Sincerity (Continued)

Huang Yan paused for a moment, then slowly shook his head and said, "That old man is just using you. When he was trying to persuade you, he definitely used the topic of 'who is stronger, the War God of Military God or the God of War' to provoke you, and he deliberately used his reputation to provoke you."

"How could I not know all this? They're all fools trying to be clever, but if I help him, I'll be used by him; if I don't help him, I'll be used by you. In the end, I have to choose one side."

"Then why not choose me? Is it because he is more incompetent than me? Or are you afraid that if I ascend the throne, others will think that the Military God is above the War God?"

No, it's simply because his attitude was more sincere.

"Attitudes are all an act. All that talk of being courteous to the virtuous and humble, of sucking the pus from the wounds of soldiers—as the commander-in-chief, don't you understand that behind the 'treating soldiers like children' facade is simply wanting them to risk their lives for you? Have you not heard the Legalist School saying, 'Those who hire laborers to sow and cultivate, whose masters spend their wealth on fine food and trade cloth for easy money, do not love their laborers, but say, 'In this way, the plowing will be deep, and the weeding thorough'; and whose laborers exert themselves to cultivate quickly and skillfully, straightening the furrows, do not love their masters, but say, 'In this way, the soup will be delicious, and the money will be easy to obtain'."

This means that landlords feed their laborers well and pay them quickly not because they are kind or love them, but because this will make the laborers work hard. Conversely, laborers work hard for landlords not because they respect their masters, but because they want to earn more money.

Huang Yan clearly possesses a gentle and refined temperament, giving people the impression of a warm and sunny man, but his words are cold and ruthless, sending chills down one's spine.

The surrounding Spirit Transformation Grandmaster all turned their gazes to him, some with surprise, others with fear, as if they were seeing him for the first time—only the female general kept her eyes fixed on Ba Shenhuang.

As the commander-in-chief, to believe that loving soldiers like one's own children is not a virtue, but rather a performance to make soldiers fight harder, is a deceptive act. This is clearly a fundamentalist Legalist School ideology, which posits that there is no emotion in the world, only self-interest.

In the eyes of Legalist School, even kinship is essentially an exchange of interests. For example, if parents are negligent in raising a child when he is an infant, the son will complain about his parents when he grows up; if the son grows up and provides little support to his parents, the parents will angrily reprimand him. Father and son are the closest of blood relatives, yet they can blame each other simply because the other's behavior does not satisfy their own interests. Conversely, the so-called parental love and filial piety are simply the result of each other satisfying the other's interests.

Later generations often regard Nation of Valor Foreign Secretary Hammersden's statement, "There are no permanent friends or permanent enemies between nations, only permanent interests," as a golden rule. In fact, our own ancestor, Han Feizi, more than two thousand years ago, had already said this, and analyzed it incisively. Such a level is only at the level of an apprentice in the eyes of the Legalist School.

Ba Shenhuang didn't get angry after hearing Huang Yan's words. Instead, he laughed. After the laughter subsided, he said seriously, "Even if it's just an act, a well-acted one is more sincere than one who doesn't."

Huang Yan spread his hands and said, "Oh, what if I show the same sincerity?"

Ba Shenhuang sneered and said, "That old man begged me on his knees before I agreed. If you kneel down and beg me now, I will immediately turn around and leave, and will never interfere in this matter again."

Then he extended his hand and said, "Come on, show your sincerity."

Upon hearing this, everyone's expression changed drastically, and the female general erupted in fury, shouting, "Insolent wretch!"

With his long axe swirling in his hand, he moved like a whirlwind, unleashing waves of fierce Gang Qi that swept towards Ba Shenhuang. Each axe strike possessed the power to split mountains and cleave the earth. In his rage, the energy surged to the heavens, forcing the other eight Nascent Spirit Transformation to take a step back to the side.

Faced with the surging offensive, Ba Shenhuang neither dodged nor avoided, but simply used his hands to catch the blades, sometimes slapping, sometimes shaking, sometimes punching, without using any clever tricks, but directly confronting them head-on.

In a very short time, the two exchanged three hundred blows, bursts of energy erupting between them, causing the wind and clouds to change color and the earth to tremble. The elite personal guards were forced to retreat rapidly by the residual force, only managing to regain their footing after retreating a hundred meters. The Nascent Spirit Transformation Grandmaster also activated their powers to defend themselves, with those of slightly weaker cultivation taking another step back. Throughout the entire process, only the Military God remained as steady as a rock, not even his sleeves fluttering.

Outside the battlefield, Si Ming smiled and sighed, "As expected of the War God of Hundred-Victory Military God will agree."

As for the fierce battle between the armored female general and Ba Shenhuang, he didn't take it seriously.

Xia Guanxue analyzed, "That depends on how the Military God sees himself. If he sees himself as a strategist, abandoning his wife and children and even cooking his father's food is commonplace. What is kneeling a small matter? Only with a thick skin and a ruthless heart can one achieve great things. But if he sees himself as a martial artist, this request undoubtedly crosses the line. Once he agrees, there will be no way he can ever surpass the War God again."

Murong Wu asked doubtfully, "But everyone says that all's fair in war. Can the War God really keep his promise? What if he breaks the agreement later under the pretext of 'all's fair in war'?"

Xia Guanxue shook her head and said, "No, Ba Shenhuang has no reason to break the contract. Just as the Military God said, he is not a loyal subject and has no reason to risk his life for the emperor. It doesn't matter who sits on the throne, since it's all just the royal family fighting over it anyway."

His request had two objectives: first, to block the Military God's request—"I've already laid out the conditions, and if you yourself are unwilling to agree, then there's nothing I can do"; second, to ascertain the Military God's stance. If the Military God of War considered himself a strategist and agreed to the conditions, then there would be no further conflict between the two sides, and in the eyes of the world, the War God would henceforth surpass the Military God, and no one would discuss who was stronger or weaker anymore."

Si Ming laughed and said, "He says he doesn't care, but he actually does care quite a bit and wants to put a definitive conclusion on this issue."

"So, what exactly did the War God Ba Shenhuang, make as an astonishing request? You'd better explain yourself clearly!"

Ying Zhou was so anxious that he scratched his head and cheeks. His Internal Cultivation was the weakest among the four, and he was too far away to hear what the War God said.

Perhaps Ying Zhou's martial prowess was at the Spirit Transformation level, surpassing Xia Guanxue's, but martial prowess is only one aspect of the many abilities of Spirit Transformation, not the whole picture. That's why Xia Guanxue could hear him clearly from thousands of meters away, while he didn't have that ability.

"By the way, Little Wu, isn't your cultivation level about the same as mine? Why can you hear me too?"

Ying Zhou was particularly bothered by this. It was one thing to be inferior to the other two, after all, they had lived a few years longer than him, but even his underlings were stronger than him, which was just too much to bear.

"Uh, because my Hundred-Refinement Medicinal Body cultivation has enhanced my five senses, I can hear sounds from a thousand meters away even without using Internal Cultivation," Murong Wu said apologetically. "I didn't know you didn't hear me clearly, so I'll tell you now. The God of War God's request is..."

Xia Guanxue interjected, "Ignore this guy. He's incompetent and yet he blames others; that's a common trait of good-for-nothings."

"Who are you calling trash! I just missed a sentence by accident. Do you really think I can't hear anything?"

"How childish!"

Si Ming ignored their argument and Murong Wu's attempts to persuade him. His attention was entirely focused on Huang Yan, wanting to see what choice this Hundred-Victory Military God would make: would he vehemently refuse for the sake of dignity, or would he endure humiliation for the sake of profit?

Meanwhile, the battle between Ba Shenhuang and the masked female general was also coming to an end.

The long-handled battle axe roared like a storm, its dense Gang Qi Slash the earth with unstoppable force. Its momentum continued to rise, unleashing all its fury. But Ba Shenhuang remained unmoved. No matter how much his opponent's strength increased, he could still steadily block it. His palm winds were like an indomitable chariot, wave after wave, crushing everything in their path.

Since both sides were clashing head-on without any clever techniques to deflect or neutralize the force, they both had to bear the recoil. The weaker one would be more injured, so with each collision, the masked woman would suffer additional internal injuries. However, she suppressed her injuries until she had gathered the strength for her attack.

"Void Extinction Heaven and Nether!"

The masked female general's power surged once more. With a loud shout, flames erupted from her battle axe, like the blazing sun crashing down from the sky. Wherever it passed, destruction was swift and devastating, mountains crumbled and rocks shattered, and rolling waves of heat surged toward the raging tide of Ba Shenhuang.

Those Spirit Transformation Grandmaster couldn't help but change color upon seeing this, some pondering how they would defend themselves against such a move, others marveling at where the Military God had found such a highly skilled and loyal subordinate.

"I've already said it, you're strong, but not strong enough."

A surge of Devil Qi coursed through Ba Shenhuang's palm, emitting a roar of fury. With a single strike, it seemed to possess the power to overturn heaven and earth. Thousands of silver snake-like lightning bolts were pulled from the void, condensing into a single point that collided head-on with the blazing sun.

In an instant, a vast force surged around the two, radiating a strange light, as if tiny suns were exploding at the center of their power, shining in all directions.

After the powerful collision, amidst a chilling atmosphere, the masked female general was thrown into the air. The hand that held the spear was twisted in Anomalies way, and her arm armor was completely shattered, revealing a bloodied arm.

Given her retreating speed, it wouldn't be surprising if she flew a hundred meters away in one breath. However, Huang Yan intervened in time, extending his five fingers and striking out in the air. Ripples spread out in the void, with the masked female general at the center of the ripples. Her speed suddenly slowed down, and with each ripple, her speed was reduced by a large margin. Moreover, the force she received was gentle and would not aggravate her injuries. Thus, she landed on the ground after flying five meters.

As the saying goes, a master's skill is evident from their first move. With just this one palm strike, the Nascent Spirit Transformation couldn't help but look at Huang Yan with new respect, thinking that this Military God was probably not as good at strategy as rumored, but at least much stronger than they had expected.

Ba Shenhuang, oblivious to the situation, pressed on, asking, "Your answer?"

Under the watchful eyes of countless people, Huang Yan slowly said, "Three days later, at midnight on the back mountain of the palace, you and I will each send three people for a series of challenges. If you win, I will enter the palace with my hands bound. If I win, you will leave the palace. What do you say, General Huang Yan? Do you dare to accept the challenge?"