Translator: Subudai11 Editor: Chrissy

  Two days have passed since the ambush in the valley.

  After a thrilling multi-party battle, the next two days were actually pretty calm. Golden City had no reaction to the defeat and the subsequent exit of Shengjing Sect team, but also didn't care about the death of around a thousand of elite warriors of Flaming Valley. After his surprise attack, the king of Harmony River also withdrew, and thus, his hunting action came to an end.

  However, everyone knew that this was just the calm before the storm. And when the next storm broke out, it was difficult to predict who would have the upper hand, so people were all quietly waiting for the change.

  At the same time, Wang Lu was not idling either. In these two days, he took Lan and Xiang Liang to travel all over the territory of Golden City, visiting the big and small fortresses, seeing many people, and speaking many words. Of course, most of the talking was done by Wang Lu. Xiang Liang and Lan were just watching from the sideline. Incidentally, they also experienced the various food all over Golden City—in addition to eating, they didn't have more things to do.

  For these inexplicable actions, the two people were silent. Lan was already accustomed to Wang Lu's unpredictableness, while Xiang Liang stemmed from his high professional quality.

  He was a qualified soldier, and the soldier's instinct was naturally to obey. Although the lead disciple of Royal Soldier Sect should be placed more in the commanding position, Xiang Liang was obviously more accustomed to the former. Shortly after he got along with Wang Lu, he discovered that Wang Lu was a natural leader. Perhaps he was stronger than Wang Lu in terms of tactical arrangements and execution, but Wang Lu was expert in other things. And professional things should obviously be given to professionals.

  Of course, if the choice of Xiang Liang fell into the ear of his Elders, he would surely be scolded. However, Xiang Liang's habit was so difficult to change.

  Fortunately, Wang Lu's inexplicable behavior didn't last long. The next night, among the street hawkers in a certain bustling city in Golden City, Wang Lu, with a satisfied smiling face, looked for Xiang Liang and Lan who were tasting the street snacks. The battle efficiency of the two people was quite high. When Wang Lu arrived, the table was already filled with wine cups and dishes. In front of Lan, there were hundreds of bamboo skewers without the meat, while Xiang Liang was playing with golden colored meat in high spirit.

  Wang Lu asked the two of them, "How are the snacks?"

  Lan somewhat embarrassedly put down the half-eaten skewered meat on the table, seemingly at a loss. Xiang Liang did not hesitate to nod. "They're very good. They're rich in nutrients and have reasonable texture. Moreover, they're very simple and fast to cook. If the conditions are met, they could be promoted as the military provision for basic servicemen unit, which should be able to effectively enhance the morale."

  Wang Lu wasn't alarmed by Xiang Liang's response, but just pulled a stool to sit down before grabbing the meat in front of Xiang Liang and beginning to talk while eating it.

  "Plus today, I have met with the majority of the towns and cities in Golden City territory. And the information that needs to be integrated has basically been processed."

  Golden City's organizational structure was very interesting. The master of Golden City is the supreme ruler, and below him, there were dozens of sub cities. Each of this sub city had a separate administrative unit, similar to feudal vassals. However, the master of Golden City was able to suppress this group of vassals with his strength and majesty. Thus, the overall political environment of Golden City was unprecedentedly stable.

  Thus, Wang Lu's contact with the leaders of these sub cities was not meant to instigate them—no matter how professional he was, it was impossible for him to cause the organizational structure of Golden City to collapse just by relying on his mouth. All he had to do was one thing: look for information.

  And mentioning about information, Wang Lu's complexion was somewhat odd. "According to the contact with the city masters, the situation of Golden City is pretty weird. For the other four forces, no matter how bad is the relationship between the masters and their blood spirit follower, they are at least allies that have the common goal. Only the master of Golden City whose contradiction with Shengjing Sect team like a vengeful son toward his father's killer. Some time ago, the master of the city even gave Jianglu the ultimatum to bring back your head within ten days. Otherwise, he would seal Qiong Hua, as the king of gold spirit, forever."

  Upon hearing this, Lan and Xiang Liang were extremely surprised. They have heard that the relationship between the master of Golden City and his followers was not harmonious, but they didn't expect that the two sides were as incompatible as water and fire.

  "According to the time, today is the deadline. I wonder if Senior Sister Qiong Hua would be kept in the golden cage forever as the City Master's concubine."

  If Wang Lu was telling this to the Lady Boss, the latter would surely chime in and asked for an in depth discussion regarding this. However, Wang Lu's two audiences did not cooperate. Xiang Liang puzzledly asked, "This is very unreasonable. Qiong Hua is the number one in this world and thus the most powerful weapon of Golden City, so it's completely illogical to completely abandon her."

  Wang Lu said, "The master of Golden City is by no means an unenlightened ruler, so he certainly has his reason for doing that. But unfortunately, there are too few clues, so I can't guess what's the significance of this move, but at least, I can put forward a conjecture. Senior Brother Xiang Liang, if we assume Senior Sister Qiong Hua is forever trapped in Golden City, then what do you think the situation of the five spirits power struggle would evolve to?"

  Xiang Liang frowned. "If Senior Sister Qiong Hua is removed from the picture, then…


  Wang Lu said, "Then there's no need for the other four forces to form an alliance. Senior Brother Xiang Liang, how about we go and destroy Senior Sister Zhou and Senior Brother Zhan?"

  "Huh?" Although Xiang Liang had good mental qualities, but upon listening to Wang Lu's suggestion, he somewhat could not keep up with his thinking. Several days ago, Wang Lu was like a family with those two people, but now he wanted to turn on them as fast as closing the book.

  Wang Lu explained, "You see, Senior Sister Zhou and Senior Brother Zhan, because of the relationship between their two masters, their alliance will continue to the last minute. And with the two of them teaming up, except for Qiong Hua, there's no other enemy in this world. Therefore, let's defeat them first and then we'll decide the winner?"

  After pondering a bit, Xiang Liang, looking very serious, suddenly stood up. "If you are serious about this idea, then I will withdraw from the alliance."

  Wang Lu asked, "Why?"

  Xiang Liang said, "First, I do not have the confidence to defeat you one on one in the game that you set. If only you and I are left in the five spirits power struggle, as far as I am concerned, I would definitely lose the game. Secondly, I will not trust an ally who could easily abandon his other ally. Since you can abandon them, naturally you can abandon me. Third, I don't like it."

  Upon hearing the three reasons of Xiang Liang, Wang Lu smiled with great satisfaction. "Senior Brother Xiang Liang is indeed worthy to be the lead disciple of Royal Soldier Sect, your uprightness is admirable… That being the case, we can proceed to the next point."

  With that, Wang Lu turned serious.

  "I think, as of now, all of these situations are arranged by Qiong Hua. For Shengjing Sect team, the most important point is that, their starting advantage is too big, which naturally attracted hatred and bound to be the target of the other four. No matter how strong Shengjing Sect team is, they couldn't withstand the four forces alliance. If it were me, I would rather cut off my arm so that the four forces alliance would break before doing anything else. And the current situation is developing along this line. I don't believe that with Qiong Hua's ability, she would be forced to not be able to do anything by a mere puppet of the immortal dream land. Her desperate situation is deliberate, posing as a bird ready to be plucked at any moment, but only idiots regard her predicament as serious. We don't know what is in the mind of the master of Golden City, but since he can use the blood marks to suppress Qiong Hua, naturally he can also release her."

  Upon hearing this, Xiang Liang was lost in thought and then murmured, "Everything is intentional? Including their defeat in the valley?"

  "Of course. Or to be precise, that outcome is within the plan of Shengjing Sect people. For Shengjing Sect people, being able to solve the threat from the lead disciple of Royal Soldier Sect is of course the best, and if the war progress smoothly, even A Ye who they used as their pawn, could also be cleaned up, killing two birds with one stone. However, even if the battle is lost, it doesn't matter. After all, it's nothing more than sacrificing their small fries. The real core figure of Shengjing Sect team is only Qiong Hua. On the contrary, this tragic loss can make people relax their vigilance. What we need to do now is to hold the alliance tightly. No matter how the external situation change, we have to firmly lock our goal, not wavering in the slightest. Nothing else matters until Golden City and Shengjing Sect team are completely defeated."

  Listening to Wang Lu speaking with fervor and confidence, Xiang Liang gradually smiled.

  This conclusion was exactly what he wanted. As a soldier, the most taboo thing was an ambiguous target, un-unified thoughts, and being indecisive in everything.

  "Very good."

  Wang Lu also smiled.

  It was finally done.

  In the past two days, apart from collecting intelligence and locking Qiong Hua's target, Wang Lu's most important task was to stabilize Xiang Liang. This rigid-minded lead disciple of Royal Soldier Sect was his most needed ally. To win the future decisive battle against Qiong Hua, Xiang Liang's power was essential.

  At the same time, in the past two days, did Xiang Liang not observe Wang Lu? This young yet very famous peer of him had aroused his curiosity from a long time ago. In this context, how he would deal with his relation with Wang Lu was a great test for him. He didn't know how to ponder on complicated things, but at least, on the basis of these past two days of getting along, he intuitively judged that he was willing to take Wang Lu as his friend.

  Thus, the result of getting along together in the past two days was the establishment of a true alliance. Wang Lu and Xiang Liang tacitly shook each other's hand, ready to meet the next storm.

  However, when the two palms touched each other, a beautiful orchid-like ray of light blossomed out of the hollow of Wang Lu's palm, which rippled into a water curtain.

  Initially, this was a mysterious beautiful scene, but when Wang Lu saw the water curtain, his face suddenly became livid. A moment later, he angrily crushed that water curtain, splashing it to the ground.

  "Damn it, are those two fools making a romance movie?"

  With Xiang Liang's sharp eyes, he managed to read the text on the water curtain before being crushed by Wang Lu. Although some of them were not too clear, the aggressiveness of the person who wrote the text was overflowing.

  "I can't coexist with that bastard thing Zhan Ziye. Junior Brother Wang, if you are loyal, then come back and help me kill this inhumane thing! As long as you help me, I will give that five blood spirits crown to you!"