Jiang Yuebai ignored Xie Jingshan and continued to ask Shen Huaixi, "Guess one or two, what is one or two? Since Anan told Xie Jingshan her purpose, didn't Xie Jingshan tell you everything?"
Shen Huaixi smiled bitterly and shook his head, "He didn't say a word, but his worried look and various abnormal behaviors made me guess that there was something else behind Senior Sister Lu's joining the demon clan."
Jiang Yuebai looked at Xie Jingshan, "See? It's useless to keep your mouth shut. Are there some things that people don't tell you on purpose?"
Xie Jingshan suddenly became depressed.
Jiang Yuebai actually understood that for someone like Xie Jingshan who had a fire spirit root, his nature was passionate and unrestrained, and it was actually very difficult for him to be restrained. Just like Cang Huo, he was a lively and entertaining person all his life.
There is also the Immortal Lord Yanhua from the Suzaku Realm, who is also impetuous, hot-tempered and straightforward.
Spiritual roots will have more or less influence on a person's character, especially if they have a single spiritual root. It is very obvious that Zhao Fuyi and her three disciples all have single spiritual roots.
Zhao Fuyi has a single spiritual root of gold, and is as sharp as a cone in everything he does. Li Shenzhi has a spiritual root of earth, and is cautious and likes to bury himself. Mu Wushuang has dual spiritual roots of thunder and fire, and can explode at the slightest touch.
Not to mention He Wangchen, who had water spiritual roots. He cried all the time for no reason. Only Tang Weimian was better, as he seemed to have only wood spiritual roots.
"Okay, now that things have come to this, since we are all gathered here today, let's not worry about what happens next and just lay out everything."
"If there is a problem, solve it. If there is no solution, we will find a solution together, just like when the four of us were in the Observatory and discussed the plan to go undercover in the demon tribe."
"The four of us?" The depressed Xie Jingshan raised his head suddenly, "What four? What Stargazing Tower? Did Shen Huaixi and I also participate in your and Lu Nanzhi's plan to go undercover in the demon tribe? Why don't I remember this?"
Xie Jingshan had a puzzled look on his face. It was obvious that his sealed memory had not yet been unlocked.
"Ahem~" Shen Huaixi asked hurriedly, "Senior Sister Lu, you should be trying to gain the trust of the demons now, but you have been fighting with the demons for the past few years, and you have lost nine out of ten battles. Although you are trying to eliminate dissidents, the demons will think you are incompetent."
Lu Nanzhi said, "Currently, the command of the demon army is in the hands of the Demon Lord of the Gold Tribe. The Gold Demon Tribe has the greatest power in the Demon Realm. Shen Mingjing and I are just following orders. It is not our fault if we lose the battle."
Shen Huaixi showed a look of understanding, "I see. The Demon Lord of the Golden Department has not led the troops properly and has caused heavy losses one after another. In the end, he can only hand over the command. At that time, it will be the time for you and Shen Mingjing to prove your abilities and show your skills. It will kill two birds with one stone."
"Shen Huaixi," Lu Nanzhi suddenly became serious, "Take Xie Jingshan and the others and retreat. When the command falls into our hands, if you don't retreat, we will have no choice but to fight each other on our own!"
Shen Huaixi showed no fear. "It is impossible to retreat. It's not that I don't want to, but the Mahayana of the human race doesn't allow it. The entire human race can't tolerate the demons getting involved. What do the demons want?"
"When the Spirit Realm was broken apart and the three tribes first arrived in the Upper Realm, the Ice Demon Saint Lord occupied 30% of the Upper Realm. At that time, the Ice Demon Saint Lord was already willing to negotiate peace, but unfortunately, the Sky Witch Tribe secretly sabotaged everything, and eventually they had no choice but to retreat to the Demon Realm."
"So from the perspective of the demons, that 30% of the land originally belonged to them. What they want now is to take that 30% back."
Shen Huaixi chuckled, "30% of the land is absolutely impossible. Is there any room for bargaining?"
Lu Nanzhi hesitated, and Shen Huaixi's eyes flickered slightly, and he could see that Lu Nanzhi didn't really want 30% of the land.
Jiang Yuebai and Xie Jingshan turned their heads back and forth, watching Shen Huaixi and Lu Nanzhi talking to each other, and neither of them could get a word in.
"Excuse me, how many people in the Demon Realm are on your side right now? If you can't tell me, forget it."
Jiang Yuebai and Xie Jingshan turned to Lu Nanzhi again.
Lu Nanzhi frowned and thought for a moment, then slowly said, "The demons have blocked the Demon Realm for more than two hundred years. Because I have the inheritance of the Ice Demon Saint Lord, plus the things that the Ice Demon Saint Lord left me, the Ice Demon Tribe and the Water Demon Tribe fully support me."
"Shen Mingjing had already gained the trust and support of the Thunder and Wind Demons in his early years. Although there are only two demons in our camp, half of the eight major demon tribes are on our side. They are also tired of fighting and want to rest and recuperate."
"As for the remaining four factions, as long as we continue to reduce their strength through the current war, we can slowly erode them inside the Demon Realm and slowly increase the strength of our camp. In addition, among the remaining four great demons, two are about to ascend to heaven. As long as it is not a matter of genocide, we will not care about the others."
Shen Huaixi thought about it and nodded slowly, "It seems that Shen Mingjing has indeed made sufficient preparations. In fact, I don't object to Senior Sister Lu's plan. On the contrary, I would like to help you within my ability. It's just that we are still too weak, and I'm afraid there is not much we can do. Now I can only talk about it casually."
As soon as Shen Huaixi finished speaking, Xie Jingshan wanted to call him a traitor, but Jiang Yuebai warned him with a look and he shut up.
"Shen Huaixi, please continue."
"The demons are not like the monsters who cultivate the way of nature and can live in peace. The demons reproduce much faster than humans. This time, the Demon Realm was only sealed for less than three hundred years, and they have regained the strength to fight against humans. If it is not contained, it will be terrible. But this is also because the demons have been suppressed too harshly. If they don't work hard to reproduce, they will die."
"The method used by the great immortals of all generations to deal with the demons was to cut off their roots, hoping to completely destroy the demon realm and leave them with no place to stand. But looking back at history, this is simply impossible to do. Even if it is done, it will only be a temporary peace. Sooner or later, the demons will make a comeback, and new demon realms will appear. The demons may even infiltrate every corner of the human race, making it even more difficult to deal with them at that time."
"Everything exists for a reason. Sometimes, suppressing too harshly will backfire. Instead of continuing to fight like this, it is better to be ruthless and change the way to deal with the demons. Maybe it can be solved once and for all. It will be good for you, me and everyone. Sometimes, it may not be impossible to relax the policy towards the demons, Brother Jingshan."
"ah?"
"Do you know how many spirit stones the nine major star alliances spend every year to rebuild the thirty-four realms of the Taiwei Star Alliance?"
This is the area where Xie Jingshan is good at. Every year, 70% of the supplies of his Mingshan Tower are supplied to the Taiwei Star Alliance. When looking at the account books, he once lamented that war is too expensive, but there are still people who take the opportunity to make a fortune from the war and wish that the fighting on the front line would continue forever.
Xie Jingshan thought for a moment and said, "Of the taxes collected by the nine major star alliances from the sects, families, and independent cultivation alliances in the cultivation world every year, about half is given to the Taiwei Star Alliance for use in the war. After the Taiwei Star Alliance fell three hundred years ago, there was a period of time when more than 70% was consumed."
Shen Huaixi nodded, "Senior Sister Lu, Senior Sister Jiang, do you understand what I mean?"
Xie Jingshan was confused, "What do you mean?"
Jiang Yuebai and Lu Nanzhi looked at each other. How could they not understand? What Shen Huaixi meant was that the thirty-four realms of the Taiwei Star Alliance had long been riddled with holes due to years of war, having been occupied by the demons and then taken back by the human race.
All the resources that can be mined have already been mined out.
If it weren't for the purpose of establishing a defense line as a buffer zone for the war, I'm afraid no monks would stay in such a place.
Shen Huaixi wants the human race to give up the thirty-four realms of the Taiwei Star Alliance, so that the human race can also save a lot of money.
If the demons were to obtain such a territory, they would have to spend time and resources to build it, and they might even have to disperse in order to defend the thirty-four realms, which would in turn weaken their strength.
Previously, the demons had taken over the Taiwei Star Alliance, but because their forces were divided, their strength was greatly reduced, and they were unable to hold on, so the Taiwei Star Alliance was taken back by the human race.
Shen Huaixi continued, "That's one thing. On the other hand, if all the demons can now realize that giving birth to a large number of young demons will make them weak and unable to advance to a higher level, can they reduce the reproduction of such a large number of demons?"
Xie Jingshan understood this time and took a breath, "What a vicious plan, this is the way to eradicate the root of the problem."
Lu Nanzhi frowned, "It's difficult to do this, and the undercovers sent by the human race to the demon race have also spread similar rumors. The demon race doesn't believe it, and coupled with the rules set by the Mahayana Heavenly Demon, they will hold the Life Festival at a fixed time."
Jiang Yuebai pondered, "It's not impossible, actually. If you have enough patience, you can use the Mirage Demon's 'Dream Killing Technique' to brainwash a small number of low-level demons first, so that they won't work so hard during the Rebirth Ceremony and cheat."
"Then when these cheating demons grow faster than other demons, other demons will realize that reducing births is indeed helpful for growth, and they will take the initiative to reduce births. This is what I'm afraid will be difficult to get past Shen Mingjing."
The three of them fell silent and thought about their own things. Xie Jingshan just looked around blankly, not using his brain at all.
After a moment, Shen Huaixi said, "Just lie openly. It is true that among the human race, the higher the level of cultivation, the less willing they are to have children, as it damages their own blood and essence. Tell Shen Mingjing that if you want to make the demon race stronger, you have to conserve your essence instead of raising too much. Let him think about it himself."
Jiang Yuebai said worriedly, "But this is clearly a double-edged sword. If the demons really gain many more elite soldiers because of this, what will happen to the human race?"
Shen Huaixi said, "In terms of elite troops, the human race is far stronger than the demon race. Now we haven't launched a full-scale war, otherwise if all humans go to the battlefield, the demon race will not be able to resist. Unfortunately, if this really happens, the entire upper world will definitely be shattered, so we really have to find a way to prevent this."
Lu Nanzhi hesitated, and Jiang Yuebai suddenly became annoyed and lost his patience.
"I'm really tired of these conspiracies and intrigues. Shen Huaixi, why don't you just go it alone and revive the Heavenly Witch and bring all the humans, demons and monsters together. Then everyone will be indistinguishable from each other and maybe there will be peace!"
Xie Jingshan nodded thoughtfully and actually felt that it made sense.
Shen Huaixi didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and refused again and again, "Forget it, even if that's the case, there will still be wars. There is no absolute peace in this world. It all depends on weighing and deterrence by force."
(End of this chapter)