I established the Eternal Immortal Clan by taming beasts.

The morning light pierced through the thin mist on the surface of Shattered Star Lake, casting a warm golden hue on the windows of the council chamber in the comprehensive area.

Golden light spread inward from the edge of the wooden window frame, spreading a long, slanted band of light across the bluestone floor. It then climbed up the table legs, finally stopping at the edge of the three unfolded maps, illuminating their contents in different hues.

Lin Che sat in the main seat, with three maps spread out in front of him.

The map on the left is a map of the entire Southern Region, marking the territories and troop distribution of the Fang Family, the Rebellious Demon Palace, the Hundred Herbs Valley, and the Azure Cloud Sword Sect.

The ink lines outlined the boundaries, creating a winding contour on the paper. Next to each annotation were small numbers indicating the size of the garrison and the date of the most recent troop movement.

The middle map is a detailed map of the eastern front development zone. Every official road and every sentry post from Fengu Pass to the five new cities is clearly marked. The patrol routes marked with dotted lines and the trade routes marked with solid lines intersect, forming a network that extends outward on the paper.

The one on the right is the South China Sea nautical chart that Lin Xinyou brought back last night. On the dark blue paper, the end of the dotted line stops at the edge of an unnamed sea area.

The hall was full of people.

Unlike the relaxed atmosphere at yesterday's family dinner, every face now wore a serious expression.

The light from the lamps fell evenly from the ceiling, illuminating the faces that were waiting to speak.

Lin Xuanqi sat to Lin Che's left, with a stack of documents spread out in front of him. The ink was not yet dry, and the spirit pen in his hand sometimes paused and sometimes moved on the paper.

Lin Xuanfeng sat in the middle of the long table, with an unsheathed longsword beside him. The patterns on the scabbard gleamed with a dark luster in the morning light. He leaned back in his chair, his gaze fixed on the map.

Lin Xuanjing and Lin Xuanqing stood on either side, each holding a jade slip. The former quietly flipped through a report related to spiritual herbs, while the latter stared at the northern region of the map in the middle, seemingly lost in thought.

Almost all the core members of the Lin family in this generation are here.

"Twenty years," Lin Che said, his voice not loud, but it silenced all the soft noises in the hall.

His gaze began on the map of the Southern Region on the left, moving westward along the Fang family's border, passing the Black Wind Ridge of the Rebellious Demon Palace, skimming the mountain outline of the Hundred Herbs Valley, and finally settling on the blue-marked area of ​​the Azure Cloud Sword Sect.

"The Fang family has recovered its strength, and Qin Wudao's Dharma form should be almost fully formed. Although the strength of Baicao Valley and Qingyun Sword Sect has not fully recovered, they have regained their footing. The balance in the Southern Region will not last forever; sooner or later, someone will break it."

He paused, lifting his gaze from the map and sweeping it across every face present: "Therefore, today, we must think clearly about the Lin family's path for the next ten or twenty years." As he spoke, Lin Che looked at Lin Xuanqi.

Lin Xuanqi nodded and spoke first. His voice was calm and steady. He moved his finger across the paper and landed on the eastern section of the map on the left: "Let's talk about the eastern front first. All five new cities have been completed, trade routes are open, spirit beast populations have entered maturity, and the organization of the Dawn Army and the Garrison Army has been basically stabilized."

"We don't have much to worry about on the eastern front. As long as we maintain the status quo and continue to develop, we will see steady growth every year. The real issues we need to focus on are the northern front and the South China Sea." His finger pointed at the map of the Southern Region, drawing an arc westward from Burning Bone Pass and stopping in the area west of Green Water Gorge.

"The northern line is currently the border area between the Rebellious Demon Palace and the Fang family, separated by Black Wind Ridge and the Maple Leaf Mountain Range to the west. The two sides have been in a standoff along that line for more than a decade, with constant minor skirmishes, but no large-scale conflict has broken out yet."

Currently, the Dawn Army's patrol range only extends to the eastern section of Maple Leaf Ridge. If the Fang family's or the Rebellious Demon Palace's troop deployment changes, it will take us at least half a month to complete the corresponding mobilization and deployment.

Lin Xuanfeng took over the conversation, leaning forward slightly: "The Dawn Army's garrison at the Southern Camp has been able to complete a rapid deployment to the western front within a month. If necessary, it can be moved further forward. However, a large-scale troop movement will attract the attention of the Fang family and the Reverse Fate Demon Palace. Before there is a clear threat, maintaining the current situation is the safest option."

The South Camp's defense system has undergone three reinforcements in the past five years, and its current base strength can withstand a medium-sized frontal assault. The supply lines are also maintained at a rotation frequency of once every two weeks.

"Then let's maintain the status quo for now, continue to consolidate the defensive depth on the eastern front, and at the same time be prepared to respond to any changes on the western front." Lin Che's gaze fell on Lin Xuanfeng's face, paused for a moment, and then asked, "Should we increase the rotation frequency at the Southern Camp?"

"The current frequency is sufficient." Lin Xuanfeng's voice carried the certainty of repeated calculations. "The rotation every six months, with a two-month interval between each rotation, will not affect the training rhythm or cause fatigue among the garrison. The reserves in Qingmen City are enough to support the Southern Camp's consumption for six months. If the situation changes, reinforcements can be transferred from various places at any time."

Lin Che nodded, then turned his gaze to the sea chart on the right: "Mind Travel."

Lin Xinyou straightened up, her fingertips tracing the edge of the dark blue area at the southern end of the nautical chart, her fingertips stopping at a boundary line marked with a dotted line.

"In the South China Sea, our current exploration area only extends to the northern edge of this dark blue sea area, the area circled by the dark blue lines, as well as the Twilight Sea and the island further south. We still need to explore further."

Before I returned, I left a few reliable people in the fishing village near the sea. They will continue to monitor the situation in that area and report any changes back to Chuyang City through the coastal outposts.

The outposts were located on three small islands about thirty miles east of the coastline. Each island was equipped with an early warning array and a spirit beast communication channel. It took about two days for a message to travel from the furthest outpost back to Chuyang City.

"What do you need?" Lin Che asked.

"People," Lin Xinyou answered crisply. "The Lin family has spirit boats and marine spirit beasts, but what we lack are people familiar with the sea conditions. In my years of sailing in the South China Sea, I have come to understand that land cultivators will have trouble with their sense of direction when they go to sea. I need to establish a dedicated naval fleet, equipped with cultivators familiar with the sea conditions, preferably those who grew up by the sea."

The monks in the fishing village I visited before have lived off the sea for generations, and their understanding of that sea area far surpasses that of anyone from land. If we could recruit some of them into the Lin family, it would be much faster than if we started training them from scratch.

Their fishing village has about seventy or eighty households, and about thirty or forty young and middle-aged cultivators who are active at sea year-round. If they could recruit just one-third of them, it would be enough to support a rudimentary maritime exploration team.

Lin Che nodded slightly and turned his gaze to Lin Xuanqi: "You will coordinate this matter. Allocate manpower from the clan and establish recruitment points in the coastal areas. Recruit suitable candidates. Give Xin You as many people as he needs. Afterwards, build a navy that belongs to our Lin family. The recruitment criteria should focus on familiarity with the seas. Cultivation level can be appropriately relaxed. Priority will be given to those above the Foundation Establishment stage. Those in the late Qi Refining stage with sufficient sailing experience can also be considered."

"Okay." Lin Xuanqi's pen moved quickly across the paper, recording Lin Che's words one by one.

"I will draft a preliminary plan in the next day or two, including the organizational structure of personnel, the size of the fleet, the location of recruitment points, and budget estimates. I will strive to present a complete plan at the clan affairs meeting next month."

After a pause, Lin Che continued, "For now, we'll focus on developing the area within a thousand miles of the coastline, occupying valuable islands and reefs. We won't explore the more distant Twilight Sea for the time being. Once the fleet's organization is complete and the personnel are properly trained, we can gradually expand outwards."

After Lin Xuanqi finished recording, he opened another document: "There is one more thing. There has been some movement from the Fang family recently. According to the news from Zhihei, the Fang family headquarters is redeploying its troops. Several large detachments that were originally stationed in the direction of Baicao Valley are moving southeast. The specific purpose is not yet clear, but the general direction is towards us."

The mobilization numbers approximately 8,000 people, mainly lightly armed troops, without heavy siege equipment. They have already crossed the middle section of Maple Leaf Ridge and are advancing towards Green Water Gorge.

These words silenced the hall for a moment.

Lin Xuanfeng frowned slightly, his fingers pausing on the scabbard, his fingertip pressing a tiny dent into the metal before springing back to its original position: "Is the Fang family testing us? Or are they really planning something on the eastern front?"

"Both possibilities exist. The Fang family is still considered the strongest force in the Southern Region, but in the past twenty years, the Reverse Fate Demon Palace, Hundred Herbs Valley, and Azure Cloud Sword Sect have all regained their footing. With the rise and fall of these forces, they can no longer be the ones to dictate terms."

The troop movement at this time could be a gesture, or it could be preparation for the next step. If it's the former, the mobilization of 8,000 troops is merely a show of force and won't actually advance to the line of contact. If it's the latter, this is just the first wave of probing, and there will be larger-scale mobilizations later.

"What do we need to do?" Lin Xuanqi asked.

"Keep an eye on them, but don't react for now." Lin Che looked up from the map. "If the Fang family is really after us, they won't just send a few large teams to test us. This is just their first move. If we react too early, we'll only expose our own weaknesses."

Tell Xinqing and Xinyao to be on high alert and closely monitor the movements of this force. If anything unusual happens, they should be instructed to react accordingly.

Judging from their current marching speed and route, it will take them at least ten more days to reach the outskirts of Green Water Gorge. We have enough time to observe their intentions, and once we confirm that they are indeed advancing towards the Lin family, we can make the necessary adjustments.

At this time, Lin Xuanjing, the commander of the Dawn Army, was in seclusion to break through his cultivation, and the current commanders were Lin Xinqing and Lin Xinyao.

Both of them are currently at the South Camp.

To resist the various forces in the Southern Region, the Lin family dispatched 80,000 Dawn Army soldiers to the Southern Camp as the frontline garrison force on the eastern front.

The 80,000 men were distributed among more than ten outposts in and around the South Camp, maintaining continuous contact with Burning Bone City and Beginning Sun City.

"Understood." Lin Xuanqi continued taking notes, the pen moving faster across the paper than before.

"There's one more thing," Lin Che paused for a moment.

"Our Lin family's current status relies on the trade routes on the eastern front, the five new cities, the cultivation of spirit beasts, and military strength. But these are not enough. If one day the balance of the Southern Region is really broken, the end of this trade route, the Southern Plains, will be cut off. Both the Rebellious Demon Palace and the Fang family have this capability. Therefore, we cannot just hold on to our position; we must continue to expand."

His finger lifted from the table and landed on the southern section of the map of the Southern Region on the left. It paused briefly at the junction of the Fallen Soul Mountains and the Iron Spine Mountains, where there were two markers marked in light gray without any names.

"Now my Lin family has reached a bottleneck in its development. Apart from exploring and developing the South China Sea, all that's left are these two spirit beast breeding secret realms of the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect."

Lin Xuanqi frowned slightly: "But they're all in the hands of those demon beast venerables now. How can we get them back?"

Many years ago, when the Lin family was exploring the mount breeding secret realm of the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect, they encountered other demon beast forces.

At the time, it was thought they would make some kind of move, but perhaps because of the mediation of Venerable Bai Ze, their actions eventually came to an end.

But who would have thought they would pull a fast one, directly seizing the other two spirit beast breeding bases, leaving the Lin family with no way to attack.

After all, the other two breeding bases are located in the Fallen Soul Mountain Range and the Iron Ridge Mountain Range, where the Lin family has no influence whatsoever.

Lin Che naturally understood this principle, and shook his head with a smile: "There's no need to take it back. We can cooperate and achieve a win-win situation."

"When our Lin family was just rising to prominence, didn't other demon beast forces send us letters of intent for cooperation? We don't necessarily have to snatch it. We can explore the thoughts of various demon beast forces and eventually facilitate cooperation. I believe they are also interested in the ultimate inheritance of the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect."

He paused for a moment, then explained, "The ultimate inheritance of the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect requires three control tokens for the secret realm to be opened, and the mount cultivation secret realm token is now in our hands."

If the other side also wants to seize the ultimate inheritance, they can't bypass us. Rather than confronting each other and wasting our time, we should sit down and talk, enter together, and each get what we need.

Everyone nodded.

Their father had introduced this matter to them back then.

The ultimate inheritance of the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect requires three control tokens for the secret realm. Now, the token for the Mount Cultivation Secret Realm is in their hands. If the other party also wants to get their hands on the ultimate inheritance, they cannot bypass the Lin family.

"Alright, I'll go contact them now and find out what the various demon beast forces are thinking." Lin Xuanqi finished making the last note, paused his pen on the paper for a moment, and then put it back on the edge of the inkstone. "I'll start with Lady Wanyue. She has been cooperating with us for many years, and she should be able to provide some information about the holders of the other two secret realms. At least we can find out whether they are willing to talk or not."