Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Si Jing asked, “What’s the good opportunity?”
A Heng spoke with a delight, “Monarch, do you know why the king does not return after he overcame the Eastern Barbarians?”
“It is probably to cower the people in Eastern Barbarians.” Si Jing spoke slowly. She had her views on military-related matters. It was just that that was not what she pursued.
A Heng said, “Monarch, you’re right. The tribes of Eastern Barbarians have always had a close relationship with the Xia Kingdom. This time, as the coalition was defeated, they are naturally in fear. If not because of your teacher, Emperor Xia’s authority is deep in the hearts of the people of Eastern Barbarians. He will only need to send the generals over to comfort the people. However, after the previous incident, Emperor Xia can only stop for a while and marry Youshi’s daughter to comfort the tribes of Eastern Barbarians. As such, Youshi’s will not be eliminated and that as other tribes saw Youshi’s fate, they will give up trying to fight to the death. However, ultimately the relationship between Emperor Xia and the tribes of Eastern Barbarians is already far and apart. I suppose Emperor Xia will extract the top talent of every tribe in Eastern Barbarians and form an army to achieve peace.”
Si Jing was rather indifferent, “So what?”
A Heng smiled, “If I say that Emperor Xia wants to form an Eastern Barbarians army and that you’re his favored general, will you believe me?”
Si Jing’s brows furrowed, “I will not accept and the Xia Kingdom does not lack any experienced general.”
“If Emperor Xia is going to form an Eastern Barbarians army, he will not make the tribes of Eastern Barbarians happy, as ultimately he is extracting all their top talents. If he assigns an experienced general, these tribes will be afraid that their people will be under the control of the Xia Kingdom entirely. They will further resist it. If it is you, monarch, they will only think that you’re still too young and inexperienced and they will think that Emperor Xia is still so full of themselves. Anyone who has ambition within the tribes of Eastern Barbarians will assume they have the chance to take control of the Eastern Barbarians army and achieve great success. This will be how it goes.” A Heng told the story slowly as if he believed firmly that was what Emperor Xia was going to do.
Si Jing did not change her expression. She stared at A Heng and spoke softly, “I believe whatever you said but if you think my uncle is brilliant, why don’t you work for him?”
A Heng carried a serious expression, “Because the demise of the Xia Kingdom is indeed the true heavenly fate. Monarch, you should understand how the Xia Clan strips off other countries and has an unresolved conflict with the Qi cultivators. Ultimately cultivation doesn’t just rely on talent and understanding but also resources. If the Xia Clan has more, the Qi cultivators will have less. Furthermore, Xia Clan’s usage of the spiritual beings is considered wasteful. Compared to when the Xia Kingdom was first formed to now, even though there is still little addition to the Xia Clan, it still has increased. The resources spent are tremendous but because of Emperor Xia’s power and the contribution from ten thousand countries, it is sustained. This is, however, a very painful burden for every clan out there.”
Si Jing could not deny the truth behind A Heng’s statement. As a part of Xia Clan, she too obtained the cultivation method of Qi cultivators. She felt first hand the difference between the two cultivation methods. Xia Clan focused on the art of strength training and hence required a lot of spiritual beings between the heaven and earth. While the Qi cultivators too needed divine objects, once the mana was formed and that one was able to breathe in and out the Qi of vitality of heaven and earth, the demand for the spiritual beings was much less than Xia Clan.
“Everything fades away in the face of development and improve in the face of decline. Once upon a time, even if the people did not cultivate, for them to die would take three hundred plus years. However as the Qi of vitality today is not as great as before, the lifespan of human has to decrease. This is the decline of the people in this era. In terms of the description to the profoundness of cultivation, the current state is much better than the past and hence, resulting in more land immortals than the past. Monarch, not only do you possess the bloodline of Emperor Xia, you too study under Qi cultivators which can be considered as the two biggest sects in the netherworld. If you have any success, surely a lot of people will be willing to be of use to you. If you can change the world, till then there will be much less killing and blood spill, it is a great merit. What is difficult for you to achieve the state of Taiyi or Mahasattva?” A Heng smiled.
Si Jing was surprised, “But my uncle and Tianyi are both the top in the world. Like you said, even if I have great summoning power, I am still behind them in terms of cultivation. How can I rise to the top? I will take Yunyang as an example.”
A Heng smiled, “Forgive me for the following claim, in terms of fighting and killing, even A Heng has a way against Emperor Xia and Tianyi without suffering a defeat.”
Si Jing was indifferent, “A Heng, I know you have your oddities but to say that you’re comparable to my uncle and Tianyi in fighting and killing, I don’t think it is possible.”
“Monarch, do you forget that other than the celestial method, there is still the witchcraft. I will call myself number one in witchcraft, not even the famous Wu Peng is better than me.” After A Heng finished speaking, he looked at Si Jing quietly.
Si Jing kept quiet for a while, then said, “I will let you handle everything of Youshen. Don’t say what you said today to me again.”
A Heng sighed in his heart. He was not lying and for the country to be run peacefully was his cultivation path. Lei Jing was his number one choice even though she had not formed her own forces but she had an advantage because of her status, alongside with Youhu behind her. In addition, Lei Nuo was the Prefect Grand Usher for many years and that he understood the netherworld better than anyone in the Xia Kingdom, these were all advantages to her as long as Lei Jing was willing to let him run the strategy. With his help, Youshen would surely become one of the biggest power within the netherworld.
During the rise of Youshen, with Lei Jing being the monarch and with the Xuan technique, she would surely benefit. Till then achieving the state of heavenly immortals was not something unthinkable. If she could change the world, she could be considered as the female Si Wenming.
Unfortunately, he could tell Lei Jing was not too interested in it. In that case, he would have to look for the second alternative, Tianyi, and follow the heavenly fate.
The only thing was Tianyi had already formed his forces for many years, along with Wen Zhong’s aid, it would be tough for him to be in the center of Yin Shang unless he achieved something.
If not because of that consideration, Tianyi was considered to be A Heng’s number one leader.
Ahead of them was a big river which was flowing. The waves were splashing and the water was clear. Lei Jing’s eyes fell on the water as she enjoyed the scenery.
A Heng too stared at the water as he thought about a lot of things. After a while, someone patted on his shoulder and asked, “Why do you look like you’ve lost your soul when you see the water?”
A Heng smiled bitterly, “Monarch, in reality, this is where I was born.”
Si Jing was surprised, “No one knew where you were from but you were actually from Yi river. Where’s your mother?”
“Every mountain and river has a god, there is the mountain god and also the river god. My mother was Yi river’s celestial and hence, I know a lot of things. She disappeared when I was seven and later I moved to Diqiu. As I am not from Xia Clan, I become a servant.” A Heng sighed.
Si Jing smiled and did not ask for the details. She knew that A Heng carried a lot of secrets which was the reason why she did not want to accept his strategy. Youshen was a good place which would allow her to be far away from Diqiu. She decided to spend a long time at a quiet place in her nominated country and not be bothered with any troubles. If she could achieve immortality, she would be able to achieve her wish. She said, “Let’s get off the cart and look at how beautiful the scenery is at Youshen.”
A Heng said, “Then I will introduce to you the great parts of the place.”
They were walking slowly by the Yi river, in addition to A Heng’s story-telling which was extremely enchanting, even the servants and guards were into it. Si Jing too listened closely. His storytelling style was like her teacher.
Unknowingly, it was sunset, the river was reflected red and that the waves were like red flowers. Ahead of the river, there was a bush of reeds which were too shone red.
All in a sudden, everything including the river, the sunset, the reeds disappeared. She could only see the fishing man.
Si Jing saw the fishing man, A Heng saw him too.
He was wearing an aqua blue Daoist robe, where the two sleeves were embroidered with the eight trigrams. His long hair was let down and the face underneath it was pale and clear. The pair of eyes were as dark as the night that had no stars or moon.
A Heng had never seen such a gorgeous and mysterious gaze. He could not move his eyes away just by one sight. He was different from others the moment he was born. He knew what he was chasing after and it was to discover the most mysterious secret of the universe. It was not something unique to him as there were a lot of others who were doing it.
He too would claim that he was ahead than most in this path but at that moment, he hesitated because, in the eyes of the man on the other side, it was revealing an essence of the eternity. It was the eternal Dao rhythm that even if the sun, the moon, and the stars were to fade away, he would not. The state of heavenly immortals or the state of Taiyi were nothing in the face of such Dao rhythm.
It was just like the Great Way was all hidden within his eyes as they revealed indefeasible power which could make anyone feel defeated under his gaze.
A Heng ultimately was different from most. He kicked a rock which then followed the path of the Xuan philosophy as it hovered on the surface of the water, breaking the silence and making it rain with the splash.
The fishing man naturally picked up his fishing rod and the black fishing lines suddenly extended and pierced through the rock like it was nothing. It shot towards Si Jing mercilessly.
It was not a technique that was difficult to counter but A Heng realized that there was no longer Qi of vitality in the space. Any application of supernatural powers would be discounted. This revealed that the fishing man had planned ahead for this.
The supernatural power required to overcome this restriction, to him, was as easy as peanuts. However, A Heng did not do anything because Si Jing said, “Don’t move.”
Si Jing lifted her wrist and all in a sudden the splashing water gathered and transformed into a huge net. Ignoring the black fishing lines ahead, it went straight towards the fishing man.
There appeared a windshield in front of her which was formed by green gas. The black fishing lines were shredded to pieces by the windshield.
