Chapter 537 Free and Unfettered

When the black Pa.s.sat was about to leave the downtown of Huating, w.a.n.g Qinglei also received a list showing the intentions of students who partic.i.p.ated in the joint maneuver of the two academies this year.

There were hundreds of names and different agencies. All these messages were sent over through an email and looked dazzling.

The Pa.s.sat’s movements were unusually steady.

w.a.n.g Qinglei turned on his laptop and looked at the information seriously and intently.

The two academies had more than 2,000 students in total. In a sense, they were the best 2,000 students in the Special Warfare System of Zhongzhou State in three years.

They had all experienced all kinds of hards.h.i.+ps over the past three years. The hundreds of names that finally attracted the attention of all the super forces were, naturally, the people who were the most dazzling in the Special Warfare System of Zhongzhou State in the past three years.

The two academies would have graduates once every three years. In terms of time, more than a thousand people in three batches of graduates would enter the view of all the major forces, and then they would be recruited by various forces and organizations.

It almost cost ten years for the academies to produce three batches of graduates.

In the past ten years, the final choice of more than a thousand students had directly affected the structure of the Special Warfare System of Zhongzhou State in the future. Which force or organization would rise in the future could vaguely be seen from this list alone from a certain perspective.

Therefore, the maneuver of the two academies was a grand event as well as a feast.

The hundreds of graduates who were the most outstanding in each session were the targets of the various special warfare agencies and hidden forces of Zhongzhou State.

Kunlun City, the w.a.n.g family of Beihai, The Six, the provincial Special Operations Bureaus, and the elite troops of the military.

Everyone was fighting for them.

Naturally, w.a.n.g Qinglei was fighting for them.

He first looked at the three agencies.

Wuyue Special Operations Bureau.

Chivalrousness Force.

Gale Task Force.

These three agencies belonged only to w.a.n.g Qinglei.

Wuyue Special Operations Bureau had been completely mature and controlled all the special things in Wuyue Province.

The headquarters of the Chivalrousness Force was in Jianghuai Province, and it was now regarded as the core part of the Jianghuai Special Operations Bureau.

The Gale Task Force contained the talents he had discovered in recent years. Its headquarters was in Youzhou. Although it was not famous, it was still flouris.h.i.+ng inside.

w.a.n.g Qinglei searched the three agencies one by one. Looking at the names below the three agencies, he frowned slightly.

w.a.n.g Qinglei said to himself, “Why are there so few people?”

The driver said in a somewhat dull tone, “It should be because of the East Emperor Palace.”

He had been driving the car for w.a.n.g Qinglei more than ten years and was normally reticent. However, w.a.n.g Qinglei came to visit Gu Xingyun without bringing his secretary or guards. He only brought such a driver, which was enough to show his position in w.a.n.g Qinglei’s heart.

w.a.n.g Qinglei raised his eyebrows slightly and searched the East Emperor Palace.

The densely dotted names suddenly made his pupils contract.

He wasn’t Gu Xingyun after all, and he couldn’t represent the w.a.n.g family of Beihai completely.

Therefore, he paid attention to more students than Gu Xingyun did. In this way, the list of names that applied to join the East Emperor Palace he saw was naturally much longer than what Gu Xingyun had seen.

w.a.n.g Qinglei didn’t count how many people there were.

The exact number was no longer important.

With a rough glance at this list, it was enough for him to figure out how amazing the momentum of the East Emperor Palace was.

w.a.n.g Qinglei looked at the list and kept silent for a long time.

It could be predicted that as long as Li Tianlan remained alive, the East Emperor Palace would develop steadily in the next three years. In the next final maneuver of the two academies, more people would apply to join the East Emperor Palace.

If Li Tianlan could break through to the Invincible Realm within three years, the two academies might become the place where the East Emperor Palace developed new blood.

The same was true for the next batch of graduates.

What about ten years later?

The East Emperor Palace would recruit more than half of the most outstanding young men in the coming ten years in Zhongzhou State.

At that time, the whole East Emperor Palace would represent the whole era.

w.a.n.g Qinglei’s heart suddenly skipped a beat.

He reached out and knocked on the name “East Emperor Palace”, commenting in a calm tone, “It’s really a scourge.”

“If the Li family doesn’t collapse, Zhongzhou State will be unstable.”

The driver’s tone was a little emotional. “Everyone can see it, but the higher-ups have always taken an indulgent att.i.tude towards the Li family. From this point of view, it is enough to show their dissatisfaction with Kunlun City.”

w.a.n.g Qinglei smiled and said calmly, “In fact, when Gu Xingyun serves as the G.o.d of War of Zhongzhou State, no one can deny his contribution to Zhongzhou State, but his way of doing things is too sophisticated. Sophisticated people and forces always have too much room for compromise, and it even means that they don’t have a stance that must be insisted. It’s not that the higher-ups are dissatisfied with Kunlun City. They, actually, don’t trust Gu Xingyun. Just think about how unyielding the Li family had been back then. They would rather die than retreat, and they would rather break than bend. They are the people Zhongzhou State needs and dares to trust. Li Honghe has been living well so far, which can also explain this problem.”

The driver shook his head and clicked his tongue without saying a word.

“Kunlun City really can’t do that.”

w.a.n.g Qinglei lowered his head and operated his laptop. He dialed a video call and said blandly, “But it doesn’t mean that the future of Zhongzhou State belongs only to the Li family.”

The video was connected.

A vast expanse of whiteness appeared on the screen.

No one was there. There was only a voice, calm and gentle. “Have you finished your talk?”

w.a.n.g Qinglei said calmly, “We’ve just finished talking. It seems that the result is not bad.”

There was a moment of silence on the other side of the screen.

The vast expanse of whiteness was as steady as before.

The voice on the other side of the screen asked again, “Did Gu Xingyun agree to attack Li Tianlan and Deity?”

“He has no reason not to agree.”

w.a.n.g Qinglei laughed. “If he refuses, the whole Kunlun City can only live for ten more years, at most ten years. Whether it’s Tianzong or Li Tianlan, they won’t let him go.”

“That’s great.”

The voice coming from the other side of the screen laughed and said, “It didn’t make what you and I have been secretly plotting a waste.”

In this situation, there was only one person who could and was qualified to plot everything with w.a.n.g Qinglei in secret.

It could only be His Majesty who was so powerful that he could make an expert of the Invincible Realm his follower.

“Gu Xingyun did agree to ask Li Xi to attack Li Tianlan and Deity.”

w.a.n.g Qinglei said slowly, “But I don’t think Li Xi can really succeed, even with the cooperation of Tianhai Wuji.”

His Majesty reminded him calmly, “And Liusheng Cangquan will also help them.”

“It seems that the team is very mighty.”

w.a.n.g Qinglei nodded. “But can the trio really kill Deity?”

“Their strength on the surface is indeed enough. Li Xi can keep Deity at bay. When Tianhai Wuji and Senior Brother Liusheng Cangquan are all-out, they might be unable to kill Deity. But when Deity unleashes all his power on the verge of death, who can stop him? You can make an Invincible Realm expert willing to be your follower, but you may not be able to make them serve you at the risk of death.”

w.a.n.g Qinglei hit the nail on the head.

His Majesty fell silent for a moment.

“They can kill Li Tianlan, and that’s enough.”

After a long while, he slowly opened his mouth.

w.a.n.g Qinglei asked directly, “Li Tianlan is young, after all. Their strength is enough to kill him, but what about Deity?”

“Deity…”

His Majesty smiled. “Deity doesn’t have to die.”

“…”

w.a.n.g Qinglei didn’t speak for a long while. He thought about it seriously, then frowned and said, “Deity doesn’t have to die? In that case, why do you have to attack him?”

“If I don’t attack him, the interests of the five Eastern European countries may not be able to make Gu Xingyun make up his mind. Only with East Island can he give up Li Xi. And if I don’t attack Deity, it’s easy to persuade Liusheng Cangquan into cooperating with us, but why Tianhai Wuji seeks trouble for himself? Now Wuji Palace and Jifeng Sword-reining School are suppressed by the Purgatory of Heaven Capital. Only by giving them a chance can they be willing to work for us.”

His Majesty’s voice grew gentler and gentler.

“But they can’t kill Deity,” w.a.n.g Qinglei said quietly.

“That’s true.”

His Majesty replied, “Yes, but it’s enough to seriously injure Deity. In this way, Liusheng Cangquan and Tianhai Wuji will have a chance to breathe.”

w.a.n.g Qinglei finally understood what was wrong. Between the lines, His Majesty didn’t seem to take Gu Xingyun seriously at all.

He was a little annoyed. He lowered his voice and shouted, “But if Deity doesn’t die, the chaos of East Island that we promised to Gu Xingyun won’t come true. After that, Gu Xingyun won’t have the basis to cooperate with us!”

If Li Xi killed Li Tianlan and Deity, Gu Xingyun would try his best to get the five countries in Eastern Europe as soon as possible.

Then, with the cooperation of Wuji Palace, East Island would be in chaos again. The power of Kunlun City would enter East Island and expel the Purgatory of Heaven Capital.

This was their plan.

At least it was the plan that w.a.n.g Qinglei told Gu Xingyun.

The five Eastern European countries and East Island.

The strength of Kunlun City would be greatly increased. When Gu Xingyun recovered and reached the peak of the Invincible Realm, the whole Kunlun City would become stronger.

Only this sort of prospect could cause Gu Xingyun to sacrifice Li Xi.

His Majesty smiled and said calmly, “When did I say I’m going to cooperate with Gu Xingyun?”

w.a.n.g Qinglei frowned tightly. “Gu Xingyun is very likely to enter the peak of the Invincible Realm after his injury is healed.”

“So what?”

His Majesty said calmly, “Not to mention whether he has the opportunity or time to enter the peak of the Invincible Realm, even if he has the time, he may not necessarily have a breakthrough. Even if he can break through, he is just another Li Xiu. An expert at the peak of the Invincible Realm is very powerful, but even if Gu Xingyun breaks through, for us, he is just an ally who has his own stance and may betray us at any time. I have a lot of such people around me. Why must I find Gu Xingyun?”

“If you don’t work with Gu Xingyun, why did you ask me to cooperate with Kunlun City?”

w.a.n.g Qinglei gritted his teeth.

His Majesty seemed to hesitate for a while, then slowly said, “Li Xi is a good sword which shouldn’t belong to Kunlun City. She should belong to me.”

Even with w.a.n.g Qinglei’s shrewdness, he was shocked when he heard this.

It was not until this moment that he finally understood what the other party meant.

“So, you’re not going to cooperate with Gu Xingyun, though you asked me to visit him?”

He said word by word, “You want Li Xi?!”

“Yes.”

His Majesty said in a calm tone, “I need high-end combat capability instead of someone who will betray me at any time because of interests. What I need is one of my own, understand? Someone who is truly on my side.”

w.a.n.g Qinglei took a deep breath, pulled out a cigarette, and lit it.

The cooperation between Tianhai Wuji and Kunlun City was fake.

The future chaos in East Island was also fake.

The most fundamental purpose of all this was to make Gu Xingyun sacrifice Li Xi or to let Gu Xingyun make up his mind to command Li Xi to attack Li Tianlan.

Li Xi could not kill Deity.

But she could kill Li Tianlan.

And Li Tianlan was the marshal of Zhongzhou State.

Once Li Tianlan died, there would be no place for Li Xi to stay in the whole Zhongzhou State.

And Kunlun City would also disown Li Xi immediately.

At that time, Li Xi would face a truly desperate situation.

In such a situation, there was no reason for Li Xi not to hold the hand that His Majesty extended to her.

All of these plans were aimed at killing Li Tianlan and getting Li Xi, who was at the peak of the Invincible Realm.

From the beginning to the end, Kunlun City could only play the role of a force being taken advantage of. What His Majesty wanted was to let Gu Xingyun give up Li Xi, who was at the peak of the Invincible Realm.

w.a.n.g Qinglei held a cigarette in one hand and rubbed the s.p.a.ce between his eyebrows with the other. After a long time, he said slowly, “Clever.”

“I’m flattered.”

His Majesty’s voice was still gentle.

“I’m not the only one in your plan, right? I was wondering why did Jiang Shangyu suddenly fall out with Kunlun City? Do you want Jiang Shangyu to thoroughly irritate Gu Xingyun and let him feel a real sense of crisis?” w.a.n.g Qinglei asked.

“Yes.”

His Majesty’s voice was calm.

“So, Jiang Shangyu is really your disciple?” w.a.n.g Qinglei asked curiously.

“Yes.”

His Majesty’s voice was still calm. “If Li Tianlan died, Kunlun City wouldn’t exist long. w.a.n.g Shengxiao will inherit the w.a.n.g family of Beihai. In the future Special Warfare System of Zhongzhou State, Jiang Shangyu is the only candidate.”

w.a.n.g Qinglei was utterly convinced. He said in an extremely sincere tone, “Your Majesty, I hope we can cooperate happily.”

“Of course.”

His Majesty laughed.

In his laughter, the white light on the screen flashed, and the video call was immediately turned off.

w.a.n.g Qinglei instinctively looked at his watch.

From the time the video call was connected to the time when it was hung up, the whole call lasted no more than three minutes.

w.a.n.g Qinglei closed the laptop and looked out of the window.

There were already lush green plants outside the window. The birds were singing, and the flowers were fragrant. The quiet world was filled with the endless sounds of cicadas.

They finally arrived at the Garden Party.

The black Pa.s.sat entered the gate made of white jade.

w.a.n.g Qinglei got out of the car and slowly walked up the garden building with a small bridge and flowing water.

There was a pavilion at the highest place of the Garden Party.

The pavilion was not high, but it was vast and empty all around. Standing in this place, there were picturesque mountains and rivers in all directions, with a sense of prosperity.

There were landscapes in all directions.

A slender young man stood in the pavilion.

He stood with his back to w.a.n.g Qinglei, holding the railing and looking into the distance, lost in thought.

The sun shone in from outside the pavilion.

He stood at the place where the shadows met with the light, his eyes full of affection and concentration.

w.a.n.g Qinglei walked to him and looked at his profile.

Every time he faced this guy who was 20 years younger than him but was the one who had aroused his ambition for the first time, his heart was full of mixed feelings.

If it weren’t for him, perhaps the entire w.a.n.g family of Beihai would be in a different situation now, wouldn’t it?

w.a.n.g Qinglei was silent for a while.

He suddenly came to his senses, looked at the silent young man next to him, and said with a chuckle, “What are you looking at?”

“I’m looking at what I can see.”

The young man’s voice was low and gentle, with very attractive magnetism.

“What did you see?” w.a.n.g Qinglei asked curiously.

The young man laughed, revealing his white teeth.

He pointed in front of him and said in a gentle voice, “The land is picturesque.”

w.a.n.g Qinglei’s gaze followed his hand. After a long time, he nodded and said, “Looking at such beautiful scenery really makes one feel free and unfettered.”