Chapter 1668 — Gnawing to Prove the Dao
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
"It is to break down so soon?"
Though Shen Mu had long foreseen this day, he had not thought it would come so quickly.
His aim was to stall for as long as ever he could, to give Jingping room to breathe. As matters stood, only a small part of Jingping had been moved into the chaotic void, and more to the point, Jingping's war preparations were nowhere near complete.
"How go the details of Yuchenzi's negotiations with the Heavenly Court?"
He frowned slightly. Talks with the Heavenly Court were a matter of maneuvering over details; the envoys of the Heavenly Court and the envoys of Jingping would drag the talks out on the strength of those details, and the longer they were dragged out, the better.
"The Heavenly Court's wish to tear up the agreement is in truth a good thing." He brooded a moment, then mused, "Jingping never intended to sign those agreements in the first place. Still, we can lower our posture and negotiate a new agreement with the Heavenly Court. In this second round of talks, let Yuchenzi sell off still more of Jingping's interests."
The Village Elder and the Alchemist frowned.
Shen Mu went on, "Done that way, it ought to buy us a little more time. However humiliating the agreement Yuchenzi negotiates, it must still pass through my hands. So long as I do not sign, it is a sheet of waste paper."
The brows of the Village Elder and the Alchemist smoothed out. The Alchemist laughed, "Then Yuchenzi will have to bear the infamy."
"He long ago realized as much," Shen Mu nodded. "When I sent him to the Heavenly Court to sue for peace, he already knew he might bear the infamy, might even be beaten to death by an angry populace. He has been prepared for it all along. While he is away negotiating with the Heavenly Court, the spirit-energy translocation bridges to the other heavens must likewise be made ready, linking us directly with those heavens and bypassing the Heavenly Court."
He paced to and fro, musing aloud, "During the second round of talks between the Heavenly Court and Jingping, with Heaven Coins running short, the Heavenly Court will surely set upon the other heavens. The court lacks money, and distant water cannot quench a nearby fire. Draining the blood of the heavens already under its control is the quickest way to coin; draining the blood of heavens beyond its grasp takes far longer."
He lifted his head and murmured, "In those heavens the people can scarcely live, so revolt is inevitable. When those heavens rise in rebellion, how could the Heavenly Court tolerate it? Heavenly Venerate Hao has only just proclaimed himself emperor; he grants favor and wields terror together, and now is his chance to establish his authority. He will surely wipe out a few of the heavens to overawe the world. But to destroy heavens that cling to the Heavenly Court will only chill the rest and turn his own subordinates' hearts away. When Jingping steps forward to stand against the Heavenly Court, with Jingping as the bellwether, might it not set the prairie alight from a single spark?"
The Heavenly Court's great army of gods and demons was drawn from the countless heavens, and the geniuses of those worlds all took pride in entering the Heavenly Court.
If the Heavenly Court acted perversely and lost the people's hearts, it would lose the wellspring of its talent.
To be sure, Emperor Hao could coerce the countless heavens with the Heavenly Court's mighty arms, but the turning of hearts would mean ever more people rising against the Heavenly Court.
There might even be many heavens that allied with Jingping, or geniuses from across the worlds who joined Jingping!
In that way the gap between Jingping and the Heavenly Court in mid-tier strength would narrow greatly, and things would not be as hopeless as they now seemed.