Journey to the head

Chapter 563 Looking for help
Wen Ningshan? Zhou family?

Ignoring the muttering Jade Dragon, Wu Yan forced herself to shift her thoughts, suppressed the bitterness in her heart, and asked, "Master, why do you want to go to the Zhou family? If there is anything, just summon the head of the Zhou family."

"The Zhou family is our partner sect, and Zhou Chao is also an old friend of mine." Lu Qian recalled something that happened a long time ago, a little absent-minded, "The last time I went to Wen Ning Mountain was nearly 20 years ago. I want to go and take a look and meet an old friend. Of course, there is also an important matter that requires the Zhou family's help."

"Now that the war is over and the smoke has dispersed, is there anything else that needs the help of the foundation-building sect?" Wu Yan was a little unconvinced. "For my sect now, apart from sending out the foundation-building sect to form the Immortal Dragon Slaying Diagram, it seems that there is not much value for them."

Lu Qian shook his head slightly: "Xiao Yan, your vision is still too narrow-minded——"

As soon as this instruction came out, Lu Qian's thoughts spread out like a tide.

It has been forty-three years since he took charge of Yunshan Sect. After being the head for forty-three years, Lu Qian thought that he could get high marks in economy and military affairs, and he was OK in other aspects, but he was weak in disciple training, and he had learned some lessons.

But even if we haven't done well enough, but from a small sect with only three people to one thousand two hundred disciples now, we have seen all kinds of cultivators, and one judgment is always right.

Everyone has different talents. Some can be improved through training, but some cannot be changed no matter what.

Wu Yan is well-behaved and sensible, tough and strong. She is humble and polite to her fellow disciples, but she will behave tough and overly strong towards outsiders, especially foreign enemies.

Being too rigid can easily lead to failure. Lu Qian often gives Wu Yan advice and instructions, and even Wu Yan herself knows that there is something wrong, but when encountering problems, she often subconsciously shows a tough attitude.

This is one of them.

As the eldest disciple of the headmaster, Wu Yan has been highly valued over the years and has received all-round training. She has made great progress in sect affairs, interpersonal relationships, organizational management and other aspects.

However, she did not have a deep understanding of "uniting all forces that can be united", and did not pay much attention to subordinate sects and weak sects, and her attitude was somewhat condescending.

This is the second.

These are Wu Yan's personalities that are difficult to change, which does not mean that such personalities are bad. In fact, after becoming a Jindan Zhenren, she can still be relatively polite to her subordinates in the foundation-building sect. This is the result of being deeply influenced by Lu Qian, and it is also a rare type among Jindan Zhenren.

As for being strong and tough, that is not a problem at all.

He is a rare and hard-to-find person with a special spiritual root. He has achieved the Golden Elixir level in just forty years, which is a few hours earlier than his master Lu Qian. He also has the spiritual treasure Yuanpin Pearl, and has inherited the Taoist lineage of Jichuan Xuanjun, who dominates Cangzhou.
She has enough to be proud of.

Therefore, if Wu Yan served as the head of a traditional Jindan sect, there would be no problem at all, and she would be able to bring the sect back on the right track.

But Lu Qian was not satisfied. Yunshan Sect was not a traditional Jindan Sect, and traditional sects could not achieve the current achievements of Yunshan Sect. So in his heart, this was not enough, and Wu Yan was not a perfect successor to the head.

Yes, although Lu Qian did not intend to resign as the head, he still had to consider the issue of succession. Especially this time Ye Xiao's incident also sounded a wake-up call for him.

The path is extremely dangerous as one goes upstream. One never knows when one might run into something or someone and lose his life. Even if one practices diligently, one might fail in the process of overcoming the obstacles and die on the spot.

If something unexpected happens to me, who will take over as the leader?

Without a good enough leader, everything in Yunshan Sect would become a passing cloud, with the tall buildings collapsing and the guests scattering in an instant. This is a realistic problem that needs to be carefully considered and must be prepared in advance.

Senior Brother Wang Yu possesses absolute rationality. If he is in a difficult situation, he can naturally lead the Yunshan Sect to survive and find a way out. However, once the peaceful development period comes, this absolute calmness and rationality will probably become the object of great fear for the disciples.

Senior Sister Qingfeng is gentle but strong, so she will definitely have no problem handling the affairs of the sect. But if something happens to me, I am afraid she will be too distracted to manage things. Moreover, she is still a step behind in terms of recruiting people, planning things, and coordinating the overall situation.

If other disciples were to be considered, they would naturally have to be ranked starting from the direct descendants of the master.

Wu Yan has just analyzed that the next one is the taboos within the Yunshan Sect, especially among the top leaders.

The second disciple of the master, Tan Yunxing.

Thinking about it now, Lu Qian still feels angry, frustrated, and self-blaming.

Tan Yunxing has been on the run for fear of punishment for thirteen years now.

Even though the Yuehua Sect in Quyang County, Qingzhou, had been keeping an eye out for him, they had never found any trace of him.

All this confirms Lu Qian's judgment.

He just didn't dare to take responsibility, and used the empty words of "reclaiming ancestral land" as a pretext to escape his sins with peace of mind.

Alas, this evil disciple. If he were still in the sect, with his talent of dual spiritual roots, he should be in the middle stage of foundation building.

All of this, in the final analysis, has a lot to do with my incompetence as a believer.

Brother Tan, I am so sorry to you.

As soon as I thought of Tan Yunxing, my thoughts, which had drifted to somewhere unknown, were suddenly pulled back.

Lu Qian couldn't help but smile helplessly.

The fact that something like this could happen is enough to prove that even if I am far from perfect, there is no need to be so demanding.

There is no perfect candidate. Unless Lin Le and Wu Yan are merged into one?
Never mind. There is no point in worrying about it any more. We should think about it from another perspective. Although each disciple has his or her own shortcomings, they also have their own advantages.

Now it seems that Wang Yu is the better choice in difficult situations, while Wu Yan is the better choice in favorable situations.

Wu Yan, who was standing by, was listening to Lu Qian's teachings with her head down, but he remained silent for a long time. She looked up and saw that her master was lost in thought. She did not dare to disturb him and just sat quietly by his side.

Instead, Yu Jiao grumbled, "What Wu Yan said is not wrong. What's so great about just building a foundation? If they piss off Xiao Xian, I'll just electrocute them into charcoal."

Lu Qian came back to his senses and glared at him: "Okay, then tell me, there are still 1,400 monks in Shaoyin Sect now, how should we deal with them?"

Yu Jiao curled his lips and just as he was about to say the word "kill" he suddenly remembered Miaomiao Xuanjun's order that all previous crimes would be wiped out and that no further persecution would be allowed and that the person should be properly resettled. He immediately lost his temper and dared not say a word.

"Then Master went to the Zhou family this time to solve the Shaoyin Sect's problem?" This guess jumped into Wu Yan's mind, and she couldn't help asking, "But even if the Shaoyin Sect's power has greatly declined, it is still stronger than the Zhou family overall. Besides, the two families are almost two thousand miles apart, so how can they help?"

Lu Qian asked back: "In your opinion, how should we deal with the Shaoyin Sect so as to resolve this hidden worry while satisfying Xuanjun's requirements?" Wu Yan knew that this was a test from her master, so she immediately turned her mind and thought carefully.

The situation of Shaoyin Sect was actually not ideal. When Huanggen Sect moved into Junle County, they occupied the northwest and southwest areas of Junle County with a population of 10 million, and Beichu County also occupied the northeast of Junle County with a population of 10 million. Shaoyin Sect only saved Hanjiangzhu and the southeast with a population of 6 million.

For more than half a year thereafter, until Beichui County suddenly joined forces with the Huaiyou Alliance and raided the Huanggen Sect, the Shaoyin Sect was squeezed in this southeast corner with its former subordinate sects.

Originally, Hanjiangzhu was still there, and although Shaoyin Sect had a hard time, it could still survive. But now that even Hanjiangzhu was lost, Shaoyin Sect, which still maintained a large group of cultivators, immediately fell into an emergency situation of lacking spiritual veins.

In the southeastern area of ​​Junle County, there are 33 county towns and a population of 6 million. These are easy to explain. The key is that except for Hanjiangzhu, there are only six spiritual veins, big and small, from high to low, even if the first-level spiritual veins are included.

After settling in a small corner, Shaoyin Sect re-divided the pitiful spiritual veins. They took four of them, one low-level fourth-level vein in Hanjiangzhu, one low-level third-level vein, and two level two veins. They left three veins for subordinate sects, one level two vein and two level one veins.

Such a situation was already crowded enough for the three thousand cultivators of Shaoyin Sect, and now that Hanjiangzhu had been lost, only three spirit veins were left. The situation was even worse, and they all wanted to seize them from the former subordinate sects.

However, there were already seven subordinate sects of Shaoyin Sect squeezed on three small spiritual veins, which was several times more difficult than Shaoyin Sect. How could they be willing to divide up the spiritual veins?

Besides, now that Master Xuan Jing is dead, Lord Miaomiao Xuan's edict has spread throughout Cangzhou, and messengers have also come to Shaoyin Sect and the seven small sects to convey Lord Xuan's judgment.

From now on, Shaoyin Sect and these seven sects will be subordinate sects of Yunshan Sect!
Since we are all of equal status, why should I give in to you?
Therefore, during this period of time, the Shaoyin Sect and these seven former vassals had been in a bit of a stalemate. If it were not for the threat of the Yunshan Sect's golden elixir and the Yunshan battle formation in Hanjiang Islet, I'm afraid a fight would have broken out in the southeast of Junle County.

The leaders of Shaoyin Sect and the seven sects have already arrived at Mianlong Mountain, but Lu Qian has been busy outside and has not yet met them.

After thinking through all these points, Wu Yan said hesitantly, "Driving away the wolf and swallowing the tiger?"

Under Lu Qian's encouraging gaze, Wu Yan continued, "Since there is already a conflict between Shaoyin Sect and the former vassal, we might as well try to intensify the conflict."

"They want spiritual veins, so we can't give them spiritual veins. Instead, we should give them more spiritual stones, elixirs, talismans and other supplies."

"We fought two battles with Shaoyin Sect and have had a deep hatred for a long time. Now we are putting aside the past grudges and not depriving them of their spiritual veins. It is good enough. In addition, with the gift of materials, Lord Miaomiao Xuan can't find fault with it."

"Without spiritual veins as a long-term solution, supplies can only increase short-term combat power. With us adding fuel to the flames, the two sides will inevitably fight fiercely."

"In this way, we have greatly weakened the threat to our core without any effort."

After saying all this in one breath, Wu Yan looked at Lu Qian anxiously. Lu Qian smiled and said, "You have made great progress by thinking of driving away the wolf and swallowing the tiger, and then you can benefit from it."

Wu Yan was somewhat delighted, but then she heard Lu Qian say, "It's just that you haven't considered two points carefully."

"First, Lord Miaomiao Xuan has clearly pointed out that the priority is to make the county prosperous and the people's livelihood stable. If we let them fight, I'm afraid someone with ulterior motives will file a complaint with Lord Xuan."

"Second, there is a big difference in strength between the two sides. Currently, Shaoyin Sect has two people who have established their foundation and more than 1,400 elite Qi practitioners, while its former vassal seven sects have three people who have established their foundation and 800 elite Qi practitioners."

"Although there is one less person in the foundation building stage, the number of elite Qi training personnel is almost doubled. Moreover, Shaoyin Sect was once a major Jindan sect, and the level of its cultivators is superior. If a head-on fight really breaks out, it is estimated that they can easily defeat and absorb the seven sects and completely occupy all the spiritual veins in the southeast of Junle County."

"In that case, Shaoyin Sect will become even more difficult to deal with."

Wu Yan was a little ashamed: "Master, you are right. I have not considered it carefully. I don't know how to deal with it. Please teach me, Master."

"I know this. I've read a lot of storybooks, and it's all written in them. We can't kill them, and we can't let them kill each other either." Yu Jiao suddenly interrupted smugly, "Then the only way is to convince them with virtue. Just give them a few spirit veins, and they will definitely be grateful."

Lu Qian smiled and shook his head: "What kind of people can be won over, what kind of people can be converted, and what kind of people can only be eliminated, this knowledge is very profound."

"In the eyes of most monks in Junle County, our Yunshan Sect is the enemy who destroyed their lives and has a deep blood feud with us."

"Under such circumstances, if we continue to be lenient and show favor, hoping that the other party will be relieved or even grateful, it would be the biggest joke."

"Because the things you can give away, even if you give them spiritual veins, you think it is a great favor, but in their eyes, it is just giving them back what they originally had."

"This is just aiding the enemy. The stronger they are, the greater their ambition to turn the tables."

Yu Jiao muttered a few words: "Okay, you always make sense, so what do you say we should do?"

Lu Qian suddenly raised his hand, and Yu Jiao was frightened and held his head with both hands.

Then Lu Qian laughed out loud: "If you want to tame wild animals, the first step is to make them afraid!"

"Our Yunshan Sect, Shaoyin Sect, and the seven vassal sects are all similar. They must be full of resentment, hatred, and fear in their hearts."

"What we have to do is to continue to amplify their fear!"

"Not only must we make them hopeless in terms of strength, but we must also make them feel that they are always under our control and cannot escape our control."

"At that time, their strength will naturally be at my disposal."

"However, Junle County is an enclave after all. In order to always have control over the situation, we need a few capable helpers."

"Or rather, an overseer."

A moment later, a rainbow light flashed, and the Cloud-Stepping Chariot appeared above Wen Ning Mountain.

This time, Yu Jiao learned his lesson and jumped up like he was offering a treasure, shouting, "The head of Yunshan Sect, Tian Yuanzi, has arrived. You guys—"

With a bang, he was hit on the head.

"Don't shout in front of your family!"

Yu Jiao wanted to cry but had no tears. This job was not easy. He couldn't do it. He really couldn't do it.

(End of this chapter)