Chapter 343: Chapter 258 Jiang Cheng’s Retirement Life_2
In the competition for the position of the first Holy Maiden, Liang Lu relied on Jiang Cheng’s talismans, gradually gaining the upper hand in the struggle against Lin Yao.

During this period, Liang Lu and Lin Yao fought to the death in trials and contests during the day, with an attitude of deep-seated enmity and unrelenting hostility. However, come nightfall, when they went to eat at Jiang Cheng’s residence, their conflicts suddenly didn’t seem so severe.

They even had a tacit understanding between them, as if by agreement, one would leave on time, leaving the other to accompany Jiang Cheng.

Mainly to accompany Jiang Cheng in drawing talismans.

Lin Yao even offered suggestions for the new talismans that Jiang Cheng drew.

Even though she knew that the talismans were being drawn for Liang Lu’s use.

Of course, there was also the act of coyly pleading with Jiang Cheng to diminish the power of the talismans a bit.

And this tactic was indeed quite effective.

Jiang Cheng hadn’t held Lin Yao back from cultivating at a slower pace, and from rushing to compete for Holy Maiden, then choosing a Sect Leader.

But Lin Yao didn’t listen.

She was determined to become the Holy Maiden quickly.

Because once she became the Holy Maiden, no one could control her, and she didn’t need to follow the rules of Taixu Sect, such as “maintaining one’s purity.” Consequently, she would first have the qualifications to compete for the Sect Leader, and secondly, she could participate in the “struggle for inheritance” much sooner.

She knew that Jiang Cheng and Liu Qing had registered their marriage at Tongtian Sect.

But the rules of Tongtian Sect couldn’t govern them in the Taixu Sect.

She just needed to be faster than Liang Lu.

To become the Holy Maiden and secure the marriage slot of the Taixu Sect!

Then she could consider the matter of becoming the Sect Leader.

The current Sect Leader of the Taixu Sect was at the zenith of power, and at least for the next thousand or two thousand years, Lin Yao saw no hope of becoming the Sect Leader herself.

However, she also understood that becoming the Holy Maiden and securing the marriage slot for the Taixu Sect, having a legal basis, was much more important than becoming the Sect Leader quickly.

The Sect Leader position could wait, but there was only one marriage slot.

The final outcome was quite dramatic.

Although Liang Lu, with the help of Jiang Cheng, defeated Lin Yao and secured the position of the first Holy Maiden, her relatively traditional and conservative character, as well as not having thought about the tactical significance, caused her to miss the opportunity which Lin Yao seized. After becoming the second Holy Maiden, Lin Yao quickly wore Jiang Cheng down to secure the legal right.

Even so, the relationships within the Taixu Sect hadn’t really changed much.

Things remained as they were.

The only difference was, after Jiang Cheng left Tongtian Sect, the dark circles under his eyes that had finally disappeared were now back.

It seemed the Taixu Sect was not an easy place to deal with.

Then Jiang Cheng found an excuse to return to the Tongtian Sect.

The competition in Tongtian Sect was much less than that in Taixu Sect.

At least they wouldn’t compete over who had worse dark circles, forcing Jiang Cheng to suffer in silence, only able to break elixirs and swallow them down.

It’s worth mentioning that two hundred years after Jiang Cheng and Liu Qing got their certificate, Liu Qing’s friends heard the news and specially came to visit her at Tongtian Sect.

Of course, since Liu Qing’s friends were also quite strong and there were several of them, three or four in fact,

Jiang Cheng didn’t dare to sneak them in, but had to discuss with Yun Zaiyuan first, which caused Yun Zaiyuan a few days of headaches.

However, considering Jiang Cheng as Yun Shu’s disciple and that he took care of his daughter for free, Yun Zaiyuan agreed to help, allowing Liu Qing’s friends to enter Tongtian Sect to visit under the pretense of “exchange and learning.”

Initially, Liu Qing’s friends were not very optimistic about Jiang Cheng.

They believed that Liu Qing must have been deceived by the despicable humans. Even though Liu Qing explained many times in her letters, they didn’t believe her. They insisted on seeing for themselves.

But after spending some time together, they finally felt reassured to continue leaving Liu Qing under Jiang Cheng’s care.

Jiang Cheng, say what you will, was proficient at taking care of others. Seeing him tired and gasping every day, with persistent dark circles, Liu Qing’s friends gradually shifted from having prejudices to understanding and sympathy.

Jiang Cheng truly wasn’t having an easy time.

Handling both external and internal matters, a rare sight among human cultivators.

After the demon friends left, they warmly invited Jiang Cheng to visit Mount Tian.

As it happened, Liu Qing also hadn’t returned home in a very long time, so Jiang Cheng planned to take her home for a visit.

However, Mount Tian isn’t as safe as Tongtian Sect, and even with Liu Qing’s protection, Jiang Cheng couldn’t just visit at will.

Later, Jiang Cheng developed for a while and prepared some gifts and defensive magical treasures. When he found the opportunity, he went with Liu Qing to visit her family at Mount Tian.

Liu Qing had many relatives in Mount Tian, and the majority of the Demon Race elders did not approve of her marrying Jiang Cheng.

This was understandable. Liu Qing was a renowned Mahayana cultivator of the Demon Race. If she married into the Human Race to support Jiang Cheng and educate their children, wouldn’t it be a significant loss of strength for the Demon Race?

No one could accept such an outcome.

Fortunately, Jiang Cheng’s attitude was sincere enough, and he brought enough gifts. Plus, he was skilled at interspecies interactions, so after a round of discussions, the opposition’s voice was much reduced.

Jiang Cheng’s argument was also straightforward. He first revealed the strength of Tongtian Sect and told the Demon Race that there were five other human powers like it. Then, in the silence of the demons, he assured them that he would strive to maintain the balance between all races and uphold the hard-won peace, even if just for Liu Qing.

He also made a promise on behalf of Dayan Sect to invest in Mount Tian, building infrastructure to improve the living conditions there.

Just before leaving, some of the Demon Race chiefs even brought forward specially selected attractive clan members and asked Jiang Cheng if he needed a maid to help keep him warm?

Jiang Cheng didn’t dare say he wanted one.

Having Liu Qing alone was more than enough for him.

As the cultivation of Dayan Sect’s main forces such as Jiang Cheng, Lin Yao, Yue Linger, Liang Lu, Shen Menghan, and others improved, Dayan Sect’s territory grew ever larger.

The expansion of Dayan Sect’s territory meant the traditional Demon Sect’s influence was diminishing.

As one grew at the expense of the other, the conflict between the righteous and demonic paths became increasingly intense, contributing many unstable factors to the overall peace of the Cultivation World.

In order to further weaken the traditional Demon Sect’s power, Jiang Cheng attempted to open up Dayan Sect discipleship positions to disciples from the traditional Demon Sects.

After all, Dayan Sect claimed to be part of the Demonic Tao.

Joining Dayan Sect was just switching from one Demon Sect to another.

This was much less psychologically stressful for many Demon Sect disciples.

After all, joining the righteous path was seen as betrayal and surrender, but joining Dayan Sect was purely about being “ambitious” and switching to a promising new emerging sect.

Thanks to this policy’s implementation, coupled with the righteous path’s crackdown on the Demonic Tao, Dayan Sect’s strength grew rapidly with many former demons joining it for better development.

Dayan Sect wasn’t indiscriminate in whom they accepted, though.

They only wanted the more grounded and practical members, not the extreme or ambiguous ones.

The sect implemented internal reforms to improve the allocation of benefits and responsibilities within the sect.

More importantly, they focused on the ideological work of the Demon Sect’s disciples, requiring them to be the new demons of the era, promising high salaries and vast developmental prospects through hard work, accomplishing what previous Demon Sects couldn’t do — poaching a large number of people from the Immortal Sects.

Previously, Demon Sects were suppressed by Immortal Sects.

But Dayan Sect was different. It didn’t just resist suppression; it actively poached from the Immortal Sects, luring people to abandon the light for the dark.

This instantly raised Dayan Sect’s status above the past Demon Sects.

Fake Demon Sects hide everywhere causing destruction.

A true Demon Sect boldly poaches from the Immortal Sects.

As Dayan Sect’s influence continued to grow, it subtly started to unify the Demonic Tao, forcing the higher echelons of the Five Great Immortal Sects to take Dayan Sect seriously.

After all, the Five Great Immortal Sects were content in their positions and didn’t want a sixth party emerging to compete for resources.

Yun Zaiyuan approached Jiang Cheng.

“Jiang Cheng, didn’t you tell us that you would retire as soon as you became an elder? Now, your Dayan Sect is about to unify the Demonic Tao. Is this how you retire?”

Jiang Cheng said, “I want to rest too, but you know the situation at home. I have to earn money to support my family, right? Look at the development of Dayan Sect; it’s going so well. Don’t you consider investing a bit? You won’t lose out.”

Yun Zaiyuan said, “You told me that people from Tongtian Sect don’t lie to each other.”

Jiang Cheng replied, “Okay, okay, okay.”

…

Years later, Ao Lian had grown into a slender young girl. She hadn’t forgotten Jiang Cheng, but she would always remember the time she came to see him.

“Lian Lian sister, why do you have two stones growing on your head?”

The little girl grabbed Ao Lian’s dragon horns on her forehead with one hand and yanked her hair with the other, her big innocent eyes full of curiosity as she asked.

Ao Lian maintained a smile on her face but felt a sadness inside as if she had been conscripted.

Ah! Who invented children? They’re so annoying!