Chapter 217: This is Absurd!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"Secondly, we need to gather more manpower."
Shui Wuyin continued to elaborate his point, "Our manpower is laughable, our cultivation base weak. If we were to meet a strong opponent, we wouldn't even have the power to maintain our defenses."
How could Yun Yang not know about this? It was not an easy task to curb this weakness. There were indeed plenty of experts and talents out there but there were few who would willingly be a subordinate and obeys orders when they had already reached the fifth peak and above.
Fascinating as it might be to be called Supreme Cloud, the think tank of the Nine Supremes, the one who attacked the front line in wars, one whose reputation was known among the people; Yun Yang was nothing much when faced with a genuine expert.
On how large a foundation did he stand on? How could he attract the strong ones to follow him?
"That would be easier said than done…" Yun Yang chuckled bitterly.
"Thirdly…" Shui Wuyin continued, "We can’t only strike with our own forces in the future. Others will hire assassins to kill us. We can, of course, do the same."
"Leveraging the incoming attacks to strike against the others is a tactic we can definitely use right now – we can’t forgo it. Although such actions will need to be supported with copious amounts of wealth, we mustn’t totally discard them."
Yun Yang stroked his chin in agreement, this was indeed something worth considering; he had an abundance of wealth anyway.
"Fourth, you may have to flaunt your identity, boss," Shui Wuyin said.
With a frown, Yun Yang questioned, "My identity? What do you mean?"
"Of course not your genuine Supreme Cloud identity, letting others know that you were the Nine Supremes’ think tank will only attract endless waves of attacks. What I meant are your other identities. You can portray the illusion of the Nine Supremes being still alive and keep in touch with important contacts whilst roaming the world…" answered Shui Wuyin.
"You can also borrow forces from the entire nation, the military and the civil side…"
"Boss will have to consider this with more depth as to how to do it in order for it to be a surefire tactic," Shui Wuyin ended his explanation.
Yun Yang gave a deep nod. "I understand what you mean, I’ll think of how to go about it and what to do later."
It was a weakness that Yun Yang had found out recently – no matter what it was, he could only use his popinjay identity of Marquis of Heavenly Clouds’ son in handling it. Obviously, such an identity was inadequate!
It could, perhaps, resolve some petty matters, but for more serious cases, it was severely insufficient!
"Anything else?" Yun Yang asked.
"Yes but they’re still scattered thoughts. I need to reorganize them before I can raise them for discussion," Shui Wuyin replied.
Yun Yang heaved a long sigh.
"In addition… the probability of the few names young master has gotten from Mi Kongqun being true is very high – at least an eighty percent chance, in fact." Shui Wuyin announced, "These people shall be our next targets."
"First, I have to collect some interest for my boss!"
"Our initial target is, of course, Supreme Lord Spring Frost He Hanqing…"
"Although this person is an urgent plague that needs to be terminated, the plausibility to wipe him out is still less than a tenth of a chance, even if we use all the tricks up our sleeves. The privilege to try isn’t even ours when we’re so powerless before such a strong force… It’s only possible to tackle him when we have assistance from a powerful one who can compare to his prowess… We can attempt to recruit some experts after this – best if they serve us… but even if they’re only helping us just this one time, it’s much better than us simply attacking by ourselves!"
Shui Wuyin finished his speech and looked at Yun Yang.
He could only speak for him and watch the rest regarding the topic he had just raised. Shui Wuyin had too cold a heart, so he did not know too many people, had no friends to speak of.
Yun Yang’s replying chortle was devoid of humor. Looking at the room Bai Yixue resided in, healing his injuries and feeding himself well without stepping out of the door, his lips pursed. "Which of these big lords are easy to serve?"
If it had been before, Yun Yang would have been thrilled to kill someone as important in the Four Seasons Tower as Mi Kongqun, in addition to obtaining several other people’s accurate information.
Now though, not even a hint of happiness existed – it was all because of He Hanqing!
He knew Supreme Lord Spring Frost was like a grand mountain obstructing the path right in front of him but no matter what he did, he could not move him! It was this that reflected his powerlessness the most.
Just like what Shui Wuyin said, he had only the intention but not the power before an absolutely formidable force.
When the Nine Supremes prevailed, the world was their oyster; having met their doom and leaving only Yun Yang behind, he still held the same ambition close to him – with vengeance for his brothers added to his agenda. However, with the improvement of his cultivation base and skills, as well as the increasing meetings of experts, came the realization of his own insignificance. All the more he felt the infinity of the universe and his inadequacy; the peak of a hill was but the bottom of another mountain…
"But…"
Yun Yang’s eyes glinted suddenly. The matter was not hopeless after all, it seemed.
"Fang Mofei…" Yun Yang turned to call out – he had figured out a way.
…
Bai Yixue, who was dressed in his usual white clothes, sat quietly before the window. He looked at ease and relaxed, very much enjoying the serenity of the Residence of Yun.
When he had come to question Yun Yang to get to the bottom of the matter, he was also using him to avoid the impending disaster, despite the indignation and eagerness for an explanation. After all, he genuinely had nowhere to go; there was only death awaiting him if he had not come here.
In spite of everything, he did not feel like leaving anymore upon being here, especially after having spent some time here. It was such a quiet and spacious place, no one he did not want to see would be here to interrupt him – what a perfect shelter!
As of now, not even He Hanqing’s men could come here, King Qinguang himself could not find his way here either...
All in all, Bai Yixue really did not feel like leaving.
"I’m injured, I shall leave after my injuries have healed," Bai Yixue more often than not persuaded himself in this manner during the duration of his stay.
Yet, the reality was apparent… even though Bai Yixue’s injuries were severe and littered all over his body, one needed to be reminded of his cultivation base level. Two days without any disturbance, alongside the assistance from healing spiritual medicine, saw most of his injuries recovering quickly.
He had really grown fond of his shelter and did not want to leave!
Bai Yixue sat with his legs folded to begin cultivating his cultivation skill. His injuries no longer posed any critical health risks so it was naturally time to recover his cultivation and sword air. Not only had the previous battles wounded him heavily, his cultivation base was damaged as well. Now was the best time to recover.
Although Bai Yixue had begun to enjoy the Residence of Yun’s atmosphere, he would not be careless; it was better to recover as soon as he could. Who knew when King Qinguang or He Hanqing’s subordinates would find him here; relying on himself was always better than counting on somebody else.
"I don’t have many resources now. I need to think of something," Bai Yixue sighed internally and began retrieving items from his robe.
Bai Yixue had brought dozens of strange metals with him; they were what he had pawned to Yun Yang previously.
These strange metals were very valuable; it was not an exaggeration to compare their value to that of a city. Bai Yixue’s talent was unusual, so was his cultivation skill; an abundance of metal spirit was needed to nourish his sword air, to improve his abilities.
Although strange metals were rare in the world and those of people’s knowledge cost a fortune, there were still plenty of extraordinary metals that could not be smelted nor melted in the hands of ordinary people. The inability to do anything but to watch them rendered them useless, but it was these things that were the best supplement to Bei Yixue’s cultivation. It also explained why he had so many of these various metals with him.
"The metal spirit from these casting materials should be sufficient for two months’ use. Hopefully, these two months will be totally peaceful…" Bai Yixue thought as he placed the pieces of metal on the table.
Two months was not a long time, it would pass in just a blink of an eye, but Bai Yixue had estimated that he would completely recover in two months’ time. As long as his abilities were recovered, he would leave Tiantang City, where he was apt to get in trouble, right away. With the protection of his exceptional skills, he could just collect the rare metals again.
However, Bai Yixue was completely frozen; his eyes bored holes into the assortment of rare metals he had removed from his robes and almost fell out of their sockets.
What – what was going on?
The three pieces of siderites he just took out were lacking in luster, the metallic sheen belonging to rare metals absent from the eyes as they looked more like decayed logs.
The siderite was covered in tiny holes, dense as if pricked by pins; the sides even showed signs of decomposition like… it was weather-beaten.
"This…" Bai Yixue’s eyes widened as he stretched his arm to pick up a piece of Stellar Steel to observe it closely. A moan escaped him as he felt his strength slipping away.
As soon as he had picked it up, he could tell something was wrong. The weight was no longer the initial heftiness, as it felt light like it was only the slightest bit heavier than an ordinary piece of log.
Bai Yixue tried to pick at it with his fingers in denial.
Crack!
He managed to break a part of it off effortlessly.
Bai Yixue was breaking down now. Even if it was a log, it could not have been so fragile…
His hands trembled as he shifted his focus to the next piece of metal. Similarly, looking at it had sirens blaring in his ears; it broke easily with a single pinch. Was this still the most mysterious and toughest siderite in the world?
Bai Yixue was shuddering now, hysterically retrieving all his other metals, chalcedonies, underwater pearls, chill steel and others.
Everything was the same!
Cultivating with the assistance of these things - not even cultivating or nourishing his sword air - even a kitchen knife could cut them into pieces! Knocking them with a wooden plate could crush them into powder!
Bai Yixue was at a loss, his legs giving out as he flopped onto the floor. His grace was gone, his eyes dazed.
It was the first time such a bizarre situation had happened in his life!
These were metals! Not ordinary ones, at that. These were mystical metals, stellar metals, chill metals, the essence of golden jade… These were not crackers!
There were only three words flashing in Bai Yixue’s mind – This is absurd!
Yun Yang had entered at that moment. Taking in Bai Yixue’s trance and the ‘rare metals’ on the table that he had pawned to him, he understood what had happened at once.
Bai Yixue did not know it, but Yun Yang was certain that Emmie had absorbed most of those rare metals’ essences!
The corners of Yun Yang’s lips twitched. It would be easy to maneuver his body that had just entered, out of the room immediately to leave this troublesome place.
Why then did he have such a guilty conscience?