Chapter 98: All You Can Eat
Chapter 98: All You Can Eat
He came over at once because of Luo Xue, but he didn’t expect this also involved him.
Lu Qingming… his greatest enemy, wanted to see him?
“Yeah, I refused right then, saying that was impossible,” Qin Hao said with a bitter smile, looking at Ling Yi. “But the other side said it was just a meeting, and they guaranteed you wouldn’t encounter any mishaps in the Chu State.”
Ling Yi smiled.
Qinhao said, “Of course, I didn’t believe their nonsense. But they said they were just curious about what kind of person would dare to openly tell the Grand State Preceptor of Chu to wash his neck and wait.”
The Enchantress in Ling Yi’s mind sneered coldly. “The other side has two purposes. First, the Beast Tide happened in Spring City, and you happened to be there. Then the Beast Tide was successfully blocked, making it the city with the least damage on the entire continent this time.”
“Now the related videos have also spread. Anyone who has achieved Dao Enlightenment can judge from those videos. The methods I used clearly surpassed the Divine Ability of the Dao Enlightenment level. This caught their attention and shocked them.”
“So now they urgently want to know if this matter has anything to do with you.”
“After all, Dao Enlightenment doesn’t break the balance of the mortal world, but the Primordial Spirit does.”
“Second, if through probing, he discovers that the destruction of the Spring City Beast Tide has nothing to do with you, then his meeting with you is a powerful deterrent. Through this method, he wants to make you understand the huge gap between both sides, trying to completely shatter your confidence so you cannot achieve the Dao in the future!”
“Thus achieving subduing the enemy without fighting.”
As she spoke, the Enchantress’s tone grew colder. “A pretty good wishful plan, unfortunately…”
Ling Yi fell silent for a moment, looking at Qin Hao. “Going to the enemy state as an Envoy… meaning even if there’s an opportunity, I can’t take action against him?”
Gu Tong, who was nearby, said, “An open and aboveboard challenge should be no big problem, but the question is, can you challenge him now?”
Ling Yi didn’t speak. The Enchantress in his mind said coldly, “Why not? When the time comes, I’ll help you kill him!”
Ling Yi refused. “This person, I must deal with myself. I must defeat him in public! Cut off his dog’s head! I want him to understand that even though he is at the Peak Dao-Entry, he only dared to secretly ambush and sneak attack my dad. But I… can defeat him publicly! I want him, both his person and his name, to fall into eternal damnation!”
The Enchantress was silent for a moment, then said, “Well said.”
Ling Yi looked at Gu Tong and Qin Hao. “Tell me the specific details. Also, what is your purpose for going to Great Chu this time? What is their purpose? And… who is the chief Envoy?”
Qin Hao nodded. “Let’s talk about their purpose first. The friction at the border was just a probe by Great Chu. This time, demanding we send envoys over is also a kind of probe.”
Ling Yi asked, “They want to probe and find out where our bottom line is?”
Qin Hao nodded again.
Ling Yi thought for a moment. “So, this negotiation with Great Chu is very likely to be a humiliating trip?”
Qin Hao said, “Yes, this time, our diplomatic mission members going over are very likely to face unfair treatment, even humiliation. Of course, these are nothing. The key is they might be very tough at the negotiation table.”
Qin Hao looked at Ling Yi. “For example, bringing up the issue of Eastern Sea City’s ownership, or… making unreasonable demands like us ceding territory and paying reparations. In short, they are sure now, with the next wave of Beast Tide possibly appearing at any moment, we dare not go to war with them.”
Ling Yi was silent for a moment, then asked, “But do we dare?”
Gu Tong, nearby, said, “We dare, but we would lose.”
Qin Hao was more direct. “We would lose badly.”
Gu Tong said with a bitter smile, “Don’t be fooled by our smallest losses in this Beast Tide. The overall strength we showed this time is much worse than the Chu State’s.”
Ling Yi nodded. “I understand. They couldn’t hold back long ago, always looking for an opportunity. And this time, obviously, they want to take advantage of our predicament, right?”
Qin Hao and Gu Tong nodded simultaneously.
Ling Yi: “So the task of our diplomatic mission is to prevent their cunning scheme from succeeding, right?”
Qin Hao nodded again, looking at Ling Yi with a serious expression. “This matter, I believe our mission can go and negotiate with them to resolve it. But regarding Luo Xue, to be honest, relying on official forces is a bit difficult. Since the other side dared to do such a shameless thing, they must have prepared sufficient evidence, and… are ready to argue with us.”
The national power of Great Qin was inferior to the Chu State. Though unwilling to admit it, it was an undeniable fact.
Did everyone know Luo Xue was framed?
Yes.
But it was useless.
They were openly using this method to bully you.
Bullying you openly and aboveboard!
Bullying your country, bullying your people.
And also dragging along Ling Yi, this young man who had already caught the attention of many high-ranking officials.
“This mission to the Chu State will absolutely be fraught with difficulties. Moreover, we don’t trust their guarantee. On the surface, of course, they can’t openly do anything to you, but behind the scenes?”
Qin Hao looked at Ling Yi. “So one reason I urgently called you here was to ask your opinion. Whether to go or not is entirely up to you, Ninth Brother. As for Luo Xue, we will also try our best to think of a way…”
Ling Yi looked at Qin Hao and smiled. “Do you want me to go or not?”
Qin Hao also looked up at Ling Yi. “Ninth Brother, do you want the truth?”
Ling Yi looked at him. “Of course.”
Qin Hao was silent again for a while, then said softly, “Whether from personal feelings, or considering the overall situation, I, my father, Brother Gu… including the Prime Minister, all of us, do not want you to go.”
“Their guarantee is nonsense.”
“Once you go over there, everything is out of your control.”
“There are too many ways to make someone disappear without a trace. We must never overestimate their integrity.”
“Striking an opponent has always been bloody.”
“But it concerns Luo Xue…”
Qin Hao looked at Ling Yi with a bitter smile. “I know the feelings between you…”
Ling Yi looked at him. “Don’t talk nonsense. Luo Xue and I are just like you, we’re all brothers.”
Qin Hao nodded hard, complaining, “Mhmm, right, all brothers, all Children of the Jianghu! But you can’t just not care, right?”
Ling Yi nodded. “Of course not.”
Qin Hao said, “Well, that settles it then? So even though I don’t want you to go, I still notified you right away, had you come over, to properly discuss how to deal with this matter. Also, the chief envoy this time is me!”
“You?” Ling Yi was stunned, looking at Qin Hao. “Are you joking?”
Qin Hao said with a serious face, “Ninth Brother, I’m not joking. I’m very serious. The chief envoy this time must be me! Think about it, besides me, who else is suitable now? The Prime Minister? Or someone else?”
Things like this, in the past, were usually the work of people like Sun Qingbo and his group.
They were also very happy to do such traitorous work.
Damaging public interests to fatten private ones while chatting and laughing, feeling wonderful.
But obviously, this kind of situation couldn’t happen again now.
This time, if a top Military official went, they’d probably start a fight on the spot after just a few words of negotiation.
With their mettle, whether they could win or not wasn’t the issue; they’d fight first!
They’d never back down, even to death.
“You are even less suitable.” Ling Yi looked at Qin Hao. “You are the Crown Prince! Not to mention the saying about the precious son not sitting under a dangerous wall, just talking about this negotiation, it’s almost impossible to negotiate any good results. If you are the chief envoy, you’ll have to bear all the blame…”
Qinhao looked at him. “Only I can bear it, and only I must bear it.”
The room fell into silence.
What medicine the Chu State was selling in its gourd was very obvious.
Before starting a war, they always need to find all sorts of reasons to max out the hatred first.
But wouldn’t it be even better if they could solve the problem through intimidation?
Gu Tong looked at Ling Yi. “I will also go this time. Even if nothing can be negotiated, we cannot lose the prestige of our Great Qin.”
“So you do hope I go, right?” Ling Yi looked at Gu Tong.
Gu Tong chuckled. “I’m different from Qin Hao. He’s afraid something might happen to you, but I think you, this guy, have too good luck, as if helped by a god!”
The Enchantress said, “I am divine!”
Gu Tong looked at Ling Yi with full confidence. “Wherever you are, the Beast Tide can’t break through! Great Chu also wants to take this chance to test the waters, right? Then we’ll let them see.”
Ling Yi was a bit speechless. He thought to himself, ‘Why is your confidence in me even greater than my own?’
Gu Tong said, “Let’s just make them think this matter is related to you! I still don’t believe that Lu Qingming and his group would dare to do anything to you!”
Gu Tong’s idea was simple. You, Great Chu, want to see Ling Yi, right? Your State Preceptor Lu Qingming is curious about what the person who publicly dared to threaten to kill him looks like, right?
Then we’ll show you!
Have a good look!
If you like looking, then look a few more times!
Although he hadn’t spent much time with Ling Yi, his understanding of Ling Yi was far greater than that of ordinary people.
More importantly, he was clearer than the vast majority about one thing—Ling Yi definitely had secrets!
Back when Ling Yi was only at the Acupoint Opening Realm, he miraculously took down a Fourth-Order Golden Body.
This time, it was even more incredible. Some people only guessed that the Spring City Beast Tide being blocked was related to Ling Yi, but Gu Tong firmly believed it was definitely related to Ling Yi!
So, he had full confidence in Ling Yi.
Wouldn’t it be foolish not to make use of such an excellent helper?
“By the way, there’s another purpose for calling you here this time,” Qin Hao said, looking at Ling Yi.
“Resources for cultivation?” Ling Yi remembered the half-finished words Gu Tong uttered when picking him up.
Qin Hao nodded, a trace of excitement flashing in his eyes. “The Roaring Tiger Legion has discovered a massive mineral vein in the no-man’s-land! Preliminary surveys indicate the Spirit Stone reserves there are astronomical!”
Ling Yi immediately perked up.
Seeing Qin Hao finally bring this up, Gu Tong also smiled, raising an eyebrow at Ling Yi. “The Great Qin Military’s Chief Instructor is waving at you.”
Qin Hao said with a serious expression, “As long as this mission to Great Chu can temporarily hold them off, buying us a few years…”
The Enchantress said calmly in Ling Yi’s mind, “Tell them, if they give us enough payment and prepare sufficient resources, one year will be enough.”
Hmm, another round of pretending forced upon him…
Ling Yi felt a little wistful.
He looked at the two men. “Why would we need a few years?”
Qin Hao and Gu Tong’s eyes suddenly lit up.
Honestly, they weren’t particularly concerned about whether Ling Yi went to Great Chu.
It wasn’t that they were heartless or didn’t care about Luo Xue’s life, but even if Ling Yi went to Chu State, he might not be able to bring her back!
Not to mention Ling Yi was still young and his realm wasn’t that high yet; even if he had reached Dao Enlightenment, he still wouldn’t be qualified to challenge a top power like Great Chu.
Just as the Enchantress had just said, Dao Enlightenment couldn’t break the balance; only Primordial Spirit could!
So, what Qin Hao and Gu Tong truly cared about was how to rapidly train the elite soldiers of Qin State if they had ample resources!
They didn’t expect those soldiers to improve their cultivation at an incredible speed like Ling Yi, but if the speed could just double compared to the current rate… then, in the likely future wars, they could have more confidence!
This was what they truly wanted.
Ling Yi understood their thoughts. “If there are enough resources and the people being trained have high enough talent, within two years, I can make them all reach Golden Body.”
Gu Tong and Qin Hao exchanged a glance, their breathing becoming slightly hurried.
Qin Hao looked at Ling Yi. “Ninth Brother, are you serious about that?”
Ling Yi looked at him. “I also need cultivation resources.”
Qin Hao said grandly, “As the Chief Instructor of the entire army, how could Ninth Brother’s share be lacking?”
Ling Yi said seriously, “I might consume a lot.”
Qin Hao laughed heartily. “We’ll keep you full!”
Ling Yi smiled. “Keep me full?”