novelZhu Hongming, Liu Jixiu
| ← Ch.208 | Ch.210 → |
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Could it be from the fourth spiritual energy nourishment back then?
Had the spiritual energy nourishment targeted only at China by then shown greater effects than what everyone had imagined?
Wang Hu secretly speculated.
No, this wasn't right. It was partially the reason why, but it wasn't entirely because of that.
The 100-odd Third Realm cultivators, whom China had deployed in the last battle with the Dragon Clan, definitely hadn't been this strong.
The battle with the Dragon Clan had taken place after the fourth spiritual energy nourishment.
In the short span of under a year, was it possible for China's cultivators to develop to such a stage just by relying on the benefits that the fourth spiritual energy nourishment had provided?
He didn't quite believe that.
China must have cheated again without anyone else's knowledge.
They are so shameless!
Somewhat envious, Wang Hu couldn't help but secretly sigh.
They were openly and brazenly cheating.
Needless to say, China's forebears must have been the ones who gave them the cheat.
Those with forebears were simply so impressive. Those with indescribably powerful forebears were even more so.
He couldn't get any more envious.
"How... interesting."
A smile formed on Wang Hu's face as he paused in the middle of his speech and uttered the word 'interesting' instead.
Di Baijun put away her astonishment. As though something had just occurred to her, she nodded, seemingly agreeing quite a fair bit with his comment.
She said meaningfully, "China is indeed surprisingly interesting."
"Let's just properly watch what happens next. Given China's current level of combat power, they probably won't need me to do anything anymore. We'll even receive another gift from them after the war, " said a smiling Wang Hu.
With his observation skills, as well as China's habit of keeping a trump card up their sleeves, he could naturally tell that should the Huis' invasion this time remain at the same scale as it currently was, China would undoubtedly emerge victorious.
As for him receiving a gift despite not doing anything, it was a matter of manners.
Since he had already agreed, China would have to owe him a favor even if he didn't do anything. Thus, they would naturally also have to show their appreciation after the matter had been resolved.
Given how shrewd China was, this was something that they would definitely do.
Di Baijun didn't say anything else after he said what he did, and she continued to watch on quietly.
True to Wang Hu's expectations, as the war progressed and time went by, little by little; China started to gain more and more of an advantageous position.
Especially those two cultivators among them. One looked to be in his forties, while the other looked as if they were only slightly over twenty years old.
The strong and unyielding momentum from the younger one's punch was extremely mighty and majestic. Indomitable and unbending, it was as though a sword itself.
As for the one that looked to be in his forties, there was some kind of domineering aura—yet also a unique sense of tranquility—around him.
The way he looked at the invaders was as though he was looking at mere ants.
Despite the screen standing in between them, both Wang Hu and Di Baijun could tell that those two weren't actually that strong either.
They were only roughly around the Fourth Floor. It was just that their actual levels of combat power and combat strength were very powerful.
Their special abilities were very extraordinary and allowed them to battle at a level two to three Floors higher than their own.
"Who are those two people? Why hadn't we taken any notice of them in the past?" Te Bajing asked solemnly in the wide and spacious meeting room.
No one answered him, because none of them knew the answer either.
In the Russia Alliance, Bay was also asking the same question. Similarly, no one answered him either.
They weren't the only ones; all the other alliances were also asking the same question.
None of them had any detailed information about the two cultivators.
It was as though the two of them had suddenly sprung out of nowhere.
In the Tiger King's Cave, Wang Hu also instructed Lee Bokbyul to shift the camera to the two cultivators.
"That special ability of theirs is very extraordinary." Di Baijun took the initiative to speak first.
Wang Hu nodded slightly; he could also tell how extraordinary it was. Moreover, if even Silly Girl was remarking on its extraordinariness, then it was evidently even more extraordinary than what he could tell.
"Have they inherited some kind of legacy?" Wang Hu guessed.
"That's highly likely the case, " Di Baijun agreed.
"Was their serendipitous encounter a personal one? Or was it China's?" asked an unsure Wang Hu.
Then, he added, "Dong Yuhao and Li Dao were the strongest among China's cultivators in the past. I've also met them before.
"They've been making rapid progress in their combat power and have already reached the Fifth Floor.
"It's as if these two had suddenly popped up from nowhere. Moreover, there's a pretty big difference in their ages. It's likely that the serendipitous encounters were theirs."
As he spoke, he also wondered where they had gotten their serendipitous encounters from.
It was rather unreliable to just attribute it to their bloodlines.
In this case, there were only two possibilities left. The first was that they had gotten it in other alternate worlds.
The second was that China's forebears had given China cheats again.
Wang Hu leaned more toward the second possibility.
However, if it really were the second possibility, then it would mean that it was highly likely that China's forebears had left a lot of legacies behind for them and that these legacies were just waiting to be inherited.
Two had already appeared. This was just the beginning.
In the future, there would be even more people inheriting legacies and making aggressive emergences.
This made more logical sense as well.
This was because this was the only way that China would be able to fight against the rising number of increasingly stronger alternate worlds invading Earth.
Otherwise, the faster the spiritual energy density level on Earth rose, the earlier China would be destroyed.
After all, no matter how many geniuses constantly achieved new heights in cultivation they had, they still wouldn't be able to withstand the current situation.
Legacies... China's forebears must have left behind a lot of legacies for them.
This included the few rounds of spiritual energy nourishment as well; they were also considered a type of legacy.
In other words, it was possible that China's emergence might only just be finally starting.
The moment he thought of that, a strange feeling came over Wang Hu.
China was probably going to go from the king of cheats to the god of cheats in the future.
However, given his belief formed over the years that he was invincible, he naturally didn't fear anything. He was confident of suppressing everything on Earth, including even the god of cheats.
It was just that he held some kind of complex feeling toward it, that was all.
A few seconds later, he tucked away the feeling and glanced in the direction of the west. Then, he revealed a barely-discernible and somewhat gloating smile.
They were all humans, yet why was the difference between them so big?
He really didn't know how the others would feel once they saw China's rate of improvement after China became the god of cheats in the future.
They were already green with envy in the past. Once the war ended, they would definitely curse so bitterly and jealously and become so envious that they would die of envy.
The future...
Wang Hu couldn't quite imagine how things would be either. However, he did feel rather good at the thought of it.
After all, he was human in his past life and had also been a child of China.
He didn't hold any fondness toward foreigners or countries other than his own developing country.
He might be a tiger now, but his preferences hadn't changed.
He instinctively disliked them.
This was also the reason why he understood the estrangement between the countries so well.
With a screen, news, and the Internet standing in between...
As long as he avoided looking at evocative foreign videos and articles, what did the destruction of countries other than his own developing country have anything to do with him?
It would be the most ideal if they were all destroyed. That would be comeuppance indeed.
Even if he did look at the evocative articles and videos, he would merely be moved and become soft-hearted for a while at the most.
However, he would go back to thinking the same way again soon after.
This was exactly how Wang Hu had felt about the different countries in his past life.
His thoughts were very nationalistic...
And also very pure, simple, and stubborn.
He thought about it quietly while he kept a close eye on the two cultivators as they fought.
The astonishment of outsiders and non-humans like them aside...
In the capital of China, amidst the joy of the people currently watching the live broadcast at the cabinet meeting, they were also just as astonished.
"Little Liu and Little Zhu seem to have become even stronger. Surely, that level of combat power has already reached the Seventh Floor?" There was appreciation and surprise, as well as a hint of barely-detectable allusion to something, in one of the elderly officials' voices.
"Based on the analysis that the research institute just did, they've indeed reached the Seventh Floor, " replied Zhang Jianye with a nod.
"That's great. As expected of China's unmatched geniuses. Third Realm cultivators that have undergone eight rounds of metamorphosis are simply so strong, " a smiling Li Aimin said as he nodded repeatedly.
There was joy on the other elderly officials' faces as well.
Suddenly, one of them said, "We must improve their benefits again once this war is over."
"I agree."
The other few officials nodded in agreement as they spoke. At last, Dong Pingtao said, "They'll definitely be rewarded. One should be rewarded for making contributions to the country.
"The army will make arrangements for their military ranks. As for everything else, it'll be fully based on their military accomplishments."
After the decision was made, a smiling Zhang Jianye said, "The other alliances probably won't be happy after the war."
"They can be as unhappy as they want for all I care. What can they do about it anyway?" said Chen Jianguo with unprecedented confidence as he raised an eyebrow.
"That's right. Apart from begging us, what else can they do?" scoffed another elderly official as he smiled and snorted lightly.
"Don't say that. They're still pretty useful, " an elderly official said with a smile.
"That's right, they're still useful. However, we absolutely mustn't disclose any information about the Dragon's Site, much less give up any spots to others. As it is, we don't even have enough to go around, " Chen Jianguo said firmly.
"Definitely. We absolutely mustn't disclose any information about the Dragon's Site. However, the other alliances probably won't let the matter rest. In my opinion, why don't we reveal some pills and other legacies to them?" suggested a contemplative Li Aimin.
The other elderly officials considered the suggestion seriously. In the end, it was still Dong Pingtao that made the final decision to drag it out for now and only reveal certain things at a certain point in time.
Once they settled the issue, an elderly official swept his gaze across everyone present. Then, he said seriously, "According to Little Zhu, it's likely our forebears that left behind such a legacy for us.
"There are definitely not just two of such standalone legacies. There'll definitely be more. Is there still no news even as of now?"
An elderly official in charge of gathering intel shook his head. His expression turned stern, and he somewhat said with disappointment, "No, there isn't. Because of this, we've thoroughly searched our lands, but we didn't find anything.
"It's likely like what the secretariat has deduced: these standalone legacies will pick their own inheritors. Given our current technology, we won't be able to find them at all if neither the timing nor the candidates are here yet."
All the elderly officials were rather disappointed at his reply.
The reason was none other than because such legacies were simply too alluring.
It had only been a few years since Little Liu and Little Zhu inherited their legacies, yet they had caught up from behind and even surpassed everyone else.
Of course, one mustn't discredit their own capabilities and talent as well.
Take Little Zhu for example. Even though he came from a poor background, he was originally already a well-known genius in a martial arts college and was exceptionally talented.
The legacy had seemed more like something supplementary to him instead.
Little Liu came from a slightly better background. However, he was already advanced in age. The fact that he could reach such heights showed that his talent and capabilities were undoubtedly not something that normal people could compare with.
However, it was undeniable that legacies were very important, extremely so.
It was highly likely that they could really quickly bring China peerless geniuses and experts.
How could they possibly not desire it, then?
In any case, even though China was becoming stronger and stronger—so much so that they had left all the other alliances in the dust; they still weren't satisfied yet. They wanted to be even stronger. Much, much stronger.
Dong Pingtao took a look at the officials. His calm, steady, and determined voice slowly rang out."These things cannot be forced. We should place our focus on the country as a whole instead.
"We should protect and nurture every Chinese citizen whose heart stays with China. Rather than blindly desiring legacies in an extremist manner, we must believe that our country will become stronger and stronger."
Before he had even finished, there were already more or less some changes in the depths of some elderly officials' eyes.
Some of them agreed with him, though some also reacted awkwardly.
Thereafter, all of them nodded and expressed agreement on the surface.
The topic changed after that, and they started to discuss post-war matters.
It was as though everyone had forgotten about the topic just now.
In the Hu County alternate world...
The war lasted for over an hour and concluded with the Huis and the other species' defeat.
The 30, 000-strong Second Realm army was nearly wiped out, with the vast majority killed by cannons and gunfire.
Out of the nearly 200 Third Realm experts, only 50-odd remained. All of them escaped to their world.
China wanted to keep them on Earth, but alas, there wasn't enough time. China, who was unable to concentrate all of its forces in one place, was evidently incapable of achieving that.
To avoid more casualties, China could only allow the Huis to escape after their defeat.
Of course, even though the outcome wasn't perfect, the war was undoubtedly a huge victory for China nonetheless.
News of the huge victory, which roused the spirits of every Chinese citizen, spread like wildfire. China, including the whole of the China Alliance, was terribly excited.
This could be said to be the strongest form of guarantee. They had aggressively fought back an invasion by nearly 200 Third Realm beings from the Hu County alternate world without the use of nuclear weapons.
To China and the China Alliance, this victory was simply too meaningful.
The whole country was fervent.
Heroes were eulogized one after another.
Among these, the ones that garnered the most attention were naturally the two strongest ones.
Even Wang Hu and Di Baijun in the Tiger King's Cave paid some attention to them.
"Zhu Hongming, Liu Jixiu..."
Di Baijun was looking through the two cultivators' information, whereas Wang Hu had focused on their names instead.
While it didn't seem like there was anything particularly special about the two names, for some reason, Wang Hu simply found them rather odd.
Perhaps... it's just a coincidence!
Wang Hu suppressed his thoughts and continued to look at some information about the two that had been spread to the public.
He lost interest after taking a couple of looks. There wasn't anything special in the information.
There was nothing at all about how they had achieved their current level of cultivation.
In any case, there was no mention at all about what had happened in the first two-odd years. He would have to rely on Ji's investigations after all.
Of course, there was no special meaning behind him getting Ji to investigate them. He was purely just curious.
He wanted to know what kind of people China's forebears were.
Were they the same as the ones in his conjectures?
It would be great if they could turn up something in their investigations, but it was fine even if they didn't.
Wang Hu wasn't interested anymore after he went through the information, and he started to cultivate again.
One must admit that even though he was still confident that he could suppress everything and everyone on Earth...
Upon realizing that China was about to make a comeback to become the god of cheats and would soon make a thorough emergence and that they would only gain more and more monstrous cultivators; Wang Hu did indeed feel a sense of urgency.
Pre-Third Realm Silly Girl had been the only one that could make him feel that way in the past. After that, there hadn't been anyone who could do that.
Now that the feeling had arisen in him again, Wang Hu gained some interest. He, who had already been craving power because of the Golden Dragon King, became even more motivated.
He would cultivate and become stronger.
He would become so strong that everyone would look up to him.
| ← Ch. 208 | Ch. 210 → |