Chapter 1245: 663: Struggle for Interests! Clear Rewards and Punishments!

The Human Clan could practically claim a great victory. Yet interests have always been tempting.

The greater the victory, the more conflicts arise over the distribution of benefits.

Just like the present Panhai City, all Eight Great Sects desire it, yet none are willing to relinquish it.

"It seems like a war between the Human Clan and the Demon Race, but in essence, it's a battle of interests."

"In a crisis of life and death, everyone can unite with determination. But when the crisis is truly resolved, interests become the standard of everything."

"Within the Human Clan, there are cultivators who, for the sake of interests, choose to cooperate with the Demon Race."

"These cultivators include not only ordinary ones, but possibly Daoist Monarchs, or even Daoist Venerables."

"After all, at such a realm, advancing further is extremely difficult."

"And some methods used by the Demon Race are indeed notorious for their strangeness."

Jiang Shu's mind went through numerous turns, involuntarily recalling the few Demon Venerables he had encountered.

These Demon Venerables had nearly identical insights into the Space Dao.

Worlds within each of their bodies were almost alike.

Unlike true Demon Venerables who comprehend the Space Dao and open up worlds within their bodies.

Aside from the Space Dao, some of their powers could not even match those of a true half-step Demon Venerable realm.

Yet, after all, Demon Venerables are Demon Venerables, possessing control over parts of the Space Dao.

Encountering Daoist Monarchs of the Vientiane Realm, they could almost certainly suppress and kill them completely.

As the battle situation changes, the true faces of these Demon Venerables will inevitably be discovered by some Daoist Monarchs, or even Daoist Venerables.

If they realize that their own realm is hopeless, would they start cooperating with the Demon Race?

The Divine Sense quickly browsed through volumes of dossiers.

Cold numbers recorded some usual events following the Human Clan's takeover of Panhai City.

Seventeen key material transport routes were attacked, with unknown sources, nine new defense node core runes were silently sabotaged.

Three Nirvana Realm cultivators stationed here were all ambushed during patrol or rest, with no remains left behind.

The exhortations from the Purple Extreme Daoist Venerable before departure echoed in the ears.

"Panhai City is the throat between the Human and Demon Clans; the Demon Race will hardly be content to lose this key city."

"There must be some half-demons, secretly willing to follow the Demon Race."

"But most importantly, it is the human heart."

"During extraordinary times, use extraordinary means; you must hold steady, yet also be ruthless!"

To be ruthless, one must first leave some flaws.

Only by leaving flaws can some demons, some people, believe there is an opportunistic chance here.

Jiang Shu closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them again, his eyes were filled with killing intent.

With a slight movement of his mind, a gray-white stone talisman shaped like a fox head appeared in his palm. A strand of Primordial Power, extremely subtle and carrying a touch of strange demon energy, was injected into the stone talisman.

Only half an hour had passed.

A series of footsteps quickly echoed outside the door.

Jiang Shu did not even release Divine Sense, merely listening to the footsteps and quickly saying softly:

"Enter."

In this City Lord Mansion, without his permission, who would come rushing over?

The heavy wooden door silently opened and closed, with two figures already kneeling before the desk without making any audible footsteps.

The leader was a somewhat slender young man, whose facial features had the handsome outline of the Human Clan, yet at the ends of his eyebrows and eyes, there was subtly the characteristic upward curve unique to the Fox Clan. His eyes seemed to have a dim green shimmer flowing in the dim light, precisely Hu Yi, the current Clan Leader of the Half-demon Fox People Clan.

Beside him was a stooped elder, with sparse white hair, and a face lined with furrows. Only those eyes, occasionally opening and closing, had an indistinct yet bright light of wisdom flashing, like sparks buried beneath the ashes.

The elder beside Hu Yi bowed deeply, his posture extremely humble, with only his emaciated body trembling slightly amid light coughs.

"Master."

Hu Yi's voice was low and clear, like a taut bowstring.

"You are right, the current Panhai City seems obedient, but beneath the surface, the demon energy is persistent. After you sent the message of going into seclusion, it was stable at first, but now, some small movements have started to happen slowly."

Jiang Shu's gaze swept over the elder, then landed on Hu Yi.

"Have you captured any leads?"

"There are some clues."

Hu Yi raised his head, taking out a jade thin as a cicada's wings from close to his body, respectfully offering it with both hands.

"After all, the Fox People Clan is also half-demon. Some tribesmen who previously engaged in marriages across other half-demon species, naturally managed to obtain some information."

"Among the half-demons who surrendered in the city, some have long secretly communicated and linked up with those wandering Demon Race squads outside, wanting an inside-outside alliance. Their greater purpose is to escape from Panhai City because in their eyes."

"The Human Clan doesn't view them as their kin; now seeming appeased, later they will surely face various enslavements."

"Better to continue following the Demon Race."

"After all, when they followed the Demon Race before, their powers had stabilized, with the half-demon high echelon enjoying powers some Humans didn't, thus they are naturally unwilling to relinquish."

"Just because you came, these small movements have paused. They only secretly pass the city's information outwards; following their movement trajectories, we preliminarily locked on seven key nodes."

The jade emitted a faint, gentle glow under his fingertips, the tiny words engraved on it were vividly revealed under Jiang Shu's powerful Divine Sense.

Among the Human Clan, some Daoist Venerables advocate wooing half-demons.

Therefore, at the current stage, as long as half-demons are willing to side with the Human Clan, the policies are relatively lenient.

Plus Jiang Shu's deliberate efforts.

This led to many half-demons harboring other thoughts, secretly contacting those Demon Race squads dispatched by the Emperor Palace.

Seeking to reclaim their former powers.

"Is this all?"

Jiang Shu merely scanned with Divine Thought, memorizing these few locations, then looked at the fervent-faced Hu Yi and asked.

Hu Yi's expression paused, then shook his head and said:

"Master, half-demons are in fact a small matter. The most important is the Demon Race. Half-demons, after all, have limited potential, whereas some Demon Race members, using various methods, conceal themselves outside the city."

"Be it Qing Flood Dragon Guard, Xuan Snake Hall, these pure-blooded Great Demons lurking in the shadows conduct their operations with extreme secrecy, using solitary dead agents, unless one hits their core, it is extremely difficult to access and detect."

"This list is the limit we can access, fearing there might be even deeper fish hiding in the mud that haven't been uncovered yet."

"Moreover, amidst the feedback from subordinates, they say they've heard some extremely vague whispers."

"It seems within the Demon Race, some mighty figures formed a faction named Demon Dawn. Upon joining, half-demons can not only enhance their bloodline power but also anticipate future support from the Demon Race, with hope to completely integrate into the Demon Race."

"Demon Dawn?"

Radiance of the Demon Race?

Jiang Shu appeared unchanged, looking at Hu Yi, said:

"Your intelligence is crucial, assign people to continue observing from the shadows; report any changes promptly."

"For now, maintain their growth, ensuring no significant news is transmitted outwards."

After speaking, Jiang Shu flicked his finger, sending out an elixir.

After taking charge of Panhai City, Ruyi Senior sent him a large number of resources.

Among them were both Treasure and Elixir.

These treasures and elixirs were naturally useless for him at the moment.

Yet they could be used as various rewards.

"This elixir is called Enlightenment Pill. It has the chance to let Nirvana Realm cultivators, during seclusion, comprehend a thread of Daoji."

"Although relying on just one elixir makes it nearly impossible for Vientiane Realm, it can assist cultivators to better comprehend Divine Skills associated with the Great Dao, laying a foundation for future realm advancement."

"This Daoist Robe, though not a Dao Artifact, possesses the effect of concealing bloodline aura; unless viewed by Daoist Monarchs or Demon Monarchs level, it is virtually impossible to discern your half-demon identity."

Jiang Shu spoke slowly, light streamed from his sleeve, converging into luminous clusters in the void.

Hu Yi was dumbfounded, he could clearly see the treasures corresponding to each luminous cluster.

These treasures, even some Nirvana Realm cultivators with great merit would be envious.

And now, they all appeared right before his eyes!