Lin Xiao's breakthrough to the late Golden Core stage was a moment of great joy within Lingxian Sect.
That evening, Jiang Youfu took charge of cooking, with Liu Shengsheng assisting, and together they prepared a grand feast. The entire Lingxian Sect gathered and celebrated to their hearts' content.
Meanwhile, the outside world remained unaware of this joyous event.
Two days later, news arrived from the capital, reporting that the majority of the villagers in Huyang Village of Huanyou Kingdom had been cured. With the help of the government, they had begun rebuilding their homes on a flat area near the original village site.
Additionally, the Lingxian Sect was informed of the Alliance Army's subsequent decisions.
Although the mastermind, the National Master, had yet to be captured, the Alliance Army had been stationed in Huanyou Kingdom for quite some time. Since the army was composed of forces from several neighboring nations, it was already a rare achievement for them to work together for this long.
Now that the crisis in Huanyou Kingdom had been brought under control and the threat of Jishi was unlikely to resurface in the near future, the Alliance Army decided to withdraw most of its forces from the kingdom.
They would leave only a few garrisons, manned by elite soldiers who would rotate in and out.
The Huanyou Kingdom's government, under the rule of the new King Zhao Yunzhong, would take responsibility for strictly guarding the borders, not to defend against external threats, but to prevent the National Master from escaping the kingdom.
This was one of the conditions the Alliance Army imposed on Zhao Yunzhong when they handed control of the government back to him.
After all, such a dangerous and elusive individual could not be allowed to escape and cause trouble in other nations. It was much better to contain him within Huanyou Kingdom and deal with him there.
Zhao Yunzhong had no choice but to agree.
The kingdom had been reclaimed from traitors with the help of the Alliance Army, so it was impossible for him to expect them to simply hand over the throne without any conditions.
Moreover, Zhao Yunzhong understood that keeping the National Master confined within Huanyou Kingdom was far better than allowing him to roam free.
Thus, while the agreement was being finalized, Zhao Yunzhong busied himself with reinforcing the kingdom's border defenses to ensure the National Master could not escape.
Of course, the high-level cultivators of the Alliance Army, especially the formation masters from various nations, spared no effort in assisting Huanyou Kingdom.
With the kingdom investing all its resources and the expertise of the formation masters, they constructed an enormous and highly secure protective net along the borders.
Although the strength of this protective net did not match the sealing formation Lin Xiao had set up near the Jishi mine, it was still formidable. From captured followers of the National Master, it was revealed that the reason he had been able to sneak into the Jishi mine undetected was that he had used a Jishi effigy he had long been refining.
The more knowledgeable members of the Alliance speculated that the effigy was likely made from Jishi essence.
However, Jishi essence was extremely rare—one ton of Jishi could only produce a small piece of essence the size of a palm.
By calculating the amount of Jishi the National Master and his followers had harvested over the years, the Alliance estimated that he couldn't have much essence left.
Moreover, the formation masters had fortified the protective net with additional measures.
Even if the National Master used up all of his Jishi essence in an attempt to break through the protective net, the formation would reveal the direction of his escape, allowing the army to track him for at least 20 miles.
This provided a valuable contingency plan.
After receiving this news from the capital, the Lingxian Sect members considered the matter of Huanyou Kingdom to be resolved.
Anything that followed was no longer their concern.
They returned to their usual focus, continuing their cultivation and the construction of their sect.