Demon Sword Sect's Undercover

After a round of entanglement, Yan Baiyi successfully brought the sword cultivators back into the city. Several dozen Golden Core sword cultivators would indeed help in defending Zhenbei City. Yan Baiyi knew that the Prairie Sword Sect did not have a Nascent Soul Master, so bringing this many Golden Core cultivators was not an all-out effort, but it was sincere enough.

The lead elder Golden Core bowed, "Shi Zhu of the prairie, bringing sixty-seven prairie sons, has come to contribute. Please inform the Daoist friend to arrange for us."

Yan Baiyi solemnly returned the salute. The help that had come to support them was a heavy burden of goodwill, which required Yan Sect to reciprocate in the future, especially such an organized effort. However, he still had some doubts,

"Please rest assured, Daoist Shi. I have reported to my martial uncle, and arrangements will be made shortly. Hmm, forgive me for asking, but I heard that all the prairie sword cultivators had gone to Dushan to attend your Sect Hierarch's grand ceremony?"

Shi Zhu smiled, "The prairie is the foundation of our Golden Sword Vein, how could it be left unoccupied? Some have gone, while others like us have stayed to maintain it. But with the beast tide rising, the Northern Territory has no place untouched, so the Sect Hierarch ordered us to muster all our strength to come and assist Yan Sect against the Beast Clan."

Yan Baiyi felt warmth in his heart, knowing this was an old friend's concern, worried that Yan Sect's proximity to the Yuan Yi Mountain Range would leave them short-handed, thus sending people to help. The prairie is located south of the Northern Territory, some distance from the front line, so they did not have to join in so early. They also had other choices, like the stronger Heartless Dao, or the slightly safer Zhao Sect.

"Thank you for the prairie's kindness. As long as Yan Sect stands, there will definitely be a return favor. But wouldn't this leave the prairie empty?"

Shi Zhu nodded, "Most of us have gone to the grand ceremony at Dushan, and it will take some time to return. But the prairie is our home; we can't let the Beast Clan rampage. If it's empty, let it be empty. In a place like the prairie, it's impossible to guard..."

Yan Baiyi was momentarily at a loss. Indeed, there's no need to defend such terrain as the prairie, and the temperament of prairie people makes relocation unlikely, so the only option for them is to march out and fight.

Hou Niao's sword vein still has to deal with the Sea Demons in the Southwest Lizhi Sea, is there any place that is easy?

"Let's go, I'll take Brother Shi to see Martial Uncle..."

... Among the five major regions of the continent, not every area is strained. In the southeast, humanity's response is quite composed.

Among several Great Dao Sects, the Qi Sect, Zhou Sect, and Guo Sect are all coastal, with strong forces in each sect and talents emerging in large numbers. Coupled with a call from the Daoist Sect, dozens of Daoist traditions in the entire Southeast region have sent strong people to gather at the sea. In just a few days, they've assembled hundreds of Nascent Souls and thousands of Golden Cores, countless Foundation Establishment cultivators, and have forcefully pushed back the Sea Demons of the Tianjin Ocean.

But resolving this Sea Demon invasion on the sea thoroughly presents the same problem: they cannot choose the battlefield.

The Jinxiu Continent has two oceans, among which the coast of the Lizhi Sea is slightly shorter, while the coastline of the Tianjin Ocean and the Southeast region is very long. That means with stretched lines, thinning forces, the defense becomes disadvantageous.

The Sea Demons dare not easily come ashore, and the Southeast Daoists do not wish to risk going to sea, each having their own concerns.

On Erlang Island near the coast, cultivators gathered, and scouts were sent out in all directions, but after half a month, they hadn't obtained any exact information. Just like the Southwest Lizhi Sea, they faced an awkward problem of not knowing how to find the main force of the Sea Demons in the Tianjin Ocean. Or was there simply no main force at all?

On a prominent reef south of Erlang Island, about a dozen young Golden Core Daoists stood against the sea wind, gazing at the sea, unable to come to a decision.

"It's basically certain, someone is advising the Sea Demons in the Tianjin Ocean. They have no intention of landing while gathering in the near sea. Their purpose is singular, to stall us. It seems the Demon Beast tribe has a good understanding of the power distribution among human cultivation forces," sighed Gu Bai of Taixuan.

Daoist Hui Yuan chuckled, "Each of the Qi Sect, Zhou Sect, and Guo Sect defends a section of the coastline, other Daoist Sects go out to sea and search. In principle, their defense is solid, but in practice, they lack initiative. Having insufficient manpower at sea, dreaming of pushing through, that's just fantasy."

Daoist Guzhu snorted coldly, "What we see, do you think these old Jinxiu cultivators can't see? It's just a conservative philosophy. They want to delay, drag out a change, and then apply their influence across the continent. You can't say they're wrong, but to employ such strategy with their strength, it's a pity for the Southeast Daoists' foundation. They could have done much better."

The core figures like Zhi Xuan Jue Mingzi did not speak because it was no use. They were still far from fully controlling these Great Dao Sects.

A small ship can turn fast, but a large ship can sail with the wind; upon entering the continent, each higher realm visitor faced their own challenges and difficulties, each household having its own troubles.

Smaller Daoist traditions face troubles with the selection of successors, often accompanied by contention and bloodshed. But once determined, they have the advantage of quickly completing power transitions. These higher realm inheritors can greatly decide the direction of their Daoist traditions.

Great Dao Sects do not work this way. For instance, Wu Sect has nearly twenty Nascent Soul Masters, Qi Sect even more, with over twenty, and the Zhou Sect, Chu Sect, and Guo Sect each have a dozen Nascent Souls. Such immense local power cannot be quickly subdued by a single Golden Core, even if he's from the higher realm.

Therefore, their discussions here are also from a place of helplessness because, in major matters, the Elder Council of each Daoist Sect still makes the decisions.

This is the essence of the problem. These individuals have a long and arduous path before they can fully control their respective Daoist traditions.

This is where the differences emerge.

The elder Nascent Soul Masters and real people of the Elder Council naturally want to go the old route, and the old route is about one word, delay.

In the constant procrastination, they wait for changes in the Demon Beasts, the situations across various regions of the continent, and then respond to maximize the Daoist influence. A fact is, only when other regions are on the verge of collapse does the Daoist get the best bargain.

Every time Demon Beasts invade, this is the case, resulting in the flourishing of the Daoists, while other Daoist traditions gradually perish in the beast tide, leading to the current situation on the Jinxiu Continent where the Daoists stand alone as the dominant force.

Since these tactics are effective, why change?

However, the young ones see things differently. They come from the higher realm, with an innate broad vision, seeing further, thinking deeper.

They ponder, why not take the initiative, sweep through with crushing force, proclaiming the continent's Daoist ownership? Not that there isn't the ability; if they wish, they could even engage in two simultaneous front wars!

Or they could scour two large seas, leaving no room for the Sword Sect to make its mark; or turn to the Northwest or Northern Territory, completely subduing the major forces there and expanding the Daoist influence outward.

Although the objectives are the same, the old folks are passively waiting, whereas the young ones are actively striving!

The people of Jinxiu still don't quite understand, the Great Dao is contending!