Village Chief Bu’s Real Genius (Part 1)
Village Chief Bu’s hand stopped on his beard. “If I was Third Heaven Palace, I’d worry about calming my people first and foremost. With the eight great sects and elemental demons under their command, they can easily fabricate a scenario to repair their blemished reputation. Me, I’d send a group of elemental demons to attack a city, and then send the eight sects in when the city is on the cusp of falling, driving the elemental demons back. In turn, the people will place their hopes on the eight great sects ephemerally.”
“Why the eight great sects? Should they put their hopes on Third Heaven Palace?” Xiaoshuai questioned.
“You have a tendency to overlook things, huh? Third Heaven Palace can’t play leader if they’re afraid to show themselves. Meanwhile, the eight great sects are a credible name. Accordingly, the eight great sects’ intervention would elevate their standing. More importantly, is there any difference between who leads between the two? The eight great sects are under Third Heaven Palace’s control.”
“What would Third Heaven Palace do in the meantime?” Mu Yu asked.
“Hmm… If they carry out what I inferred before, they would have proven that elemental demons aren’t invincible. They only have two options when facing elemental demons: fight or flight. If the enemy is strong, it’s common to worry about saving yourself and sacrificing others if need be. If you can win, you wouldn’t just sit back. If you can defeat an enemy, it’s conventional to pursue them in an annihilation battle. The eight great sects could consolidate their status at the same time. In turn, others will feel compelled to take orders from the eight…
“I mentioned that undertaking in the thirteenth chapter, volume two of ‘Legends of Mu Yu’. It was the part where they used a feint; Third Heaven Palace encouraging cultivators to trust the eight great sects is the same as attacking the gap in the armour instead of attacking directly. That was how Mu Yu resolved the tug of war between the two factions in the story.”
How Mu Yu wished Zhuge Xiaosheng was not present to hear the last part…
Xiaoshuai opined, “Knowing how cowardly cultivators are, I can’t see them fighting that valiantly.”
Village Chief Bu disputed, “All the hustle and bustle in the world is but for some sort of gain. If you ask me, cultivators are quite similar to ordinary folks, in that they haven’t shed their nature as humans. Put it this way: ordinary folks fight each other for treasures, and cultivators fight each other for secret manuals, items, pills and what have you. The motive is the same; the only thing that has changed is what they are fighting for. Cultivators will risk their wellbeing for gains. That being the case, they can be baited into taking certain actions as long as the promised reward is enough to motivate them.”
Village Chief Bu sat down to soothe his throat with some warm tea straight from the pot, then resumed, “At current, there are two sects among the eight great sects that aren’t under Third Heaven Palace’s jurisdiction – Formation Palace plus Pill Cauldron Sect. If I was Third Heaven Palace’s strategist and couldn’t rig strings from behind the curtain, I’d set up every other cultivator to lynch those two sects. In a nutshell, eliminate those factors that are beyond your control so that only that which you control remains. The justification that comes to mind goes back to the clash with elemental demons. If everyone is fighting elemental demons, yet those two sects are watching from the sideline, it is only a matter of time before they are disgruntled enough to lead a crusade on the two.
“Please excuse me, Patriarch Zhuge, I did not mean to jinx your sect to doom, hehe, sorry, sorry. I am just making hypotheses. Sorry…”
“No, no, this one admires your analytical thought process. Frankly, everything already played out as you predicted. For starters, Celestial Star Sect already drove out elemental demons, thereby raising their standing. I did not have the chance to inform you as this one just received news,” Zhuge Xiaosheng informed.
“It was just a fluke,” responded Village Chief Bu, wagging his hand.
“You need not be modest, Elder. Two months ago, Formation Sect and Pill Cauldron Sect closed off their borders, incurring a number of complaints from other sects. The way you are able to see the big picture is most admirable. Might this one be able to ask for your venerated daoist title?”
“Daoist title? I have no such thing. I am but an old villager who likes to tell stories to kids. I did not know the slightest thing about the cultivation world until two months ago, haha.”
“I can vouch for him. I’ve been feeding him knowledge of the cultivation world on end for the last two months,” Xiaoshuai climbed onto Village Chief Bu’s shoulder to brag.
“A villager?” Zhuge Xiaosheng took a closer look and, indeed, Village Chief Bu did not have any cultivation. “Mu Yu, is the elder really a villager…?”
“Yes. He is the one who raised me. Xiaoshuai is also telling the truth.”
“Hehehe.” Village Chief Bu touched his head.
“I am most honoured to have met a prodigy!” extolled Zhuge Xiaosheng.
If something had to be designated as the root of Village Chief Bu’s insight, it would be his storytelling experience as a storyteller needed to see the big picture of what he studied or shared.
“Grandpa, feel free to speak your mind. Patriarch Zhuge can be trusted and will not mind.”
“Yeah, Mu Yu is the patriarch, anyway,” Xiaoshuai chimed in.
“Ah, yes, I forgot,” remarked Village Chief Bu, inhaling as he lifted his chest.
“Elder, do you have any suggestions we could follow to turn the tide?” inquired Zhuge Xiaosheng.
“At the end of the day, Third Heaven Palace’s aim is to ignite a war. Therefore, our aim should be to prevent them from stopping a war.”
“How would we do that?”
“Mu Yu, if you can exterminate the three sects as you intend, that would be the best outcome.”
“If Tian Ran and Patriarch Zhuge assist me, I believe we can get rid of Celestial Star Sect.”
“There would still be five sects, though. Are we going to raze them, too?” Xiaoshuai asked.
“The overarching goal shouldn’t be to exterminate them but to deal a blow to the morale of cultivators. Cultivators will only rise to the occasion if the eight great sects can triumph against elemental demons, which works in Third Heaven Palace’s favour. If the three sects are removed from the picture, it will dampen the confidence of cultivators, deterring them from fighting.” Village Chief Bu picked up Xiaoshuai and pinched the latter’s cheek. “You should learn from me. I promise you’ll have a brighter future if you do.”
“I would just become another con artist.”
“And then?” Zhuge Xiaosheng queried.
“The promised reward cannot be bestowed if three of the eight sects are taken out. Without a desire to fight, Third Heaven Palace must proceed with Ultimate Immortals Ranking,” explicated Village Chief Bu.
“Why?” Mu Yu questioned.
“Remember you told me Third Heaven Palace is deliberately postponing the mystic immortals’ contest? I can’t be certain what the motivation behind it is, but there’s one thing I can be sure of: they don’t want to go forth with it. If the enemy does not want to go east, you force them to east. If the eight great sects cannot be buoys for cultivators, the next thing they should turn to would be the nine mystic immortals.”
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