Beast Taming: Bloodline Golden Hand-Chapter 616 - 408: Why Should Cultivators Fear Battle?
Once this thought emerged, it grew wildly in Lin Chen’s mind like wild grass.
The reason he had such "outrageous" doubts was rooted in Zhong Nan’s previous "Eight Trigrams Nine Cities" plan.
It was clearly a shocking "Artificial Immortal" plan!
Using a massive array to gather a city’s or even a nation’s fortune to forcibly create an immortal foundation.
Since then, Lin Chen had developed a strong interest in the world’s seemingly scarce but incredibly powerful arrays.
He couldn’t help but recall the profound array legends of Huaxia Civilization on his past Earth’s history:
Zhuge Liang’s Eight Trigrams Formation could trap a hundred thousand elite soldiers, the Taichi Eight Trigrams Array contained the ultimate principles of heaven and earth, and the Turtle Shell could even mobilize the forces of nature...
Compared to the world’s arrays that could easily mobilize heavenly energy, though different in form, their essence seemed to share similarities, both understanding and utilizing energy rules.
In contrast, in this world, array knowledge seemed monopolized by a few, extremely scarce, but each existing array was so powerful it made one’s heart palpitate.
So, in addition to cultivation, he began to observe this magical space more closely.
He dared not use any spiritual power to probe, nor did he dare touch anything; he only used his eyes to look and his heart to feel.
He noticed that the pool of spiritual liquid beneath him, shimmering with rainbow hues, did not flow entirely naturally or randomly. In certain areas, the spirals of the liquid, the interweaving of different colored energies, faintly hinted at some kind of order.
The substantialized dragon vein essences flying freely in the air appeared chaotic in movement, but if gazed at long enough, one might feel they were moving along some unseen and enormous vein.
And then there was the huge lake in the center of the space that emitted pure, bright white light. It was the core of all energy and also the most mysterious place.
Lin Chen felt that the "order" of energy there was the strongest, as if all energy flows ultimately underwent some form of "purification" and "transformation" there before radiating out.
"Array eye..." The term popped into Lin Chen’s mind.
That lake was likely the core array eye maintaining this enormous "Artificial Dragon Vein" system!
"If this is truly the case, perhaps this is a grand game with heaven and earth as the board," the more Lin Chen thought, the more shocked he became, "The one who set this array likely possesses realms far beyond imagination."
At least Lin Chen thought that neither gods nor demons could complete such a grand setup.
"Could it be I’m really overthinking?" Lin Chen chuckled bitterly.
This speculation startled Lin Chen for several days, but he also realized that pondering these matters was purely out of curiosity, but Lin Chen was fundamentally certain of one thing:
The dragon veins can be destroyed.
....
Celestial Capital
Gu Ning was equally shocked after learning the full story, equivalent to being put on a spit to roast.
If he dared to object, it’s believed that his position as National Preceptor would be immediately questioned.
Glancing around the conference room, not only anger filled the faces of the others but also hesitation, fear, and deep fatigue.
The chaos of the Demon Beast had ended only three years ago, the wounds still unhealed, industries waiting to thrive, and the Human Race’s primordial energy far from recovery.
Engaging in all-out war with the deeply rooted and more powerful Divine Race now offered bleak chances of victory, and the cost would be unimaginably catastrophic.
"War? What do we have to fight with?!" a representative from a conservative family quivered as he spoke,
"Every elder-level stronghold of the Divine Race is equivalent to an army! Our human wave tactic holds little significance against them! If war breaks out, mountains and rivers will shatter, blood will flow like rivers, and we might face the peril of human genocide!"
"Does surrender guarantee survival?" Chen Ming glared, "Handing over the dragon veins is akin to crippling ourselves! Thereafter, the Divine Race could manipulate us at will. That would be the true boiling frog scenario, living worse than death!"
The conference room instantly turned into a cacophony, with the pro-war and peace factions in a deadlock, the atmosphere tense.
At this moment, Gu Youshan, who had been silent, spoke up, "Perhaps... we could try negotiating with the Divine Race again?"
"The source of their hardness might still lie in their fears of Zhong Nan’s ’Eight Trigrams Nine Cities’ plan."
"Maybe we could... proactively propose to permanently abolish and completely remove all foundations and data of ’Eight Trigrams Nine Cities.’"
"And explicitly vow in the new ’Century Covenant’ to never again pursue such ’Artificial Immortal’ plans. Perhaps this would demonstrate our sincerity and win concessions from the Divine Race regarding the dragon vein issue?"
This proposal sparked a glimmer of hope in many people’s eyes.
If war could be avoided, such an approach was acceptable.
"Though this plan sounds good, given the current greed of the Divine Race, a price must be paid for them to back down."
Then the Great Elder spoke, his voice not loud, but it cut through all the noise, carrying an indisputable determination, "Negotiation can be tried. Abandoning the Eight Trigrams Nine Cities can also be discussed. However..."
His gaze, sharp as lightning, swept across everyone present:
"We absolutely cannot place the fate of the Human Race on the mercy and promises of the Divine Race!"
"We must prepare for the worst, prepare for war!"
He abruptly stood up, his body now straight as iron, exuding a murderous aura:
"Esteemed colleagues! Should we shirk from battle out of fear today, in the future, when our descendants speak of us, they will only scorn us as cowardly kneelers who surrendered!"
"We cultivators, why shy from a fight?! Even if we die in battle, we can have our names live on in history, winning respect for the Human Race, and securing a future for our descendants!"
"We absolutely cannot allow our children to be born as groveling slaves under the feet of the Divine Race!"
"My suggestion is that what we should do now is put aside factional and personal grievances and focus on unity."
The Great Elder’s words were like heavy hammers, striking everyone’s hearts.
Many who were previously hesitant began to show a firm resolve in their eyes.
Gu Ning took a deep breath; he knew as the National Preceptor, he had to express his stance.
He slowly stood, his voice calm yet carrying a strong confidence and determination:
"The Great Elder speaks truth. Dragon veins are the foundation of the Human Race, and they must not be let go! If the Divine Race wants war, then let there be war!"
...
With the tone set, the meeting then dispersed.
Chen Ming found the Great Elder, with Xu Pingzhi at his side.
The relationship between Thunder City and the Spirit Academy was inherently good, and because of Lin Chen, the Spirit Academy also had a good relationship with the Monster Guild of the south.
But at the core, it was their shared mindset.
"What do you think?" Chen Ming’s eyes were full of concern.
"They come with ill intent..." the Great Elder sighed, "Even if the Divine Race agrees, the price might still be huge."
"It seems like the Great Elder is hinting at something." Xu Pingzhi said.
The Great Elder glanced at the two, not avoiding it any longer, directly stating, "What if they propose the destruction of several dragon veins?"
At this moment, both men’s pupils suddenly contracted.
