A Test, an Opportunity to Expand!

The side hall had already been cleared out.

Yun Du, Sun Chengzu, and Shi Jian sat on three sides, while True Person Xuancheng sat alone in the guest seat.

With the four Golden Core cultivators gathered together, the aura within the hall gradually became viscous.

"Brother Xuan Cheng, why are you staying so late at night? Surely the sect has a decree to convey?" Yun Du personally poured a cup of spiritual tea and pushed it in front of Xuan Cheng.

True Person Xuancheng picked up the teacup, but did not drink it.

"Cloud Temple a man of few words, so I will speak frankly as well."

True Person Xuancheng's smile faded at the banquet, and his tone became serious. "Now that the Jin Kingdom has been destroyed, the Clear Azure Kingdom's territory has greatly expanded."

"The sect's current focus is entirely on consolidating these new territories."

Yun Du nodded. "That's how it should be."

"But there's one place that the sect hasn't been able to address."

With a flick of his finger, True Person Xuancheng displayed a massive map of the Profound Spirit Continent in the center of the hall, ranging from the entire continent to a small mortal town.

"In the southwest of the Profound Spirit Continent, at the southernmost point bordering the Liang Kingdom and our Clear Azure Kingdom, lies a Savage Wilderness land."

Its name is: Vile Muddy Marsh!

Upon hearing this name, Shi Jian Vile Muddy Marsh. He had heard of E Hun Dang before; it was a notoriously poor and desolate place.

Poisonous miasma pervaded the land, and swamps covered the ground.

It is also one of the few remaining habitats for Demon Beast on the mainland.

"That place has complex terrain and violent Spiritual Qi energy, making it unsuitable for Human Race cultivators to live in."

Then, True Person Xuancheng changed his tone. "But after the sect's in-depth investigation, there might be several high-grade Spirit Stone mines hidden inside, with extremely rich reserves and many rare spirit medicine."

Upon hearing this, the three Pill Formula of White Cloud Temple finally realized their mistake.

It turns out that a large Spirit Stone vein has been discovered, which is why they went to such great lengths to develop this desolate land.

If it is indeed a large Spirit Stone vein, then it probably contains an enormous amount of Spirit Stone, and may even contain high-grade Spirit Stone!

Yun Du stroked his beard and said, "So, the upper sect's intention is to drag our White Cloud Temple into this mess?"

"I'm not wading into muddy waters, I'm handing you a great opportunity."

True Person Xuancheng looked at Yun Du: "There are no Shapeshifting Demon King in that place; the strongest are only a few level five or six Demon General."

"With White Cloud Temple's current strength, taking it down shouldn't be a problem."

"Then why doesn't the Upper Sect take action themselves?" Sun Chengzu interjected.

True Person Xuancheng glanced at him. "The world is different now than before. The True Lord of various factions within the sect are all stationed on the frontiers, guarding against the states of Wei and Liang, and also inspecting the vast lands within the country."

"Currently, Clear Azure is in dire need of manpower to develop various territories, and the manpower is already insufficient."

Furthermore, the Evil Water Marsh is the territory of Demon Beast, and the White Cloud Temple is skilled in beast taming. If you were to handle this matter, you would achieve twice the result with half the effort.

He paused, then revealed his trump card. "However, you need not worry. After this is accomplished, Evil Water Marsh will be incorporated into the territory of the Clear Azure Kingdom."

"The sect promised that White Cloud Temple could exclusively occupy 40% of the territory as your enclave, while the sect would send people to take over the remaining 60% and establish a new Golden Core Lineage."

Forty percent of the territory.

Yun Du's heart skipped a beat; he was tempted.

The area of Evil Water Marsh is vast. Although it cannot compare to a single continent of the Clear Granary Kingdom, it is close. Forty percent of its territory is enough to be equivalent to more than half of Ming Province.

If we can take it, the foundation of White Cloud Temple will be many times stronger!

But this meat is not easy to chew.

"When pioneering Savage Wilderness, casualties are inevitable. The upper sect is using us as trailblazers."

"Expanding territory, how can it be done without bloodshed?"

"Besides, if a batch of lower-level cultivators dies, another batch can be trained. As long as we, Changheng, exist, everything can be salvaged."

True Person Xuancheng remained unmoved. One moment he was chatting happily with everyone, the next he showed his indifference towards the lower-level cultivators.

"Master Cloud Temple, the sect has high hopes for White Cloud Temple."

"Shi Yin's position within the sect is already secure. If your White Cloud Temple can also take over Evil Water Marsh, he will become a core confidant of our sect."

"You'd better think this through, Fellow Cloud Dao."

There's a hidden meaning in those words.

Shi Jian observed the scene with a detached eye, his mind perfectly clear.

The Supreme Purity Sect is testing us. The White Cloud Temple three Golden Core cultivators in one family; their development is too rapid. The Supreme Purity Sect cannot be unprepared.

Give them a task that will allow them to gain 60% of the territory for free, while also depleting the manpower of White Cloud Temple.

More importantly, the Evil Water Marsh are teeming with Demon Beast.

The Supreme Purity Sect wanted to see if Shi Jian, this great demon, was willing to slaughter his own kind for the benefit of the Human Race —this was the pledge of loyalty.

We must make them willingly become dogs!

"Fellow Xuan Cheng."

"The Demon Beast in the Evil Water Marsh are not to be trifled with. If a real fight breaks out, I'm afraid my White Cloud Temple Temple's resources won't be enough to cover it."

"Fellow Daoist Shi is too modest."

True Person Xuancheng looked at him with a smile, "With you here, fellow Daoist, what are a few lowly wild demons?"

"The sect trusts you, and believes that the patriarch will be able to distinguish between primary and secondary matters and serve the sect."

Distinguish between primary and secondary priorities.

These four words were pronounced very heavily.

Shi Jian grinned and said, "Since the sect thinks highly of us, we'll take this job."

Yun Du and Sun Chengzu exchanged a glance but did not voice any objection.

"Fellow Daoist, this is truly exhilarating."

True Person Xuancheng stood up. "The sect will give you five years to prepare. Five years later, the army will set off. I will await good news at Jade Empyrean Mountain."

As soon as he finished speaking, True Person Xuan Cheng transformed into a beam of light and fled.

No sooner had they seen off True Person Xuancheng than the door to the side hall was closed again.

Yun Du sighed and sat back down in his chair. "This bone is really hard to chew."

"Open schemes are the hardest to guard against."

The old Daoist priest pinched the bridge of his nose, his sigh echoing in the empty side hall, "If we don't go, it will be considered disobeying orders, Shi Yin's situation in the Supreme Purity Sect will immediately become difficult; if we go, we'll probably have to give up half of the wealth we've just accumulated."

"The swamps of the Evil Water Marsh have always been a graveyard for monks."

Sun Chengzu sat upright to the side, the sword patterns flowing on his Dark Gold Daoist robe.

Having just entered the Golden Core, he was full of vigor and ambition. Upon hearing this, he simply said, "Since we can't avoid it, let's fight. A sword cultivator's foundation is cultivated through battle."

"My Return to Origin Sword Tomb is lacking the Essence Blood of some great demons to consecrate the sword."

Shi Jian remained silent, waiting for a long time before finally speaking quietly:

"You Human Race, with your endless scheming and plotting, always manage to get yourselves into dead ends."

"Brother Yun, you've got a clever plan, but your vision is too narrow. This isn't a death warrant; it's a perfectly legitimate endorsement for expansion!"

Yun Du looked up, a faint smile unconsciously appearing on his lips:

"Brother Shi, what makes you say that?"

"What does that old bastard Xuan Cheng want? Territory, resources, the expansion of the Clear Azure Kingdom's territory, and a well-developed piece of land."

"He wants us to clear out the Demon Beast as a token of our loyalty."

"But who says that cleanup has to mean killing everyone?"

Sun Chengzu frowned slightly. "If we don't kill them, are we supposed to drive them all away? The Demon Beast in the Evil Water Marsh are deeply entrenched; driving them away is more difficult than killing them."

What is the origin of White Cloud Temple?

Shi Jian countered with a hint of mockery, "We are the Beast Taming Sect. We're entering the mountain legitimately under the banner of the Supreme Purity Sect."

"If we encounter troublemakers, we'll kill them to establish our authority; if we encounter those who are useful, we'll mark them as Slave Seal and put them in the animal enclosure. As long as the Supreme Purity Sect's 60% territory is secure and the Spirit Stone mines can be mined on schedule, they won't care about those trivial matters. All they want is our attitude."

"You need not worry about me. Those Demon Beast who submit to me will perish."

Those who can't see the bigger picture deserve to die.

Yun Du slightly, understanding what he meant.

"Kill some, spare some, recruit some..."

"By borrowing the authority of the Supreme Purity Sect, we will go to the Evil Water Marsh, recruit various Demon Race, and incorporate those that can be used into the governance of my White Cloud Temple, thereby enhancing the sect's foundation."

"Furthermore, forty percent of the territory belongs to White Cloud Temple."

"With this 40% of the territory, we don't have to pay taxes or have to deal with anyone. This deal isn't a loss for us at all..."

As Shi Jian described the future prospects, he secretly made plans in his mind.

For two hundred years, he racked his brains to seek a living space for the Demon Race, piecing together Ming Province, Transformation Province, Yuan Continent, Liang Kingdom, but it was all just small-scale efforts.

But the Evil Water Marsh were different; it was a truly untamed land, vast and boundless.

If managed properly, it is entirely possible to establish a state within a state right under the noses of the Human Race, and operate it independently.

The Supreme Purity Sect thought they had thrown out a bait to test loyalty, but little did they know that this was exactly what Shi Jian wanted.

Human Race always like to understand everything in this world from their own perspective.

They believed that Demon Beast would cooperate and coexist with Human Race, but little did they know that Demon Beast and Human Race.

If those Demon Race are unwilling to submit to him, he wouldn't mind completely eradicating them and turning them into his resources!