Having been given a second chance at life, I choose to join the Demonic Sect!

Liu Ruyan's cleverness lies in her ability to judge the situation!
Although she lost her status as a direct disciple of Biyun Peak of Xuantian Sect, she still retains the status of a true disciple of Xuantian Sect, which is second only to the direct disciple. This is enough for her to roam freely in Liuyun Dynasty!

As expected of the Great Emperor, Liu Ruyan actually obtained a great opportunity on her way back to the Liuyun Dynasty.

Even after returning to the Liuyun Dynasty, he began to go into seclusion to break through his cultivation level.

There was another major reason why Liu Ruyan was pushing her way to a higher realm: she wanted to avoid a marriage alliance!
When the Liuyun Dynasty was struck by a zombie outbreak, General Ji Chengshi led his troops in a desperate battle, using his own life to restrain the fierce zombies for more than a few months!

To put Ji Chengshi at ease, Emperor Liu Mingsu agreed to a marriage alliance between the royal family and the Ji family.

In front of all the civil and military officials, he promised to marry his eldest daughter, Liu Ruyan, to Ji Boda.

Now that Liu Ruyan has returned to the Liuyun Dynasty, she has no desire to marry Ji Boda, become a wife, and have children!
She wants to become an empress, to lead the Liuyun Dynasty from a second-rate power to a first-rate power, and even to lead the Liuyun Dynasty to a top-tier power.

But given her current situation, she wants to break free from the engagement and become the empress of the Liuyun Dynasty.

The only way is to go into seclusion to break through the cultivation level and become a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Liu Ruyan was in a frantic seclusion, but her cousin Ning Xiaowu, who was at Xuan Dan Peak of the Xuan Tian Sect, was also causing trouble.

After hearing about what happened at the Hehuan Sect's celebration, Ning Xiaowu was furious when she learned that Cao Meng was already capable of defeating a Nascent Soul cultivator!
How dare this villain attack a Nascent Soul cultivator?
Ning Xiaowu, increasingly angry, resorted to some means that won the favor of Xuan Dan Peak Master Dan Songzi.

Dan Songzi revoked the title of the chief disciple of Xuan Dan Peak from his original position and gave it to Ning Xiaowu.

Ning Xiaowu's next goal is the position of Holy Maiden of Xuantian Sect, and finally, Peak Master and Sect Master.

……

Meanwhile, Cao Meng has been the city lord for almost a month now.

During this month, he basically spent all his time refining the Supreme Yang Pearl, the Immortal Inquiry Machine, and a fifth-order spiritual weapon, preparing to do something big.

Cao Meng basically didn't manage or have time to deal with the affairs of Chunfeng City.

These are all the city lord's assistants, Min Xue, and Yu Rui, who are in charge of things.

My nemesis, Senior Sister An Yingji, also comes to Chunfeng City from time to time. She can guarantee that she has absolutely nothing to do with Cao Meng!

She had only come to Spring Breeze City to visit relatives, specifically to see Lanzhi and Anlaodeng, who lived there.

As for that bastard junior brother Cao Meng, how could that be?

Meanwhile, over the past month, the Corpse Yin Sect's branches in the first half of Spring Breeze City have been almost completed.

However, half of the businesses in Cao Meng's first half of the city closed down and moved to the second half of the city where Nie Xuan was located!
Those 50% of the businesses belong to Han Sijing and her faction.

Their move was intended to undermine Cao Meng's position as city lord, making it impossible for him to continue his duties.

As for the remaining 50%, they belong to either the female demon's faction or the neutral faction!

In short, those people had no grudges against Cao Meng, so there was no need to worry about Cao Meng causing them trouble.

Besides, Han Sijing and her friends were very successful at copying homework, and they have already set up a takeout group.

Xia Yulan was so angry that she wanted to tear those little bitches apart several times after her homework was copied!

……

Judging by the time, tomorrow is the day Cao Meng will distribute monthly wages to the officers and soldiers guarding the city.

Some people have calculated that, based on Cao Meng's original monthly wage for the city's garrison personnel, this round of wages will cost at least 150,000 mid-grade spirit stones.

Although Cao Meng had reached the Nascent Soul stage and become the city lord, his sect was supposed to pay him a monthly salary.

But Cao Meng paid the city guards five times the normal monthly wage!

The monthly salary that the sect gave Cao Meng was simply not enough for him to pay his subordinates.

Han Sijing and the others had calculated that Cao Meng would have to pay out at least 100,000 mid-grade spirit stones for this monthly allowance.

One hundred thousand mid-grade spirit stones, which is ten million low-grade spirit stones!
Losing so much money in a month, that's a bit scary.

Cao Meng: Isn't it just 100,000 mid-grade spirit stones?
This is no big deal. I and the pink-haired fox have spent a month together drafting the new tax law, as well as various rules and penalty regulations for Spring Breeze City!
Once it's implemented, spirit stones will come in huge quantities!

Hehuan Sect's Illusionary Painting Peak...

Because Cao Meng is going to pay his subordinates their monthly wages tomorrow, Nie Xuan is extremely anxious.

Left with no other choice, Nie Xuan went to the Hehuan Sect to ask Han Sijing and the others for help, hoping they could come up with a solution.

Inside the main hall, Han Sijing, the mistress, sat in the highest position.

Song Yafei, Yuwen Jing, Pei Xu, and Nie Xuan sat on the left and right sides respectively.

"Senior sisters, what should I do if that scoundrel Cao really pays those people a high monthly salary tomorrow?"

Ever since the news of Cao Meng's high monthly salary came out, everyone under Nie Xuan's command has been restless.

Because Cao Meng's high monthly salary was only mentioned verbally, and no one had seen it for themselves.

Nie Xuan could temporarily stabilize the morale of her troops, but she knew that if Cao Meng really distributed such high monthly wages, she would have a hard time keeping her men in check.

Unless, of course, I offer five times the monthly salary myself.

The problem is that she has about ten times as many people as Cao Meng.

If the high salary offered by Cao Meng continues, and Cao Meng loses 100,000 mid-grade spirit stones a month, then she will lose one million mid-grade spirit stones a month!

She couldn't afford to lose a million mid-grade spirit stones a month.

She has one million mid-grade spirit stones; wouldn't it be better for her to use them for cultivation, eating, drinking, and having fun?
"Junior Sister Nie Xuan, what's the use of your anxiety now?"

Han Sijing said coldly, a strange look on her face, as if this matter had nothing to do with her.

In fact, Han Sijing does have a way to break Cao Meng's move, but it's not the right time yet.

"Junior Sister Nie Xuan, we can't exactly go to Cao Meng now and tell him not to pay our monthly wages, can we?"

Song Yafei also wanted to deal with Cao Meng, but the problem was that Cao Meng's move was too vicious, and she had no way to counter it for the time being.

"Why don't the five of us go and beat up that scoundrel Cao, break his claws, and he'll behave himself!"

Yuwen Jing suddenly suggested that ever since she was taken advantage of by Cao Cao, she felt that she was no longer pure.

During this time, she had been refining that greatsword, all in order to cut off Cao Cao's treacherous claws.

"I support!"

Nie Xuan was the first to agree to use force, after all, she had been bullied by Cao Meng and she wanted to regain her dignity.

"Junior Sister Nie Xuan, how many moves did Cao Meng use to suppress you last time?"

Han Sijing said something in an annoyed tone, directly reopening Nie Xuan's wounds.

Han Sijing's question startled Nie Xuan, but she quickly regained her composure and said:
"Senior Sister Han, how could I possibly be suppressed by that traitor Cao in just a few moves?"

"I fought that traitor Cao for hundreds of rounds, but I was careless for a moment and was captured by him!"

In fact, in that battle, Nie Xuan couldn't even withstand ten moves from Cao Meng before being captured and humiliated by him.

But can you really talk about something like this?
Doesn't she have any shame?
This is such a shameful thing, I would rather die than admit it or say it out loud!
Even if Nie Xuan hadn't said anything, Han Sijing and the other three had already guessed what was going on.

After all, Cao Meng was at the sixth level of the Nascent Soul stage, while Nie Xuan was at the third level. There was a difference of three levels between them, so you can imagine how badly Nie Xuan was defeated.

Han Sijing glanced at the other four people. She estimated that among the group, only she, at the sixth level of the Nascent Soul stage, could fight Cao Cao.

The other four were at the fifth level of the Nascent Soul stage, the fourth level, and the third level. Even if all four of them attacked together, they wouldn't be enough to defeat Cao Cao.

Moreover, Han Sijing felt that even she herself was not confident that she could defeat Cao Meng. She did not understand why Nie Xuan and Yuwen Jing were thinking of taking action against Cao Mengwu.
Moreover, this is the Hehuan Sect. Do you really think that Nangong Yan, the Void Refinement stage ancestor, is a pushover?
If we were to attack Cao Meng, Nangong Yan would have a reason to retaliate against us!

"Senior Sister Han, are we really just going to let that scoundrel Cao run rampant?"

Nie Xuan knew that Han Sijing was the strongest among the five people present, so she wanted to drag Han Sijing into the mess.

"I remember that scoundrel Cao, who came to your cultivation place to disturb your practice and tricked you with a fake method for refining the Immortal Inquiry Machine!"

In order to drag Han Sijing into this mess, Nie Xuan even brought up some of Han Sijing's embarrassing moments.

After Nie Xuan told Han Sijing the embarrassing story, Han Sijing finally lost her composure, a flash of anger crossing her face, but it vanished in an instant.

"Junior Sister Nie Xuan, I have a method to help you deal with Cao Cao and break the deadlock!"

Originally, Han Sijing didn't plan to reveal this method so soon, but now she's going to.

"Senior Sister Han, I wonder what price I will have to pay to deal with that traitor Cao!"

Nie Xuan wasn't stupid either; she understood what Han Sijing hadn't finished saying.

Having guessed the method, I know I need to pay a price to obtain it and thus accomplish it.

If the price is within my acceptable range, I will not hesitate at all.

“Junior Sister Nie, my method requires someone to bear the infamy and the hatred of the sect’s disciples.”

"I'll probably be scorned by the sect disciples in future generations. Do you want it?"

Cao Meng's moves were unethical, so Han Sijing had no choice but to resort to unethical methods in return.

Her method is too unethical; she doesn't want to follow it.

If she were to carry it out personally, she would inevitably bear a bad reputation, which would be detrimental to her seizing power and competing for the position of sect leader!
Therefore, Han Sijing plans to have Nie Xuan carry out this method, and Nie Xuan will bear the infamy!
"want!"

Nie Xuan agreed without much thought.

So what if it's a bad reputation? As long as we can defeat Cao Cao, what does a little bad reputation matter!
"Junior Sister Nie Xuan, I remember that a Golden Core cultivator who normally guards the city only earns about three thousand low-grade spirit stones a month, right?"

Han Sijing heard about the monthly allowance for the city-guarding disciples. According to what she knew, before Cao Meng came, the Golden Core stage city-guarding disciples of the four protective cities of Wind, Flower, Snow, and Moon always received three thousand low-grade spirit stones a month.

"Ok!"

Nie Xuan nodded; it was indeed three thousand before.

However, due to Cao Meng's recent actions, the four city lords, including Nie Xuan, have all increased the monthly wages of their city-guarding disciples to ensure their morale.

"That traitor Cao gives his disciples who guard the city 150 mid-grade spirit stones a month, which is already more than five times the monthly salary of a normal Golden Core stage disciple guarding the city!"

"Cao Cao used this tactic precisely to target you, attempting to destabilize the morale of your troops; therefore, it was malicious!"

Han Sijing's words mainly highlight two words: salary increase and malice.

By combining these two words appropriately, a new term is created: malicious wage increases!

Song Yafei was the first to react, and immediately realized what Han Sijing meant.

She felt that Han Sijing's methods were comparable to those of Cao Cao, both being utterly despicable!

"Junior Sister Nie Xuan, Senior Sister Han's idea is that after this matter has fermented for a while and caused a certain impact, you should take the three junior sisters who are the city lords of Flower, Snow, and Moon City and accuse Cao Meng of maliciously overpaying them to the ancestors!"

Seeing that Nie Xuan hadn't reacted yet, Song Yafei began to explain.

Upon hearing Song Yafei's words, Nie Xuan frowned and began to analyze the situation in her mind.

If she really does follow Han Sijing's method, even if Nie Xuan is able to defeat Cao Meng...

At that time, this successful person will only receive a bad reputation and be gossiped about behind his back by his disciples.

Cao Cao, the loser, will instead gain a good reputation.

Nie Xuan felt that this method was a bit of a trap and not appropriate!

But Nie Xuan looked it over carefully again; if she didn't do it this way, it seemed like a dead end.

If he were to distribute the five times monthly wage given by Cao Meng to his subordinates, he would lose a million mid-grade spirit stones every month.

If he doesn't give it to them, his men will definitely lose morale and leave him.

By then, Cao Cao would not have become a city lord without any troops, but he himself would have become a city lord without any troops.

"it is good!"

"Let's do it according to Senior Sister Han's plan!"

After much hesitation, Nie Xuan finally agreed.

All of this was forced upon her by Cao Cao, leaving her with no choice but to make this decision!

Nie Xuan felt that although reporting Cao Cao for maliciously raising wages would bring her a bad reputation, such as the title of "wicked city lord" was better than being a city lord without any power!
In the end, Nie Xuan and her group decided to report Cao Meng for maliciously raising salaries when the time was right.

……

Before we knew it, the next day had arrived.

The disciples guarding the city on Cao Meng's side had been waiting outside the Xuantian Pavilion for a long time, just waiting for Boss Cao to come out and pay their wages!

Honestly, they were incredibly nervous at that moment, and they were also a little worried that Cao Meng wouldn't be able to pay their wages.

Of course, besides Ying Ling'er and others waiting to receive their wages, there were also many people here watching the drama unfold, wondering if Cao Meng could afford to pay them.

Cao Meng became the city lord, but instead of building a city lord's mansion, he lived in the Xuantian Pavilion.

They call it frugality and sharing happiness with the people!
"Hahaha!"

After Cao Meng appeared, he yawned, looking exhausted.

"We greet the City Lord!"

The three sisters of Wanqi Peak and a group of disciples guarding the city bowed and paid their respects to Cao Meng at the same time.

Even Ying Ling'er, who had a lot of opinions about Cao Meng, surprisingly didn't disagree today.

Today is payday, so Ying Ling'er naturally wouldn't cause trouble with Cao Meng at this time. What if that scoundrel Cao Meng withholds her pay?
"Everyone came very enthusiastically!"

"While receiving monthly pay is a happy thing, the fact that you all neglected your duties is displeasing to this city lord!"

Upon hearing Cao Meng's words, Ying Ling'er and the others were somewhat displeased, thinking that Cao Meng was going to renege on his debt and couldn't afford to play along.

After Cao Meng discerned their thoughts, he said again:

"However, considering there was a reason for it, I, the city lord, will not hold it against you. Just be more careful next time you distribute monthly wages!"

"We're starting to distribute monthly wages now. Those on duty today will receive their wages first. After you get your wages, hurry up and get back to your duties!"

Cao Meng took out a pile of mid-grade spirit stones from his storage ring, piling them into a small mountain, estimated to be about a million.

When Cao Meng displayed his Spirit Stone Mountain, everyone present was astonished!

Good heavens! Everyone says Cao Meng is wealthy, but I never imagined he was this rich! (End of Chapter)