I established the Eternal Immortal Clan by taming beasts.

The messenger from the Demon Palace of Rebellion arrived in the afternoon.

Unlike the other three families' flying boats, he entered the city on foot.

He wore a dark gray robe without any markings, with the hood pulled low, covering most of his face, only occasionally revealing the outline of his jaw when he walked.

His pace was exactly the same as the pace of the pedestrians around him, neither fast nor slow, blending into the ranks of the independent cultivators queuing to enter the city, neither in front nor behind.

There were two long queues in front of the registration office at the city gate. He was in the middle of the left queue. In front of him was a middle-aged rogue cultivator carrying a hunting bow, and behind him was a woman holding a young child.

He didn't look around, but stood there quietly, waiting for the line to move forward slowly.

The afternoon sun shone down from directly above, compressing the shadows of the queuing crowd into a small patch of darkness at their feet.

The shadow cast by the brim of his hood obscured his face, revealing only the tip of his nose and the lines of his jaw.

When it was his turn, the city guard took the identity jade token he handed over, glanced at the information on it: a rogue cultivator, mid-Foundation Establishment stage, surnamed Chen, who came to Chuyang City to seek refuge with relatives.

That's just ordinary information, repeated dozens of times a day at the registration desk.

The city-guarding cultivator pressed the jade tablet onto the reading array, and spiritual light rose from the array surface, flowing around the edge of the jade tablet.

Just then, the light emitted by the reading array shifted for a moment, as if it had been gently tugged by some force.

The city-guarding cultivator didn't pause. His gaze lingered on the jade token for a moment before he casually handed it back: "Open the storage bag for routine inspection."

Without hesitation, the gray-robed man took off the storage bag from his waist and opened it.

The city-guarding cultivator's gaze swept over the ordinary spiritual materials and low-grade pills in the bag, before his eyes stopped at a corner at the bottom of the bag.

There was a token there, about the size of a palm, engraved with dark red patterns, the edges of which gleamed slightly in the light.

The guard's fingers didn't touch the token. He closed his storage bag and handed it back to the other person: "Alright, you can go in now."

The man in the gray robe took the storage bag, tied it back around his waist, and walked towards the city gate.

As he walked through the city gate, the guarding cultivator turned around and whispered something to a young cultivator beside him.

The young cultivator nodded and strode towards the main area.

When the gray-robed man arrived at the entrance of the city lord's mansion, the lights in the reception room were already on.

As dusk spread from the edge of the horizon into the city, the lanterns on both sides of the corridor lit up one after another, casting evenly spaced patches of light on the ground.

He paused for a moment at the bottom of the steps, then pushed his hood back to reveal a slightly pale face. His features were unremarkable, with proportions and distribution of features no different from those of an ordinary middle-aged cultivator—the kind of face that would be easily forgotten after a glance.

He didn't knock; the door had already been opened from the inside.

Lin Che sat in the main seat, looking at the person who walked in through the door across the two cups of steaming spiritual tea on the table.

He hadn't expected the Demon Palace of Rebellion to send this person.

Xue Yuan, the deputy palace master of the Rebellious Demon Palace, is the number one person after Qin Wudao.

At this moment, his aura was restrained, and his Nascent Soul Perfection cultivation was suppressed to a very low level. If one did not know his identity beforehand, judging from his steps and breathing rhythm when he entered the room, one could not tell that he was any different from a normal Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Lin Che later learned about the plans of the Rebellious Demon Palace through the Black-Holding Mysterious Network. The person in front of him had also recently undergone a breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage.

But now it seems that the other party is restrained and shows no signs of failure in breaking through. Without a doubt, that performance was just for show and he never actually broke through.

Upon entering, Xue Yuan removed his hood with a natural motion: "The Palace of Rebellion, Xue Yuan."

"I am here on behalf of Palace Master Qin to discuss a cooperation with the Lin family."

Lin Che raised his hand, gesturing for him to sit in the guest seat: "Please speak, Vice Palace Master of Blood Abyss."

Xue Yuan sat down in the guest seat and spoke directly: "I know that the Fang family wants you to remain neutral, Baicao Valley wants you to send troops to contain the Fang family, Qingyun Sword Sect wants you to open up the situation on the eastern front, and I also know that what your Lin family lacks most right now is time."

Lin Che didn't respond, waiting for him to continue.

"We have the same needs," Xueyuan's voice was calm. "The Palace Master needs time to condense his Dharma form, and the Lin family needs time to develop their territory and digest the newly acquired resources. If we just let things develop like this, the Fang family will be able to free up their hands after swallowing up Baicao Valley. At that time, both of us will face the Fang family's reckoning."

As expected, the judgment of the Demon Palace of Rebellion and the Lin family was consistent: both sides still needed time to develop, and they were indeed the most likely partners for cooperation.

Knowing this, Lin Che's expression remained unchanged, and he responded in the same calm tone: "I don't think it's that absolute, do I? As long as our Lin family doesn't actively provoke trouble and get involved in the war, the Fang family won't necessarily go against our Lin family in the future, right?"

"Heh!" Xue Yuan snorted coldly, a faint smile appearing on his expressionless face. "Since that's the case, there's nothing more for us to talk about." After he finished speaking, he turned towards the door.

Lin Che sat upright in the main seat, picked up his teacup, took a sip, and watched without getting up.

His gaze fell on Xue Yuan's back, watching him walk past the third, fourth, and fifth floor tiles until he was close to the door, at which point Xue Yuan slowed his pace and stopped.

Xue Yuan didn't turn around, keeping his back to Lin Che: "True Lord Lin is quite composed."

His voice came from the direction of the door, more relaxed than before: "Alright, let's stop pretending. I know that Lord Lin is not the kind of person who only cares about immediate interests." He turned around faster than before, returned to his seat, and sat down again.

Lin Che smiled and put down his teacup: "Lord Blood Abyss, why don't you tell me what your Reverse Fate Demon Palace plans? I believe that you must be plotting something again since you've come to our door."

He was just testing the waters, trying to see if the other party's plan needed the Lin family, all in order to gain the upper hand. Xue Yuan's pause and turn around had already shown the answer.

After Xueyuan took his seat, he didn't beat around the bush and began to explain their plan.

After listening, Lin Che remained silent for a moment, then said, "I need to think about it and then I will give you an answer."

"Of course."

…………

Two days later, in the corridor of the backyard of the City Lord's Mansion in Chuyang City.

The morning light slanted down through the gaps in the eaves, casting long, thin streaks of light on the ground that stretched along the seams of the stone slabs of the corridor.

Fang Yuandao had been standing there for a whole day.

He didn't go out or cultivate today; he just stood facing the courtyard wall, seemingly lost in thought.

When she heard Lin Che's footsteps approaching from the other end of the corridor, she turned around, a faint smile on her face, her voice perfectly steady: "Has True Lord Lin made up his mind?"

Lin Che stopped in the middle of the corridor.

"We've thought it over. The Lin family is willing to send troops to pacify Burning Bone City! However, the Lin family suffered heavy losses in the previous beast tide and is still building a new army. It may take at least two years before they have the strength to pacify the Burning Bone Pass area."

Fang Yuandao looked into Lin Che's eyes and remained silent for a moment.

"Alright, it's settled then. Our Fang family can supply the Lin family with half of the resources needed to build their new army. I wish us a pleasant cooperation!"

"It's a pleasure working with you!"

That afternoon, Lin Che also visited the envoys of Baicao Valley and Qingyun Sword Sect.

He first went to the east courtyard where Gu Beiwang was staying in Baicaogu.

Gu Beiwang's residence was near the east wall of the city lord's mansion. The room faced south, and there were several transplanted spiritual herbs on the windowsill, their leaves curling slightly in the afternoon sun.

When Lin Che entered the courtyard, Gu Beiwang was standing by the window, facing away from the door, holding a jade slip in his hand. His fingertips repeatedly slid along the edge of the jade slip, as if he had finished reading it for a long time but had not yet put it away.

Hearing footsteps, he turned around, his face showing a mixture of weariness and anticipation.

Lin Che didn't exchange pleasantries: "Our Lin family has decided to join the plans of the Demon Palace of Rebellion."

Gu Beiwang's breathing slowed noticeably, then he nodded and took out a jade box from his sleeve, placing it on the stone table.

The lid was lifted, revealing neatly arranged pill bottles inside. The bottle mouths were sealed with a thin layer of spiritual light membrane, and the pills inside gleamed with a warm luster beneath the membrane: "These Golden Core Pills and Nascent Soul Pills are the sincerity of my Hundred Herbs Valley. Hundred Herbs Valley will never forget the support from the Lin family."

Then there's Qi Changfeng from the Qingyun Sword Sect.

The Nascent Soul cultivator, dressed in a gray-blue Daoist robe, lived in a secluded courtyard. He never stepped out of the courtyard or spoke to the servants there; he simply sat quietly for several days.

As Lin Che entered the side courtyard, Qi Changfeng immediately opened his eyes: "Has True Lord Lin made up his mind?"

"Naturally, this plan is beneficial to all of us, and my Lin family agrees to join the plan of the Demon Palace of Rebellion."

Qi Changfeng looked at Lin Che without saying anything more. Instead, he took out the storage ring he had prepared from his sleeve, placed it on the table, and gently pushed it: "These sword intent inheritance beads and spirit swords are the sincerity of my Qingyun Sword Sect. I hope we can work together to resist the Fang family."

……

After seeing off the envoys from various factions, the Lin family held another family meeting.

After everyone was seated, there was no further small talk, and the atmosphere was completely different from the relaxed atmosphere of the usual meetings.

With a flick of his sleeve, Lin Che conjured up the pills from Hundred Herbs Valley and the spiritual pearls inherited from the Azure Cloud Sword Sect on the conference table.

The pills were packaged in twelve bluish-gray jade bottles, each sealed with a thin layer of spiritual light membrane, beneath which the pills gleamed with a warm luster.

The Sword Intent Inheritance Bead is contained in a wooden box with fine sealing patterns engraved on the surface. Even through the box walls, one can still feel the sword intent stored inside the bead slowly releasing faint pulses.

"This is..." Everyone asked in confusion.

Lin Che opened two of the bottles.

"Here are one hundred Golden Core Pills and five Nascent Soul Pills. This is Hundred Herbs Valley's way of showing their sincerity in cooperating with us." He tilted the bottle slightly so that everyone could see the arrangement of the pills inside.

The pills were kept a finger's width apart in the jade bottle, their natural charm and uniform color, with no cracks or missing corners on the surface.

"There are also one hundred sword intent inheritance beads and one hundred high-grade spirit swords from the Qingyun Sword Sect. Each inheritance bead can allow a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator to comprehend a rudimentary form of sword intent in a short period of time."

Upon hearing this, everyone was quite surprised.

It is important to know that one of the difficulties the Lin family faces is the way to obtain the Golden Core Pill and the Nascent Soul Pill.

The Lin family currently lacks alchemists capable of refining large quantities of Golden Core pills. The family has developed too rapidly, but alchemists and formation masters require time to cultivate.

The most likely one has already left Burning Bone City with the Fang family's main force.

This batch of pills can be said to have solved the Lin family's urgent problem.

But none of them were blinded by the immediate benefits; their expressions all turned serious.

They were also aware of the recent visits to Chuyang City by various factions sending envoys.

Does the presence of these pills mean that Father intends to help the Fang family from Baicao Valley?

Lin Che saw through their thoughts: "Your guesses are not entirely correct." He stepped towards the Southern Region sand table and pointed to the Fang family's power.

"The Fang family is accelerating their advance. They have already captured three major spirit mines on the outskirts of Baicao Valley, and their troops have advanced to the outskirts of Yaowang Valley. At the current rate, the core area of ​​Baicao Valley can only hold out for five to seven years at most."

"On the Qingyun Sword Sect's side, the main force of the beast tide has already pushed from the western front to the rear of Zhenyao City. Once the core area of ​​the Qingyun Sword Sect is cut through, the entire offensive and defensive situation in the Southern Region will change." His finger paused on that line for a moment. "And we, we still need time, at least thirty years. We need thirty years to truly gain a foothold."

As he spoke, Lin Che pointed to the Rebellious Demon Palace: "Like us, the Rebellious Demon Palace also needs time to develop. Their Palace Master, Qin Wudao, has just broken through and needs time to condense his Dharma Image. Sects that have just advanced to the Nascent Soul stage also need time to expand their influence. For this reason, we have come up with a plan..." He explained the steps of the plan, the timing of intervention by each party, and the expected results, one by one, along the boundary lines of the forces marked on the sand table.

After listening to the patriarch's explanation, everyone nodded in understanding.

Lin Che's gaze swept across the table: "Distribute the pills to the clansmen who need to break through. Xuan Qi, you are in charge of the distribution. Keep the Sword Intent Inheritance Beads for now and save them for the clansmen who need them. These resources should be invested at the time when they can play their greatest role."

He then turned his gaze back to the sand table.

"Next, we need to create the illusion that the Lin family is actively preparing for war, so that the Fang family will think that we are actively preparing to recapture Fen Gu Pass, and not let them become suspicious."

"Send the necessary resources directly to the Fang family and let them help us solve the problem. The more we ask for, the less suspicious they will be!"

Lin Xuanqi wrote the last stroke on the record sheet and put the pen on the table: "I will complete the first batch of personnel grouping list within half a month, and all preparations will be done to ensure that the Fang family's spies will not find out anything."

Lin Che nodded and stood up: "Then this meeting will conclude here. Ladies and gentlemen, this is our biggest strategic deployment in nearly ten years. Starting tomorrow, everything will enter a wartime rhythm. This battle concerns the future of the Lin family!"

From both sides of the long table, everyone responded in unison, "Yes!"