I've already become an immortal lord, and only now is the spiritual energy reviving?

The rain has stopped at Qinglu.

The clouds parted, and the golden rays of the rising sun shone down, illuminating the mountain gate.

The gray-robed deacon quickened his pace, his toes barely touching the bluestone, and entered the main hall, his voice trembling slightly with extreme excitement.

"Sect Leader! We've returned! We've all returned!"

The steward's chest heaved violently as he tried to calm himself, and he urgently reported to the old Taoist priest at the head of the table:

"The Second Elder and Master Yan are leading their troops to test the disciples on the mountain path! I saw it clearly; they are all vigorous and powerful. Although their clothes are tattered, they are all intact, without a single one of them being injured!"

"Hahaha! Excellent! I knew this scoundrel was tough; even the King of Hell might not be able to take him!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the light suddenly dimmed.

A burly figure strode across the threshold, like an iron tower.

With each step, the floor tiles in the hall trembled.

The visitor was none other than Chai Wu.

His worn-out sheepskin coat was casually open, revealing muscles that looked like cast bronze, gleaming with a metallic sheen.

Without deliberately activating spiritual power, the surging blood and qi that naturally emanated from his breath caused the surrounding air to become noticeably hotter.

"You wicked disciple!"

Hua Yangzi, his heart stone settled, put on a stern, sect leader-like expression, casually grabbed a whisk from the table and threw it, laughing and cursing:

"Going out on business has resulted in this life-or-death situation! The communication talisman has vanished without a trace, leaving Yan'er to travel thousands of miles! My years of painstaking cultivation of inner strength have almost been ruined by you!"

The whisk swept towards Chai Wu's chest, but didn't even stir up a speck of dust; it simply floated away.

"Hehe, Master's accuracy is as good as ever."

Chai Wu grabbed the whisk with one hand, scratched his messy hair, and looked completely unconcerned.

"There's an array or restriction there, so the talisman was ineffective. It was just a minor hiccup. Please calm down, and I won't do it again next time."

"father!"

"My husband..."

The young boy, Chai Dingwei, who had been waiting by the side of the hall for a long time, bumped into his father's arms.

He Qin followed closely behind, her eyes red-rimmed, her usually gentle gaze now filled with lingering fear.

Chai Wu laughed and scooped up the infant with one arm, placing him on his broad shoulder.

He freed one rough hand to grasp his wife's soft hand, his calloused palm gently brushing against the back of her hand, sending a rough sensation through him.

"Why are you crying? You're not missing any arms or legs, you're perfectly fine."

He Qin remained silent and did not ask any further questions.

In the world of cultivation, life is as worthless as grass; to return to the world is a great blessing.

The man swallowed his bitterness, so the woman at home didn't have to reopen the wounds.

After exchanging pleasantries, Chai Wu's playful expression vanished, and he returned to a solemn demeanor.

Upon reaching the sand table in the center of the hall, he roughly pointed to several areas on the west side where red flags were planted, his voice like muffled thunder:

"Master, the Soldier Battalion has not wasted a single month."

"Dafeng, Shixi, Liugou, and even the far-off Heishanzhai, these four villages have all been incorporated into Guanhua's territory."

I visited each of the village elders and commoners to have a talk with them. They were quite sensible and were willing to offer 70% of their annual harvest in exchange for the protection of my clan.

When the topic turned to "narration," Chai Wu's knuckles cracked as he clenched his fists.

The underlying principles at the physical level are self-evident.

"Only the villages of Shanglin and Xiaoheyan remain. The villagers in these two places are cunning and, relying on their past ties with the Imperial Sword Sect, they refuse to give up."

Chai Wu snorted cold air:

"I have dispatched several disciples from the Scout Hall to lie in wait. No matter day or night, even a fly flying into the village will not escape the sect's eyes and ears."

"good."

Shu Yan, dressed in a plain robe, stepped into the hall.

Asaka Yoko nodded slightly, and the girl walked straight to the edge of the sand table, her slender white fingertips lightly touching the air.

His gaze swept over everyone, his tone low, yet every word carried immense weight:

"The villages are right next to the territory of the Imperial Sword Sect. If war breaks out again, this place will be the first to be hit and will surely become a bloodbath."

"In my opinion, all able-bodied men in each village should immediately begin training in accordance with the 'Militia Law,' be taught body-strengthening boxing manuals, and be issued standard-issue fine iron blades. In case of any changes, they should know how to set off smoke signals to delay the battle."

"Furthermore, all those who are of the right age and whose spiritual roots are found, regardless of their aptitude or background, can be admitted to the outer sect for cultivation."

Hua Yangzi nodded repeatedly after listening, then glanced at the somewhat crowded hall and looked troubled.

"Yan'er, it's good to plan ahead, but... Guanhua's main peak is only a small area."

"With disciples, servants, and family members, the population exceeds a thousand. Although we have newly developed spiritual fields and mined veins, if we continue to recruit on a large scale, we may not even be able to find a place to settle down."

"Master's concerns are absolutely correct."

A wisp of extremely fine water vapor flew out from the sleeve and entered the sand table. Next to the lonely mountain that originally represented Guanhua Gate, peaks rose from the flat ground.

The deep blue water solidified, transforming into three striking symbols that formed a pincer movement, blocking the path of expansion.

"If there's no land, just take it."

"Danxia Peak, the site of the Chixia Sect, produces fire copper and earth lung fire evil, making it a natural furnace for refining weapons."

"Mochou Peak, where Yusi Pavilion is located, is damp, but it is suitable for the growth of aquatic spiritual herbs."

"Cuiping Peak, located in Cangchun Valley, boasts the most lush forests in Jueqing Mountain, and is said to have a sacred spring."

Chai Wu's eyes suddenly lit up, and a ferocious grin spread across his face:

"Junior sister's intention... is to 'borrow' some territory?"

"Borrowing land, borrowing power, and borrowing a path" are all ways to achieve success.

Shu Yan's tone turned cold, revealing a ruthless and decisive nature:

"If Guanhua wants to make any progress, it cannot avoid clashing with these three families. It is better to take the initiative to pull out their teeth, especially since these three families have been occupying positions without doing any work for a long time."

"Strike first."

Changing the subject:

"However, according to ancient teachings, courtesy should come before force. I will draft a visiting card soon and invite them to pay me a visit."

"If we can reach an agreement, we can become vassals, merge, and become like branches of the same tree."

"If we can't reach an agreement..."

Chai Wu clenched his fist, his joints cracking:

"Easy! I've been wanting to find a way to sharpen my heavy sword!"

"No need to rush."

Shu Yan glanced sideways at her senior brother, whose mind was filled with fighting, and gently shook her head:

"The annexation of the three factions is a massive undertaking to reshape the Qinglu landscape, and it cannot be accomplished overnight."

"My senior brother has obtained an opportunity and his physical body has broken through to a higher level. However, he still needs time to hone his skills before he can show his true ferocity."

"Talk, fight, and repair simultaneously."

"Like boiling a frog in lukewarm water or cutting flesh with a dull knife, as long as time is given, they will have no chance to turn the tables."

......

"Tsk, this girl."

Qingyuan's eyes were full of admiration.

The kind smile on his lips, as if saying, "My own cabbage has finally grown teeth and can now nibble at people," was impossible to suppress.

On the desktop, the notepad has turned to a brand new page.

[Danxia Peak Protectorate: Fire Flow Spirit Array. At midnight, the array's core, the "Fire Position," is most vulnerable; a strong attack with water-based magic will inevitably break it.]

[Yu Si Ge: The Pavilion Master is suspicious and stingy. His core cultivation technique has a built-in mental demon bug. Winning him over psychologically is the best approach, saving a lot of effort.]

[Hidden Spring Valley: I heard that the valley master who plays with ropes is looking for a cauldron everywhere... That's a good excuse for fishing.]

The densely packed information labels are all highly targeted malicious attacks.

"The chessboard is too big. Relying solely on [Proxy] to stuff Shu Yan with personal stuff will easily overheat the CPU and the efficiency won't keep up."

pat.

Qingyuan threw his pen on the table, having made up his mind.

For a strategic-level undertaking, you need to use the most powerful methods.

The tenth anniversary is just around the corner.

This means that he can issue decrees again to provide macro-level guidance to the sect.

Not to mention, there's also the tantalizing "Heavenly Retribution."

I stretched and decided to keep staring at the screen and working on the details for a while longer.

hum.

My phone vibrated.

Upon arresting him, a WeChat notification lit up.

The sender's profile picture is a black cat.

My immediate supervisor is Lu Zhaolin.

[General Manager Lu: Qingyuan, I have some new ideas regarding the high-concurrency routing logic for the core logistics module.]

[If we introduce the Netty framework for asynchronous processing and add a custom thread pool, could we squeeze another 20% out of throughput? I'll try it out at work tomorrow. Also, the flu is really bad lately, so try to stay home at night; safety first.]

Staring at this string of messages that was half technical and half health-related, Qingyuan raised an eyebrow.

"As expected of President Lu, the king of all trades."

Thumb typing rapidly.

[Received. Netty is unconventional; we'll have to see if the existing middleware providers agree. I'll create a simple demo to test it out first, and then report back to you in person tomorrow.]

After sending it, my gaze lingered on the black cat avatar.

The illusion that I was seen through during the interview resurfaced.

Especially the phrase "safety first".

No matter how you look at it, it doesn't seem like they're talking about the flu.

"Never mind, let's not worry about it."

"I'd better just stick to being the king of the internet. The stronger my sect is in the game, the safer I am."

Thoughts are clear and open.

Qingyuan skillfully switched back to the background [Deduction Mode].

Shu Yan has already drawn up the strategic pie for him; the subsequent negotiations and wrangling will be a long and drawn-out process, so there's no need to keep a close eye on things.

outside the window.

The night is getting darker.

lower right corner.

The miniature bronze incense burner now frequently gleams with a golden-red light.

"Has the first decade arrived?"

Qingyuan's eyes flickered slightly, the mouse moved over, and his fingertip tapped lightly.

【clang--】

A deep, resonant chime of an ancient bell echoed through the headphones in the lonely night.