Xiaoyu fought this battle with exhilarating satisfaction, realizing for the first time that Scenery Command experts were actually so easy to defeat.
Previously, when facing an ordinary cultivator in early Scenery Command, she might have won, but it would have been a grueling struggle, and only against the most mediocre among them. Anyone capable of reaching Scenery Command possessed at least a Heaven Tier Dharma Idol and was not far behind Xiaoyu. For her to defeat a Scenery Command opponent while only at Dharma Idol perfection, aside from Star Lord Shaoyang's aid, her wealthy clan background and an arsenal of top-tier magic treasures were crucial factors.
To overcome even an ordinary Scenery Command cultivator was already a boast-worthy feat; she had never dreamed that a crushing, effortless, all-around victory like this was possible. The Immovable Golden Light Realm was a truly miraculous defensive divine ability, utterly eliminating her weakness in physical dharma constitution and freeing her to attack without reserve.
By now, Dunyan lay gravely wounded and incapacitated. Xiaoyu cast several binding artifacts, tied him up tightly, and ordered him escorted back to Qingming.
With Dunyan captured, the northern slopes of the snow mountains were left leaderless, and no one should dare resist any longer.
Xiaoyu was just about to descend and deal with Jade Lake Pasture City when Star Lord Shaoyang gave a sudden cough, signaling her to pause. Seeing her confusion, Star Lord Shaoyang whispered, "It would be best to let that Zhao Xian handle this."
Xiaoyu instantly frowned. "Why? He's just a mere Golden Core, and what empowers him is only the karmic attainment power I channeled. Who is he to have a say?"
Star Lord Shaoyang replied, "That fellow is no ordinary Golden Core. Think about it: of the dozens of Golden Cores who came along, why was he the only one blessed with Vajra power? Most bona fide Dharma Idol cultivators couldn't even dream of securing that spot. The reason he earned such favor lies entirely in a new book he authored: *Policy for Pacifying Liao*. It's right there in the Splendor of the Many Realms—pull it up and have a look first.
"Governance is not a duel of spells; higher cultivation doesn't guarantee you'll do a good job. We've just captured Dunyan alive, securing a clean and decisive triumph. There's no need to take on unnecessary burdens. Why not give Zhao Xian free rein? Not only will it suit that old scoundrel Wei Yuan's... ahem, the Realm Lord's tastes, but any credit Zhao Xian earns will include a share for you anyway. And if he makes a mess of things, it won't be too late for us to step in and clean it up."
Xiaoyu found his reasoning sound, though a doubt lingered. "How come your grasp of bureaucratic maneuvering is even slicker than mine?"
Star Lord Shaoyang's gaze turned profound. "The waters in the Astral Palace back then were far deeper than here. We didn't just have to scheme against other astral officials; we had to battle against ourselves. A primary Star Lord would frequently divide into dozens or hundreds of incarnations, and all of those avatars were rivals competing for the primary throne. At the start of the division, we were nearly identical to one another. In the end, who emerged victorious was seventy percent heaven's will, and thirty percent personal effort."
"It was that difficult?"
Star Lord Shaoyang nodded. "That wasn't even the hardest part. What I just described was only ten percent. The remaining ninety—it all comes down to having a strong thigh to cling to."
Xiaoyu: "..."
Her gaze turned suspicious. "Wait... so that means you're merely one of dozens, or even fewer, shards of the true Star Lord? Why have you always sworn up and down that you *are* Star Lord Shaoyang? I always thought you were the Star Lord himself!"
Star Lord Shaoyang's expression didn't waver. "I simply left out the words 'one of.' A harmless omission."
Xiaoyu said, "No wonder you couldn't beat Taiyin..."
Regardless, Star Lord Shaoyang's advice had come in the nick of time. Xiaoyu granted Zhao Xian full authority to handle Jade Lake Pasture City, while she retrieved *Policy for Pacifying Liao* to read through it carefully.
This *Policy for Pacifying Liao* truly had substance. If the Liao domain was to enjoy long-lasting peace and stability, and the Liao people were to be rendered powerless to cause rebellion, the core lay in divide and rule—they had to be turned into a loose sheet of sand, incapable of ever uniting as one.
To achieve this, there were two grand strategies: horizontal division and vertical slicing.
The so-called horizontal division meant creating more social strata. If one wished to splinter the Liao, one had to first win the allegiance of a portion of them. How to win their allegiance? The simplest way was to elevate them above the rest.
This certainly did not mean elevating the Liao above Qingming. The Liao would remain second-class. But beneath second-class, there could be third-class and fourth-class strata. That way, second-class Liao became beneath only Qingming, yet above all ten thousand Liao. Not only would this secure the allegiance of the second class, but it would also foster fierce antagonism between tiers, artificially carving the Liao people apart.
Horizontal division was one thing, but what truly mattered was vertical slicing.
Demographically, second-class Liao would inevitably be the fewest, while the third and fourth classes would vastly outnumber them. Strata divided this way were still too large, necessitating vertical slicing to divide and rule further.
As for vertical slicing, the methods were endless: divide by male and female, biological sex, age, skin tone, tribe, region, accent, customs, or arbitrary criteria... and on and on. From historical records alone, Zhao Xian had excavated over a hundred ways to slice, and had invented hundreds more himself. The essence was that the Liao could slice themselves however they pleased to differentiate themselves from other Liao. For example, if a Liao considered himself biologically male but female at heart, he could form an independent faction. Then, all Qingming needed to do was provide endless patronage to minority groups while ruthlessly suppressing the majority. Just like that, conflict would flare up, and hatred would take root.
Before long, the lower-class Liao would tear themselves into fragmented factions, fighting each other to the death while utterly forgetting that Qingming still pressed down on their heads. Give it a little more time, and once the hatred ran deep enough, the rifts could never be bridged again; this populace would remain a loose sheet of sand forever.
At the very end of *Policy for Pacifying Liao*, Zhao Xian concluded with a single line: "Simple hatred is the most intoxicating."
Upon finishing *Policy for Pacifying Liao*, Xiaoyu broke into a cold sweat without realizing it. This generation's Golden Cores were entirely too insidious!
Down below, the pasture city had regained its calm. All the herders had been herded into various town squares to hear the Qingming cultivators announce the newly established provisional decrees. Zhao Xian designated the Liao populace of the entire pasture city as third-class, and then categorized all of Dunyan's kin, his direct tribal lineage, and the entire clans of the warriors who had just assaulted the flying boat as fourth-class.
Fourth-class Liao were permitted to possess only a minimal amount of property necessary for subsistence; they were forbidden from residing in houses with stone walls and solid roofs, and forbidden from having more than one wife or concubine. Any property exceeding these standards was deemed illicit, free to be seized and claimed by any Liao of third class or higher.
The proclamation of this decree sparked an immediate uproar among the Liao. Those relegated to fourth-class were mostly affluent clans and powerful figures from the military, whereas the third class comprised mostly impoverished herders. For the moment, the wealthy families could still maintain order relying on their lingering prestige. Yet watching from above, Xiaoyu knew that Zhao Xian only needed to deploy troops to protect the third-class herders while they plundered; once a few precedents were set, it would turn into a citywide carnival of looting in the blink of an eye!
After such pillaging, regardless of the outcome—even if Wei Yuan eventually retreated back to Qingming—the blood feuds within this city would never be washed away. The decree also stipulated that government officials and military officers ranked centurion and above could only be filled by second-class Liao. And where would these second-class Liao come from? Naturally from Batu's tribe on the southern slopes of the snow mountains.
Xiaoyu could clearly see where this was going. It wouldn't even take ten years; in three to five at most, the Liao people on the northern and southern sides of the snow mountains would become mortal enemies, and Qingming would fade into the background.
Chapter 1305