Chapter 789: Quantity Doesn't Matter

What a deep pit he had dug!

If Hong Gaitian had not personally described what had happened to him, then so long as Niu Youdao kept quiet, Wu Zhaoxing, Yun Ji, and Yun Huan suspected that even as participants in the scheme, they might have gone to their graves without ever learning the truth.

All that carefully reasoned explanation Niu Youdao had given earlier had actually been nonsense meant to fool Hong Gaitian. How could something laid out with such impeccable logic possibly have been false?

Even now, the three of them found it hard to believe. They really had believed every word.

Earlier, when Hong Gaitian exposed Niu Youdao's intention, they had actually worried that Niu Youdao might be in trouble. Thinking about it now was laughable. However difficult Hong Gaitian might be to deceive, once he fell into a trap like this, how was he supposed to climb back out? Out of a hundred people who fell in, ninety-nine probably would never escape.

Calling it a pit hardly did it justice. It was more like a sheer cliff. Forget trapping one or two men—an entire army could tumble into it.

Today, the three had finally seen what the man before them was truly capable of. They no longer felt that all those months of running around blindly had been wasted.

Hearing Yun Huan cough, Niu Youdao gave the three of them a sidelong glance. Nothing showed on his face, but inwardly he knew the game had been exposed. None of the three was stupid. The only reason they had not understood earlier was that he had concealed the fact that every killing had been followed by a deliberate frame-up.

Hong Gaitian glanced back at the coughing Yun Huan and paid it no mind. He did not feel there was anything wrong with Niu Youdao's reasoning at all. On the contrary, he believed this was the truth. At last he understood why the Seven States had kept targeting them.

That realization enraged him, and after muttering a string of bitter threats to himself, he still had to face reality.

The reality was grim.

There was no need to think too hard about it. If the cultivators of the Seven States truly intended to hunt the overseas factions to the death, the forces of the Four Seas were simply no match for them. When the exit reopened at the very end, that would become a true life-and-death calamity.

Only now did Hong Gaitian understand why Niu Youdao had earlier said they shared the same fate.

They really did.

Both sides faced mortal threats from the Seven States.

His brows furrowed. "Looks like there was some truth to what you said about us sharing the same fate."

His mood had become exceedingly heavy.

Niu Youdao understood what he meant and shook his head. "Relatively speaking, I'm still a little better off. The Seven States may not all move against me. But against all of you... heh."

Hong Gaitian snorted coldly. "What are you feeling smug about? Even if not all seven states come after you, look at the handful of people around you. Who's in a worse position? What exactly do you have to be smug about?"

Niu Youdao smiled bitterly. "I'm not smug. Isn't that why I'm asking Third Master for help?"

Hong Gaitian's ruddy brows rose slightly. He found himself wondering whether there was something wrong with this fellow's head.

Help him?

Whether Hong Gaitian helped or not, Niu Youdao was still going to die. Why should the South Sea invite trouble for his sake? Did Niu Youdao really expect them to help him fight off his enemies and then rob enough Spirit Seeds to carry him all the way to first place?

The overseas factions had always been weaker than the powers of the continent. In all the previous openings of the Tiandu Secret Realm, none of the Four Seas had ever taken first place. Every time, they had come only because they had no choice but to fulfill the obligation imposed on them.

How could they possibly help Niu Youdao take first?

Especially now.

Of course, what Hong Gaitian thought was one thing and what he said was another.

"Helping you isn't impossible," he said. "But surely you need to give me some reason to help."

Niu Youdao replied, "We share the same enemy. You and I have common foes. Joining hands is only natural."

Hong Gaitian gave a contemptuous laugh. "Joining hands? With the few people you have, you think you're qualified to talk about joining forces with us?"

The moment those words came out, Wu Zhaoxing was displeased. The insult plainly included him.

His voice turned cold. "Red-haired freak, don't talk too big."

Hong Gaitian glanced sideways at him. "Oh? And here I was wondering who this was. Wu Zhaoxing, ranked sixth on the Golden Core Ranking. What, you think having your name hanging on that list makes you something special?"

"The Golden Core Ranking doesn't matter," Wu Zhaoxing said. "If you don't accept it, we can try each other and see."

Hong Gaitian scoffed. "Fighting and killing is work for crude brutes. I'm a refined man. You've picked the wrong opponent. Still, if you're determined to throw a tantrum, I don't mind teaching you how the Golden Core Ranking gets written."

The hands clasped behind his back dropped to his sides. His ten fingers flexed faintly.

"You're only an independent cultivator. Is this really a place where you get to speak?"

Wu Zhaoxing flew into a rage.

"Business first. Business first."

Niu Youdao hurriedly reached out to stop him, urging him to endure it. A little impatience could ruin the larger plan.

Others might not know Wu Zhaoxing's background.

Niu Youdao did.

Wu Zhaoxing turned his head aside. For Niu Youdao's sake, he forcibly swallowed his anger.

Hong Gaitian showed him no mercy. "Tch. Coward."

He dared speak that way because he had the confidence to back it up.

For one thing, being the South Sea's Third Master was not an empty title. Even in a real fight, Hong Gaitian did not necessarily believe he would lose. For another, Wu Zhaoxing was only an independent cultivator with no faction behind him. Hong Gaitian had brought a whole group of South Sea experts here, and even outside the Secret Realm, if Wu Zhaoxing dared provoke him, the South Sea's forces would never let the matter rest.

So he genuinely did not place Wu Zhaoxing in his eyes.

Wu Zhaoxing's cheeks tightened.

Yun Ji suddenly spoke. "Hong Gaitian, people who are too arrogant tend to meet retribution."

Hong Gaitian immediately changed to a smiling face for her. "Yun Ji, what's the point of hiding on Duyun Mountain and living cautiously year after year? I told you long ago to come to the South Sea and marry me, but you refused to listen. Otherwise, how would you have ended up dragged into this place?"

He grinned. "Of course, it's not too late to regret it now. If you're willing to pair up with me from this moment on, I won't ignore your safety. I'll think of every possible way to get you out of here alive."

Coldness spread across Yun Ji's face.

Before she could speak, Yun Huan erupted first. "Red-haired bastard, keep your mouth clean!"

Hong Gaitian laughed coldly. "Little brat, I couldn't stand your father back then either. If it hadn't been for that dead ghost of a father of yours, your mother..."

"All of you, shut up!"

Niu Youdao cut him off with a sudden shout.

This man had no gate on his mouth. If Niu Youdao let him keep talking, who knew what would come out next? At that point, the two sides might have no choice but to fight before the matter could be settled.

Niu Youdao had finally seen through Hong Gaitian's type.

The red-haired freak was a classic bully who feared the strong and pressed the weak. Earlier, someone had plainly frightened him into fleeing for his life. Now that he thought this side was easy to push around, his mouth had become harder than ever.

Yun Ji and Yun Huan endured it for Niu Youdao's sake as well.

Hong Gaitian, however, pointed at himself in surprise. "Kid, were you shouting at me?"

Niu Youdao said, "Enough nonsense. Let's discuss serious business. We have common enemies. How about we cooperate?"

Hong Gaitian folded his arms across his chest again and tipped his nostrils toward the sky. "Cooperate? With or without one Niu Youdao, it makes no difference to us. What exactly are you bringing to the table?"

Niu Youdao was both annoyed and amused.

If Hong Gaitian truly had no interest in continuing the discussion, why would he still be standing here arguing?

He looked rough, but there was more calculation hidden inside him than his appearance suggested.

That made sense. The South Sea would not have sent someone utterly incompetent to oversee its Tiandu Secret Realm expedition.

Niu Youdao sighed. "Third Master, I've met plenty of Sect Leaders from the great sects, and none of them is beneath you. I've also killed more than one Elder. There's no need to put on this kind of show in front of me."

"Don't you simply want to know what I can do for all of you?"

"You can ask directly. There's no need to circle around it."

Hong Gaitian corrected him at once. "Not what you can do for us. What we can do for you. You're the one asking me for help."

Niu Youdao realized that if he kept arguing semantics with this man, there would be no end to it.

He gave in. "However Third Master wants to put it is fine. As long as you're happy. Let's talk about the actual matter."

Only then did Hong Gaitian look more comfortable. "Good. Tell me your idea first."

Niu Youdao said, "If the Seven States can make the first move, we can answer in kind. If they want us dead, we can kill them too. There's nothing to fear. Let's see who is still laughing at the end."

Hong Gaitian looked him up and down, plainly wondering what sinister idea he had hidden. "You're asking me to clash with them head-on?"

"If hard force won't work, use a softer hand." Niu Youdao tapped his own chest. "They want to kill me, but no faction can abandon everything else and concentrate all its strength just to hunt down one insignificant Niu Youdao."

"As long as I show myself, I can draw them out detachment by detachment."

"All of you keep the sack open and wait. Concentrate superior strength and crush the weaker group."

"If we can't swallow them in one bite, we'll eat them one bite at a time."

"Third Master, what do you think?"

Hong Gaitian stroked his thick red beard. His eyes flickered uncertainly. The proposal had plainly moved him.

At last he said slowly, "I'll discuss it with the other three groups after I meet them."

Niu Youdao said, "There's nothing to discuss. If we're doing this, the earlier the better."

"Start now?" Hong Gaitian asked mockingly. "Don't tell me you aren't doing this for the Spirit Seeds in their hands. Don't you want to rob more Spirit Seeds and save your life?"

"Otherwise, why would you risk your neck acting as bait?"

"Precisely because I want Spirit Seeds, we need to act early."

Hong Gaitian looked puzzled. "Then why not wait until they have more Spirit Seeds before moving?"

Niu Youdao said, "The quantity of Spirit Seeds doesn't matter. For me, taking first place is what matters."

"The longer we delay, the worse it becomes for me. We can't attack everyone at once. Eating them bite by bite takes time."

"Finding people in a place this large also takes time."

"I need enough time to act."

"Once the Seven States begin gathering too many of their forces and returning toward the exit, our strength will no longer be enough to succeed."

Hong Gaitian chuckled. "This sounds suspiciously like you're deliberately stirring up chaos. If your fighting causes too few Spirit Seeds to be collected, aren't you afraid Misty Pavilion will come after you?"

Niu Youdao said, "I don't care about the total quantity, and Misty Pavilion won't care either."

"Misty Pavilion should already have enough reserves for its own use. They don't care whether the cultivators beneath Heaven have enough Spirit Seeds to last the next fifty years."

"What they care about is whether this Tiandu Secret Realm expedition achieves its purpose."

"As long as enough participants are consumed to satisfy them, a smaller harvest caused by everyone killing each other won't be a problem."

The reasoning made sense.

Hong Gaitian still shook his head. "No. I don't have enough manpower."

Niu Youdao asked, "How many people do you have now?"

The question angered Hong Gaitian all over again. "I ran into several waves of those bastards one after another. I've already lost more than a hundred brothers because of them."

So he had a little over three hundred people remaining.

Niu Youdao made a quick calculation. "I heard the overseas cultivators advance and retreat together when facing threats from the Seven States. What about the other three groups? Why aren't they with you?"

That was also one reason Niu Youdao had dared frame the overseas cultivators directly.

In everyone else's eyes, the Four Seas were one camp.

"Motherfucker!"

The subject enraged Hong Gaitian.

"Yes, we advance and retreat together. But that's when we're going back."

"At the beginning, everyone has to split up to search for Spirit Seeds."

"Who could have guessed those bastards would start attacking so early this time?"

Niu Youdao said, "We're only going to take them down one detachment at a time anyway. We can strike while searching for the other three groups."

Hong Gaitian gave a strange laugh. "You certainly make it sound easy."

"Everything comes out of your mouth as though it's already settled, but I haven't even confirmed whether what you told me is true."

"If I don't find the other three groups and first verify your story, how could I possibly act recklessly?"

[End of Chapter 789]