Liu Jingtiao represented Purgatory Sect and Gu Jinlai as he exchanged pleasantries with some senior members of the Purgatory Sect and Lingxiao City, and then he entered the inner courtyard.
In the inner courtyard, Gu Chifeng and Gu Qingmei were still learning from him.
Under Gu Jinlai’s hands-on instruction, they both gained a new understanding of the Great Sun Demon God Body Refining Technique.
Before the two Primordial Spirit True Monarchs and seven Divinity Transformation Great Cultivators from Dragon Sparrow Manor attacked him, he deliberately infused two streams of Qingguang into the already perfected Great Sun Demon God Body Refining Technique.
The purpose was to better understand the technique himself and teach it to Gu Chifeng and Gu Qingmei in an understandable way.
In this situation, their mastery over the Great Sun Demon God Body Refining Technique became increasingly profound.
He believed that within a year or two, they would fully cultivate it to completion and manifest the Great Sun True Demon Body.
Liu Jingtiao glanced at them.
He could clearly feel the fierce, fire-like Qi Blood Power within them.
With their level of combat prowess, unless a Divinity Transformation Great Cultivator used sword control to kill, even those at the Refining God Peak...
Even those who had comprehended the Transformation Realm at the Refining God Peak might not be able to compete with them.
If each of them had two Short Range Defense Cannons equipped to ensure interception rates, the sword attacks of Divinity Transformation Great Cultivators wouldn’t be able to touch them.
And Lingxiao City had displayed six Short Range Defense Cannons; in other words, their combat power at the Divinity Transformation stage was also rising rapidly.
"Venerable Daoist Gu has truly done an immeasurable deed by perfecting the lineage of Demon God Warriors, making it possible for Demon God Warriors to not suffer from their demonic nature,"
Liu Jingtiao remarked emotionally.
"It’s only a temporary suppression of their inner demonic nature, though. If they refine new Demon Blood Essence, they must be cleansed again. Missing the cleansing time means cleaning their demonic nature later would take several times more time and effort,"
Gu Jinlai shook his head: "The reason I’ve never expanded the number of Demon God Guards massively is partly because there isn’t enough Demon Blood Essence. But the main reason is that cleansing the demonic traits takes too much time; it was okay when it was just a hundred or two, but with thousands, every cleansing operation delays a considerable amount of my cultivation time, which I clearly feel is slowing down even more."
"Cultivation gets harder the further you advance; although Venerable Daoist Gu doesn’t follow the path of cultivation, this principle still applies,"
Liu Jingtiao spoke, then pondered: "I heard that Venerable Daoist Gu intends to recruit more Demon God Guards. Our Purgatory Sect also has many good men skilled in refining organs and blood exchange. Venerable Daoist Gu might consider selecting a couple to see if there’s any potential talent."
Gu Jinlai quickly thought of something when he heard these words.
That was Liu Jingtiao trying to further strengthen the relationship between Purgatory Sect and Lingxiao City.
After contemplating for a moment, he asked: "Does Venerable Daoist Liu know about our next strategies for Lingxiao City?"
"Is it the conflict between commoners and cultivators?"
"Actually, I’m also curious why Elder Gu..."
When Liu Jingtiao got to this point, he paused, then switched to a more tactful tone, "chose to maintain civilian rule instead of cultivator rule. Commoners... might have some uses, but mainly, it’s the spirit energy they emanate that transforms the surroundings. Additionally, commoners are ignorant and easily incited... Granting them too much power isn’t good."
"I have my thoughts."
Gu Jinlai responded tersely.
Knowing he didn’t want to elaborate, Liu Jingtiao nonetheless asked, "I would like to hear more about it."
Gu Jinlai looked at this Supreme Elder of the Purgatory Sect.
He now understood that the tremendous shift in how Purgatory Sect treated him was all because of this Elder Liu.
Taking this into consideration, he simply said, "Numbers."
"Specifically, demons."
Liu Jingtiao frowned, seemingly not understanding.
Gu Jinlai cast his gaze beyond the hall.
As his Qiantian Purple Qi Technique ascended to a higher level, the area he could see grew further...
Along with the numerous materials he had come to understand...
"The demons I speak of are never the ones from the Qiantian World alone,"
Gu Jinlai explained: "I am talking about... the entire world."
Liu Jingtiao felt a shock, vaguely realizing something.
"The fall of Tianyuan Dao is something Venerable Daoist Liu must already be aware of, right?"
"This was already a matter over a decade ago, so, has Venerable Daoist Liu ever considered, if over a decade ago the demons could annihilate Tianyuan Dao, which was only slightly weaker than Daqian, what level of strength have Tianyuan Dao’s demons reached after these years of development!?"
Gu Jinlai said, "Moreover, there’s Mu State! South of Mu State are the Endless Mountains, which have no countries, but there are still hundreds of tribes. Some top tribes even have Devas in command, and their combined forces are no less than Tianyuan Dao. Before Southern Mu State fell, the Endless Mountains people realized the issue of ’losing the lips would doom the teeth,’ and aided local resistance forcefully, but since Beimu State also fell to demons, we’ve lost contact with Southern Mu State. Now, what’s the situation in the Endless Mountains?"
Liu Jingtiao listened to Gu Jinlai’s words, his expression gradually becoming more solemn.
"Yes, Daqian is mighty, with Divine Weapons dominating the skies, imposing pressure on the current era. A century ago, more so, an Earthly True Immortal with Divine Weapons swept across all directions, suppressing any dissent, making numerous nations come to court. Even now, with the infestation of demons in Tianhe and Mu State, everyone doesn’t feel it much."
Gu Jinlai sneered, "After all, in all our views, Mu State and Tianhe just have a pair of Demon Kings. Let alone the Daqian Imperial Family, the Earth Immortal Palace, the Human Immortal Palace, the Sanqing Hall, any one of them could easily suppress these two Demon Kings. The trouble of demons is merely a trivial ailment, not worth worrying about. Taking advantage of chaos to seize territory, to seize power, that’s what’s most important..."
He looked at Liu Jingtiao, "But what about beyond Daqian?"
Liu Jingtiao did not speak.
"Demons like a tide, backed by a vast world, Daqian is like a rock standing before the tide, to be devoured is just a matter of time—then... the entirety of Daqian will become like Mu State, or even as Tianyuan Dao, a great building about to collapse, no one could save themselves."
Liu Jingtiao listened and sighed deeply. "With great power comes great responsibility, with great authority comes great liability... This world now, after all, belongs to Daqian... ’Do not plot politics if not in your position; we now just possess the land of a state, yet burden ourselves with the concerns of the whole Daqian world... might it be somewhat..."
Gu Jinlai looked at Liu Jingtiao.
He did not expect even this Venerable Daoist Elder of Purgatory Sect to have such thoughts.
’Should the sky fall, there will be a tall one to hold it’?
Liu Jingtiao shook his head, not continuing to argue on this point: "One step at a time, think one step at a time, but thinking too much might not be a good thing. Spending energy on uncertainties or things that might not come to pass is merely a waste of precious time, energy, and money in our finite lives."
He gradually calmed down and said, "As a Supreme Elder of the Purgatory Sect, all I want is for Purgatory Sect to advance further, to reach a level comparable to the Human Immortal Palace, the Earth Immortal Palace, the Sanqing Hall, and beyond... to match the historic Sky Extreme Sword, to carve out the Qi fortune of Qiantian, until we reshape the mountains and rivers. As for matters beyond Daqian, it’s too early to think about those."
"It’s always good to be prepared for a rainy day."
Gu Jinlai said, "I emphasize equality and order because of numbers; I need a large number of people. With more people, there will be more Demon God Warriors, and unlike cultivators, these warriors strive to become stronger by hunting demons, fully exerting these Demon God Warriors’ initiative."
As he spoke, he added, "Although order and equality might cause those cultivators formerly high above, due to their privileges being broken, to feel hostile and reject us from Star State, making our path ahead tougher, but, like a tide of demons, humans are the same. When the tide rises into waves, rolling forward, I believe this will and power will ultimately be unstoppable."
Liu Jingtiao listened to Gu Jinlai’s words in silence.
He couldn’t help but reflect on Gu Jinlai’s achievements over the years.
Three years ago, who could have imagined that Gu Jinlai, who left the core of the Purgatory Sect’s power, would grow to such a status today?
If he continues this trend, what about the future?
Could he... truly reach a stature comparable to the Daqian Imperial Family?
With this thought, Liu Jingtiao had an idea.
"Our stance, by nature, means we cannot offer much support, but as far as we are able, if you need help, just speak," he said, smiling. "Like Demon God Guards, you are totally welcome to select more from our Purgatory Sect."
"Good, I will send someone to make a selection," Gu Jinlai smiled and nodded.
It seems, this Venerable Daoist Liu already has plans to place a bet with Purgatory Sect on his side.
"Speaking of which, Venerable Daoist Gu has not returned to Purgatory Sect for more than three years, right? The crowning as a Supreme Elder requires a verification process, and in addition, the Divine Sword conference starts in three months. Venerable Daoist Gu, do you think you might find time to visit Purgatory Sect?"
Liu Jingtiao said, smiling, "It would also be good to see the other two Supreme Elders and those Elders of our Purgatory Sect."
Gu Jinlai, having achieved Mahayana in the Eternal Furnace cultivation and derived the trait of "Eternal Immortal" capable of rebirth and renewal, wasn’t much afraid of going to Purgatory Sect.
He nodded at once, "I’ll arrange things here and then head back; I’ll try to return to Purgatory Sect before the Divine Sword conference starts."
Liu Jingtiao nodded slightly.
His expression gradually became solemn.
"Next, I will talk with Venerable Daoist Gu about the Divine Sword conference coming up in three months."
At that moment, Liu Jingtiao went into detail, and he carefully took note.
Though he had learned some information about the Divine Sword conference through the channels of Xuzhen Tower, the Silver Sword Master was only a mid-tier member of Xuzhen Tower and hadn’t touched on the real core content.
Compared to representing the well-understood Purgatory Sect at the Divine Sword conference, the cooperation with Xuzhen Tower was too shallow; he didn’t want to get too deeply involved in such significant matters.