Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"Hey, even if you mean to let Mother White Lotus go, it is too obvious that you are stopping here all of a sudden."
The mental devil had swallowed tremendous negative feelings. Its belly was round, and its mouth was full of grease. It was seething again. While picking its teeth, it remarked coldly.
"No. Do you not feel that the war between the living and the dead is a bit weird?"
Looking at the seemingly endless black mountains under the night sky, Li Yao said, deep in thought, "Mother White Lotus gathered thousands of ghouls after all the trouble in the natural disaster. They seemed so intimidating, but they collapsed immediately after the first clash. They failed to persist for even one day. Isn't it too anticlimactic?"
"Of course. We have five super Yuanying and dozens of regular Yuanying on our side. The Thunder Striking Battalion of the court is also carrying the cannons of the starships. What kind of cannons are they?"
The mental devil picked its nose and said, "Mother White Lotus' army of ghouls is mostly made of the homeless ghosts that have just been summoned. If they were living people, they would be mobs with manure forks. They are a bunch of mobsters. It's perfectly normal that they cannot defeat them."
"Then, it is even weirder."
Listening to Mother White Lotus's roars, each louder than the last, from the depths of the forest, Li Yao frowned harder and harder. "The intelligence is not a top secret. The Thunder Striking Battalion does not know any escape techniques, and they marched all the way here. All she needed to do was release a few random ghosts to scout in midair, and it was easy to grasp their marching route. She could also calculate the time when they arrived in East Peace County based on their speed and the terrain up ahead.
"The reinforcements from the central plateaus, on the other hand, have dawdled in Roaring Tiger City for almost ten days. Almost all the southeastern sects know that Qi Zhongdao, Ba Xiaoyu, Yan Liren, Master Bitter Cicada, and I are coming. How could she not know that we would show up on the battlefield?
Five super Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators, dozens of regular Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators, plus the Cultivators from the thirty-three sects in the southeast, and the Thunder Striking Legion, which is an elite troop of the court. They are almost an invincible army. As long as Mother White Lotus has the slightest computational ability, she should've calculated that the mobsters that she has just recruited have absolutely no chance of winning, right?
"Therefore, here comes the question. We have been neglecting one thing. Why does Mother White Lotus have to attack East Peace County?"
After a long daze, the mental devil said, "East Peace County is the largest city in the southeast and the headquarters of the thirty-three Cultivation sects are located. Countless crystals, magical equipment, and Jade Crystal Pellets are stored there, which are of great help for the training of the army of ghouls. As long as they absorb the spiritual energy contained in the crystals and the Jade Crystal Pellets, it is possible that countless wandering ghosts will evolve into seasoned ghosts, and the seasoned ghosts will turn into even more brutal ghouls. Isn't that the best reason?"
"That is only if she can conquer East Peace County."
Li Yao said calmly, "Logically speaking, as long as Mother White Lotus is not an idiot, she must've known that it is impossible for her to conquer East Peace County when the army of Cultivators from the central plateaus and the Thunder Striking Battalion come to reinforce her. However many secret treasures, crystals, and Jade Crystal Pellets there are in East Peace County, they are just like the moon in the water.
"Perhaps — perhaps she is an idiot," the mental devil argued.
"In my opinion, Mother White Lotus' belief is obviously based on injustice, fury, and hatred. Perhaps she hates all the Cultivators in the world after her family was destroyed by some evil Cultivators in the past and she died the most miserable death. Therefore, she hates all the Cultivators in the world and wants revenge. Therefore, she is attacking the big city that is governed by the Cultivators without caring about anything as long as there is a slim chance."
"Impossible. Impossible."
Li Yao shook his head quickly and said, "As one of the top ten experts of the Ancient Sages Sector and an expert at the peak of the Yuanying Stage in terms of the Cultivation of a living person, even if her belief is based on hatred, she would not have been blinded by her fury and launched such a reckless attack. I have a feeling that what Mother White Lotus said to us at the beginning and her shrieks that sound like pigs being butchered right now are all part of an act. I feel that it is a bit pretentious and exaggerated."
The mental devil was dazed for a moment. "Since you said that her performance was excessive, it is probably true. After all, you are a master of acting."
"Also, the large-scale siege this time is obviously different from Mother White Lotus' style in the past."
His eyes glittering, Li Yao continued his analysis. "In the past, although the White Lotus Cult savaged the southeast, it never attacked the major cities that were heavily guarded. Instead, it targeted the towns that were less well-defended or the small and isolated sects in the remote mountainous areas. They were always able to survive for a long time before they were annihilated by the army. Dozens of towns and counties were corrupted and quite a few small and medium-sized sects were annihilated.
"It is obvious that Mother White Lotus' head is very clear. She knows exactly where her advantages lie and can bully the weak with her superior strength every time.
"The natural disasters this time were of such a large scale that almost a hundred counties in the southeast were affected. The dying disaster victims were everywhere. Because of that, Mother White Lotus was able to recruit an army of a million ghouls in such a short time.
"If I were Mother White Lotus, why would I attack East Peace County, the strongest city in the southeast, in such a hurry with such an army in my hands? Wouldn't it be better to lead the army to the south as usual and attack the towns and local sects with weak defenses far away from East Peace County, looting the farmlands and demolishing the headquarters there?" "That's not a bad idea.
"In such a way, not only would the army receive abundant supplies from the farmlands and the sects, but it would also be able to polish the ghouls in the small-scale battles, turning the mobs into well-trained soldiers. Most importantly of all, the thirty-three most powerful sects on the ground of the southeast were all hiding in East Peace County. As long as their fundamental interests were not affected, it was possible that they would not make up their minds to fight the White Lotus ghouls without caring about anything. Or rather, they might even watch the White Lotus ghouls diminish the strength of the local sects without doing anything.
"You've seen it yourself in the past few months. The Cultivation sects in the world of ancient Cultivators are purely a tray of loose sand. As long as they are not forced into a corner, their war efficiency is very, very low.
"Even I can think of such a simple idea. Also, Mother White Lotus has done exactly the same in dozens of rebellions in the past. Why is she doing the opposite this time? She is gathering the army to attack the city in such a hurry. It's almost like …"
The mental devil said gloomily, "It's almost like she is losing on purpose."
"Exactly."
Li Yao's eyes suddenly shone. He snapped his fingers and said, "That's exactly the feeling. She is losing on purpose."
"But it doesn't make sense."
Deep inside Li Yao's brain, the mental devil paced back and forth with its hands behind its back. "What good can a deliberate failure do for her? Is there an ambush ahead after she faked her failure?"
Li Yao looked at the forest ahead of him that was not very tall. But the speculation was soon denied by him.
After feigning defeat, lure the enemy deep into the enemy's territory, surround them from all sides, and annihilate them. This was a very high level of command. It required a team of well-trained elites who could command them like their own arms and fingers. Only with the command of a famous general who had won a hundred battles could it be possible to fight.
With the army of ghouls that had just been gathered, Mother White Lotus's commanding ability was already unbelievable if she could keep them in an orderly battle formation and never retreat. But once the army collapsed, even if it was just a fake collapse, it would be impossible for her to gather them for another battle of annihilation.
This was not a game. Even the army of ghouls had 'morale', too. After the morale collapsed, many of the remaining souls would simply vanish. How could they possibly fight back?
Also, on the Cultivators' side, there were experienced generals who were adept at the art of command. They had sent out scouts to scout the thousand square kilometers nearby. It was impossible that another elite troop of the army of ghouls was hiding in a corner.
In the southeast, the terrain was relatively flat. Although there were continuous hills, they were not as lofty as the mountains in the southwest after all. The hills here were not steep, and most of the forests had been explored and developed. There were neither tough ferocious beasts nor complicated caves below the ground. It was barely possible to run away here, not to mention ambushes from all sides.
"What is Mother White Lotus's purpose exactly?"
Li Yao was not planning to kill Mother White Lotus in the first place. The more confused he was, the more unwilling he was to chase after her.
"A scheme. There must be a great scheme here."
"Don't you find it very strange? We've been in the Ancient Sages Sector for almost half a year, and everything has been smooth sailing without encountering a single great scheme." "That's not right," Li Yao replied solemnly.
"It doesn't make sense."
"Based on our experience in the past, shouldn't we run into a great scheme that can destroy the world every time we take a couple of steps in a new world?"
"Whatever. As long as you're happy," the mental devil said.
Li Yao clapped his hands. "Mother White Lotus must've faked her failure. There must be a great scheme behind this. If it's not in front of us, it must be right behind us."
Li Yao was greatly alarmed. He turned around and looked at East Peace County.
All the Cultivators in East Peace County had left their nest.
They hated the White Lotus ghouls' guts and were determined to annihilate them while they were collapsing. Chasing the ghosts who were running away, they gradually moved further and further away from East Peace County.
There were only a lot of disaster victims and few Cultivators left in East Peace County. It was rather desolate and empty.
"Hey. You don't think that Mother White Lotus faked her failure to lure us away, do you?"
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