Chapter 668: New Master of the Southern Cultivation Realm

Most of the delegates gathered at Qianmu Temple took their leave when the conclave ended. The majority of these were Northern Cultivators. Almost everyone from the Southern Cultivation Realm chose to stay, including the Cultivators from the Southeast Sea Region. After all, the Seventh Prince hadn’t left yet.

The next ten days were dedicated to the conclave’s routine magical duels and exchanges of insights, with some secret deals also being made on the side. These events were presided over by Wang Ping’s disciples and had little to do with Wang Ping himself.

As the Daoist Palace disciples dismantled the altar, Liu Shuang bade a brief farewell to each departing Cultivator.

Just after sending off the departing delegates, the four chief directors of the Southern Cultivation Realm and the two chief directors from the Liangjiang Region came to pay their respects to Liu Shuang together. They had been among the first group of Cultivators to arrive at Qianmu Temple, and during the sacrificial ceremony, they had been in charge of security for the temple’s perimeter.

They were visiting Liu Shuang now because, from this point forward, most matters in the Southern Cultivation Realm would require the approval of Liu Shuang, the newly appointed Front Courtyard Director of Qianmu Temple.

After everyone exchanged pleasantries, Li Miaolin of Ningzhou Road was the first to speak. “In the years since trade with the Demon Realm opened up, numerous bloody incidents have still occurred when our people cross into each other’s territories. Although these cases are eventually handled and compensated, the process is incredibly slow. The slowest case dragged on for over a decade before it was resolved, by which time most of the victim’s immediate family had already passed away.”

He clasped his fists toward Liu Shuang and said, “I have already discussed this with the envoy from the Demon Realm. The Daoist Palace could exchange liaison officers with them to handle the conflicts between our two sides.”

Because of a previous deal with Wang Ping, trade routes had been opened with the Demon Realm, and interactions with the Southern Cultivation Realm had been increasing year by year. After all, many goods from the Demon Realm were highly sought-after in the Southern Cultivation Realm.

For example, there were Magical Artifacts refined from the Demon Cores of deceased members of the Demon Race, which could be used directly by Artifact Cultivators for their realm breakthroughs. Another example was the Soul-Stealing Spiritual Artifacts created with Snake Demon Bloodline Magic. The Demon Race produced these as consumables, and they were extremely popular within the Daoist Palace, especially among Cultivators who investigated cases.

Conversely, Elixirs from the Human Dao Cultivation Realm were bestsellers in the Demon Realm. Even the simplest Healing Pill would see its price multiply several times over when transported there. The problem was that some characters in the Demon Realm had no honor and constantly robbed merchant caravans entering their territory. Of course, caravans from the Demon Realm were also frequently ambushed by some Human Dao Cultivators.

“Trade with the Demon Realm must indeed be protected!”

Wu Quan, the chief director of Mozhou Road, immediately agreed. He did so firstly because he knew Wang Ping was the one spearheading this matter, and secondly, because the Demon Realm truly had good things to offer. Moreover, there were some matters he couldn’t handle himself, and this provided him with a new front he could use.

“I support it as well!”

The chief of Hai Zhou Road was Liu Shibin. He glanced at Wu Quan, as if instinctively about to offer a rebuttal, but when his eyes met Liu Shuang’s, he couldn’t bring himself to say the words.

Tong Jing simply nodded. As for the chief directors from the Liangjiang Region, they were now completely dependent on the Southern Four Roads.

The conversation then moved on to routine topics, such as the coordination of resources across various regions and some important cases. In truth, most of the cases in recent years had been perpetrated by ‘First Day’ and the Taiyin Evil Cultivators, but everyone at the meeting tacitly avoided mentioning this.

The meeting concluded before dark. On the plaza, the Martial Arts Arena had already been set up. Although the official duels wouldn’t begin until the next day, some Qi Cultivators were already sparring on it.

Just as Liu Shuang was about to call Yang Rong in, Li Miaolin returned.

“Is there something else, Fellow Daoist?”

“A small matter…”

Li Miaolin lowered his voice. “My master sent a letter some time ago, asking me to inform Lord Changqing that he supports all of the Daoist Palace’s decisions. If Lord Changqing intends to re-establish the Taiyan Sect, he will be the first to agree. Also…” He took out a letter and said, “This is a personal letter from my master that I was entrusted to deliver to the Lord.”

Liu Shuang accepted the letter with a serious expression. Li Miaolin continued, “My master specifically instructed me to deliver this letter into the Lord’s hands at the first possible moment after the conclave ended.”

“Rest assured, I understand the gravity of this matter.”

Liu Shuang promised.

Li Miaolin gave a perfectly measured smile, then took his leave. As he reached the edge of the plaza, he saw Wu Quan watching him with a smirk. He clasped his fists and said, “Were you waiting specifically for me, Fellow Daoist?”

“You could say that.”

Looking at Wu Quan’s expression, Li Miaolin instantly understood what he was thinking. He smiled. “I’d advise you not to have any ideas about the Fourth Realm promotion slot for now, Fellow Daoist.”

Wu Quan raised an eyebrow but said nothing, patiently waiting for Li Miaolin to continue.

Li Miaolin stood side-by-side with Wu Quan, watching the Qi Cultivators sparring on the Martial Arts Arena. “The Lord’s first consideration will likely be Zhi Gong Daoist,” he said, “because she has Wan Zhi Daoist backing her.”

After saying this, he added, “The reason for re-establishing the Daoist Palace this time isn’t as simple as just maintaining order among the world’s Cultivators. I’m certain that the promotion slots for the Fourth Realm will also be a key focus for the Lord going forward.”

“What do you mean?”

“Go with the flow. Don’t always be trying to make a stunning move. The reason the Lord succeeded in the first place was because he went with the flow. It’s just one promotion slot, isn’t it? Didn’t I give one up when I had to? Have you forgotten that in the last thousand years, besides the Seventh Prince of Lishui Prefecture, no one has been promoted to the Fourth Realm? Why? Because they didn’t go with the flow!”

As he spoke, he turned his head to watch Liu Shuang flying toward the Mountain Peak Dojo.

Currently, only Wang Ping’s disciples were permitted to fly within Qianmu Temple.

Liu Shuang landed directly outside the pavilion where Wang Ping and Ao Hong were playing a board game. A moment later, a “WOOF” sounded from nearby, and her Spiritual Dog ran over from a pile of Spirit Grass, wagging its tail around her. She had been so busy with matters in the front hall these past few days that the dog had been left to roam free. It would occasionally come to the Mountain Peak Dojo to play with the Calico Cat and Yu Lian.

“MEOW~”

The Calico Cat, hiding on a branch of a distant Spirit Wood Tree, also cried out. As she did, she glanced at Ao Hong, as if wanting Liu Shuang to help her chase him away.

Wang Ping looked up at Liu Shuang outside the pavilion and asked, “What is it?”

Liu Shuang glanced at Ao Hong.

“It’s fine. Go ahead and speak.”

Wang Ping instructed casually. Ao Hong was the first among the Second Seats to proactively seek an alliance, and their two families had collaborated before, so Wang Ping needed to show a measure of magnanimity.

“Daoist Li Miaolin relayed some words on behalf of his master.”

“Oh? What words?”

Wang Ping turned his head with curiosity.

Ao Hong asked, “Who is that?”

“Chongxing Taoist!”

“Him?”

Ao Hong also looked at Liu Shuang with curiosity.

Liu Shuang immediately said, “Daoist Li Miaolin’s exact words were: ‘He supports all of the Daoist Palace’s decisions!'” She was clever enough not to mention the matter of re-establishing the Taiyan Sect.

With that, she presented a letter. “Daoist Li Miaolin said this is a personal letter from Elder Chongxing.”

“Bring it here!”

Wang Ping said, placing a piece on the board.

Liu Shuang quickly entered the pavilion and handed the letter to Wang Ping.

Wang Ping first scanned it with his Primordial Spirit Consciousness. After confirming there were no issues, he picked it up, opened it, and swept his Primordial Spirit over it again. The beginning of the letter was a bitter denunciation of the last regular meeting of the Second Seats.