Brilliance suddenly flashed in Li Yao's eyes. Holding his breath, he craned his head and looked at Han Baling modestly. "What do you mean?"
Han Baling smiled casually and said as if everything was under his control, "Of Vulture Li Yao's three disciples, Jin Xinyue, his last disciple, seemed to be the most independent and disobedient one.
"Unlike the other two disciples who were raised from scratch, Jin Xinyue was already an expert in the demon king level when she met Li Yao. Also, she had her own force behind her, which was the entire Blood Demon Sector. After taking over her father's subordinates, she was the well-deserved 'master of the Blood Demon Sector'.
"According to many biographies and declassified files, the master-disciple combination of Jin Xinyue and Li Yao carried the strong air of a political deal. It was only for the peaceful coexistence of the Blood Demon Sector and the Tian Yuan Realm. In fact, Li Yao did not necessarily want to recruit Jin Xinyue as his disciple, and Jin Xinyue, an ambitious demoness, was not really loyal to Li Yao, her master, either.
"Yes. On the surface, it was indeed so.
"When Vulture Li Yao was still alive, he was able to suppress Jin Xinyue with his invincible techniques and fame. After Li Yao wandered in space and disappeared from the public eye, Jin Xinyue's ambitions immediately burst out. She took the resources of the entire Blood Demon Sector and joined the traditional conglomerates. In many cases, not only did she not show much respect to the sects that belonged to Li Yao's faction, such as the Glorious Sunlight Group and the Double Dragons Union, she even went head-to-head with the 'Li Yao's faction' to protect the interests of the traditional conglomerates, resulting in the illusion that there was no such thing as a 'Li Yao's faction'.
"Therefore, many core members of Li Yao's faction, such as Ding Ling Dong, Wu Mayan, Xie Anan, and even Mo Xuan, Bai Kaixin, Xiong Wuji, and Fiend Blade Peng Hai who were slightly more peripheral, did not like Jin Xinyue very much. They criticized her a lot, believing that she was a heartless, treacherous, and vicious woman.
"Later, Guo Chunfeng, the director of the Secret Sword Bureau, was the only one who still cared about his old friend, Li Yao, and tried his best to support Jin Xinyue and help her rise in the Secret Sword Bureau. He also allowed her to be independent and establish the 'Dim Moon Squad', a team that was only loyal to her.
"But as it turned out, after Jin Xinyue was fully fledged, she turned against Guo Chunfeng and broke up with him. Leading the whole team, she established the 'Dim Moon Fund', the greatest competitor of the Secret Sword Bureau right now, and pledged her loyalty to the traditional conglomerates in the core worlds wholeheartedly.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Judging from Jin Xinyue's behavior on the surface, she is truly ungrateful and hateful. No wonder Ding Ling Dong's Patriots Front is trying its best to fight her!"
Fascinated, Li Yao nodded quickly. "That's right. It does seem to be the case on the surface. But if you put it that way, Fellow Cultivator Han, there must be more to it, right?"
Han Baling sneered and said, "If we only look at the surface, we may have underestimated Jin Xinyue too much. We may also have underestimated Vulture Li Yao's methods of manipulating his disciples!
"Hehe. At first glance, Jin Xinyue had joined the traditional conglomerates. But the so-called 'traditional conglomerates' were not united, either. The internal competition was fierce, too. They could be divided into 'big conglomerates' and 'small conglomerates'.
"At that time, Li Yao was already traveling in the sea of stars. Ding Ling Dong's Patriots Front had just begun to develop. Most of the core members today were still in prison, smashing stones at the edge of the cosmos. Jin Xinyue, who had the most influence, joined the traditional conglomerates. In any case, the so-called 'Li Yao's group' was nothing but a lie.
"Since there was no need to worry about 'Li Yao's group', during the years when the New Federation was developing at a high speed, the 'traditional conglomerates' naturally had a lot of internal strife!
"Jin Xinyue's strategy, on the other hand, was to join the 'small conglomerates' that were relatively weaker and less influential. With the abundant human resources of the Blood Demon Sector, her convenience in the Secret Sword Bureau, and her own sordid methods, she helped them deal with the few biggest conglomerates!
"Fellow Cultivators and Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture, please take a look. This is the 'Immortal Catchers Sect', a super sect that ranks third on the comprehensive list of the Federation right now. It was founded 655 years ago and has a long history. It was also the one that was most deeply involved in the series of scandals after the 'Dim Moon Plan' was revealed.
"But according to my investigation, the Immortal Catchers Sect ranked around the fifteenth place on average in the comprehensive list of the old Federation more than a hundred years ago. It was not one of the few biggest 'giants'. Instead, by cooperating with Jin Xinyue, exploiting the resources of the Blood Demon Sector, and eliminating the competitors through clandestine approaches, the Immortal Catchers Sect grew to what it is today step by step!
"Most of the famous traditional conglomerates on the list were the same.
"All in all, with such a strategy, Jin Xinyue pretended to join the 'small conglomerates' and helped the 'small conglomerates' defeat the 'big conglomerates'. While she strengthened herself in secret, won the trust of the 'small conglomerates', and became their spokesperson, she also grasped a lot of black materials about the 'small conglomerates'!
"Hehe. Hehehehe. Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture, did you know that Vulture Li Yao's greatest hobby was to refine crystal bombs?"
Li Yao nodded solemnly. "I've heard a thing or two about it."
"The old devil refined countless crystal bombs in his life, but the most powerful and sordiest one among them was Jin Xinyue herself!"
Han Baling slapped the table heavily and bulged his eyes. "Jin Xinyue was a powerful crystal bomb that was filled with venom. She tied herself to the 'traditional conglomerates' who had won the fierce competitions and waited patiently for a hundred years. When the traditional conglomerates were completely reassured by her and supported her to run for the Speaker, she detonated herself and blew up the obsolete traditional conglomerates that stood in front of 'Li Yao's group'!
"One moment. Only one moment! When 'Li Yao's group', the tyrannosaur that had lurked in the abyss for too long, finally rose from the darkness, it was already daytime in front of them. Nothing could compete with them and the name 'Li Yao' anymore!
"This was Monster Li's entire plan!
"Jin Xinyue was his most beloved and most loyal true disciple!
"Monster Li was certainly not content to be a hero of the Federation whose reputation was undeserved. He had been patient for a hundred years in order to truly rise and control the Federation. Not only was he going to be the dominator of three Sectors, but he was also going to be the dominator of all Sectors so that the Xing Yao Federation would carry out his will for the next thousand years!"
The more he talked, the more excited and admirable Han Baling became. He slapped the table hard and stared at Li Yao. "Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture, this is my analysis of the whole incident. What do you think? Are you shocked?"
"Indeed. I — I am shocked!"
Li Yao took out a vintage bamboo tube from his pocket and poured out a few things that looked like goat dung. "I'll take two Great Recovery Pills to calm myself down."
"I was more than shocked. When I used my rich experience of sweeping across the Dark Cloud Prairie, wiping out many old sects, and wielding great power to consider Old Monster Li's series of arrangements and outline his entire plan, I felt … felt boundless horror!"
Han Baling sighed. With an indescribable expression on his face, he shook his head with a bitter smile. "When I was in the Ancient Sages Sector, I always thought that I might not be as good as an 'unparalleled sword saint' such as Fellow Cultivator Yan Liren in terms of martial arts, but in terms of wisdom and strategy, I would never lose to anybody!
"Even when I just came to this … modern world of Cultivators and saw their starships and their metropolises in space, I thought that they were just fancy tricks and that they were no match for us in terms of real tricks and schemes!
"But today, after I witnessed part of Monster Li's hundred-year plan, I finally understood the profoundness and dreadfulness of the experts of this Sector! Vulture Li Yao is the well-deserved dominator of three Sectors. In a hundred years, he has been dominating the world with a snap of his fingers and killing people without leaving a trace! I'm impressed. I'm truly impressed by the old monster! "
Not just Han Baling, the other Yuanying Cultivators and Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators were also amazed and awed after hearing the subtleties of Monster Li's plan.
"Well, Fellow Cultivator Han," Li Yao said, "we don't have to be so humble, do we?"
"I'm not being humble; I'm just stating facts!"
Han Baling said solemnly. "Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture, I'll be honest with you. Please don't be angry. You were born in the wilderness of the Southland of Sorcerers, and your main occupation was forging and refining. Even though you learned a few tricks from Lord Wang, how could you have fully grasped the essence of the power struggle and grasped the horror of Monster Li? Do you know what's the scariest thing about him? "
Scratching his chin, Li Yao narrowed his eyes and asked, "What is it?"
"His timing!"
Han Baling said solemnly. "The 'detonation time' that Monster Li chose for Jin Xinyue couldn't have been more perfect. Do you understand?"
Li Yao shook his head. "Not exactly. I'd like to hear more about it."
"It's very simple, but it's also very delicate!"
Han Baling explained. "Why did it have to be a hundred years after Monster Li disappeared, when the Black Wind Fleet was about to arrive at the city, instead of earlier or later?
"Firstly, after a hundred years of development, all the branches of 'Li Yao's group' have developed. They are now fully fledged and have the assets to rise to the surface and confront the traditional conglomerates!
"Secondly, the traditional conglomerates are deeply rooted after all. As the saying goes, 'a centipede dies but never falls down'. If it were peacetime, although such a scandal would've heavily wounded them, it might not necessarily have killed them. If they were not killed, their counterattack would've certainly been rampant, and the Federation would've been divided. That would've been something that Monster Li didn't want to see.
"But things are different right now. A 'Speaker of War' has been elected. Once the new Speaker is elected, he will definitely announce that the Federation will enter the highest state of war.
"Think about it. In the highest state of war, everything will be for the sake of war preparations. The power of the new Speaker will be greatly expanded. Won't the traditional conglomerates that are mired in scandals be meat on the chopping board at the mercy of anybody?
"Thirdly, and most importantly of all, once the Federation defeats the expedition army of the Imperium under the leadership of 'Li Yao's group', most of the war benefits left by the Black Wind Fleet will be swallowed by 'Li Yao's group. Nothing will be left for the' traditional conglomerates'.
"As a result, Li Yao's group will be more than ten times stronger than before through the glorious victory. The traditional conglomerates that were seriously weakened during the war and starved after the war do not deserve to be called 'conglomerates' at all. How can they compete with Li Yao's men?
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