Chapter 999: I Can Integrate Pretty Well With The Supreme Heavenly Mirror
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
The Zheng Yi Holy Man had one hand on the edge of the Crucible of the Divine Lands while his vision was directed at the gate of the Starry Sea over the edge of the horizon.
Lin Feng raised an eyebrow as he heard his words and said plainly, "What do you want, Zheng Yi Holy Man?"
The Zheng Yi Holy Man said slowly, "This gate to the Starry Sea is just a pathway towards the Starry Sea in your hands. Even though it has considerable value, it has a far greater value towards the Divine Lands as a whole and has important uses."
Lin Feng’s expression remained unchanged. "Do you mean to say, that the Supreme Heavenly Mirror can borrow one of the gates to the Starry Sea to determine the locations of the other five?"
The Zheng Yi Holy Man answered, "We are more than fifty-percent certain."
Lin Feng nodded his head. "Fifty-percent? That’s not too bad."
The Zheng Yi Holy Man immediately waved towards the gate to the Starry Sea drifting in the distance as he heard those words.
However, there was an abrupt ripple of energy on the other side of the door that fixed the gate to the Starry Sea in its original place and rendered the Zheng Yi Holy Man unable to retrieve it.
The Xuan Lin Holy Man’s brows creased into a frown as the Zheng Yi Holy Man returned his gaze towards Lin Feng.
"I am inferior to the profound considerations and farsightedness of the Great Void Sect – you have my gratitude," Lin Feng wore his usual casual expression and his voice as plain as ever. "Even though I have never interacted with it before, I think I can integrate pretty well with the Supreme Heavenly Mirror."
The Zheng Yi Holy Man’s long white eyebrows quivered as he stared straight into Lin Feng’s eyes. "So, the leader of the Celestial Sect of Wonders is taking me for a fool."
Lin Feng answered matter-of-factly, "What do you mean by that? If you really want talk about that, I should be the one admonishing you for always patronizing me instead."
The Zheng Yi Holy Man was still calm and neither happiness or anger could be seen on his face. His hand started to caress the body of the Crucible and he said, "In that case, then there is no further room for discussion and negotiation in the other matters."
Lin Feng smiled faintly and replied, "How do you wish to discuss? If I gifted this gate to the Starry Sea to you guys, will you stop contending with me for the Crucible of the Divine Lands? Heh, I think not. My understanding of the Great Void Sect is not deep enough, but there are some basic things that I am highly aware of."
The Zheng Yi Holy Man shook his head slowly and said, "Of course not."
The Xuan Lin Holy Man said calmly, "The Crucible of the Divine Lands is far too important and its effects are too far-reaching. The Great Void Sect cannot sit back and do nothing about it. However, if you are more concerned about society and is willing to give us the gate to the Starry Sea, we can talk about the issue with the Crucible."
"A single destiny-level magic item cannot be separated into to, and thus splitting it is out of the question. There are two solutions – we can choose a neutral middle world and put it there, so it doesn’t belong to the Celestial Sect of Wonders and neither will we bring it back to Mount Baiyun, and we will watch over it together. Otherwise, we can fix a schedule and we will take turns to take care of it."
A look of amusement came over Lin Feng’s face. "Oh? Is that your grand plan?"
The Zheng Yi Holy Man spoke slowly, "The Crucible of the Divine Lands is the Divine Lands’ Crucible, and this was also the wish of Emperor Xia."
Lin Feng chuckled and answered, "By the same logic, the Supreme Heavenly Mirror is also the Divine Lands’ Supreme Heavenly Mirror – shall we settle that with the same method?"
The Zheng Yi Holy Man’s expression remained unchanged but the Xuan Lin Holy Man started to frown.
Lin Feng glanced at the Xuan Lin Holy Man and said, "The Supreme Heavenly Mirror is distinct from the Supreme Yin-Yang Mirror. Even though my knowledge is limited, I still know this for a fact."
The Xuan Lin Holy Man relaxed the muscles on his face and his expression returned to normal. The Xuan Heaven Seal and the Cang Heaven Spell Blade were both in Lin Feng’s hands. While the state of the Xuan Heaven Seal was still unknown, the Cang Heaven Spell Blade had clearly converted to his camp.
These two Mahayana-level magic items had existed since the Antiquity Age. Some of the more esoteric information were relatively obscure, but information that were not so secret were naturally understood.
This was especially so for the final years of the Antiquity Age. The intelligence group of the inner circle of the Heavenly Gate Sect were relatively well-informed.
The Zheng Yi Holy Man shook his head. "In that case, then there is really nothing else to be discussed."
Lin Feng continued watching him but the faint smile gradually disappeared from his face. His expression as plain once again as he said, "There is nothing much to be discussed since the very beginning."
"The gate to the Starry Sea belongs to me. The contest for the Crucible of the Divine Lands can be resolved by a showdown of our own abilities – it is that simple," Lin Feng continued blandly, "What makes you think that the Great Void Sect can assume the role of Leader and delegate these things and decide what happens to them?"
"And, what makes you think that you can use the Crucible of the Divine Lands, which doesn’t even belong to you in the first place, to exchange for this gate to the Starry Sea that actually belongs to me?"
The Zheng Yi Holy Man stared into Lin Feng’s eyes as Lin Feng returned the gaze calmly. Lin Feng’s tone was ever so casual. "I know that of the separation in the inner circle of the Great Void Sect, both you and the Xuan Lin Holy Man perceive the Great Void Sect as the great dictator of the Divine Lands and think about issues with this mindset. I don’t blame you for developing thoughts like these."
"However, the inner circle of the Great Void Sect doesn’t just comprise the two of you, and the current general direction of the Great Void Sect doesn’t seem to be aligned with yours either."
"Secondly…" Lin Feng shook his head before he continued, "The Divine Lands of today, even if everyone in the inner circle of the Great Void Sect shared your opinions, you guys are in no position to call yourselves the dictators of the Divine Lands."
Once this came out, the Zheng Yi Holy Man’s face grew complicated while the Xuan Lin Holy Man’s pupils started to contract.
Lin Feng’s voice had always been so casual an indifferent, as if he was merely describing something that was as normal as anything else, as if he was recounting something that everybody knew and something that nobody doubted.
After a long while, the Xuan Lin Holy Man’s eyes returned to its original composure and said, "Dictator? You can’t say that about yourself either."
Lin Feng said softly, "Therefore, we should just rely on our own abilities. Anybody that acts a class above the rest will only be mocked by everyone."
The Xuan Lin Holy Man nodded his head subtly. "The Tai Yi Holy Man and the sect leader have much to regret."
Lin Feng shot a plain look at him and said, "I have always had much respect for the Tai Yi Holy Man and the others. If they’re like what you make them out to be, I will end up underestimating them."
"Since there’s a perception of the world as a chess board, then there will surely be a time when one of these chess pieces will jump out of the chess board and become a rival chess player."
"The usual happiness and returns from success should be matched with a comparable ability to take responsibility for failure, and an ability to be decisive, calm and adaptable in the face of unforeseen circumstances."
"If one wallows in defeat and continues to be stuck in a cycle of despondence, sadness and regret…" Lin Feng chuckled and said casually, "In that case, the chess player often becomes the chess piece instead."
The Xuan Lin Holy an watched Lin Feng quietly and said after a pause. "You are absolutely right, I have misspoken."
The stars shimmered within the Starry Sea, and every single star undulated in the dark universe. Both parties were in a standstill, and both entered a state of contemplation.
All of a sudden, the Zheng Yi Holy Man flipped his palm and a sphere of light drifted between him and Lin Feng. The light shadow gradually revealed the appearance of the Tai Yi Holy Man.
The Tai Yi Holy Man’s eyes were closed but he was "looking" at Lin Feng. His voice was amiable as he spoke, "Whatever conflicts that exist between us is not beneficial for the Divine Lands."
"I hope you will place society’s interests above your own. The Crucible of the Divine Lands is far too important for the future of the Divine Lands, and it will be better for the power of humans in general if it belongs to society."
"The gate to the Starry Sea is obtained by serendipity, and you can do whatever you want with it and it’s not in our place to interfere. However, I am starting to think that we can cooperate and seek out the other five gates to the Starry Sea. This will be a great outcome for the Divine Lands and for both of us as well."
Lin Feng watched the Tai Yi Holy Man and nodded his head after a moment of consideration. "We can cooperate to find the other five gates of the Starry Sea. That is a feasible plan, but the details of how we shall proceed will be discussed after I return from the Starry Sea."
"As for the Crucible of the Divine Lands, I will communicate with the original soul of the Crucible and we will see."
The original soul of Destiny-level magic item existed but were vast and resembled more of the will of an independent world. They rarely revealed themselves to the world, and existed in the dormant state as if they were half-asleep or half-awake.
Whether it was Lin Feng or the Great Void Sect, whichever party wanted to assume dominance over the Crucible of the Divine Lands would have to communicate with its original soul.
Of course, this level of communication would be dissimilar to the typical method used with Gestation, Metaplasia and Mahayana level magic items. It could be done with normal conversation, but could also be done with pure consciousness.
The Tai Yi Holy Man nodded his head in approval and said, "That will be best." With that, the light projection vanished.
The Zheng Yi Holy Man was quiet from the beginning to the end. However, once the light shadow of the Tai Yi Holy Man disappeared, a few other light shadows lit up in his consciousness, which belonged to the Tai Yi Holy Man, Yan Nanlai, the Qing Yi Holy Woman and the Xuan Yi Holy Man.
The Tai Yi Holy Man, the Qing Yi Holy Woman and the Xuan Yi Holy Man remained silent while Yan Nanlai heaved a faint sigh. "The Starry Sea was lost in the final years of the Antiquity Age, and we finally have a chance to take it back."
The Zheng Yi Holy Man nodded his head slowly in agreement, while the Qing Yi Holy Woman chimed in. "Everything that’s been happening points towards the fact that the recovery of the Original Celestial Dragon is faster than expected, and we should push forward our original plan."
"We need an opportunity," the Xuan Yi Holy Man said, "The Emperor of the Dead is still in hiding and nowhere to be seen."
"Even if we have a chance to take back the Starry Sea, the environment is still unsuitable and we are unable to take control of the whole situation. The demons are similarly unable to do so, and Lin Feng is still noncommittal. The Black Sea, and only the Black Sea, has a suitable environment."
The Qing Yi Holy Woman said, "It’s still acceptable if we can lure the Origins Celestial Dragon out of the Black Sea. However, he can only be humiliated once in his lifetime and his determination will be eternal and unshaking."
The elders of the Great Void Sect entered a state of contemplation. After a long while, the Tai Yi Holy Man said slowly, "We will proceed with the original plan and wait for the opportunity."
Everyone else nodded in agreement.
At the same time, Lin Feng was communicating with Wang Lin through his consciousness. "How are things, Wang Lin?"
The Great Satanic Avatar’s physical features were exactly the same as Wang Lin himself, and he answered, "It’s an old trick of playing the likeable good guy and making the other out to be the enemy – simple and effective."
This was a simple and practical technique in the process of negotiations. One threw out conditions that were completely unacceptable to lower the expectations of the other party before proposing a comparatively milder resolution. This had a higher probability of success than throwing out the latter proposal from the very beginning.
Lin Feng said, "This is very simple, but the information contained is not that simple. The reason is because the Tai Yi Holy Man and the Zheng Yi Holy Man are working together but the process damaged the Zheng Yi Holy Man’s dignity – this is a form of formless suppression of the Radical Faction’s influence in the Great Void Sect."
Wang Lin’s eyes sparkled. "The Tai Yi Holy Man’s mana projection was directly brought into the Starry Sea by the Zheng Yi Holy Man. If the Zheng Yi Holy Man was unwilling, this wouldn’t have happened. In other words…"
Lin Feng nodded his head faintly and the corner of his mouth curved into a smile. "The Great Void Sect is starting to unify and share a common direction and… it may not be an attitude of appeasement."