readytorunbook #300 - On the importance of showmanship
#300 - On the importance of showmanship
Information asymmetry is just like this.
Only half the story is told, revealing what should be revealed and concealing what shouldn't.
Wang Jixuan didn't mention at all that the 'treasure key,' Gao Huating, was now in their hands.
However, this Cloaked Kari Noh wasn't so easily fooled; it didn't show any anger or impatience, only constant contemplation.
Daoist Wang glanced at Number Five, who was beside him, unable to suppress her anger.
He was now worried that Number Five would turn around and settle accounts with Spirit Practitioners Numbers One, Two, and Three…
“I can't communicate with them for the time being,”
the Cloaked Kari Noh said in a deep voice:
“I can sense your eagerness for me to attack that city in the north.
“Mysterious cultivator, I think you're underestimating our intelligence.
“Regarding the question of whether they have found the treasure… I don't believe that just because they've obtained a technology, they can reverse their disadvantage in this starfield.”
Wang Jixuan looked regretful: “So, you won't attack the Arctic Circle?”
The Cloaked Kari Noh slowly nodded: “Since an agreement is an agreement, both parties need to abide by it. If they break their word, we will naturally make them pay the price, but this isn't a matter between us and you… Let's talk about the issues between us. How to make you give up using that evil power to pollute me is the reason I'm sitting down to negotiate with you.”
“Is there anything to talk about between us?”
“Yes,” the Cloaked Kari Noh said sincerely, “We can use some price to exchange for you no longer being our enemy. We also don't want to bear the cost of being liquidated by a higher civilization.”
Wang Jixuan leaned back slightly.
“Tell me your conditions.”
“The spiritual energy you need for cultivation, as well as a complete set of materials for imitating a stargate, and the friendship of our Blade Beast civilization.”
The Cloaked Kari Noh sincerely said:
“If you want to vent your emotions and take revenge for the offenses that some of our individuals committed against you in the past, I can take the initiative and let you kill a few King-level individuals at will to vent your anger.
“This is not a problem for us at all.
“The Blade Beast civilization is different from your civilization; we are a whole.”
Wang Jixuan smiled and shook his head: “Indeed, you are sincere, but I still have to refuse.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to protect humanity.”
“Why must the strong protect the weak?”
The Cloaked Kari Noh was somewhat puzzled:
“This matter has nothing to do with you.”
“I can't explain it; the idea I got from childhood is like this.”
Wang Jixuan sighed inwardly.
Has his ability to deceive weakened?
Or does this Kari Noh really have good intelligence?
The Daoist still didn't want to give up and wanted to see if he could deceive this guy into attacking the Arctic Circle, but the words came to his lips and then he slowly swallowed them back.
In the end, it was actually just two words—interests.
The Cloaked Kari Noh was different from the Kari Noh he had encountered before. This guy was calmer and wiser, possessing a kind of composure and calmness that said, 'Anyway, none of you can kill me.'
Perhaps after today's conversation, the Blade Beast swarm would test the Spiritual Energy Capital;
but the other party obviously wouldn't easily make any decisions that would affect the development of their race.
This was the Pillar Blade Beast.
The Daoist smiled casually and slowly stood up: “Since that's the case, then there's no need for us to continue talking. It was nice talking to you.”
“Is this the first step in establishing our friendship?”
The Cloaked Kari Noh was still somewhat apprehensive:
“I don't want you to really use that method to drive me into madness.
“If I really start indiscriminate killing, the last civilization of mankind will also fall into despair.
“Before I lose my mind, I will send a signal that a strong enemy has appeared here. At that time, stargates will continue to open.
“You may not know how many planets we have occupied and how many new individuals we have cultivated in the past hundred Earth years… Individuals refer to people like me.”
Number Five pursed her lips slightly.
Wang Jixuan smiled nonchalantly.
If he accumulated enough merit and ascended to the Upper Realm, could he save himself from starting as a Heavenly Soldier and directly leap to Heavenly General based on merit?
Seeing that he couldn't scare Wang Jixuan, the Cloaked Kari Noh immediately showed weakness: “I now very much hope to gain your friendship.”
“Friendship is out of the question. I'm narrow-minded and can't be friends with enemies,” Wang Jixuan asked, “Does your Excellency have a name?”
The Cloaked Kari Noh thought seriously, and then said in a sharp voice:
“We have serial numbers. I can take one now, a name that fits the cultural habits of Earth civilization, as a code name for when we meet next time.
“Aesar.
“This is my name. In the language of spiritual cultivation civilization, it means the cycle of death and rebirth.”
Number Five was slightly stunned.
She frowned and looked at this Kari Noh: “The old Spirit Practitioner of the War God Council who used to reside here, was that Aesar?”
The Cloaked Kari Noh's smile became somewhat strange.
It stared at Number Five and said slowly:
“Yes, Ms. Weir Emina Tuck, when I spent more than six hundred hours chopping Old Aesar's soul into pieces, chewing it up piece by piece and swallowing it, most of his memories along with his soul became ours.
“Perhaps, your understanding of the history and sins of the Spiritual Cultivation Civilization is not as much as mine.”
“Let's go.”
Wang Jixuan called out, and Number Five nodded slightly, staring at the Cloaked Kari Noh a few times, and left with Wang Jixuan.
The Cloaked Kari Noh didn't make things difficult for them.
It stood in front of the magnificent and bloodstained palace, wrapping its terrifying body in a gorgeous cloak, merging with the city, quietly watching Wang Jixuan and Number Five turn into spots of light and fly towards the gray sky.
The Cloaked Kari Noh's body gradually became transparent and returned to standing quietly among the twelve stone pillars.
The palace bloomed with a layer of shallow light waves, and the eyes of the surrounding figures became dull, and then they returned to their respective residences as if nothing had happened, restarting the daily routine.
“We just left like that? Aren't you going to give it some of your black energy?”
Number Five looked back at the Elysium Curtain below.
Wang Jixuan motioned for her to be quiet and talk after they were outside.
… …
Wang Jixuan's alien soul and Number Five's mental body left the Pillar Blade Beast's body together.
Above their heads was the thick gray cloud, which was the souls of hundreds of millions of lost dead.
The two of them transformed into human forms and discussed the next step of action.
“It's playing us.”
Wang Jixuan said a little helplessly:
“At first, I thought I could fool it, but I didn't expect that not only did it not fall for it, but it also tried to fool me in turn… This guy is completely different from ordinary Kari Noh. It's more like a Spirit Practitioner.”
“It devoured Aesar of the War God Council, who was a meritorious bastard.”
Number Five clenched her small fist, her pretty face filled with anger:
“They! They completely deceived us!
“Those three old bastards knew about the Blade Beast problem from the very beginning! They even had an agreement! And we Spirit Practitioners who weren't from the Light Council became their toys!
“I'm going to crusade against them!”
Wang Jixuan quickly persuaded: “Calm down. If you go to those three Spirit Practitioners at this time, you will fall into the Blade Beast's trap. The Blade Beast also wants to use you to knock on the Light Council.”
“It's driving me crazy!”
“It seems that we can only let Old Fu continue to suppress it.”
Wang Jixuan looked up at the gray cloud above, feeling a little embarrassed in his heart.
Burn so many souls directly?
If he could find the Netherworld, how great would that merit be!
Even if merit and karma are invisible and intangible, and it's even possible that this planet isn't under the management of the Immortal Realm corresponding to their cultivation world…
But doing good deeds can always make you feel comfortable.
Would he really burn them with true fire and let them be completely liberated?
Wang Jixuan stared for a long time and began to recall the incantation of 'Soul-Burning True Flame.' He didn't know how long this fire would burn, but it was better than letting them be sucked away by the Elysium Curtain inside the Pillar Blade Beast and used as 'fuel,' continuing to suffer in the Sea of Wronged Souls.
Wang Jixuan was about to take action…
“Wang Zheng,” Number Five suddenly asked, “What do you feel about this Elysium Curtain?”
“Feeling? What feeling?”
“When we were inside, it was like a real world.”
Number Five hugged her arms and muttered constantly:
“But after we left, we felt that it was very illusory.
“That Kari Noh should be the consciousness of the entire city, the consciousness born from the Elysium Curtain itself. In theory, it should be able to directly mobilize the energy of the entire city and be an invincible god in this illusory world.
“But it obviously can't do it. When we fought against it, we could easily gain the upper hand, but it could indeed continuously draw power. Fighting it inside would eventually lead to being exhausted to death by it.”
“Huh?” Wang Jixuan said puzzled, “Did you discover something?”
“I can't explain it,” Number Five lowered her head and stared at the lava lakes on the back of the Pillar Blade Beast, and said softly, “I'm wondering whether what we communicated with just now was the main consciousness of the Pillar Blade Beast.”
“You reminded me,” the Daoist touched his chin, “The Kari Noh who communicated with us was too calm. Before, this Pillar Blade Beast was easily triggered by the core circuit in my hand.”
Elysium Curtain;
Eternal God Kingdom;
A place of residence built by Spirit Practitioners who were nearing the end of their lives, self-proclaimed gods in this small kingdom, wanting to live forever, and then letting the Pillar Blade Beast hunt other ordinary life forms to maintain the operation of this kingdom.
Something's not right. Something seems off.
Wang Jixuan's expression suddenly turned serious.
He had overlooked several known pieces of information.
After he used the Ghost Gate secret method to create the Sea of Wronged Souls, the recovery ability of the Pillar Blade Beast was significantly weakened…
The foundation for realizing the Soul Illusion should be spiritual power, that is, psionic energy.
The absorbed souls are just a kind of nourishment, allowing the 'God-King' within the illusion to draw vitality and strengthen the Pillar Blade Beast's combat power.
The Blade Beast's mining is inevitably focused on collecting psionic energy.
Those glowing discs found in the Young Queen Insect's nest, whose mysteries they have yet to unravel, seem to be the key to the Blade Beast's growth.
Images flashed through Wang Jixuan's mind.
He constantly searched, constantly pondered, weaving back and forth…
Huh?
Wang Jixuan looked up. Why not ask these victims?
The Taoist priest suddenly reached out, and specks of light were drawn from below the gray clouds to this place. Several almost transparent figures in military uniforms appeared before him.
The uniforms of these men were distinctly different from the current human military uniforms, and the unit numbers on them were also those of armies disbanded decades ago.
They had been dead for a long time, having died in the war against the Blade Beasts.
The fact that they could respond to Wang Jixuan's call indicated that they possessed simple thinking abilities.
Taoist Wang gave a military salute and directly communicated with these military spirits through his mind, quickly gaining new insights.
Number Five patiently waited beside him. Only when these souls returned to the gray clouds above did she ask, "What's wrong?"
"Almost fell for it."
The Taoist priest looked down and said quickly:
"These souls told me that they were in immense pain before. According to their description, it was as if their blood was being drawn out every moment, and they could clearly feel themselves becoming a part of the Pillar Blade Beast."
"That Gari Nuo is indeed not the main consciousness of the Pillar Blade Beast."
"It's possible that the Pillar Blade Beast doesn't have an independent consciousness. It receives instructions and launches attacks. The one giving these instructions should be the 'God-King' within the Elysian Canopy."
"Now it's been replaced by that Gari Nuo who killed the Old God."
"The Pillar Blade Beast's betrayal originated from Gari Nuo. That wasn't wrong. Do you remember? That hall was wrapped in a layer of light film. That Gari Nuo was guarding outside the hall. It could freely enter and exit the hall, and it even put on a cloak specifically when negotiating with us."
"And then?" Number Five asked, puzzled, "If we understand these things, can we kill this Pillar Blade Beast?"
"No, we can't."
The Taoist priest was also a little dejected:
"After all this effort, we're still back to the previous problem. There are only two ways to kill this Blade Beast: either smash its body to pieces, or destroy the entire Elysian Canopy. Given our current level of soul power… smashing its body is still easier."
Number Five sighed: "Don't be too disappointed. You've already done great."
"It's a good thing these words aren't coming from my Ling Tong's mouth."
The Taoist priest made a joke as if to find pleasure in suffering.
Being unable to reach it, he could only temporarily declare abandonment.
Let's send these souls on their way.
A flame bloomed in Wang Jixuan's palm, and a wave of unbearable feelings arose in his heart. He transmitted his voice upward: "Everyone! Hear me out!"
Many souls looked down.
Wang Jixuan's Dao heart was slightly heavy.
In the distance, inside the super-large mecha, Fu Jian also looked over. He had naturally heard Wang Jixuan's call.
Further away, a group of psionicists were blocked outside the Pillar Blade Beast's combat range. At this moment, they leisurely observed the situation here, waiting for their turn to act and declare the greatness of psionicists to the world.
And Wang Jixuan, at this moment, was about to send these heroic spirits of humanity on their way.
He transmitted his voice with a wry smile: "This realm has no Yama Palace, nor has it ever seen the Road of Reincarnation. You are souls, your bodies are dead. If I leave you alone, it will only lead to wronged souls and evil ghosts, affecting the people of the present world. I am Wang Zheng. If there are any grievances, please seek this poor Taoist alone. Today, I will send you all to liberation!"
With that, the flame in the Otherworldly Soul's palm began to grow larger, and he was about to throw it towards the gray clouds above…
Eh?
The Taoist priest's movements suddenly stopped.
No Yama Palace;
No Road of Reincarnation;
Yama Palace, Road of Reincarnation… Elysian Canopy, Eternal God-Kingdom…
Wang Jixuan suddenly turned around, looking down at the Pillar Blade Beast, as if seeing through the Pillar Blade Beast's shell to the illusion below.
"Damn…"
With a simple curse, Wang Jixuan was suddenly stunned by the flash of inspiration he had.
What would happen if this Elysian Canopy was turned into a small Underworld?
Wang Jixuan's Otherworldly Soul suddenly shook his hand, and the corners of his mouth suddenly changed from a tight pursing to a slight opening, and then swayed from side to side, revealing a somewhat 'cunning' arc.
Wonderful!