Following closely after Yan Wuji, Demon Empress Ying Ying shook her head and added self-mockingly, "As for elders like us, on a personal level, giving up certain things in exchange for health, strength, and even longevity isn't a difficult choice. On a broader level, uniting the various sides is also an inevitable step in the later stages of conflict, with more benefits than drawbacks for stability and development. We aren't the first to do this, either. Besides, to be frank, elders like us are probably thinking we'll have more after submitting than we did before..."
Jian Shang nodded without giving an affirmative reply. Instead, he asked, "Was your decision this time mainly prompted by the Great Huan Dynasty's next deployment... the campaign against Nanbeimei?"
If another family or faction voluntarily submitted, whether sincerely or otherwise, Jian Shang had plenty of ways to turn false submission into genuine submission, and genuine submission into something they could never take back. But becoming the sovereign of the homeland that had raised him felt indescribably awkward. He had never entertained the idea.
If he accepted the submission of the Great Xia people, should he continue to follow the principle that strength reigned supreme, or Great Xia's way of thinking? If he followed Great Xia's thinking, could the Great Huan Dynasty's civil and military officials accept it? Even Jian Shang himself would probably find it difficult. But if strength reigned supreme, could the people of Great Xia... accept that? Would this be progress, or a step backward?
With Jian Shang's cultivation realm, he could naturally sense the sincerity of the representatives of the Great Xia people. Yet his instincts told him that agreeing would mean taking on a tremendous burden, with endless trouble to follow.
After a moment's thought, Dragon Soul nodded and replied, "That