Qin Shi Ambitious

Page 194

"Lord Dongjun is quite the joker." Xinghun glanced at the Five Spirits and the others without changing his expression: "These people are not worthy of my intervention."

His reckless words made Yan Fei give Xing Hun a deep look, dispelling some of her doubts.

At this moment, the Moon Goddess walked to the railing of the covered bridge and said indifferently, "Among this batch of Five Spirits Profound Unity disciples, there are a few who are valued by His Majesty the Eastern Emperor. In terms of their future, they will become our colleagues. To underestimate them is to underestimate His Majesty the Eastern Emperor's vision."

You always keep saying "Your Excellency Donghuang," but among the three of us, you are the one who despises Donghuang the most!

Xinghun's expression turned cold. Although he had some thoughts in his mind, he did not refute them. Instead, Dongjun, who was unaware of the situation, walked to the railing with him and nodded: "It seems that the candidate for this year's Shao Siming is the one chosen by the Moon Goddess. I wonder when he will be able to return to his position?"

"She still needs to wait for someone to perfect her Yin-Yang arts," the Moon Goddess replied calmly. "This is not only her puzzle, but also the puzzle of the entire Yin-Yang School."

"Oh~" Xinghun responded, standing with Riyue, his mind automatically expanding on the meaning of this puzzle piece:

After Shao Siming returns to her position, the Mirage Project can be prepared to set sail, that is, the plan to oppose Donghuang and Qin can begin!

"I'm really looking forward to this puzzle!"

Chapter 217 Sun-Covering No. 2

Lu Wei realized he couldn't open the Azure Dragon Bronze Box. If he considered it a bargaining chip and bait, then he would need to devise a deeper plan and recruit more combat power as a guarantee.

Moreover, while absolute certainty is only an ideal state, if absolute certainty cannot be achieved, then it is not worth risking handing over the box.

The Moon Goddess and Star Soul are right about one thing: since the person who can unlock the Seven Mansions of the Azure Dragon is on the enemy's side, then completely destroying them so that no one can obtain them is the most advantageous solution for oneself.

Such preparations must be made at all times.

Back at the Gonggong Hall headquarters, Lu Wei wasn't afraid of being sought out again by Lord Changping and the Mohists. He wasn't Tian Guang, who owed Lord Changping a favor and felt obligated to do certain things, so he simply disappeared to shirk responsibility.

Escaping is shameful but useful. Regardless of Tian Guang's reputation in future history books, the key is that the farmers now do not need to obey Lord Changping's orders to fight to the death with the Qin state.

Lu Wei doesn't owe anyone favors. If we're talking about owing favors, Tian Guang did help him a lot, so the head of the hall will help fulfill Tian Guang's last wish of "carrying forward the agricultural family's legacy." As for anything else, that's all favors owed to him by others.

However, he had only been back at headquarters, cuddling Ah Xue and Xiao Duanmu, and fallen asleep when he was awakened by a deliberately menacing aura...

The murderous intent was pure and had no target.

Such audacity... The opponent is very strong, able to bypass the Gonggong Hall's night sentries and head straight for our Hall Master's Hall!

Donning his outer robe, Lu Wei flew out, wielding the Devouring Sea Sword. Following the trail of murderous intent, he arrived at a dense grove of trees, where the mastermind of the murderous intent stopped and confronted him.

Upon seeing the other party's attire, Hall Master Lu narrowed his eyes slightly: the newcomer was wearing a layer of armor belonging to the Wang family's Hundred Battles Armored Soldiers, but the dark red sword he had drawn clearly revealed his identity.

A net, shrouding the sun!

"I have never killed a top-ranking member of the Luo Wang (Net of Heaven)."

As the Devouring Sea Sword was drawn, Lu Wei's sword intent was like a giant beast lurking in the deep sea, bursting out of the water like a raging torrent.

He was supposed to become the Old Man of the Mind who cut off water, but he hadn't joined the Net when he killed him. The Soul-Turning Sisters were only seriously injured by him. It was indeed not easy to kill a Heavenly-Rank One.

Most importantly, in recent years, Luo Wang has basically not taken the initiative to provoke Master Lu. Although they have never given up on their plans for the Farmer's Clan, they have almost always intentionally or unintentionally avoided Gonggong Hall.

Now, however, someone has suddenly come knocking on our door. This is unusual and deserves our deep consideration.

"If you wanted to kill me, you wouldn't have bothered with this."

Yan Ri's voice was weathered and sounded like that of an elderly man, but voices can be faked. The more aged the voice sounded, the more likely the person was actually a delicate young girl.

"I have come here to discuss cooperation with Hall Master Lu."

At this point, Yan Ri, who was hiding his identity, actually sheathed his sword in front of Lu Wei.

If the sect leader were to attack with his sword at this moment, he would surely gain the upper hand!

"Judging solely from the current relationship between Luo Wang and the farmers, there's probably nothing to discuss regarding this cooperation."

His tone left no room for negotiation, but the leeway he showed in his actions made Lu Wei's attitude seem more genuine.

The opponent has been locked onto, and this is still Gonggongtang's territory. In any case, Yanri will not be able to escape.

Allowing the other party to express their opinion freely will naturally yield different information, making it easier to focus the interrogation on a specific direction once they are apprehended.

“Oh, what if I were to say: Tian Guang is in our hands?” Yan Ri chuckled wickedly: “I suppose Hall Master Lu wouldn’t be indifferent to his safety.”

"You arrested him, so you should try to get him to talk. You're not qualified to use that to negotiate with me!"

Lu Wei answered without hesitation, while the tip of his Devouring Sea Sword pointed directly at the Sun-Covering Mountain: "Compared to a mere peasant hero, I am actually more curious about your identity."

"No wonder he became the head of the Gonggong Hall at such a young age. He is indeed a cold-blooded and ruthless fellow."

Yan Ri paused for a moment, but quickly recovered and said, "In that case, it will be easier for us to reach an agreement on cooperation."

"You haven't experienced the methods of the Luo Wang (Net of Heaven), but the Luo Wang has already succeeded in prying open Tian Guang's mouth!"

"And that's why I came to find you... You agree, right, the new leader of the Farmer's Clan?"

Yan Ri knows more than Lu Wei imagined. If that's the case, the other party has probably prepared a foolproof escape plan...

After secretly surveying the surroundings again and finding no trace of other Luo Wang assassins, Hall Master Lu pondered in his mind what combo he should use to kill Yan Ri in front of him as quickly as possible.

Yan Ri seemed to have noticed this as well, and took a step back. This single step proved that he had never let his guard down against Lu Wei, thus reducing the possibility of Lu Wei suddenly attacking to zero...

"What a useless piece of trash!" The hall master said expressionlessly, then said indifferently, "Now that you've already pried open Tian Guang's mouth, why bother cooperating with me?"

So far, Yan Ri has not said a single truth, including about the cooperation.

The reason is simple: Tian Guang is a chivalrous leader among farmers.

If he were truly completely controlled by the Luo Wang organization and joined it, then as long as he stood up as the leader of the Xia Kui, he would naturally be able to control the entire Nongjia.

Even though Tian Guang has nominally handed over the Shennong Token and passed the position of Xia Kui to Lu Wei, it is obvious who the Five Halls will listen to.

Even some of the elders in Gonggong Hall will probably side with Tian Guang, and the six elders in the Six Sages' Tomb will obviously trust Tian Guang more.

So, since Tian Guang wasn't completely controlled by the Luo Wang, it's quite interesting how Yan Ri learned certain secrets.

Lu Wei's imagination has always been boundless. After ruling out certain absolutely impossible possibilities, he immediately deduced another possibility.

However, this possibility requires a lot of evidence to verify, and it should not be concluded lightly.

“Tian Guang is old, and because of his injuries and the ‘methods’ prepared for him by our Luo Wang, his power has been completely dissipated and he is now useless. Such a person is not qualified to continue to lead the Farmer’s Clan.”

Yan Ri seemed to have sensed something as well, and tried to patch up Tian Guang's situation: "Just as Hall Master Lu said, he's just a 'useless' person right now, and the Luo Wang never cooperates with useless people."

“Only true strong individuals can be our partners, and Hall Master Lu is clearly such a strong individual.”

What is the reason for this?

The face of the person covered by the sun was obscured by a tiger-like silver mask, making it impossible to see their expression. There was even a special layer covering their eyes. To judge whether someone dressed like this was speaking truthfully or falsely, one could only rely on a mysterious intuition, aside from their tone of voice and the logic of their words.

"If this reason isn't enough to sway me, can you come up with any other excuse?"

As Lu Wei stared intently at the uttered sentence, the atmosphere in the woods instantly turned ominous. With a gust of night wind, and as the air current swept past the Devouring Sea Sword, Hall Master Lu's figure vanished abruptly.

Almost simultaneously, Yan Ri drew his sword again, but was ultimately a step too slow, only managing to use the half-drawn sword, along with its scabbard, to obliquely block his chest.

With a clang, the sound and the force came at the same time. Yan Ri skillfully used the force to fly backward and used the distance created to draw his sword. He unleashed a blood-red sword aura, trying to block Lu, who was pursuing him.

This calm and collected response proved that Yan Ri was an extremely experienced veteran. However, his strength seemed somewhat weak, falling short of the murderous intent he had lured Lu Wei out.

Faced with the incoming sword energy, Lu Wei neither dodged nor evaded. He extended his Devouring Sea Sword and swallowed the sword energy directly, with the tip of the sword aimed straight at Yan Ri's neck.

Yan Ri had no choice but to tilt her head back to avoid the attack. Although she was not injured, her mask was knocked off by Lu Weishang.

His face was ashen, almost deathly pale.

It felt unfamiliar, which was to be expected, because the expressionless face was just another crudely made human skin mask.

The more superfluous the additional mask beneath the mask, the more it reveals the special nature of Yanri's identity.

But by this point, Lu Wei had already guessed some of the information!

With a knowing smile, he slung his sword behind his back and watched as Yan Ri widened the distance once again. Instead of launching another attack, the Hall Master changed his approach:

What do you want to collaborate on with me?

Yan Ri, understanding the unspoken message, pointed southwest: "In the State of Chu, a grand gathering is about to take place... From the courts of various states to the Hundred Schools of Thought, all will clash over the fate of this nation."

"The farmers should send someone of high rank and good character to participate; perhaps they will gain some benefits."

Having said that, Yan Ri quickly retreated, his figure disappearing into the dark forest.

Lu Wei did not pursue, but lingered there, lost in thought.

This isn't a true sun eclipse, but you could call it a second sun eclipse!

------

In the State of Chu, Gao and Zhi, who had gone to the peasant village to negotiate without success, returned to Shouchun.

After reporting the situation to the leader, the leader simply told them to rest well and then left the stronghold alone.

As expected, the Grand Master is going to visit General Xiang Yan of Chu.

"It seems that the Grand Master and the Xiang Clan have known each other for many years?" Gao Jianli asked curiously in a deep voice.

"Perhaps," Dao Zhi leaned against the table, seemingly half-asleep and nonchalant, and replied, "The trust of the Xiang clan is not so easy to gain. Perhaps the Grand Master was ordered by the previous Grand Master to communicate with General Xiang Yan."

"But this is a good thing. The anti-Qin forces have now reached the final stage. If we don't treat each other honestly, we'll be wiped out by that guy Ying Zheng."

"Hopefully the plan will succeed..."

...

The news that the farmers couldn't take action left Xiang Yan silent for a long time before she finally spoke up in distress: "Martial arts practitioners are ultimately just martial arts practitioners; the more people there are, the more chaotic things become."

"Does the King of Yan believe that if he relies solely on the Mohists, he can raise the call for a people's uprising in the Yan and Zhao regions after the Chu state has decisively defeated the Qin army?"

“I’m afraid it will be difficult!” Yan Dan shook his head: “Although the Mohists are revered by the world, this reason alone is not enough to make the people take up arms to fight against the Qin people.”

Unless Yan Dan is resurrected and steps forward in the name of the King of Yan, he can only influence half of the Yan Kingdom, which is far from enough to command widespread support. He might even face a preemptive strike from the other half of Yan...

Feigning death can only be used once.

After carefully considering all the information, Yan Dan was deeply shaken and hesitant: if she retreated now and preserved her strength, there might be other opportunities in the future.

If we gamble everything here and fail, we'll lose everything.

The Qin army that Lord Changping and Xiang Yan had calculated was only 200,000... that's too few. Even if Chu wins this battle, it can't be said that Qin has been defeated.

The Qin army still had the strength to launch another attack on Chu the following year, just as Wang Jian had requested.

Unless the Chu army can defeat the Qin army a second time, the newly restored Yan state will soon face its second demise.

At that time, he, the Mechanical City, and the Mohist School will all be unable to remain.