The two of them sat there trading cups, like friends reunited after a long separation.
"The northwest is a vast quagmire. No amount of resources can fill it. The continent's unrest is becoming more and more apparent. Humans and Xiuzhen creatures alike can clearly sense some profound change taking place in heaven and earth. So conflict is unavoidable at its root."
Hou Niao nodded. "...Yes. Everyone is fighting, yet no one knows what they're really fighting for. It's really just bewilderment over a future beyond their control."
Yu Zhengxing explained, "The Loulan sector, overseen by an alliance of several sacred sects and side sects led by our Quanzhen Sect, shares a frontier more than three thousand li wide with the Binxu Desert. Of the eight sectors, it's neither the largest nor the smallest. But the very concept of a border is rather vague. We see it one way, and the undead see it another. It all comes down to the balance of strength."
He pointed at the only decoration in the adobe house, an enormous map on the wall. "Our Quanzhen Sect has more than fifty Sword Cultivators of the Three Heavens Realms here, drawn from the three prefectures and the various provincial prefectures. Even with the scattered cultivators from other sects, we barely number a hundred.
"Another Golden Core cultivator from the Minister of War Prefecture and I are in charge, along with several Golden Core cultivators from other sects. We're responsible for patrolling and clearing out enemies along three thousand li of frontier. With such a broad front and manpower stretched so thin that pulling up our sleeves exposes our elbows, human cultivators have spent these years running themselves ragged, with gaps everywhere.
"Sealing it off completely is impossible, of course. All we can say is that we've