Eternal Life through Drawing Lots

Chapter 361: Chapter 353: Absolute Authority, Absolute Will

The Burying Moon Mountain Dream World cluster.

The Great Spirit River, near its end.

The river was turbulent, sending water splashing everywhere.

The rumbling roar of the current caused the very world to tremble slightly.

’Am I the first to arrive?’ The White Tiger Demon Lord’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Behind him stood ranks of silent demon soldiers.

His physique was powerful, and faint, silvery-white tiger stripes adorned his face. His aura was so overwhelmingly ferocious that it was intimidating to behold.

Not long after he arrived, an earthen-yellow divine light erupted in the void.

A war general clad in heavy armor and mounted on a dragon-horse appeared.

Behind this heavily armored general were ranks of soldiers.

This heavily armored general was not Qi Xuanxian of the Great Xuan Dynasty, but Zhong Zunyang of the Earth Divine Mountain.

The Earth Divine Mountain was founded by one of the three ancient Saint Venerables, the Earth Saint Venerable.

This lineage was dedicated to teaching all without discrimination, embracing all rivers into the sea; all manner of races could join.

And Zhong Zunyang was the young Great Saint of the Earth Divine Mountain, a renowned expert of the Earth Dao.

He possessed the Ink-Earth Qilin Sacred Body, which, once manifested, would stir up violent sandstorms.

With a single breath, he could turn a thousand miles into a desert.

"Brother Zhong."

The White Tiger Demon Lord’s eyes lit up. "I didn’t expect you to be the one to arrive after me."

"Heh, I didn’t expect it either," Zhong Zunyang chuckled lightly.

Their swift arrival was all thanks to the Divine Talismans gifted by the Great Sun Dragon Lady.

The Great Sun Dragon Lady was the legitimate daughter of the Vast Sea Venerable Emperor.

’Thinking about it now, the Vast Sea Venerable Emperor is truly worthy of his title as a Venerable from the recent ancient era. To think he had corresponding Dream Dao Divine Talismans that allowed us to get here early.’

’This is probably the only way we can catch Fang Yang off guard.’

’One can only imagine how rare and precious such Dream Dao Divine Talismans must be—practically the foundational treasures of a sect.’

’But if the Great Sun Dragon Lady herself isn’t bothered by the cost, then there’s even less reason for us to be.’

The White Tiger Demon Lord said sincerely, "Since Qi Xuanxian and the others haven’t arrived yet, why don’t the two of us form an alliance first? An alliance just between you and me."

’An alliance...’ Zhong Zunyang’s heart stirred.

The Venerable-level lineages—the Great Xuan Dynasty, Red Demon Demon Country, Jile Demon Sect, Earth Divine Mountain, and Ten Thousand Flames Hall—were not, in fact, a monolithic bloc internally.

There were several main reasons they had temporarily united.

First, it was because the Great Sun Dragon Lady was the daughter of the Vast Sea Venerable Emperor.

She was a Young Venerable, and no one knew what other powerful tricks she had up her sleeve, so everyone was willing to give her face.

Second, it was due to the flourishing power of the Daoist Mansion of Eternal Life and the Golden Clan’s alliance.

In the current era, they had produced peerless prodigies like Sen Yue, Su Dao, Jiuzhe, and Fang Yang.

Among the younger generation alone, if these opposing factions didn’t unite, a single Venerable-level lineage truly couldn’t stand against them.

For these various reasons, they had temporarily submitted and allied to fight Fang Yang together.

But in reality, internal strife also existed among them!

"SHHHH..."

Another strange sound echoed from the sky.

Before long, Qi Xuanxian, the Seventh Prince of the Great Xuan Dynasty, and their contingent arrived.

Both the White Tiger Demon Lord and Zhong Zunyang suppressed their private thoughts and went to greet them.

Soon, the grand army was arrayed and lying in ambush.

This joint allied force was primarily composed of troops from the Great Xuan Dynasty.

Facing Qi Xuanxian and the Seventh Prince, both the White Tiger Demon Lord and Zhong Zunyang had their own schemes.

But regardless, under the strong push from the Great Sun Dragon Lady, they had all prepared various targeted killing moves for Fang Yang.

Right now, Fang Yang was still merely at the Tier Five Advanced realm.

If he dared to advance rashly, he would, in all likelihood, lose his life here!

「...」

For Fang Yang’s grand army to reach the eastern part of the Heaven-Devouring Demon Emperor’s Dream Realm Mountain Range, there were roughly three paths.

The first path was to traverse the Great Wilderness.

The second path was to enter via Zongtian Mountain, Pingdi Mountain, and Hengren Mountain.

The third path was to follow the Great Spirit River downstream, rushing along its current.

Based on past conventions, the prodigies, led by Su Xi, all believed Fang Yang would lead them down the Great Spirit River.

They thought Fang Yang would take the shortcut, racing against time to reach the eastern Dream Realm Mountain Range of the Heaven-Devouring Demon Emperor to seize the initiative and repel the enemy from the outset.

Considering Fang Yang had never been to the Dream World cluster before, many were already planning to volunteer, patting their chests and offering to act as the vanguard to make a good impression on him.

The blizzard raged, the wind was bone-chilling, and heavy snow drifted down.

Heaven and earth were a vast expanse of white, blurring the view.

At this very moment, Fang Yang’s grand army had arrived at a fork in the road.

They now had to choose one of the three paths and advance.

Fang Yang was actually aware of the prevailing sentiment among his troops.

The flurry of vanguard requests, like so many snowflakes, piling up inside the Third Monarch’s Camp gave him a clear picture.

’Dogmatic empiricism is not the way to go.’

Fang Yang stood with his hands clasped behind his back.

Most of the prodigies requesting to be the vanguard wanted to follow the Great Spirit River downstream.

A smaller, more cautious and conservative group wanted to enter via Zongtian Mountain, Pingdi Mountain, and Hengren Mountain.

It could be said that almost no one chose to traverse the Great Wilderness.

’Looking at it this way, the Great Xuan Dynasty and the Red Flame Demon Country are truly formidable. They’ve practically grasped the psychology on my side.’

Fang Yang narrowed his eyes in thought.

At that moment, an image of the Great Sun Dragon Lady flashed through his mind.

It was as if the Great Sun Dragon Lady had an astonishingly keen intuition about him.

In that instant, he, too, directly concluded that this strategic layout was, in all likelihood, the handiwork of the Great Sun Dragon Lady.

The next moment, the Monarch’s Camp issued a command.

Wave the flags south, traverse the Great Wilderness, and reach the eastern part of the Heaven-Devouring Demon Emperor’s Dream Realm Mountain Range!

This command immediately stunned all the generals.

"The Great Wilderness?"

"Wouldn’t the Great Spirit River, or even the path through Zongtian Mountain, be better than the Great Wilderness?"

"I don’t understand it either."

"The Great Wilderness is fraught with crisis. It won’t be an easy journey."

"Enough with the nonsense. It’s an order from the commanding monarch. We just need to obey it!"

Although the generals were filled with shock and doubt, they still carried out the order.

But no matter what, they all, to a greater or lesser extent, began to question Fang Yang’s ability to command troops.

This was only natural. Fang Yang’s rise had been far too swift!

He was merely twenty-eight years old, yet he had already reached the Tier Five Advanced realm in his cultivation.

Anyone who thought about it for a moment would realize that he must have spent most of his time in closed-door cultivation.

As such, he was bound to be lacking in worldly experience.

If it were merely a comparison of strength and combat prowess, no one would doubt his abilities.

But when it came to large-scale warfare involving strategy and tactics, it was hard for them not to have their doubts.

"Yes, Fang Yang, why are you making us traverse the Great Wilderness to reach the eastern part of the Heaven-Devouring Demon Emperor’s Dream Realm Mountain Range?" Su Xi was bewildered.

Su Xi frowned slightly, her beautiful eyes gazing back at the Monarch’s Camp.

For a moment, she even wondered if she had misheard, a hundred thoughts swirling in her mind.

The Great Wilderness held far more mysteries, and dream beasts appeared frequently.

One wrong move, and they could get trapped, slowing the army’s advance.

But based on her understanding of Fang Yang—gathered from Chen Ying, her clan, and other intelligence channels—she didn’t think he would make such an obvious mistake.

In the end, however, under Fang Yang’s will, everyone obeyed his command and marched their forces south.

At this moment, Fang Yang was inside the Monarch’s Camp tent, silently sensing the changes within the million-strong army, especially the fluctuations in their morale.

’Soldiers, generals, and the commander are one entity.’

’If the commanding monarch makes a mistake, the army’s morale will plummet.’

’And if his will is not firm, the army’s morale will waver.’

’Therefore, right or wrong, the commander’s absolute authority and absolute will must be guaranteed.’

’Looked at this way, it actually has some parallels with the Enslavement Dao school.’

’It seems I must use this opportunity to establish my absolute authority and absolute will... ’

Fang Yang was lost in thought.

With a CRACK, something seemed to solidify in his mind.

In that instant, the light in his eyes grew brighter.

War Dao School, Ordinary-level attainment!

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