Deep Waters in the Royal City (Bonus Chapter 1 for Update Requests!)

Si Bingwen remained as calm as ever; presumably, he had already learned the relevant information in advance.

"I have already dispatched Lineage warriors to rescue your Commander-in-Chief."

"But if you wish to immediately begin rebuilding the Pei Province Demon Slayer Division, that is not something I can accomplish alone."

"You will also need to win the support of the other halls."

"After all, Pei Province is not the only province that has suffered demon and monster attacks and sustained enormous losses."

Lineage warriors... win support...

Li Xuanxiao keenly caught the details in Si Bingwen's words.

Rescuing a provincial Commander-in-Chief should have been the responsibility of the entire Demon Slaying Hall. Why did Si Bingwen need to dispatch his own Lineage warriors separately?

By the same logic, rebuilding the Pei Province Demon Slayer Division was meant to preserve Pei Province's stability, and the stability of Great Yu.

That too was part of their duty, yet the word Si Bingwen had used was "win."

Even if several provinces had suffered losses, the Demon Slayer Division should have taken the initiative to rebuild them as swiftly as possible. Why did they still need to win support?

Si Bingwen's words carried layers of meaning, and Li Xuanxiao fell silent in thought.

The Demon Slayer Division headquarters seemed far less united and cooperative than he had imagined.

Instead...

It felt more like gangs standing shoulder to shoulder, each at odds with the others.

"My lord, please clear up my confusion. Rebuilding the Pei Province Demon Slayer Division should have been the duty of the Demon Slayer Division headquarters. Why must we still seek support?"

Unable to make heads or tails of it, Li Xuanxiao immediately bowed again and asked.

"The waters in the royal city run deep. The Demon Slayer Division headquarters is stationed in the royal city, where high-ranking martial artists abound and demons and monsters rarely cause trouble..."

"People of different ranks, different standing, and different backgrounds all gather here, yet they share no common enemy."

"Everyone fights for their own interests. They do not care much about what happens below."

"The tragedy of Yu Province and Pei Province is, in some people's eyes, a grave matter involving devastating losses. But in the eyes of another group, it is something they are delighted to see."

At this point, Si Bingwen shot Li Xuanxiao a sidelong glance. "The martial artist from Yu Province who came seeking aid arrived before you did."

"Moreover, Yu Province has always been known as the 'Granary of Great Yu,' which shows just how important it is."

"Yet even so, the reconstruction plan for the Yu Province Demon Slayer Division has advanced with great difficulty and agonizing slowness."

"If you do not actively fight for it, the rebuilding of the Pei Province Demon Slayer Division will be delayed considerably."

"Yu Province is somewhat better off. Food is the foundation of the people's livelihood, so no matter how slow things are, it will at least move forward steadily."

"But Pei Province... that may not be the case."

Li Xuanxiao listened in silence, fury gradually welling up in his chest.

Just as expected... no matter what world it was, those in high places always put their own interests first.

What did the lives and deaths of those at the bottom have to do with them?

Power was only accountable to its source. When needed, they would say the people came first, the state second, and the ruler last—spouting hypocritical, pleasant-sounding bullshit.

When they were not needed, they discarded them like worn-out shoes...

A look of sorrow appeared on Li Xuanxiao's face as he silently closed his eyes.

In his mind rose one ruined city after another, displaced commoners, and helpless children weeping.

Liu Gelin, nailed to an outer wall, refusing to rest in peace even in death.

The Patrol Hall Master, riddled like a porcupine and long dead, yet still gripping his blade tight.

Too many... far too many...

Li Xuanxiao only felt a suffocating resentment shooting straight to his head.

At this very moment, as they spoke, who knew how many martial artists in Pei Province were still fighting demons and monsters, risking their lives to protect the common people.

"My lord, Pei Province's martial artists... are dying right now."

"To protect the people of Pei Province, for Great Yu, for those lofty people above..."

"They have their heads cut off, arrows pierce their hearts by the tens of thousands, or they become food for demons and monsters, dying miserable deaths."

"And now, I still have to beg these people above for their support, plead for their pity?"

Li Xuanxiao's eyes were slightly red—not from tears, but from fury forced down too long.

Si Bingwen remained silent, not daring to meet Li Xuanxiao's gaze.

He was merely the master of one of the Demon Slayer Division's eight halls. Since he disliked strife, he had almost no voice within the Demon Slayer Division.

Otherwise, when his own younger brother had been hunted by a Demon Emperor, he would not have been reduced to relying on Lineage warriors for the rescue...

Li Xuanxiao reined in his emotions. Anger could not solve problems; without sufficient strength, it would only earn him ridicule for impotent rage.

For now, Si Bingwen was not an enemy. Otherwise, he would not have been reduced to needing Lineage warriors to rescue his own younger brother.

Li Xuanxiao took a deep breath and calmed his surging emotions.

"My lord, please tell me exactly what I should do, and how I should fight for it."

Li Xuanxiao humbly sought guidance. In a place this complicated, there was bound to be its own set of rules governing how things worked.

If he charged about recklessly like some greenhorn and offended someone he should not, then when the time came, forget asking for aid—he might even get his own people killed in the game.

So although he was furious, he remained calm. He would get the matter done first, then think about everything else afterward.

Pei Province could not afford delay, but there was extremely little he could accomplish alone.

To save all of Pei Province, he had to borrow the royal city's power!

Si Bingwen raised his head and looked at the youth before him. "I must regretfully tell you a fact."

"From the moment you stepped into the Demon Slayer Division headquarters and submitted your identity Jade Token."

"You had already been watched by countless people."

"And the instant you were brought into my Demon Slaying Hall, whether you wished it or not, you had already been branded and assigned to a camp."

"This was both a good thing and a bad thing."

"With halls friendly to my Demon Slaying Hall, winning support will naturally be much easier."

"Conversely, with halls that are at odds with us—or even have concrete conflicts of interest with us—winning their support will become extraordinarily difficult."

Li Xuanxiao listened quietly and pressed his lips together. "My lord, is there another way?"

The thought of having to humble himself and beg those people above made his entire body feel uncomfortable.

Compared to winning their support, Li Xuanxiao would rather put a blade to their throats!

Si Bingwen glanced at Li Xuanxiao. "Of course there is."

"There are exceptions to everything. There is a way to bypass all those rules and all those man-made obstacles."

"As long as you possess enough strength!"

Li Xuanxiao's eyes lit up. He could rely on strength?

That truly could not have been better!

Li Xuanxiao dared not boast about anything else, but when it came to strength, he had never conceded to anyone!

With the system backing him, if he still could not beat these people, then he might as well find a crooked-necked tree and hang himself.

Li Xuanxiao immediately asked, "How do I rely on strength?"

Si Bingwen's expression turned solemn. "Have you thought this through? The Demon Slayer Division headquarters is no comparison to the provincial branches below!"

"The martial artists here are the most elite and strongest batch in the royal city—no, in all of Great Yu."

"It will not be easy if you want to flatten them!"

The moment Si Bingwen finished speaking, he felt a vast, surging aura rise up.

Li Xuanxiao did not hold back in the slightest, circulating his True Essence with all his strength. "My lord, just tell me. I will handle the rest!"

The Mystic Lotus Sutra was driven to its absolute limit, vast True Essence churning like monstrous waves!

The calm vanished completely from Si Bingwen's face in an instant, and his eyes widened involuntarily.

Mystic Realm!

And not one who had merely entered the Mystic Realm!

At the very least... the mid-stage Mystic Realm!

Since when had the Pei Province Demon Slayer Division produced such a monstrous genius?