Chapter 634: Each With Their Own Schemes

Chapter 634: Chapter 114: Each With Their Own Schemes

Beneath the clouds.

Facing the group of Third Realm Cultivators, Hongze’s attitude couldn’t have been more deferential.

When met with Yu Lian’s mocking question, he still replied with an obsequious smile, “As long as Changqing Zhenren gives the word, all the Cultivators under the Seventh Prince will follow your lead. Yue Ziyu, naturally, will be no problem.”

“What a fine calculation. This way, all the pressure from the Third Prince falls on us.” This came from Yuan Zheng Taoist. He could see that Wang Ping was tempted, and his words carried the intention to haggle.

Hongze cupped his hands. “I must disagree. The Third Prince has made a fatal mistake!”

He looked at Wang Ping and said, “The struggle between our Seventh Prince and the Third Prince was originally an internal conflict within Lishui Prefecture. But the Third Prince united with an outside force to besiege us. This is undoubtedly a major taboo. After all, Lishui Prefecture has more than just two princes.”

The moment he said this, everyone was slightly taken aback.

Li Miaolin’s eyes even glinted with excitement. “Did you plan this from the start? This is fascinating.”

“No!”

Hongze denied it firmly, explaining, “Our Seventh Prince has yielded to the Third Prince several times, but he continues to press us relentlessly. Now he’s even joined with outsiders to besiege our Dao Fields.”

Ying Qing brought one palm to his other hand and looked at Hongze. “So now you’ve become the victims…”

He didn’t voice the curse that followed.

What the Seventh Prince had done was spread by the Third Prince’s followers long ago, right after the Shangjing City incident. This was to win popular support for their actions against the Seventh Prince.

Unfortunately, many things can’t withstand the erosion of time. Who now cared about a truth from nearly two hundred years ago?

Wang Ping also came to a realization. While it seemed he was attacking the Seventh Prince’s islands, he was actually harming the interests of Lishui Prefecture as a whole. Furthermore, it was a critical time in the struggle for the Divine Artifact. The other princes would surely not allow this to happen, unless he could share a portion of the benefits.

Seeing Wang Ping hesitate, Hongze continued, “Does the True Man believe we have no room to fight back? You may have forgotten that our ability to establish ourselves in the Southeast Sea Region comes from our greatest asset: the endless Water Race under the sea. It should be no problem for them to hold off your army for three months!”

He lowered his head and said in a low voice, “After three months, what do you think the situation will be, True Man?”

Wang Ping stopped Yuan Zheng, who was about to speak, and transformed into a streak of light, exiting the barrier to stand before Hongze. Yu Lian’s body swelled to thirty feet tall, her vertical pupils fixed coldly on Hongze.

“You can’t possibly know what will happen to us, but I know your Seventh Prince will be driven out of the Southeast Sea Region!”

Wang Ping warned him coldly, “Don’t waste time on pointless topics, or you will face my uncontrollable wrath. State all of your conditions directly.”

Feeling Wang Ping’s aura up close, along with Yu Lian’s icy gaze, Hongze swallowed with some difficulty. Forcing himself to calm down, he spoke quickly, “Before I came here, the Fifth Prince, Sixth Prince, Eighth Prince, and Ninth Prince had already clearly expressed their support for us.”

“They can accept being nominally under the jurisdiction of the Chu Kingdom Court, but on the condition that the islands they control do not accept the teachings of other sects. If you agree, we can immediately cooperate with you to attack the other islands in the Southeast Sea Region. In addition, we know you’ve come this time to scheme for the Fourth Realm, True Man. We are willing to assist you with all our strength!”

Yu Lian craned her neck. “You make it sound so pleasant. Turns out you just want to use us to clear your obstacles!”

Hearing this, Hongze put on a fawning smile. “Such is the way of the world. Junior Cultivators like us cannot fight against the grand tide of events, so we can only go with the flow and integrate ourselves into it. But…” His ingratiating tone suddenly turned serious. “But even if we must integrate, we still wish to control our own destiny, even if it’s just a little bit!”

Upon hearing this, Wang Ping flicked his sleeves and pretended to ponder for a few breaths before saying, “I need to see your sincerity!”

Hongze immediately asked, “What kind of sincerity?”

“Take down Daoist Chengxi and his partner, Daoist Quecai!”

“Fine!”

Hongze agreed without hesitation, but then added, “We will do our best, but Daoist Chengxi has the support of the Taiyin Sect and the Vajra Temple.”

“Are there any Fourth Realm seniors?”

“No!”

“Then act as you see fit. We didn’t come to the Southeast Sea Region to sightsee. If necessary, we’ll have a proper fight!”

“Understood!”

Wang Ping couldn’t possibly trust the Seventh Prince completely. Making them plot against Daoist Chengxi was a pledge of allegiance. As for taking over jurisdiction of the various islands, that was something Leng Kezhen and Qingjiang could handle. Even if it really was a trap, the resulting losses were acceptable to him.

「And so, three days passed in the blink of an eye.」

The Shang’an Prefecture fleet, with only a few hundred warships and sixty thousand sailors, saw enemy forces surrender and open their gates wherever they went on their journey south. Before many had even realized what was happening, the fleet had already occupied three of the Seventh Prince’s large islands, including Huixin Island, where the Seventh Prince’s Dao Field was located.

This put the Third Prince’s side in a rather awkward position.

But Wang Ping was no longer concerned with that. After nearly two hundred years, he saw Jiangcun once again. Jiangcun was as straightforward as ever, though he seemed to have a new air of melancholy about him.

Also present were the Eighth Prince, Yang Shu, and his wife. The Fifth Prince and Sixth Prince did not come in person, but they sent their respective Direct Disciples.

“Fellow Daoist, rest assured. I know that old codger Chengxi. Although he acts in secret, in a small place like the Southeast Sea Region, what could possibly be hidden from us in Lishui Prefecture? Our Water Race has eyes in every sea. Give me two days, and I guarantee I’ll find him!”

This, of course, was said by Jiangcun.

Beside them, Hongze’s eyebrow twitched. He quickly cupped his hands and said, “Reporting to the Ninth Master, Daoist Chengxi’s hiding place has been found. He is on Chongshan Island.”

…

This intelligence was identical to what Li Miaolin had provided. It had been shared as soon as Wang Ping confirmed their cooperation.

Yu Lian looked at the stunned Jiangcun and spoke in human tongue, “I say, are you having trouble?”

Jiangcun immediately replied, “What trouble could there be? Relax. It’s just Chongshan Island, isn’t it? In a moment, Brother Eight and I will go ourselves. We can drown them just by spitting out a mouthful of seawater each.”

This wasn’t entirely a boast.

Among those who had come this time, besides Jiangcun, Yang Shu and his wife, and the Direct Disciples of the Fifth and Sixth Princes, there was also Hongze, making for a total of eleven Third Realm Cultivators.

At this, Ruan Chunzi said with a smile, “In that case, we will await the good news from the Eighth Prince and the Ninth Prince!”

Jiangcun glanced at Ruan Chunzi, instantly understanding her intention, but he didn’t mind her thinking in the slightest. He cupped his hands toward Wang Ping and said, “I wasn’t very interested in my seventh brother’s business, but when he said it involved cooperating with you, I agreed to come. Rest assured, within the territory of the Southeast Sea Region, even if I were to flood the Taiyin Sect’s headquarters, no one would dare say a word against it!”

After saying this, he flew before Wang Ping and looked him up and down before continuing, “My seventh brother is too calculating. He’s just using you to block my third brother. He keeps saying my third brother is using outsiders, but he hasn’t thought about what he’s doing himself. He truly takes us for fools.”

“Ninth Master!”

Hongze reminded Jiangcun with an awkward smile.

“Are you suggesting we turn around and attack your seventh brother?” Yu Lian asked curiously.

Hongze’s whole body trembled at her words.

Jiangcun shot him an unconcerned glance, then turned to Yu Lian with a smile. “It’s not out of the question. It all depends on what you want to do!”

“Fellow Daoist, you must not joke about such things!”

Wang Ping replied with a faint smile.

Jiangcun met Wang Ping’s gaze and laughed. “You… still so cautious. Hahaha! You don’t trust me? Surely you trust my Brother Eight? Haha! Well, since you’ve already made up your mind, let’s leave it at that. For the sake of our many years of friendship, I’ll keep an eye on my seventh brother for you.”