Chapter 1913 - 1917: Victory in Hand
Spirit Realm.
The Heavenly Lord finished savoring this battle that absolutely deserved to be called brutal. The corner of his mouth hooked up in a slight arc, making his mood look exceptionally pleased.
He even closed his eyes slightly after watching, as if still savoring something.
After a long while, the Heavenly Lord finally opened his eyes again, looked over at Number Two, and asked, "Well? Have you finished the analysis?"
"Still analyzing. Everything we’ve collected over the past two years is being cross-checked against the information obtained from this war! But progress is very promising. According to the deduction, there’s a ninety-eight percent chance we can lock onto Lu Xiaobu and Lin Feng’s island coordinates this time!"
Number Two looked a bit worked up. It had already been two years since His Majesty the Heavenly Lord started laying out his plans, and they were finally about to obtain the coordinates of these two men’s real-world islands!
These two years were not spent in vain.
Though Lu Xiaobu and Lin Feng were extremely cautious, just as His Majesty the Heavenly Lord had predicted, no matter how careful they were, as long as they’d stepped into the game, they would inevitably leak information.
"Mm, nicely done." The Heavenly Lord nodded in satisfaction.
To him, two years passed in the mere snap of a finger.
"How’s the infiltration around that Liu Tiezhu going?"
The Heavenly Lord thought for a moment and spoke again.
"They’ve already been planted. We can activate them whenever necessary!"
Number Two immediately replied.
Speaking of this, Number Two started trembling all over with excitement again!
Lu Xiaobu, oh Lu Xiaobu, did you really think this war was something you initiated on your own?!
Wrong. It’s only because His Majesty the Heavenly Lord wanted you to erupt.
That Iron Axe—oh right, Liu Tiezhu—what kind of trash is he really.
If not for our help from the shadows, could a mere Liu Tiezhu possibly reach Mahayana in just two short years? And even slay an old-school Mahayana?!
Hah! You think your manipulations behind the scenes are flawless, yet you have no idea you’re just a jumping clown showing off your Knife in front of Guan Gong!
"Sigh, that batch of one hundred thousand Iron Cavalry under Lu Xiaobu really are loyal enough. We actually couldn’t get Lu Xiaobu’s island coordinates directly from any of their mouths."
Speaking of Liu Tiezhu, the Heavenly Lord couldn’t help but sigh again.
Thunder Island is no Gourd Island, sealed off to no end—it’s a massive trade island.
Or rather, Thunder Island is fundamentally just one of the Heavenly Lord’s hidden moves.
On Thunder Island alone, there are dozens of cross-island Transmission Arrays.
Likewise, all of the dozens of islands linked to Thunder Island each have the Heavenly Lord’s people embedded there—originally the next region the Heavenly Lord had planned to develop.
If not for Lin Feng and Lu Xiaobu’s emergence, he would already have started laying his plans across that entire region.
So, not long after Liu Tiezhu and his group landed, he noticed this batch of people who didn’t fit in with normal Cultivators at all.
It was just that at the time, he couldn’t be sure whose men they actually were.
Only after a period of investigation did he finally confirm that they were a direct unit under Lu Xiaobu—the hundred thousand Iron Cavalry!
This discovery instantly sent the Heavenly Lord into a brief bout of excitement.
Of course, he also immediately slaughtered quite a number of people!
Namely, that group guarding the Transmission Arrays!
If they hadn’t delayed the critical moment, he might have already found Lu Xiaobu’s true island by now.
But a missed chance is a missed chance—he could only take his time, bit by bit.
After that, the Heavenly Lord launched a series of plans targeting this group, trying to pry out Lu Xiaobu’s island coordinates.
However!
What the Heavenly Lord hadn’t expected was that this so-called hundred thousand Iron Cavalry’s loyalty was horrifically high!
The process of taking prisoners was extremely arduous. Many times they paid a horrendous price only to end up with nothing but a corpse.
And even on the rare occasions when they did capture a prisoner—
No matter what methods were used, they couldn’t force them to reveal any information.
One careless moment and they would even choose suicide!
In the end, their efforts to take prisoners actually aroused those people’s suspicions, and the latter instead turned around to probe into their intelligence.
In light of this,
The Heavenly Lord personally ordered a change in the plan.
They switched from taking prisoners for intel to killing as many of them as possible.
Still, killing was killing—but whatever these people wanted, they were to be given as much as possible.
Weren’t they trying to use their lives to rob the entire world?!
Fine then, let their plan succeed!
The more successful their plan, the higher that Liu Tiezhu’s Cultivation and rank would rise, and the fewer trustworthy people he would have at his side.
Which meant the more people the Heavenly Lord could plant!
Thus, with the covert cooperation of the Heavenly Lord’s forces, Liu Tiezhu got his meteoric rise, and they seamlessly pulled off the plan they’d wanted.
Naturally, that also led to this—when the Heavenly Lord needed it, the old-school Mahayana died, the newly ascended Mahayana Liu Tiezhu changed his name to Iron Axe, entered the Spirit Realm, and then sparked the battle.
Given how emotional Lu Xiaobu is, once he heard what his men had gone through, it would be strange if he didn’t explode!
That’s how this near-mad confrontation between Lu Xiaobu and Lin Feng came to be.
And he, the Heavenly Lord, could happily sit back and watch this battle, then analyze the locations of their islands, and finally deliver a fatal strike!
Thinking of this, the Heavenly Lord couldn’t help but let the corners of his mouth curve upward.
Then he asked again, "Number Two, what’s Number Five’s side saying? He’s been undercover for this long now."
"Number Five still hasn’t made any major breakthroughs, but much of his intel corroborates what we’ve obtained."
Number Two said, "Lin Feng’s methods are far too ruthless. Most of the time, the moment anything looks even slightly off, he immediately wipes out every possible trail."
"According to Number Five’s report, he once tried to plant someone by Lin Feng’s side. It went very well at first—that person became quite favored by Lin Feng."
"But then, after a slip-up that Number Five didn’t even consider a real flaw, Lin Feng actually killed that man without hesitation, and then dragged everyone linked to him down with him, almost tracing it back to Number Five himself!"
The Heavenly Lord wasn’t the least bit surprised or angry after hearing this. He merely nodded lightly. "Mm, that’s perfectly normal. While Lin Feng’s subordinates aren’t as loyal as Lu Xiaobu’s hundred thousand Iron Cavalry, Lin Feng’s personal ruthlessness makes up for it."
"In every sense, these two really are evenly matched opponents."
"Lu Xiaobu is passionate and open-hearted, his handpicked elites unmatched. One order from him, and ten thousand men will fight to the death!"
"Lin Feng is cold and sharp, keeping a tight grip on everything, ruling with iron and blood. With a single command from him, the road runs red with blood!"
The Heavenly Lord’s voice was full of admiration.
Over these two years, he’d been sitting at a higher vantage point, seeing the two of them more clearly, which was why he felt this sense of admiration.
"What do they amount to? Your Majesty the Heavenly Lord is the one standing highest above all. No matter how fearsome they are, they’re nothing but two little crickets in your eyes. How savage can they be? At the end of the day, they’re just jumping around inside a bowl!" Number Two flattered.
The Heavenly Lord narrowed his eyes slightly, smiling without a word.
And just as the Heavenly Lord sat there with victory seemingly in his grasp, an anomaly began!