Chapter 347
347 Returning to the heart of Xue state
“There’s no such thing as a good banquet.” Sun Zhang hai looked at the four people in front of him and listened to their words. He could not help but smile bitterly and sigh.
A few days ago, he had received news from Gongsun Qian, who had invited him to Liao County as a guest.
Originally, he didn’t think too much about it. The White ghouls were about to arrive in the South. The support from the South was of course very important, but the most important thing was the resistance of the Xue state itself. And this was highly dependent on the cooperation between the three famous sects of the Xue state.
It was a good thing that the Gongsun family had a new gold core realm cultivator, which meant that the local strength of Xue state to resist the White ghouls had been further strengthened.
Due to the special environment that Xue state was facing, the infighting between the cultivators here was not very intense. Everyone guarded their own territory, looked out for each other, and caused trouble for each other when they had nothing to do. Furthermore, even if they were to stir up trouble, it might not be worth it, as the Xue state was too poor.
The relationship between all parties was relatively harmonious and close. At this time of danger, as the Grand Elder of the White sun sect, it was perfectly normal for him to meet the new golden core cultivator of the Gongsun family, Gongsun Qian, and discuss what to do next.
However, as soon as he arrived, three uninvited guests appeared in front of him.
They were Lu Chaohe, Li Yanling, and perfected yunxuan.
Xue state was remote, but that did not mean that sun Zhanghai was blind and deaf. He must have heard about such a major change in the leadership of Yan Kingdom.
Now, he was not only facing the important figures of the Lu clan and the sect leader of the Qingfeng sect. He was facing the younger brother of the Emperor of the Great Yan Dynasty and the Empress of the Great Yan Dynasty.
Among the people present, sun Zhanghai’s cultivation was the highest, reaching the fifth-stage golden core realm. As for the other four little fellows, Lu Chaohe had just reached the Golden core realm, while yunxuan and Gongsun Yan had only reached the Golden core realm a few years ago. They were all new to the first-stage golden core realm. Even Li Yanling, who had the strongest cultivation, had not reached the mid-stage of the Golden core realm.
but even so, facing these four people, especially with Li Yanling’s Empress aura, he did not dare to show any neglect.
After bowing and greeting, the four of them didn’t waste any more time and directly stated their intentions.
The Lu clan would send their cultivators to the White sun sect and qingyou Valley to learn. The White sun sect and qingyou Valley had to report to the Lu clan every year about their income, expenses, the statistics of their cultivators, and the status of their promotion. The two clans had to promise that once the Lu clan summoned them, they would unconditionally fork out resources and send cultivators to listen to the command.
After hearing these requests, sun Zhanghai did not immediately answer. His gaze first turned to Gongsun Yan.
Although he didn’t say anything, the questioning look in his eyes was very obvious.
we are not like you. We are not a sect, but a noble family. We have other arrangements. Gongsun Qian said with a smile, ” the Imperial court promised that the Gongsun family would guard Liao County for eternity. Gongsun Xia was conferred the title of Marquis Liao, and it would be hereditary. But all the same, we have to report to the Imperial court on finance and human resources.”
“You agree?”
“He agreed.” Gongsun Qian took a sip of tea and continued, ” there’s no need to refuse. The Gongsun family has no ambitions. Yong zhenliao County is enough to satisfy us. In the past, we’ve never had any thoughts of expanding in Liao County, and we won’t have any in the future. In the past, we had to support ourselves in Liao County, but now that we have the backing of the Imperial court, we are much stronger than before.”
“What’s the point of this?” sun Zhanghai sighed. In the past, the three great sects of the Xue state have always been the Qingfeng sect’s staunchest allies. Why should we make our relationship so complicated?”
Li Yanling chuckled and said, ” “Elder sun, why do you have to be so tactful? In the past, we were allies, but were we really that close? The Xue state will send people to fight against the White ghouls in the South, with the Qingfeng sect supporting them from behind.”
“But it’s different now. The Lu family has become the royal family. It’s inevitable that they will unify the Yan Kingdom. If the White sun sect agrees to our conditions, we will still be allies. In that case, it’s not impossible for the Imperial court and the Qingfeng sect to restore order to Jibei, Jinan, and Yuyang by themselves after the White ghouls have finished moving south.”
This was a real threat.
Sun Zhanghai was angry, but he truly did not have the confidence to open his mouth to refute.
Just as Li Yanling had said, sun Zhanghai could not possibly refuse this condition. Or rather, no matter what the Lu family’s conditions were, he had no right to reject them at this juncture.
Otherwise, the Lu clan would not have to do anything. They would only have to watch from the side and wait for the White sun sect to be crippled.
This was actually bad for the Lu family. If the White sun sect and qingyou Valley were gone, it would mean that the Qingfeng sect would have to face the threat of the White ghouls heading south on their own. But so what if it was Yingluo? At most, this could only be considered a problem, but the White sun sect would have to pay the price of being exterminated.
Moreover, the Jue-Jue sun Zhanghai looked at Gongsun ni. This junior of the Gongsun family had already agreed to the Lu clan’s request. If he didn’t agree, then wouldn’t he be changed from Marquis Liao to Marquis Xue, or simply called the Duke of Xue?
In any case, the role that the White sun sect was playing was very important. However, it was not that important who would be the one to take the role.
In the past, it wasn’t easy for the Qingfeng sect to completely Annex the Xue province, or to manipulate the Xue province to make major changes. However, the power of the Lu family was not limited to the Feiyun state. With the power of the Imperial court and the emperor’s position, he could not do anything to Yunxiao sect, but he could easily suppress a power like white sun sect.
Many thoughts ran through sun Zhanghai’s mind. In the end, he could only sigh.”AI, Yingluo, what else can I say? I’ll follow your orders.”
Lu Chaohe laughed as he walked toward him. He held his hands and said, ” “Elder sun, there’s no need to be so polite. I’ll still have to rely on you for the matters of the Xue state. Moreover, with the Imperial court as their backing, the threat of the ice field would no longer be borne by just two provinces. With the entire Great Yan as their backing, the pressure on everyone would be much less. If that’s the case, the White sun sect might have other opportunities to develop after taking away a huge burden.”
Sun Zhanghai was silent. He only silently pulled his hand away from Lu Chaohe’s grip.
Even though sun Zhanghai felt terrible about losing a large portion of his independence, he had to admit that Lu Chaohe was speaking the truth.
The White sun sect was also a sect that had been passed down for thousands of years. However, because the White ghouls would bring a huge threat to the Xue state every few decades, they had no way of expanding. Accumulating strength, dealing with crisis, then weakening, accumulating strength again, and then crisis again. This cycle continued, and no one could withstand it.
Perhaps, this was a form of release for the White sun sect.
When he thought of this, sun Zhanghai’s mood improved a lot.
—-
2k
I still owe 15k
There will be another chapter later, exclusive to night owls and immortal cultivators. It’s hard to say the exact time, but it’s best if you read it tomorrow!