I established the Eternal Immortal Clan by taming beasts.

The reason Lin Che was so aggressive in the meeting just now was indeed to seize power.

Now that Lin Che has regarded Chuyang City as the private property of the Lin family, what's the point of having a nominal city lord above him?

Every brick, tile, blade of grass, and tree in this city is imbued with the Lin family's hard work and dedication.

Why should we still have a "city lord" above us?

Lin Che wanted to make the other party unable to resist taking action against the Lin family.

I need to retaliate if you make a move;

If you fight back, I'll be able to uproot you completely.

This was Lin Che's true purpose.

Of course, most importantly, he wanted Yan Shuming to reveal his trump card.

Lin Che hadn't forgotten that this person was sent by the Xuan Kui Sect to manage Chu Yang City.

The Xuankui Sect, that mysterious sect that is skilled in puppetry and has been operating in Burning Bone City for hundreds of years, if they wanted to cause trouble in Burning Bone Pass, how could the person they sent be just an ordinary Golden Core cultivator?

He must have a trump card up his sleeve, something Lin Che doesn't know.

In previous intelligence reports, Lin Che suspected that the Xuan Kui Sect might have colluded with the Reverse Fate Demon Palace.

The Demon Palace of Rebellion has now been exposed to Lin Che.

The Shadow Hall, Gu Chaoxi, the Suppressing Evil Secret Realm, and the early arrival of the beast tide—their intentions have been exposed.

The Lin family had no idea what the Xuan Kui Sect was planning to do.

Were they observing from the sidelines, or were they secretly cooperating?

Are they allies of the Demon Palace of Rebellion, or do they have ulterior motives?

Lin Che wanted to use Yan Shuming as a breakthrough point to see if he could lure out Yan Shuming's trump card and find out what plans the Xuan Kui Sect had hidden here.

Holding Chuyang City is just the beginning.

If the Lin family still has a city lord sent by the Xuankui Sect above them, they will never be the true masters of this land.

Lin Che wanted to completely bring Chuyang City under the Lin family's control, and the biggest obstacle was naturally the Xuankui Sect.

Therefore, even though the Lin family knew that the Demon Palace of Rebellion was plotting something, they had no intention of informing the Fang family.

Only when the Southern Region descends into chaos can the Lin family truly rise to power amidst the confusion!

As long as the Fang family remains standing, the格局 (geju, a term referring to the overall situation or structure) of the Southern Region will forever remain monolithic.

Those established powers occupy the best spiritual veins and control the most core resources, leaving outsiders with no chance of ever rising to prominence.

But if the Fang family falls into chaos, if the demon beasts open a passage through Burning Bone Pass, or if the various forces attack each other, then the Lin family's opportunity will come.

Given the Lin family's resources, they definitely won't be able to keep quiet after this beast tide.

The spirit beast legion, the golden core spirit beasts, the personal guard, and the eight thousand garrison troops—these things cannot be hidden.

By then, news of Lin Che's breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage will likely spread throughout Chuyang City. In that case, the Lin family will no longer need to keep a low profile.

It's time to let the entire Southern Region know the name of the Lin family.

……

After leaving the conference room, Lin Che and Liu Yunzhou walked together toward the gate of Chuyang City.

As dusk faded and night deepened, the streetlights along the streets lit up one after another, illuminating the bluestone pavement as if it were daytime.

There were far fewer pedestrians on the street. Occasionally, patrolling soldiers would pass by, and upon seeing Lin Che, they would stop and clasp their hands in salute.

"Yunzhou, how have you been lately? If you need anything, just let me know. We're family, after all."

Lin Che still trusted Liu Yunzhou.

He has worked tirelessly for the development of the Lin family for so many years. From the Lin family's poverty when they first arrived in Chuyang City to their current status as a behemoth with Shattered Star Lake, Spirit Herb Valley, and Green Marsh, every step of this journey has been marked by Liu Yunzhou's sweat and toil.

He was also Liu Qingxue's younger brother, and this kinship made Lin Che feel a natural affinity for him.

It's better to give important positions to the Liu family than to give important positions to the likes of the Zhou family, isn't it?

The Zhou family submitted under pressure, and who knows what their true intentions are.

The Li and Sun families are only bound by mutual interests; the Lin family's strong members get the benefits, while the Lin family's weak members are the first to run away.

But the Liu family is different. The Liu family's foundation was given by the Lin family, and the Liu family's industries were supported by the Lin family. The Liu family's fate is firmly tied to the Lin family; they prosper together and suffer together.

The Lin family can't do everything themselves; cultivating subordinate forces is also very important.

Spiritual herbs need to be cultivated, right? Animal feed needs to be made, right? Spiritual birds need to be transported, right? Demonic beasts need to be dealt with, right?

By entrusting these trivial, arduous, and low-profit tasks to the vassal families, the Lin family could free up their resources to focus on more important matters.

The best choice would naturally be the Liu family.

Despite Lin Che's words, Liu Yunzhou showed no disrespect: "Your Excellency, the Liu family's development is progressing very smoothly. With the Lin family's support, all industries are now operating smoothly."

He paused, as if recalling the developments of the past few years.

"Our Liu family can now grow excellent spirit beast feed. We can supply 10% of the yellow yam, moonlight grass, and jade marrow rice that Qingze needs every year. The quality is no worse than what we produced in Shattered Star Lake back then."

The spirit beast freight caravans and spirit beast processing workshops are now operating independently.

The Lin family's spirit beast population is growing larger and larger. Between Shattered Star Lake and Azure Marsh, there are tens of thousands of spirit beasts of all sizes, and the daily feed consumption is an astonishing figure.

Not only the Liu family, but also the other Foundation Establishment families will purchase the spirit beast feed they grow at market price. They will neither lower the price nor delay payment, so everyone is happy to grow it.

Secondly, there are spirit beast freight caravans.

To ensure the absolute freshness, the Lin family's spirit beast meat is transported to Burning Bone City using a special preservation array.

Those preservation arrays need regular maintenance, require special personnel to guard them during transportation, and need to be handed over upon arrival in Burning Bone City.

As the Lin family's businesses grow larger, their internal logistics needs will become increasingly urgent. Rather than outsourcing to outsiders, it's better to entrust it to family members.

Liu Yunzhou was very experienced in this area. It could be said that when the Lin family was first established, he transported all the spirit beast meat, spirit medicine, and spirit materials from Broken Star Lake to Baiweizhai in Chuyang City, cart by cart and trip by trip.

Back then, the road wasn't finished yet, and there were monsters along the way. He led a few Qi Refining stage practitioners and spirit beasts and managed to get the route through.

The third industry is the slaughtering of spirit beasts.

The Lin family has so many spirit birds, such as the Golden Spike Spirit Chicken, the Cloud Dream Spirit Duck, the Bright Moon Spirit Rabbit, and the Earth Mother Spirit Pig. They need to be put out to market and slaughtered every day. They can't rely on the Lin family to do it all themselves, can they?

This business was also handed over to the Liu family.

To be honest, this is a technical skill.

The first priority is to ensure that the meat of the spirit bird is not damaged and to preserve the spiritual essence of every ingredient.

With one stroke, what should be severed is severed, and what shouldn't be severed remains unsevered.

Slitting the throat and bleeding must be done quickly, removing hair and scalding with water must be done precisely, and opening the abdomen must be done steadily.

If you're not careful, the meat will be damaged and its essence will be lost, then it will be worthless.

The second point is dealing with additional materials.

The fur of spirit birds like the Yunmengze Duck is of excellent quality, and how to remove it intact is an art in itself.

Duck down can be used as filling for spirit robes, duck feathers can be used to make talisman brushes, and duck feet, duck tongues, and duck intestines are all useful.

Every part of the duck, from head to toe, inside and out, is used efficiently.

This is just the Yunmengze duck; for fish like the Ironhead Fish, extracting materials from them is even more important.

Then there are the monsters in the wild.

The Lin family's personal guards would hand over the monster carcasses they hunted or acquired to the Liu family.

Animal meat is processed into feed ingredients and supplied to the spirit beast ranch;

Animal bones ground into bone meal can be used as fertilizer in spiritual fields, which can greatly increase the yield and quality of spiritual herbs.

After the animal hides were tanned, they were sold to workshops to be made into leather armor, boots, and bags.

Beast blood, after being refined, is sold to alchemists and is an indispensable ingredient in certain special elixirs.

A demon beast, from its skin to its bones, from its blood to its flesh, can all be turned into spirit stones, so it can be said that nothing is wasted.

This spirit beast processing workshop is now the Liu family's most core business.

Other families want to learn it, but they can't.

Training a spirit bird butcher requires a significant amount of time, and both manpower and a large quantity of raw materials are indispensable.

Other families wouldn't have the foundation to do it.

This involved technology, experience, and the trust and support of the Lin family. As a result, the spirit beast processing workshop became the foundation for the Liu family's livelihood.

"That's good. By the way, how's my nephew doing lately?" Lin Che asked as he walked, his steps unhurried, the soles of his boots making a steady sound on the bluestone path.

"Thanks to Your Excellency, that kid Qingyuan is already in the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, and he's about to surpass me!" Liu Yunzhou said, a proud expression on his face.

Although Liu Yunzhou only has a mid-grade spiritual root and mediocre cultivation aptitude, he is quite fortunate.

The sons were very promising; all six children possessed spiritual roots, which was considered a rare blessing in the entire Chuyang City.

Among them, Liu Qingyuan has the best aptitude, possessing a superior water spirit root, making him one of the top young people in the entire Chuyang City.

Liu Qingyuan is currently serving in the garrison army as a battalion commander under Lin Xuanjing, and will later be responsible for the defense of the main battlefield south of Chuyang City.

"That's good. Let him earn more military merits during the beast tide so that his cultivation can advance further as soon as possible." Lin Che nodded, his gaze deep.

"Yes, Your Excellency, I will go back and urge that kid on!" Liu Yunzhou clasped his hands in acceptance of the order.

Slogans alone are not enough to get the garrison to serve the Lin family.

Saying "defend our homeland" once might get you some attention, twice might get you some people to believe it, but three times and nobody takes it seriously anymore.

Independent cultivators don't care about slogans, they only care about spirit stones.

They'll give their lives for you however much you give them.

If the initial investment in winning over the garrison continues, the Lin family won't be able to withstand it either.

Each person receives dozens of spirit stones per month, which adds up to hundreds of thousands a year. Even the wealthy Lin family couldn't afford to spend that much.

So the Lin family followed the Fang family's example and also established a military merit system.

Anyone who performs meritorious service can earn military merit, which can be used to exchange for cultivation resources in the Lin family—elixirs, spiritual materials, magic weapons, cultivation techniques, and even cubs of spirit beasts can all be exchanged for military merit.

This is their most fundamental source of motivation.

There are very few ways to earn military merits on a regular basis; they are mainly gained through training, patrols, and drills, and the accumulation of merits is as slow as a snail's pace.

But the current beast tide is definitely the best time to earn military merits.

Killing a Tier 1 monster earns one battle merit; killing a Tier 2 monster earns ten battle merits; killing a Tier 3 monster earns one hundred battle merits.

These points can be redeemed for any item priced in the Lin family's warehouse.

Among the current garrison, some are planning to exchange for a Azure-Eyed Eagle, some are planning to exchange for a second-tier high-grade spiritual weapon, and some are planning to exchange for a bottle of spiritual medicine to break through to the next level.

Not a single person considered abandoning the city and fleeing.

Having something to look forward to gives you motivation.

After chatting with Liu Yunzhou about their recent situations, the two parted ways at the gate of Chuyang City.

………………

In the empty conference room, Yan Shuming's face gradually turned ashen.

The light from the lamp cast a play of light and shadow on his face, making his furrowed brows, tightly pursed lips, and slightly twitching mouth all the more clearly visible.

His hands were on his knees, his knuckles white and veins bulging.

The teacups on the table had gone cold, and the tea reflected the lamp on the ceiling, swaying slightly.

In the past, the Lin family still treated him with respect.

Whether it was Lin Che or Lin Xuanjing, they would all greet him politely as "City Lord," and report what needed to be reported and ask for instructions when necessary.

However, as the Lin family gradually developed, their influence in Chuyang City completely overshadowed his.

The garrison troops wouldn't listen to him, the vassal families wouldn't listen to him, and even some officials in the city lord's mansion started flocking to the Lin family.

Today, Lin Che didn't give him any face at all.

"What exactly does the Lin family want? Do they really think I, Yan Shuming, have no temper?" His voice was low, as if squeezed out from deep in his throat, carrying a long-suppressed anger.

"Zhang Mo!"

Upon hearing Yan Shuming's call, the conference room door was gently pushed open.

Zhang Mo walked in, his steps very light, as if afraid of crushing something.

He had been waiting outside the door for a long time, not going in for fear of offending his master.

His gaze was lowered, and he dared not meet Yan Shuming's eyes.

Yan Shuming's voice was as cold as ice: "Make Lin Che disappear!"

Zhang Mo raised his head, opened his mouth, but hesitated to speak.

"But Master, we don't have the right to use those things. Besides, Chuyang City still needs..."

He didn't finish speaking, but Yan Shuming understood what he meant.

Those things are part of the Xuan Kui Sect's plan and should not be used unless absolutely necessary.

If they are exposed prematurely and discovered by the Fang family, they will be finished.

Chuyang City still needs the Lin family to defend it. With the beast tide approaching, if we break ties with the Lin family now, who will guard the city walls? Who will stop the monsters?

There was silence for a moment.

The air in the conference room seemed to freeze; even the flame of the lamp stopped flickering.

"I don't care." Yan Shuming's voice returned to calm, but beneath that calm lay a resolute determination to disregard everything.

"If the Lin family continues like this, I'll be the one to disappear! We'll leave the Lin family alone for now, but we must eliminate Lin Che at all costs. I refuse to believe that Chuyang City can't be defended without him!"

"...Yes." Zhang Mo lowered his head, clasped his hands in acceptance of the order.

He turned and left the meeting room, closing the door without making a sound.

His footsteps faded into the distance in the corridor, eventually disappearing into the depths of the empty building.

Yan Shuming sat alone in the empty conference room, his gaze fixed on the cup of tea on the table that had gone cold.

A thin film had formed on the surface of the tea, reflecting the lamp on the ceiling like a cold moon.

A slow smile appeared on his lips, a smile that contained resolve, ruthlessness, and also a hint of something indescribable...relief.

"Lin Che, you forced me to do this."