phase, and Liu Xuan didn't want them to die easily; sending them to the front lines this time was more about nurturing them.

Crops are best harvested when they are ripe. Cultivators who master True Qi inherently have short lives; if their talent isn't enough, they will die on their own—there's no need for Liu Xuan to lift a finger.

The Liu Family's interests were aligned with theirs. They hoped to increase their cultivation through war, and the Liu Family also hoped to help them increase their cultivation through war. The higher their cultivation, the more True Qi they would provide after death!

The Heaven-Seizing One-Qi Creation Technique's brilliance lay exactly here. Even if those Cultivators practicing True Qi knew the truth, they would still be forced to bind themselves to the Liu Family.

From a practical standpoint, the Liu Family only harvested their True Qi after they died. Once a person is dead, why would they care about such things? While they were alive, the help the Liu Family provided them was very real!

Similar to crops like rice and wheat, it seems on the surface that humans plant and harvest them, but in reality, they have also domesticated humans. Compared to other weeds in the field, they have it far too comfortable!

Suddenly! Liu Xuan flipped to a special report, colored mysterious black.

This was not a report from the City Lord's Mansion, but a secret report sent by the intelligence organization, Lingshu Pavilion.

Opening it, Liu Xuan's expression became slightly amused. It was that wild boar demon, Zhu Pan, who wanted to defect to the Peach Blossom Demon Saint and was requesting to meet him.

Not just Zhu Pan, but many other fence-sitters like Demon Lord Han Jing also wanted to see him.

With Demon Saint Xuanyu seriously injured and Peach Blossom promoted to Demon Saint, these Demon Lords were uneasy all day and finally couldn't hold back anymore.

This time, they weren't sending gifts or defecting in secret; they intended to meet Liu Xuan in person to discuss the terms of surrender.

“Since you want to see me so much, I'll give you a chance!” Liu Xuan smiled and handed the report to Su Wan, instructing her to contact those Demon Lords.