Chapter 708: Incredible Foresight And A Well-Designed Ploy

Upon seeing the rising death toll of those who pursued the treasure maps, this fight had truly reached unparalleled heights of savagery. Even the Ten Kings felt increasingly appalled. When would this outrageous catastrophe - one that originated from Tiantang City itself - simmer down?

Subsequently, one could observe how experts with cultivation bases much, much stronger than their own appeared, only to be murdered mercilessly; brave, elite professionals who had long mastered their abilities would attempt to seize the maps with no regard to their own lives, only to find themselves surrounded, ambushed, beaten, slaughtered in a moment of frenzy...

By putting things into perspective, the Ten Kings of the Concourse of the Underworld felt a wave of chilliness that surged through their entire being from bottom to top.

"This is really an unprecedented catastrophe!"

King Chujiang's eyelid twitched erratically as his cheeks spasmed involuntarily. "One can even say that this is truly a rare calamity that hardly comes by, even in the wake of ten million years!

"A catastrophe at a scale as grand as this had never happened before, even in the legends.

No matter which aspect you look at - be it the number of people who were involved, the size of the territory covered, or the death toll - this is truly a first in history."

"Perhaps, after all of this, the whole martial world would be tranquil for the coming years."

"You're right. The number of top martial artists in this world would be reduced. At least a third of them must go - maybe more."

The ten sovereigns understood this perfectly, but they were helpless against the current situation, as there was nothing that could be done.

Not only could they not cease the fighting, but they also had to escalate the situation further by adding fuel to the fire. Furthermore, as the onslaught persisted, stopping this massacre was a totally impossible feat, even if the gods themselves showed up to put a stop to it!

Everybody had lapsed into a state of frenzy.

"Stirring up such a disaster which would persist even longer than expected... how exactly does this benefit Yun Yang? Why would he deliberately lay out such a ploy? Those two pieces of dragonhide treasure map are the real deal!" First Court King Qinguang implored.

"Whatever one contributes shall eventually be repaid. The benefits Yun Yang could obtain from this would surely be tremendous. Well, at least to him, the cost of these maps would definitely be worth the returns - and they would be even more profitable than one could imagine."

King Songdi sighed forlornly. "This huge battle has simmered down for the moment. Yutang's outstanding performance in this is already a fact set in stone. By devouring a few other empires in a certain order, the continent shall be united completely - Tianxuan shall finally be at peace."

"What power still could disrupt such a momentous event, or change its course? It will be none other than the martial forces!"

"No matter what it is - be it to assassinate the leading general amongst the army, or to gather significant military power for a full-on confrontation - the people of the martial world are an unstable variable in Yutang's grand scheme of unity. Yet, when faced with precarious circumstances, do you know the extent of benefits large empires out there were willing to offer, in exchange for the participation of the martial forces? How could these empires afford to hold back all they've got when faced with the looming threat of total annihilation? Similarly, at some point, a highly-respected individual, no matter how strongly he holds to his values, would surely buckle when offered a certain price. At the final point, the ruling government of each empire would certainly think of this method to redirect the fate of the battle."

"Before the commencement of the United War, he concocted a catastrophe which was designed to be amply enticing - a disaster with an impact large enough to deal significant damage to the Qi reserves of the martial forces. It might seem a little brutal, but it was an ingenious move!"

"The first step in this scheme orchestrated by Yun Yang was to eliminate the biggest threat of all - the ruthless assassin organizations. A brilliant plan, indeed! Ten million renowned assassins eliminated in just one day! You can say that half of the threat stemming from the forces of the martial world had been erased - the assassins' ruthless ways had always been the topic of greatest taboo within the army."

"Till this day, the people of the martial world continued to fight and brawl amongst themselves, deteriorating the condition of their basic Qi from all that action, exerting more of it to the point where they had no strength left in them to participate in the United War."

"When all this chaos had simmered down for a bit, and during that window of time where the two dragonhide treasure maps were nowhere to be found... those who were fortunate to survive did not only have to worry about the revenge-seeking pursuers, they had to muster up plenty of energy to attend to their families. They would have to treat their wounds and improve themselves further with training... I'm afraid that they might not have any will left to participate in the United War."

"Besides, there is one more advantage to be gained from Yun Yang's scheme. Every martial artist would've unknowingly owed a favor to the government of Yutang from the battle at Tiantang City. As long as the favor stays, Yutang can do as she wishes by the end of this catastrophe, drafting out any form of retaliation which will no longer be bound or disrupted by the forces of the martial world."

"This catastrophe had truly manipulated the forces of the martial world thoroughly, taking in the slightest detail down to the bone! No matter what it was - be it the inception, the pretext, the turning point, the timing, and the strategies that came after that - all of them were strategically designed and meticulously planned!"

King Songdi expressed a long sigh. "Yun Yang - Young Master Yun - is truly a genius. He plans ahead with incredible foresight and gives deep consideration to every move he makes - I am far from what he is capable of!"

First Court King Qinguang could not accept nor understand King Songdi's songs of praise. "We are well-informed about Young Master Yun's good intentions, but perhaps he is not as great as you make him seem, eh? Your brains are known as the best amongst us, and even you think you're not on his level? Should we fear to even speak to him?"

King Songdi gave his brothers a snide look. "Have you forgotten who Yun Yang is? Besides being Supreme Cloud, he is Supreme Wise - the Supreme Wise of the Nine Supremes! How would you even begin to know how exactly did he capture this chance to stage this scene? How would you know the amount of advantages Yutang has gained from this? You couldn't even begin to imagine these things, yet here you are, forcefully trying to place ourselves on par with him. You were right about one thing, though. Perhaps you fellows should have minimal contact with him, or else, I'm afraid he might just buy you over - and you'll be the ones offering your price willingly!"

The remaining sovereigns brooded among themselves. "Third Brother, we all know no better than you do - can you please explain in a more detailed manner? Was Supreme Cloud as sharp as you claimed?"

King Songdi snorted and rolled his eyes. "Perhaps I should start from the beginning. Since this event erupted from Dong Tianleng, I've already told you that I am ninety-nine percent sure that it was all Yun Yang's doing, that he was the one pulling the strings. However, like everybody else, I did not think too much of it. In fact, it was the significance of the dragonhide treasure maps that got me thinking about it. His intentions were not insignificant at all - I only truly understood the entire details after reaching this far."

"Yun Yang commenced his scheme by enlisting Dong Tianleng's help, tossing the maps out there with a flawless, ostentatious flourish. The four cavaliers did a swell performance in keeping up this prelude, and they even made themselves look like victims to get themselves out of it. That was how these four young masters - the original troublemakers - remained perfectly unscathed by the bloody battle which was ravaging the entire martial world.

There is a saying in the past; the best liar could get by with a lie by merely speaking one truth among nine. An observant person with intentions could see through Yun Yang's schemes instantly, but really - can you resist? That is the Seventeenth Master of the Abyss's legendary treasure maps we're talking about! With this, don't you think he's bloody superb? If it was you, could you come up with something like that?"

"One more thing - timing. The timing Yun Yang chose to put his plans in motion was too perfect - didn't you feel that something was amiss? In the past, this pursuit for the maps would have already ended a long time ago. When the legendary experts showed up, this match would've ended immediately, but nobody is that idiotic to provoke those unshakable opponents!