In his actualised dream world, a golden fruit was floating in mid-air, and it was covered in the glow from the countless runes on it.
"This... doesn"t seem like a spiritual fruit!"
Fang Yuan thought to himself.
The white flower could only be considered as "half spiritual". Leveraging on the way plants grow, it mimicked it to enter the world.
The most direct way to prove this theory was the fact that his own botany skill did not improve.
"Based on common sense, a spiritual plant which was able to attract the heaven"s attention should be enough for me to achieve a breakthrough in my Botany, right? But now, it seems like there are no changes..."
Fang Yuan looked at his own stats window. "The only explanation is that the stats window does not consider it to be a spiritual plant?"
Fang Yuan examined the golden fruit closely.
It was concentrated with runes on its surface like stars in the night sky. The runes were arranged in a specific manner, but it was unknown as to what message it was trying to convey.
Furthermore, just by looking at it would make his eyes dazzle.
"It"s alright. I"ll look up on information on it when I return to Da Qian. From there, I might get some information..."
Fang Yuan looked up to the skies which were clearing up and turned around to leave. "Our three months are up. Since he had asked me for help here, I will have to return to meet up with Feng Xinzi to hear about his plan..."
After living in seclusion for two months before returning to civilization, Fang Yuan realised that Lie Country had ended up in a turmoil.
Fires were burning everywhere and there were fights among the soldiers. Even the peaceful lake was pushed into unrest as the dwellers made preparations to leave anytime.
"What happened?"
As he arrived at a city, he took out his knife-shaped coins and randomly asked a person on the streets who appeared educated.
"Oh..."
The scholar was around his 40s and had a goatee. He was wearing a pale green robe and it seemed like he was drinking to drown his sorrows. With a long sigh, he replied. "The country is unfortunate with a series of disasters... Two months ago, the Golden Dragon G.o.d was killed and there was unrest at the Golden Dragon Lake. The Lie Country continued to pressure and the two brothers of the king of Lie Country, Lord Chunhe and Lord Huixing gathered their troops to rebel. There were rumours that they had obtained the dragon"s realm energy and took over ten cities, killing the imperial soldiers and are now starting to take over the capital!"
"Such a thing could happen?"
With The Qin Yi"s memories, Fang Yuan was rather familiar with the happenings in Lie Country.
The lords here had their own pieces of land and their own private army. However, if they were not of the royal family, they would not be approved of power and status.
Lord Chunhe and Lord Huixing were strong contenders with influence and troops under them. With a sense of justice, they could cause trouble for the country if they led the rebellion.
"This feels weird..."
Fang Yuan took out a string of coins and chased the scholar away. There was a look of suspicion on his face. "Although both of them will benefit in the short term, the people under them would lose their homes and would hate them. Could they be frenzied? Wait a moment..."
There was a glow in his eyes. "Could it be that... Feng Xinzi and Yu Tianlao were behind all these? That"s right. With this explanation, everything would make sense! His big plan would be to..."
At this point in time, Fang Yuan"s eyes glittered. He quickly rushed towards Lie Country"s capital.
The capital of Lie Country laid on a piece of flatland. The city walls were tall and surrounding the city was endless plots of farms.
But now, there were fires everywhere and smoke filled the air. There was a campsite set up just outside the city walls and the soldiers were sleeping with their weapons. War could happen anytime.
Not just that, in the daytime, soldiers would go out and harvest from the farms. It was evident that they wanted to cut off their food supply and had the intention to trap them for a long period of time.
On the city walls, as the king of Lie Country looked across, he was a little dizzy. "Why did this happen! Oh, why did this happen?"
He was in his 40s and his face was a healthy red. His skin was smooth and appeared young. He had considerable experience in politics but had not fought a war before. Therefore, he was lost at what to do facing such a situation, which put him at a disadvantage.
As the king of Lie Country, he had the protection of the dragon"s realm energy, the a.s.sistance from his zodiac and strength from s.h.i.+nto. However, he still did not dare to retaliate. As for the threats from martial artists, he had his personal guards to take care of them.
However, what would be the use if he was the last one standing and the whole country was destroyed?
"Have you investigated?"
After a long sigh, the king of Lie Country gritted his teeth with a face of determination. Why are my two brothers rebelling?"
"Reporting!"
An official in black took a bow. He was in charge of reporting information. "Based on information from our spies, the Lords are being controlled by demons!"
"Demons?"
The king frowned.
"Since a long time ago, they were not reliant on the king, which meant that they would not have the a.s.sistance from the realm energies! However, the two demons both of mysterious spells which are able to hypnotise both Lords, by are able to strengthen them too, which ultimately resulted in the unrest today!"
The official in black lowered his head and kowtowed, and his forehead started to bleed. "I have not done my job, I deserve to die!"
"I am being blessed by the heavens! With the protection of the country"s realm energy, how could demons possibly create unrest?"
With this news, the king was relieved. "Regardless of anything that might happen, my capital is heavily guarded. As long as we can defend until the few masters arrive, by then, they would be able to destroy the demons!"
"Wise words, king!"
Hundreds of officials echoed at the same time.
He had no choice but to go with this plan. Although it should not be considered a plan, it was nonetheless effective.
Most importantly, no one could shoulder the responsibility of losing a war within the city. Even so, since it was something that everyone supported, even though cowardly, everyone would still rejoice over it.
Witnessing this scene, the king of Lie Country could guess what his subordinates were thinking, and his eyes became blurry.
Outside the city, on a plateau.
"Brother Feng Xinzi, Sister Yu Tianlao, we meet again!"
Fang Yuan, Venerable Fiery Dragon and Deity Clear Lotus arrived here and indeed, they managed to meet Feng Xinzi and Yu Tianlao.
"It has only been a few days and you could do such a big thing! I was surprised!"
Deity Clear Lotus bit her lips and smiled. With the appearance of a brute man, everyone had gooseb.u.mps.
"Cough cough..."
Feng Xinzi twitched his face and looked towards Fang Yuan and Venerable Fiery Dragon. "What do you think about my army?"
"A messy bunch!"
Fang Yuan looked towards the campsite and shook his head. "The king of Lie Country didn"t get his throne through the correct means. With his two brothers coming together to rebel against him, they could have the same power as compared to the power of Lie Country. With the split amongst the generals, they could only rob the commoners and attack the city, losing the heart to defend the country. Even though they might benefit in the short run, they would fall in the long term..."
"You"re good! Good!"
Feng Xinzi clapped his hands and laughed. "I never knew that you would be familiar with the happenings in the world. I"ve underestimated you..."
"Isn"t it more effective to wipe out the officials who are helping the king?"
Fang Yuan frowned. "When the masters arrive, the split generals would be easily defeated. What are your purposes in doing this?"
"Hehe... our purpose? Have you not guessed it yet?"
Yu Tianlao chuckled. "Why didn"t the three of you inform me of the good deed that you guys were doing at Golden Dragon Lake? Don"t you want to share the rewards with me? Hmmm?"
"Keke..."
Venerable Fiery Dragon exchanged glances with Deity Clear Lotus and appeared embarra.s.sed. "How could the realm energy at Golden Dragon Lake compare with the realm energy of the country? I"m sure that the two of you have gained something by training the Lords and their soldiers, right?"
"Of course we"ve gained. However, we"ve placed them in Chunhe and Huixing. Otherwise, how would these two id*ots survive until now?"
Feng Xinzi"s eyes glittered. "Our big plan is to take the country"s realm energy!"
"Indeed!"
Fang Yuan nodded his head silently in his mind.
Although the Golden Dragon Lake was only 800-mile radius wide, there was already such a concentrated realm energy in for the Golden Dragon G.o.d to have such power. However, it was still under the control of the country, which made it obvious as to how powerful the country"s realm energy was.
He was not shocked that this was the thing which attracted Feng Xinzi.
"It"s a perfect opportunity to strike when the king is at lost!"
Deity Clear Lotus lowered her head and was confused. "I"m sure we all know that the two Lords are useless and cannot complete their task... If the masters to gather, then it is a matter of them that their death would be imminent!"
"Therefore, it is up to us!"
Feng Xinzi looked at the capital of Lie Country with a burning look in his eyes. "Combining the power of five dream masters in the Illusionary Divine Stage, I"m sure we can break through a city gate!"
"Phew..."
Venerable Fiery Dragon took in a cold breath. "We can surely break through the city wall! But have you thought about the consequences? With the protection from the heavens, we are revealing ourselves to disasters from the heavens if we come out and take things into our own hands! We would then be plagued with endless troubles!"
"No risk, no rewards!"
Yu Tianlao glanced at Venerable Fiery Dragon. "Even with 20% of the country"s realm energy, we can surely achieve a breakthrough in our own cultivation! Furthermore... Feng Xinzi had already prepared an array to cover us from the disasters in preparation for this trip... Didn"t the few of you see it while we were dream-traversing?"
"If you think that is not enough, I have a secret technique with me to harness the realm energy and conceal our spiritual auras!"
Yu Tianlao looked at Fang Yuan and company before laughing. "Didn"t the three of you get the realm energy from Golden Dragon Lake? Take it out now and after everything is done, you guys will get your fair share!"
"This..."
Venerable Fiery Dragon exchanged glances with Deity Clear Lotus and both of them were hesitating.
Although the realm energy from the Golden Dragon Lake was valuable, they would surely agree if they could exchange it for the country"s realm energy.
Although there were risks involved, they still had a chance of success.
After all, Feng Xinzi had already planned for quite a while and was confident of success.
"If the both of you are willing to give us our fair share of the country"s realm energy, both of us would be willing to give our realm energy up."
Deity Clear Lotus nodded her head.
"What about you, Brother Fang?"
Feng Xinzi looked at Fang Yuan with a look of antic.i.p.ation.
"This..."
Fang Yuan scratched his head and replied with embarra.s.sment. "I have already used up all my realm energy..."