Chapter 426 True Alliance.
Shi Lang instructed Crystal to deal with the communication between the high council and the team. Following his last suggestion of inviting some human array experts, the high council asked Shi Lang to come back and tell them what he thinks of the situation.
The young terran had no choice but to move back to the Citadel and discuss with the elders. Of course, they would not have called him back if it was expected, but this time, he was appointed the team advisor while the team leader, Tex, had proposed to go and look deeper into the exile city.
The conflict in opinions needed to be dealt with with thorough reasoning. They could not accept just one suggestion with their eyes closed. While some spirit beasts preferred Tex\'s approach, others held back on the decision until they heard what Shi Lang had to say.
The young general did not want to move back and forth like some chess piece, but he was too weak to refuse them outright and risk offending a senior.
...
One day later, in the evening, Shi Lang arrived at the Citadel and stood before twelve people. Beside him stood Tex. Sabre looked at both of them and asked, "I want to know the reason behind this disagreement?"
Tex looked at Shi Lang, and when he found that the Terran had no intention of speaking, he said, "I wish to endeavor inside the enemy territory and discern what they are up to, but Team Councillor is not confident enough and thinks we might be in for a shock and might also lose some lives."
The people were aware of this. Tex did not say anything that he had not mentioned in his report. Shi Lang looked at the old people and asked, "I want to ask you all a few questions. If I may?"
The elders did not say anything in refusal and just nodded, and Shi Lang asked, "What are the responsibilities of an advisor?"
The people were surprised that they were being asked such a simple question. Moon Baley replied, "To make sure that the team is safe and that they have covered all the grounds."
Shi Lang nodded and replied, "Thank you for your answer, Senior Moon. This is what I did. I told them not to go inside an undiscovered area. Yeah, young master Tex wants to prove his mettle, but I do not see suicide as a way to prove anything other than mediocrity and shallow IQ."
His words shocked the people. They did not expect him to come out with such toxicity. Shi Lang did not care about the guy bursting with rage next to him and stood his ground. Tex said, "So, you think of my courage as a display of shallow IQ, then what shall I think of your cowardice?"
Shi Lang did not reply to him and stood silently. Moon Baley sensed that Tex was on edge and asked, "I want to know why you like to invite people from the federation to look at the array. If they try to invade it, will that not be alarming the enemy?"
Shi Lang nodded and said, "That will alarm the enemy, but the enemy does not consider the weak Terrans a challenge. On the contrary, they are more worried about the experts inside the spirit beast community."
The people nodded, and Shi Lang continued, "There is still a chance that the Terrans will not disturb the array while inspecting it from a distance. I could have done it sooner, but we need keen eyes to detect how exactly that formation works."
The high council could not brush this off. The reasoning was on point, and thinking about this. Moon Baley and the others conversed using telepathy, and Sabre said, "We allow your participation, but if the enemy counters, what then?"
Shi Lang smiled faintly and said, "Then it is an outright war, senior. However, I would still suggest that while the elders are on their toes, they should remind anyone below the core condensation realm not to participate in this war."
Someone who shared some of his looks with Tex said, "Core condensation is a high cultivation realm and needs a certain amount of resources. How do you think they could have reached that realm when facing sanctions for a long time?"
Shi Lang sighed and said, "Senior, reaching the core condensation realm is not hard. They might not have the resources, but they had what others did not."
The man asked, "And what might that be?"
Shi Lang replied, "Time and a technique."
The answer made the elders shiver. Suddenly the entire room fell silent, and it was to the point where only the breathing sound was left to be heard. Finally, a lady said, "I think I might know what he is talking about."
The people looked at her, and the lady said, "We all understand that being in exile, they had all the time in the world to cultivate peacefully, however, the process would be slow, but given their circumstances, it is possible that they did manage to pull it off. As for the Technique, is it, Transferrence?"
Shi Lang was surprised, but then he nodded. He said, "Senior Chikara is wise. This technique lets one pass on their consciousness and thoughts to another person. It is like a possession skill but comes with a boost."
Sabre asked, "What boost?"
The man from the turtle clan said, "They are passing down their thoughts and consciousness to the younger generation with their cultivation base too. So, it is possible that what awaits us inside that formation could be a ruthless army."
Shi Lang nodded and said, "Yes, that was what I wanted to say. We must take down the enemy and restore the bridge of immortality but not at the cost of losing lives for nothing. So our attack should be impeccable. We cannot bother to sit back, but night should we jump the gun."
Tex glared at him and asked, "What is your problem? Why do you sound like our leader or something? Just because of the alliance, do not think you can bully us."
Shi Lang was not surprised and said, "Fine then, I will have all the Terrans pull back from the city and return to the federation. Then, you can come to me when you have had enough of watching your friends die."
Tex did not say anything else and moved in to attack Shi Lang. The young Terran was waiting for this, and after a quick sidestep, he punched Tex directly in his temple. The punch\'s impact was so strong that the young man was on the floor, out cold.
Shi Lang did not care about anything else and said, "I would like to leave now."
He was fed up with this guy and his energy. Knocking him out cold was an excellent method to calm him down. Moon Baley and the rest exchanged glances, and they allowed him to walk away. Moon said, "Sebas, your son is shaming the entire race."
Sebas was the man who had raised the question about what the Heaven-howling wolves held. He was the patriarch of the Heaven Soaring Hawks. Hearing this remark, he sighed and said, "I apologize for your excellency."
Moon Baley shook her head and said, "It is fine. I understand he is young but needs to learn how to calm down. Shi Lang is a person who will never act heavily on his initiative. He was calm, even in the face of the twelve of us. What do you think his caliber is? Even Her Excellency, the guardian spirit, pays attention to him. Does that not mean that he has something up his sleeves."
The people nodded, and Sabre said, "Despite all that talent, that guy acts very politely to us. He has the capability if fight someone higher than him."
Chikara nodded and said, "That is not all. Did you not see that he left us with a clue to figure out methods to deal with the heaven-howling wolves?"
The people were surprised, but upon recalling the conversation just now. The people realized that Shi Lang was the one who mentioned it and the enemy had a technique. How did he find this out? They had no idea. He could not have this down until he got closer to the exile city.
The people were surprised but could not ask him all this. After all, it was his technique. He had no obligation to fulfill such queries. Chikara said, "We ought to realize that the Terrans are giving us a lot of help in this alliance. At the same time, we might be handing them with somethings like natural treasures. But they will not need to rely on us when they grow in the future.
On the contrary, it will be us. So, we shouldn\'t aggravate the connection by sending in the people like Young Master Tex. The true alliance lies in respecting each other. We ought to learn that now."
The people nodded and Sabre asked, "So, how are we going to deal with the enemy? They seem to be prepared for us."