Man on the ark, forced to become king

Even if Lani doesn't care, Lin Lu doesn't want to do that. He can handle it himself. Today's big move is probably quite significant.

This can be seen from Wei Yanwu's reaction. The old dragon was probably really scared. On the way back, it frowned and remained silent, as if it was struggling with something important, most likely related to Lani.

That's exactly what happened.

Golden Tree handled this matter quite well. The scale of the operation far exceeded Wei Yanwu's expectations, but it also made him more wary of Golden Tree.

The reason is simple: the Golden Tree's strength is too great, ridiculously so. Lungmen alone is no match for the Golden Tree; their strength is far from sufficient.

No matter how many troops Longmen has, how many experts the Imperial Guard has, or how many defensive cannons are mounted on the city walls, none of that matters. Wei Yanwu is well aware of this.

In the face of such powerful beings, numbers are meaningless. The city defense cannons that need to be charged can only hit immobile, physical natural disasters. To hit a god is a complete dream, not even worth considering.

To put it bluntly, even if none of the others in the Golden Tree made a move, as long as Miss Lani did, she wouldn't need to use her full strength to destroy the entire Lungmen. Compared to destructive power that is purely manifested on a material level, that kind of method that penetrates people's hearts and affects their will is even more difficult to guard against.

Wei Yanwu, the governor of Longmen, was powerless to do anything about it.

There is an old saying in Yan: "How can one tolerate another snoring beside one's bed?"

Not to mention, what is on the ground at the bottom of Longmen now is not a human, but a god, a god who holds complete authority.

This feeling of placing all hope in the decision of others made Wei Yanwu very uncomfortable, and a sense of crisis lingered in his mind.

He realized with a start that he seemed to have gone too far.

As allies, the Golden Trees are indeed reliable enough. Their power can help Lungmen deal with most of the unexpected events in this world. Even if a sudden natural disaster comes without warning, it can be wiped out by the intervention of the gods. Lungmen is as stable as Mount Tai, which is something that even Yan Kingdom cannot do.

The relationship between Lungmen and the Yan Kingdom is not good. After all, it was a city controlled by the Duke of Ursus a long time ago. It is located on the border between the Yan Kingdom and Ursus. It is nominally under the jurisdiction of the Yan Kingdom, but in reality, the military protection it can receive is very limited.

If anything goes wrong, it will take at least a day for Yan Kingdom's support to arrive.

What about the Golden Tree? They've always been here, ready to act at any time.

From this perspective, Longmen seems to have gained a great advantage. As long as it doesn't deliberately cause its own demise, it can rely on the protection of the Golden Tree to once again usher in an opportunity for rapid development and further expand its international influence.

But in reality?

Unless Wei Yanwu is willing to lead the entire Longmen to betray Yan Kingdom and join the Golden Tree, allies are just allies.

In this world, agreements are actually the least valuable thing. As long as the benefits are sufficient, they are just a piece of waste paper, especially in the eyes of the powerful.

They are allies now, but they may not be in the future.

If one day the Golden Tree breaks with Lungmen, how will Lungmen cope? How will it protect itself? It might collapse overnight.

When that day comes, even if the Golden Tree doesn't take the initiative to attack Lungmen, Lungmen will be placed in a very awkward position, and such signs are already emerging.

Choosing to rely on the power of the Golden Tree to negotiate with the Yan Kingdom in order to ensure the stability of Longmen is best done on the premise that the Golden Tree is strong, but its strength is limited. In that case, the cooperation will just be cooperation.

However, the problem now is that the Golden Tree is too strong, and Lin Lu is too strong, strong enough to be able to communicate with the Yan Kingdom on an equal footing.

What will the Yan Kingdom's court think?

Is it cooperation, or a premeditated provocation and annexation?

Wei Yanwu couldn't think of an answer right now, or rather, he didn't dare to think about it.

Things have progressed to this point and are completely out of his control, moving from the known to the unknown. No one knows what will happen next.

Longmen, once a chess player, has become a chessboard and a chess piece. The players are Golden Tree and Yan Kingdom. No matter what happens, they can only passively accept it.

This feeling was so intense that Wei Yanwu felt like he was going to vomit blood.

If he could turn back time, he would never have agreed to Lin Lu's idea.

Unfortunately, there's no going back in this world. What's done is done, and no amount of regret can undo it.

So he could only rack his brains and do his best to figure out how to protect the Dragon Gate in this unprecedented change.

Lost in thought, he came to his senses and found himself unknowingly standing at the entrance to the courtyard where Lin Qingyan and Zuo Le were under house arrest.

After hesitating for a moment, Wei Yanwu composed himself, pushed open the door and went inside. What came into view were two people sitting in the courtyard.

Lin Qingyan seemed to be in very bad condition. Her face was terribly pale, almost bloodless, and even her usually smooth and shiny long hair seemed to have dried out. She needed to support herself on the table with her arms just to sit there. Zuo Le sat next to her, looking worried.

So... was some kind of extremely energy-consuming secret technique used?

It seems the message has already been sent out.

Wei Yanwu believed that few people knew more about the secret techniques of Yan Kingdom than he did. Even if they didn't know how to use them, they had heard of or seen them. Therefore, it was not difficult for him to guess what Lin Qingyan had done.

This was a loophole he deliberately opened; there were no shielding devices or magical barriers set up in the courtyard, so that the secret method could be connected in time.

Some things have a different effect when they come out of his mouth versus when they come out of someone else's hands.

Lin Qingyan's actions were exactly what he wanted.

Of course, that was before; now Wei Yanwu is starting to regret it.

"Master Wei——"

"Sit down, no need for formalities. Your father and I are old friends."

These words were spoken to Zuo Le. Perhaps due to his fluctuating emotions, Wei Yanwu appeared somewhat irritable and depressed at this moment.

He walked to the crabapple tree in the yard, stared at the trunk for a while, then turned around and asked, "Has the message been sent out?"

"...I contacted my master using the Water Mirror Secret Technique, and he saw everything. He even said...I will arrive tomorrow."

Lin Qingyan was a little unsure what this elder was thinking, so she could only tell the truth. She understood very well that in a heavily guarded place like the Governor's Mansion, it would be impossible to use a secret method to send a message so easily unless this person deliberately indulged her.

"The Water Mirror Secret Technique consumes a considerable amount of resources."

Mentioning the name of the secret technique, Wei Yanwu's expression darkened further. With a wave of his hand, he tossed out a small porcelain bottle with a white background and blue patterns. The bottle landed on the table, shook a few times, and then settled down.

"Drink it. It will replenish the energy consumed by the secret technique. You are still young. Doing things like this could easily damage your foundation. If something goes wrong, you won't be able to explain it to your master."

"Yes."

Picking up the porcelain bottle, Lin Qingyan didn't ask what it was, but pulled out the cork and drank the liquid in one gulp.

The golden liquid flowed into my mouth, without any coolness, but rather a just-right warmth. It slid down my throat, and before it could reach deeper, it turned into scattered warm currents that merged into my body and spread throughout my entire body with my blood.

In an instant, the extreme weakness caused by using secret communication across a long distance was quickly filled and soothed, and the powerless body and limbs became light again. Gentle life particles flowed through the flesh and blood, and the mental fatigue was also dispelled.

In the blink of an eye, her pale face regained its color, and her long golden hair returned to its former brightness and smoothness.

If it's a recovery medication, then its effects are unusually good.

Lin Qingyan subconsciously lowered his head and peered inside the porcelain bottle through the opening. There were still traces of gold on the smooth white wall.

She had tried restorative remedies before; the Celestial Master's Mansion and the Imperial Court both had them, but none of them had ever worked so quickly.

Moreover, anything that can instantly restore an extremely weak person is either extremely precious or has significant side effects.

Wei Yanwu most likely wouldn't give her medicine with severe side effects, especially since her teacher is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. So... is this something extremely precious?

This is... way too much of a waste!

Lin Qingyan had long heard that the Longmen family was wealthy and powerful, and that Lord Wei, who was in charge of Longmen, was richer than a country. Yet, the things he casually took out were treasures that others would covet. Such wealth was still beyond Lin Qingyan's imagination.

"This item is not as valuable as you think; it can be obtained with just a few source stones."

Seeing the changes in the little girl's movements and expressions, Wei Yanwu could roughly guess what she was thinking. He sighed slightly and explained, "This is what you want to investigate. It's one of the manifestations of the tree's power. As long as there are enough source stones, you can have as many of these dewdrops as you want."

"Since things have come to this, I can now tell you what that tree is. Are you sure you want to hear it?"

"Please explain, Lord Wei."

When the giant tree that made her heart tremble was mentioned, Lin Qingyan immediately became serious, stood up and bowed respectfully.

She didn't know what had happened or why Wei Yanwu's attitude had changed so drastically in such a short time, but she needed to find out the details about that tree. The mere presence of lightning magic within it was enough to make her decide not to let it go.

Moreover, her master is coming tomorrow, so if she listens more now, she'll have something to say tomorrow and it'll save her some trouble.

"Ah."

Wei Yanwu nodded, facing the crabapple tree with his back to Lin Qingyan and Zuo Le. After a moment of deliberation, he spoke softly.

"That tree is called the Golden Tree. It is a sacred object worshipped by a force called the Golden Tree. What you see in Lungmen now is not its main body, but a branch."

"Not long ago, Lungmen established a cooperative relationship with the Golden Tree in order to obtain their military assistance and the right to purchase this Golden Tree Dew. You just took the dew, so I don't need to say more about its effects."

"The effect is very good, comparable to the healing artifacts in the Celestial Master's Mansion."

Lin Qingyan's lips trembled, but he couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Lord Wei, please forgive my bluntness... these Golden Tree Dewdrops are indeed a good thing. If they can be obtained with a little money, then of course they are worth it. But to provide military assistance... Longmen has the backing of the Great Yan, why should it need others to interfere?"

"So, you're still young."

Wei Yanwu turned around and solemnly asked, "Do you know where Longmen is located?"

"Of course I know, it's Yan Kingdom and Ursus—"

He stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence, and Lin Qingyan realized what was happening.

Located on the border of Yan Kingdom and bordering Ursus, Lungmen can be considered an exclave. Under such circumstances, it is difficult to exert military control over the country, and the military protection that Yan Kingdom can provide is actually not much. It seems quite normal to need to rely on the power of a third party.

Chapter Forty-Eight: The Celestial Master Arrives at the Door

"The sea has changed into mulberry fields, the sea has changed into mulberry fields."

Outside Longmen, an old man, fanning himself with an old palm-leaf fan, walked out of the wilderness, stopped in front of a green tree, and reached out his finger to touch some of the morning dew.

His clothes were not particularly glamorous; in fact, they could be described as extremely simple: a white inner lining and a gray outer robe. Even the outer robe looked slightly faded from washing. His weathered white hair and beard were lightly reflected on the lapel, giving him a free and easy yet tidy appearance.

If you met him on the street, no one would have guessed that this old man, who looked like an ordinary old man on the street, was actually the Celestial Master standing at the very top of the great Yan Dynasty.