He pointed at the sand table and said, "Take a look at where the Shanjin Plain lies."
"Ah? What about it?"
"It's not far from Bailie. Juxia Kingdom, at the plain's westernmost edge, even borders Bailie." He Lingchuan knew Bailie's history quite well. "Twenty years ago, it swallowed two tracts of Bailie's territory. Bailie took one back itself, but the other is still in Juxia Kingdom's hands."
"Under my original plan, Bailie would already be mine for the taking. But back then, National Preceptor Wang of Mou Kingdom specifically warned me not to reach for Bailie." He Lingchuan showed no bitterness when recalling the past; no matter the world, in the end it was fists that did the talking. He had been developing for less than a year, so how could he have the strength to arm-wrestle Mou Kingdom? "Recently, I wanted to move on Bailie again, only for Mou Kingdom to step in and meddle once more."
"Since that's how it is, the plan for Bailie has to be put on the back burner." But time was precious and could not be wasted. "I don't know much about this world. Previously, I revolved solely around Yuan Kingdom, Beijia, and Lingshan. Now that I have time, I'd like to take a trip to the Shanjin Plain and see what life is like in those smaller nations."
This world was not made up solely of Beijia and Mou Kingdom.
If he wanted to uncover the truth of the world, he first had to understand its full picture—the deeper and broader, the better.
"Besides, taking Bailie is only our first step onto the mainland." Bailie was fine, but Bailie was too small to contain his true ambitions. "It's time to start planning what comes next."
For someone like him, thinking three steps ahead with every step taken was standard practice.
The soul-snatching mirror was taken aback. "Y-you don't have designs on the Shanjin Plain, do you? Didn't you just say it's a God-Forsaken Land, where anyone who steps in ends up knee-deep in mud?"
"Long chaos must give way to order. Yet the Shanjin Plain has known endless turmoil without ever settling into order. That most likely means something has jammed the gears of that natural law, preventing it from taking effect." He Lingchuan picked up a small medicine vial from the table, turned it upside down, and shook it a few times, liquid sloshing inside. This was concocted by Lingguang to clear his head and invigorate his mind. "Just like this bottle: pull the stopper out of the neck, and the medicine naturally pours out."
In the Panlong World, after consolidating the Panlong Wasteland, Zhong Shengguang had also wanted to expand outward, but the nations to the south were in chaotic disarray.
He Lingchuan had a premonition that once he took Bailie, he would soon face the very same problem. East of Bailie lay the Shanjin Plain, south was the ocean, and west were Qing Kingdom and Mou Kingdom.
No matter how he calculated it, if he and Bailie wished to expand, the only direction was eastward.
The dilemma of Panlong City and Zhong Shengguang was like a dress rehearsal in reality.
Zhong Shengguang had seemed at a loss, and Lingshan had once returned from the Shanjin Plain in defeat. What about He Lingchuan?
Of course, this was not his most pressing concern right now; the many thoughts merely flashed through his mind before settling into the depths of his thoughts.
Observing the Shanjin Plain with questions in mind might prove even more useful to him.
"I've also heard that gods great and small have planted their influence across the Shanjin Plain. A single country often houses over a dozen kinds of temples." He Lingchuan stroked his chin. "I want to come into contact with a few more deities and open up more sources of information. I can't restrict myself to one or two minor gods like Shi Nan."
Shi Nan was no saint either. If He Lingchuan only dealt with a handful of celestial gods, being taken advantage of as an acquaintance would be the least of his worries.
At the very least, to this day Shi Nan refused to tell him what upheaval had actually shaken the divine realm.
For such a world-shaking event, he simply had no god to ask.
There were many small shrines across the Eastern Archipelago, but most deities ignored him. Apart from Shi Nan, he had contacted two other minor gods, but there was no foundation of mutual trust yet.
Likewise, the divine realm held far more than just the clique known as the gods of Lingxu.
Other deities could not reach their hands into Beijia, but in a chaotic region like the Shanjin Plain, building temples and gathering followers was relatively easy.
Not all deities were aloof and unreachable. If He Lingchuan started with a few of lesser standing, he could find ways to communicate on equal footing.
"Then which task do you want to start with?"
"This one." He Lingchuan waved a thick envelope. "The theft of Mou Kingdom's tribute—namely, the theft of the Bright Lantern Cup. Fang Canran said this case is fairly urgent. If I'm willing to accept these missions, I should prioritize this one."
The two tasks he had previously completed for Lingshan had nothing to do with Mou Kingdom.
This task was different.
Completing a single task to earn two favors was quite a bargain.
He Lingchuan had designs on Bailie, so he was eager to draw closer to Mou Kingdom.
The deeper their relationship, the harder it would be for Mou Kingdom to turn hostile against him later.
...
"Oh? Going on a long journey at last?"
Upon hearing this good news, Dong Rui hurried over from Alfalfa Island and declared eagerly, "Count me in!"
He Lingchuan had never said he would bring him along. "Aren't you supposed to stay on your island and focus on your research?"
Did a shut-in need to go out and have fun? Did he?
"Even I need to get out and clear my head once in a while, shift my direction and train of thought," Dong Rui said solemnly. "I've been working hard for over nine months. I need to give my brain a break."
"You just want to goof off, don't you? Back in Beijia, you were constantly screaming about finding a secluded paradise to live in retirement, claiming that would be enough for this lifetime. Now that you've got what you wished for, why do you want to step back into the mortal world?" He Lingchuan gave him a look of disdain. "Speaking of which, where are your research results? Show them to me!"
"Uh..."
"You've burned through several hundred thousand taels of my silver! Don't tell me you have nothing to show for it!" He Lingchuan's gaze sharpened, radiating the murderous aura of a paying client. "Otherwise, I'll turn you into snail-toad feed!"
Dong Rui instinctively glanced toward the ghost ape.
It had just accepted a fig from Lingguang. The two monkeys sat side by side eating fresh fruit, not sparing him so much as a glance.
Dong Rui could not help feeling a bit resentful.
The ghost ape had changed. In the past, if it heard this He fellow threaten its master like that, it would never let it stand.
Now? Now it just pretended not to hear.
He had no choice but to say, "The results are magnificent! If I hadn't modified and upgraded the ghost ape to drastically boost its power, could Madam Zhu and Zhu Er'niang have defeated Perfected Lord Musu so easily?"
The outcome of that battle had been vital to the Yangshan Archipelago, hadn't it?
"That was months ago," He Lingchuan called him out bluntly. "Have you cooked up anything new these past few months? Where did my money go? Did several hundred thousand taels just go down the drain?"
"Of course I have! The bats have undergone a complete metamorphosis—you'll see them soon. I also made some modifications to the snail-toad." Dong Rui put on a mysterious expression. "And then there's that child-devouring ji beast..."
"Yeah? What about it?"
"While it's in hibernation, I made quite a few upgrades to it. More than half of your hundreds of thousands of taels went into it," Dong Rui grinned. "But because of that, the time it takes to emerge might be delayed by... er, a year or so. So there's really no need for me to stay here guarding it all the time."
He Lingchuan eyed him askance. "Be honest with me: how much more of my money is it going to eat?"
That single child-devouring ji beast had already consumed 180,000 taels' worth of materials before even being born!
Chapter 1094