Starting My Cultivation With Time Management

Chapter 758: Chapter 92 Wei Bureau Chief Sharp Commentary on the Situation

Kunlun dispatched troops, pressuring Iron City Mountain!

As myriad Sword Light set off from the Kunlun Heavenly Pillar, this news swiftly spread across every corner of Divine Land.

Upon hearing this news, Jiang the Witch came to find Wei Dongliu, feigning curiosity as she asked,

“My lord, Changgeng True Person indeed did as you predicted, opting for a direct attack on Iron City Mountain… How did you manage to guess that?”

“Haven’t I told you before?” Wei Dongliu’s heart instantly went on full alert, while he seriously said, “Qiu Changtian may seem unpredictable and at odds with Kunlun’s style, but in reality, he is fully assessing the situation, adopting strategies that he is compelled to take.”

“Military affairs concern life and death, survival and extinction. My lady, as the Deputy Sect Master of the Mortal Life Path, being entirely unaware of this won’t do.”

...

“Oh my.” Jiang Lian immediately started acting coquettish, “My lord has never taught me in detail, how could I possibly know? Why don’t you tell me, if you were Changgeng True Person, what would you decide to do after Kunlun’s troops moved towards the Iron City Mountain?”

Wei Dongliu then began to contemplate.

Predicting Qiu Changtian’s decision? That’s too easy, I could get it right one hundred percent, believe it or not?

The problem is, even if I could predict with one hundred percent accuracy, wouldn’t it arouse suspicion?

On second thought, even if it raised suspicion, no one would ever guess “I am the same person as Qiu Changtian”; at most they’d suspect “How is it that Wei Dongliu is unfailingly prescient? That’s somewhat abnormal.”

That’s actually beneficial for me to continue maintaining my mysterious character setting.

Having thought this through, Wei Dongliu slowly said,

“My lady, let me ask you: why did Kunlun send troops to Iron City Mountain?”

“Because if they don’t send troops to contain it, there’s a risk of their connection to Guanzhong being severed,” Jiang Lian smoothly replied.

Then she suddenly became a bit dumbfounded: How come I, the Great Unrestrained Heavenly Demon, am starting to learn the Human Race’s art of war? Is this really necessary?

“Exactly,” Wei Dongliu said, leisurely, “Since it’s merely for containment, they certainly cannot launch a strong attack, to avoid excessive casualties.”

“Let me ask you again: since it is only for containment and they want to avoid casualties, what would Changgeng True Person choose to do?”

Jiang Lian pondered briefly, then tentatively answered:

“A siege without an attack?”

Wei Dongliu faintly smiled and said,

“If we only lay siege without attacking, how could we make the Asura Path believe that Kunlun intends to launch a strong attack? In that case, the deterrent effect would be completely lost.”

“This war is not a battle of strength, but a battle for the mind. Whichever side’s sect cultivator’s first lose their will to fight, and are forced to withdraw from the confrontation, that side will be deemed the loser.”

A battle for the mind; when the topic of “striking the heart” came up, Jiang the Witch immediately got excited.

“That is to say,” she began to try understanding the Human Race’s military strategist’s tactics, enthusiastically saying, “My lord means that since both sides want to minimize losses, this war won’t be a fierce battle, but it’s likely to be a prolonged one. It’s like a tug-of-war, where it seems whoever loses strength first will lose, but in reality, it’s a matter of who lets go first.”

“That’s right.” Wei Dongliu somehow felt an inexplicable unease—Could teaching her like this lead to trouble?

Hey, it’s my own wife, what could possibly go wrong? Could she even devour me?

“Husband, who do you think will lose their will to fight first in this war?” Jiang Lian asked with a smile, hugging Wei Dongliu’s arm.

Strangely enough, though she appeared slender and delicate, the physical contact was filled with a sense of fullness that almost overwhelmed Wei Dongliu. He quickly steadied his mind and calmly responded,

“Is that even a question? It’s naturally our Six Paths.”

“Oh?” Jiang Lian propped her chin with one hand and revealed a naive and innocent silly smile. “Is it because the unity of the five sects is not strong enough?”

“Naturally,” Wei Dongliu nodded. “An alliance bound by interests is doomed to dissolve over conflicting interests. This vulnerability is too fatal and cannot compare with the Kunlun Taiqing Sect.”

“But at present, isn’t uniting to plunder Kunlun in everyone’s interests?” Jiang Lian continued to ask.

“Of course not,” Wei Dongliu laughed. “Even though it’s about plundering Kunlun, the expected gains and acceptable losses differ among the sects.”

“If we were to estimate, the Nether Ghost Path would definitely be the most supportive of the war. They have intense interest demands and can tolerate higher casualties as well as time costs, so they would definitely advocate to keep fighting.”

“Indeed,” Jiang Lian nodded, thinking to herself how it’s no wonder that little bitch keeps running here every two or three days.

“Next would probably be our Mortal Life Path,” Wei Dongliu continued his analysis. “The actual benefits are secondary, but the title of Alliance Hierarch is too important for us. The Mortal Life Path has long been disorganized, with only the name of a large sect but unable to exert even half of its power, which almost everyone finds detrimental.”

“Now that I have managed to consolidate the sect, it is time to reshape it through the war. As long as we continue to win, it will bring a strong sense of pride and honor to our cultivators, which in turn will fuel their willingness to keep fighting.”

“I see,” Jiang Lian mused. “For large sects like the Nether Ghost Path and the Heavenly Demon Path, the pride and honor of ‘being a cultivator of a great sect’ is natural and inherent, so they wouldn’t value these titles too much.”

“But for the Mortal Life Path, we have been deprived of this honor of ‘great sect cultivators’ for too long. No wonder I find that most of our sect’s cultivators seem mostly positive about this war, without much negativity or resentment.”

“Hmm, although that’s mainly due to my leadership charm,” Wei Dongliu said unabashedly. “Without proper guidance, the sense of sect honor couldn’t be directly linked to cohesion… Let’s leave that aside for now, my dear. Do you know who is most likely to be the dragging force among the Six Paths right now?”

“It’s naturally the Asura Path,” Jiang Lian said with a teasing smile. “Their geographical location is less of a stepping stone for us to attack Kunlun and more like a thorn in the side, a nail in the eye that Kunlun must remove. The more firm Kunlun’s stance becomes, the more the Asura Path will bear the brunt and suffer from it.”

“By contrast, the Eastern Emperor Path and the Heavenly Demon Path, being too far from the battlefield and less involved in interests, tend to sit on the fence—eager to advance when the battle is going well; and if it comes to a stalemate, they would be the first to beat a retreat without hesitation.”

“Husband, is my analysis correct?” Jiang Lian asked, smiling sweetly as she came to the end of her question.

“Hmm, speaking of that, I also find it strange,” Wei Dongliu frowned slightly. “The Heavenly Demon Path’s attitude towards the war seems a bit too enthusiastic.”

“Though it’s hard to say about the future, for now, they are contributing both manpower and effort… It’s indeed strange.”

“Hahaha,” Jiang Lian teased, “Maybe they’re also captivated by the charm of your personality, husband?”

Qiu Changtian chuckled coldly, just about to speak, when suddenly, Wen Yang’s crisp laughter could be heard from a distance outside,

“Wei Daoist Friend! Good news! The Asura Path can’t hold on any longer, they’ve come asking for help!”