Chapter 706: You Ruo's Question

Outside Qingqiu City, the imperial forest garden.

Hundreds of flowers bloom, fragrance rich and thick.

You Ruo's essence-blood avatar wore a white fur-trimmed long robe, sleeves fluttering, leisurely strolling along a small path in the flower grove, surrounded by hundreds of blooming maidens, their laughter like silver bells, carried far on the wind.

Further away, several thousand guards wearing light armor, with stern expressions, of the Fetal Storage Realm, formed into battle arrays of three to five, following at a distance to escort.

With You Ruo's status, and the strength of this essence-blood avatar of his, what need is there for any guards?

He simply enjoys this display.

Attended before and behind, beauties surrounding, a pack of hungry dogs following far off; with a single command he could tear the target to shreds. Such a feeling, given his status, cannot be enjoyed in the ancestral land of the Ice Spirit Divine Clan.

Although he is a prince, the Ice Spirit Divine Clan has more than just him as a prince.

Within the Ice Spirit Divine Clan, he is merely a clansman with certain privileges!

But in the Qingqiu Divine Kingdom, he is the supreme god!

This lofty splendor and glory intoxicated him immensely. Thus You Ruo smiled especially radiantly, spring breeze on his face, temporarily forgetting the power struggle with You Zu, forgetting all the troublesome matters of late.

A gentle breeze blew, and a figure suddenly appeared before You Ruo.

You Ruo stared, then stepped back a few paces.

The maidens beside You Ruo cried out in alarm, a "shua shua shua" sound, the breeze making the surrounding blossoms sway wildly; several Linghu clan juniors, accompanied by dozens of commanders, flashed over swiftly, lining up side by side to block You Ruo.

You Ruo smiled and nodded slightly, speaking softly: "Handle it gently, don't let the bloody smell frighten the beauties."

The guards moved to surround the Yin-Yang Daoist who had appeared out of thin air; the Yin-Yang Daoist chuckled and bowed to You Ruo: "Sir You Ruo, do you still remember your lord's previous promise? Concerning my lord's ascension to godhood."

The Yin-Yang Daoist extended a palm, five fingers swaying before You Ruo.

You Ruo recalled this matter; originally he had, as an emissary sent by Linghu Qingqing, promised Wu Tie that if Wu Tie could slay sufficient numbers and quality of enemies in the great war, he would grant Wu Tie fifty slots for direct godhood without undergoing the Divine Tribulation.

Moreover, these fifty slots did not include Wu Tie himself.

"Wait." You Ruo snorted, and the guards halted, stepping back a few paces.

After sizing up the Yin-Yang Daoist from head to toe, You Ruo chuckled lightly: "You, you actually managed to find this place?"

You Ruo's identity is special; his existence is strictly kept secret by Linghu Qingqing outwardly, and all information about him has been tightly sealed by Linghu Qingqing. Thus You Ruo wondered how the Yin-Yang Daoist could locate him so precisely.

The Yin-Yang Daoist also smiled: "Fish have their ways, shrimp have theirs; there's always a way, right?"

You Ruo nodded with a smile: "Mm, an interesting saying… Do you have your own channels? Hmm, intelligence networks? Does the Martial King of Wuguo, beside the Divine Emperor of the Qingqiu Divine Kingdom, have his own intelligence channels?"

Several Linghu clan juniors present changed expression, their gazes toward the Yin-Yang Daoist turning fierce.

A king ennobled by the divine kingdom dares to plant spies beside the Divine Emperor, to peek at the Divine Emperor's tightly guarded secrets.

Such conduct borders on rebellion.

You Ruo's words, whether intentional or not, amount to driving a thorn between the relationship of Linghu Qingqing and Wu Tie.

The Yin-Yang Daoist sighed helplessly: "Sir You Ruo, your words leave me with nothing to say… Hmm, do you still remember that promise?"

You Ruo smiled and nodded: "Remembered, remembered, certainly remembered—it's merely a quota of fifty-one people for godhood, fifty-one Heavenly Decrees, nothing major; here, I can give them to you now."

Just like tossing trash, You Ruo pulled out fifty-one Heavenly Decrees from his sleeve and threw them to the Yin-Yang Daoist before the several Linghu clan juniors. He didn't even bother to verify whether the Yin-Yang Daoist was truly Wu Tie's emissary, and simply flung these Heavenly Decrees, capable of sparking a bloody conflict, to the Yin-Yang Daoist.

Upon receiving the Heavenly Decrees, the Yin-Yang Daoist let out a slight sigh of relief.

Wu Tie's dharma body is perfected; he has reached absolute great perfection. Next is the union of god and flesh, breaking into the Divine Realm. For Wu Tie now, this is a realm he can break through with a mere thought.

Wu Tie cultivates the Primordial Scripture; he fears that during the breakthrough, the Divine Tribulation might undergo some anomaly.

Therefore, bypassing the Divine Tribulation and breaking into the Divine Realm without alarming anyone is Wu Tie's necessary choice. Fortunately, having You Ruo's promise, he sent the Yin-Yang Daoist on a trip to Qingqiu City.

"Then, I take my leave." The Yin-Yang Daoist said without further ado, a layer of hazy spiritual light appearing on his surface, about to depart.

"Wait…" You Ruo hastily called out to the Yin-Yang Daoist, gazing at him, pondered a moment, and asked: "Do you know that your Martial King has become a thorn in the eyes of some, a splinter in their flesh, hated to the point they wish to tear him apart?"

You Ruo pointed at the Yin-Yang Daoist and said: "Can your Martial King himself realize that, if not for this battle on the dueling field where enough Divine Realm experts were slain… enough spoils to let certain individuals temporarily overlook him, someone would have already moved against him?"

The Yin-Yang Daoist stared, then smiled: "Please, sir, give me some guidance."

You Ruo smiled, shook his head lightly, and waved a hand: "You all, step back."

The Linghu clan juniors stared, wanting to stay and hear what the two would say, but they dared not defy You Ruo's order, so they reluctantly hurried away. Several Linghu clan juniors, while fleeing on light, kept turning back to glance this way.

"You too, step back… Prepare hot water; later accompany me in bathing." You Ruo smiled at the surrounding orioles and swallows.

The throng of flower-like maidens coyly laughed a few times, taking three steps back for each step, swaying gracefully as they went far away.

"I don't just give advice for nothing… On what basis?" After sending away the attendants, You Ruo then smiled and shook his head at the Yin-Yang Daoist: "This concerns the life and death of your Martial King; well… I cannot offer guidance for free."

The Yin-Yang Daoist sighed, produced a storage ring from his sleeve, smiled, and handed it to You Ruo: "Sir You Ruo! A token of my esteem, though modest."

You Ruo took the ring, inspected its contents without changing expression, then broke into a delighted smile, nodding repeatedly.

The ring held many fine items, all specialties of the original Great Martial Divine Kingdom.

Especially, there were two bottles of bloodline essence refined from the blue-scaled ice carp dwelling in the Southern Wasteland Glacier of the Great Martial Divine Kingdom; for the Ice Spirit Divine Clan, this is a fine thing that can swiftly raise cultivation and nourish the divine soul.

The two bottles of ice carp bloodline essence weigh about ten thousand catties, requiring at least the slaying of a hundred blue-scaled ice carp to gather.

In the past, observing as You Ruo did with the identity of the Ice Spirit Divine Clan's frontier commander, gathering this much would have taken thousands of years. But now, merely a "token of esteem" yields such benefits… You Ruo is very pleased.

"Indeed, some sayings of these lowly humans still make sense… To harm the public and enrich the private is the true way. These fine things, if stored in the public treasury, where would putting them into private coffers feel more satisfying? Especially, storing them publicly would let You Zu also share the benefits?"

You Ruo pursed his lips, muttering to himself inwardly.

His essence-blood avatar has mingled in the Qingqiu Divine Kingdom for years; privately, he concealed his identity and also befriended some Qingqiu officials. Those officials… you cannot expect them all to be upright gentlemen cultivating the Vast Righteousness; there are plenty of petty villains and treacherous scoundrels among them.

Thus, You Ruo gradually also absorbed from them many "novel" and "useful" ideas.

"From now on, if you occasionally send a token of esteem… I might well give your Wuguo some favor." You Ruo nodded satisfactorily, then said in a low voice: "Do you know my true identity?"

The Yin-Yang Daoist looked astonished and puzzled at You Ruo: "May I ask, sir, are you not the Emperor's envoy?"

You Ruo raised his head proudly, spoke solemnly: "I am… a god!"

In his eyes, two clusters of deep blue cold light flickered; You Ruo spoke solemnly: "I am the god you worship, revere, sacrifice to, and pray to… the supreme… god!"

"I am… the Vice Leader of the Ice Spirit Divine Clan."

When You Ruo uttered the three words "Vice Leader", he involuntarily gritted his teeth, forcing them out with great difficulty from between his teeth.

The Yin-Yang Daoist smiled.

He is Wu Tie's three-corpse doppelganger.

But Wu Tie himself can only be said to be relatively smart; aside from that, he is neither deceitful nor cunning, let alone shrewd. After all, how old is Wu Tie? He has fought bloody battles on the battlefield, yet he has never plotted in the court.

Deep down, Wu Tie is still the honest and simple child he was when he was at Wu Family Fort.

But the Yin-Yang Daoist is different.

He is an incarnation severed from Wu Tie, embodying the Yin-Yang Dao of heaven and earth; the innate and acquired Yin-Yang principles encompass all things, infinitely profound. Even human thoughts and psychology have good and evil distinctions, and good and evil are Yin and Yang.

Thus the Yin-Yang Daoist could clearly sense that instant when You Ruo emitted negative malice from his very core.

"You deserve more." The Yin-Yang Daoist smiled unusually kindly; strands of strange qi spread from his body, gradually permeating the surrounding void, merging into the air, seeping into souls, and affecting a hint of You Ruo's emotion.

"I, of course, should have more." You Ruo frowned, speaking coldly: "You Zu may be my elder brother, but aside from being a bit older, what does he have that surpasses me? Why him… and not me?"

The Yin-Yang Daoist narrowed his eyes.

Brother vs. brother?

What a good thing!

"I have never seen the Lord You Zu you speak of. But Lord You Ruo is our friend." The Yin-Yang Daoist smiled amiably.

The innate transformations of Yin and Yang—Yin and Yang can be good and evil, right and wrong, black and white, life and death… even more, they can be demon and immortal, and all opposing things and principles of the innate and acquired.

The Yin-Yang Daoist, who follows the innate-acquired Yin-Yang Dao, regards many things as his inborn abilities.

For example, in the primordial mythic era, some supreme secret arts of the demonic path.

Black and white spiritual light swirled faintly in his pupils; the Yin-Yang Daoist had already seized the initiative in this conversation. After all, the You Ruo before him is merely a essence-blood avatar, not his true self; influencing this avatar of You Ruo, affecting the fragment of soul within it, is easy and simple.

"Friend… huh." You Ruo's gaze grew deep, he stared fixedly at the Yin-Yang Daoist: "Does your lord harbor ambition?"

The Yin-Yang Daoist laughed especially brightly: "I am the true, intimate aide of our lord; our lord hides nothing from me… he naturally has a trifling ambition, but certainly not a usurper's wild ambition."

You Ruo snorted at the Yin-Yang Daoist's words, sneering: "Just looking at you shows you're not law-abiding; it's obvious that King Huo Xiong of Wuguo is no saint either… righteous aura? Hah, Linghu Qingqing believes he's a good person just because he cultivated righteous aura?"

Go ask Linghu Qingqing whether he himself believes that.

Go ask your lord whether he himself can do that.

Shaking his head, You Ruo said in a low voice: "Go back, ask your lord… would he be willing… to become my follower?"

You Ruo pointed at himself, repeating his identity once more: prince of the Ice Spirit Divine Tribe, former chief leader of the Ice Spirit Divine Tribe's observation outpost, and current deputy leader.

"If you pledge loyalty to me… I can abandon Linghu Qingqing, and give his Wuguo, and him, ample privileges and ample benefits." You Ruo narrowed his eyes, dangerous light flashing in his pupils.

Linghu Qingqing has unified the three kingdoms without doubt; he will become a sweet treat for You Zu, Chi Hui, and the others. Apart from their five newly arrived chief leaders, anyone else seeking to gain benefits from Linghu Qingqing will suffer a combined strike from those five.

If so, why not turn our gaze toward Wu Tie?

Speaking solely of territory, Wuguo occupies one-third of the land of the Qingqiu Divine Kingdom.

The best part is that Wuguo's land is barren; You Zu and his ilk have only just descended and are unfamiliar with the situation at the observation outpost. They will inevitably fixate on Linghu Qingqing, squeezing him for maximum gain.

Wuguo is merely a part of the Qingqiu Divine Kingdom; You Zu and his lot only think of killing Wu Tie to vent the anger from losing their gamble because of him.

But they would never think of directly controlling Wu Tie to gain benefits straight from him.

You Ruo quickly pitted himself and Wu Tou, Yan Hao, etc., against You Zu and the others, winning two rounds in a row thanks to Wu Tie's involvement, causing You Zu and company to suffer heavy losses.

"Your lord is now a thorn in the eye and a splinter in the flesh of You Zu and his gang. For now they have no leisure to take revenge on your lord… but once they digest the huge benefits from that previous decisive battle, heh."

You Ruo said pointedly: "Only I can guarantee your safety, only I can let you survive their retaliation. After all, they cannot possibly act against you themselves; they can only use other means… and I can influence their retaliation."

You Ruo said solemnly: "So, will your lord be willing to become my follower?"

The Yin-Yang Daoist spoke decisively: "Lord You Ruo, with your exalted status, since you've raised this, how could we not recognize kindness? I am the true confidant of our lord, his full representative; I can make decisions on his behalf."

"From today onward, my Wuguo will be your trusted subordinate." The Yin-Yang Daoist looked at You Ruo: "Please continue to guide me, Lord You Ruo!"

You Ruo's head inexplicably heated up; he laughed as he took out a jade slip, a cold light shooting from his brow, and quickly began to sketch on the jade slip.

After a quarter of an hour, You Ruo handed the jade slip to the Yin-Yang Daoist.

"Inside is the method for forging the Heavenly God Token. Go back, forge your own Heavenly God Tokens… tell your lord that I need one, a divine army wholly loyal to me and solely devoted to me."

The Yin-Yang Daoist gripped the jade slip tightly; the corner of his mouth twitched violently.

Gazing deeply at You Ruo, the Yin-Yang Daoist said solemnly: "As you wish, my esteemed sir!"