Tang Wulin walked over and sat on the low stool opposite him. After thinking for a moment, he said, "I think it's feasible. The noble system in the Heaven Dou Empire is far less stable than that of the Star Luo Empire, and its core combat strength is not as concentrated as the Sun-Moon Empire's. If the Body Sect can infiltrate beneath the surface, then when the time is ripe, all it will take is a push in the open. That foundation will be loose enough already."
Mu En did not respond immediately. He lowered his head and took a sip of tea, then set the cup back on the table. Its base struck the tabletop with a light, crisp sound.
He leaned back in his wicker chair, his gaze resting on the Golden Ancient Tree outside the window, its branches and leaves stirred by the night wind. It was as though he were looking through the layered shadows of the tree at somewhere farther away.
"Actually, I thought about it too when I was young."
Mu En's voice was soft, as though he were speaking to himself, yet also to the young man across from him. "I thought about how miserable those people at the bottom of this continent had it. I thought that if I could one day stand somewhere higher, perhaps I could do something for them. But as I grew older and saw more of the world, I gradually put those thoughts away."
He withdrew his gaze and looked at Tang Wulin. There was no weariness in those aged eyes. Instead, they held a gentle light, as though something had reignited within them. "You are better than I was. Time has not yet worn those thoughts out of you."
Tang Wulin sat silently on the low