Chapter 147

"I just threw out a general direction, and this guy actually pulled it off?"

Faced with Jiaoming's question, Zhaosi was actually quite surprised, after all, the "sow discord" strategy had little feasibility for the Three Ancestors.

Trying to sow discord among three old friends as an outsider is normally impossible; even when Zhaosi first proposed this strategy, he hadn't thought of a concrete execution plan.

His proposal of the "sow discord" grand strategy wasn't because he had it all figured out; rather, he intended to rely on the advantage of unlimited retries, an outside-the-board move, to repeatedly test the waters.

But who would have thought that the seemingly insignificant bird Jiaoming, who wasn't expected to amount to much, would actually, relying solely on his own wits, stubbornly put Zhaosi's "hollow" sow-discord strategy into effect:

First, he sorted out potential targets for sowing discord based on the personality differences among the Three Ancestors.

"'Although the Six Sages of this era, together with Di Jun and the Great One, are not yet sages or quasi-sages, their future accomplishments are so great that it shows their aptitude and comprehension far surpass ordinary innate divinities.'"

"'If at this point Jiaoming went to persuade Zu Feng to join him in killing Zu Long, it would not only fail, but would also provoke a 'lips gone, teeth cold' vigilance!'"

Under Jiaoming's threat, the Two Ancestors would surely band together for warmth, first instantly awakening their spirits, then instantly slaughtering each other; quasi-sainthood would be within easy grasp, and achieving the Dao would no longer be distant…

As long as Jiaoming can make good use of them, he wouldn't even need to worry about his pact with Zu Long; once he trains all these future mighty divine beings into Golden Immortals of Luo, even if the Three Ancestors are bound together, they'll have only a dead end!

However, the enthusiastic Zhaosi, while writing with gusto, overlooked a very important problem…

【The more you think, the more confused you get, but you don't doubt that this is a false answer; you only think your own knowledge is insufficient.】

But having grown, yet not fully grown, when the set plan encountered an unexpected loophole, this little bird once again fell into panic.

"'Who would have thought that Hongjun's attempt to slay the corpse would fail, leaving him lacking Rahu as an ally; even if he could still join forces with Zu Long to slay the Qilin, to wipe out the remaining Two Ancestors would be impossible relying only on Jiaoming and Hongjun without risking their lives…'"

Jiaoming's subtle maneuver was to first use the false rumor "only one can attain the Dao" to pre-position Zu Long; he didn't need full belief, just enough doubt to achieve the aim of sowing discord.

Because it dared not gamble on the possibility of multiple people attaining the Dao, nor on the elder brother's magnanimity.

Of course, the sole factor that truly decided Zu Long to backstab was that Jiaoming's side posed no lethal threat to it.

In Zu Long's eyes, Jiaoming's side had no absolute cultivation advantage, nor could it enlighten the sentience of all beings; its threat to him was far lower than that of the Qilin…

No matter how you say it, Zu Feng couldn't possibly be a pure love‑brain; besides, Jiaoming's feelings for it weren't deep—they'd met only once—and the reason it could be partially swayed by sowing discord was entirely because Jiaoming's reincarnator identity was too shocking.

Once Jiaoming and Zu Long conspire to slay the Qilin, there's no doubt that Jiaoming and Hongjun will instantly become the Two Ancestors' number one hidden threat!

The requirements for slaying corpses in the Primordial Stream are nothing more than these three; therefore, assuming the game hasn't arbitrarily altered its settings, Hongjun can only be deficient in one of these three.

But what exactly he lacks, Zhaosi can't really determine, and he daren't give random advice, so he can only temporarily set aside this unsolved riddle…

Finally, it was Jiaoming confronting Zu Long face‑to‑face:

Exactly, it's all my doing!

Although nominally the Three Ancestors are of equal rank, Zu Long and Zu Feng unconsciously take the Qilin's plans as their guideline—this is the trust accumulated over countless eons.

"'Originally, according to Jiaoming's plan, after successively splitting Zu Long and Zu Feng, we would only need to defeat each of the Three Ancestors one by one.'"

"'Jiaoming's camp openly has only him and Hongjun as two Luo‑level beings, to lull Zu Long's guard so they can jointly slay the Qilin… then, after the Qilin dies, suddenly let Rahu ambush Zu Long, the three of them killing it together… finally, the remaining Zu Feng, who seems like a love‑brain, is also doomed!'"

"'Besides, Jiaoming can't rally any contemporaries of equal strength; the countless wild Luo‑level beings of the acquired myriad spirits now lack sentience, and innate divinities are each a priceless rarity—after all that, his side has only him and Hongjun…'"

【Jiaoming received the list you passed to him.】

That shouldn't be possible, should it?

【Jiaoming is dazed……】

That's why Jiaoming focused his main attack on Zu Long; theoretically, if he makes it realize that its interests conflict sufficiently with the Qilin's, sowing discord is entirely feasible!

"'After all, we lack sufficient strength and have too few people…'"

Below them are Di Jun, Taiyi, Xihe, Kunpeng, Hongyun, Zhenyuanzi, the Old Ancestor of the Nether River, and other quasi‑sage mighty ones.

The sow‑discord schemes that Jiaoming's mind can devise have little chance of being effective against the Qilin, which has always been positioned as the wise one…

But if they stake their lives, Jiaoming's probability of death becomes high, which would violate the requirement for a perfect ending.

Under the premise that only one can attain the Dao, Jiaoming painstakingly argued the advantages of the Qilin attaining the Dao—basically, it seeks to devour all; if we don't eliminate it now, once it attains the Dao, fellow cultivator, do you think it will spare you, this little lackey who once betrayed it?

After appealing to reason and stirring emotion, as long as Zu Long remains that 'arrogant heaven‑defying dragon' personality, he'll almost certainly fall for the trap!

【……Faced with the current plan's loophole, the bewildered you chooses (go to Kunlun Mountain to find the Three Pure Ones, go to Mount Buzhou to find Nüwa and Fuxi, go to Western Sumeru Mountain to find Zhunti and Jieyin……go to the Sun Star to find Xihe, Di Jun, and Taiyi, go to the North Sea to find Kunpeng, go to Five Zhuang Observatory on Longevity Mountain to find Zhenyuanzi……)】

Among the Three Ancestors, the Qilin is undoubtedly the first excluded from the sow‑discord scope, for no other reason than that it is the true core and intellectual mainstay of the small group, the leader among the Three Ancestors.

Thus, Jiaoming's plan can only end in total bankruptcy.

As he pondered, Zhaosi suddenly had a flash of insight:

Wait!

Although it wouldn't cause an outright betrayal on the spot, the Two Ancestors would certainly become more vigilant.

Despotism isn't enough to describe Zu Long; you should use Zu Long to define despotism!

At the cost of his self‑detonating reincarnator identity, Jiaoming immediately gained partial trust from Zu Feng, then feigned a melodramatic 'past‑life lover reborn to save the beloved's regret' storyline, lowering Zu Feng's trust in the other two ancestors and thus achieving the sow‑discord goal…

【Jiaoming is puzzled.】

Zhaosi frowned:

Why can't Hongjun slay an evil corpse as he did in his previous life?

Cultivation? State of mind? Innate spiritual treasure?

【Hongjun:?】

In short, Jiaoming's plan and execution are quite good, to the point that even Zhaosi can't help but sigh with admiration:

More importantly, Jiaoming seized upon its 'supreme‑only' selfish psychology; as long as he amplifies that mindset, even if Zu Long always harbors the hopeful notion that multiple people can attain the Dao, it becomes irrelevant.

【Jiaoming is excited!】

Next, he raised Zu Long's banner to attack the Qilin Cliff, making the Qilin believe that Zu Long had leaked secrets; under that impression, the Qilin would naturally advise and rebuke Zu Long.

"'In his past life he was just a headless fly bumping around aimlessly; this lifetime he's actually grown……'"

Perhaps the Qilin won't really think the attacker is a lackey summoned by Zu Long, but Zu Long himself will develop resentment toward his elder brother, thinking the elder brother suspects him……

Indeed, we currently lack sufficiently powerful teammates, but we can cultivate our own!

"'The first batch of innate divinities of this era are naturally not to be counted on, but the innate divinities of the next era can wholly be brought aboard in advance……'"

Zhaosi realized, lamenting silently that his thinking had been limited by the age, while eagerly beginning to write strategies:

Zhao Si recited, as best he could, all the top experts he knew from later generations; each of these future experts would not lose to the Three Ancestors.

【After thinking, you turned your head and asked Hongjun: So, where is Kunlun Mountain? Who are the Three Pure Ones? Where is Mount Sumeru? Who are Jieyin and Zhunti? Where is Mount Buzhou? Who are Fuxi and Nüwa……】

Zhao Si felt a bit of a headache:

"The era of the Three Ancestors is completely different from that of Jin Bing's time; Jin Bing only needed to recruit strong warriors to join, and that would strengthen the camp's strength."

But the Ancestral Dragon is different; as the first forefather of the dragon clan, what kind of character it ultimately has can be glimpsed from the future Azure Dragon.

"Such a 'Dragon Arrogant Heaven' — although it's not exactly stupid, its personality and interests will drive it to make choices harmful to the three-person small group but beneficial to itself."

"Jiao Ming's confusion stems from his desire to follow the original plan to kill the Three Ancestors, but Hongjun dragged him back, making it impossible under the current conditions."

As for the Ancestral Phoenix, Jiao Ming's schemes toward it are not deep, nor does he hope to turn it; his only hope for the Ancestral Phoenix is:

Don't get involved!

"If we find them early and teach them the Dao of Immortality early, their chances of quickly becoming Golden Immortals of the Great Luo are extremely high; and since there is still a long time before the Ancestral Dragon and Ancestral Phoenix each awaken their spirits and begin slaughter..."

Excited, Zhao Si's thoughts stirred slightly:

The top experts of the Wraith-Witch era are naturally the Six Saints!

But I'm doing this all for your own good!

Zhao Si began to ponder:

"What if we… also bring the Ancestral Phoenix along to kill the Ancestral Dragon?"

【I don't know!】

……

(End of chapter)