Ashamed to say, another short chapter. I suddenly got a little stuck yesterday. There will definitely be a big chapter in the next day or two. Also, I'll try to keep updating consecutively—I can't promise, only try... Please forgive me, fellow readers.
Yang Zhu's schemes and actions could be described as "simple and brutal."
Had the demonic taint only begun, it would not have come to this. Had it thoroughly seeped in, it would not have been like this either. Yet while he appeared to be seeking balance, he had actually been walking the path of extremes all along. Extreme states bred extreme thoughts more easily.
Extreme to the point of being direct and blunt.
At their level, especially in matters involving major factions, it was generally deputy-level figures who came forward to discuss and negotiate. When sect-master-level figures appeared in person, it plainly signified hostility—there was no room left for maneuver.
After all, not every faction could twist and turn in circles like the Xiyu Alliance.
At present, the difficulty standing before Yu Ci was not Yang Zhu, whom he could entirely ignore; nor was it Gan Shizhen, whom he had already sheltered beneath his wings—the real trouble was Xie Kangling, deeply hidden within the Frozen Silence Demon Kingdom.
When Yang Zhu obtained his support through the framework of laws, it rested on three reasons:
The first was naturally that Yang Zhu had formally prayed to him, in a thoroughly standard fashion, relayed through Madam Huanyong to Yu Ci... In truth, Yu Ci suspected that even without Madam Huanyong, this man would soon have sent the information into the Realm of Truth anyway. The two sides were not that far apart, after all.
The second was Gan Shizhen. Yu Ci could not possibly stand by and do nothing