If the sequence change of the contents of the final maneuver between the two academies was targeted at Li Tianlan, then another change that followed made everyone smell blood.
Strictly speaking, that was the only change.
The sequence of the contents was disrupted, but nothing had been added or removed, so it was not a change.
What Kunlun City changed this time was merely a number.
The predicted casualty rate for the first item of the final maneuver between the two academies—the team’s cooperative combat, was 55 percent.
Compared with the 30 percent of the previous year, the extra 25 percent indicated bloodshed and life-or-death struggles. By allowing the casualty rate exceeded 50 percent, Kunlun City clearly told everyone that they could attack others as fiercely as they could in the team’s cooperative combat without worrying about anything.
It also foreshadowed the ruthless attacks that Li Tianlan would encounter from Wang Shengxiao and Gu Hanshan.
The Chosen One of Zhongzhou State, the heir of the Li family, and the best of the younger generation…
If Li Tianlan were unlucky in the maneuver, maybe he would be part of the 55 percent casualty rate.
Li Tianlan could clearly feel the sinister smell of blood and killing intent behind the fluctuation of the indicator. And because of this, he asked Dongcheng Rushi and Du Hanyin to give up participating in it and chose to face everyone himself.
There was no question of implicating between Li Tianlan and Dongcheng Rushi. But there was no doubt that if she really accompanied Li Tianlan and appeared on the battlefield, Wang Shengxiao and Gu Hanshan would definitely attack her fiercely.
A girl from the Dongcheng Clan without a stance was worthy of everyone to draw her over to their sides, but once she took a clear stance, she was the enemy.
In the maneuver that seemed “absolutely fair”, there was no need to talk nonsense in the face of the enemy.
Li Tianlan didn’t think he would lose the maneuver.
But at the crucial moment, it was challenging for him to make sure he could take care of the people around him. He did not want Dongcheng Rushi to suffer an accident, either due to Dongcheng Rushi herself or his relationship with the Dongcheng Clan.
It was late at night and also the wee hours of July 23 when he persuaded Dongcheng Rushi to give up participating in the maneuver.
In the afternoon, the figures of Li Tianlan and Dongcheng Rushi appeared in the Sky Academy. Li Tianlan went to the ward of Li Baitian and the others before preparing to attend the symposium held by Gu Xingyun.
Li Baitian, Xu Chu, and Ning Qiancheng.
The three men were worthy of the name “fellow sufferers”. They lay side by side in their beds, their faces gloomy.
Du Hanyin, Yu Qingyan, and Ye Huayu stood in the ward and looked helpless.
The atmosphere was so oppressive that it was almost solidified.
When Li Tianlan and Dongcheng Rushi walked in, they just shot him a glance, and then the atmosphere became more oppressive.
“What’s the matter?”
Li Tianlan raised his eyebrows.
Ning Qiancheng, who was closest to the door, glanced at him. He shook his head with a wry smile and said nothing.
Li Tianlan glanced around, and his gaze landed on Du Hanyin.
Du Hanyin calmly waved the document in her hand.
That was the material about the contents of the maneuver.
The symposium held by Gu Xingyun would officially begin in less than two hours. By noon, all those who were eligible to be invited had received the document.
Li Tianlan’s mouth moved, and he was about to speak.
“I’ll go!”
Li Baitian suddenly said, “I’ll take part in the cooperative combat in the maneuver.”
Xu Chu and Ning Qiancheng raised their eyebrows and just wanted to echo Li Baitian’s words without thinking about the consequences, Li Tianlan had already interrupted Li Baitian with a smile. “With your current injury, it would be useful for us to have you in the maneuver. At least you can knock down some cannon fodder. Then I’ll flee with you, and finally, we’ll lose without rhyme or reason. Is that what you want?”
Li Baitian gritted his teeth. If it hadn’t been for Gu Yunxia’s sneak attack, he couldn’t have been so badly wounded in the battle with Gu Youlan. In that case, he would absolutely stand by Li Tianlan as the real core fighter today.
Though he could not defeat Gu Hanshan or Wang Shengxiao with the Great Void Sword, at least he could take some of the pressure off Li Tianlan.
“No one is allowed to participate in the maneuver,” Li Tianlan said calmly.
…
He glanced at Du Hanyin, kept silent for a while, and suddenly said, “Like Rushi, you’ll give up taking part in the maneuver in the afternoon.”
Dongcheng Rushi took Li Tianlan’s hand, and her face did not change. Today she wore a pair of black shorts, a white T-Shirt, and a lovely bun. Standing beside Li Tianlan, she was quiet, like grass.
“To give up taking part in the maneuver?”
Du Hanyin raised her head in astonishment.
All eyes were on Li Tianlan.
“Yes.”
Li Tianlan nodded.
“Young Governor, I am not afraid of death!”
Du Hanyin bit her lower lip, her voice determined.
Since she joined Sigh City three years ago in Heaven Capital, she had always regarded herself as a member of Sigh City. During these three years, she did not make much progress in terms of the realm, only managing to enter the Thunder-shocking Realm, but her mutant Wind Vein grew much more mature. Even now, she could be regarded as a top assassin in Sigh City.
She possessed the Wind Vein—the mutant one, and Tribulation, who owned Dual Wind Veins and was known as the Lord of Shadow in the entire Sigh City and even in the whole Dark World, was arguably her best teacher.
In the shelter of Sigh City, she perfectly integrated herself into the shadow. In the darkness, she gained the long-lost dignity.
What about her past?
After the destruction of her family, in the years before she joined Sigh City, she had slept with different men at the Sky Academy, just for a few credits.
Just for the small and yet significant changes over the past three years, Du Hanyin was willing to die for Sigh City and her Young Governor.
“I don’t doubt your resolution.”
Li Tianlan whispered, “But it doesn’t make any sense. The alliance of the other side looks really intimidating. We have to admit that we’re inferior to them. The temporary waiver is not a disgrace. If you die, you have nothing at all. That’s not your role in the future. I can win this maneuver alone.”
He paused and then continued, “If you join me in the maneuver, I’m afraid I won’t be able to take care of you. Instead, I’ll be distracted.”
It was the argument he used to persuade Dongcheng Rushi.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a problem to use it to convince other members of the East Emperor Palace.
“I had hoped that when you came back, the East Emperor Palace would go on a killing spree in the final maneuver, and we would be in the limelight. But now… ”
Ning Qiancheng wore a self-mocking and bitter smile.
“Our future is not in the Sky Academy.”
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Li Tianlan laughed. “It’s just a starting point. Our future sky is in the south.”
He looked at Ning Qiancheng meaningfully.
“The south?”
Everyone was a little surprised.
At this point, perhaps most people in Zhongzhou State would think that Li Tianlan would develop northward or in Jiangzhe after graduation.
Situ Cangyue, Governor of Sigh City, privately injured Gu Xingyun severely with the national weapon Setting Sun. The higher-ups were furious, so Sigh City suffered considerable losses. Liaodong and Longjiang Provinces were now under the control of Kunlun City and the Wang family of Beihai respectively. In Guandong, however, Sigh City still had an undisputed voice. As the Young Governor of Sigh City, it was natural and just for Li Tianlan to go to Guandong.
While Jiangzhe was the place where the Li family staged a comeback, and the political wealth Wu Zhengmin left was enough to make Li Tianlan live smoothly. These two places were the most suitable for Li Tianlan.
Who would have thought he would go south?
“The south…”
Li Baitian’s eyes lit up quietly. “Where?”
“Tiannan!”
Li Tianlan looked deeply at Li Baitian and then at Ning Qiancheng.
The place beyond the territory and within the sphere of influence of Zhongzhou State was Tiannan, a place without rules.
It was not until this moment when Li Tianlan faced Li Baitian and Ning Qiancheng that he realized clearly what it meant to go to Tiannan.
Many arrangements, intentionally or unintentionally, had been made a long time ago and hadn’t shown great value until now.
In Tiannan, it was Ning Zhiyuan, the current commander of the Tiannan Freedom Corps—the forces belonging to Zhongzhou State in actuality, who acted in the name of the rebel forces of Annan State.
He was Ning Qiancheng’s father.
If the East Emperor Palace went to Tiannan, Ning Qiancheng would act as Li Tianlan’s spokesman in Tiannan invisibly.
Tiannan, however, was located in the southwest of Zhongzhou State. Some things in the Special Warfare System of Tiannan would be frequently connected with the Southwest Special Warfare Headquarters.
Who was the minister of the Southwest Special Warfare Headquarters today?
It was Wei Kunlun, the Nirvana Sword Master of Mount Shu.
He was Li Baitian’s First Senior Brother.
If Ning Qiancheng was the spokesperson of Li Tianlan in Tiannan, Li Baitian was the bridge connecting Li Tianlan in Tiannan with the Special Warfare System of Zhongzhou State.
The biggest strength between Tiannan and Zhongzhou State was the Blood Battalion of the Zhongzhou Border Control Corps.
Wang Wantian, the commander of the Blood Battalion, was transferred to the Eastern Theater of Operations and served as the commander.
But it was still the core member of the Dongcheng Clan, who now served as the commander of the Blood Battalion.
Thunder God.
He was the adopted father of Dongcheng Rushi.
He was, too, the uncle who had taken Li Tianlan to the desert from the border.
Li Tianlan vaguely felt as if there was a golden road in front of him. It was only now that he had a vague sense of enlightenment.
Ning Qiancheng, Li Baitian, Dongcheng Rushi, Thunder God, Ning Zhiyuan…
They were like pieces scattered on a misty chessboard. It was all a blur, and they had nothing to do with each other. But now, with the fall of the most significant piece—Li Tianlan, the fog cleared, and everything became clear.
Li Tianlan took a deep breath.
He saw the chessboard of Tiannan with all pieces on it, and he also foresaw his way to get rid of the fate of being a piece and became a chess player in Tiannan.
That was where his journey really started.
“Yeah, Tiannan!” Li Tianlan muttered to himself.
…
“Tiannan?”
An old voice sounded at the door of the ward.
Zhuang Huayang, the principal of the Sky Academy, came in accompanied by Qin Ke, the deputy director of the teaching office.
He looked at Li Tianlan’s calm face, his eyes full of undisguised complexity and sudden realization.
He was a player as well.
Therefore he, like everyone else, saw Li Tianlan’s future as a dark cloud.
But it was not until he heard Li Tianlan speak the word “Tiannan” that he suddenly realized how delicately the hand which had been pushing Li Tianlan behind the scenes had put a piece in Tiannan.
…
The word “Tiannan” was like a clap of thunder for Zhuang Huayang.
It all seemed so obvious.
However, the fact that Ning Zhiyuan went to Tiannan was an action of the Wang family of Beihai uniting with those of the same views but alienating those with different perspectives.
Thunder God took over the Blood Battalion after Wang Wantian left. And that was the prelude of Dongcheng Wudi to trade the Border Control Corps with the Wang family of Beihai.
Mount Shu became the Southwest Special Warfare Headquarters. And it was widely expected as well as the support of the Prince Group.
The forces of various parties acted entirely unintentionally, but they ended up creating a paradise for Li Tianlan.
Zhuang Huayang didn’t believe it was all unintentional.
He would like to believe that behind all this, there was a hand reaching into various groups and carefully controlling the situation quietly.
That was truly unfathomable.
He just didn’t know who the hand that was skilled enough to be called the national champion was.
Was it Li Honghe, the Dongcheng Clan, or Qin Weibai?
Whoever it was, by the time the players reacted, it was too late.
The Li family—a giant dragon which had been trapped on the chessboard for more than 20 years, had been completely reactivated without a sound.
Zhuang Huayang sighed and shook his head, thinking of his call with the Leading Cadre last night.
Before today, he understood the Leading Cadre’s behaviors. But today, when he heard the word “Tiannan”, he realized that he had to remind him of his means.
If Li Tianlan were not placed in an equal position in the future, then the entire Academics would probably truly regret it when the time came.