The speed of these Sacred Fire Soldier Ants was astonishing, and they excelled at slaying with the blade-arms generated on their joints. Their own carapace was incredibly sturdy, and their entire bodies burned with a Sacred Silver Fire.

Zong Shou frowned. Designing a Dao Soldier formation array for these soldier ants was proving to be no easy task.

He therefore ceased his distractions, bringing his mind back to the present.

Although this Blood Flame Island had been forcefully razed flat by the Spirit Masters under his command, its inherent spiritual ley lines still persisted.

The density of spiritual energy was nearly comparable to that of a lesser Spirit Prefecture level.

To leave it vacant was simply too wasteful. He couldn't just wait for the Demonic Path’s Blood Flame Sect to return and re-establish their main mountain someday, could he?

"Senior Brother Ming Yu, how about your Cang Sheng Dao takes stewardship of this location?"

Ming Yu seemed to have anticipated Zong Shou's proposal, shaking his head like a rattle drum: "My Cang Sheng Dao no longer has need! Thanks to Junior Brother's benevolence. Now, all six gates of my Dao have their own main mountains, and the Three Sects each gained an additional branch academy. However, going too far is as detrimental as not going far enough. The disciples of Cang Sheng Dao are too few; having too much spiritual land is not a good thing. Not only can we not defend it, but it also presents an opportunity for others to divide and conquer."

Zong Shou frowned deeply, though he wasn't particularly surprised. The disciples of Cang Sheng Dao were indeed too sparse. Maintaining a foothold among nearly half of the main mountains of the twenty-plus Demonic Path Sects was already proving strenuous.

Redistributing spirit arrays and dispatching disciples for guard duty would inevitably dilute the sect's overall strength.

He stopped trying to persuade them and looked up towards the sky.

Before he could speak, the silhouette of a youth appeared three thousand zhang away.

"My Lord, please forgive us. My Sword Sect is in the same predicament, perhaps even worse than Cang Sheng Dao. To occupy six spiritual sites is already the limit of what my teaching can manage. We truly cannot assist..."

Zong Shou felt a strange mix of wanting to laugh and wanting to cry. Such a profound place for cultivation was something countless cultivators desperately sought.

Yet now, both Cang Sheng Dao and the Sword Sect were actively avoiding it as if it were a plague.

In the end, their foundation was too shallow. Even if they held a temporary advantage in the Cloud Realm, they couldn't significantly expand their influence.

The gap separating them from the Great Dao and Demonic Paths was not trivial.

If the Sword Sect and Cang Sheng Dao were out, then the Frozen Buddha Sect surely could accept it. While the Buddhist Path always found itself suppressed by the Daoist Path in the greater Cloud Realm, within this specific domain world, Buddhism held a significant advantage over Daoism.

This spiritual mountain could surely be accepted by them.

However, just as this thought arose, a clear invocation of the Buddha's name echoed.

"Boundless Beginning and End! Our Holy Master would naturally accept the Buddha Lord's kind offer. However, the fundamental principle of our Buddhist disciples is to nurture believers and ferry all sentient beings to the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. While this Blood Flame Island is excellent, it is far removed from the mortal world, uninhabited by people. For our Buddhist Sect, it is nothing more than tasteless chicken ribs."

In short, they found the location too remote, with too few people, making it impossible to attract devotees. If the Buddhist Path took it, it would be useless, left only to lie idle.

Thinking about it, the Buddhist temples either established themselves on famous spiritual mountains frequented by countless visitors or were built right in bustling cities to gather incense offerings.

True ancient temples deep in the wilderness were exceedingly rare.

Zong Shou felt a headache coming on. The Great Qian Dynasty needed to support a vast number of Martial Cultivators and Spirit Masters, which itself required sufficient spiritual land.

But this particular location was useless to him. He had already selected several excellent spiritual sites beforehand, which were more than enough for his needs.

And even if he required more, spiritual lands situated so far from the national borders that they couldn't be mobilized instantly were not within his consideration. The problem was that most of the remaining main mountains of the Demonic Sects were also located far from the Cloud Continent, extremely remote.

He couldn't possibly occupy them one after another, only to have them snatched back by the Demonic Path immediately after; that would entirely defeat his original intention—After pondering for a while, Zong Shou mused, "I recall there are several Loose Cultivator Sects nearby..."

Loose Cultivator Sects were those established by independent cultivators, not belonging to any of the six major powers of the Cloud Realm. They were similar to sects like the Kong Qi Sect, which inherited elements from the Mohist Path, existing on the fringes of the major powers, surviving in the cracks.

However, these sects rarely obtained sufficient cultivation resources and were often targets for suppression and plunder by the larger established teachings.

For a cultivation paradise like this, they would certainly possess an extreme desire. "If they wish to claim this Blood Flame Island, they can relocate here. If one cannot swallow it alone, then several can join forces. However, they must become vassals to the Great Qian and serve me. They must dispatch sufficient Spirit Cultivators and Martial Masters to serve at my front lines."

Ming Yu and the young man from the Sword Sect looked at each other.

This maneuver could also be called ruthless. While weakening the Demonic Path, it simultaneously strengthened the power of the Great Qian.

If those Loose Cultivator Sects wished to protect this spiritual land under the threat of the Demonic Path, they would have to rely on the Great Qian and would never dare harbor second thoughts.

But scarcely had Zong Shou finished speaking when a voice, laced with a hint of anger and resentment, suddenly drifted from the distance.

"Does Your Lord truly intend to annihilate every sect of the Demonic Path? To fight the millions of disciples of my Demonic Sect to the death?"

As the female voice sounded, it seemed to be a thousand zhang away, yet in the space of a breath, she was already close at hand.

A streak of white light landed directly before Zong Shou’s eyes.

A woman of unparalleled, exquisite figure materialized in front of him, hovering in the void about thirty thousand zhang away.

This distance was precisely the range that the Spirit Masters aboard the airships' spiritual techniques could not cover.

Though within the scope of Zong Shou’s Slaying Sword's reach, she could escape at any moment.

Her aura was concealed, constantly evading Zong Shou's sword intent lock. Clad in a white gauze dress, her demeanor was sacred, like a celestial maiden descending to the mortal realm. Yet, her attire was scandalously revealing, with only vital areas covered by thin gauze, exposing skin as white and smooth as jade. Every movement, every glance, stirred the heart and soul, imbued with an incomparably seductive charm.

"Su Xiaoxiao?"

Zong Shou raised an eyebrow. This was the second time he had encountered this Saintess of the Heavenly Demon Dome Realm.

His gaze flickered for only a moment before he struggled free of the innate sorcery, letting out a cold laugh.

"That is a question I should be asking your Demonic Sect! When you massacred the citizens under my rule and assassinated my Great Qian officials last month, did your Demonic Sect never consider that this meant antagonizing the Great Qian, which commands millions of troops and possesses seventy-six worlds across the two great Cloud Continents? Or did you consider it, yet remained entirely undeterred?"

As he spoke, Zong Shou's consciousness surged outward. A faint blood color appeared in his pupils as he scrutinized the void ahead, showing not a shred of pity or tenderness for the fair sex. His awareness relentlessly tracked the true location of Su Xiaoxiao's figure.

Once his divine sense completely locked onto the woman, that would be the moment he drew his sword.

Su Xiaoxiao’s momentum stalled, and she frowned. She had poured all her effort into her seductive art to neutralize and dilute Zong Shou’s hostility.

However, the effect was clearly minimal. As expected, the blood of the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox within the Illusion Heart Realm made it the master of all illusionary techniques, and yet also their nemesis.

Even deploying this supreme, eleventh-grade Seduction Art, which could arouse desire even in a corpse, she could do nothing against this young man who was described as being full of vigor and notoriously lustful.

Not only was it useless against him, but as the Seduction Art broke, the several Saint Realm figures present were also affected, beginning to search in various directions for her location.

Fortunately, in the next instant, several powerful auras descended, drawing away those Saint Realm figures, leaving her to face only Zong Shou. "My Lord, could you pause so that Xiaoxiao may speak a few words with you peacefully!"

Su Xiaoxiao’s delicate eyebrows knitted slightly, displaying an expression of grievance that naturally inspired pity. Her voice was like a rare orchid echoing in an empty valley, compelling involuntary attention.

Yet, this Heavenly Demon Illusory Art and bewitching sound were entirely useless against Zong Shou at this moment.

Su Xiaoxiao could only give up and retreated another three thousand zhang. "I know Your Lord harbors deep hatred for my Demonic Path. However, in this world, anything can be negotiated. Must it inevitably lead to mutual destruction?"

Zong Shou's consciousness pressed closer, only one step away from completely locking down her Nascent Soul.

His own figure advanced step by step, seemingly slow, yet rapidly closing the distance between them.

In the blink of an eye, the distance shrank to twenty thousand zhang.

Su Xiaoxiao's composure finally fractured, and her tone carried a trace of urgency.

"Hasn't Your Lord already subdued my Sect's World-Ending Revered God into the Divine Position of the Ultimate Realm? Is that not enough? If you continue to destroy the Dharma Manifestation Golden Bodies of the Revered God in various lands, it won't just be a fall; they might never recover. Your Lord's actions have touched the bottom line of my Demonic Sect. Do you know the consequences then?"

Without waiting for Zong Shou to speak, Su Xiaoxiao’s tone became decisive: "At that time, the Great Fiend Lord will spare no effort. He will not hesitate to destroy this entire Cloud Realm!"

Zong Shou scoffed. Destroy the Cloud Realm? Forget the Realm Protecting Venerable or the Confucian Path's Saintly Venerable Zhu Zi; even Xuan Qing Tai Huang would certainly be unwilling. If the Supreme Great Fiend Li Biexue truly dared to act so rashly—having plotted for thousands of years just to bring forth that World-Opening Divine Artifact—then the ones opposing him would not just be Cang Sheng Dao and the Sword Sect.

At this moment, his consciousness was barely a hair's breadth from Su Xiaoxiao. Half of the Cang Sheng Sword manifested from his sleeve.

The Slaying Sword Intent had accumulated to its absolute peak, waiting only for that instant to erupt.

But in the next moment, an abruptly appearing, rapidly approaching aura materialized beside Su Xiaoxiao.

"Trash. Did you really think you were invincible in this Cloud Realm?"

A figure had suddenly appeared, blocking Zong Shou's soul sense in place of Su Xiaoxiao, and shielding her from the sword intent lock Zong Shou had placed upon her.

Then, dozens of points of black light shot forth, piercing the void ahead of the woman.

"Han Qing?"

In one-hundredth of a second, Zong Shou clearly discerned the face of the person opposite him.

And those black lights, swiftly approaching via void travel, were the 'Myriad Malice, Thousand Killing Profound Heaven Lightning'—a technique among the top ten most powerful in the Demonic Sect, formed by collecting myriad malevolent thoughts and a thousand types of malevolent energies.

Zong Shou, however, merely smiled instead of being alarmed, drawing his sword without hesitation.

"Perfect timing!"

A peerlessly sharp rainbow suddenly flashed, passing through the black light spots in one-sixth thousandth of a breath.

However, the profound and hard-to-see black light suddenly expanded, completely swallowing all the Myriad Malice, Thousand Killing Profound Heaven Lightning.

The sword's speed increased again. Before others could even react, it had already streaked past twenty thousand zhang.

Su Xiaoxiao’s face instantly turned deathly pale.

"It's the Boundless Beginning and End Divine Ability! Junior Brother, be careful..."