Chapter 260: The Strategist's Ambition

Bai Ze fled completely, leaving Mu Yi alone to face the big boss's wrath.

Mu Yi at this moment only feels a divine aura bearing down on him, making one want to bow in worship; he can't even see the person's features, only sense their regal splendor and countless graceful manners, yet when he tries to recall, his mind holds no impression at all.

"Hmph!" the Western Queen Mother sneered coldly as she watched the space tunnel ripped open by Bai Ze.

She had no intention of chasing Bai Ze; that fellow is slippery, and even if she caught up, it would be hard to seize him.

Across the realm, those who can still catch Bai Ze while he is determined to flee are few enough to count on the fingers.

If it weren't for the Western Queen Mother coincidentally handling affairs in the Heavenly Court, she couldn't have arrived so quickly; in terms of shielding heavenly secrets, Bai Ze is also formidable.

"Hm?"

Looking at Mu Yi, the Western Queen Mother was momentarily stunned; she did know his name, after all being valued by Hou Tu meant he had entered the gaze of the great deities.

But when the Western Queen Mother saw Mu Yi, she perceived a karmic entanglement between him and herself.

The Western Queen Mother became interested, snapped her fingers, and instantly understood.

She hadn't expected Mu Yi's karmic link with her to be like this.

The Western Queen Mother and Lu Wu, in a sense, are the deluxe versions of Mu Yi and Chu Yi.

Chu Yi is the Mountain God of Kunlun, while Mu Yi is the Lord of Kunlun, corresponding to the Western Queen Mother and Lu Wu.

However, the Kunlun each side commands is not even of the same magnitude.

"Heaven's Dao favors, but alas..." the Western Queen Mother said slowly, shaking her head.

Mu Yi is far too weak—so weak that even if she wished to give him guidance, she couldn't act, and since his future, barring mishap, follows the Reincarnation Path, she cannot advise on that either.

She doesn't want to compete with Hou Tu for talent; whether she can win is irrelevant. Mu Yi has already merged with Reincarnation, so she can't beat Hou Tu— even the Great Celestial Venerable cannot match Hou Tu in this realm.

"In the future you may bring Mountain God Chu Yi to my Kunlun; I will arrange a Trial for you, and if you pass, I can grant you the living soil to plant a Peach Tree!"

"Thank you, Queen Mother!" Mu Yi quickly bowed in gratitude to the Western Queen Mother.

Bai Ze had previously restrained his own power; the Western Queen Mother truly snapped her fingers and completely nullified him.

"If you can help me capture Bai Ze, I will reward you with a Great Immortal Peach!" The Western Queen Mother glanced at the horn in Mu Yi's hand, uttered those words, and vanished into the void.

"Zongwang Prompt: You have earned the Western Queen Mother's approval, gaining the chance to bring follower Chu Yi to Jiuzhou's native Kunlun Mountain for a Trial; the current opportunity is locked on your Zongwang Panel as 【Kunlun Trial】."

"Zongwang Prompt: You have received a commission from the Western Queen Mother—to capture Bai Ze; completing it will grant you a Great Immortal Peach."

【Great Immortal Peach】

The peach is real; it contains benevolence and belongs to Pure Yang.

A premium Immortal Peach, with violet veins and fine core, ripens once every nine thousand years; those who eat it live as long as heaven and earth, sharing the same age as sun and moon.

The Great Immortal Peach is even rarer, the supreme among premium Immortal Peaches, exceedingly uncommon.

Effect 1: Upon consumption, grants the special traits "Attains Dao and Becomes Immortal," "Longevity without Aging," and "Life Equal to Heaven and Earth."

Effect 2: Grants a "Pure Yang Body"; cultivation aptitude for Pure Yang spells rises to the highest tier, resistance to Pure Yang spells improves, immunity to ordinary Yin spells, damage to Yin creatures becomes true damage (except Pure Yin bodies), and the chance to attract spirits greatly increases.

Effect 3: After intake, massively boosts vitality, raises energy cap to the current level's limit, dramatically enhances regeneration, and grants the traits "Everlasting Life," "Qi and Blood Like a Dragon," and "Rapid Recovery."

Effect 4: Upon consumption, triggers bloodline retrogression, increasing bloodline density.

A simple description, an extreme envy: one Great Immortal Peach comes with six premium traits, each a rare achievement, unexpectedly appearing together.

Mu Yi even entertained the thought of using himself as bait to sell directly to Bai Ze.

But that notion vanished in an instant, snuffed out by Mu Yi himself.

Even to capture Bai Ze, one must understand the karmic link with him and rely on one's own strength.

Being a villain in Jiuzhou may bring short‑term gain, but it damages one's future prospects.

Mu Yi wiped the cold sweat from his forehead—stimulating, too stimulating.

He quickly summoned the Zongwang Panel to choose to leave.

This is the Jiuzhou world; only Heaven knows what great deities one might encounter outside.

"Do you want to launch the mission scene?"

"Yes!"

"Transferring..."

Just as Mu Yi was about to teleport away, he seemed to see Bai Ze waving farewell.

"Sss, pretending to leave while actually playing in the dark?"

Yet in his daze, Mu Yi saw lightning flash across the sky.

Bai Ze should be fine, right?

Back in the main world, Mu Yi glanced at the horn in his hand.

【Bai Ze Horn (Seal)】

A fragment of the young Bai Ze's shed horn; bearing it allows communication with all things.

Effect 1 (Seal): After a standard action, the holder can learn basic information about a selected target, with unlimited uses.

Effect 2 (Seal): After a standard action, the holder can focus on a selected target to obtain its classified information (the chance of failure is extremely high and it greatly reduces the target's favor).

Effect 3: Enables communication with Bai Ze through this item.

ps: Unlocking the seal requires Bai Ze's approval; forcibly breaking it will lower Bai Ze's favor.

ps: You don't want your past known by everyone, do you? —Bai Ze

"Six!" Mu Yi looked at the message Bai Ze left him, his eye twitching slightly; honestly, Bai Ze is so indebted yet still not killed, truly impressive.

"Why did you give me this thing?" Mu Yi scratched his head.

Speaking of it, the Bai Ze Horn should count as a divine artifact, right?

Can this guy Bai Ze really not find any other one‑handed sword artifacts?

I truly can't understand what Bai Ze is thinking.

Honestly, Mu Yi thinks Bai Ze must have another way to contact him.

But it just gave me this—aren't you afraid I might use this thing to cast a curse or some witchcraft on it?

But after thinking, Mu Yi felt the White Marsh Beast might truly not be afraid, since curses and witchcraft always have a way to be broken, and the White Marsh Beast knows all things; such spells should be the least frightening to it.

Moreover, you're playing tricks with the White Marsh Beast—do you really think it won't shake people?

When the White Marsh Beast shakes down the great abilities of Xuanyuan, Yinglong and others, you'd better pray you can fight like Chi You.

But at present, Jiuzhou's fighters are less capable than Chi You…

All one can say is to wish for more blessings.

Mu Yi carefully stuffed the White Marsh Beast's horn into his backpack; truly offending the White Marsh Beast, who beats him up would be secondary.

When that time comes, they might even shake out how old I was when I wet the bed.

When the time comes, the White Marsh Beast might even do a live broadcast; this guy is far more terrifying than a paparazzi squad.

Overall, his haul this trip was quite abundant; not only did he figure out the limit of wave‑cutting, but also obtained two days' worth of crucial information from the White Marsh Beast's mouth, and more importantly, gained three chances of all‑knowledge.

The White Marsh Beast knows all things; if handled properly, the benefits it can exchange for are almost unimaginable.

Speaking of that, Mu Yi couldn't help but let his gaze drift to the sect task that recently appeared, the only sect task without level restrictions.

"Sect Task — Military Strategist's Must‑Fight Land"

Since ancient times, Military Strategists have spoken of a must‑fight land, yet the Military Strategists still have no exclusive heaven and earth; now the Military Strategist's military deity joint manual issues the following statement.

The Military Strategist also needs to forge a realm of its own.

Task Duration: Unlimited

Task Objective: Find a great world without the Hundred Schools (including levels 1‑40)

Task Reward: Massive sect contributions, Military Strategist divine abilities of choice, one‑on‑one guidance from a military deity, Heavenly Court and Underworld divine positions…

This task didn't exist when Mu Yi first joined the Military Strategist sect; it appeared after the last Military Strategist summit.

Mu Yi always felt this thing was related to him, yet there was no concrete evidence; nevertheless, Mu Yi was still very attentive to the matter.

So after acquiring the White Marsh Beast as such a great killing weapon, Mu Yi's first thought was the Military Strategist sect task.

As everyone knows, only large‑scale events can scoop up more good stuff.

If the White Marsh Beast can't obtain a divine artifact, there should be a war‑use divine artifact in the Military Strategist sect; even if it's not a sword, it'll do.

Divine artifact, divine artifact!

This thing is almost becoming Mu Yi's obsession; up to now he's only handled two divine artifacts—a fragment and a defective piece—leaving a deep resentment.

Harboring complex emotions, Mu Yi submitted the task acceptance description.

But within moments, Mu Yi received a reply.

"Come to the Military Strategist Hall for a meeting!"

A token was tossed straight into his backpack.

Mu Yi focused his consciousness on the token, and instantly a dialogue box popped up.

"Do you wish to use the Military Strategist token to teleport into the Military Strategist Hall?"

"Yes!"

"Transferring character to the Military Strategist Hall…"

……

Inside the Military Strategist Hall

Sun Wu was consolidating the forces that various military deities were willing to invest; honestly, based on the data Sun Wu has, most of these military deities are basically participating for fun.

Basically, no one claims to be earnestly digging up old secrets; aside from a few individuals, most military deities already command sizable armies, and even if you count only the disciples they personally taught, that's still a considerable number.

Nevertheless, they haven't even decided who to fight yet; everyone basically brought one or two disciples with one or two legions to register for the event, likely agreeing out of respect for him and Jiang Taigong.

A scattered bunch like this leaves Sun Wu exhausted, but at least the situation is moving in a good direction; Sun Wu can only endure, silently handling internal affairs, gathering strength while waiting for a battlefield to emerge.

Without a clear war objective, it's impossible to fire up the war machine; everything being done now is merely play‑acting.

"Hm? Someone took the task?" Sun Wu was startled; the sect's highest‑level task had been accepted?

"Let me see!" In fact, since the task was posted, Sun Wu has also received several task reports.

One can only say it's not even a fraction of what they aim for; the gap to their desired goal is huge, but it could serve as a training ground for integration.

Sun Wu, according to the ruling, gave those disciples a portion of rewards; it was at least conscientious, and even if expectations weren't met, it still deserved commendation.

But it's still far from encompassing all Military Strategist military deities.

Originally there was little hope, since such a massive undertaking could remain dormant for years; this thing's timing, geography, and human harmony are all unattainable.

However, the moment Sun Wu opened the view, he immediately stood up!

"White Marsh Beast!" Sun Wu became excited.

The name White Marsh Beast—who in Jiuzhou doesn't know it?

Even the Four Ministers of the Heavenly Court fall short of the White Marsh Beast in intelligence; if the great world has a foothold, the White Marsh Beast is definitely a possibility.

When Sun Wu realized who had taken the task, a sense of destiny spontaneously arose.

"Mu Yi!!!"

"No wonder you're my Military Strategist rising star!" Sun Wu, the more he looked, the more he liked Mu Yi's name.

Originally Mu Yi was a crucial part of their campaign against the great world, and unexpectedly, it was still Mu Yi himself who launched this activity.

"Alright, alright, alright!"

Sun Wu handed the Hall‑access token directly to Mu Yi, then swung his hand to heavily strike the golden bell hanging in the Military Strategist Hall; a resonating sound rippled through the hall and reached the ears of all military deities across the Multiverse.

"What is Sun Wu up to?"

With a casual strike, he sent the disciple before him flying, the mighty tyrant, as towering as a deity, frowned.

Within the Multiverse, different entities achieve transcendence; Xiang Yu, who attained the Zongnet's destiny‑rewriting power, is one such case, leaving a Jiuzhou legend in the Zongnet world like a meteor.

Xiang Yu altered his fate, successfully completed the transcendence, and joined the Heavenly Court as a Military Strategist military deity.

However, the history of Jiuzhou's homeland is already set in stone; even if Xiang Yu achieves transcendence, he still cannot change the predetermined history.

The homeland of Jiuzhou is like a towering tree, with countless branches extending from the fixed historical trunk, and on those branches are countless worlds like leaves.

However, no matter how splendid the branches may be, the history of Jiuzhou's homeland remains basically as stable as Mount Tai.

Anyone who attempts to change history will encounter tremendous resistance.

What Guan Yu wants to reverse is a thick branch on the trunk, and this is still under the condition that the Great Heavenly Venerable has permitted it, after all, an Emperor Lord is also considered top-tier combat power for the Heavenly Court.

Therefore, there are actually quite a few military gods among the Strategists; many people originally were not qualified in the predetermined history, but achieving transcendence through chance and coincidence is commonplace.

Xiang Yu is one of them; his Military Formation alone is already unrivaled under heaven, and with the experience of comprehensive network travels and the tempering of multiple worlds, his strength is somewhat unbelievable.

At this moment, he is somewhat puzzled.

It was agreed that only upon finding a suitable great world would the golden bell be struck to convene a meeting; how come suddenly we have to hold a full assembly?

"Long Ju, Ying Bu, and Chu Huai, follow me to the Military Strategist Hall!"

However, since it's been agreed upon, the Overlord will not go back on his word, directly bringing his two subordinate great generals and his direct disciples to transmit to the hall.

"What on earth is Sun Wu up to?"

Many military gods share Xiang Yu's doubts, but despite having many questions, everyone still arrived at the hall as agreed.

"Sun Wu, why have you summoned us?"

Someone who had just arrived at the venue spoke dissatisfiedly to Sun Wu.

Although Sun Wu is an elder senior, the Strategists do not care about seniority, only about strength, so most of the time they address each other by name.