Chapter 1324: The Qi Sect's Rule Over the Lower Domains

In a corner of the Lei Ting Domain, colorful clouds filled the sky as an envoy from the Qi Sect descended.

At this moment, the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder True Sect and the Blood Lake Bone Mountain, both at the Void Refinement stage, did not go to pay their respects personally; instead, they respectfully dispatched disciples to welcome the envoy and serve at his side.

The Mud Swamp Demon City also sent a team led by numerous Soul Transformation cultivators.

This was because the Qi Sect envoy had just crossed the boundary wall and suffered heavy injuries; any approach by a Void Refinement cultivator would be directly interpreted as harboring malice and plotting rebellion.

If the two True Sects did not wish to launch a rebellion now, they would not make any moves that could be misunderstood.

"I wonder how powerful the Qi Sect envoy is..."

Jiang Ding looked toward the distant horizon filled with colorful clouds and murmured to himself.

By common logic, cultivators who handle such menial tasks must not be top-tier Void Refinement cultivators of the Qi Sect, nor Void Refinement geniuses; such crucial combat power would never appear in routine administrative affairs, even if the profits were substantial.

This question had also been carefully considered by the Mud Swamp True Venerable, a rogue cultivator by origin who had always been lawless.

His conclusion was that the Qi Sect envoy must be extremely powerful and possess certain over-standard trump cards for intimidation; otherwise, he could not make the various True Sects pay their respects and submit more than eighty percent of their tributes every thousand years.

Cutting off someone's livelihood is like killing their parents.

Moreover, in the Cultivation World, wealth is directly linked to strength, lifespan, dreams, the Dao, and everything else; not every cultivator possesses reason, nor can they remain calm at all times to weigh pros and cons.

Such heavy taxes could not be enforced by reputation alone.

"I hope he conducts business honestly; otherwise, I will beat him to a pulp."

Jiang Ding thought silently.

Killing him was not an option for now; that would cause a complete rupture with the Qi Sect, this colossal entity, and trigger even more intense conflict.

In life, there are always many helpless situations.

The injuries the Qi Sect envoy sustained while crossing the domain boundary would likely heal within thirty years; only then would he begin his true activities, receiving Void Refinement True Venerables from all sides and once again proclaiming the Qi Sect's majesty.

Inside the Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong palace at the boundary of the Lei Yan Domain.

An old man with a stern and cold appearance sat cross-legged.

The middle-aged cultivator beside him was the opposite; his face was full of smiles, extremely approachable, instantly inspiring goodwill in anyone who saw him.

These two were naturally the Qi Sect's Tribute Envoy, True Venerable Cai Shan, and the Director of the Heavenly Crafts Pavilion, True Venerable Duo Fu.

One was responsible for taxation, directly collecting tributes from the lower domains, while the other was responsible for re-exporting to the lower domains via commerce, implementing the Qi Sect's policy of strengthening the trunk and weakening the branches in a more subtle and gentle manner.

Naturally, within this, taking a little convenience to satisfy one's own needs was only to be expected; the Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong elders knew the lower-domain elders worked hard, and as long as it was not excessive, they would not mind.

Before the two, a mechanical puppet with a pale face and white armor knelt on one knee, reporting; it was the famous 'Sleepless Puppet' of the Qi Sect.

Legend held that it was one of the top masterpieces among the Qi Sect's mechanical puppets, specializing in infiltration and espionage; it could disguise itself as rocks, plants, or cultivators, impersonating disciples, elders, or even the biological children, wives, and children of sect ancestors of various levels, making it undetectable even to Void Refinement True Venerables, which was extremely terrifying.

In numerous domains, there were very few things the Qi Sect's Sleepless Puppets did not know.

The Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong seemed to leave the lower domains to their own devices, unrestricted and unbound, only collecting taxes once every thousand years or conscripting Dao soldiers to fight in distant lands; apart from that, there was nothing else, making it very lenient.

But this was merely an illusion; there were also various strict surveillance methods.

"... The Blood Lake Bone Mountain shows a trend of unifying the Lei Yan Domain; the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder True Sect cannot match them."

"... It is recommended that the Sect intervene..."

"... If necessary, conscript Dao soldiers from nearby domains, have inner sect disciples sent by the Sect command, annihilate the Blood Lake Bone Mountain, or order the Blood Lake Ancestor to commit suicide, cleanse the cultivators of the current Ancestor's lineage as a warning to others..."

"... The Lei Yan Domain has enjoyed favorable weather and abundant harvests for a thousand years, with a rich output of heavenly materials and earthly treasures; tax revenue is projected to increase by fifteen percent compared to the previous millennium..."

"... The Mud Swamp True Venerable of the Mud Swamp Demon City seems to be searching for something recently, purchasing large quantities of various low-to-mid-tier Gong Fa and secret techniques, heavenly materials and earthly treasures; his purpose cannot be determined..."

The Sleepless Puppet reported to the Qi Sect Tribute Envoy.

Over the past thousand years, the various changes in the Lei Yan Domain, from resources to political situations, and even whether the output of certain heavenly materials and earthly treasures had decreased, were detailed beyond compare, perhaps even clearer than the two True Sects themselves.

After finishing the report, the Sleepless Puppet vanished silently.

This was something existing between life and mechanical puppets, resembling the Earth God of mythology; if not summoned, they would not appear actively, and they were one of the Qi Sect's important foundations.

"Wuliang Lingzun!"

"This Blood Lake truly does not know how to appreciate favor!"

The cold and stern old man, True Venerable Cai Shan, spoke with killing intent: "A thousand years ago, I already told him that, considering the face of Elder Dong Xue Kui who founded the sect ten thousand years ago, I could acknowledge the other territories of the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder True Sect that were seized at that time."

"But one cannot do it again and again!"

"It seems he has taken my words as wind in his ears."

Elder Dong Xue Kui was a former outer sect elder of the Qi Sect who established the Blood Lake Bone Mountain ten thousand years ago to settle his direct disciples and relatives.

Such matters were quite common within the Qi Sect's sphere of influence.

Even the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder True Sect, if one looked back more than a hundred thousand years, might have been related to some Qi Sect cultivator.

"Wuliang Lingzun!"

"Haha, it seems this Daoist friend of Blood Lake is not far from the peak of Void Refinement."

True Venerable Duo Fu, Director of the Heavenly Crafts Pavilion, smiled: "This Daoist friend should now be peering into the Dao Integration realm and beginning to disregard the Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong's rules."

"He, Dao Integration?"

"A pipe dream."

True Venerable Cai Shan sneered.

This was not him looking down on lower-domain Void Refinement cultivators; rather, given Blood Lake Ancestor's talent and foundation, even if he were allowed to break through to Dao Integration, there would be no chance in ten thousand, making it an almost impossible event.

"However, if we let it go, the order of the Lei Yan Domain will descend into chaos, and it will even cause many lower-domain Void Refinement cultivators to follow suit."

"We must use Lei Ting to suppress it."

True Venerable Cai Shan showed killing intent and made his decision.

The Qi Sect Tribute Envoy had such authority to make independent decisions; as long as the final result was good, the lower-domain order remained unchaotic, and short-term tax revenue and long-term continuous tax revenue did not decrease, he would be credited with merit.

Buzz!

At this moment, a transmission talisman in the hand of True Venerable Duo Fu beside him flickered; he took it out, glanced at it, and handed it to True Venerable Cai Shan.

"Senior Brother, please take a look; this is a transmission from Elder Mu Kui of the Inner Sect of the Spirit Puppet lineage."

"Senior Brother Mu Kui's ancestors were precisely Elder Blood Puppet."

Lord Duo Fu sighed slightly.

"A transmission from Lord Mu Kui?"

Lord Cai Shan frowned.

After a long while, he recalled the orders already issued to the surrounding tiered regions, ceased conscripting the Dao Soldiers of nearby True Sects, and the many Inner Sect disciples of the Qi Sect gathering within Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong had their actions cancelled.