259: Chapter 259 A Chess Game: Back and Forth!

After Zhao Yanshan passed away, although the Zhao Family had new people to step up, they always felt something was missing, and the morale of the clan was much lower than in the past.

After Zhao Xuanqing took over the clan affairs, he was busy consolidating the Family's power, winning over hearts, settling Family industries, and stabilizing relationships with various forces. Overnight, he had to shoulder the burden of the entire clan alone.

Later, he brought a batch of tribute gifts and went to Fengshui Lake in person to pay his respects to Shi Jian.

Shi Jian rarely came out of seclusion. Upon learning of Zhao Yanshan's passing, he felt a slight sigh; the world is cold and indifferent, and another acquaintance had departed...

As for the Zhao Family and Zhao Xuanqing, Shi Jian's impression was acceptable. He considered Zhao Xuanqing's status recognized and left behind a sentence:

"The Zhao Family has followed this seat for over a hundred years. Although Yanshan is gone, the rules of the Zhao Family have not changed. You should do as you have been doing."

"As long as the Zhao Family does not go against this seat, this seat will also protect your Zhao clan."

Hearing the promise of the Old Ancestor, Zhao Xuanqing knelt and kowtowed. The stone that had been hanging in his heart finally landed.

Everything remained unchanged, and the power transitioned smoothly.

Shi Jian had given the attitude he should, and as for the remaining path, it would depend on Zhao Xuanqing himself to walk it.

As for what kind of future he could carve out, it would depend on his own fortune and Opportunity.

Life in Fengshui City continued.

But over in the Southern Region, it had never been peaceful.

Although the Poison Flood Dragon King had retreated, he did not retreat cleanly.

After the Dragon Python Clan retreated to their lair in the Southern Region, they did not cease their activities; instead, they changed their tactics and constantly harassed all sides.

Every few days, several Foundation Establishment water flood dragons would sneak over from the southern river channels and circle around the peripheral outposts.

If they encountered a lone small Cultivator, they would bite them to death and drag them away; if they encountered a patrolling team of Cultivators, they would launch an attack in the chaos.

Despite multiple encirclement and suppression campaigns, they were somewhat contained.

But the Evil Water Marsh was so vast that it was impossible to guard every area completely. Sometimes they would even attack Spirit Ships transporting supplies at night.

These despicable tactics were not clever, but they were effective at being disgusting.

It was like an unkillable, shameless snake; if you ignored it, it would coil up and bite you, but if you turned back to hit it, it would be slippery and elusive.

If the big flood dragons didn't come, the small ones would.

If the small ones weren't enough, they would send a nest of python demons, stirring up the various outposts in the Evil Water Marsh, making it impossible for them to be peaceful and causing immense losses.

Over a few years, hundreds of Cultivators at the peripheral outposts of White Cloud Temple were killed or injured.

Many outposts suffered heavy casualties, and some small Foundation Establishment families were even wiped out entirely, which further exacerbated the hatred between the Human Race and the Yao Beasts.

For the small Qi Refining Cultivators stationed on the front lines, this kind of warfare was miserable, and they lived in constant fear every day.

Fearing that one day, they would become food for these Yao Beasts...

"These reptiles, they don't fight for real, and they don't run far away."

Sun Qiming squatted on the riverbank, looking at the water surface and cursing.

Under his command, the Clan Chief of a small Foundation Establishment Family had been killed by a third-rank water flood dragon while patrolling last night.

The body was dragged into the river, and even now, the corpse had not been recovered.

"Clan Uncle, I want to take people to clear out the southern river channel."

Sun Qiming stood up, looking resentful: "If we keep dragging this out, the hearts of the people below will scatter. We must take action."

Sun Chengzhu stood on high ground with his sword on his back, his gaze sweeping over the river surface.

"Let the Crocodile Beast Clan set up a few hidden sentries underwater."

"The Dragon Python Clan is good at water, and so are the Crocodile Beasts."

"Their territory still needs to be guarded by themselves. Use the enemy's skills to control the enemy; after all, this place is not the home field of our Human Race."

"Let them deal with it. Afterward, provide some compensation to the Crocodile Beast Clan."

"At that time, we will also have an explanation."

This method was quite good. The Human Race did not have the geographical advantage, and coupled with being caught off guard, they were already at a disadvantage.

Using the Crocodile Beast Clan, who were also good at water, to contend against the Dragon Python Clan.

This was indeed the optimal solution at the moment, and the cost was the smallest. Compensating with resources afterward would also give Golden Crocodile and the Old Ancestor an explanation.

With Sun Chengzhu's approval, Sun Qiming set about implementing this plan.

After setting up the hidden sentries, the harassment from the south was indeed reduced significantly. Whenever a water flood dragon snuck over, it would be discovered by the Crocodile Beasts lurking underwater before it could even infiltrate the area controlled by the Human Race.

Occasionally, they could even gain the upper hand and strangle quite a few Dragon Pythons to death.

In just a few months.

The harassment from the Dragon Python Clan finally ceased for a while, the offensive weakened, and the situation returned to calm. This exchange of blows could be considered as stopping at the right point.

But Sun Chengzhu knew that this was just a probe...

The Dragon Python Clan was, after all, not of the insect species, nor were they of the turtle species; they were a truly powerful clan.

Behind them, there was the Boundless Sea, and the flood Dragon Clans within the Boundless Sea area. Their foundation was not to be underestimated.

The Poison Flood Dragon King had been slapped in the face by Shi Jian in person, and the Bee Queen of the Eastern Region had died at Shi Jian's hands. He could not swallow this anger.

Not acting now was merely licking his wounds and accumulating trump cards.

"Must find an Opportunity to take the initiative and attack once."

"If we can probe something out, we can also lead the subsequent situation..."

Sun Chengzhu had an idea in his mind, so he discussed it with Shi Jian.

At this time, after a few years, Shi Jian had just finished digesting the essence of the Bee Queen's demon core. Although his cultivation had not broken through, his accumulation of spiritual power had become increasingly profound.

Hearing what Sun Chengzhu said, he intended to probe the Poison Flood Dragon King.

Shi Jian was quite appreciative, but not now.

"No rush. First, stabilize the beast-rearing lands in the Eastern and Western Regions."

"Wait for this seat to completely refine the essence of this Bee Queen's remains; it won't be too late to seek out that old flood dragon then."

"What about the harassment from the south?"

"Let Golden Crocodile deal with it."

"He is a Golden Core, after all. He can't just soak in the water all day to fatten up. It's time to make him move. Rest assured, he won't refuse."

With Shi Jian's approval, Sun Chengzhu knew what to do.

Dealing with the Dragon Python Clan, the core winning move did not lie with him, nor with others; it entirely lay in the chess game between Shi Jian and the Poison Flood Dragon King.

Since Shi Jian did not move, then relatively speaking, the Poison Flood Dragon King would certainly not dare to act rashly. If one side broke the balance first, then the decisive battle would not be far off. This could be considered a brief tacit understanding reached by the high-level officials of both sides.

Subsequently, Golden Crocodile received the transfer order.

Although he cursed "black-hearted bear" in his heart, he still honestly led the elites of the Crocodile Beast Five Branches to relocate to the southern front line..

With Golden Crocodile sitting in command, the Foundation Establishment water flood dragons of the Dragon Python Clan dared not cross the line at all.

Occasionally, one or two blind Dragon Python great demons were slapped into meat paste by Golden Crocodile's tail, becoming blood food in his stomach.

With this, it was quiet for another two and a half years...

Time flew by, and three years passed.

In these three years, White Cloud Temple had pushed forward the purification and development work in the Eastern and Western Regions by more than half, transforming all the wastelands into a paradise of spiritual land.

Beneath the insect nests in the Eastern Region, there were massive reserves of Ore, including a medium-sized mineral vein of third-rank Candle Yin Stone, which was a top-tier material used to forge water-attribute Magic Treasures...

It was worth its weight in gold; a fist-sized piece of refined Candle Yin Stone could sell for a high price of tens of thousands of Spirit Stones!

Consequently, this Eastern Region beehive was gradually transformed into a large-scale spiritual mine extraction point, and a new town was built, with much trading of various spiritual Ores.

This gave White Cloud Temple another source of income.

As for the Western Region, the Myriad Phenomena Old Turtle was worry-free; he could arrange the various turtle branches properly all by himself, without needing Shi Jian to worry at all.

The only thing that required White Cloud Temple's effort was helping to improve the environment around the Spiritual Veins, drawing in spiritual water, clearing miasma, planting Spiritual Plants, and establishing spiritual land, following the same process as the Northern Region back then.

Being familiar with the ropes, the efficiency was naturally much faster than the first time.

Sun Chengzhu governed the three regions in an orderly manner. The scale of Fengshui City had expanded many times over, and the number of resident Cultivators exceeded ten thousand!

Its reputation became increasingly loud, gradually gaining some fame throughout the entire Qingcang Kingdom. There was even a popular saying: "In the North, there is Zhenhai Immortal City; in the South, there is Fengshui Immortal City"...

Although Fengshui City was far from being as grand and magnificent as Zhenhai Immortal City.

It had still become one of the largest gathering places for Cultivators on the Southern Continent of the Xuanling Continent, and could be said to be rising in fame!

In recent years, more and more Mortals had been migrating here continuously. In just over ten years, the population of the Evil Water Marsh had reached several million.

It already had a bit of the name of an Immortal City!