Starting My Cultivation With Time Management

Chapter 730: Chapter 64: Scapegoat
 

Qiu Changtian arrived at the Scripture Lecture Hall and reported the situation to the Ziwei Master:

“…In short, if we are to wage war against the Demon Cult, then Iron City Mountain becomes a thorn in our side.”

“If we advance into Guanzhong, the enemy needs only use Iron City Mountain as a springboard to easily sever and encircle our vanguard.”

“The reason Wei Demon Head proposes to vie for Guanzhong is precisely because he sees that we cannot uproot Iron City Mountain.”

“Rather than taking this risk, it would be better to cooperate with Shushan and have them press from the northwest.”

“With Shushan posing a threat on our flank, even the Six Paths would not dare to agree to launch an attack on Kunlun using Iron City Mountain.”

“Hmm,” the Ziwei Master said indifferently, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, “Changgeng, what you’ve said isn’t wrong.”

“Do you think the senior members of our Sect did not foresee this before?”

“Disciple is precisely puzzled by this,” Qiu Changtian said in a low voice. “Why not befriend Shushan?”

“Because Shushan has no need to be on good terms with our Kunlun,” the Ziwei Master stated leisurely. “The lifelong wish of Long Eyebrow Immortal was to restore the glory of the Emei Sword Sect.”

“In ancient times, Emei Sword Sect was the foremost great Sect under the heavens. The Sword Control Technique that is now widespread among human cultivators originated from the Emei Sword Sect.”

“When the Emei Sword Sect was at its peak, all cultivators under the heavens revered the Sword Immortal. The disciples with the best innate talent for the Dao all flocked to Emei… Now look at the present—Shushan remains the leading Sword Sect, but when it comes to the first under the heavens, who would think of the Shushan Shangqing Faction?”

“Master,” Qiu Changtian said somewhat disconsolately, “why have Sects like Emei Sword Sect and Clarify Cult, which once flourished, all faded away now?”

“Life is but a journey against the current, and I too am a traveler,” the Ziwei Master remained silent for a long time without giving a direct answer, but instead spoke metaphorically.

Qiu Changtian: ?

The so-called journey against the current refers to a lodging house. What my master means here is “This world to me is but a temporary stay, I will ultimately return to my travels.”

Considering the convergence of the Heavenly Sphere and the immortals undergoing feather transformation to ascend, he seemed to roughly understand something.

In summary, according to what the Ziwei Master said, the Shushan which aspires to be first and Kunlun which holds the top spot, have irreconcilable differences between them.

Unless Kunlun is willing to yield the title of foremost under the heavens to Shushan, it is unlikely for the two factions to form a sufficiently tight alliance… Conversely, entities like the Demon Cult Six Paths and the Eastern Emperor Demon Race cooperate purely for mutual benefits, which makes a union much easier to achieve.

Thinking of this, Qiu Changtian also felt a headache coming on.

If Iron City Mountain is positioned on the flank of Kunlun’s fight against the Demon Cult, then Shushan is situated on Iron City Mountain’s flank against Kunlun.

If Shushan is unwilling to help distract, Kunlun defending Guanzhong Area against the Demon Cult in a tug-of-war while constantly guarding against a backstab from Iron City Mountain would be exceedingly troublesome.

Hmm, wait a minute…

When exactly Iron City Mountain plans to backstab, Qiu Changtian doesn’t know, but does Wei Dongliu not know it either?

As long as Wei Dongliu figures out how Iron City Mountain intends to backstab, Qiu Changtian just needs to “anticipate it in advance” and prepare a targeted defense, then won’t he be perfectly safe!

Wait a moment, why would Iron City Mountain want to backstab Kunlun? It’s all because Wei Dongliu is commanding it!

Qiu Changtian sighed silently, thinking why did I only realize this now?

So, it’s like one is fighting oneself! That means they could perform the scene however they wanted…

Leaving the Scripture Lecture Hall with full confidence, Qiu Changtian then went to find Xu Yinglian and said:

“I have already discussed this with my master.”

“Is Kunlun willing to seek a collaboration with Shushan?” Xu Yinglian asked in surprise.

“Unwilling,” Qiu Changtian said concisely.

“What should we do then?” Xu Yinglian furrowed her brow.

With her strategic insight, she could of course discern the peril of Iron City Mountain’s location and its being Kunlun’s greatest hidden danger.

“We do nothing,” Qiu Changtian said with a smile. “We’ll just have to adapt and respond to their moves.”

Xu Yinglian thought that this was all that could be done, otherwise what else could they do but exterminate the Asura Path?

Over the past ten thousand years, if there had been a chance to exterminate the Asura Path, the Kunlun Taiqing Sect would have already made their move.

Qiu Changtian didn’t say more. Once he had understood the crux of the matter, he no longer viewed this great war between good and evil so seriously.

“`

The opposing commander is my future self, could I possibly harm myself?

Not worried at all!

As for the many pre-war preparations and tactical deployments, they are even less of a concern.

Since I am fully aware of the “enemy’s” arrangements, this war cannot possibly be lost, but the only tricky part is that it can’t be won either, or else Wei Dongliu’s plan to be the co-leader of the Demon Cult would be spoilt.

Thus, it seems that I need to fight a war that neither wins nor loses.

I can’t let Qiu Changtian be defeated, nor can I let Wei Dongliu fail, as either would affect their respective futures and positions within their sects.

The above may seem paradoxical, yet it is not impossible to achieve, because there is a term in political struggle named “shifting the blame onto political enemies”…

Here, “political enemies” refers to those within the same group but with severe conflicts of personal interest.

For instance, when Qiu Changtian was still in the Foundation Establishment Realm, his second senior brother, Song He, who was vying for the position of the eldest senior brother in the Foundation Establishment Realm, was his political enemy within Kunlun. As both belonged to the Kunlun Sect, they could not attack each other openly, so the other party had to resort to underhanded methods to scheme against him.

That is to say, as long as I find a political enemy similar to Song He and push all the failures in the struggle against Wei Dongliu onto him, the problem is solved.

The only issue is that given Qiu Changtian’s current reputation in Kunlun, it seems there are no political enemies… The Ziwei Master almost supports him both openly and secretly, just short of declaring “The next Head of the Kunlun Sect will be Changgeng True Person”. Under these circumstances, who would dare to be Qiu Changtian’s political enemy? Don’t they want to stay in Kunlun anymore?

After much thought, Qiu Changtian still could not figure it out.

If there is no political enemy, with his unyielding moral baseline and conscience, he could not bring himself to shift the blame onto innocent people, and thus the problem becomes unsolvable.

Filled with cares, he unconsciously arrived at the Disciplinary Hall while flying on his sword.

Qiu Changtian suddenly remembered that his second senior brother, Song He, was still locked deep in the dungeons of the Disciplinary Hall.

This senior brother was quite unfortunate, originally wanting to collude with people of the Demonic Path to assassinate Qiu Changtian, but out of all people, he unwisely sought out Wen Yang.

Wen Yang, who was ruthless once his mind was set, directly sold a favor to Wei Dongliu and had Wei’s disciple Guo Jin go to Kunlun with information, claiming someone was plotting to assassinate a cultivator with Daoist Heart Clarity… Just like that, he sold Song He for a good price.

Colluding with the Demon Race, and attempting to harm a sect member. Song He’s final sentence was imprisonment for two hundred years—a two centuries’ prison life where, although he could still practice breathing exercises, he would certainly not be able to seek the Purple Mansion’s secret medicines, and naturally, there would be no hope for a High Grade Golden Core.

With good luck, he would be released on the day of his Tribulation, pass the Heavenly Tribulation, condense an Intermediate Grade Golden Core, then obediently return to serve his sentence as an Iron Cell True Person.

When his term was up,

With bad luck, if he did not pass the Heavenly Tribulation, then the fixed-term imprisonment would directly turn into a death sentence, thus bringing an end to everything.

Arriving at the Disciplinary Hall and stating his intentions to the duty officer, Qiu Changtian learned that senior brother Song was still alive and had successfully passed his Tribulation a few years ago.

But the Tribulation was too hurried, with his Magical Treasures and other preparations incomplete, and he suffered damage to his vital essence and ended up condensing a Fifth Grade Golden Core. If fortune allows him to attain Feather Transformation, the highest he could achieve would be at the Heavenly Immortal level, with no hope of reaching Golden Immortal.

Qiu Changtian’s thoughts suddenly stirred, and he requested to visit the cell.

The duty officer of the Disciplinary Hall certainly dared not offend Changgeng True Person, who was currently in high favor, and eagerly led the way for him.

Passing through layers of shadowy mountain paths, crossing through numerous doors engraved with runic scripts, Qiu Changtian finally arrived before Song He’s cell.

This second senior brother, once so self-disciplined and dignified, now had a head full of white hair and an extraordinarily haggard look.

Upon seeing his visitor was Qiu Changtian, he showed no hint of surprise and simply said faintly:

“I didn’t expect that after so many years, the second person to visit me in the dungeon of the Disciplinary Hall would be Changgeng True Person, whom I once plotted against.”

“Oh?” Qiu Changtian’s expression remained unchanged, and he spoke softly with a smile, “And who was the first?”

“Don’t ask just yet.” Song He waved his hand indifferently, “If you’ve come to mock me, you can start now.”

“If not, then bring a jug of wine.”

Qiu Changtian slightly furrowed his brow.

If it had been someone else, they would certainly scoff in contempt: You once plotted against me in the past, yet now what brazenness do you have to demand that I fetch you wine?

But Qiu Changtian was always contemplative by nature, guessing that Song He must have something he wanted to tell him, and the payment for that was a jug of wine.

If he refused to fetch the wine, he also would not hear what Song had to say next… With this in mind, Qiu Changtian slowly inquired:

“Senior brother Song, what wine would you like to drink?”

“Frosty Snow from Chitai Market will do.”

“`