I Can See Your Combat Power
Chapter 1445 - Chapter 1445 Chapter 709 Dangerous Jade Slip_2

Chapter 1445: Chapter 709: Dangerous Jade Slip_2 Chapter 1445: Chapter 709: Dangerous Jade Slip_2 “Foolish.”

Cao Ziqi frowned and said, “Xiao Jinlin is merely using these vengeful families and commoners to delay the Evil King Palace’s pace of deployment. Even if the Evil King Palace truly finds themselves unable to handle the Longxi Alliance in the end, these rioting families and commoners will face reckoning!”

“People do not fear death, so how can they be frightened by it? The anger and humiliation that have been suppressed for a thousand years, the despair over a dark future–they essentially have nothing left to lose. This unrestrained, riotous frenzy lets them feel alive, and that is enough for them.”

Cao Daochen chuckled, “As for using others, everything in the world, from the smallest grass, moth, and insect to the grandeur of the four symbols and heaven and earth, all use whatever they can to strengthen themselves. Xiao Jinlin is using them, but who’s to say they are not using Xiao Jinlin as well?”

Hearing Cao Daochen’s words, Cao Ziqi was unable to snap back for a long time. After a while, he finally mumbled, “Haven’t you always looked down on schemes and strategic manipulation, forming alliances and plotting against others? How come…”

“One must have wielded it to talk about putting it down.”

Cao Daochen stated indifferently, “In the end, Xiehe is a world where martial power is revered.”

“So you…”

With a bitter smile and shaking his head, Cao Ziqi mocked himself, “So, by bringing me out this time, you meant to tell me it’s not that schemes and strategies are useless, but that my schemes and strategies are useless, right?”

“Correct, you’ve finally understood.”

Cao Daochen smiled and nodded his head.

“You’re still as irritating as ever!”

Closing his eyes in pain, Cao Ziqi forced himself to endure the insult and the heat on his face and said, “Then please do tell, great Dao Child of the Beast Taming Sect, now that the Longxi Alliance is in such a favorable position, what kind of scheming and manipulation do you plan to use to make them collapse and disperse?”

“Destroy their roots, sever their support, rid them of virtue, and disperse their masses.”

It was the same discourse as before, but this time Cao Daochen began to explain, “Before plotting against an opponent, one must first understand them. There has never been an unprovoked force in the world, and every step the Tang Clan has risen leaves its own mark. These imprints left in the annals of time, some will become the sustenance that strengthens, others will become fatal vulnerabilities.”

“Even from the perspective of a sect, the Tang Clan in this generation is far too blessed. With Tang Baichuan and Tang Siyuan in the fore, and Tang Sen and Tang Bin in the rear, and the younger Tang Luo covering a generation’s prodigies. Coupled with the protection of Fire-Stealing Grandmaster Xiao Jinlin, such an array could almost guarantee that within a century, they would become the strongest family in Longxi.”

“As for such a future, Chuanyuan’s Liu Clan dislikes it, Da Lin’s Commerce Alliance harboring a grudge against Chaochang dislikes it, and even many sanctuaries and Heaven Sect are not too fond of it.”

“If high-ranking masters like Xiao Jinlin, Tang Luo, and Tang Sen are the main pillars of the big tree called the Longxi Alliance, then the core members of the alliance are the roots of this giant tree, and those families and commoners who have gathered in the Lingjiang Seven Cities out of benevolence are the leaves and fruits of the giant tree. Nowadays, this giant tree’s leaves are luxuriant, and its trunk is thick and tall; without sufficient conflicts of interest, no one would want to touch it.”

“So, the first thing we need to do is to rot the roots of this giant tree.”

Cao Daochen said, “If you can let go of the hatred in your heart and broaden your narrow focus on Tang Luo, you would see that this seemingly sunlit giant tree’s roots are actually riddled with holes, fragile to the touch.”

Cao Ziqi was stunned, confusedly asking, “What do you mean?”

“Even with neutral things like martial strength and wealth, people still prefer it in the hands of those who are more benevolent.”

Cao Daochen stated indifferently, “Therefore, no matter how the world changes or how the Heavenly Dao evolves, benevolence will never fade. Any family, after establishing its foundation, will cover its bloody past and heaped skeletons with the sandy soil of righteousness.”

“The Tang Clan’s past?”

Cao Ziqi brow furrowed, he said with difficulty, “No matter what its past is, given its actions during the floods and the rebuilding of order in the Lingjiang Seven Cities, it seems there is no opportunity to start from this angle.”

“Years ago, the Dutian Heavenly King took on a commission from Yuanzhou’s Xu Clan to investigate the foundations of the Tang family in Xiling.”

Cao Daochen said indifferently, “It was just an ordinary search, yet it took an extremely long time, and after this data was completed, Yuanzhou requested it be sealed and archived, even the records in Hanging Sky City were destroyed.”

“If it’s all destroyed, why even mention it?”

“Since it involves Longzhou, the Great Commander would naturally call upon the Beast Taming Sect’s informants, and all the processed archives, not only include the Dutian Heavenly King’s copy but also the Beast Taming Sect’s copy as well.”

Cao Daochen then took out a jade slip from his sleeve and handed it to Cao Ziqi, saying, “Sometimes, information represents opportunity, and opportunity is the power to eliminate the strong with the weak!”

Cao Ziqi, who had just taken the jade slip, hadn’t paid much attention at first, but after his divine sense finished scanning the message inside and withdrew, he was already sweating profusely.

He had once believed himself to be highly talented in the art of political maneuvering, even thinking that the Dao Children walking in Heaven Sect’s sacred grounds were nothing but brutes.

Noble families and powerful clans were merely short-sighted, chasing after trivial gains, like flies and curs, but after reading about the Tang Clan’s uprising in the jade slip, he inexplicably broke out in a cold sweat.

“How cruel the methods, how ruthless the heart!”

Cao Ziqi said with a quivering voice, “At that time, the Tang Clan was just a small clan in a dark corner of Longxi, how could they dare do such a thing? Aren’t they afraid of divine retribution?”

“Compared to outright villains, people actually hate hypocrites more, those who commit evil deeds yet gain a reputation for benevolence and righteousness.”

Cao Daochen smiled and pointed at the jade slip Cao Ziqi was clutching tightly, “With the Beast Taming Sect’s outposts spread throughout Xiehe, combined with the content of the jade slip, is it possible to cut off the roots of the Longxi Alliance?”

Cao Ziqi, gripping the jade slip tightly, nodded forcefully, gritting his teeth, “It can shatter them to pieces!”

“Not quite yet,”

Cao Daochen waved his hand and said, “Even with all this, given the alliance leader’s tactics, there might still be a way to cope. A desperate man can sever his own limb to save his body, sacrifice pawns to protect the king, shift the focus of attention. To quell public discontent has never been so difficult, because people still need to live on, don’t they?”

“Even this can’t finish them off?”

Cao Ziqi asked incredulously, “Won’t this news make the Longxi Alliance the enemy of the entire world?”

“The enemy of the entire world? Perhaps you haven’t realized, the number of forces that can be considered enemies by the Longxi Alliance isn’t that many anymore, especially here in Longzhou.”

Cao Daochen said indifferently, “Martial Saint Mountain has already announced its closure and will no longer interfere with worldly affairs, and the rest, whether they are the last survivors of the clans erased by the Ghost Weeping Warships, or the helpless noble families from the floods, even if they come together, they could only cause some chaos for the Tang family. Perhaps they will suffer a great loss in strength, but it will not be fatal. The lineage of Tang Sen is certain to be preserved. Otherwise, why do you think Xu Changfeng would use his once-in-a-lifetime Divine Sword Decree to send their family into the Xu Clan’s ancestral hall?”

“So what should be done?”

Cao Ziqi asked in a hurry, his previously boasted slight cunning worthless after talking to Cao Daochen.

Having completely fallen into Cao Daochen’s rhythm, he had given up independent thought, merely preparing so thoroughly just to “cut the root.”

As for the next three steps behind, what was there to doubt?

“First, don’t hurry. We have arrived!”

The Yinglong war chariot came to a halt above a mountain made entirely of red, orange, and blue crystals, peering at the majestic and dignified temple that appeared and disappeared among the auspicious clouds at the peak of the mountain.

Cao Daochen stood up from his seat in the chariot and called out to the distant mountain gate, “Beast Taming Sect’s Cao Daochen, requests an audience at the Palace of Striking Swan!”

…

Lanshan City, Yunluo Garden

Yun Xiu looked up worriedly at the sky, not daring to distract herself for a moment.

Since the battle at Diancang Mountain, Tang Luo had been rushing the process of Spirit Qualification like a man possessed.

The process of tempering the body with Void Energy was a thousand times more brutal than casting the body with Heavenly and Earthly Qi, and even Tang Luo didn’t know how many times he had been tormented to the point of losing consciousness.

Humans have an innate instinct to seek fortune and avoid disaster, and the more profound a cultivator’s strength, the more this is the case.

Once the instinct starts to reject Spirit Qualification, it means progress has stalled.

But Tang Luo, as a grandmaster of martial arts, came up with an unconventional solution. He had Yun Xiu help him by using her Charming Eyes to seal away the painful memories associated with Spirit Qualification.