Chapter 835

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Main Character:

Shen Yao

"This battlefield is even larger than Jin Jue City."

Two-thirds of the entire Floating City are shrouded in the dark clouds of war; even the remaining third that hasn't been touched has an atmosphere so tense it feels like it would shatter at a touch.

The System lamented that it was truly worthy of being the Floating City, the core hub of the entire Central State; once a problem arises here, nowhere in Central State can escape.

"Host, where are we going next?" The Sima Clan and the Xuan Yuan Clan have already begun small-scale probing; although the ones fighting are the retainers of both sides, there are also their own people from the Sima Clan and the Xuan Yuan Clan mixed in among them.

These people are akin to the existence of a Supervising Army; their purpose is also to watch the retainers to prevent certain individuals from fishing in troubled waters and stabbing them in the back at the opportune moment.

This is a war that determines the fate of both sides; the Sima Clan and the Xuan Yuan Clan will not hold back, so every single link will appear extremely important.

"Perhaps we can go probe the bottom lines of the Xuan Yuan Clan and the Sima Clan again?"

The System was rather curious when both sides would stake their entire net worth.

After all, both families are extremely cautious; if it weren't for the Jin Jue City incident as a catalyst, who knows if they would have held back for several more decades before making a move.

"No need, we've been there before; the Xuan Yuan Clan and the Sima Clan definitely want to wait until these cannon fodder have worn each other down before stepping in to pick up the pieces.

It's just that this possibility is very hard to achieve; no one is a fool, knowing there are tigers in the mountain, yet still heading straight for Tiger Mountain."

Shen Yao gazed flatly at the sky; a bright light had already appeared in the distance, spreading from a point to a surface, quickly expanding across the entire horizon.

"Just watch; these retainers won't be willing to serve as chess pieces and cannon fodder for both sides either."

Most likely it will still develop into a chaotic melee; at that time, each will fight for themselves, and whoever has the superior skill will be the winner who takes all.

Leaving the Floating City, Shen Yao once again returned to the residence outside the city provided by the Sima Clan.

The people here were even more numerous than before, because during these days the Sima Clan still kept sending people and goods over to be settled.

During this period, Shen Yao also had the System help investigate; their function was not much different from Lu Yan's, and she thought to herself that the Sima Clan really had confidence in defeating the Xuan Yuan Clan, otherwise they wouldn't be able to spare part of their energy on these matters.

"Host, Lu Yan isn't here," the System was somewhat worried about Lu Yan's ability to court death; previously the Host followed him at all times, but now the Host was terrifyingly lazy, and the System was very afraid the mission wouldn't be completed before it croaked.

"His connections have all gone to the battlefield to risk their lives; he has no mood to stay here," the people Lu Yan found were all retainers of the Sima Clan and the Xuan Yuan Clan.

The strengths and weaknesses of these people are extremely obvious; they dare to think and fight hard, yet fear loss and death.

Lu Yan had previously explicitly told Shen Yao that he would disappear for a period of time.

Fortunately, the Sima Clan only sent people to the residence and wouldn't check if the people inside were still there; after all, the chaos outside was a fact known to everyone, and the Sima Clan couldn't imagine that some people would like to stay in a chaotic place rather than hide in a safe and stable rear area.

The System sighed faintly, "Once on the battlefield, life and death are unpredictable; the incapable have already become cannon fodder, and the capable are also mutually restraining each other."

Both sides are constantly losing men within an acceptable range; at first glance the situation seems controllable, but one day a problem will inevitably appear, because the dead cannot be resurrected; no wonder so many people pursue the Immortal Ascension Platform mentioned by the Demons.

If one possessed an immeasurable lifespan and jumped out of the cycle of the Five Grains and Samsara, the struggles before one's eyes would be like children playing house, completely devoid of attraction.

When it comes down to it, it's still that human life is too short, filled too full with desire.

Shen Yao:...

She didn't expect the System to spout philosophical words from time to time; Shen Yao raised her eyebrows, indicating that humans have always been this way, no matter which Task World they go to, they can never jump out of this vicious cycle.

"Alright, I have no arrangements next; you can go wherever you want.

Just remember to stay farther away from the Sima Clan and the Xuan Yuan Clan's base camps, so as not to be discovered and scare yourself."

According to this world's operating principles, catching the System is rather difficult, but there are too many good things left behind; who knows which one might make the System's hair stand on end.

The System is ultimately timid; being scared not only affects itself but also delays Shen Yao.

Might as well kindly remind her once; Shen Yao waved at the empty small courtyard and turned into the room.

System:...

In the following days, just as Shen Yao said, she had nothing to do, just staying in the small courtyard eating and drinking, not even stepping out the courtyard gate.

Lu Yan didn't return either, as if he had silently disappeared.

The System would occasionally say a few sentences, some mentioning Lu Yan, but not many.

Until a certain night, Shen Yao, who had fallen into deep sleep, felt a sense of urgency coming from her soul, forcing her to wake up.

The moment Shen Yao opened her eyes, the System emitted a sharp alarm, beeping and wailing to remind the Host that something had happened outside.

"They're fighting! They're fighting!" The System spoke in a stuttering, halting manner, because their location was still some distance from the Floating City, so the shock they could feel had already weakened considerably.

"Host, Host, quick, quick, enter the city," the System urged Shen Yao, thinking that if they were any later, Lu Yan would be done for.

Shen Yao:...

Lu Yan isn't done for yet; the System is purely exaggerating.

However, Lu Yan's condition at this time is indeed not good; he was caught in the crossfire of both sides' war, causing his body to suffer severe damage; he won't die temporarily, but it's merely that he won't die — moving as freely as before is impossible.

Lu Yan:...

"Brother Lu, are you alright?"

Lu Yan's face was speechless; he thought to himself, with him clutching his chest and vomiting blood violently, is that a look that can say 'I'm fine'? This person really is something.

"Brother Chang, let's go quickly."

Lu Yan propped himself up on the wall with one hand and stood up, then staggered toward the secret passage outside.

Their current location is a small courtyard inside the Floating City; Lu Yan had long ago arranged various means inside, precisely to be able to escape smoothly when encountering danger.

He didn't want to actually use this ability today; he only hoped the affected range wouldn't be too large, otherwise if this small courtyard was destroyed, he wouldn't be able to find another safe point for contact.

The man called Brother Chang by Lu Yan kept up with Lu Yan's hurried pace; the two entered the secret passage one after the other and quickly fled the small courtyard.

"Brother Lu, it's too dangerous; your plan, why not still discuss it slowly?"

The youth hugged his arms, trembling, and began to subconsciously feel fear in retrospect.

"Brother Chang, wealth is sought in danger; the Chang Clan has already suffered heavy losses following the Xuan Yuan Clan this time.

Even Chang's own brothers and sisters included many innocent people who died in this dispute.

Brother Chang, could you really bear to let the Chang Clan be ruined at the hands of the Xuan Yuan Clan?

Lu Yan spoke directly; after all, the reason he chose to cooperate with the youth back then was that this person was simple, easily deceived, and loyal to his clan — a very good target for manipulation.

Lu Yan had many candidates similar to the youth; after all, what he did wasn't exactly upright and glorious, and although his purpose was to kill two birds with one stone, it also counted as indirectly solving a difficult problem that the Floating City had left unresolved for many years.

The youth was rendered speechless by Lu Yan's few sentences; of course he couldn't bear it.

The Chang Clan wasn't a very small clan either; for many years in the Floating City they had diligently done their own business. If not for the Xuan Yuan Clan and Sima Clan forcing them to take sides and choose a camp, the Chang Clan would have preferred to stay out of it.

"Lu Sir, I understand everything you say, but, but the Chang Clan truly cannot withstand the Xuan Yuan Clan's retaliation." This was still just a contest among the vassal forces, not yet the time when the Xuan Yuan Clan and Sima Clan personally took the field.

The youth didn't feel that a small Kamilla from the Chang Clan could do anything to the Xuan Yuan Clan. As for turning around and defecting to the Sima Clan? Once disloyal, never trusted again; betrayal has always been a high-risk, high-reward business, and the Chang Clan couldn't play that game.

"Don't be afraid, Brother Chang. I have a way to make the Xuan Yuan Clan too busy to bother with you."

Lu Yan raised his hand and patted the youth's shoulder, and as the youth looked over, he poured all his pre-prepared rhetoric into him in one go.

Brainwashing — how could that not be simple? As long as the youth had a single moment of being moved, he could be persuaded.

"Where is Lu Yan?" Shen Yao appeared at the residence that had already turned into a stretch of ashes, looking around in all directions.

"Underground, underground." The system pointed at the spot beneath Shen Yao's feet, indicating the attack had come suddenly and without warning; Lu Yan hadn't been able to dodge completely.

"He has my life-saving means on him." Even if he couldn't dodge, he wouldn't die.

Raising her hand to form a hand seal to determine the position, Shen Yao quickly found the secret passage entrance, bent down, and jumped in.

"Who?"

Lu Yan abruptly turned his head and saw Shen Yao walking in.

The two hadn't run into each other for some time. Compared to Shen Yao's leisure, Lu Yan was obviously busy, practically rooted in the Floating City day in and day out.

"How did you come?" Lu Yan exhaled, then abruptly turned his head and vomited a mouthful of blood.

Shen Yao glanced at Lu Yan's condition, took out better healing medicine from her ring, "Injured by mistake?"

Given the current situation, there was no possibility of Lu Yan being targeted yet.

Lu Yan gave an "mm" and nodded. "The war inevitably expanded; bad luck."

It couldn't be said that Lu Yan had bad luck, because the place he chose was in the war's core; no matter how he avoided it, he couldn't escape.

"Where to next?" Shen Yao looked at Lu Yan's complexion, thinking the injury wasn't too severe, just that the pills previously prepared weren't targeted enough and wouldn't have much effect.

"Go see if the Chang Clan will act." Lu Yan quickly told Shen Yao his conversation with the youth. "He's not smart, but he's the best executor."

Because smart people tend to overthink; they all want to drag things out to the end to gain an advantage.

Lu Yan continued: the Chang Clan intervened precisely because they valued the youth's utter sincerity and simplicity; whatever he said, someone would believe.

Shen Yao raised an eyebrow. "Can you move?"

He really was pushing hard enough; someone who didn't know better would think he was the Floating City's mastermind.

Heaven have mercy — actually they were just lucky ones who happened to be in the right place at the right time. Doing all this was merely to break the Floating City's order and then establish new rules.

Shen Yao's pills were treasures. Lu Yan touched his chest, which no longer hurt, and slowly stood up leaning against the wall at his side.

The two proceeded along the secret passage all the way forward, finally emerging at a small alley entrance.

After all, they were still inside the Floating City. Shen Yao could still see the sight of sparks flashing not far away.

Just as the system said, the fighting was fierce, as if it had suddenly escalated; otherwise Lu Yan wouldn't have been hit with zero preparation.

The two tacitly left the exchange-of-fire position and turned to a nearby area.

That area housed quite a few medium and small aristocratic families. Some of them had already fallen into the war's vortex; the rest were all elderly, weak, sick, and disabled — people the Xuan Yuan Clan and Sima Clan looked down on — so they could hide peacefully at home and live their days.

The Chang Clan was among them. The youth, who had parted from Lu Yan a step earlier, hurried home; the first thing he did was run to the study to discuss with the family elders.

Although the youth's words were shockingly radical, who said this matter had no possibility of success? After all, the Xuan Yuan Clan and Sima Clan's rise back then was also thanks to seizing their own opportunities.

"I think you've gone mad. This matter won't succeed; our Chang Clan cannot afford the loss."

The elder refused the youth's crazy proposal, even though he was already somewhat tempted.

"Grandfather, if we drag it out any longer, the Chang Clan will be severely weakened even if it doesn't die.

Besides, will the Xuan Yuan Clan definitely win?" What if they lose?

The youth's head was full of Lu Yan's words; he even felt Lu Yan had no problem. The Chang Clan should gamble to break free of the situation — high risk, high reward, go all in!

After another while, the youth carefully left through the Chang Clan's back door and smoothly knocked open the gate of the aristocratic family next door to the Chang Clan.

Lu Yan and Shen Yao just followed behind the youth like this, watching the youth, as Lu Yan intended, continuously form vertical and horizontal alliances, continuously integrate forces.

To tell the truth, the youth had no leadership ability, but his words were too sincere, and everyone's goals were aligned, making this plan proceed very perfectly.

Since the plan was proceeding smoothly, Lu Yan didn't need to show his face next.

Disregarding Lu Yan's request, Shen Yao simply sent Lu Yan back to the residence outside the city provided by the Sima Clan, and she herself replaced the previous Lu Yan, starting a schedule of running outside.

No choice. Although Shen Yao's ambition wasn't great, the Floating City's treasures were simply too many. Shen Yao thought: if I don't take them, it just benefits others. Besides, the Sima Clan and Xuan Yuan Clan want to mutually destroy each other and can't avoid needing her to help; collecting some interest in advance is no problem, right?

System:...

"Host, your collecting interest in advance means you go in and take it yourself?"

No need for the Owner to nod; she directly takes whatever she wants.

Although when leaving Shen Yao took out enough chips for trading, she still felt something was off somewhere.

"They don't lose out either. Besides, this kind of trade of mine counts as delivering right to their heart's desire."

System:...

The Host's words really couldn't be refuted. Look — the originally obedient vassals, as if they'd gotten some trump card, started acting like they'd been injected with chicken blood. Although they still didn't really restrain each other as opponents, they consciously avoided damaging each other's forces, until they dragged out the Sima Clan and Xuan Yuan Clan to show their faces, yielding the battlefield to these two major families.

Right from the first move they went for the kill. On the first day the Sima Clan and Xuan Yuan Clan acted, they wiped out nearly one-third of both sides' strength.

The following days became restrained, followed closely by another frenzy.

When both sides' main forces had all been exhausted by more than half, the vassals pulled a battlefield backstab, making the originally chaotic situation even more baffling.