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Chapter 167: Chapter 164 Demon God Guards
Dragon Sparrow Manor’s main hall.
When Long Yinfeng and Sword Master Xue He arrived, two people were already waiting there.
One was Wen Rulong, the Chief Staff of the State Lord Mansion.
The other was Su Wen, Director of the Star Patrol Department of the Meteor Star Guard.
Since Xin Tianqi had committed himself to advocating for Qi Renwang’s ascension, the State Lord Mansion had split, and the Meteor Star Guard likewise suffered turmoil.
Though encircled by formidable enemies, the sides had not clashed militarily, but the Meteor Star Guard was also split in two, with one part continuing to follow the orders of Star Lord Xin Tianqi, holding the territories south of Starlight City, including Xingyu City to the south.
However, another part, like the former Director of the Star Patrol Department, Su Wen, had defected with his people to join Qi Fenglei, the second son, and with the support of people like Xue Yue, had taken over Star Frost City to the west of Starlight City.
Star Wind, Star Frost, Xingyu, along with the capital Starlight City, were also currently all the territories under the State Lord Mansion’s control.
Of course, while it was only four cities, these cities were in their scale a notch bigger than the five cities held by Gu Jinlai, plus the Star State Capital...
The total population under the jurisdiction of the State Lord Mansion exceeded eighteen million.
Nearly a third of Star State’s total population.
Comparable to Dragon Sparrow Manor holding half of Jiangzhou State’s population, it still represented a force that couldn’t be ignored.
"You’ve been waiting a long time,"
Long Yinfeng said with a smile as he cupped his hands in greeting.
"It should be us who are intruding on the Manor Master,"
Wen Rulong replied with a smile and returned the gesture.
After the initial pleasantries, Wen Rulong came straight to the point, "Manor Master Long, we’ve found the culprit who sabotaged our joint plan. It proves that neither side breached the agreement at the time. I wonder, does the original agreement still stand?"
"Of course, it stands,"
Long Yinfeng who personally received the two of them indeed had the intention to restart the joint effort.
"That is very good. Then we shall proceed as initially agreed. Our State Lord Mansion will take the fourteen cities to the west of Star State, and Dragon Sparrow Manor will take the twelve cities to the east of Star State. We’ll use Green Grass Plain as the boundary and jointly govern Star State,"
Wen Rulong said.
"Hehe,"
Long Yinfeng chuckled but didn’t immediately confirm. Instead, he said, "Times have changed, and now the internal conflicts within the State Lord Mansion remain unresolved. This alliance... is not easy to arrange."
"I know what Manor Master Long wants to say, but now, our State Lord Mansion has reached a consensus with the Four Great Families. They agree to recognize Qi Fenglei as the legitimate Governor Qi. With the support of the Four Great Families, plus the skilled experts from our State Lord Mansion and the forces under General Xue’s command, our side already has nine Divinity Transformation Cultivators, over forty Refining God Immortals, and thousands at the Hugging Pill, Gang Condensation, and Qi Refinement, along with an elite force of fifty thousand and soldiers totaling one hundred fifty thousand—a grand army of two hundred thousand..."
"You don’t have a Primordial Spirit True Monarch,"
Long Yinfeng said with a light smile.
"Even if nine Great Cultivators together unleash their flying swords, what can a Primordial Spirit True Monarch do against them?"
"Your nine Great Cultivators can’t always be in one place. A Primordial Spirit True Monarch only needs to find the right opportunity to divide and conquer."
Long Yinfeng, cradling his tea, blew away the steam on top and said with a smile: "Therefore, the division of territory as previously discussed needs to be revised."
Su Wen frowned upon hearing this, "Though we have some minor differences with Star Lord Xin, we still stand united when it comes to external matters..."
Wen Rulong shook his head at him, then turned to Long Yinfeng, "What does Manor Master Long suggest then?"
"Twelve cities are not enough,"
Long Yinfeng stated bluntly.
He seemed to be expecting a higher price.
"How about we add Taihe City?"
Wen Rulong said.
"While officially under the Purgatory Sect, Taihe City is in fact controlled by Gu Jinlai, especially after the battle in the Yunqi Mountain Range. He will not give up the sovereignty of Taihe City so easily. Since Taihe City now belongs to us, Dragon Sparrow Manor, Baihe City, Changjun City, Lingxiao City, Yuanhua City, and Sunset City should also be ours,"
Long Yinfeng demanded boldly.
"Manor Master Long wants to take six cities at once. By your proposition, out of the twenty-six cities of Star State, you alone would occupy eighteen—a near two-thirds of the territory. What role would there be for our State Lord Mansion?"
Su Wen said.
"This is our bottom line,"
Long Yinfeng replied with a slight smile.
"You can have Taihe City, Baihe City, Lingxiao City, Yuanhua City, and Sunset City, but Changjun City must remain under the ownership of the State Lord Mansion,"
At this point, Wen Rulong spoke up.
He clearly knew where Qi Fenglei’s bottom line was.
"No, we can at most give you Yuanhua City,"
Long Yinfeng glanced at Wen Rulong, "If your State Lord Mansion wants to make a move on Chang County or Lingxiao, don’t forget there’s the Star Sky Alliance and the Netherworld Sect in between. Not to mention, the Yellow Sky Sect will also tie down much of your strength. How much force can you muster to support us when we strike at Taihe City or Baihe City? Won’t the main effort still need to come from Dragon Sparrow Manor? Thus, of these six cities, we can at most cede Yuanhua City."
"Dragon Sparrow Manor is eager to deal with Gu Jinlai, fearing that he’ll grow too powerful too quickly, right?"
Wen Rulong countered, "After all, Dragon Sparrow Manor’s actions in the Yunqi Mountains can’t be considered absolutely secret. Forget about the Purgatory Sect backing Gu Jinlai—even without them, given some time, they could still dig up some clues."
This statement made Long Yinfeng’s brows furrow.
The matter in Yunqi Mountains...
Indeed, it couldn’t be concealed.
Originally, they were confident no one would dare to investigate.
But when Gu Jinlai’s side showed power nearly rivaling that of a top-notch grand sect, this became the spark for the animosity between them.
This was also why Long Yinfeng received the State Lord Mansion’s representatives so promptly upon hearing of their visit.
"Changjun City must return to the State Lord Mansion’s jurisdiction. In exchange, when Dragon Sparrow Manor deals with Lingxiao City, City Lord Su will lead the elite forces to support Dragon Sparrow Manor,"
Wen Rulong said.
"Oh,"
Long Yinfeng cast a glance at Su Wen, quickly associating him with the friction between Gu Jinlai.
After pondering for a moment, he nodded in assent.
Gu Jinlai wasn’t weak—tackling him with just the power of Dragon Sparrow Manor would come at a significant cost, even if successful. Partnering with the State Governor’s Mansion was clearly the best option.
"If City Lord Su is willing to lend his aid in battle, Dragon Sparrow Manor will accept the charge,"
Long Yinfeng declared.
"Gu Jinlai is not a weakling. To ensure a flawless victory, I kindly ask that a Supreme Elder from Dragon Sparrow Manor take the initiative personally,"
Su Wen reminded.
"Of course,"
Long Yinfeng nodded. "Even when a lion hunts a rabbit, it uses all its effort. Not only will Venerable Daoist Ye Wu Xia, who is currently on duty, take action from Dragon Sparrow Manor, but once we confirm there is no longer a threat from the demons in the Yunqi Mountain Range, Venerable Daoist Wang Yinfeng, who is stationed in the Yunqi Mountain Range fortress, will also join in. With two Supreme Elders and the combined power of Six Great God Transformation Practitioners, plus City Lord Su, we will command the force of nine top cultivators to storm into Star State, seize Gu Jinlai’s life, and thereafter capture Lingxiao City in a single battle."
Two Supreme Elders!?
Su Wen and Wen Rulong’s eyes suddenly lit up.
This was a foolproof plan.
"The biggest threat in Lingxiao City is Gu Jinlai. Once he falls, the remaining rabble won’t be difficult to deal with at all,"
Wen Rulong stood up, clasped his hands, and said with a smile, "Then let me be the first to congratulate Manor Master Long, and the Dragon Sparrow Manor, on the joyous acquisition of the Lingxiao Five Cities."
...
Baihe City.
In the center of the martial arts arena, a fiercely burning Great Sun hung in the void.
Under the Great Sun, rows of Demon God Warriors stood as they circulated the Great Sun Demon God Body Refining Technique to refine the power within the demon blood essence.
Upon glancing across the arena, one could see hundreds of men, bare-chested and vigorously powerful.
The essence blood emanating from their bodies created waves of heat that spread in all directions, seemingly distorting the surrounding air.
This was a sign that the Great Sun Demon God Body Refining Technique was being pushed to its limits.
Once the last Demon God Warrior’s demonic nature was incinerated by the Power of the Great Sun, the massive cultivation exercise drew to a close.
The Great Sun dimmed.
"Farewell, Heavenly Monarch,"
In an admixture of voices filled with worship and fervor, Gu Jinlai concluded his Visualization of the Great Sun and left the martial arts arena.
"Patriarch,"
Gu Chifeng approached promptly, handing over a Primordial Spirit Pill.
"Hmm,"
Gu Jinlai responded.
A month had passed since the defense of Baihe City.
For that month, Gu Jinlai stayed in Baihe City, using the power of the Great Sun to help his Divine Demon Guards cleanse the demonic nature from the demon blood essence.
After several repetitions over the month, they had finally managed to eradicate all traces of demonic nature.
This situation arose because the demon blood essence had a limited shelf life. To maximize the effects of the essence blood, he had thousands of cultivators practicing the Great Sun Demon God Body Refining Technique refine the essence blood.
As such, it was naturally impossible for him to timely remove the demonic nature from each individual, requiring an after-the-fact cleansing through Visualization of the Great Sun.
The process was quite cumbersome; even with Gu Jinlai’s mastery of Grand Sun Nine Refinements Visualization Method to Nine Refinements Perfection and numerous Primordial Spirit Pills consumed to restore his spiritual sense, it still took a whole month.
"How are the guards’ overall conditions now?"
Gu Jinlai inquired.
"Very good,"
Gu Chifeng emphatically replied, "One thousand Divine Demon Guards, all have cultivated a Demon God Body. Just let them don the Mystic Steel Armor and wield the Mystic Steel Battle Swords, each able to match a Gang Condensation in battle strength! Merely thirty can form an array to surround and kill a Refining God Immortal. Moreover, among these guards, one hundred and eighty-two have formed a Middle Level Demon Body, and the most outstanding twenty-four have achieved Upper Demon Bodies!"
"Only twenty-four?"
Gu Jinlai was somewhat surprised.
The number was lower than he had expected.
"They..."
Gu Chifeng expressed helplessly, "Their comprehension of the Great Sun Demon God Body Refining Technique is too poor..."
Gu Jinlai had an epiphany.
Despite the comprehensive instructions of the Great Sun Demon God Body Refining Technique and personal guidance from experienced practitioners like Gu Chifeng, especially at the entry-level phase, most people failed even to reach the threshold.
In such a case, no matter how profound the Great Sun Demon God Body Refining Technique might be, how much could they possibly utilize from the demon blood essence?
He looked at Gu Chifeng.
He and Gu Qingmei, his two closest guards who had cultivated the Great Sun Demon God Body Refining Technique to Small Achievement, had not disappointed him.
They had already formed a Great Demon Body.
Not just him, Gu Yunxin had also unexpectedly surpassed Gu Luochen, becoming the third Demon God Warrior to form a Great Demon Body.
"One thousand Demon God Warriors, with some Middle Level and Upper Martial Artists interspersed..."
Gu Jinlai made a quick estimate.
This force...
Could match several Refining God Immortals.
After this battle, Lingxiao City’s force at the Refining God Stage, Hugging Pill, Gang Condensation, and Qi Refinement levels had been significantly bolstered.
Including the power of short-range defense cannons such as the Slaughter Spirit Artifact, even the Divinity Transformation Level forces were passably robust.
Once the Primordial Spirit True Monarchs, the pinnacle battle power, were replenished in numbers, who could say they weren’t a top-tier force?
