Contradictions Hidden Beneath the Calm

To make a move was, in truth, a very vague phrase.

Sometimes, being unable to resist expanding outward counted as making a move.

Being beaten until one fled like a rat with its head in its hands, then being forced to abandon one's homeland, also counted as making a move.

Sending a dozen-odd elite members from among a hundred thousand subordinates counted as making a move.

Playing an empty-fort strategy—leaving behind only one strategist and two young attendants while sending the rest of the army out to press forward and raid the enemy's rear—also counted as making a move.

Qi He and Ji Ye were both well-read.

There was no need to mention the texts of the cultivation world. Since Ji Ye had systematically studied under the old engineers who had come with Starfire's aid, he had also read quite a few books from another world.

The two looked at Ye Xiu, unable to tell what exactly their master had in mind.

They exchanged a glance. In the end, Qi He, as the Alliance's leader, took the initiative to speak.

"Which aspect does sir intend to move?"

Ye Xiu looked at the disciples before him, the corners of his lips lifting slightly.

"All of them."

The air in the room instantly froze.

"That isn't very possible."

Qi He clenched and unclenched his fists.

He was no longer the country boy he had once been. As he spent more and more time overseeing the Alliance, he came to understand ever more deeply what the words "the human heart is terrifying" truly meant.

"The Alliance's current state is a massive powder keg. The slightest spark will make it explode."

Flowers piled atop brocade, fierce flames boiling oil—Qi He, the man presiding over the whole situation, could not have been clearer on what