323: Chapter 323: A Standoff

"No," Li Changsheng refused flatly.

"The territory of the Supreme Dao Palace cannot yield even an inch."

"Then we cannot reach an agreement." Xiao Ran stood up, making a move to leave.

Li Changsheng did not move.

"Alliance Leader Xiao, this is not the attitude for peace talks!"

Xiao Ran stopped, turned around, and looked at him.

"We can talk, but the North belongs to the Demonic Path; that is non-negotiable."

"So your meaning is that the Supreme Dao Palace should move away?"

Xiao Ran nodded. "The Supreme Dao Palace moves to the South, and I will pay to help you build it."

Li Changsheng looked at him and shook his head firmly.

"The Supreme Dao Palace has a Legacy of ten thousand years; it is impossible to move."

Xiao Ran thought for a moment.

"Then how about this: the North belongs to the Demonic Path, but the Supreme Dao Palace remains."

"The Disciples of the Supreme Dao Palace can walk freely in the North, and the Demonic Path will not interfere."

Li Changsheng shook his head.

"No, the Supreme Dao Palace cannot sever its own Foundation."

"This won't work, that won't work."

"Then what the hell are we talking about!"

The two exchanged words, arguing endlessly.

Daoist Master Qingxu, Shangguan Yunhe, Sect Master Wuxin, and others also joined the argument, and the great hall was filled with noise.

After arguing for an entire day, an agreement was finally reached.

With the Supreme Dao Palace as the boundary, the North belongs to the Demonic Path, and the South belongs to the Righteous Path.

The Demonic Path will pay an annual tribute of 50 million Spirit Stones to the Righteous Path, and the Righteous Path will pay an annual tribute of 5,000 bottles of Medicinal Pills to the Demonic Path.

Both sides will exchange prisoners of war and return to their respective homes.

"Deal." Xiao Ran extended his hand.

"Deal." Li Changsheng grasped his hand.

Their hands clasped in the air; on the surface, it was a reconciliation, but in secret, they were acting.

In the Soul Link, Xiao Ran's voice came through.

"That was a good performance."

Li Changsheng replied: "You weren't bad either."

The two released their hands simultaneously, turned around, and left with their own people.

...

After the peace talks ended, Li Changsheng began to reorganize the Righteous Path Alliance.

The first task was to establish a unified Righteous Path Alliance.

He integrated the Cultivators of various Sects and assigned territories.

Almost every major Sect was stationed in a specific direction, ensuring that if the Demonic Path invaded again, the Righteous Path could effectively resist.

In the current Righteous Path, Li Changsheng is the greatest.

Subsequently, Daoist Master Qingxu, Shangguan Yunhe, and Sect Master Wuxin remained among the top five in the Righteous Path's national rankings.

The second task was to promote the younger generation of Disciples.

Think about it, now that Li Changsheng has risen to power, how could he ignore the Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters from his former Sect?

He promoted Ling Jianxin and Su Qinghan to Elders, significantly increasing their benefits.

He promoted young Disciples from various Sects to key positions, replacing those old-school Elders.

The third task was, naturally, to purge dissidents.

A few Elders were dissatisfied with Li Changsheng and secretly communicated, wanting to overthrow him.

Li Changsheng learned of the news through special channels and executed them on charges of "colluding with the enemy," killing the chicken to warn the monkeys.

"Li Changsheng, you cannot kill me! I am an Elder of the Supreme Dao Palace! I am Daoist Master Qingxu's Junior Brother!"

"Do you want to kill your Junior Martial Uncle?"

A white-haired old man knelt on the ground, trembling all over.

Li Changsheng looked at him and said indifferently.

"You colluded with the Demonic Path and intended to sell out intelligence of the Righteous Path; the evidence is conclusive, what else is there to say?"

"I did not! You are slandering me!" The white-haired old man roared.

Li Changsheng took a Jade Slip from his bosom and threw it on the ground.

The Jade Slip lit up, projecting an image of the white-haired old man and a man in black talking in a secret room.

The man in black was a Demonic Path Cultivator under Xiao Ran.

The white-haired old man's face turned pale.

"This... this is fake! You are framing me!"

Li Changsheng did not look again.

"Drag him away and behead him."

Several Disciples dragged the white-haired old man away.

A moment later, a scream, and the great hall went quiet.

Daoist Master Qingxu stood to the side, looking at Li Changsheng, his eyes full of complex emotions.

"Changsheng, you have changed."

Li Changsheng looked at him.

"Junior Martial Uncle, I haven't changed; it is they who have changed."

"At a time of life and death for the Righteous Path, they are still fighting for power and profit, still colluding with the Demonic Path in secret."

"Leaving such people alive is also a disaster."

Daoist Master Qingxu sighed.

"You are right. I am old and cannot manage so much anymore."

"From now on, the Righteous Path will depend on you."

Li Changsheng nodded.

"Junior Martial Uncle, rest assured, I will lead the Righteous Path well."

...

Meanwhile, at the Eternal Night Demon Sect.

Xiao Ran sat on the main seat, with the Sect Masters of the Six Great Demonic Sects standing before him.

Blood Butcher, Old Man Myriad Gu, Sect Master You Ming Zi, Fairy Hehuan, Immortal Master Baigu, and Old Man Tianshi.

Their expressions were not very good.

In this battle, they suffered heavy losses. Countless Disciples were killed or injured, and the Yellow Spring Army also lost more than half.

"Everyone, you have worked hard in this battle."

Xiao Ran's voice was very calm, as if he did not take the losses of the various Sects to heart at all.

Blood Butcher gritted his teeth.

"Alliance Leader, our Disciples have suffered more than half casualties, can you..."

"Can what?" Xiao Ran looked at him.

Blood Butcher dared not speak.

Xiao Ran stood up and walked in front of them.

"I know you are unwilling; you think I am using your Disciples as cannon fodder."

"But have you ever thought, without me, could you have lived until now?"

"Without me, the Six Great Demonic Sects would have long been annexed by the Righteous Path."

Blood Butcher lowered his head.

"The Alliance Leader is right."

Xiao Ran continued: "In this battle, although the losses were heavy, our goal was achieved."

"The Great Qian Dynasty is destroyed, and the Righteous Path's Origin Qi is severely damaged."

"From now on, there will be no power in the North that can contend with us."

"Really?" Fairy Hehuan asked.

Xiao Ran looked at her.

"You don't believe it?"

Fairy Hehuan shook her head.

"I just... the Righteous Path still has the Supreme Dao Palace, the Shangguan Family, and the Heavenly Sword Sect."

"Although their strength is damaged, it has not reached the point of being crippled."

Xiao Ran smiled.

"The Supreme Dao Palace? The Shangguan Family? The Heavenly Sword Sect? They are currently overwhelmed, how could they have the energy to manage us?"

"Moreover, Li Changsheng has just become the Righteous Path Alliance Leader, and his Foundation is unstable."

"He needs time to consolidate power and has no time to fight us."

Fairy Hehuan stopped speaking.

Xiao Ran walked back to the main seat and sat down.

"From this day on, the Demonic Path Alliance is officially established."

"I will serve as Alliance Leader, and you will serve as Deputy Alliance Leaders."

"The Disciples of each Sect will be deployed uniformly, and resources will be allocated uniformly by me."

"Whoever is dissatisfied can stand out."

No one stood out.

Because there is only one outcome for standing out to oppose.

That is death.

Xiao Ran nodded.

"Very good, Blood Butcher, your Blood Fiend Sect suffered the heaviest losses; I will allocate 500 Yellow Spring corpses to you to compensate for your losses."

Blood Butcher's eyes lit up.

"Thank you, Alliance Leader!"

"Old Man Myriad Gu, your Myriad Gu Sect did not suffer small losses; I will allocate 300 Yellow Spring corpses to you."

"Thank you, Alliance Leader!"

"Sect Master You Ming Zi, your Nether Hall suffered the smallest losses, so I will not allocate any."

Sect Master You Ming Zi nodded.

"This subordinate understands."

Xiao Ran looked at Fairy Hehuan, Immortal Master Baigu, and Old Man Tianshi again.

"The three of you, I will allocate 200 Yellow Spring corpses each."

The three thanked him in unison.

Xiao Ran stood up.

"Alright, you may all go down."

"Reorganize your Sects well; in three months, I want to see your strength restored to its original state."

"Yes!" The six replied in unison and exited the great hall.

Xiao Ran stood in front of the window, looking at the sky outside.

The night wind blew in, carrying a hint of chill.

In the Soul Link, Li Changsheng's voice came through.

"Xiao Ran, how is it on your side?"

"It is stabilized; the Sect Masters of the Six Great Demonic Sects have all been appeased by me. How about you?"

"The Righteous Path side is also stabilized; Daoist Master Qingxu has completely handed over the power to me."

Xiao Ran smiled.

"Congratulations, Righteous Path Alliance Leader."

Li Changsheng also smiled.

"Stop with the glib talk. Is it really stabilized on your side? Won't the Sect Masters of the Six Great Demonic Sects rebel?"

"They won't. We are the Demonic Path; whoever has the bigger fist has the final say."

"How would they dare? Their lives and deaths are in my hands."

"Rebel? To rebel is to die."

Li Changsheng was silent for a moment.

"You are ruthless."

"If I am not ruthless, how can I be the boss?" Xiao Ran smiled.

"By the way, we have finally unified the North; next, we should realize our original ideals. Are you ready?"

"I am ready."

The blood-colored dawn of the North is finally about to welcome the first light.

And they will be the Dominators of the new order.