To achieve immortality, I cultivate using Qi Luck

Chapter 721: Chapter 320: Envoy from Zhou Country

Under the influence of the Imperial City Authority, the news of Chu State’s dominance quickly spread throughout the Nine Provinces.

However, even though this move made everyone in the world aware of Chu State’s strength, the talented and fierce generals that Lu Yuan was hoping for did not appear.

Upon reflection, it made sense.

Although Chu State had initially established its hegemony, it had only just stepped over the threshold.

In the world of the Nine Provinces, there are still many forces stronger than Chu State.

Even Ning Country, without considering Inborn Grandmasters, is still stronger than Chu State in terms of surface strength.

Chu State might have just barely entered the top ten in the world’s choice, or ranked outside the top ten.

Unless they were desperate or forced to do so, it’s highly unlikely that any Inborn Grandmasters would join Chu State.

Fortunately, Lu Yuan didn’t hold out too much hope for this.

His real goal was not to have those Inborn Grandmasters come to join him voluntarily.

What he wanted by confirming his hegemoic status was to have the strength to recruit Inborn Grandmasters from the territories of other countries he would conquer in the future.

Similar to how Pre-Yue and Zhou Country had actively invited Jianghu Grandmasters from within their own countries to join, Chu State would do the same when it came across suitable candidates in the future.

For example, the Liuyang Sect in Lu Yuan’s hometown of Yuzhang Prefecture when he first traveled through time.

Up till now, the Liuyang Sect in Ning Country Territory has remained independent, even after Jianghu Sects like White Phoenix Temple and Nine River Sword Sect had fully integrated with their respective countries. Liuyang Sect remains the only Innate Great Sect in Yangzhou, dominating the martial arts world.

Yin Huixuan, the leader of Liuyang Sect, ranks third among Inborn Second-level Grandmasters in Yangzhou, following only Lu Yuan and Ning Country’s Emperor Shen Qiu.

Without either Lu Yuan or his avatar Huang Xuan taking action, Yin Huixuan is undoubtedly the number one person in Yangzhou.

For such a strong expert, Lu Yuan naturally coveted and wished to recruit.

He believed that Shen Qiu of Ning Country also had the same idea.

However, although Ning Country had cultivated six Inborn experts in recent years, Shen Qiu still had no confidence in defeating Yin Huixuan and keeping him around, even with six Inborn experts on his side.

As a result, despite extreme dissatisfaction, Ning Country could only accept Liuyang Sect’s independent status, remaining detached from the Jianghu world.

But what Ning Country couldn’t do, Chu State could.

Both Lu Yuan himself and his Avatar Huang Xuan had the confidence to defeat Yin Huixuan.

If Lu Yuan were to personally take action, he even had a great chance of killing Yin Huixuan on the spot.

With both the Avatar and Lu Yuan himself taking action, Yin Huixuan’s death would be certain.

With this power, as long as they could conquer Yuzhang Prefecture, Lu Yuan had absolute confidence in making Liuyang Sect submit and having Yin Huixuan serve him.

In fact, with Lu Yuan’s current strength, he could eliminate anyone in the Nine Provinces, except for those in the Immortal Sects.

Even Ning Country was not out of reach.

As long as Lu Yuan wanted, he could now sneak into Jinling City, assassinate Shen Qiu and directly slay this Heavenly Son of Ning Country.

However, killing him didn’t mean that Lu Yuan could smoothly swallow the entire Ning Country.

Ruling the world can’t be achieved by just one person.

Lu Yuan needed experts to help him suppress the territories, officials to help him govern the territories, and armies to help him maintain order.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Among these, the officials and troops may be easier to solve, but cultivating top-level experts like Inborn Grandmasters isn’t that easy.

Chu State now has six Inborn Grandmasters, but Jihui, one of them, is already on his last breath and may die tomorrow.

So, in reality, Chu State only has five Inborn Grandmasters at its disposal.

But Chu State has to defend five provinces’ worth of territory.

Averaging it out, that’s just one Inborn expert per province, barely meeting their needs.

Powers such as Zhou Country and Liang Country, each has more than ten Inborn Grandmasters, have an abundance of top-level experts, which is why they can easily suppress numerous provinces and even more than a dozen territories.

Chu State does not have this foundation, and trying to swallow more than it can chew might lead to a territory like Ning Country that, despite being conquered, wouldn’t have enough people to safeguard it.

If it cannot stabilize its territory, the rebellious coastal aristocratic families will cause chaos everywhere. Four or five Inborn Grandmaster assassins would be enough to turn the entire Chu State upside down, making it completely unrestful.

When the territory expands but the number of defenders remains insufficient, Chu State’s entire defensive line will be full of leaks, allowing outsiders to easily find a weak spot and swarm in, tearing Chu State to shreds.

This is precisely why Lu Yuan has resisted the temptation to strike, even though there are many forces surrounding Chu State that he could potentially consume, before gaining his own strength and foundation.

In the southwest region, he had enfeoffed three vassal states to act as barriers, monitoring and dealing with the Yi countries, as well as Su and Song countries.

Su Country was previously in political turmoil, with its Altars of Soil and Grain in chaos and showing signs of a collapsing nation.

Lu Yuan didn’t take any action, but simply took the opportunity to gather some refugees from Su Country and make a fortune by trading grain, reaping some benefits.

Nanhai Country, which had no Inborn Grandmasters, was still jumping between Chu State and Ning Country, challenging Lu Yuan’s bottom line.

But Lu Yuan did not take any action.

Because after conquering Nanhai Country, he wouldn’t have sufficient strength to defend it.

It was better to use it as a buffer, making the Three Nations wary of one another and hesitant to make the first move.