I manage female characters in all the heavens.

Whether she can maintain this lead depends on her own efforts.

She took a deep breath, feeling the immense power of true energy and magical power flowing within her body.

Although she couldn't bring her genetic energy and mental power back to this world, her experience in the Swallowed Star world wasn't entirely without its rewards.

Her vision, her understanding of power, and her comprehension of her own path have all been elevated to a whole new level.

These are things that no rule can erase.

Chapter 227 The Limit of Dao Foundation, Heavenly Demon Palace

"Let's go see my new palace."

With a casual wave of her hand, "Nie Xiaoqian" sent the silver-white evil-dispelling flying sword flying from her waist and landing steadily at her feet.

She stepped onto her flying sword, transforming into a long, silvery-white rainbow that soared into the sky and sped away into the distance.

Direction—Former site of the Liuyun School.

A few months ago, she subdued the Yin Wind Demon Mother here and took away three magical artifacts and a book of ghost-suppressing talismans.

Now, this place has become the headquarters of her demonic forces, where she has placed dozens of corpse demons and dozens of other demons and monsters under her command.

She ordered her subordinates to build a "Heavenly Demon Palace" based on the remnants of the Flowing Cloud Sect, and she, "Nie Xiaoqian," called herself "Netherworld Heavenly Demon" and became the master of the Heavenly Demon Palace, ruling over this area of ​​several hundred miles.

Aside from Yin Feng Gui Mu and Hong Ji, no one knew that the "Yao Guang Fairy" of the Tianqiong Mountain Danyang Sect, who had been slaying demons and monsters and whose reputation had soared in recent months, was actually Youming Tianmo, the recently risen master of the Tianmo Palace in the demon world.

"I have cultivated for decades, yet I cannot match Junior Nephew Nie's skills in just a few months. I am truly ashamed." Duanmu Xingyun sighed to Master Yunjin as he watched the streak of light disappear into the horizon.

Upon hearing this, Master Yunjin sighed, "My third disciple has not only surpassed you, but also me, and even surpassed all the patriarchs of the Danyang Sect throughout history!"

"Huh? How is this possible?!" Duanmu Xingyun was shocked and couldn't believe it. "Senior Sister, why do you think so?"

Master Yunjin told him that a month ago, "Nie Xiaoqian" had inquired with her about whether there were any stronger Dao foundations in the world.

The Dao Foundation is simply used to store magical power. If the magical power hasn't reached or is close to the limit of the Dao Foundation, why ask about it?

This one incident alone convinced Master Yun Jin that Nie Xiaoqian's magical power was so immense that it was close to, or even had reached, the limit of the Tianqiong Dao Foundation of the Danyang Sect.

Since its founding, the Danyang School has never had anyone, including its founder, worried about the lack of sufficient capacity for cultivation. In fact, no one in the entire world, regardless of the cultivation school, has ever worried about this problem.

Regardless of the type of Dao Foundation, its capacity of magical power is unimaginable. Ordinary people would not be able to fill their Dao Foundation even after several lifetimes, let alone cultivate for a few months!

And "Nie Xiaoqian" did it; she was simply a monster.

Such magical power was something that the past masters of the Danyang School could never hope to match.

"Nie Xiaoqian" reached the limit of the Danyang School's inheritance theory in just a few months and had to seek a higher level of inheritance.

Upon hearing this, Duanmu Xingyun was so shocked that he could hardly speak. A disciple he had encountered by chance and easily taken in actually possessed such earth-shattering talent.

Could it be that the Danyang Sect is about to produce an immortal in this era?!

"Come on, Senior Sister, let's go together to offer prayers to the Ancestral Master and ask about the situation. If this is truly a sign of the great prosperity of our Danyang Sect, we must prepare in advance!" Duanmu Xingyun hurriedly pulled Yun Jin Zhenren to offer prayers to the Ancestral Master.

However, the spirit of the patriarch in heaven did not seem to respond, and did not give the vague but useful revelations as before.

The former site of the Liuyun School has undergone a complete transformation.

The original dilapidated ruins have been transformed into a sizable palace complex.

Although it doesn't have the grandeur of a true immortal's cave, it's still a pretty good base in the demon realm.

The main hall in the very center is named the "Heavenly Demon Hall".

The interior of the hall was decorated quite lavishly, with luminous pearls inlaid on the stone walls and fine white jade bricks paving the floor.

Directly in front was a high platform, upon which sat a huge throne carved from obsidian, its back engraved with ferocious demonic runes.

Nie Xiaoqian landed in front of the towering gate of the Heavenly Demon Palace. Looking at the imposing palace built under her instructions, a satisfied smile appeared on her lips.

Although the Heavenly Demon Palace was only in its early stages, it had already taken shape, and its demons and monsters had an astonishing productivity, building the palace exactly as she had requested in just a few months.

The palace walls were towering, the halls were majestic, and two ferocious stone statues stood in front of the gate, exuding a solemn atmosphere.

The two little demons standing guard at the gate saw her and immediately knelt down to pay their respects: "Welcome back to the palace, Your Majesty!"

"Okay." She nodded and strode inside.

Nie Xiaoqian summoned all the demons under her command, including the Yin Wind Demon Mother, Hong Ji, and the spider demon with eight hundred years of cultivation.

She didn't summon the living corpses, led by the giant corpse Xiahou Tan. The living corpses had no intelligence; they were just tools, and there was no need to call them over to listen to her.

Nearly a hundred demons and monsters, at least at the level of Hong Ji, arrived. They felt their master's majesty, which was much stronger than the last time they met, and were filled with awe.

"Rise, all of you." She walked up to the high platform, sat down in the main seat, and glanced at the demons below. "I have a few things to tell you since I have returned this time."

The demons bowed their heads respectfully, not daring to look her in the eye.

Since the rise of this Netherworld Demon Lord, her fame has spread throughout the demon realm for hundreds of miles around.

Those who disobeyed her were either torn to pieces by her own hands or subdued by her and placed under a spell, becoming her most obedient servants.

Every demon present had witnessed her terrifying magic firsthand.

Especially on the day when the Heavenly Demon Palace was first built, a thousand-year-old demon came to provoke her, but was burned to death by a fire dragon she summoned with a wave of her hand. It was extremely terrifying!

That battle established her absolute dominance in this region.

From then on, no demon dared to say "no" to her orders.

"The Heavenly Demon Palace has been established for several months, but we haven't had a formal meeting to determine its positioning and development direction yet. Since you are all here today, I'll set some rules first."

“First of all, let’s make it clear that the Heavenly Demon Palace is for my service, not for me to serve you.” She held up one finger.

“From today onwards, you will need to provide me with supplies for your cultivation, entertainment, and daily life every month. I have already prepared a list of the specific items and requirements, which I will send to you later. Please submit it every month.”

"If what they bring out doesn't satisfy me..."

Her gaze swept downwards, a dangerous smile playing on her lips: "Then I'll just have to swallow my incompetent subordinates whole and replace them with new ones."

The demons shuddered and quickly replied, "We will obey Your Majesty's decree!"

“Secondly,” she held up her second finger, “as a rising force in the demon realm, the development of the Heavenly Demon Palace is also essential. You need to take the initiative to recruit people and seize territory to expand the strength of the Heavenly Demon Palace and better serve me.”

"Therefore, I have customized a complete set of KPI (Key Performance Indicator) assessment standards based on your ability level, and we will also conduct assessments every month."

As she spoke, she took out a jade slip from her sleeve and casually tossed it to the spider demon standing at the front: "Pass it down, you can see for yourselves."

Nobody dared to ask what that "尅批哎" meant.

The spider demon took the jade slip, probed it with her divine sense, and her expression quickly changed.

The task performance evaluation criteria recorded in that jade slip were so detailed as to be outrageous.

Each person's monthly tasks—such as how many lesser demons to subdue, how much territory to occupy, and how much material to offer—are clearly divided according to their cultivation level.

With this arrangement, no one in the Heavenly Demon Palace, regardless of their cultivation level, could have an easy time. Everyone had their own quotas to meet, and those with higher cultivation levels couldn't take advantage of those with lower levels.

As the supreme commander and the biggest exploiter of the Heavenly Demon Palace, Nie Xiaoqian would never allow her subordinates to have anything that could be exploited by others!

"Those who fail to meet their targets should clean themselves up and come before me. Don't make me do it myself." She added with a smile, her tone as relaxed as if she were saying, "The weather is nice today."

The demons' faces turned pale and then red, but none of them dared to raise any objections.

“The third thing,” she said, raising her third finger, her tone becoming more formal, “I have a method for creating living corpses. Each of you take a copy and use it to create living corpses for me.”

"My requirement is that you must hand over one high-level zombie or twenty ordinary zombies every month, otherwise you will still end up in my mouth."

"Therefore, cultivation level and strength are no longer different; you are all the same."

As she spoke, she casually waved her hand, and dozens of jade slips fell into the hands of each demon:

"The first wave of corpse fungus will be distributed by me. From now on, all demons belonging to the Heavenly Demon Palace will need to use this to establish a complete and continuous industry for producing living corpses in order to meet my needs."

The demons took the jade slip, probed it with their divine sense, and soon revealed expressions of shock.

This is a method for creating living corpses using demons as materials, and it's so detailed?

From the condensation of Yin seeds to the cultivation of corpse bacteria, from the selection of parasite bodies to the timing of hyphal activation, every step is written clearly, making it almost like a textbook on the refining of living corpses.

This is a demonic version of "Nie Xiaoqian," a modified version of the previous Tree Demon Granny. It is of higher quality, has better effects, more materials, and is produced faster.

The expansion of the Heavenly Demon Palace will be a long and arduous process, inevitably involving many enemies, which will also serve as a means to nourish the Corpse Pills.

"I have always been fair in rewarding and punishing." She changed the subject, a smile appearing on her face.

"If you hand over the elite living corpses, you will be rewarded with ten years of cultivation; if you hand over the giant corpses, you will be rewarded with a hundred years of cultivation."

"My magical power is boundless. Go ahead and do whatever you want. I can afford to give you as many rewards as you want."

Upon hearing this, the entire hall fell silent for a moment.

Then, the demons erupted in excitement!

An elite zombie with ten years of cultivation!? A giant zombie with a hundred years of cultivation!?

If the first two points were their responsibilities and obligations as subordinates of the Netherworld Demon Lord, then the third point was their benefit, a sweet treat to motivate them to work harder.

Once you have the method and a production system in place, raising living corpses is easy enough to meet monthly targets; it's not much different from how immortal cultivation sects tend to their spiritual fields.

While elite zombies are difficult to cultivate, creating them isn't a major problem once a suitable host body is found.

Suitable human materials are hard to find, and suitable monster materials are not plentiful either, so we just gathered them while expanding.

Having cultivated to this level, the demons know how difficult it is to progress. Now they have the opportunity to exchange ten years of cultivation for an elite living corpse and a hundred years for a giant corpse. Isn't that much faster than them having to painstakingly devour people to cultivate?

Even if you work secretly and discreetly, you can easily produce one elite zombie a year. As long as the Heavenly Demon Palace is constantly at war, the giant zombie won't be too complicated.

This world has plenty of things, except for demons. Any demon is excellent material and nourishment for living corpses.

In total, it takes about ten years of work to gain a hundred years of cultivation. How can we not tempt these demons who used to not even be able to gain a year's worth of cultivation in a year?

This is simply... such a great deal!

"Your Majesty is wise!" The spider demon was the first to kneel down, her voice trembling with excitement. "Your subordinate will do everything in her power to create the finest living corpse for Your Majesty!"

“Me too!” the others quickly chimed in.

“Very good.” Nie Xiaoqian nodded in satisfaction. “I like this kind of driven person.”

She stood up, hands behind her back, her gaze sweeping over the demons and monsters below. Her tone was calm yet filled with undeniable authority: "Remember, my rules are simple—complete the task and you'll be rewarded; fail and you'll be eaten."

"There are plenty of demons and monsters in this world, and there will never be a shortage of people who can do things for me. Whether you can seize the opportunity to stand at the top of the demons and monsters depends on yourselves."

"Go down."