Chapter 163: Arrangement

Marquis Tianxing, with his handsome features, emerged from the night. He glanced at Meng Chuan and Liu Qiyue, then smiled and nodded slightly. "I had planned to attend your wedding in person," he said, "but important duties kept me from leaving my post."

"Resisting the demon race is far more important," Liu Qiyue quickly affirmed.

"Mm-hm," Marquis Tianxing acknowledged. "I have something to discuss with Meng Chuan. We can catch up properly tomorrow, master and disciple."

"Tomorrow, I'll prepare some dishes myself for you to try, Master," Liu Qiyue said with a smile.

Soon, Liu Qiyue quietly withdrew.

Marquis Tianxing, Zhang Yunhu, and Meng Chuan proceeded into a hall. The three of them took their seats, and the hall doors closed behind them.

"Uncle-Master, what brings you here?" Meng Chuan inquired. Marquis Tianxing had rushed to Beihe Pass under the cover of night, indicating something urgent. If it were a minor issue, a letter would have sufficed. Meng Chuan couldn't help but glance at Zhang Yunhu beside him.

Zhang Yunhu quickly chimed in, "Don't look at me; I'm completely in the dark too."

Marquis Tianxing's gaze swept over both of them. He spoke with gravity, "Listen carefully, both of you. What I'm about to disclose will be known only to the two of you in all of Beihe Pass. You absolutely must not reveal it to anyone else."

"Only us two?" Meng Chuan and Zhang Yunhu exchanged surprised glances.

"After joint deliberations among Yuanchu Mountain, Black Sand Grotto-Heaven, and Two Worlds Island, we have decided..." Marquis Tianxing looked at them, his tone grave. "In one year, we will completely abandon all small and medium-sized city passes within the human world."

Meng Chuan and Zhang Yunhu were both somewhat dazed.

The city passes they had fought desperately to protect were just going to be abandoned?

"Won't that mean the demon race and demon monarchs can just pour in, unimpeded and in large numbers?" Zhang Yunhu couldn't help but blurt out.

"This would be hundreds, even thousands of times more devastating than the unstable world entrances," Meng Chuan said, his face paling. "Many lives will be lost." He knew the demon race's and demon monarchs' strategy concerning humanity: annihilation! The demons sought to exterminate humans and conquer this world. If they were allowed to enter freely, the consequences would be dire.

Meng Chuan shivered at the thought.

"Take a look at these dossiers," Marquis Tianxing said, pulling two thin reports from within his robes and handing them to Meng Chuan and Zhang Yunhu.

The two received them and began to flip through them.

Meng Chuan's expression shifted slightly as he read.

The reports detailed the current situation of "demon races and demon monarchs" secretly lurking across the world.

"In reality, over the past eight hundred years, numerous unstable world entrances have allowed vast numbers of demon races and demon monarchs to infiltrate our lands," Marquis Tianxing explained. "Their true numbers are far greater than you might imagine. However, most are only second-tier demon monarchs, relatively weak. Coupled with the relentless hunting by the 'Ground Net' gods and demons, these demon monarchs are forced to hide desperately, rarely daring to show themselves. When they do appear, it's typically to swiftly attack a fortified village or hamlet before immediately retreating."

"So, many of the attacks on fortified villages and hamlets were actually carried out by demons already hiding within the human world," Meng Chuan said, a sudden realization dawning on him as he continued reading. "Previously, the official statements from the three major sects always attributed these incidents to unstable world entrances, claiming demons suddenly appeared and then abruptly withdrew."

"Unstable world entrances, after all, close quickly," Marquis Tianxing explained. "If the general populace knew that numerous demon monarchs and demon races were lurking in our deep mountains and vast swamps, the panic would likely be far greater."

"No wonder..."

Meng Chuan nodded slightly.

No wonder. After becoming an inspector, in the two years he was responsible for the eighteen prefectures, there had been fewer than ten demon incursions from unstable world entrances! Even accounting for some remote areas that might not have requested his aid, when compared with Yuanchu Mountain's publicly released data, their figures for unstable world entrances were significantly higher. It was evident that many demon attacks on fortified villages within the human world were being attributed to these unstable entrances.

"Two Worlds Island is crumbling?" Zhang Yunhu asked, his expression shifting as he continued reading the dossier.

Meng Chuan also found that section.

The situation in the 'Dayue Dynasty' territory, overseen by Two Worlds Island, was far more dire than that of the other two major dynasties. With fewer gods and demons to deploy across more city passes, Two Worlds Island had, in the past decade, assigned nearly all of its Great Solar God-Demons to garrison small and medium-sized passes. Manpower was critically stretched. While previously manageable with annual losses of twenty to thirty disciples, the situation for Two Worlds Island had deteriorated year after year over the last decade.

"In the past, Two Worlds Island's situation was only marginally worse than Yuanchu Mountain's or Black Sand Grotto-Heaven's," Meng Chuan murmured.

"Back then, there was still sufficient manpower, and their defensive strength was adequate. But as the number of available personnel dwindled, more gods and demons fell in battle. The more who fell, the fewer remained to defend. This naturally leads to a swift collapse," Marquis Tianxing explained. "They managed to hold on before, but the last few years have truly worsened. Notably, the year before last, sixty-one Two Worlds Island disciples died in battle. How many disciples does Two Worlds Island even have in total? If they continue this, it won't take ten years for all their disciples to be wiped out. In fact, it wouldn't even require all of them to die; in just three or four years, their defensive capabilities would be completely insufficient, leading to a total breakdown."

"The Dayue Dynasty territory has ninety-three medium-sized world entrances. Even if Yuanchu Mountain and Black Sand Grotto-Heaven were to provide assistance, our own manpower would become critically strained. Within twenty years, most of our Great Solar God-Demon disciples would also fall in battle. At that point, our strength would be severely depleted, we'd be unable to maintain defenses, and the demon race would still pour in."

Marquis Tianxing concluded, "Thus, the three major sects have decided to proactively abandon those passes."

Having finished reviewing the dossiers, Meng Chuan and Zhang Yunhu now had a clear understanding of the dire situation and realized that the three major sects had been left with no other choice.

"We will strengthen the formation of the 'Ground Net,' with more gods and demons joining its ranks," Marquis Tianxing explained. "We will also closely monitor all small and medium-sized world entrances. The moment any creatures enter, we will track them and dispatch powerful gods and demons to their location. However many manage to enter, we will slay them all."

"Within the human world, we possess an absolute advantage," Zhang Yunhu nodded. "By abandoning only the small and medium-sized city passes, the strongest demons who enter will be, at most, third-tier demon monarchs. Even if they break through, they will only reach the fourth tier. Our human gods and demons can effectively slaughter them, fighting from a position of overwhelming strength."

Meng Chuan's expression remained grim.

He understood that, from a rational standpoint, the losses for human gods and demons would be drastically reduced. Within the human world, where gods and demons held the strategic advantage, demon monarchs entering would not be able to turn the tide.

However, the sole drawback of this decision was that it would inevitably lead to far greater casualties among ordinary mortals.

"If we continue to bear this burden for the sake of the people, the entire human race will face extinction within a few decades," Marquis Tianxing stated. "We have no alternative. What we *can* do is relentlessly hunt down the demon monarchs, thereby minimizing the destruction caused by those demon races and demon monarchs who infiltrate the human world."

"We'll hunt them all down," Zhang Yunhu nodded. "I had, in fact, anticipated the increasing pressure on the medium-sized city passes and assumed the sects would expand their disciple recruitment."

"Training disciples requires time, and even more so, resources," Marquis Tianxing explained.

Marquis Tianxing continued, "Expanding disciple recruitment is a poisoned chalice. It would lead to Yuanchu Mountain's resource consumption surpassing its accumulation. Within two or three hundred years, we would face the danger of the God-Demon Blood Pool drying up, which would mean the complete cessation of our God-Demon lineage."

Zhang Yunhu and Meng Chuan nodded.

Historically, humanity had encountered such crises. In those times, powerful gods and demons had to sacrifice their fundamental 'blood crystals' from their own God-Demon bodies, grinding them into the God-Demon Blood Pool to sustain the lineage. However, that method could only preserve a limited number of God-Demon inheritances.

To maintain large-scale God-Demon inheritances, like the current one, it's essential to ensure a balance between the sect's resource consumption and its accumulation.

"Since all small and medium-sized city passes must be abandoned, no one can reside within a hundred li of a medium-sized pass or fifty li of a small one. The entire population will require a massive relocation," Marquis Tianxing explained.

"That's an enormous number of people to relocate," Meng Chuan and Zhang Yunhu both exclaimed in utter shock. A single area could entail moving hundreds of thousands; with so many small and medium-sized city passes, the scale of the migration would be astounding.

Marquis Tianxing reassured them, "Don't worry. For the past year, the three major sects have been secretly making preparations. Food and living arrangements have already been covertly secured. For instance, the population of Beihe Pass will be relocated and dispersed among the sixteen surrounding prefectural and county cities, which are equipped to accommodate them."

Only then did Meng Chuan and Zhang Yunhu feel relieved.

"Starting today, I will be responsible for taking over Beihe Pass," Marquis Tianxing declared, looking at Zhang Yunhu. "Nephew-Disciple Zhang, you should have received the order by now."