Chapter 2024

Zhao Qing's death sounds a bit suspicious, but not suspicious enough to alarm the Dragon God.

"Zhao Qing is still under thirty, healthy and with cultivation—just drops dead like that?" He Lingchuan stroked his chin, "What had he been doing before?"

"I remember, I remember!" This time it was the Soul-Capturing Mirror speaking, "A little over ten days ago, Su Yishui led troops to attack Peng Zhe of the Flash Gold tyrants, and Zhao Qing went to help, cutting off Peng Zhe's retreat."

Su Yishui is a leader of the Black Armor Army active in central-western Flash Gold, recently wiping out two Flash Gold tyrant forces, one of which was Peng Zhe.

"First help the Black Armor Army deal with the Flash Gold tyrants, then drop dead at home twenty days later?" He Lingchuan said offhand, "Send someone to investigate."

"Already sent."

At this moment another guard entered, handing He Lingchuan a document:

"Letter from Yundong City!"

Yundong City? He Lingchuan opened the letter, seeing the paper was exquisite gold-sprinkled paper, with dozens of characters written in bold strokes.

This is the second invitation from Yundong City Lord Nan Ronghe for an audience with the Nine Abysses Great Emperor.

The first was a verbal message brought back by Wan Qi Liang. At that time Guo Bai Yu fled Miancheng in defeat, and Nan Ronghe cut off his retreat, so Wan Qi Liang led troops to catch up and beheaded Guo Bai Yu on horseback.

Afterwards, Nan Ronghe had Wan Qi Liang convey to the Nine Abysses Great Emperor a request for a meeting.

He Lingchuan had been busy all along, no time to bother with him, but now upon opening the letter and seeing the words "discuss the future," he felt somewhat moved.

The Yundong region belongs to the Nan Rong family. Eleven years ago, Nan Ronghe inherited the five cities of Yundong from his father, formally taking office as Lord of Yundong City.

Looking over the entire Flash Gold Plain, the Yundong region's fortune is truly not bad, because the Nan Rong father and son are both civil and military talents, not only possessing deep cultivation themselves, but also having orderly governance and harmonious people in their territory. After over a decade like this, the people may not say they are richly clothed and well-fed, but compared to other places on the Flash Gold Plain, their lives are much better, so the Nan Rong family also enjoys deep support from the populace.

It is like the Ju Lu State of 160 years ago, thriving and prosperous, with hopes of strength.

Conversely, on the Nine Abysses Great Emperor's wish-power sand table, the wish-power starlight of the Yundong region is extremely faint, indicating their satisfaction with the rulers is higher, and they have little interest in the Nine Abysses Great Emperor or the reincarnated Dragon God. So He Lingchuan had originally planned to put Yundong off until last in his campaign.

The difficulty of taking Yundong will not be less than that of the Alliance.

Besides the Nan Rong family's own troops not being weak, the Dragon God Army attacking the Yundong region also faces the awkwardness of having "no just cause."

It attacks most regions of the Flash Gold Plain under the banner of eliminating violence and upholding justice for the people, thus able to proceed unimpeded and widely beloved. But the Yundong region generally enjoys a higher standard of living, the populace approves of the Nan Rong family's governance—what reason could the Dragon God Army have to attack Yundong?

However impoverished the Flash Gold Plain may be, there are always a few places that still look somewhat hopeful.

At present, the obstacle in He Lingchuan's way is Bai Tan, and he temporarily does not want to clash with Yundong.

The Soul-Capturing Mirror asked him: "If he truly refuses to surrender, what then?"

He Lingchuan walked back to his study, casually summoned the sand table, and observed the position of Luofeng Pool: "No wonder Guo Bai Yu wanted to occupy this place—Luofeng Pool is the gateway to Yundong; from here westward are fertile plains, with nothing difficult to defend."

That is to say, if the main army advances westward from Luofeng Pool into Yundong territory, it will be relatively easy.

But what pretext would he have to send out troops?

The Soul-Capturing Mirror interjected: "You say, will the Nan Rong family collude with the Heavenly Demons?"

He Lingchuan shook his head: "The Yundong region does not permit the establishment of spirit temples, nor private worship of spirits; violators face severe punishment. Therefore, the Nan Rong family is highly resistant to the Heavenly Demons."

The mirror objected: "These are extraordinary times—perhaps the Nan Rong family knows how to adapt, and may have already colluded with the Heavenly Demons."

The prime example of such adaptability is Bai Tan and the Liuli Wang faction.

"The Boss Situ family and the Nan Rong family are old friends, with long-standing contact. Boss Situ He once described Nan Ronghe's temperament as obstinate, like a stone in a latrine—smelly and hard." He Lingchuan recalled, "When I restarted the Original Hometown Association, I specifically invited several younger members of the Nan Rong family to participate, hoping that one day they could become a bridge for communication between me and Nan Ronghe."

Wow, the master had already prepared so early? "Did it work?"

"Almost not at all." He Lingchuan shook his head and sighed, "Furthermore, Nan Ronghe is also very wary of the Yangshan Merchant Guild; to date, the Yangshan Guild has only two branches in Yundong, both small-scale, and the most important, most profitable businesses are still firmly in the hands of the Nan Rong family."

"The land in these parts of Yundong is fertile, resources relatively abundant, even with its own horse farm. The Nan Rong family closing their gates can still live well in their own small way—over the past ten years, they have basically done just that."

Latest chapter first released on!

Thus Yundong is quite exclusionary.

Actually, this phenomenon and this psychology also appeared in the earlier line. Its political, economic, and cultural level far exceeds that of other regions on the Flash Gold Plain, everyone lives as if in two different worlds—why would they want to crowd together?

Simply put, in three words:

Disdain.

He Lingchuan pondered: "Once we clash with the Nan Rong family, the Heavenly Demon forces behind Guo Bai Yu and others will loudly proclaim the Dragon God Army hypocritical and unjust."

Bearing the Dragon God banner certainly has many advantages, but the shortcomings are also very clear—namely, we cannot afford to lose too much on moral grounds.

The Soul-Capturing Mirror snapped: "Does the Nan Rong family dare to challenge us? If they are not blind or deaf, how could they not know the Dragon God Army's prestige is unmatched on the Flash Gold Plain?"

"Boss Situ He said Nan Ronghe adheres to principle but is not inflexible. He probably also gauged that we currently want to beat Bai Tan more." He Lingchuan personally brushed the characters, quickly finished the document, and sent someone to deliver it to the Yundong region.

Later he considered various angles and found another person to ask: "When Bi Xia destroyed Gaoguo and pressed against the Boss Situ family's territory, did Yundong City send troops to assist?"

The person he consulted was Dongye Jun, one of the core members of the Original Hometown Association. This man came from nobility of Gaoguo, but entered service in the Yu State, understands the situation of the Seven States of the Alliance very well, and is very quick-witted.

He Lingchuan used the Original Hometown Association as a foundation, absorbed many talents while sweeping through Flash Gold, and has now preliminarily formed his own makeshift advisory group—uh, not a ragtag crew, but a think tank. After all, the current war and future governance cannot be accomplished by one person alone.

"When Bi Xia invaded the Boss Situ family's kiln slope, the Nan Rong family sent troops twice, fighting alongside the Boss Situ family—there truly was old affection."

He Lingchuan frowned: "When I had the Yangshan Merchant Guild assist the Boss Situ family, how come I heard nothing of Nan Rong family affairs?"

Dongye Jun replied: "At that time, coincidentally, the patriarch of the Nan Rong family—namely, Nan Ronghe's father—had passed away, and the Nan Rong family had no bandwidth to attend to external warfare."

He Lingchuan handed him the letter casually: "What do you think Nan Ronghe wants to do?"