"Alright, everyone, quiet down. Some of you may have guessed correctly. I've been solely focused on improving my own cultivation and haven't wasted time building a faction or sect. However, it seems unlikely I'll break through to Hunyuan and become a Demon Venerable in the short term.
A dignified Demon Emperor is always a solitary figure.
It's not ideal to have no subordinates to help with tasks.
It so happens that I ran into that fellow Blood Fiend some time ago. He was quite arrogant, so I casually eliminated him, took over his forces, and that's how we arrived at this situation.
At my level of cultivation, it's all about maintaining appearances. I don't lack resources, nor will I be stingy with them. But you must not shame me. The current territory is far too small to match my status, yet your strength is truly lacking. Therefore, I've decided to grant you another benefit: I will allow you to accrue some contributions in advance, so you can break through and improve your strength first.
You can make up for the required contributions later.
The specifics of how contributions are calculated, how to redeem them, and what items can be exchanged are all clearly marked in the Contribution Hall. You can go there when you have time, get a card, and look for yourselves. The standard for what each person can accrue is also clearly indicated there."
Saying this, Ding Yun pondered for a moment before continuing,
"Oh, right. Your cultivation techniques also seem rather mediocre. Never mind, consider it charity.
In a couple of days, I will open the Scripture Pavilion and allow each of you to pick a few cultivation techniques. The techniques there can at least guide you to the Demon Lord realm, and the slightly better ones can lead you directly to the Demon Emperor realm. These techniques will not cost you any contributions; you only need to sign a soul contract promising not to divulge them before entering. Remember to cultivate diligently after learning them.
Quickly improve your cultivation.
Do not shame me."
Ding Yun's original intention was to provide benefits while subtly admonishing them. Since her objective was largely achieved, there was no need for further idle chatter. She simply relayed her plans.
With that, Ding Yun vanished in a flash of light. The demons present quickly gathered the items they had just received and hurried towards the Contribution Hall that Ding Yun had mentioned, intending to get their cards and understand the situation as instructed.
Simultaneously, they planned to accrue some contribution points.
And exchange them for items beneficial to them.
The entire process was rather chaotic, mainly due to a lingering worry: would there be enough treasures in the Contribution Hall that could aid cultivation? Would they be taken by those who went first, leaving nothing for those who came later? Hence, there was a degree of rushing. Only when most of them had exchanged for what they wanted and found no shortages did the remaining few calm down, even exchanging pleasantries, unlike their earlier haste.
After receiving this portion of benefits, and considering that Ding Yun had mentioned the Scripture Pavilion would be opened for free in a couple of days, none of the demon higher-ups who attended the meeting left. They all found places to stay and, for the most part, began cultivating diligently rather than engaging in idle conversation.
Some were consuming elixirs to cultivate.
Others were refining demonic artifacts and spiritual treasures.
In any case, everyone was striving to improve their strength.
Over the following days, many demons whose cultivation was on the verge of a breakthrough, or who had been hindered by a lack of resources, made considerable progress. Especially those with lower cultivation bases, their advancements were more significant. At the very least, they all broke through one or two minor realms. A few with exceptional talent or good fortune even broke through a major realm. Furthermore, two demons at the Golden Demon realm, with the aid of the Five Energies Returning to Origin Pill specially granted by Ding Yun, successfully broke through and became Grand Unity Demon Lords.
From then on, the strength of Ding Yun's demon subjects was no longer so meager. At least there were two Demon Lords to lend her some face.
However, compared to the strength of other Demon Emperors.
There was still a long and arduous road ahead.
After all, those seasoned Demon Emperors each commanded hundreds of Demon Lords. Especially those who had been Demon Emperors for over a million years might have seven or eight subordinates with Demon Emperor level strength.
Fortunately, Ding Yun never intended to rely solely on the strength of her own subordinates to expand her influence. Her current generosity towards them was primarily a strategy to attract attention, hoping to lure in rogue demons who were overlooked by other factions or who had no allegiance.
For someone who truly lacked nothing in terms of resources, she wasn't afraid of too many people defecting. The more, the better. The more people who pledged allegiance to her, the larger her influence would become.
Loyalty was not a primary concern.
As long as they were obedient and could work for her.
She believed that with her generous rewards, there wouldn't be too many truly ungrateful individuals. Even if such a person appeared, she had plenty of ways to deal with ingrates. The more a demon used the resources and treasures she bestowed, the easier it would be for her to eliminate them.
This was because the side effects of using the concept-level River God had always existed, and were merely suppressed by Ding Yun. If any demon were to become excessively ungrateful and rebel, Ding Yun could simply cease suppressing their karma and karma. They would then suffer from qi deviation and injury at the least, or severe decline and annihilation at the worst.
Unless they had mastered the laws of karma and destiny, reached the Demon Emperor realm, and could transfer karma.
Otherwise, it would be difficult to resist.
And if they broke through to Demon Emperor using the treasures Ding Yun bestowed, even if they could suppress and transfer karma, it would still require time.
They would undoubtedly suffer heavy damage in the interim.
This interval would be sufficient for Ding Yun to suppress and destroy them.
Therefore, Ding Yun truly had no concerns about the path of blind expansion she had chosen.
Subsequently, to further attract demons to defect and let everyone know that she was foolishly rich, or rather, eager for talent, Ding Yun made a decision that went against ancestral traditions, or rather, against the common customs of the demon realm: she not only opened the Scripture Pavilion to her subordinates but also to all demons within her governing territory.
As long as they registered and were recorded.
Changed their household registration and became citizens under her rule, these demons could freely access her Scripture Pavilion to peruse various low-to-mid-level cultivation knowledge and technical skills, such as alchemy, artifact forging, and talisman crafting.
Of course, these were only low-to-mid-level.
The exceptionally high-level ones were not free.
As for cultivation techniques, any demon under her rule could, after signing a non-disclosure soul contract, receive a complete set of techniques that could lead directly to the Golden Demon realm for free.
Anything higher than that was not free.
They could either choose to work for Ding Yun, transitioning from free citizens to her subordinates, or perform tasks that contributed, and exchange them using contribution points.
Essentially, within her dominion, Ding Yun had established a contribution point system in addition to the existing currency system. Everyone who obtained a card could earn contribution points by completing tasks issued on the card that benefited Ding Yun's expansion. These points could then be used to exchange for higher-level cultivation techniques or treasures from the Contribution Hall.
The main difference between ordinary demons and those serving under Ding Yun was that demons serving under Ding Yun had a certain privilege to acquire high-level cultivation techniques for free based on their rank, and could also get discounts on other resources. The higher their position, the greater the discount.
The maximum discount was 70%, making it a bargain.
These were all strategies Ding Yun employed to recruit personnel and expand her influence, and methods that other demons could not replicate. After all, who in the entire demon realm could match her wealth?