Lord Bei Huai sighed softly and said, “Now, a small part of our strength has been sealed, and some of Zhang Hanyang’s subordinates are going to participate in the competition. The winner can have the great mine. Since he dares to turn this into a competition, it means that he believes his subordinates can win. Likewise, I also believe in my subordinates. As members of Lord Qing Zhou’s faction, you now want for a leader. Given the current situation, except for the Black White Palace, all the other places in the King’s Domain will turn into battlefields. No one can escape. Now I ask you, are you willing to fight the battle in the King’s Domain with us?”
“Yes, I’m.”
“Me too.”
“I have a question,” the tallest of them asked in a deep voice, “Lord Bei Huai, you’ve said it yourself that our faction now wants for a leader. So who should be our leader?”
“Hiss!”
As soon as those words came out, everyone in the hall instantly fell silent.
“Who should be the leader?”
“That’s a tricky issue.”
Even Lord Bei Huai was somewhat undecided.
The more than a dozen Real Kings in the hall were basically at the same level. No matter which one of them was made the leader, some of the others would certainly object to the result.
This was indeed troubling. Still, there was a way to sort it out.
“Maybe you can join us. I’m talking about becoming part of our forces. There are five magnates here for you to choose from. What do you say?” Suggested Lord Bei Huai in a calm voice.
The awkward silence befell once again.
Suddenly, the tallest man cupped his hands and said, “I’m willing to join in Lord Bei Huai’s force.”
“I would like to join in Lord Lin Wu’s force.”
“I choose to join…”
Surprisingly, once one of them made his choice, more than half of the rest Real Kings also picked the force they wanted to join. Not only one but all the five magnates present had been chosen at least once.
The other half did not say anything. It seemed that they were a small team.
This brought them back to the thorny problem again.
“How about this. Since Lord Qing Zhou’s territory is roughly in the central area compared with ours, it should be safe in the following period. All of you can return to that territory. I’ll give you seven days to collectively select a new leader.”
Lord Bei Huai’s eyes turned a bit chilly as he added, “If you still haven’t selected a leader a week from now, then you won’t be able to stay in Qingzhou any longer.”
Lord Bei Huai had made his will clear with these words.
The unspoken implication was that if they didn’t solve the problem through internal strife, the five magnates would deploy their troops over. With their troops bearing down on Qingzhou, Lord Qing Zhou’s force wouldn’t have a chance to fight back.
“Yes, we understood, Lord Bei Huai.”
These people cupped their hands and exited.
A few of them didn’t want to fight over those things. They immediately expressed their attitude and declared that they wouldn’t get involved in this storm. Some that were ambitious didn’t say a single word. They were concentrating on how to become the next leader in Qingzhou.
They all returned to Qingzhou. No one paid more attention to them.
But the meeting of the five magnates was just beginning.
“A battle among those in the Elixir Realm…”
A wicked smile appeared on the corners of Lord Bei Huai’s mouth. “Now that the participants are all on the same level, I think we have the biggest advantage. We have a million valiant soldiers. Lord Zhen Hai has 600,000 soldiers. And Lord Nan Shan only has 200,000. We can kill his force with a snap of our fingers! But he has reinforcements. I don’t know how many combatants Zhang Hanyang has. They are from the Main World. I think you’ve all heard about the Kunlun Immortal World. If he mobilizes the people there, Lord Nan Shan’s force may not be the weakest anymore.”
Amongst the five magnates present, Lord Bei Huai was the most talkative. Of the other four, two were kind of dull, while the other two occasionally expressed their opinions.
There was no doubt that Lord Bei Huai was the one in charge here.
“Because of this uncertainty, we can’t go provoke Lord Nan Shan for the time being. With Lord Zhen Hai’s cautious nature, he wouldn’t do that, either. Hence, we need to adapt to the situation in order to win the competition.”
Lord Bei Huai waved a hand and a huge map of the King’s Domain unrolled in front of him.
One after another, lines were drawn on the map according to what he thought in his mind.
“This is Lord Lin Wu’s territory, and this is Lord An Lu’s territory. The territories of the six of us were originally linked together. But there is a gap near the center area, which is the Black White Palace.”
Lord Bei Huai continued, “The Black White Palace is a place we can’t touch. Thus, the first move we need to make now is to go to the southeast area. This canyon is a natural defense spot. We can build a Heaven-earth Formation there. As long as we occupy this place, we can set a large area aside and further diminish Lord Zhen Hai’s territory layer by layer. In the current situation, we shouldn’t take risks. Now, pass on the order. We’ll send a troop of 300,000 soldiers to the Changyou Canyon and occupy that place no matter what. At present, no one in the King’s Domain can compete with the million valiant soldiers of ours. Remember, we must protect our formation masters.”
After giving the orders one by one, Lord Bei Huai closed his eyes and sighed.
“I didn’t expect that the formation masters I thought were of little use would become our backbone force now.”
There were also legacies of formations in the King’s Domain. But only very few people studied them.
This made Lord Bei Huai feel a little regretful that he didn’t spend more time learning formations.
On the other side, Lord Zhen Hai and the other three magnates as well as some Real Kings were also sitting in their hall. They’d stared at the map of the King’s Domain for a long time.
Lord Zhen Hai spoke, “Although Lord Bei Huai and the others need to deal with Lord Qing Zhou’s subordinates first, it wouldn’t hold them back for long. With Lord Bei Huai’s decisiveness, he’ll make his move soon.”
Lord Zhen Hai’s voice was very soft.
While deliberating, he said, “His first target must be us. Now the strength of Lord Nan Shan’s side is not clear, it’s not wise to take action against him. Lord Bei Huai has an army of a million people. He is very powerful and aggressive. I guess he will… send troops to the Changyou Canyon as soon as possible and put that place under his firm control.”
“Haha,” a relatively short-tempered magnate said coldly, “since when did we have to start scheming behind their backs? So what if he has more people? Even if he sends a million soldiers over, we still have 600,000 good fighters under our command. Come on! Let’s go to the Changyou Canyon immediately and fight them to death.”
Lord Zhen Hai didn’t say a word.
He looked utterly speechless.
“Would the game still be fun if you played like this?
“If we’re playing the Five Card Stud, how can you show all of your cards once the game begins?”
“Lord Wei Wu, hold your horses.”
Lord Zhen Hai said consolingly, “Right now, our power has been dramatically suppressed. There are limitations everywhere, and we need to consider many issues as well. Lord Bei Huai might send less than 500,000 people over. But if we send all of our people there a million of them, Lord Bei Huai will dispatch the other 500,000 soldiers over. In the end, we would still suffer a crushing defeat. In the face of absolute power, stratagems surely are useless. But right now, we don’t have absolute power. This is the reality.”
“What nonsense!” Lord Wei Wu slammed the table and yelled, “Our strength has decreased, so what? I’d like to see who dare to disobey us!”
He had been sulking about the decline of his strength. He had repressed his anger for a long time because he didn’t dare to lose his temper on the former occasion. But when he came back to his territory, he couldn’t keep his anger in check anymore.
Lord Zhen Hai frowned and said, “Lord Wei Wu, today’s situation is different from those we faced in the past. I know you’re mad, so am I. But now is not the time to throw a tantrum.”
“Alright, Lord Wei Wu, drop the subject of our strength decline and let him continue,” another magnate spoke.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to confront Lord Bei Huai head-on now. If he’s targeting the Changyou Canyon, then we can target the Dark Flow River in the western area. The Black White Palace is in the central area. Lord Bei Huai has occupied half of the northern land by himself. We are in the south. If not considering the Black White Palace and Lord Nan Shan’s territory, our territory can link the east and the west. We can replace the area we lose in the Changyou Canyon with the land of the Dark Flow River. They probably will also send troops there. So we need to act fast. Once we succeed in occupying the Dark Flow River, we can also open the area around the Black White Palace. In the best case, we may seize Lord Nan Shan’s entire land in the south. Then, our territory will form a semicircle. As long as the formation masters are in place, we’ll find it much easier to take action later.”
At this point, Lord Zhen Hai’s face was lit with a smile, “We have had favorable timing and geographical condition. The victor is yet to be determined.”
“How many people should we send over?” Lord Wei Wu stood up and said, “I’ll lead the troop there in person. If I don’t kill some people, others may really think I, Lord Wei Wu, am no longer in power.”
“Don’t! Now is not the time for us to take action.” Lord Zhen Hai quickly got up to stop Lord Wei Wu.
It took him a lot of effort to persuade Lord Wei Wu to stay.
Now that magnates’ strength had been suppressed, if their inferior performance on the battlefield were seen by their subordinates, it would more or less affect the mentality of some of them.
“Now that the old boss has become weak, do I have a chance to replace him?”
People’s hearts were unpredictable. For this reason, these magnates all took the same view that they should not go to the battlefield in person. To give instructions behind the scenes was also an option.
If they didn’t fight in person, how strong they were would also be in suspense. If they had to fight, they certainly wouldn’t fight in this brutal way.
“Send 400,000 soldiers over and take all the formation masters with them. We must seize the Dark Flow River. As for the Changyou Canyon, send 100,000 people over immediately to pretend to fight against them. But a little harassment would do.”
As if he could read Lord Bei Huai’s mind, Lord Zhen Hai gave one order after another.
As for Lord Nan Shan’s side…
Lord Nan Shan and Lord Dong Gu stayed in the same place and chatted for a while. Then, Zhang Han ordered them to return to Lord Nan Shan’s peak and wait for further instructions.
As soon as they went back, they stood gazing at one another — being at a loss what to do.
“Should we do something?” Lord Dong Gu hesitantly asked.
“What can we do?” Lord Nan Shan asked with a cool face.
“Nothing, perhaps. Well, forget it. Let’s wait for further instructions.” Lord Dong Gu scratched his head.
It was true that they were the weakest of the three parties. Now, they could do nothing but stay quietly in their territory.
Zhang Han and his people were invited to the Black White Palace.
“Little girl, you’ll get to meet my daughter this time.”
While they were flying there, Yue Wuwei looked at Mengmeng and said beamingly, “My daughter is two years older than you. She is quite simple and unsophisticated. She hasn’t seen much of the world. She hasn’t even been to the secular world yet. This time, she may have a chance to go to the secular world with you and stay there. When the time comes, well…”
“Why haven’t any of them responded to this subject?” Yue Wuwei felt a little awkward.
“Do I have to say it myself?
“You should jump in before I can finish my words by saying, ‘Oh, Elder Yue, don’t worry. You can leave your daughter to us during her stay in the outside world. She will be safe and sound. We’ll provide her with everything she needs…’”
However, no one cared to make a timely response.
Yue Wuwei’s face darkened a little.
Zi Yan couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “If she wants to go to the secular world, just let her. Anyway, you’ll tag along, won’t you?”
“Well, I certainly will follow her. But she also needs new friends of her age. I think Mengmeng’s school is pretty good. After we go to the outside world, I’d like to let my daughter attend the same school. Mengmeng, your little sister is quite naive and unworldly, so I hope you can watch over her a bit.”
“Huh?” Mengmeng slightly lifted her head and said, “Grandpa Yue, you are so cunning and scheming. How can your daughter be simple and naive?”
Yue Wuwei was bemused.
“When have I ever been cunning and scheming?”
But soon, he caught on and said with a smile, “I didn’t make myself clear. Mengmeng, you are also very simple and kind. You and my daughter are of the same kind. The key is that as you’ve been in school for many years but my daughter has never been to the secular world, I expect you to take care of her in this respect.”
“Oh, don’t worry, Grandpa Yue. I’ll take her to play online games. I’ll charge money into her account. I can also take her to go roller skating, surfing, diving, and the like. Well, I also have two male classmates who are quite handsome. Grandpa Yue, as long as you behave, I’ll take the initiative to introduce your daughter to them if they want to date.”
“Pfft…”
Yue Wuwei directly choked on his saliva.
He glared at the little girl in anger. If it were anyone else who said that, he would have whacked them in the face.
But the person who said that was Mengmeng, the young Heavenly Lord. On top of that, she was also Zi Yan and Zhang Hanyang’s daughter.
Yue Wuwei scratched his beard and smiled awkwardly.
“Mengmeng, Grandpa Yue has a weak heart. Don’t scare me with that kind of joke.”
“Alas.”
However, Mengmeng did not intend to let him off the hook yet. She sighed softly and said with a sentimental look, “I call you Grandpa Yue. And I also call your daughter sister. Those who know what’s going on can surely understand, but those who don’t will think that we’ve got the order of seniority wrong.”
Yue Wuwei was taken aback. Then, he said, “That might be the case. Well, we cultivators don’t address each other in order of seniority. I’ve also seen a talented cultivator who fraternized with his great-great-grandfather’s good friend. While his grandfather called that man senior, that cultivator called him big bro. If we have to follow the order of seniority, all cultivators will be disoriented. That won’t work with us. Therefore, it doesn’t matter how we address each other.”
Mengmeng and Zi Yan pictured the scenario mentioned by Yue Wuwei. They were both amused and started to chortle.
“Is the palace ahead of the Black White Palace? How large it is!”
After traveling for another half an hour, Mu Xue saw a huge palace. She then said with some emotion, “Although I visited the King’s Domain several times in the past few years, I haven’t seen the Black White Palace before.”
“It’s like the Wind Snow Temple, only that it’s seven or eight times larger,” Yue Wuwei said, “the Black White Palace is basically a free city in the King’s Domain. It can accommodate spirit beasts, members of the Dark Shadow Clan, as well as secular people. The King’s Domain is also full of fighting. Thus, I and my wife created such an environment that is suited for children to grow up in.”
“Are you also preparing to live in the secular world for some time when you go out this time?” Zhang Han inquired.
“Yes,” Yue Wuwei said with emotion, “now the Heavenly Lord legacy has been passed on, my workload has been reduced by a hundred times. I practically have nothing to do. I plan to open a gallery. And my wife will perhaps run a cold drinks store. After all, it’s interesting to experience all kinds of life. If I stay in the Black White Palace all the time, I’ll be bored stiff. My daughter has to attend school. When it comes to leisure, the secular world is much better. How could the Cultivation World offer us any forms of leisure?”
“You’re very enterprising.”
Zi Yan chuckled and said, “Elder Yue, I didn’t know you could draw.”
“Actually, I can’t,” Yue Wuwei shook his head and said, “but I can start to learn it right off.”
The others were all rendered speechless.
Soon, they arrived in the Black White Palace. They flew straight to the palace in the center and landed in the main hall.
The palace was very large. It was of an ancient style. The scenery was very beautiful. But this was not the first time they had seen this kind of palace, so they were not very surprised.
“Hey, Brother Zhang, you are here.”
When Wu Ming saw Zhang Han, he greeted him enthusiastically, “Welcome, hahaha. It seems that I have to prepare some good wine later to entertain Uncle Zhang.”
“Oh, I don’t want to put you to the bother. You’re being too polite. You really don’t have to fetch too much out,” Zhang Guangyou immediately showed a broad smile on his face.
“Okay,” Wu Ming replied with a grin.
“By saying that I shouldn’t fetch out too much wine, Uncle Zhang actually means that I shouldn’t just give him a little.”
The group entered the main hall. Not far from the door of the main hall, a slender woman in a long dress was walking over. She was the Black White Palace Master, who was 1.9 meters tall. Her height would be somewhat amazing if she were in the secular world. At least, when walking on the street, she would definitely turn quite a lot of heads.
She was not as gorgeous as Zi Yan. If the full mark was 100 points, her appearance could earn 80 points. Considering that her height could bring out her characteristics, in general, her beauty could be given at least 85 points. Anyway, she was of the attractive kind.
“Zhang Hanyang, Zi Yan, Mengmeng, welcome,” Black White Palace Master said with a smile.
Her movements were refined and elegant, giving others the impression that she was the kind of person who didn’t talk much.
“Nice to meet you, Black White Palace Master,” Zi Yan, Zhang Mu, and the others all greeted her.
“My name is Lisa,” Black White Palace Master said, “you can just call me by my name.”
“Xiaonao, we have company. Come and say hello,” Lisa called to the room on the side.
“Wait a minute.”
A girl’s voice came from the room. But after that, there was no movement.
“My daughter is a little capricious,” said Yue Wuwei with a laugh, “guys, please have a seat.”
The group came to the long table on the left side of the hall, where fruits and drinks had been served. Sitting by the table, Mu Xue, Jiang Yanlan, and others eyed Black White Palace Master, Lisa, curiously.
“It’s said that her strength ranks top three among all the magnates. She is very strong. On the way here, I assumed that she was the typical ‘Iron Lady’. But she turns out to be quite gentle and refined.”
“Auntie Lisa, you’re so pretty. How come you married Grandpa Yue?” Mengmeng looked back and forth between the two of them several times and then muttered in bewilderment.
Her way of addressing them sounded a little odd, but Yue Wuwei and Lisa didn’t mind.
“I…”
When Lisa looked at Mengmeng, a smile climbed onto the corner of her mouth. That made people feel that it was not because Mengmeng was the Heavenly Lord that she had paid extra attention to her, but because she also had a daughter and she adored little girls.
“Well, it’s because I’m not young either. But women care more about their looks, so I’ve maintained my young appearance. Yet, he doesn’t mind looking like an old man. Now that this is what he wants, I just let him. It’s no big deal,” Lisa replied.
“Oh, I see. But Grandpa Yue, why don’t you want to stay young? Look at you, you now seem too old for Auntie Lisa,” Mengmeng murmured.
The corners of Yue Wuwei’s mouth twitched with embarrassment. “Ahem, at present, I look like an ordinary man about 60 years old. I may seem a little old. But haven’t you sensed that I have the air of an immortal?”
“No, I haven’t,” Mengmeng answered honestly.
Yue Wuwei instantly fell silent.
He had no idea what to say next.
“Little girl, why do your words always have to render me speechless?”
“Yue Xiaonao, come on here, quick,” Yue Wuwei called out to the room on the side.
“I’ll be right there,” said a girl’s voice from inside.
Two minutes later, a girl, who was half a head taller than Mengmeng, scurried out. She was clad in a dress and had a round face, big eyes, and two small dimples on her cheeks, which made her face naturally smiley.
“Hello, guests.”
After giving a perfunctory greeting, the girl directly took a seat beside Yue Wuwei. Her eyes swept over the hall before finally being fixed on Mengmeng.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hello.” Mengmeng also waved her small hand at the girl.
“This is my daughter, Yue Xiaonao.” Yue Wuwei pointed at the girl proudly.
“You came up with the name?” Zi Yan found the name a little funny, for it simply meant a naughty child.
“Are men all so casual with naming their children?
“If it’s Yue Wuwei who picked this name, then he is not even as good as Zhang Han in terms of naming children.”
“Of course it’s me,” Yue Wuwei replied. “She was very naughty and annoying when she was born, so I named her Yue Xiaonao.”
