High Mother Lisha kept observing Cao Yun as he didn't seem bothered by what had just happened. Within her, she couldn't chase the image of High Mother Qin Xue out of her mind. Would this human behave in such a way as well? Would he sacrifice anyone and everyone for his ambitions? After all, he had taken over the entire order. Could they have exchanged one tyrant for another?

Although she couldn't feel Cao Yun's seals in her sea of consciousness, she knew they were there. As she thought about them, she could imagine them ready to destroy her very soul. In fact, she even wondered whether Cao Yun could read her thoughts or not. She knew of no such seal, but this young man was strange beyond her beliefs. After all, he was a human who had cultivated the demon path. Not only was he able to cultivate just like the demons, but he was even better at it than they were.

Among humans, Cao Yun's Qi cultivation was fast, but there had been faster cultivators in records. Among demons though, it was insanely fast. To be fair, he had the manual written by the Weaver of Souls. This had been a great advantage for him, a small book found in a tiny city had changed his life. On the other hand, he also had the Drop of Wrath. As it had belonged to an incredibly powerful asura, it was even better at improving his blood cultivation than his Qi cultivation. And High Mother Lisha could clearly feel this strange bloodline in him. In fact, this was the reason why High Mother Qin Xue had targeted him. But by targeting him, they had made him much stronger, to the point where he had simply taken over their order.

Now, they were all his servants, even the Sisters who didn't know of his very existence. High Mother Lisha was slowly wondering whether she should give her life to do something about it. But any action she would take would be met with death, not necessarily her death. She could see Cao Yun kill her other Sisters until she submitted. So she wasn't in a hurry to test his resolve and his cruelty. At the very least, he had stopped sacrificing anyone to the Blood Abyss. And yet, he had improved the quality of the Blood Abyss like no other before him. By throwing the ashes of the Weaver of Souls in, the Blood Abyss was as vibrant as it had ever been.

The news of Boss Gui's sudden murder had awaken the debate within High Mother Lisha's mind. Indeed, she was weighing the pros and the cons of serving Cao Yun. The obvious con was that he could probably destroy the entire Monastery of Bliss and Repose. This was obviously a huge problem. But High Mother Lisha's malcontent was growing each day. Maybe seeing how Cao Yun didn't seem to care that much about the life and death of those he was using as pawns would be the last straw. In what way was he different than High Mother Qin Xue in the end?

While High Mother Lisha was contemplating what she should do, Cao Yun was pondering on the current situation. On Senior Mother Fen Caiji, he had altered his plans. Although Boss Gui's death was part of it, he had to adapt. All things considered, he wasn't bothered by the woman's death. After all, she had been a slave trader. She had killed, tortured and enslaved many people throughout her life. He had no tear to shed on her fate. But he was upset that his plans had been foiled. With this course of thoughts, he felt a bit shameful. But he wasn't ashamed that he didn't care about Boss Gui, he was ashamed that he had ever needed her in the first place.

The more he was dealing with politics, the more he despised politics and himself by extension. However, he was sincerely trying to do what he thought was best. His main problem was that he wasn't entirely sure what was the right thing to do. Hopefully he would soon leave the Desolate Sepulcher. And although he had no intention of ever coming back, he was still trying to make things as good as they could for the demons living there. At the end of things, he wasn't the one who would live with the consequences of his action, and it didn't sit right with him.

As he was thinking, he realized that High Mother Lisha had not left. In her eyes, he could see that she was also wondering about many things.

"How are things going on in the nomadic tribes?"

Cao Yun's voice suddenly jolted High Mother Lisha out of her own thoughts. Obviously, she was able to hide most of her emotions and surprise. However, Cao Yun's senses were better than most people so he could still read her like an open book. He didn't want to pressure her though.

"Chieftain Sha Chai Gan has completely taken over the alliance of the nomadic tribes. For the moment, she's been able to calm them down so they won't attack. But their hatred against City Lord Sihe is immense. There's no telling if she'll be able to keep everyone from doing something stupid. Thankfully, Senior Mother Fen Caiji is doing a very good job as well. I don't think we'll have any problem as long as we deal with City Lord Sihe soon enough."

"Is she re-organizing the tribes as instructed?"

"Yes, she is. Once the alliance is over, Chieftain Sha Chai Gan will still be regarded as a figure as respected as her father was. The tribes will be able to prosper much more thanks to her reforms. Of course, many didn't take too well to those reforms, especially the Sun Scorpion Clan. But they couldn't go against the popularity she's enjoying right now. Our Sisters are taking care of any who would go in her way."

"Any casualty?"

"As you've ordered, we're keeping them to a minimum. Bribes and threats are mostly enough to silence any dissenting voice. Moreover, they fear that their own tribe will tear them apart if they act against Chieftain Sha Chai Gan or our order. But some of the elites in the Sun Scorpion Clan were just too dangerous, so we had no choice in the matter. Master, I don't understand, why don't we just get rid of this clan?"

"Senior Mother Fen Caiji made a convincing argument about them and I thought about it some more. Now that Boss Gui is dead, I'll have to ponder over it again, but we may have some use for this clan. Well, not as it is now... We'll have to change it a lot, but it could be the salvation of the nomadic tribe ironically. They sold out their own brothers and sisters and yet they may become the instrument that will keep them out of slavery for centuries to come, if not more."

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As he casually mentioned Boss Gui's death, Cao Yun sensed a bit of tension within High Mother Lisha. He gave her some time of silence and contemplation. Eventually, she asked the burning question that was plaguing her mind.

"Master Cao, you're just using people all around the Desolate Sepulcher. Are we just pawns in your game? Is it because we're demons and not humans that you disregard our existence? Don't you care about what fate befalls any of us? How many are you ready to sacrifice? Aren't you worse than High Mother Qin Xue?"

Under this barrage of questions, Cao Yun didn't react. He let her finish as her voice was getting tenser and tenser. He could feel some desperation but also much resentment.

"I'm doing everything I can. I'm honest right now. The truth is that I don't have all the answers. And this is the biggest difference with your former High Mother Qin Xue. I don't know whether what I'm doing is right or wrong. I can assure you that my intents are good, but it is far from enough. Honestly, I'm going with the flow despite the plans that I laid out. I will alter and adapt them as the situation unfold.

"I won't shed a tear for Boss Gui as she knew what she was getting into and she was far from being a good person. That being said, I would rather avoid bloodshed as much as I can while going in the direction I want. I have very few principles I can't bend. In fact, I do think that having unyielding principles is a terrible thing. The world is ever-changing. If you don't change with it, you're bound to become the very thing you despised in the first place. Besides, you cannot know for sure whether your principles are good unless you test them. But then, you have to be prepared to change them accordingly. This is what I am doing.

"I don't have all the answers and I won't pretend that I do. As a matter of fact, if you have any good idea, I am ready to not only hear them but use them as well. You are right when you point out that I am no demon. Despite the time I've spent among you, I am still a foreigner in your culture. I can't know for sure what the reaction of the demons will be to my reforms. My main goal is indeed to go back to my Hongchen Kingdom, but I sincerely wish to make this Desolate Sepulcher a better place. Even out of sheer selfishness, if the slave trade ends, the Empyrean Asura Theocracy will be weakened, not by much, but weakened nonetheless."

Hearing Cao Yun's honest words, High Mother Lisha was a bit taken aback, but she was also furious. She couldn't tell why exactly but she felt a powerful anger welling up in her. Maybe it was simply because Cao Yun could admit openly something that had been plaguing her for decades. He wasn't certain about the morality of his own actions, just like she had been uncertain. But unlike her, he was still trying to do something about it. On the other hand, she had given the responsibility of her own moral to High Mother Qin Xue. And even now, she was ready to give it to Cao Yun.

He was right though. Soon he would leave. After his departure, High Mother Lisha would have to deal with these matters herself. It might be time for her to take actions and not just delegate her moral compass to someone else. However, it would mean accepting to take accountability for her choices.

"What do you intend to do with the Sun Scorpion Clan?"

"At first, I sincerely wondered about simply dissolving the clan and dispatching its members in other clans and tribes. But Senior Mother Fen Caiji's idea was much better. We could make this tribe into a real army for the entire tribes. Instead of dissolving it, we could dilute it. The idea was to allow people from any tribe to join and to be trained. Slowly, the Sun Scorpion Clan would lose its current identity to become a mixture of all the other tribes. Like that, they could work to protect the tribes without playing favorites. Of course, it's not perfect as it would require the tribes to have some common goal. At the very least, this new army would be useful against enemies from the outside, like the Nalupu Kingdom. And it might even prevent infighting to some extent."

"I see... You could also use it as mercenary force. With Boss Gui's death, why not just merge her own mercenaries with this Sun Scorpion Clan? We Sisters of the Abyss do act as spies and assassins despite still serving our own interests. This could be possible with the Sun Scorpion Clan. Besides, Boss Gui's mercenaries and the Sun Scorpion Clan both use poisons to enhance themselves. I know that your Blazing Swallow is working on better pills for that very purpose. Thus, this could also strengthen the relations between the Blazing Swallow and the tribes. Consequently, it would also strengthen the relations between the Nalupu Kingdom and the tribes."

"Indeed. This isn't a bad idea at all. We'll have to discuss it some more. But we could turn the Sun Scorpion Clan into both an army and a business. Moreover, having them as mercenaries to show how powerful they are will deter even more people from attacking the tribes. And the need for slave warriors will diminish if you have access to mercenaries. This is worth thinking about. I'll let you work on it. You should also talk with Senior Mother Fen Caiji about this, I'm sure that she will have great insights as well. After all, she knows the tribes better than we do."

Seeing that Cao Yun really took her opinion into consideration alleviated most of High Mother Lisha. She wasn't sure whether he was giving her this task to keep her happy and subservient, but she was still ready to perform it as best as she could. But she had other ideas as well.

"If you want to minimize the casualties, why don't we simply assassinate City Lord Sihe?"

"Humph... I've thought a lot about it. But things are not as simple. Even without the Sisters of the Abyss, I am confident that I could sneak into his very residence and kill him without leaving any evidence. However, killing a city lord is a dangerous matter. Lord Wanghuo couldn't stay silent about this. And the culprit would be obvious. Just as Marshal Weiji blamed Boss Gui for my actions, Lord Wanghuo and the entire Nalupu Kingdom would blame either the Blazing Swallow or the Sisters of the Abyss themselves. The city lords couldn't accept this murder as it would be a threat to them directly. You can imagine the bloody civil war that would ensue. But do not worry, City Lord Sihe sealed his fate."

"I understand your concerns of course. But I do think we could smooth things over. For example, we could blame Marshal Weiji's action on him. As you've just said, killing a city lord is no laughing matter. if we can implicate City Lord Sihe in this murder, then we could force Lord Wanghuo to execute him himself. In fact, all the city lords would approve of it."

"I know. As I said, his fate is already sealed. There is no reason to worry about him at this point. In fact, my only point of concern is Lord Wanghuo's reaction. No, it's not true. I'm also concerned about keeping the resentment between the various cities and the tribes to a minimum. Great changes can cause turmoil and civil war. I want to avoid that at all cost. And for that, the Sisters of the Abyss are perfect."

"I understand. We will make sure to insist on the teachings of the Weaver of Souls to unify all demons."