Chapter 750: A Little Dumbfounded

Dugu Jing nodded. "Understood. There are some of our people on the independent cultivator list. I'll contact them as quickly as possible."

"We still haven't seen the redrawn lists from the various sects. Once those come out, we'll check whether any of our people are participating. If there are, we'll make additional arrangements."

"That isn't enough. It has to be secure!" Yucang swept a broad hand through the air. "Contact every sect leader I have relations with and ask them to help make arrangements."

"This time, I'm putting this old face of mine on the line. Niu Youdao is the Young Master's teacher. That's the best excuse I have for stepping forward!"

Dugu Jing sighed inwardly.

Even if his master himself were entering the Tiandu Secret Realm, he probably would not be this attentive.

Now, for the sake of Niu Youdao, Yucang instead had to work like an ox and a horse.

Dugu Jing wondered whether Niu Youdao himself was equally anxious right now.

Hopefully it would not become a case of the emperor sitting calm while the eunuch panicked.

He nodded. "All right. I'll arrange it immediately."

"Wait." Yucang stopped him. "Don't contact them yet. First send word to Niu Youdao. Tell him I want to see him. I need to discuss this with him face-to-face!"

They had only met and separated a few days earlier.

Now Yucang urgently wanted another meeting.

He had no choice.

This kind of matter could not be sorted out properly in letters.

They had to speak in person.

Yucang needed to ask what preparations Niu Youdao had made, how the two sides should cooperate, and what arrangements needed to be coordinated.

Everything had to be discussed clearly.

A single misunderstanding could easily lead to disaster.

...

"The wars are frozen?"

Wu Gongling held the message Hui Qingping had handed him, a communication forwarded by the Tiannü Sect.

After reading it, he raised his head blankly.

The news had plainly caught him by surprise.

Not ordinary surprise.

Complete surprise.

He had never dreamed something like this would suddenly happen.

Hui Qingping gave a soft acknowledgment. "The reason is written clearly enough. I don't know any more than you do."

"Haha..."

Wu Gongling began with a chuckle.

It slowly turned into roaring laughter toward the sky.

At last he slapped the table and cried, "Heaven is helping me! Heaven truly is helping me! Hahahaha..."

He laughed with wild, utterly unrestrained delight.

There were many things Hui Qingping did not understand, but this sudden development was obvious enough.

Anyone with a brain could see it.

Misty Pavilion had abruptly ordered the wars frozen and commanded every side to preserve the status quo and refrain from hostilities.

For Wu Gongling, it was like picking up an enormous treasure for free.

It suited what he was currently doing almost perfectly.

It was as though Heaven itself had coordinated with him.

With one order from Misty Pavilion, no one dared continue fighting.

Song did not dare attack him.

Yan did not dare attack him.

Han did not dare either.

Of course, even if Han wanted to attack Wu Gongling, it could not reach him unless it first broke through Song or Yan.

Now that Misty Pavilion had frozen the wars, such a thing was impossible.

That meant Wu Gongling had been handed an excellent opportunity to develop, consolidate, and deepen his control over the territory in his hands without interference.

From the opening of the Tiandu Secret Realm until its closure took one full year.

Such a vast territory.

Such an enormous population, much of which Wu Gongling had deceived, coaxed, and swindled into coming.

Give him an entire year to operate freely, and the result was easy to imagine.

His grip over this territory would inevitably grow firmer and firmer.

With the situation having become like this, no matter how loudly Han complained, there was little it could do about Wu Gongling.

Nor could it reasonably demand that he refrain from governing the territory in his hands.

And how did the Tiannü Sect now view this side?

The wording of the message sent here was already full of enthusiasm.

Only after Wu Gongling finally stopped laughing did Hui Qingping say coldly, "The sect's meaning is that they're afraid I won't be able to manage everything alone. They want to send several of my martial sisters here to help me."

Wu Gongling chuckled. "The wars are already frozen. What could possibly be so busy that you can't manage?"

Hui Qingping made the meaning clearer. "Most likely some people in the sect have grown jealous and want to come take a share of the benefits. What do you think?"

She watched him sidelong, eyes cold as she studied his reaction.

Wu Gongling froze for a moment.

Then he understood.

This woman was unhappy.

She did not want other people coming to divide the benefits she had obtained.

Wu Gongling immediately stood and reached for her waist. "They wish! If they've got the ability, let them marry me too!"

"Keep your dog paws off me!" Hui Qingping slapped his hand aside. "Fine. If they aren't afraid of death, I'll ask them for you."

Wu Gongling hurriedly changed his tune. "A joke, a joke. We're husband and wife. Why let the rich water flow into outsiders' fields? How could we casually hand benefits to outsiders?"

"I'll listen to Madam on this. If Madam says yes, then yes. If Madam says no, then no. Whatever Madam wants, I'll cooperate with everything I've got!"

"Madam, how does that sound?"

His arm reached for her waist again.

This answer pleased Hui Qingping.

Her brows relaxed slightly, and this time she allowed him to hold her.

Standing almost face-to-face, she asked coolly, "Then it's settled?"

"How could I not trust Madam? Settled. That's exactly how we'll do it. Madam has the final say. All right?"

Wu Gongling asked with a shameless smile.

"Then leave it that way." Hui Qingping pulled his arm away and turned to leave.

Wu Gongling grabbed her arm. "Madam, this is tremendous good news. We ought to celebrate properly!"

Hui Qingping shook him off. "How you arrange a celebration is your business. I don't care."

"No arrangements needed. We'll celebrate like this!"

Wu Gongling suddenly stepped in front of her and swept Hui Qingping sideways into his arms.

He grinned. "Madam keeps too close an eye on me and won't let me touch other women. You're nearly suffocating me. With such good news today, how can Madam not attend to me properly?"

"Put me down!"

Hui Qingping struggled, flustered, her face flushing red.

She had discovered that this madman tormented her when he was happy and tormented her when he was unhappy.

It truly left her speechless.

Worse, her disciples were right there watching.

How was she supposed to preserve any dignity?

The two female disciples guarding outside the door glanced back at what was happening inside.

Embarrassed, they immediately turned their heads away and pretended they had seen nothing.

It was hardly the first time.

Wu Gongling refused to let go no matter what and simply carried Hui Qingping into the inner room.

By now, Hui Qingping had grown accustomed to this crude man.

Things that once would have left her unable to show her face had happened often enough to become commonplace.

After a token struggle, she let him carry her away.

...

By this point, certain matters could no longer remain secret.

News that Wu Gongling had married Hui Qingping, formerly an Elder of the Tiannü Sect, had already spread throughout the cultivation world and become a source of laughter.

When Niu Youdao learned of it, he was speechless too.

Something like this had actually happened?

He discovered that Wu Gongling truly was not picky about what entered his mouth.

And he had to admire Hui Qingping as well.

"What are you sighing about?"

Guan Fangyi approached holding several sheets of paper. Seeing him standing beneath a tree, shaking his head with emotion, she asked the question.

Niu Youdao sighed. "Somehow I picked up a cheap brother-in-law. Such an important wedding, and he didn't even invite me over for a cup of wedding wine. I can't make sense of it! Heh."

Guan Fangyi glanced at the papers in her hand and sighed too. "You're still thinking about that?"

Niu Youdao said, "Every move in the game of life creates a new position. I truly underestimated Wu Gongling."

"A homeless dog driven into a dead end actually managed to reach where he is today. Who could have imagined it?"

"The speed at which he has built himself up is beyond expectation. That man can truly be called a formidable warlord born of chaotic times."

Guan Fangyi had no interest in discussing Wu Gongling with him. "You should think about yourself first."

"The lists the various states submitted for entry into the Tiandu Secret Realm were rejected by Misty Pavilion. Because the states held back their elite cultivators for the wars, Misty Pavilion was very displeased and ordered them to draw up new lists."

Niu Youdao did not care. "Then let them redraw them. Let the dogs bite each other until their mouths are full of fur. It has nothing to do with us. We'll just watch the spectacle from the side."

He truly did not care.

The more elite cultivators the various states sent into the Tiandu Secret Realm, the better.

With fewer people constraining Shang Chaozong and Meng Shanming, those two would be freer to fight.

After campaigning east and west until now, Shang Chaozong's and Meng Shanming's ability to command troops in war had already been tested.

The Nanzhou faction had not disappointed Niu Youdao's expectations.

It had brought him enormous benefits.

All the painstaking work he had poured into cultivating that force over the years had finally paid off.

Guan Fangyi snorted twice. "Dogs biting dogs? You really are taking this lightly. Think you'll still be happy once you find out you've become one of those dogs?"

She waved the papers in her hand.

Niu Youdao frowned. "What do you mean? What's that you're holding?"

Ordinary intelligence transmissions did not require this many sheets.

Guan Fangyi said, "The list of people entering the Tiandu Secret Realm. Your name is on it."

Niu Youdao scoffed, plainly not believing her. "If something happened, then say what happened. Don't use this to fool me. You just got another twenty million into your hands. Already unhappy again?"

Guan Fangyi's beautiful eyes widened slightly. "You don't believe me?"

Niu Youdao laughed. "Believe what? Are you really confused, or pretending to be? Only people belonging to sects enter the Tiandu Secret Realm. I'm an independent cultivator. I won't be joining that excitement."

Guan Fangyi was left utterly speechless.

She looked from side to side, then finally sighed. "Master Dao, I'm not joking with you. Something happened. Something really happened."

"Misty Pavilion didn't only make the states redraw their lists. This time it also added one thousand places for independent cultivators to enter the Tiandu Secret Realm."

"The matter has already spread throughout every place where cultivators gather. Everyone is talking about it."

"Apparently this is also connected to the wars. The states lost too many elite cultivators, and Misty Pavilion was afraid it would affect this opening of the Tiandu Secret Realm. So it had the various states recommend another thousand elite independent cultivators."

"You're on the independent cultivator list. The list has already been posted publicly and finalized!"

Niu Youdao stared blankly.

He looked almost foolish.

After a moment he swallowed dryly and asked suspiciously, "Seriously?"

He still plainly did not believe it.

Guan Fangyi did not know whether to laugh or cry.

But she could understand his reaction.

The rule had never changed before.

Independent cultivators had never participated.

For something like this to suddenly change, disbelief was normal.

She unfolded the list and pointed to Niu Youdao's name among the dense rows.

Then she handed it over. "Here's the list. Look for yourself. Is that you or not?"

Niu Youdao hurriedly took it and examined it.

His own name was there.

He looked above and below it at the other names.

Some he had heard of.

Some he had not.

The list did not look fake.

He was a little dumbfounded.

After swallowing again, he muttered, "How did this happen?"

Guan Fangyi said, "You're asking me? How would I know? In any case, the reason is what I just told you."

"If you want the details, you'll probably need to ask Gong Lince. He is one of the people who holds a seat in Misty Pavilion. He should have been there when the nominations were made. He must know what happened."

"I've looked through the list. Most independent cultivators whose names appear on the Golden Core Ranking are on it."

"The Golden Core Ranking?"

Niu Youdao began rifling through the pages at once and rapidly asked, "Is Zhao Xiongge on there?"

Guan Fangyi said, "I paid special attention to him when I learned what happened. Zhao Xiongge isn't on the list."

A thousand names were too many to scan instantly.

Niu Youdao kept searching and asked again, "What about Yucang? Is that old fellow on it?"

"I checked him too. He isn't there either!"

Niu Youdao abruptly looked up in disbelief. "Why the hell not? How can he not be there? He's on the Golden Core Ranking too!"

Guan Fangyi said, "Isn't that perfectly normal? With Yucang's network and relationships, who would offend him for no reason? The people making the nominations don't know he's one of Xiaoyue Pavilion's people."

Niu Youdao flipped through the entire list.

Yucang truly was not there.

Niu Youdao exploded.

He shook the papers in his hand. "What the hell was Gong Lince doing? He was there in person and didn't know to stop this? What is he trying to do?"

[End of Chapter 750]