I am Guhuoniao, not an umbrella demon, please do not disturb me.

Bai Qingyu wasn't stupid; she knew this principle. If the Human Emperor were a mortal, it would be difficult for him to win over the people. In the end, it would become a situation where, on the surface, they were supposed to be cooperating with the Human Emperor, but in reality, they were cooperating with Bai Qingyu. What the Human Emperor said would be irrelevant; he would be even more of a puppet than a puppet.

Bai Qingyu thanked Tianjiao for his kindness, but was genuinely surprised.

She truly hadn't expected Tianjiao to say that and be so cooperative.

Things were going so smoothly that she began to suspect it might be a trap.

Tianjiao didn't want to explain too much. She wouldn't interfere with what Bai Qingyu thought. She had already said all that. If Bai Qingyu didn't trust her, there was nothing she could do.

"The Divine Phoenix will not be able to obtain the ruins in the short term."

We had a few drinks and chatted, rambling on about this and that, but eventually the conversation returned to the plan.

With a casual wave of his hand, Tianjiao conjured a picture in mid-air using demonic power. Only they could see this picture; the demons outside the barrier could only see a blurry image.

They didn't care. No matter the outcome, they would support Tianjiao's choice without hesitation, because only Tianjiao could lead the demon race to prosperity. Even Tamamo-no-Mae couldn't do that. In this life, Tamamo-no-Mae only had eyes for his human wife and had no heart for the demon race.

There's still some hope for his return in his previous life, but now, instead of relying on him, it's better to rely on that Nanzan Demon King named Shuten-dōji.

Bai Qingyu looked at the scene in mid-air, which showed the ancient ruins of the capital city.

"This is what I recorded some time ago. As you can see, Mahayana cultivators visit this ruin almost every so often. It's not easy to break through their guards. The good news is that they don't have a way to open the ruin, so I said there's no rush."

"Once the Divine Phoenix's plan takes its first step successfully, Peacock and I will cooperate with you to buy you time. Then you can go and retrieve it."

Bai Qingyu nodded without speaking. That was also what she had in mind. As long as someone helped her hold off the cultivators, it wouldn't take much longer; half an hour would suffice.

However, her plan to hold off the cultivators wasn't to let Tianjiao and Kongque go, but rather to wait until the Heavenly Sect and other demonic sects started to massacre the Merfolk before she went herself.

No matter how powerful the Peacock and the Heavenly Flood Dragon are, the number of strong individuals they can hold off is limited. They might very well drag the demon race into the fray prematurely. It would be better to wait until the Demonic Sect makes its move and all the sects' attention is diverted before taking any action.

Bai Qingyu thought it was worthwhile to join forces with the Demonic Sect since they wanted to target the Merfolk.

Judging from the current situation, the Demonic Sect has some interest in the ruins, but not much. They know that it is not worth wasting time on these ruins. A group of righteous cultivators have occupied the place for so long and have not been able to open it. Why should they be able to open it?

Instead of pinning all our hopes on this, we should try to find a way to defeat the Merfolk.

The treasures of the Merfolk are not that difficult to open. The only problem is how to kill the strong members of the Merfolk. As far as we know, there are five Mahayana cultivators in the Merfolk, one more than the Tianyang Palace, and their strength is not weak.

Compared to the power of the entire world, the strength of the Merfolk is really nothing. If they were truly powerful, they wouldn't have risked joining forces with the Demonic Sect and resorting to tricks like luring the tiger away from the mountain. In the end, they did join forces, but many of their combat forces were also transferred away, and they still had to fight a quick battle.

Even so, the Merfolk still lost a Mahayana cultivator that time. Such a foolish act and such a confident attitude made Ji Canghai curse twice when he learned of it.

Sometimes you really have to admit that the merfolk's thought process is different from normal people; they're even kind of adorably stupid.

When everyone, including Ji Canghai, was wondering if the Merfolk had some secret behind their sneak attack, the Merfolk would show you with their actions that they had no secrets, that they were just trying to kill you and seize your territory.

While others were dumbfounded, the merfolk were smug, feeling that killing so many humans demonstrated their domineering power and strength.

They were utterly defeated by the human race many years ago, but now they've gotten their revenge, haven't they?

In reality, the human race would not think that way at all; they would only be shocked and then try to give these arrogant sea creatures a hard time.

Why did Ji Canghai and his group of demonic sects dare to target the Merfolk? Besides the fact that one of their Mahayana cultivators had died, they also thought the Merfolk were incredibly stupid. Perhaps the lack of competition in the sea had made them somewhat arrogant.

With such a juicy piece of meat right in front of you, it would be foolish not to take a bite.

Therefore, if we negotiate a cooperation with the Demonic Sect at this time, we have a 90% chance of success.

With the help of two top-tier Mahayana cultivators, Peacock and Heavenly Flood Dragon don't need to do anything. They only need to help intercept human cultivators when they enter the sea to plunder the Merfolk.

As for the ruins, given Ji Canghai's personality, he must know that one cannot have both fish and bear's paw.

The treasures of the merfolk may not be inferior to a mere ruin.

To put it bluntly, this ruin is a large seal. How much benefit can you expect from a seal?

At most, they'll be those armored men.

But the Merfolk are different; they are a truly powerful clan, a clan that has been developing for an unknown period of time!

The ocean holds endless treasures, and sea creatures are generally wealthier than those on land.

Imagine the treasure of the Merfolk – it's an amount that's absolutely irresistible.

Therefore, Bai Qingyu couldn't think of any reason why the Demonic Sect would refuse.

The only thing to worry about is that if this secret is exposed, the evil cult will take notice.

The reason is simple: even if the Merfolk are weak, they are still weaker than the Humans. But Bai Qingyu is not as strong as the Merfolk.

Why take the risk of targeting the Merfolk? Taking down Bai Qingyu is equivalent to taking down the ruins. Even if we can't open it ourselves, we can still trade with the righteous sects. Why not do it?

Although he had promised Ji Canghai that he would not reveal the secrets of the Demonic Sect to outsiders.

But the situation is special right now.

Furthermore, isn't he also working for the benefit of the Demonic Sect?

Ji Canghai will definitely do the same if he finds out. At worst, he can wait until his side develops and Shuten-dōji and Ibaraki-dōji break through before talking to the Demonic Sect.

As long as they make themselves far more difficult to deal with than the Merfolk, the Demonic Sect will know what to do.

Tianjiao, Kongque, herself, the three demon kings, and the entire demon race—so what if the demonic sect suspected she had a way to open the ruins?

I comforted myself with that thought.

There's no rush to talk about this; it's better to observe the changes in the world first.

If the Demonic Sect takes any action, we'll definitely receive the news.

"No, no need. I have a plan, but I'm not sure if it's feasible yet. If it is, I'll come back to you then. You'll only need to hold off one of the forces, which could be the merfolk or the humans."

"Mermaids?"

Tianjiao looked at Bai Qingyu with great surprise. She didn't expect that Bai Qingyu would have designs on the Merfolk. However, things were probably not that simple. Just as she said, this matter had not yet been confirmed.

"To the Merfolk."

"That works too. If you have any ideas later, just contact me."

Tianjiao took out a palm-sized, seven-colored dragon scale and handed it to Bai Qingyu. This dragon scale was from her own body, a scale left over from when she underwent tribulation.

"This is the reverse scale I used to replace. You can keep it for now. You can use this to contact me. It's safe enough that no one will overhear you. But if I'm still in this world when this is all over, you must remember to return this to me."

For a dragon, losing its reverse scale might not have much of an impact, but it is very precious. To them, the reverse scale is a very special thing, and they will keep it safe even if it is not on their body.

Bai Qingyu took the scale. It felt heavy and hard to her, with nothing particularly eye-catching about it. Only when she held it in her hand did she realize how precious it was.

It would definitely be an excellent material to use in crafting magical artifacts.

The weight and hardness of these scales clearly demonstrate the vast difference between the little snake and her.

These palm-sized scales weigh at least fifty kilograms, and they were her old dragon scales, which are now only stronger. As for the little snake, it would be lucky if it had one-tenth the quality of these dragon scales.

It's terrifying to even think about. Just how strong must the Heavenly Flood Dragon be in its true form? Its defensive capabilities are simply terrifying.

Bai Qingyu suddenly wondered, now that Tianjiao had reached this level of cultivation, was she still a jiao? Shouldn't she be able to transform into a dragon by now?

She inquired about this later, and Tianjiao replied that it hadn't happened yet.

Her current state is that of a half-dragon and half-jiao (a type of dragon). Only by undergoing another tribulation can she officially transform into a dragon. The problem is that if she passes this tribulation, she will ascend directly as a true dragon.

Later, she saw her transform her arm into a dragon claw, and even Bai Qingyu felt pressured when she saw it.

What is a dragon? This is a dragon! Compared to it, a small snake is just a small snake at best.

The banquet continued, and instead of discussing any heavy topics, they talked about the development of the demon race over the years. In Tianjiao's words, it turned out that not all humans wanted to kill the demon race.

Bai Qingyu might not believe it, but the Tianyang Palace, a sect of the human race, has also considered the interests of the demon race.

They tried to make humans and demons coexist peacefully, but unfortunately they never had the opportunity to do so and no one supported them.

"Actually, the reason why Tongzhou has developed to this point is because Tianyang Palace has been pushing it forward. If it weren't for them, Tongzhou would never have developed into what it is today. You'll find that Tongzhou has become very difficult to manage. Perhaps the demon race and the human race can indeed coexist peacefully, but there are people who don't want that, and these people will come to Tongzhou to cause trouble, you know?"

Slightly tipsy, Tianjiao's cheeks were flushed. If it weren't for Bai Qingyu's resistance, he would have loved to hug Bai Qingyu and call her his sister.

However, Bai Qingyu did remember this point she mentioned.

She suspected at the time that someone was behind Tongzhou's scheme, and she never expected it to be true.

As a demon, Bai Qingyu couldn't understand why Tianyang Palace would do such a thing.

It's beneficial to the demon race, but what about the human race?

Most ordinary people wouldn't want to live with wild beasts, even if they know these monsters are friendly. But how could they not be afraid when they think about how easily the other party could eat them? No matter what Tianyang Palace says, you only have one life. If you are killed by a monster, what's the use of the monster being torn to pieces later?

Tianjiao's answer was simple: Tianyang Palace was also experimenting to see if the coexistence of humans and demons would allow ordinary people to absorb spiritual energy.

The explanation is that both the demon race and the human race are part of the common people, and the long-term separation has prevented the two races from relying on each other's fortunes or becoming stronger together.

If humans and demons could live in peace and coexist peacefully with the natural world, then perhaps there would be no more great calamities from now on.

The upper limit of cultivators will be infinitely reduced, while their numbers will increase. It's like gradually eliminating Mahayana, Integration, and eventually Nascent Soul cultivators. The strongest will only be Golden Core cultivators. In return, all living beings in the world will have Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, and Golden Core cultivation levels.

It sounded so mysterious and absurd that Bai Qingyu couldn't decide whether to believe it or scoff at it. After all, if it sounded like that, it would only be more outrageous in reality. Bai Qingyu couldn't even imagine how long it would take to develop to this point.

Besides, she can't understand how simply doing this can prevent the great calamity from happening again.

Who knows what those peak masters of Tianyang Palace are thinking? The key point is that Tianjiao also thinks this is feasible, it's just that it will take a long time.

These Mahayana practitioners have lived longer than him, seen more than him, and have far more experience than him, so Bai Qingyu did not offer any opinion on this matter.

What happens to the demon race is none of her business. What she is doing now is not for the sake of the human race or the demon race, but simply for herself and her child. If Xiaoya doesn't become the human emperor, and the Heavenly Sword isn't the Wintergreen Demon Sword or the Longevity Sword, she won't care.

Even as evening approached, Tianjiao wanted her to stay and watch the evening show.

Bai Qingyu agreed, considering that there were still things she hadn't said.

The party was a performance by a group of demons, but it wasn't a chaotic dance of demons. The demons in the Ten Thousand Mountains were quite different from those outside, and Bai Qingyu didn't think much of it. But in fact, the performances were surprisingly interesting.

During the party, Bai Qingyu brought up one of the things she had come for this trip, which was similar to what she had mentioned during the day: to train the demon race so that when they truly joined forces, they could avoid the conflicts at the lower levels from affecting the upper levels.

Tianjiao nodded in agreement. Even she hadn't thought of that for the time being. She had been busy bragging to Bai Qingyu in the afternoon, and Bai Qingyu's words reminded her of it.

Afterwards, Bai Qingyu politely declined Tianjiao's offer and did not stay overnight in the Ten Thousand Mountains. Instead, she returned home under the cover of night.

It's worth mentioning that when she left, Tianjiao gave her a ring filled with all sorts of rare and precious materials. If these materials were piled up together, they could form a small mountain.

She was shocked when she saw this pile of treasures. She never expected Tianjiao to be so polite. Then Tianjiao took her to see their demon clan's plantation, which was full of rare and precious materials cultivated by the system. Because of the abundant spiritual energy, they were even better than the wild ones outside.

Most importantly, these treasures grow quickly, unlike wild ones which often take hundreds or thousands of years to mature. Here, treasures can be harvested every hundred years. With such a long period of accumulation, there is no shortage of them.

The Merfolk are rich, and so are the Ten Thousand Mountains.

The Merfolk relied on the vastness of the sea and its countless treasures. The Ten Thousand Mountains were not as large, but they had two far-sighted, quick-witted leaders who knew how to make good use of resources.

He told Bai Qingyu how to use these things together, and when Bai Qingyu left, he saw her off with reluctance.