The Next Move

The result, naturally, was nothing.

The following morning, Si Ming and Ying Zhou returned to Medicine King Valley together, bringing back news of their victory that caused great celebration among the crowd.

The fact that two people could defeat an army of tens of thousands is something that would be impossible on Earth, but there have been precedents in this world with extraordinary martial arts, and more than once. Therefore, although everyone was shocked, no one doubted that the two were lying. In particular, the higher-ups of Medicine King Valley had seen Si Ming fight the Military God of War and the three Demon King alone, and they all believed that he had such strength.

Although Si Ming was worried about the whereabouts of the Demon Emperor and other powerful figures, there were more pressing matters at hand that prevented him from investigating further, so he had to put it aside for the time being.

Although the Demon Beast army rioted and collapsed without a fight last night, suffering heavy casualties, a considerable number of Demon Beast still survived. Without the command and coordination of the Demon General, they scattered and entered the territory of the Su Kingdom, which is also a huge hidden danger.

For armies and experts, these lone Demon Beast pose no threat whatsoever, but for ordinary people, they are murderous fiends roaming the wilderness, posing a deadly danger if encountered. Therefore, it is imperative to send troops to eradicate them.

Si Ming contacted the military of the Su Kingdom through Medicine King Valley and informed them of the situation. Although the people of Medicine King Valley were very respectful and humble towards Si Ming, they actually held a very high position in the Su Kingdom, similar to the highest institution of learning. With them as witnesses, the military of the Su Kingdom did not dare to take it lightly and quickly came up with a battle plan based on the situation.

Actually, it's not hard to understand. Medicine King Valley has at least two Spirit Transformation Grandmaster, while Dinghu Sect, the nominal sect of Si Ming, only has one Spirit Transformation Grandmaster, Yan Jinghong.

Moreover, Medicine King Valley is renowned for its medical skills and its practitioners are known throughout the world. Countless people have benefited from their kindness, and their connections extend to all levels of society. The Su Kingdom is only a second-rate country with weak national strength, so Medicine King Valley can be considered the face of the Su Kingdom.

With the army involved, it was only a matter of time before the scattered Demon Beast were wiped out, especially since the Nation of Valor had also agreed to send troops to help. However, Si Ming was not happy because he received the latest news the next day.

The Demon Emperor led his powerful Demon Race warriors in a surprise attack on the Rui State, killing the representatives of various countries who had gathered to discuss an alliance, including eighteen Spirit Transformation Grandmaster.

The news sent shockwaves throughout the world!

Chapter 822 Successor

Rui State is Merchant School- founded nation. Despite its small land area, it is exceptionally wealthy, with an average income that surpasses even that of Su State, ranking first in the entire Sea Continent. Of course, it also has the largest wealth gap in the Sea Continent.

Guanzi is considered the progenitor of Merchant School. Although Guanzi is generally regarded as a "precursor of Legalist School," he was indeed proficient in economics, but he used Legalist School methods to control the economy.

This is not hard to understand. Given the productivity of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, capitalists simply could not emerge, nor were there corresponding laws and regulations to maintain the order of commercial transactions. Only the various vassal states were qualified to engage in economic and commercial warfare. Only by using the state as a shield could they not be afraid of their wealth being seized after it was exposed. Only by using the law as a sword could they drive the people to carry out transactions.

Guanzi advocated enriching and strengthening the country through a commodity economy. He proposed a theory that the state should regulate the economy through the "lightness" and "heaviness" of currency and commodities. This theory was unique among the various schools of thought in the Hundred Schools of Thought period, and even seemed somewhat Evil Dao.

In Huaxia history, Guanzi was the first to engage in business warfare, and he had many classic cases. For example, the states of Lu State and Liang State were both major powers in the east and were skilled in weaving twill. So Guan Zhong earnestly asked Duke Huan of Qi to take the lead in wearing twill garments made of this fabric. Soon, twill garments became fashionable in the Qi Kingdom, and for a time, the supply of twill garments could not meet the demand. However, Guan Zhong prohibited domestic production and imported them all from Lu and Liang.

Driven by enormous profits, both Lu and Liang engaged in silk weaving, causing their agriculture to be neglected. After more than a year, grain prices skyrocketed. Guan Zhong then ordered a ban on the import of silk from Lu and Liang, causing their economies to collapse. Refugees flocked to the Qi Kingdom, and Guan Zhong took advantage of the situation to encourage them to develop wasteland and agriculture in the Qi Kingdom. Lu and Liang never recovered from this setback.

In addition, Guan Zhong also used various hype tactics, such as the "Stone Wall Scheme" (Note: see the author's note for details) and the "Jingmao Scheme". Both of these schemes involved using the influence of their respective states on the King of Zhou to design the political needs of various states in the name of the King of Zhou, thus turning "stones and grasses into gold".

The various methods used by later generations to "speculate on Tibetan mastiffs" and "speculate on cordyceps" were already employed by Guan Zhong 2,700 years ago. In fact, he was much more adept at it, even developing a theory based on it and introducing numerous concepts within that theory.

Duke Huan asked Guanzi, "Is there a number to balance?"

Guanzi replied, "There are countless balances; a balance is sometimes high and sometimes low, and cannot remain constant."

In modern terms, commodity prices fluctuate around a central line. Guanzi did not propose the concept of "commodity value," but he recognized the existence of commodity value and utilized it, using methods far superior to those of wealthy merchants in later generations.

Merchants are best suited to be adept at social maneuvering and cultivating relationships with people all over the world. Therefore, the Rui State often acts as a neutral country, mediating conflicts between various countries in the Northern Continent. Meetings involving multiple countries are usually held in Rui State. For example, the meeting to form an allied force during the last war between humans and demons was held at the International Building in Rui State.

Now that there is a successful precedent, people naturally want to imitate it, especially since the last time it ended with a complete victory over the Demon Race. Some people who believe in fate want to use this to try their luck.

However, they forgot that this time the enemy was not just the Demon Race, but also the Military God Huang Yan.

Although there was only one more human, this human took on the role of the brain, and with the Military God advising from the side, the Demon Race naturally did not react sluggishly as in the last war, allowing the humans to calmly form an alliance, or even obediently jump into the trap set by the humans.

On the very night that Si Ming led Ying Zhou in a night raid on the Demon Race army, the Demon Emperor, along with two Demon Kings and numerous Spirit Transformation generals at the Nascent Soul stage, Demon General a surprise attack on the newly built International Building in Rui State, capturing all the representatives from various countries. Only Thunder King Xing Daozhuang fought his way out and led a group of people to break through the encirclement.

"It's the same old feint attack tactic. Even I've become a pawn used by the Military God to divert attention. They deliberately spread the news of my defeat of four men, causing a sensation. Coupled with the marching route of the Demon Beast army, it's easy to mislead people's judgment, making them think that the Demon Race's next step is still to attack Medicine King Valley."

After reading the message from the Rui State's Mohist Knight Guard via telegram, Si Ming rubbed his temples and deduced the enemy's strategy from the opposite perspective. "That bastard, the Military God, said that attacking Medicine King Valley wouldn't allow for concealment, making it easy for me to detect and hindering an ambush, so he held back—it's all a lie to avoid me thinking that way—he deliberately left Medicine King Valley as a target!"

After reading the intelligence, Qin Yueren didn't know whether to be glad that Medicine King Valley had escaped unscathed by being used as a target, or to grieve for the fate of Rui State. After thinking about it, he realized that neither opinion was right, so he could only sigh, "Everyone knows that the Military God's strategy is to use feints to the east while attacking from the west, and everyone is on guard against it, yet he still succeeded in the end. This is the power of the top Legalist School."

Looking at the list of the last eighteen Spirit Transformation Grandmaster, Ying Zhou exclaimed in astonishment, "Are Spirit Transformation Grandmaster as common as cabbages these days? Even if they were ambushed, they shouldn't be unable to escape. No matter how strong the Demon Emperor, there's only one, and even with the Demon King, there are only three. Did those eighteen Nascent Spirit Transformation think they were confident of victory and that's why they stayed behind to fight to the death?"

Recalling the night before last, he only managed to defeat the two demons by comprehending a move on the spot. If Si Ming hadn't intervened, the opponent would definitely have escaped successfully. Defeating Spirit Transformation and killing a Nascent Spirit Transformation are two different things.

"The Demon Emperor's strength is undoubtedly at the Void Returning level, giving him a crushing advantage over ordinary Spirit Transformation Grandmaster. However, it doesn't mean you can only obediently wait to die if you encounter him. If you escape immediately and don't get entangled with him, there is still a chance to escape. The key to the Demon Emperor's amazing achievements lies in the cooperation of his subordinates to intercept him. So, in the future, when you fight someone, try to fight in groups whenever possible. Thinking about one-on-one fights is just foolish."

After giving a casual reply, Si Ming stood up and said, "Senior Thunder King was the commander-in-chief and the greatest contributor in the last human-demon war. The Demon Race will definitely not let him go. If he breaks through alone, there is no need to worry about his safety. However, judging from the contents of the telegram, he is protecting others as he escapes. This will inevitably slow down his speed and make it easier for his whereabouts to be exposed. I plan to go and meet him now."

Ying Zhou asked doubtfully, "Is it too late for you to go and fetch them now?"

"The Merchant School and my Mohist School have always been on good terms. There are many Mohist Knight Guard outposts within Rui State, so as soon as the incident occurred, they sent a telegram to the Mohist Knight Guard outposts in the Su Kingdom. Then, because the Demon Race spread my deeds extensively, everyone knew that I was in Medicine King Valley. So the Mohist Knight Guard used the official channels of the Su Kingdom to send the news to Medicine King Valley. Calculating the time, only three hours have passed since the incident occurred, which is more than enough time."

"You can't calculate it like that. You need time to travel. Although Su Kingdom and Rui State are adjacent, Medicine King Valley isn't on the border between the two countries. It's such a long distance, do you think you can make it there in time? Even if you can, how are you going to locate the other person? It's useless if you can't find them."

Si Ming sighed and said slowly, "I originally kept a trump card, intending to use it during the final battle against the Demon Race, but I didn't expect to be forced to use it so soon... Well, since you're so eager to know, I'll show you."

Seeing the undisguised smugness on his face, Ying Zhou quickly said, "Actually, I don't really want to know. Time is of the essence; saving lives is urgent. You should set off immediately."

"I didn't expect you to have such a strong thirst for knowledge," Si Ming nodded, revealing an expression of someone who was teachable. "Alright, since you've asked so sincerely, I won't keep you in suspense any longer."

"So, I don't want to know at all. You'd better get out of here..."

Si Ming completely ignored Ying Zhou's words. He lowered his waist and straightened his right arm with a "whoosh," striking a pose similar to a hero's transformation in a tokusatsu film. Then, he pressed his left hand against the bracelet on his right hand, and a red light flashed as the bracelet emitted a beam of light that swept across Si Ming's body from head to toe like a scanner.

"Verifying the mental imprint, this is the driver. Please state the activation command." The bracelet emitted a smart, electronic voice.

Xia Guanxue, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but say, "This step is completely unnecessary. Even if you want to confirm the password, you can communicate with your spiritual sense. There's no need to make a sound. If it's a critical moment, it might expose your whereabouts."

Si Ming completely ignored these reasonable complaints. As long as he looked cool when he transformed, who cared about logic!

He immediately replied in a serious tone, "The East is burning bright red!"

"Password confirmed. Clothing mandate activated. Drivers must remain in place and not move."

In a short while, under the red light of the bracelet, a set of virtual Profound Armor appeared on Si Ming's body. It seemed to be being fine-tuned according to his body shape. After the fine-tuning was completed, the Profound Armor immediately turned from virtual to real. Or rather, the Profound Armor components originally stored in the bracelet were released through close-range space and transferred to Si Ming's body.