533: Chapter 533 Cooperation with Li Heng

"What does King Heng mean? Is he planning to throw in the towel and quit?"

Lord Canglan exited the stage, and at this moment, Zhou Yan logged on.

After receiving all the information about what had happened previously, Zhou Yan looked at Li Heng with some wariness.

This guy was far too strange.

In response, Li Heng's expression merely relaxed a bit. He took a few steps to the glass and pressed his hand against it.

"The current Truth Cult is too chaotic. They clearly said they wanted to establish order, but as a result, aside from putting Gu insects in a single jar, I don't see a single bit of the harmony there should be."

"Rather than calling it integration, it's more like raising Gu."

Li Heng looked toward Zhou Yan.

"King Ming, I need your strength."

"You came here seeking nothing more than a stable landing, securing the title of King Ming."

"As long as you cooperate with me—you don't even need to be sincere, just cooperate until the final step—I guarantee this matter can be completed easily."

"Beyond securing the title of King Ming, once the plan succeeds, the position of King Dong could also be yours."

"Being your own master is always better than living under someone else's roof."

Zhou Yan was not moved by these words; instead, he countered with a question.

"Gains are usually proportional to the price. You already know I want a stable landing, yet you still make this request. I really don't know what you're thinking."

That meaningful smile appeared on Li Heng's face once again.

"A 'stable landing' itself doesn't exist. You surely saw the meeting earlier; so many factions were split around one table, it was incredibly chaotic."

"If you don't pick a side in advance, with your status as a free agent, you'll naturally be targeted. Since you're going to be drawn into the vortex regardless, why not pick one where you can swim smoothly?"

"As for what I need you to do, King Ming, it's not that difficult. It even overlaps somewhat with your original plan."

Li Heng looked again at Yuan Chenling behind the glass.

"This guy is a nuisance. He's connected to that Saint of the Qingxu Grotto-Heaven, so he'll have to be sent out sooner or later."

"In that case, you might as well do that person a favor and let people from his faction rescue him. When the time comes, I'll give the green light; you just need to have them destroy some appropriate areas to cause chaos."

"As for the purpose, there's no harm in telling you directly."

Li Heng seemed to anticipate what Zhou Yan was going to say and spoke it directly.

"You outworlders have an old saying: 'Life springs from sorrow and calamity, while death comes from ease and pleasure.'"

"They are very uncooperative right now. Rather than letting this bomb explode later, I'd rather detonate it myself in advance."

"By creating a powerful external threat, the plan will have to be moved up, and the emergency contingency plan will be activated."

"Then they will have no choice but to participate in this plan with sincerity."

At the same time, a message came through from Lv Yang's side.

According to Lv Yang's calculations, he had likely experienced a great horror in his dream, which meant some extremely powerful existence might be present here.

And for everyone present, including Lv Yang himself, their fates showed signs of great calamity.

Zhou Yan had originally been curious about what was going on, but hearing Li Heng say this, he instantly realized the trouble of the situation.

According to what Li Heng said before, the explosion Ma Hao caused was meant to prepare a backup for the plan.

Because the various forces were not cooperating, he had to actively push the event into an emergency, directly activate the backup, and force the forces to cooperate.

The omen of great calamity... could it be referring to this?

"Why does it have to be me?"

Zhou Yan raised his head and looked Li Heng straight in the eye.

Li Heng merely turned his head away, avoiding eye contact with Zhou Yan.

"There are many reasons. For instance, as mentioned before, you happen to be able to mobilize the personnel of the Taiyi Sect and do that Saint a favor."

"Furthermore, you could be said to be the only person in this plan who actually cares."

"The School of Mathematics and the Chemistry School go without saying—three old fossils and one hothead."

"And besides them, there are some troublesome fellows hiding in the shadows."

"The gap between the Body Integration Stage and the Soul Transformation Stage is far smaller than the gap between the Soul Transformation Stage and the Nascent Soul Stage."

"Even with a Nascent Soul Domain, the Nascent Soul Stage faces a Soul Transformation Stage like an insurmountable chasm."

"But those at the Soul Transformation Stage are very troublesome; they practice their own Laws and possess all sorts of strange Divine Abilities."

"Perhaps they aren't strong individually—none are my match one-on-one, and I can still defeat them easily."

"But if they were to unite, it would be difficult for me to win without paying a price."

"This group of people aren't those assembly-line Soul Transformation cultivators; they are all genuine old-school Soul Transformation experts and rising Prodigies, with plenty of strength and methods."

"If they were helping me succeed, they could be dismissed as mere Soul Transformation cultivators who can't even add the finishing touch."

"But if they are here to ruin my plans, they're more annoying than a room full of flies."

"Therefore, I need a partner."

"Not to advance the plan, but to prevent my own people from pulling my leg."

"You should have seen it too; Yun Mingtian is my man, and he's also a close friend of mine."

"But that is far from enough, so I need help from you or Florian."

"However, rather than dealing with old acquaintances like them, it's more convenient to cooperate with a newcomer like you whose background isn't fully known."

"Even if you and I have schemes and conflicts of interest, those will only start after we cooperate. At least initially, you'll do a bit of work to achieve your own goals, won't you?"

Hearing this, Zhou Yan basically understood the situation.

Competition between factions was severely affecting the progress of the plan. Although evolution was still proceeding steadily, no future could be seen.

Some people were late because they relied on their backgrounds, some deliberately found fault because of factional conflicts, no one showed up when things went wrong, and no one cared when issues were raised.

So Li Heng, the person in charge, didn't plan to reason with them from the start. He wanted to set off something big at the beginning of the plan to blow them all awake and forcibly bind them together to advance the plan.

To this end, he might even be burning his bridges, directly intending to activate the backup plan and abandon the original plan, not intending to leave himself a fallback.

Under these circumstances, Zhou Yan would certainly agree.

According to what Lv Yang said, a major event was about to occur, and each of them might face a death tribulation. There was no escaping such a thing; the more one fled, the easier it was to trigger the death tribulation.

In that case, he might as well break into the innermost circle. Even if he was used as a pawn, at least he would know more.

After pretending to think for a while and feeling that enough time had passed, Zhou Yan finally spoke.

"I can send people, but how can you guarantee their safety?"

"They are, after all, the combat power of the Taiyi Sect. It wouldn't be reasonable for me to potentially lose troops and generals just for one of your plans."

"And if you decide to double-cross me, frame me, and kill me to warn others, what can I do?"

Seeing the other party's interest piqued, Li Heng instantly knew this cooperation was secure. It was obvious that since the other party could come here with this identity, they certainly had ambition.

"King Ming needn't worry about that. As long as you are willing to agree to complete this coordination with me, I will personally step in to assist."

"When the time comes, even if others want to intervene, I'll have my own ways. However, I hope the people King Ming sends aren't too weak; otherwise, it won't look good on my end either, will it?"

"As for how to make you believe that I won't deceive you..."

Li Heng rested his chin on his hand and thought for a moment.

"There is no trust within the Truth Cult. Even if I swear many oaths and establish many contracts, there are still loopholes to exploit."

"People who truly trust each other don't need guarantees at all, and for those who do need guarantees, guarantees have no value."

"So, let's set a protocol in the way of the Truth Cult."

"What do you mean?" Zhou Yan didn't quite understand.

Then he saw Li Heng pull a golden leaf from his storage space. The golden leaf floated in the center of his palm, both sacred and unknown.

"In the parlance of our Truth Cult, it's called becoming cellmates of truth, accomplices in knowledge."

"In words everyone can understand, it means I will reveal the entire plan to you, and you and I will jointly bear the cost of the plan."

As he spoke, Li Heng held the golden leaf out slightly.

"I didn't originally intend to tell you this much, thinking I'd gradually draw you in, but I'm ultimately not a merchant like King Dong; getting it done in one step is naturally best."

"If you refuse, my plan will proceed as usual, and you will still be caught in the storm, but the School of Physics will close its doors to you."

"If you accept, my plan will still proceed as usual, but you can obtain more opportunities under my protection."

"I hope you don't blame me for acting too aggressively; the Truth Cult has always been like this."

Before he could persuade further, Zhou Yan grabbed the golden leaf and refined it in an instant!

Of course, he didn't actually refine it; after all, with such a thing, it was better to be cautious until the danger was determined.

"There's no need to say anything more, Fellow Daoist Li."

"I don't know if anyone has told you, but you never get to the point. Piling up a lot of nonsense doesn't quite fit the efficiency of a researcher like you."

After saying that, Zhou Yan turned and walked toward his own room.

"I accept the task. Send me a copy of the protocol on how to proceed later. Now I'm going back to think about whether I'll regret this decision."

Seeing Zhou Yan like this, Li Heng couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

"King Ming... Fellow Daoist Kong is truly a heroine among women."

"Then, I hope our cooperation is a pleasant one."

"Pleasant cooperation."