Chapter 389: Defeating Heaven, Part 2

“So be it.”

He was a Flood Dragon by nature, after all. He took a deep breath and quickly calmed himself. ‘Guan Zhi and Lu Fei are here, under my nose. There will be plenty of opportunities later. I’ll take it slow!’

“Young Master, there’s a scholar at the door. He says he’s come to pledge his service, drawn by your reputation!”

“Oh?!”

Cao Meng’s eyes narrowed. He thought for a moment, then took a bite of food from the table, chewed it, and spat it out. He then took off his shoes and rushed out barefoot, feigning urgency.

…

‘Guan Zhi and Lu Fei ultimately resisted the influence of Qi Fortune… and won. Human effort has overcome fate. In this round, I have bested heaven by half a move!’

Fang Rui raised his gourd, took a drink, and smiled.

But—

SNAP!

And just like that, the iconic moment was gone.

‘The grand Oath of the Peach Garden is gone, just like that! I really am a secretive, unscrupulous, and ruthless person. But so what?!’

‘What great figure in history wasn’t a schemer?’

Fang Rui watched Cao Meng rush out barefoot and chuckled. ‘After today, rumors will probably spread: “Lord Cao spits out his food to greet a worthy man, winning the hearts of the world”?!’

‘Tsk, tsk. Most of these so-called heartwarming tales are just an act!’

‘But, Cao Meng, oh Cao Meng, do you really think you can win people’s loyalty like this? Those are all my men!’

He had traveled through Yuanzhou and found quite a few talented individuals, sending messages to all of them to seek out and join Cao Meng.

Next, Cao Meng would meet even more people coming to pledge allegiance. Things like finding talented people just by stepping outside or having them kowtow and offer their service on the spot would become commonplace. This was a classic case of being a “face emperor”—someone so blessed by fortune that talented people simply fall into their lap.

‘Interesting. Besides the pawns placed by the Great Yu Royal Family and the Noble Families, the only other people around the Flood Dragon are mine.’

‘If we ever have a falling out one day, Cao Meng will discover that aside from himself, this grassroots king, all his subordinates are… damn traitors!’

A hint of wicked amusement flashed in Fang Rui’s eyes.

…

「Three days later.」

The banners of the Nanzhuo County Army were as dense as a forest as the troops marched out of the city like a great dragon, beginning their campaign to suppress the bandits.

In mid-air, Fang Rui rode his crane, invisible, and looked down. In the vision of his Divine Technique, Emperor’s Gaze, the Military Qi coalesced into the form of a divine dragon-wolf, roaring without end.

‘Cao Meng’s Flood Dragon Qi Fortune has been activated. As I said before, this bandit suppression campaign is sure to be an instant and resounding success.’

‘After that, he’ll absorb the bandits, select the strongest among them, and with the talented people I’ve so generously provided, his forces will be fully fledged in no time. He’ll surely be able to expand rapidly and steamroll his opposition, reducing the length of the conflict. The negative aura generated between heaven and earth will also decrease as a result.’

‘Tsk, tsk. First I activated his Flood Dragon Qi Fortune, then I sent him talented people. I’ve helped Cao Meng out so much, he really ought to thank me!’

Fang Rui mused.

‘Mm, my arrangements in Yuanzhou are more or less complete. It’s time to pull out.’

As the Chess Player, it was only natural for him to keep his distance from the pieces.

‘Here in Yuanzhou, I can let the bullets fly for a while. As for the Three States of the Southwest, I still need to place my pieces in the remaining two, Liangzhou and Raozhou.’

‘I’ll start with the easy one first. Liangzhou is vast, with many people and many beasts. It’s the perfect place to make use of my Divine Technique, Gathering Beasts and Taming Birds. I’ll go there first!’

Fang Rui patted the Purple Feathered Crane beneath him, and it soared into the sky, departing.

…

As he ventured deeper into the Three States of the Southwest, he saw that the great drought stretched on endlessly. The number of locusts had passed a critical point, swarming everywhere, a plague that could not be stopped.

In times like these, the ugliness of human nature was magnified to its fullest extent. In some of the worst-hit areas, “people eating people” and “swapping children to eat”—phrases from history books—had become a grim reality.

It could only be described as a tragedy too gruesome to behold.

“What have the common people done to deserve this?! What has the world done to deserve this?!”

Fang Rui sighed.

Along the way, when he saw tragedies that were about to happen or were in the process of happening, he would intervene and leave some supplies. But when he was a step too late and saw what was already boiling in the pot… he wouldn’t feel sorrow.

‘This tumultuous mortal world is the ultimate trial for the heart. I can feel myself getting closer and closer to the state of a Saint—to encounter emotion without being burdened by it!’

In truth, the deeply emotional part of Fang Rui’s personality was reserved only for his family. Toward outsiders, his feelings were extremely faint.

Fundamentally, he was by no means a good person. While he had no intention of harming others, expecting him to save all sentient beings or show mercy to the world was a joke!

‘Enough. No more of these thoughts. Once I pass that boundary stone, I’ll be in Liangzhou territory.’

‘Hmm, let me perform a Divination for the Flood Dragon of Liangzhou.’

After forming a series of hand seals, Fang Rui’s expression turned strange. ‘Huh? The result of the Divination… is that there is no result?!’

That was right. According to his Divination, Liangzhou had no Celestial Determined Flood Dragon. It was a case of “winner takes all”; the final victor from the Gu-style free-for-all would be blessed with the Flood Dragon Qi Fortune.

‘However you look at it, this seems like a variable that has emerged to counter the Great Yu Court’s harvest, doesn’t it?’

‘Oh, right. The Three States of the Southwest are currently a place where Tribulation Qi and variables are converging. It’s not strange for something like this to happen.’

‘Since that’s the case, I should adapt to the local conditions and perhaps change my method of placing pieces. A Gu-style free-for-all, eh? That sounds quite good.’

‘I can disperse the Tribulation Demons and let a hundred flowers bloom! But before that, I need to change my appearance.’

Fang Rui activated his Divine Technique, Thousand Transformations. In an instant, he changed from the image of a middle-aged Daoist into a burly, broad-shouldered man. After a moment’s thought, he put on a demonic-looking mask.

‘Even if someone could break through my Spiritual Power’s concealment and see through the mask, they would only see my false face. One layer deeper, they might trace me back to the Celestial Secret Daoist in Yuanzhou. A layer deeper still, and they might find the mysterious Daoist I transformed into after meeting Yuan Da…’

But the trail would go cold there. Who could possibly guess that Fang Rui had reversed his age and become young again?!

‘These schemes, layer after layer… they’re really quite interesting.’

‘A pity. If I could just take on the Great Yu Court head-on, I wouldn’t need to go through all this trouble.’

A single Super Grade Secret Treasure in Wuzhou State City, when fully activated, could lightly injure him even when he was bolstered by a military formation. And that’s to say nothing of a Profound Domain Great Power coming to hack him down with an Innate Supreme Treasure.

That would be a very real death!

‘It’s also because I don’t have enough Tribulation Points. If an ordinary person used an Innate Supreme Treasure to perform a Divination on me, I wouldn’t be afraid. But if the Great Yu Court does it, that’s another story.’

The incident with Bao Sichun had already proven that the backlash from the Divine Technique ‘Outside the Calculation’ was useless against someone protected by an Innate Supreme Treasure.

Thus, a Divination with an Innate Supreme Treasure versus the shielding of the ‘Outside the Calculation’ Divine Technique became a contest of spear against shield. It all came down to who invested more.

Yes, Fang Rui had over 100,000 Tribulation Points on hand. But one had to remember that the Great Yu Court had been harvesting Qi Fortune for countless years. Although most of it was used to ‘nurture the Celestial Path with the Human Path,’ the amount remaining was likely an astronomical figure.

‘If I were to seriously offend the Great Yu Court, and they decided to burn through a massive amount of Qi Fortune to deplete my Tribulation Points and forcefully divine my location, then send a Profound Monarch with an Innate Supreme Treasure to hunt me down…’

‘Tsk, tsk!’

Just thinking about it felt thrilling to Fang Rui.

Of course, as long as he didn’t reveal most of his secrets and display the potential to stir up the Three States and overturn the Great Yu, the Great Yu Court was unlikely to resort to such extraordinary measures.

‘It comes back to the same old saying: for safety’s sake, I can’t expose myself too early!’

‘I need to lie low and develop my strength. The day I can no longer hide will be the day I’ve achieved freedom with my Tribulation Points, with millions or tens of millions in the bank, broken through to the Profound Domain, and am guarded by a hundred thousand Tribulation Demons…’

‘A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. I’ll just have to slowly build up my foundation!’

‘Hmm, or maybe not,’

A glint flashed in Fang Rui’s eyes. ‘If my plans in the Three States of the Southwest succeed this time, when I finally cast the net, I’ll be able to haul in a huge catch…’

…

He captured three hundred Cyan Eagles, consumed 3,900 Tribulation Points, and used his Divine Technique, Gathering Beasts and Taming Birds, to transform them into Tribulation Demons.

Fang Rui was preparing to survey the area and make his first move in Liangzhou.

SWOOSH!

He rode his Purple Feathered Crane, transforming into a streak of light as he flew.

“SCREE! SCREE!”

Behind him, the three hundred shadowy figures of the Tribulation Demons swept through the sky like a black cloud.

It was now dusk. The light was dim. Beneath a setting sun that dotted the western mountains like drops of blood, a fierce fire was burning in a village below.

‘Huh? What’s happening down there?’

Fang Rui had the Purple Feathered Crane descend. What he saw and heard next stirred his heart, despite his usually detached state of mind.