If you don't give up, I'd like to be your adoptive father.

Chapter 1182 Planning
In fact, Xiang Liang, Zhao Zhenren, and even the Old Man of Nine Peaks don't need to worry about it anymore.

Because Xiaoyu had already succeeded and left Kuaiji County.

The old man of Jiudian deduced that Grand Tutor Yu had realized that they had noticed her presence and her plans. He openly set off for Lujiang, but secretly left a body in Wuzhong to plot against Xiang Liang and his nephew.

The old man of the Nine Peaks was right, but that body outside the body didn't need to infiltrate Xiang Family Village at all.

Xiang Liang's status and situation in Wuzhong were quite special.

Although he was a wanted criminal by the imperial court, he was also a highly respected "virtuous man" among the people.

In order to maintain his image as a "wise man," he could not follow the example of Li Si, living a secluded life and associating only with the uncultured.

Previously, they hid at the bottom of Taihu Lake, staying in the Dragon King's "villa." But once they came ashore from Taihu Lake, on their way back to Wu County, they inevitably encountered the young people of Wuzhong.

Even the villagers knew and admired Xiang Liang.

After all, Xiang Liang was used to presiding over large-scale funerals and local corvée labor. Many rural youths had worked under Xiang Liang and had been won over and befriended by him.

The future "eight thousand soldiers of Jiangdong" will be built up little by little in this way.
Now that they've met on the road, should they just stay away without saying a word?

Obviously not.

They would all warmly step forward to greet him and invite Xiang Liang to drink with them.

Xiang Liang naturally had to respond enthusiastically, and then personally went out to chat with them.

Zhongli Mo didn't lie to his mother; he did indeed eat dinner on his way back.

Xiang Liang booked a roadside restaurant and invited his fellow Wuzhong youths to eat and drink together.

Uh, the young man from Wuzhong invited Xiang Liang, and Xiang Liang waved his hand generously, leading everyone to the restaurant, saying that he would treat them today.

During this process, Grand Tutor Yu had many opportunities to come into contact with the Xiang family uncles and nephews.

As early as when Xiang Yu was arguing with his uncle about whether or not to brand his body with spiritual patterns to make himself look like a "tattooed feather" just for such a trivial matter as "preventing Yu Fengxian from sneaking in."

Grand Tutor Yu has completed his mission and left Kuaiji County.

All of Xiang Liang and his nephews were infected, as were most of Xiang Zhuang, Xiang Sheng, Xiang Ta, and other members of the Xiang family.

The whole process is very simple.

I'm not afraid of Xiang Liang being careful and vigilant, I'm just afraid of not being able to find him.

Once we find the people, we have a chance to make them trigger the Great Annihilation of Dad.

Of course, "simple" is relative.

At this time, the Xiang family was already under the protection of "Lord Fuqiu" (Grand Tutor Yu could only vaguely sense the existence of the Nine Peaks Elders, and did not know where they were or what their identities were), so it was actually very difficult to approach the Xiang family uncles and nephews silently.

Her transformation technique had to deceive even a near-Great Luo Immortal; her Heavenly Secret Technique was strong enough to conceal her own aura and simultaneously deceive Xiang Yu's spiritual senses—but in reality, it wasn't entirely successful.

When the Great Annihilation of Father was triggered, Xiang Yu was already anxious. However, he had been "frightened" by Grand Tutor Yu (forced by his uncle) and had been hiding in Taihu Lake for more than half a month. His heart was already burning with anxiety and his mind was like being fried in oil.

If it weren't for Han Xin's affair, Xiao Yu would have entered Kuaiji from Huaiyin two months ago as planned, and things would have been much simpler.

At that time, she had not yet announced her intention to become a chess player, and she was regarded as an insignificant chess piece. Even if the Old Man of Nine Peaks came, he probably wouldn't have noticed her.

"How come the Overlord is so weak? He doesn't even have a single great supernatural power. So 'ordinary', no wonder he wasn't exposed before, and wasn't identified as an 'outlier' by Ying Zheng or the Qin Dynasty."

But with such strength, how can he become invincible and become the 'Overlord of Western Chu'?

The process wasn't difficult, but the result left Grand Tutor Yu somewhat disappointed.

Just as Zhongli Mo had said, Xiang Yu and Zhongli Mo were evenly matched.

It is both reasonable and unreasonable.

It makes sense because only someone with Xiang Yu's strength could have survived from the time of Qin Shi Huang to the present day.

Xiao Yu, a barbarian from the northern wilderness tens of thousands of miles from Xianyang, was still found by the Qin Dynasty's Imperial Astronomical Bureau.

Sha Manyu's threat level is far less than that of the future Hegemon of Western Chu.

If Xiang Yu possessed the qualities of a hegemon from the beginning, he would have been spotted by the Qin military commander when he stood on the street gazing at Ying Zheng's chariot. No, he would have been spotted in Xianyang. Xiang Yu was a nobleman who lived in Xianyang in his early years.

It's unreasonable because with that kind of strength, one cannot become the Hegemon-King of Western Chu.

At this moment, without the support of the military formation, Xiang Yu would need Xiao Yu to stack the debuffs of the medical secrets to the maximum before he could activate the Purple Mansion Deduction Killing Method.

However, Xiang Yu was very capable of leading troops into battle.

Once the Jiangdong soldiers formed a military formation, the Purple Mansion immediately began to operate at full capacity, and it took a full half hour to complete the first version of the powerful killing method.

Xiang Yu, surrounded by soldiers and military formations, was more than a hundred times stronger than Xiang Yu when he was alone.

This increase in combat power is terrifying.

But this still couldn't make him the "Overlord of Western Chu".

Xiaoyu pondered for a long time but came to no conclusion.

The conclusion that "Xiang Yu will definitely become the fiercest general in China" was put into the shell of the divine tortoise, and the innate eight trigrams were deduced using the Hetu and Luoshu.

A reasonable conclusion was quickly reached: Xiang Yu's destiny had not yet been activated.

Just like the Monkey King in "A Chinese Odyssey," he hasn't met the person who will give him three moles yet.

"Could it be that the aspiring Grand Luo cultivators of Kuaiji Prefecture have prepared tonics such as the Nine-Turn Golden Elixir?"

Xiaoyu immediately connected the Supreme Treasure with the "real-life" Sun Wukong.

In order for Wukong to fulfill his destiny, didn't the powerful figures also frantically feed him tonics?

Without stealing a "truly large batch" of giant peaches from the Peach Garden, and without stealing several gourds of Nine-Turn Golden Elixir from the Tushita Palace, could Wukong have wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Palace?

How big of an experience pack would it take to transform an "ordinary Xiang Yu" into a peerless and valiant overlord?

Xiang Ji was an ordinary person, so there was definitely nothing of value in him.

But the person who gave him the "experience package" must be very wealthy.

If we could strike him on the head
Just as Xiaoyu had a fleeting thought of trying something, she quickly regained her senses.

Xiang Yu is now in the spotlight, and he will only become more and more dazzling in the future.

She was only there to dredge the earth's veins in Kuaiji, but she was guarded like a thief by a group of people. How could she possibly have a chance to ambush her?

If it were a being like a Great Luo Golden Immortal from the Chan Sect, they would have given Xiang Yu "three moles".

Did she knock on someone else, or did someone else knock on her?

After calming down, she led Wang E to continue dredging the earth's veins and tending to the dragon veins.

It was different from when I was in Kuaiji.

After arriving in Lujiang, Grand Tutor Yu was still distracted by other matters.

While clearing and reshaping the earth's veins, he guided Wang E in learning the "Treatise on Righteous Qi".

In order to help him understand the essence of "The Righteousness Manual", Xiaoyu had no choice but to teach him to read and understand principles.

Not just Confucian classics.

The "Treatise on Righteousness" primarily aims to help one discover the bright side of their own nature by understanding the principles and ways of the world.

Since one understands the principles and ways of the world, one's understanding is naturally not limited to Confucian classics.

Wang E was extremely dull-witted and couldn't concentrate on his studies.

Strangely enough, when you explain the principles in the book to him, he can refute them and express his own opinions.

Meanwhile, in the Qinling Mountains of Guanzhong, dozens of miles from Heibingtai, in a dense forest.

Two faint shadows, their shapes indistinct, stood under the shade of the tree.

Obscured by shadows, they became even more blurry.

Even upon closer inspection, it's impossible to tell that they are actually two people.

"Senior Ye, Yu Fengxian is currently in the southeast, sorting out the earth's veins and water veins in Lujiang. This news is absolutely true."

It was Akiko Akiko's voice.

After a moment of silence, Ye Jiutian's calm voice rang out, "So what if the news is true? At this moment, anyone who dares to underestimate Yu Fengxian is the biggest fool in the world."

She left Xianyang not because she completely trusted us. She was confident she could manipulate us.

Qiu Mingzi sneered, "Indeed, no one dares to underestimate her. If anyone did, she ran away with the True Form Map the day after she left Xianyang."

Who ran away now? Nobody!

We could all guess that she was no pushover and wouldn't let the True Form Map and the Nine Cauldrons fall into our hands without any precautions.

Perhaps she is waiting for an opportunity to make us make mistakes first, and then give us a ruthless blow to completely subdue us.

We knew this on our own without Senior Ye reminding us.

I know that Yu Fengxian was in Xiangyin at that time, but I didn't seek out my senior.

When Yu Fengxian arrived in Kuaiji, I immediately learned of it. It wasn't until she went to Lujiang that I came to inform my senior.

"Senior Ye, she's being closely watched now. Her every move is being observed by those with ulterior motives."

Ye Jiutian showed no surprise, remaining calm as he said, "Since that's the case, you can leave Xianyang with what you want. What else do you want from me?"

Qiu Mingzi shook her head and said, "It's not that I need Senior Ye to do anything, but I hope that Senior Ye won't do nothing at all."

Of course, if Senior Ye also intends to join a hidden talent, we can discuss it; perhaps we can find common ground and continue our cooperation.

Ye Jiutian understood.

Akiko wants to run with everyone, both to share the pressure and to strengthen their ability to fight against Yuhouxian.

Among the more than 600 newly appointed Celestial Masters, he was the one with the highest cultivation, a Golden Immortal.

It is the most resilient to pressure and has the strongest strength.

"Have you convinced everyone else?" he asked.

Qiu Mingzi hesitated for a moment, but still dared not speak recklessly or deceive, and frankly said: "I do hope that everyone will unite and form an unstoppable force that Yu Fengxian cannot resist."

But some people are just not like us by nature.

Some people are insignificant in themselves, yet they think they are clever and only want others to take risks to test Yu Fengxian's reaction.

Senior Ye, you are a Golden Immortal with the potential to attain the Great Luo realm.

You're different from them, even from us!

Ye Jiutian thought for a moment and said, "I will go back to Mount Luofu."

Leaving behind these words, he vanished silently into the dense forest.

A moment later, Akiko returned to the foot of Mount Kuroi-Hyodai.

As soon as he appeared, several people immediately stepped out from the crowd that had been watching the Great Yu Divine Cauldron.

They casually huddled together with Akiko, whispering amongst themselves away from the crowd.

"Well, would the Nine Heavens Immortals be willing to join us?" Zhong Yuangong of the Eastern Sea Ancestral State was the first to ask.

Instead of speaking directly, they used a secret method to transmit their voices.

"We certainly can't count on him to be the leader. But he is just like us, unwilling to be coerced by Yu Fengxian to stay in Xianyang and serve the damned Qin as a slave."

"As planned, he will leave Xianyang with us." Qiu Mingzi said.

"Where is he going? Is he traveling with us?" He Zhenjun asked.

Akiko shook her head. "He will return to Mount Luofu."

Zhong Yuangong frowned almost imperceptibly. "It should be normal for people of our status to return to their own sects, right?"

Yu Fengxian is domineering, but we are just heavenly masters in the Imperial Observatory, not performing corvée labor.

He simply returned to Mount Luofu; even if Yu Fengxian came knocking, he would have a reason to defend himself.

Akiko certainly understood this principle.

But Ye Jiutian is a powerful Golden Immortal, and no one can force him.

"He's already cooperated with us enough by going to this extent. At least he's better than Lu Jin Gong and the others, right? Can you convince Lu Jin Gong and Whale Daoist?"

Zhong Yuangong looked gloomy and said, "Although we both come from the East Sea and have had some acquaintances over the past tens of thousands of years, we are not on the same path."

Lu Jin Gong has encountered a bottleneck in cultivating the 'Lu Xian Sword Qi' and needs to refer to the true form of the mountains and rivers of Shenzhou to break through his realm.

Yu Fengxian directly revealed her true form, and he instead felt admiration and gratitude towards her.

I only asked him a few questions, and he got angry with me, talking about 'reputation' and 'promises'.

He Zhenjun sighed, "Everyone has their own ambitions and their own path; there's no need to force others to do things they don't want to do."

Qiu Mingzi sneered, "Once we take the Nine Cauldrons and the True Form Diagram is released, what's the point of them holding out in Xianyang? Won't they just try to leave by any means necessary? Short-sighted!"

Zhong Yuangong said solemnly, "It's best not to provoke Lord Lu Jin. If you disturb his enlightenment and ruin his path, he really will draw his sword and kill you."

"I'm not brainwashed, I certainly won't let go of the True Form Diagram that Lu Jin Gong and the others are studying. We need to do it quietly, yet with a bang."

"It will be launched silently, but once it happens, it will be earth-shattering," Akiko said confidently.

Zhong Yuangong asked, "Can you persuade Jin Zhong, Jin Guang, and Jin Long from Jin'ao Island in the outer realms?"
They are the only 'Rain Masters' besides Yu Fengxian who have obtained a 20-year long-term contract.

Allowing them to remain in Xianyang would have a huge impact on the overall situation of the realm.

Akiko shook her head and said, "I didn't even try to test them, and there's no need to."

As you all have seen, it's been almost a month since Yu Fengxian left, and Master Guan has repeatedly urged us to go and pray for rain, but I've been making excuses to avoid it. Meanwhile, those three always oblige our requests, and they're still following the Gray Crane Daoist to pray for rain in Shangdang.

The stance is already very clear.

Zhong Yuangong sighed, "Our collective departure was to bring down Yu Fengxian and the Great Qin Dynasty. If we leave the three of them behind, it will be much harder for the Great Qin Dynasty to collapse."

Qiu Mingzi sneered, "Fellow Daoist, why worry unnecessarily? We are willing to break our promises and bear the karmic consequences to leave Xianyang. It's not just about ruining someone else; it's also about saving ourselves!"

A great calamity is unfolding; those who obey Heaven and accept their fate will live, while those who defy Heaven will die.

We are trying to survive, and that's why we are alive. They don't understand fate, and they will suffer calamity sooner or later.

In fact, their rainmaking efforts were not very effective, and the Heavenly Thunder Department was constantly opposing them.

After all, the frequent natural disasters in China this year are a matter of fate.

The Thunder Department must do its utmost to uphold the Mandate of Heaven.

“That’s right. They defied fate and forcibly eliminated the natural disasters that were meant to happen, so they’re bound to be targeted by the Heavenly Court. Once their own fortune is exhausted, they’ll die a horrible death sooner or later.” Zhong Yuangong nodded.

He Zhenjun glanced at the Great Yu Cauldron and said with a solemn expression, "Now there is only one key point left: how to take away the Nine Cauldrons quietly."

"You've all been practicing Yu Fengxian's Ancestral Dragon Secret Technique for almost a month now. Have you gained any insights?"

(End of this chapter)