bookpub Chapter 2632 The Price of Surpassing Others
Chapter 2632 The Price of Surpassing Others
Chapter 2632 The Price of Surpassing Others
Three to five years—that's a gap of over 700 days. Even if three and a half years have passed, isn't there still more than a year left before the Earth Mother appears? How could Duanmu Heng accurately determine its whereabouts?
“I received a message from the Heavenly Palace that the Earth Mother recently appeared in Cangyan’s capital, and a huge mirage appeared in mid-air. Some people drew pictures based on this, and some gods recognized it as Panlong City.” Duanmu Heng pondered, “What the appearance of the mirage represents is still being pondered by the gods, and there is no conclusion yet. But several eyewitnesses in the supply convoy saw up close that the city walls on the Earth Mother’s back had faded to grayish-white, and sea salt crystals had even formed on the surface. It is clear that the nutrients it has drawn from its birthplace have run out.”
"As for why I'm so sure it will return to Baling soon—" Duanmu Heng paused, "it's actually quite simple. It has two missions in a row, one in the sea and one at sea. As far as I know, seawater is extremely corrosive to the Earth Mother Plain. After all, it's called 'Earth Mother' rather than 'Sea Mother,' and it takes a lot of effort to expel the salt it inhales while wading through the sea."
"Two missions in a row?" Zhao Huanrong, being a smart man, was deeply disturbed by the thought. "Could it be... could these two missions be..."
“Yes, it was my arrangement.” Duanmu Heng said calmly, “Jiuyou started out with maritime trade, while Cangyan does business all over the world and operates more maritime trade routes than Bega. I had the large sea tribes raid Cangyan’s shipping routes with all their might, so that Cangyan could not deliver goods and outsiders would not dare to do business with Cangyan. How could Jiuyou tolerate this? These large sea tribe nests are like fortresses on and under the water, strong and complex. Ordinary armed fleets simply cannot deal with them, so he had no choice but to send the Earth Mother over.”
He paused for a moment: "Over the past year, Mother Earth has been going out to sea more often. The more frequently she goes out, the earlier her return to her birthplace is scheduled."
"Lord Duanmu is wise. Even the elusive Earth Mother, who appears and disappears from thousands of miles away, was outmaneuvered by you." Zhao Huanrong suddenly realized, "I heard that there was once a Cloud Envoy named Bai Ziqi in the Heavenly Palace. He was shrewd and capable and was highly regarded by the gods and the Heavenly Palace. I think that you are a new generation who surpasses the old one."
Duanmu Heng was about to throw a handful of fish food when he heard this, so he stopped and turned his head to stare at him.
His gaze was sharp, and Zhao Huanrong felt uneasy under his gaze, realizing that she had said the wrong thing.
Duanmu Heng slowly said, "The Heavenly Palace highly values Bai Dushi's talent; the gods deeply regret Bai Dushi's sacrifice."
"Yes, yes." Zhao Huanrong wondered to herself, had she accidentally hit a brick wall?
"Bai Dushi was eventually killed by Jiuyou on the Gold Plains. The Heavenly Palace traced his past life and concluded that Jiuyou had disguised himself too well in the case of the Elixir of Immortality in Bega, which made Bai Dushi careless and miss the best opportunity to kill him." Duanmu Heng paused for a moment, "But I don't think so, because Bai Dushi met with him later."
That's where he left off. Zhao Huanrong waited for him to continue.
However, that's all.
Duanmu Heng threw another handful of fish food into the water, this time in larger quantities, which made the fish in the pond even more frantic.
With a splash, several fish, squeezed to the side of the school and unable to eat, leaped into the center of the school in their desperation.
Only then did I realize that they had flat bodies, red bellies, and transparent fins, resembling half-red leaves from the side—they even looked somewhat cute. But when they opened their mouths, snap! A mouthful of razor-sharp teeth!
Piranha.
Those fish that came later, having just eaten a few fish food pellets, were suddenly attacked by their companions!
They were very unhappy with the last ones to rush up and snatch the food.
Do you even deserve to eat it? You dare to try and steal it?
What is the purpose of establishing a specific order?
Blood gushed from the pool, and all the piranhas ignored their prey and attacked the few short-lived creatures.
Zhao Huanrong stood by the pool, her scalp tingling with dread. She couldn't imagine what would happen if someone fell into the water.
Duanmu Heng patted the crumbs off his hands; he had fed the chicken strips.
"Lord Zhao. If newcomers want to succeed, they can only be impulsive and find another way. But impulsiveness always comes at a price. If you leave it to others to bear, it is their failure. If you bear it yourself, you will suffer the consequences."
“…Yes.” Having been immersed in officialdom for decades, Zhao Huanrong had to admit that this statement made a lot of sense.
Take himself as an example. He saw early on that the Zhao family's development in Baling had reached its limit and could hardly make any further progress. No, it should be said that Baling's development had reached its limit, because it was an inevitable trend, and they were suffocating under the pressure of the giant that was Bejia. So he turned to Bejia when he was young, which is called a wise bird choosing a good tree to perch on.
For Baling, what he did was certainly abrupt and shameless, but he and the Zhao family had truly tasted the benefits of climbing the social ladder. Without Bejia's support, how could he have become the Vice Minister? Without Bejia's support, how could he have had any room to maneuver all these years?
Duanmu Heng murmured again, "It would be best to succeed, otherwise we will suffer a backlash."
This wasn't directed at Zhao Huanrong, but after thinking for a moment, Zhao Huanrong still replied, "Since we've already chosen our path, we can only go all the way and see it through to the end until we succeed."
Only he knew the immense pressure Duanmu Heng carried. He had been by Duanmu Heng's side for the past few years, witnessing firsthand how he strategized and how tirelessly he planned. Even Bai Ziqi, the old Grand Preceptor Qingyang, and the entire Bekaa and Lingxu Gods couldn't defeat the Nine Nether Emperor, yet the Heavenly Gods hoped Duanmu Heng would eliminate him with a single, successful plan!
The higher the expectations of the gods, the greater the pressure on Duanmu Heng.
As he himself said, if you want to catch up and surpass others, you have to be original, you have to find a new way, and you have to bear the price!
Duanmu Heng glanced at him, somewhat surprised, but readily agreed:
"well said."
After the report was finished, Duanmu Heng casually asked him, "How is your cultivation technique progressing?"
"It went very smoothly," Zhao Huanrong said with a smile. "The Heavenly Palace's secret techniques and elixirs are indeed extraordinary."
Even those his age who have started cultivating are not in a better state than him, and their progress is not as fast.
The techniques and elixirs bestowed by the Heavenly Palace are far more effective than ordinary methods.
"Alright, if there's anything you don't understand, feel free to ask me."
"Thank you, Lord Duanmu!" Zhao Huanrong then took her leave.
Duanmu Heng brushed the crumbs off his hands, strode back to the hermitage, closed the doors and windows, lit a pale gold candle, closed his eyes, and murmured incantations.
The candlelight flickered without wind, then suddenly shot up very high.
The candle smoke cast a faint shadow, and then a voice came from the void:
"whats the matter?"
Duanmu Heng bowed to it and said, "He Lu Tianzun, the Crown Prince of Shen continues his advance towards Baling, and the battlefield will gradually shift from Aonan City to the old market town."
(End of this chapter)