Chapter 195 Day One · The General Trend Is like a Chessboard

The long night was about to end.

When darkness faded away, the bright morning sunlight lit up the room through the window. Li Tianlan, who had kept the same pose for a whole night, finally moved.

It seemed to be because he hadn’t moved his body for such a long time, with his movement, the bones in his body made some crackling sounds. In the crisp crackling sounds, he started to focus completely.

His eyes felt sore after staying up for the whole night. He casually turned off the lamp in front of him, then shook his head hard and looked outside the window.

The light golden sunlight lit up the bedroom through the window. The sky was high and cloudy, and the sun was rising up. Outside the French window which gave him a nice view, the trees and flowers were all bathing in the long-lost sunlight.

Li Tianlan squinted his sore eyes and walked toward the French window. He looked at the sunlight outside the window with no expression on his face.

The heavy rain that swallowed the whole East Island had stopped. The water drops were hanging on the tips of the trees outside the window, and they were shining mildly under the sunlight. In the first day of the time limit of seven days, time passed by quietly under the bright sunlight.

The storm and the sunlight.

The natural environment was changing in turns.

But the pressure in Li Tianlan’s heart was still there. Now, meditation had completely taken the place of sleeping. He became extremely busy in his free time. The unique techniques from Xuanyuantai, Tribulation, and even the Wang family of Beihai occupied his mind all the time. Li Tianlan had never felt like this before; the desire, the crazy yearning to be stronger and more powerful.

The desire to survive and to be stronger had confused him. Li Tianlan couldn’t be sure whether he wanted to be stronger to survive, or wanted to survive to be stronger. He didn’t care about that anymore, for there wasn’t any conflict between them. Now he was alive, then he should try his best to be stronger.

That was it.

The sun rose in the cool morning breeze, and the sunlight covered the earth and filled in every corner. Li Tianlan stood still and let the sunlight swallowed him. In the morning sunlight, his whole body seemed to be glowing with bright golden light. In the blurry light and shadow, it was a calm and determined face.

Dongcheng Rushi had sat up on the bed. She blinked her sleepy eyes and watched Li Tianlan’s back blankly.

She didn’t leave Li Tianlan’s room last night but didn’t do anything intimate with him. When Li Tianlan was studying the unique techniques, she slept on his bed. It was the simplest company, but also the most silent softness. In Dongcheng Rushi’s whole life, ever since she was a little kid, everyone had been constantly telling her how perfect Li Tianlan was. He was everywhere in her life. And as the two of them got close to each other, that vague impression about him seemed to get clearer and clearer.

Neither of Dongcheng Rushi’s two personalities could decide whether this was love. Even if it wasn’t love, playing the role of his fiancée was definitely what she wanted to do the most right now.

She moved her body on the bed. The confusion in her eyes faded away, and they got colder and more conscious.

“Have you heard about a saying that goes, more haste, less speed? I won’t stop you from trying your best, but you have to rest. Otherwise, it will backfire on you.”

She watched Li Tianlan’s back covered in sunlight and said in a bland tone.

Li Tianlan knew which personality did this tone belong to without even asking. He slightly raised his eyebrows. He didn’t feel surprised and just said calmly, “I already have rested.”

“Two hours of sleep every day? Or the meditation that lasts nearly ten hours? If you think these so-called rests are helpful to you, then forget what I just said.”

Dongcheng Yueshen sounded a bit cold.

Li Tianlan frowned and stayed silent. So far, he had seen Dongcheng Yueshen three times. They had three conversations, but each time it ended in discord. Li Tianlan didn’t hate Dongcheng Yueshen’s personality, but he found it hard to like her. In general, she was impetuous and rude.

“What exactly are you worried about?”

Dongcheng Yueshen sighed slightly, got off the bed, walked to Li Tianlan, and asked.

“Samsara.”

Li Tianlan didn’t hesitate this time. There seemed to be an answer slowly appearing in his heart. Under the sunlight, he took out a cigarette and lit it up. He took a big drag on it and then suddenly said, “Does the Dongcheng Clan have any intelligence about Samsara’s operation this time?”

Dongcheng Yueshen froze for a second.

Li Tianlan already continued to say, “In this battle between Zhongzhou and East Island, Samsara did their best to help and support Zhongzhou State, so it’s impossible for them to do this for nothing. What does Samsara want? Do you have any intelligence about this?”

Dongcheng Yueshen thought about it, then shook her head and said, “No. You should know that our family doesn’t have the time or energy for that. Among the people from our family, only you, me and my godfather are in Changdao right now. The rest are all in Zhongzhou State. The battle of Changdao is originally none of our family’s business.”

Our family.

Dongcheng Yueshen naturally spat out the two words, almost out of instinct.

Li Tianlan took a deep look at her and just stayed silent.

The main focus of the Dongcheng Clan right now indeed wasn’t Changdao. Even Jade Pool didn’t do much to help in this battle of the entire nation. When Zhongzhou’s countless forces started to expand outwards, someone needed to take care of the rear defense.

Dongcheng Wudi, the Zhongzhou God of Massacre, flew around from campsite to campsite in the Border Control Corps nearly every day. He had no time or energy to care about Changdao or Samsara right now.

Now it wasn’t that peaceful in Zhongzhou State, either. A large number of East Island superiors were now trapped in Hunting, including some superiors of the Invincible Realm. Huating might be the fourth battlefield following Changdao, North America and Northern Europe. And meanwhile, the famous Zhongzhou Border Control Corps could be an extremely obvious target.

The Dark World was a world full of cruelty, blood, and violence. But behind all these negative words, it also meant that this was a world of absolute reason. Especially among the superpowers, there were seldom impulsive fights.

In the current situation, the Special Warfare System of East Island was in great danger. It had already been a fact that Zhongzhou State would gain something from this. It was all just a matter of balance.

When East Island was in a desperate situation, they might order the superiors in Huating to break through the defense and make Huating a new battlefield. But if there was no great interest in it for them, why would other power groups willingly cooperate?

What they wanted was the balance.

Now that it was inevitable that Snowdance Corps would rise, then it would be acceptable to inflict heavy losses on the Border Control Corps and make Snowdance Corps more powerful.

The famous Border Control Corps was full of elites. But locating on the border made it a lot easier to initiate attacks than to fight in the opponent’s field.

This was a well-received reason. Now the Dongcheng Clan and Jade Pool both focused on Zhongzhou State’s defense problem, which meant they didn’t care about everything happening in Changdao.

“Chill. Her Highness from Samsara beat Gu Xingyun, and her momentum is strong now. Nobody will dare to mess with her. It’ll be okay.”

Dongcheng Yueshen said slowly.

Li Tianlan nodded and then shook his head. His eyes looked gloomy, and he said, “I worry about what happened after the battle between her and Gu Xingyun.”

For this point, Dongcheng Yueshen didn’t know what to say. In the past couple of months, the person with the most glorious achievements in the Dark World surely was the mysterious Master of Samsara Palace. She exterminated Night Spirit, went into Mount Dibing, fought Gu Xingyun, and fought against Zhongzhou State. She was just a woman, but her spirit could conquer mountains and rivers, and her every move showed her unique momentum. But everything happened so fast and so densely. Now Li Tianlan was not the only one who worried about the Master of Samsara Palace right now.

Most people were pessimistic about her state right now.

“Want something to eat? I’ll make some.”

Dongcheng Yueshen stayed silent for a while and then just changed the subject.

The Dongcheng Clan had a specific goal in training Dongcheng Rushi. She was the fiancée of Li Tianlan first, and a genius of Martial Arts second. Under this training mode, Dongcheng Rushi’s cooking skills were fantastic. Cooking breakfast was easy to both personalities of Dongcheng Rushi.

“No, thanks.”

Li Tianlan shook his head, turned around, and said, “I don’t have any appetite. I’ll take a walk outside.”

Dongcheng Yueshen agreed blandly, “I’ll go with you. I want some fresh air, too.”

“You?”

Li Tianlan took a suspicious look at Dongcheng Yueshen.

The harsh, mean Dongcheng Yueshen snorted coldly, then said directly, “You have a problem?”

“Shouldn’t you be going back?”

Li Tianlan said politely. He preferred Dongcheng Rushi’s main personality, quiet, pure, flawlessly pretty, and clear.

“I’m staying.”

Dongcheng Yueshen shook her head and took a look at Li Tianlan, then put on a faint smile and said, “You want to see her? Maybe tomorrow.”

Li Tianlan froze for a second, looked at Dongcheng Yueshen while thinking about something, then he suddenly said, “Rushi really doesn’t know that you exist?”

“For now, yes.”

Dongcheng Yueshen said blandly.

“But today you are here with me. When she appears tomorrow, who will tell her what happened today?”

Li Tianlan squinted and asked, “We only have seven days, and today is the first day.”

“I have my way.”

Dongcheng Yueshen said blandly, then walked straight to the bathroom to wash and rinse.

Li Tianlan stood there, and his eyes looked deeper and deeper.

Until this moment, he realized that Dongcheng Rushi indeed had dissociation of the personality. But the Dongcheng Yueshen in front of him was no longer the sub-personality of Dongcheng Rushi. Dual personalities meant two completely independent minds.

From this perspective, when Dongcheng Yueshen appeared, she was only Dongcheng Yueshen. Meanwhile, Dongcheng Rushi was asleep.

Li Tianlan wasn’t an expert in this field, but he understood how rare it was to have two independent minds in one body. But before he could decide whether to study it or not, someone knocked on the door.

He heard Li Baitian’s voice from outside the door. “Tianlan, are you up?”

Li Tianlan froze for a moment, answered him, then walked over and opened the door.

The people from the East Emperor Palace had been living together in this villa for some days, but they didn’t see one another that much. Under the pressure of the general trend, everyone was trying their best to improve their strength. Even if they ran into each other after meditation, they would be too busy to talk. Li Tianlan couldn’t even remember when was the last time he saw Li Baitian. Right now he felt kinda strange after hearing his voice.

Li Baitian, who was in a neat suit, was sorting his clothes at the door. When he saw Li Tianlan come out, he just casually greeted him. “Morning.”

“Morning.”

Li Tianlan nodded. Watching Li Baitian, who was so formally dressed, he laughed surprisedly and said, “Why are you dressing like that? For a date?”

“I wouldn’t be stupid enough to dress like this for a date. Shit, I can’t breathe in this.”

Li Baitian pulled the tie around his neck, put on a bitter smile, and said, “I have a meeting today. I came here to inform you about the meeting. All the superpowers will be attending. You need to prepare yourself, and someone will pick you up later.”

He stopped for a second, shook his head, and said in a complicated tone, “I really want to go there with you, now… well…”

“It’s alright.”

Li Tianlan shook his head and said while laughing, “We will have another chance in the future.”

Li Baitian didn’t say specifically, but Li Tianlan knew how big would this so-called meeting be. The final battle could break out anytime, and Zhongzhou State indeed needed a big, high-level meeting to coordinate all aspects. Right now there were two thousand Zhongzhou elites trapped in Changdao, but few of them were qualified to attend the meeting. The people who could enter the meeting venue were all people with power, high position or great influence.

Li Tianlan’s East Emperor Palace just got established, and it was a public administrative agency. Its level was relatively high. But an agency like this was nothing to the tycoons. Agencies of this level, to put it in a harsh way, were like cannon fodder in the battle of Changdao. The reason why Li Baitian could attend this meeting was Mount Shu instead of East Emperor Palace.

The Great Void Sword Master of Mount Shu.

This was a much more important title.

Especially in the current situation.

Different from Jade Pool, who focused on defense and kept the same pace with the Dongcheng Clan, Mount Shu could be considered one of the most active power groups in this battle of Zhongzhou.

The sword reached the southwest!

In the past two months, the southwest branch of the Zhongzhou Special Warfare System had very frequent staff changes. A lot of swordsmen from Mount Shu were put into a big part of the leadership positions of the Special Warfare System. From the southwest border to the southwest inland area, the ferocious sword intent of Mount Shu was everywhere.

The Phantom Sword Master of Mount Shu went to the southwest border.

The Yin and Yang Sword Master Han Chongyang went to Changdao himself.

Mount Shu had always been rich in history and culture. Once their infinite sword intent broke out, their influence and strength were both improving rapidly in a short time.

Now whether in the southwest defense in Zhongzhou State or in the battle of Changdao, Mount Shu was a strong force that could not be ignored. But as long as the Ying and Yang Sword Master was here, everyone had to take Li Baitian—Great Void Sword Master, seriously, no matter how young he was.

Li Baitian would attend the meeting as Great Void Sword Master of Mount Shu, while Li Tianlan would most possibly attend the meeting as someone from Samsara Palace. As for East Emperor Palace, before it grew bigger, it was just a joke to all the tycoons.

“Change your clothes.”

Li Baitian shook his head. “Today, a lot of important people from the Special Warfare system will be attending the meeting. I have to dress up. I just got a phone call. It seems that people from Samsara will come to collect you soon.”

Li Tianlan nodded. Before he could say anything, Dongcheng Yueshen already walked out of the bathroom after washing. She asked, “Where are you going?”

“There will be a meeting later. It seems like I need to go, too.”

Li Tianlan also answered casually.

There were two groups of elites that Zhongzhou State sent to East Island. The first group was relatively innocent, and most of them were elites from the Special Warfare System or freshmen from the Special Warfare Academy. But the second group was completely different. There were a lot of figures of high positions in it. There were less than six hundred people in the second group, but the worst of them were elites of the Fire-flaming Realm. When detached and neutral power groups like the Terracotta Army, Mount Shu, Asura Path, Sigh City and Kunlun City united together, it would be an extremely powerful force. But there would also be complicated grievances in it. So no one knew what would happen in the meeting.

“I’ll go with you.”

Dongcheng Yueshen said after answering. This was the part where she was different from Dongcheng Rushi; she was rudely direct. This sentence that came out of her mouth sounded more like a notice than a discussion.

Li Tianlan nodded subconsciously. He was already thinking about something else.

Hearing the natural conversation between the two of them, Li Baitian already looked duller and duller.

Dongcheng Rushi’s fiancé was Li Tianlan.

Before this, even Ning Qiancheng didn’t know about this. Now, this was no longer a secret, but Li Baitian could never think that their relationship would escalate so fast. How long had it been? Had the second Miss from the Dongcheng Clan already been on Tianlan’s bed?

Fuck, this couple was really wild after the engagement. This was outrageous.

Li Baitian’s eyes were shining. He accidentally saw there was something white at the corner of Dongcheng Yueshen’s mouth. It was tiny and subtle, making it hard for others to see clearly. But the more he stared at it, the more suspicious he got. Li Baitian slightly twitched the corner of his mouth. Looking at Li Tianlan’s calm face, he suddenly wanted to beat the shit out of this horny asshole.

“I’ll pick some clothes for you.”

Dongcheng Yueshen said, then casually wiped the toothpaste foam off the corner of her mouth, turned around and left.

Li Baitian’s facial expression looked weird. He was speechless.

“What’s wrong?”

Another voice rang out of nowhere.

Ning Qiancheng walked out from the bedroom not far away. He looked at Li Baitian and asked.

“I’m worshiping my idol. Look at my face, do I look sincere?”

Li Baitian looked at Ning Qiancheng and asked.

Ning Qiancheng seemed to be in a really bad mood, and his face looked a bit gloomy. He frowned, looking confused.

“Look, this is my idol. Look at him.”

Li Baitian looked at Li Tianlan with an exaggerating expression. “The strongest holy rider of the century has appeared. Brother Drunbility, wanna worship him with me?”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Li Tianlan and Ning Qiancheng said at the same time.

“Goddess Qin, Dongcheng Rushi, Wang Yuetong, well well. Those who can ride the goddesses surely are called holy rider. Tianlan, good for you. When Goddess Qin appeared around you, I felt sorry for you. It turns out that you are the pickiest one who always picks the best one. I only read about a dragon rider in Master Jin’s martial arts novel. I never could expect that I would become brothers with a holy rider. Surely I should worship you.”

“Fuck off.”

Li Tianlan cursed while laughing, rushed to him and pretended to kick him. Li Baitian was laughing and smiling. He dodged the kick and quickly disappeared. “I’ll go down and check. You guys carry on.”

Li Tianlan helplessly shook his head, looked at Ning Qiancheng who stayed silent and said, “What’s wrong? Why do you look so pale in the morning?”

“Nothing serious.”

Ning Qiancheng shook his head and said, “There will be a meeting later. Did Baitian tell you?”

Li Tianlan said yes, then felt something wrong. He lifted up his head, looked at Ning Qiancheng and said, “You’re going, too? With what identity?”

Li Baitian was the Great Void Sword Master of Mount Shu, so it was understandable for him to attend the meeting.

As for Li Tianlan himself, because of his relationship with Qin Weibai, right now the Super Masters of Samsara were all circling around him, so he must attend the meeting.

As for Ning Qiancheng, Li Tianlan didn’t expect he would go.

“I… I’m one of the representatives from Eastern Theater of Operations.”

Ning Qiancheng said with a serious face.

A representative of Eastern Theater of Operations…

Li Tianlan froze for a second and looked at Ning Qiancheng. He was suddenly speechless.

Ning Qiancheng’s father Ning Zhiyuan was the Commander of Zhongzhou Eastern Theater of Operations, and it was ridiculous how much Eastern Theater of Operations had devoted themselves to the battle of Changdao. Judging specifically from strength, it was hard to tell which power group was the most powerful. But judging from the number of people, Eastern Theater of Operations’ input was definitely the biggest among all the power groups in Zhongzhou State. Ning Qiancheng was one of the representatives of Eastern Theater of Operations, which meant that he had already become one of the leaders from Eastern Theater of Operations of this battle of East Island.

“Have you talked to General Ning?”

Li Tianlan asked in a soft voice. He knew very well about the conflict between Ning Qiancheng and his father Ning Zhiyuan. He couldn’t fully understand these past affairs, but it would be nice if they could make up.

“No.”

There was a bit of confusion on Ning Qiancheng’s serious face. “It was the Marshal who called me and told me to go.”

Order from Dongcheng Wudi?

Li Tianlan thought of something, and his eyes instantly looked deep and serious.

The Commander of Border Praetorian Corps intervened in affairs in Eastern Theater of Operations intentionally or unconsciously. What did this mean?

Zhongzhou State, East Island, inside and outside, it seemed that everything was getting more and more complicated.

“I see.”

Li Tianlan stayed silent for a while, then nodded and said, “Let’s talk downstairs.”

Ning Qiancheng agreed, and the two of them walked downstairs together in silence.

“Does Marshal Dongcheng have a good relationship with General Ning?”

Li Tianlan asked suddenly.

“Not that good. Just a bowing acquaintance. At least as far as I’m concerned, they don’t have much connection; they would greet each other in some meetings at most.”

Ning Qiancheng shook his head slightly. “This is what confuses me the most. Eastern Theater of Operations has put in two groups of people in Changdao, more than 80% of which are the most trusted people of my father. Once these people left, his control over the Eastern Theater of Operations will drop. Marshal asked me to be the representative of the Eastern Theater of Operations in the meeting, and there’s no way he doesn’t know. Now the result…”

He didn’t continue but started to think about something.

Li Tianlan didn’t say anything, either.

Now the situation was indeed very complicated; the fights in the Dark World were complicated, East Island’s attitude was complicated, and the conflicts inside Zhongzhou State were also very complicated.

Right now Li Tianlan had figured out something. But the more he knew, the more he couldn’t see.

When the storm stopped, and when the morning sun rose up.

There was still a could of mist in front of Li Tianlan.

After saying goodbye to Li Baitian and Ning Qiancheng, Li Tianlan sat alone in the yard, enjoying the long-lost sunlight and fresh air, but his mind was already drifting to somewhere else.

The cool breeze blew in the sunlight, slowly heating up the air.

A deep and thick voice suddenly rang out, interrupting Li Tianlan’s thought.

“Young master, good morning.”

Xu Chu, who was tall like a giant, stood in front of Li Tianlan, radiating pure pressure and sense of power.

“Morning.”

Li Tianlan opened his eyes, smiled, and nodded. Then he instinctively laid his eyes behind Xu Chu.

Behind Xu Chu, there were three figures in black standing quietly, not showing any aura. Under the bright sun, there seemed to be darkness circling around the three people, ready to swallow everything.

“Martial uncle?!”

Li Tianlan froze for a second, then laughed and said in surprise, “You’re back from Dongdu?”

Among the three men in black, Tribulation in the middle nodded and said in a deep voice, “Just got here.”

Before Li Tianlan could say anything, he continued to say, “Tianlan, go and change your clothes. There’s a meeting later, and you are coming with us.”

Li Tianlan’s smile suddenly froze on his face.

He knew that he was going to attend the meeting, but he didn’t expect to go with Sigh City instead of Samsara Palace.

This news came so suddenly that he didn’t expect that at all.

“Martial uncle…”

He slowly put away his smile and said peacefully, “Where are Duke and the rest?”

Tribulation stayed silent for a short while, then said peacefully, “They have left already, a couple of hours ago.”

“Are they all gone?”

“All gone.”

Tribulation nodded. “But they’ll attend the meeting later, and Sigh City will take care of your everything in East Island.”

Li Tianlan twitched the corner of his mouth, but he couldn’t say anything.

At this moment, he suddenly thought of Li Baitian, Ning Qiancheng, the Super Masters of Samsara that left without saying goodbye. But these vivid characters, even including Tribulation, all became pawns in his head.

He had also become a pawn himself.

The general trend was like a chessboard, and everyone was a pawn on it. In every conflict in the overall situation, all the pawns were getting close to one another or away from one another in an uncontrolled way.

They had no choice.

In the dark, he could feel that something was moving toward him, while something was leaving him.

Farther and farther.

Li Tianlan’s face looked calm.

Under the bright sun, it started to rain reluctance and loneliness in his heart.

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