Chapter 1396 — Maidens Among the Flowers
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 3
Shen Mu and the others watched from afar as this battle of the Celestial Masters drew to its close, each lost in his own thoughts.
"The far side of the Ancestral Court is about to become the private garden of the Three Celestial Masters.
" Crown Prince Youming said, "All three of them have mastered the Reverse Summoning divine art. They can come as they please and leave as they please. Before long, Long Xiao will be unable to hold this ground. And worse — I fear he will not merely lose the ground; he may well be captured and turned into a mount.
" Wei Suifeng's eyes glittered. "All three Celestial Masters have the means to come and go at will. This time they went away wounded, but when they return, whichever one's injuries heal first will be the one to subdue Long Xiao and unify the far side of the Ancestral Court! Given the temperaments of these three Celestial Masters, however, each must surely fear that another will recover before him and tame Long Xiao. So the first thing they will do upon returning home. . .
" His expression turned strange. "Is to spread word of what happened at the far side of the Ancestral Court, and pass the Reverse Summoning divine art on to the other Celestial Masters — so that no one gains the far side of the Ancestral Court, and no one can subdue Long Xiao! " He saw through those three Celestial Masters with complete clarity, and understood how a Celestial Master thinks.
Since one of them might seize the greatest prize and vastly increase his strength and influence — and the odds that this one would be oneself were only one in three, while two in three meant falling from power and being destroyed by whoever gained the most — then the better course was simply to throw the matter open.
Throw it open, and he was certain to gain at least a tenth of the benefit! That was the optimal choice. As for Long Xiao, he had only one road ahead: to be destroyed by the Ten Celestial Masters. The benefit came in only ten shares, and the Ten Celestial Masters would not share it with any outsider.
And since Long Xiao could not be split into ten shares, a dead Long Xiao was the best Long Xiao. The best outcome was that no one should have him at all.
Crown Prince Youming could not follow the twists and turns of the logic, and said in a muffled voice, "Wouldn't their gains be greater if the three Celestial Masters simply split him into three shares?
" "Because their contradictions cannot be reconciled.
But the contradictions among the Ten Celestial Masters can be.
Since the Dragon-Han era, they have compromised with one another; they are rivals, and yet they are also a community of interests. " Wei Suifeng said with feeling, "Your Highness, you should count yourself fortunate that the Northern Emperor suppressed you for six hundred thousand years.
Otherwise, in those six hundred thousand years, you would have died no telling how many times. " Crown Prince Youming laughed. "I know my wits are dull, so I must ask clever men like you for instruction.
In the past, the Nether Emperor and his fellows only schemed against me; they never taught me how to weigh advantage against disadvantage. But you are my friends, and you will teach me these things. " Wei Suifeng looked at Shen Mu and probed, "Then what should Celestial Master Mu — who is not among the Ten — do in this situation?
" "Find Long Xiao before the Ten Celestial Masters destroy him. " Shen Mu smiled slightly. "Then tell him, word for word and letter for letter, everything you have just said, and make him understand that he cannot throw in his lot with any one of the Ten Celestial Masters.