Chapter 65

"Lord Chunli, that's how it happened."

"For the Red Dragon to act like this is simply outrageous!"

In less than three minutes, Haitong arrived at Chunli's residence. He spoke indignantly, his hair disheveled, with traces of blood still at the corner of his lips.

"The Divine Seat is clearly in seclusion... How could he possibly issue such an edict, allowing the Red Dragon to seize and plunder so audaciously, disregarding the Church's rules?!"

Haitong's tone was filled with anger. "I can swallow this loss. But can you truly endure it?"

"..."

Chunli sat quietly with his eyes closed, his expression as usual. He simply asked in an indifferent tone, "Are you suggesting I have a direct fight with the Red Dragon?"

Haitong was momentarily speechless.

"The starship is already divided, forming two factions. You've been enduring and yielding these past few years, and everyone has seen it. But what has been the result? Has the situation improved? Not at all. The Red Dragon doesn't appreciate it in the slightest!"

"You should also see it clearly, right? The conflict between us and the Red Dragon won't gradually resolve over time... The Divine Seat's current choice to seclude himself, not hearing or asking about worldly matters, is clearly waiting for the final result. He's also watching to see whose methods are superior, yours or the Red Dragon's."

Haitong took a deep breath and bowed slightly.

He lowered his attitude.

"For the past twenty years, there has only been one leader among the Saints of the Holy City, and that is you."

Haitong said in a low voice, "For the next twenty years... there will only be one leader, and in my heart, it will still be you."

Hearing this.

Chunli slowly opened his eyes.

He said in a deep voice, "I will take care of this matter. Before long, I will have the Red Dragon give you an explanation."

"Not today?"

Haitong had already obtained the answer he wanted, but he did not leave.

His tone was full of regret.

Saint Chunli's answer was simple... The ground lost today would be regained in the future. This silent loss should just be swallowed.

But he didn't want to just let it go.

"If you tolerate it today, the Red Dragon will only become more arrogant."

Haitong advised, "You should at least meet with him."

...

...

"Chunli should at least come to see you."

"But he didn't."

The Red Dragon returned to his place of secluded cultivation, where someone was also waiting.

Saint Jiadi emerged from the shadows, smiling and saying, "It seems he's afraid."

In these four years, two major factions had emerged within the Storm, led by Chunli and the Red Dragon respectively. The original Saints had also chosen new allegiances, but only one Saint was willing to support the Red Dragon.

That was Jiadi, the youngest of the Saint seats.

Because of his young age and shallow qualifications, this Saint had not been valued in the Holy City. He took advantage of this faction change to switch positions. However, to everyone's surprise... even with only the support of the weakest Saint, the Red Dragon still surpassed Chunli.

Yes.

Not evenly matched.

But steadily surpassed.

In these years, the Red Dragon was determined to do things, and whenever it clashed with Chunli, the latter chose to retreat. Because whenever they confronted each other, the Red Dragon would escalate the situation to the point of "engaging in a match." All the Saints saw that the Red Dragon really wanted to fight Chunli.

But the cunning Saint Chunli did not give the Red Dragon this opportunity.

If you seek battle, I will avoid it.

Just avoiding battle, avoiding battle, retreating again and again—

In the eyes of outsiders, it was natural that Chunli was afraid. If he wasn't afraid, why would he retreat?

"..."

The Red Dragon glanced at Jiadi, without much explanation, and calmly said, "He's not a fool."

Jiadi shrugged and said, "In any case, the result is good. You won again. What are you going to do next?"

"According to the regulations, Lanweier's E3 living area still has 20% of the mithril collection progress to complete."

The Red Dragon said, "It will take a long time to reach the windless zone. You should pay for that part of the mithril for him first."

"Tsk."

Jiadi couldn't help but laugh, "You're quite generous, but why are you emptying my wallet?"

Although he said that.

But Jiadi didn't mean to refuse.

He thought for a moment and said, "This matter is not a big problem. I still have a lot of mithril. I'll allocate it to Lanweier tomorrow."

The Red Dragon hummed softly.

"But there's one thing I don't understand."

Jiadi paused and asked, "Collecting mithril and handing it over in fixed quantities is the obligation of every citizen of the Storm. This task was personally assigned by the Divine Seat, and every living area must complete it... You went to great lengths to bring Lanweier under your command. It's not possible that it's just to transfer this bad debt to your own name, right?"

"Also, I want to remind you that this guy is a soft touch. Several times during off-ship missions, he privately reduced the scale of the collection team, resulting in insufficient mithril reserves... The reason why he's in this predicament now is purely his own fault."

Jiadi said meaningfully, "If you keep acting like this, even if I empty my family fortune, I won't be able to last a few rounds."

The Red Dragon knew what Jiadi meant.

Regarding his "saving" Lanweier and generously helping him, the latter outwardly said he had no objections, but in reality, he still had some small emotions in his heart.

"The reason I saved Lanweier is very simple."

The Red Dragon said softly, "You just said it, he's a soft touch."

"Just because he's a soft touch? What kind of lousy reason is that?" Saint Jiadi was stunned.

"Just because he's a soft touch... that reason is enough for me. A soft touch is still a good person." The Red Dragon said seriously, "According to Chunli's plan, many more people will die on this starship. I hope everyone can live a little longer."

He noticed that Jiadi was looking at him with a very strange look.

"What?"

"I didn't realize before... you're this kind of person?"

Jiadi raised his eyebrows and said, "I see you draw your sword and kill people very neatly, and you don't hesitate at all when cutting down enemies, but I never thought you would be a Saint who wants to protect the entire ship's population. Could it be that you think saving Lanweier will save those people on Haitong's list?"

Every time it docks in the turbulent zone.

It means that some people will be abandoned.

You can save them for a while, but not forever.

The Red Dragon can't change that list, nor can he change this cold and cruel reality like iron.

"..."

The Red Dragon was silent in response to Jiadi's question.

"Alright, don't worry about the aftermath of this matter, I'll handle it for you. Remember, you owe me a favor this time."

Saint Jiadi waved his hand and didn't forget to tell him before leaving, "Next time you save someone, please don't bring me along. Although I hope you owe me more favors, I really don't have the talent to be compassionate, and I can't be a Bodhisattva who saves all living beings. I'm not interested in saving people at the expense of my own family fortune."

After Saint Jiadi left the residence.

The Red Dragon's whole body relaxed a little.

He pulled out a wicker chair and sat down, then took off his mask. The faint, drifting azure glow spread out like smoke, enveloping him. A trace of pain appeared on the Red Dragon's expression.

The Red Dragon had made a soul oath with the Storm Divine Seat four years ago.

Since the oath was made on the Ice Sea that day.

He completely sent his soul into the hands of the Storm Divine Seat. As long as the Storm Divine Seat had a thought, his spirit would be shattered.

This was the most unequal treaty in the world, and it was also the basis for the Storm's complete trust in him.

Even Saint Chunli had not signed a soul contract.

The signing of this kind of contract...

Is equivalent to giving up dignity.

But even the Storm Divine Seat did not expect that within the Red Dragon's soul, there was not just a pure spirit. Surrounded by the azure glow, the Red Dragon completed an "awareness" manifestation in the deepest part of the spiritual world.

This degree of "awareness" manifestation was very similar to holding a meeting in the deep-sea zone of the Ancient Text Society.

Only this time.

The Red Dragon had an "array box" that belonged exclusively to him.

Moreover, the power contained in that array box was extremely weak. Because it shared the same origin as the Red Dragon's soul, each time this kind of "awareness" manifestation was performed, it hardly consumed any spiritual power.

The Red Dragon's behavior of manifesting "awareness" felt to outsiders like taking a long breath, or performing a leisurely contemplation method.

This time was very short.

Unless the Storm Divine Seat personally came to watch, no one could detect the slightest clue.

Although the time for "awareness" manifestation was very short, it was enough for the Red Dragon...

His spirit came to a chessboard.

This chessboard was black and white, with countless chains, crisscrossing and locking a swaying soul body within.

"Mr. Yan. We meet again."

The Red Dragon looked at the soul in front of him and asked with gentle concern, "How have you been feeling these days?"

That's right.

The faint wisp of consciousness hidden in the Red Dragon's spiritual sea was the "Great Prophet of Central Continent" taken away by Mr. Tianshui. With the Source Tower God War about to begin, Mr. Tianshui gave his life to "save" Mr. Yan. Everyone thought Mr. Yan was dead.

But only the Red Dragon knew.

His teacher used the spiritual secret path of the Ancient Text Society to send the remaining spirit of Mr. Yan into his heart lake.

He became a "transit station."

He also became an active carrier of "divination."

"I'm still alive, and I won't die for a while."

Mr. Yan said softly, "Tell me... what do you want to divine this time?"

"This time, I just want to see you."

The Red Dragon sat on the chessboard of the Realm of Reincarnation, looking at the soul that had been tormented for hundreds of years. His expression was complicated, and he said quietly, "After signing the soul contract with the Storm Divine Seat, my soul cannot hide secrets. All the results of divination will be erased after leaving here. Besides wasting your life and consuming your spirit, what's the point of divination?"

Mr. Yan smiled hoarsely.

The Red Dragon signed a contract with the Storm Divine Seat. In order to prevent the latter from searching his soul and discovering his existence, the Red Dragon would erase his memory every time he performed an "awareness" manifestation.

"Divination will bring you good luck."

Mr. Yan said softly, "If you have seen the future, even if you forget it, it doesn't matter. Follow your intuition and do what you think you should do... and you will usher in good results."

The Red Dragon was stunned.

Follow your intuition and do what you should do.

"I actually want to ask, what did I see in the last 'awareness manifestation'?"

The Red Dragon looked into Mr. Yan's eyes and murmured, "Why did I take the initiative to save Lanweier? Why do I think that the more people on this starship survive, the better?"

There was only a smile in Mr. Yan's eyes.

Destiny cannot be profaned, and heavenly secrets cannot be revealed.

He quietly looked at the Red Dragon and said softly, "Just follow your intuition with everything that happens next."

(End of this chapter)