This chapter has been brought to you by me, and WanderingGummiOfDoom.
Chapter Eight Hundred and Seventeen – Zhong De"s Mad idea
Soon, all kinds of news about the yao spread in the xiuzhe world.
Ming Yue Ye was described as the strongest woman in yao history. Her actions won her countless praises, and she was thought of as the only hope of the yao prospering again.
The power struggle among the yao immediately became the topic that the people in the xiuzhe world discussed over tea. However, for sects like Kun Lun, what they saw was not just limited to this.
Kun Lun had actually received related intelligence long ago.
Yet the information they had received before had not been so detailed. At the start, they had thought that this was just a normal power struggle. But as more detailed information appeared, their wariness of Ming Yue Ye quickly increased.
If Ming Yue Ye could truly succeed … ..
Then the yao would become even stronger, and would be a great threat to Kun Lun!
Once Kun Lun realized this, they could not sit still. As the strongest in the world, Kun Lun had always thought of the world as their future territory. The yao ruled by Ming Yue Ye was not something that was beneficial for Kun Lun.
The abilities that Ming Yue Ye showed caused Kun Lun to believe that if the yao really came under her leaders.h.i.+p, the would quickly transform to become a rival top faction. The present yao, in Kun Lun"s eyes, was only a paper tiger. Their threat was smaller than Mo Cloud Sea. This could be seen from the battalions stationed at the borders. The battalions stationed at the border of the yao were not elite.
But the yao had such a strong foundation. It had always maintained its method of rule though the Council of Elders and never had significant infighting. The acc.u.mulation and foundations built over thousands of years was astounding. They were not strong now because the higher ranks lacked ambition. Once someone like Ming Yue Ye took power, then the power the yao would display would be terrifying.
At that time, the threat that Kun Lun needed to face would increase drastically.
They could not sit and watch such a thing occur!
While the higher ups in Kun Lun concluded this, the information had come so suddenly there definitely had been people manipulation this from the shadows. But even though they knew someone else was behind this, Kun Lun had to respond. Of all the factions, the one with the most territory bordering the yao was Kun Lun.
This was an open conspiracy.
But Kun Lun"s hand was forced.
Small group of Kun Lun"s elite started to move towards the yao. At the same time, the secret envoy to meet up with the chief elder also moved.
Kun Lun decided to give Chief Elder their support.
A divided yao Council that was fighting among themselves was one that Kun Lun was happy to see.
———
Zuo Mo threw this problem to one side. For him, the state of the world was something for an overlord like Kun Lun to think about. The urgent problem was to face Tian Huan"s attacks.
They disguised themselves, travelling day and night, and finally arrived at Xi Xuan.
On the way, Zuo Mo had sent a message to Zhong De. Zuo Mo finally sighed in relief when he saw Zhong De with his own eyes. Before he reached the other, the enemies still had a chance.
Now, unless all of the top experts of Kun Lun came, they had no chance to a.s.sa.s.sinate Zhong De in front of him.
When Zhong De saw Zuo Mo, he was not surprised. His expression was calm. "I thought that you would arrive soon."
Zuo Mo was shocked but immediately recovered his calm. "Why has Mister Zhong refused Tian Huan?"
Zhong De did not respond. He suddenly said gravely. "Other than s.h.i.+ Pei, everyone else out."
No one in the military council made a sound. They all silently left with solemn expressions. Only a youth next to Zhong De did not move. Zuo Mo knew that this person must be the s.h.i.+ Pei that Zhong De mentioned. It seemed that this was the second-in-command of the Abyss Jail Battalion.
Zuo Mo couldn"t resist but examine s.h.i.+ Pei.
s.h.i.+ Pei was not very old, about twenty eight or so. He was tall, had cold features, and his face was covered in criss-crossing scars. It could be seen that his original appearance had been very handsome. He stood expressionlessly behind Zhong De like a statue. From beginning to end, he did not move.
Seeing everyone else leave, Zhong De finally spoke. But when he did, Zuo Mo was given a fright.
"Xi Xian is already beyond cure." Zhong De seemed to be describing something he was not concerned about. His expression did not change at all. "Even with ten more years, Xi Xuan cannot be saved."
Zuo Mo hadn"t thought that Zhong De had such a depressing outlook on Xi Xuan. He was puzzled. "While Xi Xuan has many problems, they have the foundation, with time, there may be a chance."
"No chance." Zhong De shook his head. "Xi Xuan is rotten to the core. They have been ruined for decades, there is no cure. They had stopped training young talents for a long time. I searched all of Xi Xuan and there is none that can be used! To catch up on a few decades is not so simple. If this was a time of peace, and there are no outside threats, ten years, twenty years, then maybe there would be a chance."
"Didn"t Tian Huan promise ten years?" Zuo Mo asked curiously. Zhong De"s thoughts were actually not very different from what Zuo Mo and the others thought. The training of the younger disciples could not be completed in one or two years. Without ten to twenty years, there was no real effect to be seen. Xi Xuan"s lack of talent was caused because it had not placed importance on training young disciples for the past few decades.
A cold sneer appeared on Zhong De"s scar-covered face. "Would Tian Huan sincerely want Xi Xuan to grow strong? In their eyes, Xi Xuan is just a great cannon fodder. They will think of all the ways they can for Xi Xuan to be first to use up Kun Lun"s strength. Then they will benefit from standing by the side. The present Tian Huan is much stronger than Xi Xuan. Once you are eliminated, Tian Huan will be even stronger. Under Tian Huan"s control, Xi Xian doesn"t have a chance of fighting back."
Zuo Mo was not persuaded because the present Xi Xuan did not have a chance. In comparison, allying with Tian Huan was more beneficial for Xi Xuan. He didn"t believe that Zhong De did not see this.
But why had Zhong De said so much?
Zhong De seemed to know that these words could not persuade Zuo Mo. His eyes were half-lidded as he said lightly, "I plan to give Xi Xuan to Gu Liang Dao."
Zuo Mo shook in surprise and then understood!
So this was why!
All of his confusion was resolved. When he knew had learned that Zhong De only had three years to live, Zuo Mo and the others had speculated who Zhong De would choose as the successor.
The most likely was the present sect leader of Xi Xuan. The present sect leader of Xi Xuan wasn"t just the legitimate choice, he had also been the one to invite Zhong De to come back into the world. Once Zhong De pa.s.sed away, if there were no accidents, he would undoubtedly take power again.
Zuo Mo had once thought that Zhong De would try to find Gu Liang Dao and he had tried to connect the two. However, Gu Liang Dao seemed to have completely given up on Xi Xuan.
He hadn"t thought, that even in this situation, Zhong De still planned to give Xi Xuan to Gu Liang Dao!
Was Zhong De so disappointed with the sect leader of Xi Xuan?
The biggest obstacle to Gu Liang Dao taking Xi Xuan was the Xi Xuan"s traditional faction led by the sect leader. When Zhong De had first came back, he had once made a great cleansing of Xi Xuan"s ranks. At that time, blood had flowed in rivers. Under the knife, the Xi Xuan"s traditional faction had suffered great losses and had to bow their heads. They had leaned towards siding with Zhong De, but Zhong De had ignored them so they had sided with the sect leader of Xi Xuan.
Only the sect leader speaking up had prevented their deaths.
He hadn"t thought that Zhong De"s butcher knife was only delayed and waiting here. Zuo Mo knew that once Zhong De decided to give Xi Xuan to Gu Liang Dao, he would definitely get rid of all obstacles for Gu Liang Dao.
This time, Zhong De would probably remove the sect leader of Xi Xuan as well.
"Big Brother Gu agreed?" Zuo Mo suppressed his shock and asked. In his view, Big Brother Gu had his own thoughts, and would not be easily persuaded.
"No." Zhong De was still expressionless. "But he will agree."
Zuo Mo didn"t believe it but he saw that Zhong De was very certain as though he had a way to make Gu Liang Dao agree.
Zuo Mo still didn"t quite understand why Zhong De would choose Gu Liang Dao. What he needed to consider now was what changes would occur if Xi Xuan was given to Gu Liang Dao.
"Open the jie map," Zhong De suddenly said to s.h.i.+ Pei.
s.h.i.+ Pei expressionlessly opened the jie map of Xi Xuan. On the map, a red line separated Xi Xuan in two.
"I plan to give this part to you." Zhong De"s words were astounding.
Zuo Mo wasn"t just stunned but completely speechless. Was something wrong with this guy"s head? This area was almost one third of Xi Xuan, and contained some important jie.
But after the initial shock, Zuo Mo looked closely. Zhong De might be mad, but he was a person who was very goal-oriented. He seemed mad but he definitely had his own goals.
Eliminating stray thoughts, Zuo Mo saw some things.
This area was not small, but they were all areas bordering Tian Huan. Once Zuo Mo took these jie, than Xi Xuan would not be threatened by Tian Huan at all. Their only worry was their border with Kun Lun. But after close inspection, Zuo Mo had to sigh at Zhong De"s skill. There was a natural defensive jie at the connection to Kun Lun. If there was an elite battalion stationed there, they could block Kun Lun with little risk.
After cutting off their flesh, Xi Xuan would be rid of a great burden. The area they had to defend would shrink greatly, and their resources could be concentrated. And if it really was Gu Liang Dao that took power, Zuo Mo believed that Kun Lun would not be able to break through Gu Liang Dao"s defense.
This way, Xi Xuan"s torn up defense line would immediately become impenetrable, and their pressure would decrease greatly.
Zhong De was terrifying!
Standing in front of the jie map, Zuo Mo was motionless and deep in thought.
Zhong De closed his eyes in silence.
He had to admit that the lure that Zhong De threw out was too tempting! The present Mo Cloud Sea was only one hundred and thirteen ie, and the area that Zhong De had drawn out was three times bigger than Mo Cloud Sea!
If they could get this area, then the problem of Mo Cloud Sea"s supply of materials could almost be all resolved by themselves. This vast area contained rich ore mines. If they were developed properly, Mo Cloud Sea"s strength would expand.
The small size of their territory had become the bottleneck stopping Mo Cloud Sea from going a step further.
In these past six years, Mo Cloud Sea had secretly trained middle-management talent for their expansion strategy. Due to this, there were no problems in terms of manpower. Mo Cloud Sea had the ability to take these jie in a short time.
But after swallowing this fat piece of meat, the drawbacks were also very clear. Once they took over this area, the long border would increase the pressure on Mo Cloud Sea. Right now, Mo Cloud Sea was a hedgehog with almost no weakness. Any person that attacked would leave bloodied.
This meant that Mo Cloud Sea only needed to maintain a few elite battalions and not enormous numbers of normal battalions.
Such a long border, and it was Tian Huan. This meant that they needed to station large numbers of battalions to deal with the threat of Tian Huan!
Zuo Mo"s expression s.h.i.+fted and wavered.
Translator Ramblings: Either the present sect leader of Xi Xuan or his father would have been the person who ganged up with the other sects to exterminate the Zuo Family. I can"t imagine Kun Lun and Tian Huan coming in to Xi Xuan without Xi Xuan finding out.