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After listening to the entire report, Chen Xuanfeng pondered for a moment and then turned to his wife, asking, "Catherine, what do you think?"

Sitting beside him, the blonde Lion Tribe female sword saint, still clad in silver armor and a blue robe, had hardly aged in appearance due to the changes brought by her entry into the Saint Domain. Her heroic demeanor was now complemented by a touch of the softness of a wife. Upon hearing her husband's question, she thought for a moment and then replied, "The human world has always held an absolute population advantage. However, even for human rulers, such an advantage poses a threat. Human rulers do not rely on personal strength or intelligence to gain power; they maintain their rule through systems and interests. Once the entire population becomes armed, it will inevitably shake their rule. Therefore, they always try to weaken the rebellious spirit of the common people, making them as docile as slaves, even willing to forfeit land rather than disrupt the system. It is precisely by leveraging this that we, with a million troops, can rule nearly a billion humans. However, this recent turmoil seems to have made humans determined. Since not doing so would mean completely losing the Western Continent, they might as well thoroughly disrupt the situation, perhaps finding a slim chance of survival."

Chen Xuanfeng gave Catherine an approving glance, recognizing that she had struck the core of the issue. Others might think that heroes create the times, but from the perspective of high-ranking individuals like them, it is the times that create heroes.

No matter how remarkable the leaders of the rebellion are, without the support and instigation of the entire human nobility, and without the connections and resources they provide, it would be impossible to achieve such a massive momentum. The cost of doing so is equally staggering. Once the common people have tasted rebellion, blood, and victory, they will never remain commoners again. Even if humans eventually reclaim this land, the nobility will never be able to restore their original rule. Furthermore, such changes will gradually spread to regions untouched by the Beastmen, shaking the very foundation of human rule. It was precisely this concern that had delayed the human leadership from using this strategy.

In fact, Chen Xuanfeng had witnessed a similar situation in his previous life—no, he had personally experienced it. The Zhao Dynasty of the Southern Song would rather cede half of its territory to the Jin than change its political system, even going so far as to destroy its own defenses. The underlying reason was this. Back then, Huang Yaoshi had commented on the situation, saying, "The Zhao Song will not fall, and foreign aggression will not cease." However, the two worlds are ultimately different. When pushed to the brink, the human leadership finally made the decision to burn their bridges, setting up the most severe deadlock for themselves and the Beastmen Coalition.

Chen Xuanfeng thought for a moment and then continued to ask, "What is the current situation in our territory?"

A human woman in white robes immediately stood up and replied, "The situation in the Fontainebleau territory and the surrounding areas is relatively stable. Although there have been a few small uprisings, they have all been suppressed. Our territory has always been relatively lenient towards human subjects, and with the leadership of the 'Holy Love Heaven,' the people's opposition is not strong. As long as we prevent the uprisings from gaining momentum, we believe they will not pose a threat."

This woman, dressed in the white robes of a 'Holy Love Heaven' priestess, was in her twenties, with a beautiful appearance. She was also an old acquaintance of Chen Xuanfeng—Bai Lanling, the Holy Maiden of the Holy Light Shrine, who had been captured along with the half-mermaid mage Hai Ruo and the half-elf archer Avril when Chen Xuanfeng had conquered Fontainebleau.

Back then, Bai Lanling had made a vow in the name of the gods to serve Chen Xuanfeng for life in exchange for the safety of her companions. Although the Holy Light Shrine later reached an understanding with Chen Xuanfeng, exchanging certain terms for Bai Lanling's freedom, the vow could not be changed. However, if Chen Xuanfeng were to say the words to release Bai Lanling and they never met again, the vow would naturally become invalid. But the times were ever-changing. What was once a young wolfman rising from the borderlands had, in just a few years, become a warlord sweeping across half of the Western Continent. Meanwhile, Bai Lanling, who had retreated to the grand cathedral of the Os Kingdom to cultivate, became a captive again after the fall of the Os Kingdom. When Chen Xuanfeng used the blood of the Holy Light believers to sacrifice to the Dark Demon God, he naturally spared this old acquaintance. By then, Chen Xuanfeng was no longer the same as before. With a few techniques to manipulate the mind, he infinitely strengthened the influence of the divine vow, instantly turning this loyal Holy Maiden of the Holy Light Shrine into his devoted slave. He then assigned her to Jin Luosha's command, making her one of the core members of the 'Holy Love Heaven.'

After hearing the report, Chen Xuanfeng nodded and remarked, "That's good. This full-scale human resistance presents a challenge, but it also offers a rare opportunity. Now that the old nobility has almost entirely mobilized their connections, as long as we can quickly suppress the human resistance, and then use a combination of firmness and leniency, it will be easy to completely win over the people's hearts and solve the security issues of our territory in the long term."

As he spoke, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly. In his previous life, although he was not a righteous anti-Jin warrior like Chongyang Zhenren, he deeply resented the invasion of foreign races and even more so the Jin people's enslavement and domestication of the Han. When he roamed the martial world, he had slaughtered many Jin officials. But now, he had transformed into one of the invaders and began using the same methods that foreign races had once used to govern humans. Although he would not hesitate because of this, the taste of it was quite profound.

Just as Chen Xuanfeng was about to continue arranging some response measures, he saw Jin Luosha bouncing in through the door, shouting, "Brother, brother, something big has happened—"

"Oh? What is it?" Chen Xuanfeng reached out to catch the girl who was rushing towards him and asked with a smile.

The blonde girl shook the piece of paper with the intelligence report in her hand and said, "The Yellow Dragon Empire and the Mermaid Empire have formed an alliance. It is said that their combined navy will soon bypass the North Sea to attack the rear of the Beastmen Coalition. Additionally, the water-element forbidden spell mage who was monitoring the Mermaid Empire has left the Yellow Dragon Empire and is preparing to move to the Southern Continent to fill the vacancy there."

Upon hearing this news that could change the entire continent's situation, Chen Xuanfeng showed little surprise. Catherine, standing beside him, asked curiously, "Husband, did you already know about this?"

Chen Xuanfeng shook his head and said, "How could I? I just had some suspicions. When we returned from the elven kingdom, we were intercepted by four sword saints at sea. At the time, I found it strange—how could they so easily track us in such a vast sea, especially since they had set out after us? Later, upon careful consideration, even a prophecy mage couldn't detect our whereabouts without being noticed. The only plausible explanation was the involvement of a sea-dwelling race. The Moonlight Tower of the Nameless Lake is known as the Yellow Dragon Empire's protectorate sect, and its members' diplomatic abilities surpass their martial skills. If they hadn't had any contact with the Mermaid Empire over the past few hundred years, that would be strange. Following this logic, their actions can be deduced."