jdhmnovel Chapter 243: Planning
Chapter 243: Planning
Chapter 243 Planning
This is absolutely outrageous! You're supposed to be a Martial Saint, how can you just surrender like that? Shouldn't you be fighting to the bitter end, ready to die for your cause?
Where is your bottom line? Your integrity? Why can't we see even a trace of it? Most importantly, we've never even killed a Martial Saint! How could you disappoint us so much?
Liu Guang's actions stunned all the surrounding martial artists. They stopped in their tracks, staring at Liu Guang in disbelief, speechless for a long time.
Long Wu was particularly displeased. He quickly parted the crowd, ran up to Liu Guang, and shouted, "Didn't we agree to spar? The outcome is still undecided, yet you want to unilaterally stop? What's the meaning of this? Get up! Fight our Dao Master again!"
After being yelled at by Long Wu, Liu Guang's old face turned bright red, and he wished he could disappear into a crack in the ground. However, this square had been built with great effort, and the ground was as smooth as a mirror; where could one find even the slightest gap?
After searching for a while and finding no cracks in the ground, Liu Guang turned to Xiao Chong. He had already made up his mind that if the Daoist Master Xiao did not accept his surrender, he would never get up.
Moreover, judging from the expressions on the faces of the people around him, Liu Guang could guess what they were thinking, but he really couldn't agree with them.
This is utterly absurd! What's wrong with a Martial Saint? Wasn't a Martial Saint born of parents? Did he deserve to be beaten to death and not allowed to seek any benefit for himself?
Besides, aren't there countless examples of armies abandoning darkness for light on the battlefield? Is it wrong for me to decide to leave the dark Martial Elders Association and embrace the light of Longhua Path?
Liu Guang knew that he had failed to complete the mission assigned to him by the Martial Elders, and he could never go back. Even if he managed to escape from Baisha City today, he would still be hunted down by the Martial Elders.
In chaotic times, one person's strength is truly insignificant. To survive, one must find a powerful patron. Even if the patron is weak, it's better than nothing. After all, isn't cultivation everywhere? The Martial Arts Association, the Dragon Flower Path—aren't they all the same?
Having weighed the pros and cons, Liu Guang felt somewhat relieved and looked at Xiao Chong, asking, "Master Xiao, I am now inclined to abandon darkness and embrace the light. What do you say?"
Xiao Chong approached Liu Guang and asked with a smile, "Are you truly sincere about joining the Dragon Flower Sect?"
"Of course! If I have uttered even the slightest lie, may I be struck by lightning!" Liu Guang quickly swore, without any hesitation.
Xiao Chong was very satisfied with Liu Guang's attitude and said warmly, "Then welcome Mr. Liu Guang to join Longhua Dao. To be honest, what Longhua Dao lacks right now is a high-level martial artist like you. With your joining, Longhua Dao will surely become stronger."
"The Dao Lord's noble character is truly admirable! I, Liu Guang, am a defeated general, and I am deeply ashamed that the Dao Lord has not abandoned me. How can I possibly deserve such high praise from the Dao Lord?"
Liu Guang stepped forward, tightly grasped Xiao Chong's hands, and sighed deeply.
Xiao Chong smiled back and kept comforting him, a truly heartwarming scene of heroes appreciating each other. However, in the eyes of others, the image of Liu Guang as a hero was somewhat tarnished.
Xiao Chong was quite pleased with Liu Guang's defection. Although he had an irreconcilable feud with the Martial Elders, that only applied to the organization itself and its high-ranking members.
Someone like Liu Guang is just a combatant in the Martial Elders Association. It's a good thing no matter what if the other party sincerely pledges allegiance to him.
Although Longhua Sect currently has a large number of members, including many Grandmaster-level martial artists, it lacks top-tier combat power. Furthermore, many martial artists, after breaking through to the Grandmaster level, do not know how to attempt to reach the Martial Saint level, since Longhua Sect does not even have a single Martial Saint.
Xiao Chong's cultivation path was different from others, and apart from the help in terms of pills, he could not provide them with any other guidance.
Now that Liuguang is in charge, the situation is completely different. He has much richer cultivation experience, especially after entering the Grandmaster realm, he can guide you on what issues to pay attention to during cultivation.
Xiao Chong believed that as Longhua Dao grew stronger, it would attract more and more high-level martial artists like Liuguang.
Since Liu Guang chose to surrender, the fight was over. The lack of a good show greatly displeased the naturally combative Long Wu. He had no choice but to follow Xiao Chong and the others, grumbling all the way back to the Longhua Dojo.
Longhua Dao was founded too recently, and in less than a month it quickly grew to tens of thousands of people. Therefore, the Daoist temple could not accommodate so many people. Only Long Wu and Helian Tieshu, along with a dozen or so people who were relatively close to Xiao Chong, returned to the Daoist temple.
The remaining ten thousand or so martial artists naturally stayed in the square, under the supervision of about a hundred grandmasters, to continue absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and refining the power of the pills they had just taken.
These more than ten thousand people were all martial artists, not pampered individuals, and extremely capable of enduring hardship. Therefore, they trained in the square during the day, and at night, they used the square as a temporary barracks.
In the operation by the Martial Elders' Association to wipe out the Longhua Sect, not only did four Grandmasters die in battle, but a Martial Saint was also lost, which can be said to be a great loss of face.
Given the way the Martial Elders' Association operates, they would absolutely not tolerate this situation and would definitely mobilize more top martial artists to launch a fierce counterattack against White Sand City.
Therefore, after returning to the Longhua Dojo, Xiao Chong discussed with several close friends how the Longhua Dojo should proceed.
"The Wu Elders suffered a crushing defeat in White Sand City this time, and they certainly won't let it go easily. What do you think we should do?"
After everyone sat down, Xiao Chong fully demonstrated the spirit of democracy.
"What else can we do? We'll beat them up, of course!" Long Wu glanced at Liu Guang as if intentionally or unintentionally, and shouted, "Kill them one by one, kill two by two. With so many of us, are we afraid of them?"
"Cough cough..." Hearing Long Wu's arrogant boasting, Liu Guang coughed and turned his head to the side, his face full of embarrassment.
Helian Tieshu also looked down on Liuguang's behavior, but as the leader of a part of the clan alliance army, he still had a sense of the big picture after three years of training.
Therefore, in order to defuse this awkward situation, Helian Tieshu took over the conversation, shaking his head and saying, "That's not how it works. Although we have a large number of people now, most of them are Grandmasters, and we will ultimately suffer losses in a fight."
"If the Martial Elders' Association really sends a few Martial Saint-level warriors, even if we can kill one or two, how many people will die? These are our lifeline for success; every one that dies is one less. It's not worth it!"
"Then what do you suggest we do? Are we going to desert our posts?" Long Wu turned his attention to Helian Tieshu.
"This..." Helian Tieshu had no answer, so he turned his gaze to Xiao Chong, after all, Xiao Chong was the person in charge of Longhua Dao.
Although Xiao Chong was the leader of the Longhua Dao, he had never experienced a large-scale war and was not very clear about the battles between the two armies.
Therefore, he turned his gaze to Liuguang and asked, "Mr. Liuguang, among all of you, you have the highest cultivation level and the deepest understanding of the Martial Elders Association. What is your opinion on this matter?"
"How dare a defeated general interrupt? If something goes wrong, everyone will blame us." Liu Guang looked at Xiao Chong, then at Long Wu who was staring at him, and said hesitantly.
Xiao Chong laughed and said, "That's not right! Now that Mr. Liuguang has joined our Longhua Sect, he is in the same trench as us. Feel free to speak your mind!"
After a long silence, seeing that Xiao Chong had no intention of mocking him, Liu Guang sorted out his thoughts and said, "In my opinion, just as Brother Helian said, it is not appropriate to be trapped in Baisha City and wait for the Wu Elders to come to our door. It would be better to avoid their sharp edge for the time being and deal with them in another way."
"What's the difference between this and running away? 'Avoiding the enemy for now and trying to find another way out' is just a nicer way of putting it," Long Wu retorted, clearly disapproving of Liu Guang's suggestion.
"When I said I would temporarily avoid their sharp edge, I didn't mean I would simply run away; I had another plan!"
After being repeatedly mocked by Long Wu, Liu Guang finally lost his temper and angrily said to him, "The kind of thing you're talking about is nothing but showing off your bravado!"
“Always better than some people…” Long Wu retorted sharply, about to make another sarcastic remark, but was interrupted by Xiao Chong.
"You scoundrel, so belligerent. If you weren't itching for a beating, would you want to experience the power of forbidden techniques again?" Xiao Chong frowned, glaring fiercely at Long Wu, ready to unleash the divine forbidden technique at any moment.
The boss was really angry; this was no joke!
Long Wu quickly shut up, sitting to the side like a wronged wife, his eyes lowered, and he dared not utter another sound.
Seeing that Long Wu had finally calmed down, Xiao Chong turned to Liu Guang and humbly asked, "Sir, please don't take him to heart! Just now, I heard you say something else, sir. Why don't you tell me?"
Liu Guang glanced at Xiao Chong and saw that his attitude was sincere and genuine. His anger subsided and he continued, "I have heard of the Dao Master's name before. He is famous for his alchemy. Alchemy has always been a profession that makes money quickly. I suppose the Dao Master must have accumulated a lot of wealth in the past few years."
Xiao Chong smiled and said, "I do have some wealth, but I wonder what it has to do with what you said earlier?"
Liu Guang thought for a moment and said, "That's the problem. The Dao Master has only recently founded the Longhua Dao, and I heard that he is going to supply a large number of pills to the brothers in the Dao for free. I wonder how long he can last?"
Xiao Chong gave a wry smile and said, "At this rate, we won't be able to hold out for much longer."
Liu Guang said, "Then why doesn't the Dao Lord choose a place where the enemy's forces are weak and launch a preemptive attack to feed on the enemy?"
"Does the master mean to use war to sustain war?" Xiao Chong asked.
Liu Guang nodded and said, "That's exactly what I mean. I've been in the Martial Elders' Association for many years and I know their strengths very well. As long as we avoid those powerful divisions and target the weaker ones, we're sure to succeed in one strike."
In this way, the power of the Martial Elders' Association can be gradually weakened, while their own strength can be increased in battle. Why wouldn't the Dao Lord do this?
"Excellent, sir! Your words are exactly what I'm thinking!" Xiao Chong laughed, making the final decision. "Let's discuss in detail who to target in this first battle!"
"I have already thought this through. As long as the Dao Lord gives the order, Liu Guang is willing to be at the forefront for the Dao Lord!"
When his opinion was adopted, Liu Guang was excited, and the dejection he felt after the previous defeat vanished.