Family Management Game In Immortal Continent Chapter 851: The Three Categories

"Get up, Kuangren."

Li Tianyue assisted her nephew to his feet.

She looked toward Dongfang Liancheng, his face brimming with remorse, and released a heavy sigh.

Ultimately, she failed to hide this matter from her fellow clansmen.

Truth be told, concealing it from the Old Ancestor was impossible anyway; she simply hadn't anticipated discovery happening so soon.

"Old General Dongfang, my nephew can be quite hot-tempered. I trust you won't hold it against him." Li Tianyue's voice remained soft, but a hint of chill lingered within it.

Dongfang Liancheng appeared ready to respond, yet he held his tongue.

Li Tianyue offered nothing further and guided Li Kuangren out.

Upon exiting the hall, Li Kuangren hung his head low.

As the new Prefecture Master of Azure Cloud Prefecture, he had assumed the role without realizing the harassment his aunt faced on the Duskwild Prefecture frontlines.

Noticing her nephew's distressed demeanor, Li Tianyue murmured gently,

"Kuangren, this isn't your fault. I had intended, if things stayed this way for a few more years, to request the Crown Prince allow me to step down and transfer to Shadowfell Prefecture. I just never thought you'd show up here."

"Aunt, are you truly going to keep putting your life on the line for those people?" Li Kuangren questioned, his teeth clenched tight.

"Even if you move to Shadowfell Prefecture, folks like them won't change.

Do you believe there's any real affection or faithfulness in them?

They only calculate gains and losses!

Our Azure Cloud Prefecture holds great strength these days, complete with its own forces."

"Enough of that. We won't discuss it further." Li Tianyue sidestepped his inquiry.

With a faint smile, she inquired instead, "About your visit this time—I got the message too. You're here to convince the Fourth Prince to seek peace. Are your plans in order?"

"Yes." Observing that his aunt avoided delving into her motives, Li Kuangren chose not to press.

He answered, "I've crafted my case. Since the Crown Prince approached us for aid, given the favors he's granted our family all these years, I owe it to him to try my hardest."

"I'm afraid it won't go smoothly."

Encased in her battle armor, Li Tianyue embodied the third-ranked Peerless Fairy's legendary prowess. Each stride radiated a bold, majestic allure.

Soldiers they passed stole looks at her, then bowed their heads in overwhelming inferiority.

Li Tianyue, however, paid no mind to such stares, long grown used to them. In a solemn voice, she pressed, "Have you mentioned to anyone that you're negotiating for peace?"

"No. The Crown Prince visited our Merit Grotto-Heaven in person to meet Xinnian.

As it was a confidential talk, I wouldn't dream of leaking it to others," Li Kuangren responded, though confusion etched his features.

"But why do you think it'll be tough, Aunt?"

"That's wise."

Li Tianyue glanced around them.

"What makes this task challenging is that the Crown Prince has dispatched messengers for peace talks repeatedly, but every attempt has only escalated the fighting.

Observe this encampment—how many strangers do you see? They have no desire for the conflict to cease."

Li Kuangren's face shifted in shock. "They don't want it?"

"Indeed." Li Tianyue went on, "Those arriving here belong to three main groups. The first includes cultivators drafted through standard channels."

"The second group comprises cultivators cast aside by powerful sects and clans.

When these people perish in combat, the Dynasty must provide compensation to their former affiliations."

"The last group features disciples from prominent clans and sects.

They arrive for battle experience, and surviving the front lines earns them prestige along with substantial rewards.

Moreover, their supporting factions have quietly negotiated 'compensation rates' with the Imperial Capital's Ministry of War.

To muster sufficient forces against the Fourth Prince, the capital had little option but to accept those conditions."

"Across the lands, areas are desperately raising armies and mining ores for this war.

These supplies reach the battlefield, get recovered, and then disappear entirely, probably circulating back through the Dynasty's underground markets.

Numerous sects and clans quietly amass power, while others fade into decline."

Li Kuangren stared in astonishment. "What?!!"

"This war began as a straightforward defense of our territory, but no longer.

In this world, folks scramble like vermin after nothing more than glory and wealth."

Li Tianyue let out a weary sigh.

"At this point, the tangled network of gains has expanded beyond what the Dynasty or the Fourth Prince ever imagined."

"The Fourth Prince rules the Twelve Prefectures, yet he's trapped in the identical mess.

If one side tries to halt, the cost would be staggering.

Consider: should the Fourth Prince push for truce, his allied clans and sects would forfeit these advantages, and their backing would evaporate.

Our side grapples with the very same issue.

The sole path left is total annihilation—either they perish, or we do."

"Each of them is convinced they can emerge stronger and outlast everyone else."

Li Kuangren lingered in stunned silence.

His eyes seemed to pierce beyond this war-torn field, scarred by over three centuries of slaughter and innumerable deaths, revealing lurking silhouettes in the shadows, cackling with avarice.

These figures arose successively, poised to climb atop the heaps of the fallen, all to claim the grandest shadow for themselves.

This conflict defied any halt, concealed within were puppet masters manipulating their pawns from afar.

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