Wei Yuan took the jade bottle from Xiaoyu's hand. Opening the stopper, he looked inside and saw Dunyan, shrunken to the size of an ant, sitting at the bottom. Dunyan merely raised his head to look up at the bottle's mouth, then said nothing, stubbornly refusing to bow his head.
Wei Yuan put the stopper back on and smiled. "Good job this time!"
Xiaoyu took no credit for it, saying, "It was mostly thanks to the formidable blessings, especially the Immovable Golden Light Realm. If you could bestow more blessings like that, why would we ever have to worry about failing to overcome powerful enemies?"
Wei Yuan chuckled. "How could a divine ability of this caliber be granted casually? Right now, it can only be bestowed upon Bodhisattva seats. Once there are more Bodhisattvas in the future, I'm afraid some of them won't even get a share of the Immovable Golden Light Realm. How are things over at Jade Lake Pasture City?"
"The city is already in chaos. Most of the third-class Liao civilians have started seizing the property of fourth-class Liao civilians, and quite a few lives have been lost in the process. The *Policy for Pacifying Liao* is indeed effective, just a bit..."
"Sinister?" Wei Yuan finished with a smile.
Xiaoyu nodded and gave a soft sigh. "A scheme like that is something I could never conceive. Sometimes I find myself wondering: if I hadn't been born into the Xiao family, someone like me probably wouldn't stand a chance against devious, eccentric talents like them."
Wei Yuan consoled him, "In this world, individual might comes first. The *Policy for Pacifying Liao* actually omitted a crucial component—namely, delineating the authority of cultivators.
"Heh, that kid Zhao Xian has poor cultivation talent. Reaching Golden Core is his absolute limit, so he naturally hopes for equality between higher and lower cultivators. You see, that's a classic case of one's position determining their perspective. Human nature is just like that; hardly anyone can truly rise above it.
"Still, the Three Rivers Khanate currently has only one Scenery Command expert and very few Dharma Idols, so this problem isn't obvious yet. But in the future, if more Liao territory is annexed and there are more high-level cultivators, cultivators must be accounted for separately—they cannot be lumped together with commoners. That is why I've already had people flesh out the *Policy for Pacifying Liao*. If young Zhao Xian can recognize his own limitations, he can continue to be placed in important roles. But if he stubbornly clings to his own background and status, governing a single commandery will likely be his ceiling."
Xiaoyu stared fixedly at Wei Yuan—so intently that Wei Yuan felt a bit uncomfortable and was forced to ask, "Why are you staring at me?"
"Sometimes I really wonder how your mind is built. How can you be even more sinister than those fellows?"
The moment the words left his mouth, Xiaoyu saw Wei Yuan's eyes light up, a smile playing at the corners of his lips, and he instantly thought, *Oh no.*
Sure enough, Wei Yuan said, "It's actually quite simple. All you need to do is devote the vast majority of your thirty-four thousand, seven hundred and twenty-two split strands of divine intent to work, patching holes and checking for errors. When you know more, the odds of being deceived naturally go down."
Xiaoyu took a deep breath and gritted his teeth. Even counting Star Lord Shaoyang, he could only split out a little over two thousand strands of divine intent right now, not even matching Wei Yuan's spare change. Every digit that Wei Yuan had just spat out felt like a slap in the face.
Fortunately, Xiaoyu had grown used to it. After all, no matter how humiliating this was, nothing compared to having entered the Heaven of Joy and Bliss. Having been through the Heaven of Joy and Bliss, Xiaoyu felt his threshold for shame had risen considerably.
Once he steadied his thoughts, Xiaoyu said, "Since you've put me in charge of this Liao region, I'd like to know what your actual plans are for it. If the *Policy for Pacifying Liao* is implemented across the board, it seems to me we won't need to do much managing at all."
Wei Yuan shook his head. "The Three Rivers Khanate is essentially a problem posed to us by Silver Moon. How to solve it depends entirely on us. Silver Moon doesn't know the answer, and neither does anyone else. But behind this problem, it's not just Silver Moon—there are bound to be Liao mighty figures watching from behind the scenes. If we stop at the *Policy for Pacifying Liao*, all we achieve is stability. On this test, that would be a barely passing grade at best."
Xiaoyu pondered this. "Then should we implement Qingming's ways—first enlightening minds and strengthening bodies, then enriching the people and bolstering the military, treating humans and Liao as one family to fully develop this territory?"
Wei Yuan chuckled. "Wouldn't that be nurturing a tiger only to court disaster?"
"Then what should we do?" Xiaoyu asked.
"Then what should we do~?" In the Splendor of the Many Realms, Hong Mo was also asking, the lilt at the end of her voice twisting into several playful curves.
In the Yellow Springs Grotto-Heaven, Jialuo looked up from a mountain of work, glancing toward the Eighth Grotto-Heaven with growing wariness.
Wei Yuan had evidently contemplated this question for a long time, and he replied at once, "At its core, this world is still survival of the fittest, where the victor reigns supreme. Unless the day arrives when universal harmony is achieved, under my rule, humans and Liao will never be equal—the Liao people can only ever be second-class! As of now, the realm remains unsettled and the final outcome unclear. Those who can do nothing but lament the state of the world can go take office under alien races; there is no place for them here.
"Likewise, the *Policy for Pacifying Liao* is meant to pacify the Liao, and it can be applied to other alien races as well. But if anyone dares use it on the human populace of Qingming, they must harbor treacherous intentions. Such people can be executed without questioning, and odds are no mistake will be made."
Seeing Xiaoyu's stunned expression, Wei Yuan laughed. "What, frightened? I was born human, so naturally, I will lead the human race forward. Until humans reach the summit, all other races must take a back seat. This is a fundamental question of priority, leaving no room for compromise or negotiation."
Xiaoyu took a deep breath. "It's nothing. I just assumed you would offer some platitudes about benevolence and righteousness to mask it."
"Benevolence and righteousness? Those are weapons to be used against enemies. Between our own people, let's skip the empty talk."
Wei Yuan replaced the map with one of higher precision, pointed toward the Three Rivers Khanate, and said, "The solution to this problem is to make the Liao people in this desolate land live even better lives than the herders on the golden grasslands of the Liao domain!
"Under my rule, the Liao people may not enrich a state or bolster an army, but they will be skilled at singing and dancing."
As he walked out of the immortal city, Xiaoyu felt an overwhelming mix of emotions, accompanied by a deep, pervasive exhaustion. The world of thirty thousand strands of divine intent was far too complicated, and not fun in the slightest.
***
Ningzhou, the Xu family secret realm.
Xu Lanshan walked through the darkness, quickening her steps involuntarily until she caught sight of that beam of light, only then feeling a measure of calm.
This luminous area had not expanded, but its scenery had grown noticeably more complex. Upon the central rock stood a white jade bed, where a boy sculpted like pink jade and porcelain sat upright.
Golden immortal mist surged continuously from beneath the boy, flowing down the rock face to form several streams that pooled on the ground into an immortal lake. Once Xu Lanshan came to a halt beside the spring, the boy opened his eyes and asked, "What has unsettled your Dao heart?"
Xu Lanshan said, "Qingming sent an envoy bearing a handwritten letter from Wei Yuan. They want our Xu family to cede portions of our western border to construct a floating road leading straight into the Liao domain."
"What is this 'floating road'?"
"A specialized thoroughfare along which heavy-cargo flying boats can skim right above the ground. Their payload capacity is multiplied several times over, while energy consumption drops to merely a tenth of flying high in the air. However, constructing such a road is a massive undertaking. At present, only Qingming's interior possesses a completed, crisscrossing network, while another line is currently being built toward Northern Qi."
The youthful Xu Wangu showed interest, asking detailed questions for a long time before remarking, "So this Wei Yuan wishes to bypass Eastern Jin and wage war against Northern Qi? Hmm, perhaps more than that. Turning south near Northern Qi leads straight into the State of Song."
Xu Lanshan stood quietly beside him, saying nothing.
The boy observed her expression and said, "What, is someone objecting? How much land does Wei Yuan want this time?"
"In the proposal Qingming provided, the floating road occupies an immense swath of land, running through four commanderies and effectively taking up more than two commanderies in total. It is virtually slicing off our Xu family's entire western border and handing it to Qingming. Most elders believe Qingming is truly pushing people too far this time. After all, when Wei Yuan proclaimed himself Prince of Wei and carved out central Jin last time, he casually took two commanderies from our Xu family. Our core territory originally spanned only eight commanderies. If another two are sliced away now, we will have barely over three commanderies left. The elders believe the resources yielded by three commanderies cannot possibly sustain the Old Ancestor's immortal endeavor, so they will under no circumstances agree. If Wei Yuan goes too far, there is nothing left but war!"
"Did the elders truly say that? Heh, and what do you think?"
Xu Lanshan replied, "Most of the dissenting elders have their personal fortunes and estates within the areas Qingming is demanding; their opposition stems mostly from selfish interests. Even if we go to war with Qingming, the one taking the field will be you, Immortal Ancestor; it won't be their turn to face the battlefield. That's why every one of them is shouting so fiercely."
The youthful Xu Wangu smiled. "That you can see this so clearly means my cultivation of you hasn't gone to waste. Since Qingming wants two commanderies' worth of land to build a road, give it to him!"
Now it was Xu Lanshan's turn to be utterly astonished. She quickly said, "How can we do that?"
"Whatever they want, give it to them."
Xu Lanshan said anxiously, "Even if they're building a road, they don't need that much land! By my calculations, a single commandery would be plenty. If we truly hand over this land, what will happen to your resources?"
The youthful Xu Wangu laughed aloud and pointed toward the immortal lake at the foot of the rock. "Do I look like someone lacking resources?"
Xu Lanshan froze. The phenomena within this secret realm were indeed vastly different now, already approaching Xu Wangu's peak.
"Qingming demanded land—did they mention any compensation?"
Xu Lanshan shook her head. "None."
The youthful Xu Wangu gave a soft sigh and said, "It seems he has discovered this secret after all. But discovering it now is already too late."
Chapter 1306