【Although the human sects that developed in secret under the Torch Society's protection were far stronger than the Firewood Sect, they were still much weaker than the Feiyu Sect, and even some of the Feiyu Sect's subsidiary branches. As a result, they suffered heavy casualties.】
【The Torch Society governed many regions with remarkable order, ushering in an era of peace and prosperity, with smooth governance and vibrant life.】
【The people's eyes were sharp, and even some members of the Alien Races sincerely admired the new administrative bodies formed by these human cadres.】
【So when the Feiyu Sect seized local political power, many common folk participated in the resistance. Though their efforts were of little use, they gave rise to countless tales of heroism and tragedy.】
【For instance, the one hundred thousand soldiers and civilians of Jiangyang City, along with the secret human sects that came to support the city, defended it to the last person, fighting until only the final defender remained. In the end, all the enemy obtained was an empty city, without even a single living dog left behind.】
【These are all stories recorded in the annals of history.】
【For you at this moment, how to win this "Battle of Red Cliffs" between the Sun and Liu alliance was your foremost challenge.】
【You had repeatedly led high-grade cultivators, pulling out the trump card hidden deep within the Tiansha Sect alliance's arsenal. The Tiansha Sect alliance was a combined entity of multiple factions with the Tiansha Sect at its core, and the Tiansha Army was assembled from the elite cultivators of these many forces.】
【You launched attacks against the battle corpse guarding the mountain gate of the Qingqiu Sect.】
【Unfortunately, the results were negligible, and you even lost several Transcendent Realm cultivators.】
【The problem was that now you had no choice but to keep fighting.】
【The moment you retreated, this battle corpse would chase after the Tiansha Army and pummel them.】
【The moment you stopped, it would go back to guarding the Qingqiu Sect's mountain gate.】
【"Damn it! Here we are, a million strong army, and we're stumped by a single corpse!"】
【Inside the commander's tent, you were so furious you flipped the table.】
【Very much in line with the Dragon-Man race's violent temperament.】
【Ya Dada remarked.】
【"Sect Master, we've discussed it, and we believe we should still withdraw the troops. With so many cultivators, mounts, and war beasts camped here, the daily consumption of food and supplies is an unbearable burden on our rear lines.】
【On top of that, the Feiyu Sect has been steadily encroaching on our territory.】
【If we continue like this, there's a real risk our forces will collapse at any moment and fall apart like a flood bursting through a dam..."】
【"Do you think I don't understand this logic..."】
【Even the Unlimited White Porridge trait couldn't solve the food supply problem.】
【There were simply too many people.】
【Porridge was generated bowl by bowl. Even if you sat in the porridge stall from dawn to dusk, there was no way you could give each person in a million-strong army a bowl.】
【Besides, one bowl wasn't nearly enough to fill a cultivator's stomach.】
【Let alone the mounts and war beasts, each of which had the appetite of a gluttonous monster.】
【You stared at the tactical sand table in the camp, your brow deeply furrowed at the wooden carving of the battle corpse standing tall in the center.】
【"I think this battle corpse isn't that hard to deal with. No matter how powerful it is, it's still a corpse, lacking the wisdom of the living. The real problem is that golden wheel. Its power is simply too devastating. Is it a primal spiritual treasure?
Our sect also possesses primal spiritual treasures, so why do they seem like mere trifles compared to that golden wheel?"】
【Ya Dada said.】
【"Sect Master, if the Qingqiu Sect's golden wheel is so powerful, then why did they join forces with the Feiyu Sect and use the Feiyu Sect's founding ancestor's battle corpse to wield it?"】
【Ya Dada's words suddenly enlightened you.】
【"The living can't use this thing! No wonder there's never been any record anywhere of Qingqiu Sect members ever using it!"】
【"Very likely! This artifact's power is too immense. The living probably can't withstand the consumption or cost of using it. Things like shortened lifespans, or damage to one's foundations."】
【Your heart stirred.】
【If only you could get your hands on this powerful artifact.】
【Even though you couldn't use it yourself, your doppelgangers could!】
【Let them go wild with it!】
【What shortened lifespan? What damaged foundations? Who cares!】
【"Knowing this doesn't seem to help us crack this thing though..."】
【Just as you were at your wit's end.】
【A soldier entered the tent to report.】
【"Reporting to the Sect Master! There's a human outside the camp requesting an audience. He says he has a way to defeat the Feiyu battle corpse!"】
【Upon hearing this, the assembled military high command and Tiansha Sect elders in the tent immediately broke into smiles.】
【"Quickly, invite him in!"】
【"Good thing the Sect Master told us we need to get along well with humans now and can't just attack them on sight. Otherwise, this human would never have been able to see us."】
【"Don't get too excited. I admit humans are decent at handling internal affairs in the rear, but when it comes to cultivation, they're weak and impoverished. How could they possibly deal with the strongest trump card of two major sects?"】
【"Not necessarily. This human dared to come request an audience, so he must be confident in his abilities. Otherwise, wouldn't he be gambling with the lives of his entire nine generations of family?"】
【Your gaze swept across the Dragon-Men and other Alien Races in the tent.】
【They were still the same as always, looking down on humans, almost instinctively enjoying bullying and oppressing them.】
【It was only because of the strategic objective you had set, to unify the entire Blazing Star, that treating them the old way would push every force and every race outside the Tiansha Sect alliance straight into the enemy's camp.】
【At a time like this, if you continued treating the human race, which had the largest population, the way you used to, it truly wouldn't be wise.】
【Instead, winning over the humans, building friendly relations with them, and letting them manage that vast territory with remarkable order, allowing the Dragon-Man lords to cultivate in peace and collect taxes with ease, was indeed simply wonderful.】
【All of this was the result of your planning and micro-management, using Blazing Star as the chessboard and the various factions as pieces, rebalancing the scales.】
【A moment later, a thin, dark-skinned human farmer wearing a bamboo hat walked in.】
【The visitor was none other than the president of the Blazing Star Torch Society, You Keqing.】
【However, with his humble appearance, everyone in the tent was deeply disappointed upon seeing him.】
【It was hard to believe that this farmer could defeat a battle corpse with Immortal Lord-level strength that also wielded a heavyweight weapon.】
【Someone immediately began berating him.】
【"Where did this unruly commoner come from? Is he here to mock us? Throw him out and beat him to death! Execute his entire nine generations!"】
【Before you could stop them, Ya Dada spoke up first.】
【"Hold on! This person is not simple. I can't even see through his cultivation level!"】
【Upon hearing this, everyone tried their own methods to test him.】
【Some used cultivation techniques, some used magical artifacts, and others released exotic beast pets.】
【In the end, none of them worked.】
【Which was only natural.】
【Concealing one's aura and cultivation level was the Torch Society's specialty.】
【The Torch Society had been passed down through countless ages, spread across every corner of the universe. Of course they would know how to hide themselves well.】
【However, although this aura-concealing spell was effective, it came at no small cost.】
【Prolonged use would damage one's Vitality Energy, weakening the strength of the physical body.】
【This was also why the members of the Torch Society committee, namely You Keqing and the others, looked like overworked farmers.】
【This was both a necessary means of disguising their identities in daily life, and an adverse consequence of their long-term use of aura-concealing spells.】

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