Chapter 301: The Ambitious One

"Wake up every day, embrace the sun!"

The next morning, Ren Yidao held Da Huang high toward the sun in the pose of Simba being presented to the world.

"Meow!"

Placing the listless Yellow Sand Tiger onto his shoulder, Ren Yidao walked out of the room and wandered toward the street.

Before he had walked very far, he saw a scene in the distance of surging crowds and rising human vitality.

It was barely dawn, yet there were already many people there; he wondered how long it had been going on.

Whether adults or children, the expressions on their faces were a world apart from the deathly stillness of yesterday.

Joy, happiness, liveliness...

Ren Yidao did not dislike such emotions; or rather, aside from some psychologically twisted fellows, most people would feel pleasant after seeing this scene.

Vigorous vitality, a vibrancy ready to burst forth.

They seemed to have forgotten the hardships of reality and the danger constantly approaching from the east, seeking only to enjoy their lives in this moment.

"It feels like the New Year."

"Perhaps for this city that has long since had no future, this is their New Year?"

"Perhaps."

Ren Yidao withdrew his gaze and stepped toward the east.

"As for the market, I'll go wander around in the afternoon; maybe I can pick up a bargain."

I am too familiar with this development!

As long as the protagonist goes to the market, regardless of whether it makes sense, they will definitely be able to pick up a rare treasure that no one else can discover.

Like a ring hiding an old grandfather, a broken key that can obtain a peerless technique, a clay figurine with hidden mysteries...

"And I have an unformed Heavenly Eye, which is an essential element for gambling on stones!"

"One cut for riches, one cut for poverty, one cut to be wrapped in hempen cloth~"

"Thinking about it, with the Heavenly Eye and luck on my side, it is impossible for me to be wrapped in hempen cloth."

However, before going to feel the human vitality and open blind boxes, he still had to go to one place to take a look.

He followed the street all the way to the east.

Target: the East City Wall.

There, he would be able to gaze toward his destination.

"Meow!"

While at the foot of the city wall, it hadn't been very clear, but the moment he climbed to the top of the wall, the listless and unconscious Yellow Sand Tiger on Ren Yidao's shoulder suddenly gained spirit.

Its pupils turned into vertical slits, staring straight at the black clouds in the east, as if wanting to get a little closer.

But before it could make any attempt, Ren Yidao flicked its forehead.

*Snap. *

With one finger, the cat's eyes became clear again.

Ren Yidao did not blame it for having such a reaction, because even he himself could barely suppress his instincts, his breathing disordered for a moment.

Demon Qi.

He had never experienced such dense Demon Qi.

A hundred demons? A thousand demons?

No, more, absolutely more!

Ten thousand demons!

And it was very likely to exceed the number of twenty thousand.

Although there would be low-level minor demons, with this base number, the number of Great Demons would not be small either.

Under the shroud of such poison-like Demon Qi, the operation of Human Race cultivators' cultivation would inevitably be obstructed, their strength decreasing by at least twenty percent.

But for the Demon Race, this Demon Qi was a natural boost, their strength capable of increasing by at least twenty percent!

One increase and one decrease, as one grows the other wanes, the gap is directly widened!

"Ten Thousand Demon Cave, indeed."

"Are the Kings of the Eastern Wasteland all idiots? Raising a tiger to cause trouble like this, are they really not afraid of it getting out of hand one day? Causing the Eastern Wasteland to be overrun by demon disasters?"

Although he was complaining like this, Ren Yidao was crystal clear about the small schemes of the Kings of the Eastern Wasteland in his heart.

For three reasons.

First, in the eyes of the Kings of the Eastern Wasteland, Wanshou City had long been unworthy of mention, but they still greedily wanted to squeeze out its last bit of value, acting as cannon fodder standing in front of the Demon Beasts of Death Valley.

And the second reason was more direct—strength.

Could it be that the Kings were hesitant, fearing the tens of thousands of Demon Beasts in Death Valley?

This was obviously impossible.

A single Heaven Realm Great Demon in Death Valley counted for nothing; if each family were truly willing, they could easily wipe them out by each sending a few experts.

They were confident that even if a problem arose, they could quickly suppress it.

Third, was profit.

Between "being able to do it" and "being willing to do it," there was a huge, uncrossable chasm.

There was not enough profit!

Wiping out the Heavenly Demon might eliminate a crisis for the Eastern Domain of the Eastern Wasteland and let these remnants of the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect be liberated, but for the Kings far away in the other three domains, it was completely meaningless.

None of the families were willing to put in the effort, only thinking about being able to get a larger share of the benefits in the end, so the matter naturally dragged on and on, until it finally became a mess of bad debts.

That the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect had reached this day was absolutely a joint decision after much maneuvering by many parties.

Utilize the waste of the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect survivors, and while at it, artificially create a cave for Demon Beasts to breed, letting them grow wantonly inside.

Ren Yidao narrowed his eyes, thinking of a fourth reason.

"Perhaps, is it raising a Gu?"

"Do they hope to use the techniques and Demon Beasts left behind by the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect to raise another Heavenly Demon?"

Whoosh...

Ren Yidao took a deep breath of the cold wind mixed with Demon Qi and shook his head, saying:

"Truly greedy."

At this moment, Ren Yidao actually understood a little of how the Chu Family felt in the Eastern Wasteland.

This throne of the Eastern Wasteland Lord is definitely not as comfortable to sit on as it appears on the surface.

If the Chu King is a fierce tiger, then the Kings are a pack of insatiable, greedy jackals, ready to take a bite at any time.

However, because the jackals themselves are not of one mind, the current peace is maintained through mutual restraint.

If the Kings were pushed too far, they would cast aside past grievances, unite against the Chu King, and replace him with a new king.

"So, the Chu King cannot be the kind of monarch who forcefully makes everyone obey; he is more like an Alliance Leader who relies on a single call to gather heroes."

"Thinking about it this way, I feel like being this Chu King is... a bit embarrassing."

Goods must be discarded when compared; people must die when compared.

Compared to the Chu King, the stature of the Lord of Northern Gan, Li Long, immediately became tall and imposing!

"Could it be that my brother Li Long is actually a remarkable monarch?"

Ren Yidao pondered for a moment, then shook his head, unwilling to accept this cruel fact.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

"That my otaku good brother who loves Role-playing is some kind of eternal emperor is simply a pipe dream!"

"Hiss, that's not necessarily true! Who says an eternal emperor can't be a shut-in? Didn't my ancestor love Life-Size Figures the most?"

Ren Yidao smacked his lips and turned back to take in the full view of Wanshou City.

At this moment, although this battered city is still under the rule of the Eastern Wasteland, it nominally belongs to Beigan.

The Kings of the Eastern Wasteland have already tossed this riddled, rotten hole to Beigan, leaving Li Long to get a headache over it.

The people from Beigan have not yet arrived; perhaps they are waiting for the preliminary preparations to be finished before setting out together.

"Wait, is something wrong?"

Ren Yidao suddenly noticed a detail he had subconsciously ignored before, and his expression changed.

"In the Two Domains Conflict, it was the Eastern Wasteland that proposed using Chongzhou City as a wager."

"Then does this mean... it was actually Beigan that proposed using Wanshou City as a wager?"

Hm?

The perfect solution that the Eastern Wasteland thought could both dump a burden and give Beigan a headache, when thought about carefully, doesn't seem that simple.

After thinking for a while, Ren Yidao stopped digging deeper; the information at hand was too scarce, and he couldn't guess the truth just by speculating.

"Brother Long, your schemes are not small."

However, no matter what plans Li Long has, it has nothing to do with the purpose of Ren Yidao's trip.

"I am just a little fox passing by; as for such matters of strategy, let you, Your Majesty the Emperor, have a headache over them alone~"

Having inhaled Demon Qi for a long time, Ren Yidao walked down the east city wall feeling refreshed. Before he could head toward the market, he turned a corner and encountered two men who had been waiting for who knows how long.

Chu Hairen and his little tail, Chu Yitai.

It wasn't like meeting a homeroom teacher on the weekend, so there was no need to run. Ren Yidao smiled and went up to meet them:

"You two, could it be that you are waiting for me?"

"Hehe, I guessed that the Daoist would come here, and it was just as I expected."

Chu Hairen walked to Ren Yidao's side, walked shoulder-to-shoulder with him toward the market, and began to chat:

"Daoist, you saw the scene in the distance, right? I wonder what your thoughts are after seeing it?"

Chu Yitai followed behind, and the two did not use sound transmission, as that would be too easy for others to notice something was wrong.

Ren Yidao didn't think much and sighed:

"Seeing one spot, one can know the whole; the situation is not optimistic."

"To solve this matter requires a long time and opportunity; it is by no means a task for a moment, and the road ahead is long and arduous."

"Rest assured, since I have promised, I will definitely help."

Chu Hairen thought for a while after hearing this, then revealed a sincere smile and said gratefully:

"Then I, Chu, will thank the Daoist here first."

The conversation between the two was completely normal. Although Chu Yitai instinctively felt that there seemed to be hidden meanings and it wasn't as simple as it appeared on the surface, he didn't think too much about it.

From an outsider's perspective, they were merely worried about the current state of the Demon Beasts in Death Valley and wanted to find an opportunity to solve it.

Chu Hairen had expressed this point on the first day he arrived in Wanshou City, so Chu Yitai naturally didn't feel there was any problem.

Even if Chu Yitai calculated a thousand times, he probably couldn't imagine that the matters being plotted in the conversation between these two were countless times greater than a single Death Valley.

One city, one territory?

No, what they are plotting is the entire Eastern Wasteland.

Chu Hairen not only wants to overthrow the Chu Family, but his ultimate goal is to beat the entire Eastern Wasteland into submission and truly take it into his own hands!

He does not want to be a nominal Alliance Leader.

He wants to be the Eastern Wasteland Lord who commands the world, with none daring to disobey!

And Ren Yidao is happy to see such a scene and is willing to provide help.

If Chu Hairen is the Eastern Wasteland Lord with ambitions for the world, then Ren Yidao is the strategist standing behind him, helping him conquer the world.

He is a strategist, a prime minister, the "nine-thousand-year-old" who stands below one person but above ten thousand.

If the timing is right, he will even try his hand at being that disaster-bringing demon teacher who wields power over the imperial court.

Beigan is his hometown, his relationship with the Emperor is too close, and he even has deep ties with the candidate for the next Emperor, so it is truly difficult to make a move against the Beiming Divine Continent.

But it is different here in the Eastern Wasteland.

The ruler of the world is decaying from within, the Kings are rising to claim hegemony, and the world could be reshuffled at any moment.

Although it looks like a peaceful and prosperous age, it can instantly turn into a chaotic world if the timing is right.

And a chaotic world produces heroes, treacherous villains, and Great Demons!

Of course, it is still a bit early to say these things.

Of the two of them, one is qualified to sit on the throne of the Chu King, but there are still many days to go before that day, and he still needs to continue to endure.

The other is stronger and capable of protecting himself in the vast majority of situations, but he is still quite a distance away from being able to run rampant across the world.

Looking back, it is still that same saying—the burden is heavy, and the road is long.

From this perspective, they are like two dreamers who have just started their jobs but are already considering acquiring the company, knowing only how to daydream.

But this is not a problem.

If you dream and cannot achieve it, that is called a daydream.

But if it is achieved in the future, then they are visionary dreamers.

Or rather...

Ambitious schemers.

And coincidentally, both of these people are extremely confident in themselves.

The two looked at each other, then both smiled with mutual understanding:

"One day."

"Heh, one day."

We will stand at the pinnacle of the Eastern Wasteland.

As for what point their relationship will reach when that time comes, they will wait until they truly reach that point.

While the young wolf of the Chu Family with wild ambitions was colluding with the demon fox who feared not that the world would be in chaos, two figures arrived silently from the east.

The two black shadows passed silently through the Array of Wanshou City, climbed onto the east city wall, and stood exactly where Ren Yidao had just been standing, looking down over the entire city.

However, the two figures seemed to have different opinions, and one of them looked very restless.

"Yaoyue! You are taking a risk!!!"

Cang Lanlan pulled hard on the hood on her head and growled in a low voice to the white-haired girl beside her:

"Don't you understand how much trouble it will bring you if your identity is exposed?"

"The Human Race will definitely not let you go! They will strangle you early on!"

This fellow, why is she so unwilling to listen!?

I wouldn't harm you!

But Yaoyue covered her ears with her hands, shook her head quickly, and muttered:

"Not listening, not listening! I can't hear you!"

Cang Lanlan:?

"You!"

"Well! I understand everything you said, so, as long as I'm not discovered, there won't be a problem~"

Yaoyue's palm swept over her waist-length white hair, her hair color instantly turned jet black, and her entire temperament changed abruptly.

There was a little less demonic strangeness and a little more liveliness and ignorance, like an innocent girl who had just walked out of a small place.

"Look, do I look like a human? Is there any part of me that looks like a demon?"

Cang Lanlan twitched the corner of her mouth, but she had to pinch her nose and admit that Yaoyue's disguise ability was truly very strong, even more like a human than many Heavenly Demons.

"Your disguise is excellent, but..."

"No buts! Alright, even if you don't come, I'm going by myself! This is their annual grand gathering! It's so interesting~"

Then, Yaoyue put her hands on her hips and persuaded earnestly:

"You've finally come to the territory of the Human Race, do you really intend not to observe it carefully?"

"Or, I can change to a way of saying it that you can accept... *Cough! * Cang Lanlan, you are not here to play, but to investigate the Human Race! You are doing serious business!"

"..."

Cang Lanlan tightened the hood on her head again and said in a low voice:

"I am here to protect you, it's not that I want to go myself."

Yaoyue smiled until her eyes were like crescent moons:

"Fine, fine, fine, then let's just say that's the case!"

"Let's go!"