Xia Ruize's generals soon led their respective troops away from the Small Heavenly Court, but Xia Ruize, Yu Xiaoxue, and Ren Zhi did not leave immediately. They stood there waiting for me to finish assigning everything. Only then did Ren Zhi come over and say, "Emperor Xia, this battle has, in a sense, pacified Zhongzhou. From now on, the stage belongs to the Great War of the Nine Provinces. Since you are the emperor of Zhongzhou, you now have the qualifications to speak out and to have your voice heard in history. As the leader of the Jie Sect, I have a duty to advise you: during the Great War of the Nine Provinces, Immortal-ranked cultivators should not attack civilians below the Immortal rank in the Nine Provinces."
"Having Immortal-ranked cultivators refrain from attacking civilians is naturally the right thing to do. Later, I'll have the intelligence department spread the word and invite the major renowned sects of the Nine Provinces—or perhaps issue a proclamation far and wide." I nodded. If it had been anything else, I wouldn't have bothered with him, but since this concerned the civilians of the Nine Provinces, that was another matter entirely.
"It would be much more convenient for the army to handle this, but the only people who can truly accomplish it are surely us, the Jie Sect. You understand that, don't you?" Ren Zhi said mildly. His meaning was clear: his resources were more direct than mine, and he even possessed the necessary power.
I didn't know what Ren Zhi was planning, but if he was doing it for the good of the Nine Provinces, I didn't mind cooperating. So I looked at the Jie Sect leader, Ren Zhi, who had already straightened up, and said, "Senior Ren, the disciples of the Jie