CHAPTER 313: CHAPTER 311: CHOOSE THE SUN YOU WANT TO FOLLOW

The tree-lined street outside the Imperial Academy.

"Hmm? Hmm!"

Resting in the passenger seat, Chirping Cicada Stir woke up abruptly, instantly pointing a finger at Night White, who was holding a handkerchief, and harshly asked, "What are you doing!?"

Night White raised the handkerchief in his hand, "Wiping your drool."

"What drool?"

"The drool you spilled while sleeping, it just dripped onto Fatty’s head a moment ago."

Chirping Cicada Stir instinctively wiped away the trace of moisture around his mouth, lowered his head to look at the obese orange cat enduring indignity and suffering thunder and rain in his arms, and angrily said through gritted teeth, "How could I possibly... drool..."

"Then what did I wipe?"

Chirping Cicada Stir trembled all over, the light burst from his fingertips fleetingly appearing and disappearing, his mouth quivering without saying a word. Night White comforted, "Adults can drool when they sleep too, it’s quite normal. I occasionally wake up with half my face wet, really."

With this step down, Chirping Cicada Stir’s face visibly improved, he coldly snorted, tidied up his clothes and hat, and resumed a cool and arrogant expression. Night White took out his pocket watch, glanced at it, and said, "We are on duty until midnight, Inspector. If you’re tired already, how will you handle the rest?"

Chirping Cicada Stir glanced at the high walls of the Imperial Academy and coldly said, "We don’t get a single advantage, yet all the dirty work and miscellaneous tasks fall on us... Taking a nap already gives them face! If it were any other day, I’d already be in bed resting by now!"

"So early?" Night White was surprised, "Inspector, how many hours do you usually sleep?"

"Nine hours."

Night White blinked at Raccoon Slave, Raccoon Slave frowned, "What’s wrong? Isn’t it necessary to sleep for nine hours to be full of spirit?"

"Yes, yes." Night White shrugged, leaned against the steering wheel, and asked, "By the way, there’s a new trend in Yanjing for stuffed toys filled with cotton, Inspector, do you sleep hugging stuffed toys?"

"What do you mean!" Raccoon Slave got angry, "Do I look like a kid who needs to hug a toy to sleep?!"

"No, no, no, I also like sleeping hugging toys, really." Night White quickly explained, "Then what do you usually hug while sleeping, Inspector?"

"This!" Raccoon Slave grabbed a chunk of fat from the obese orange cat, which lazily flipped over exposing its belly and acted cute, "Once I sleep, it comes over to hug me, I can’t sleep without it."

Imagining a scene of Chirping Cicada Stir cuddling with the obese orange cat, Night White turned her head outside, not letting Cold Cicada Walk see her shifting expression. Chirping Cicada Stir felt a bit strange but didn’t think much, glaring at the light inside the Imperial Academy and suddenly said viciously, "It would be fun if Le Yin were carried away the first night, humph humph."

Night White collected her thoughts and asked, "Someone dying on the first night? Is it that dangerous?"

"This is a battle for the throne, anything can happen."

"If it’s really that dangerous, why do you keep competing for the sword sheath position, Inspector?"

"There are many ways to win," Chirping Cicada Stir said, "I don’t know which method Ritual Guard will use, but if Righteous Guard is handling it, we will certainly choose the sure-win way."

"Sure-win way?!" Night White was startled, "There is such a way?"

"From the start, the victory conditions for the sword sheath and Sword Seeker are different." Raccoon Slave yawned, "There is only one winner among the Sword Seekers, but the sword sheath doesn’t need to ensure his Sword Seeker’s victory, he only needs to ensure..."

"That the victorious Sword Seeker will need his sword sheath."

"Ministers and monarchs are not the same; there is one monarch, but ministers can be countless. For the sword sheath, having his supported Sword Seeker win is indeed the best outcome, but if not, there are other paths."

"As long as you can show your decision-making, capability, and vision, you can still be appreciated and reused by the victor."

"A minister can surrender, but a monarch can’t, that’s the difference between the two." Chirping Cicada Stir slapped the obese orange cat’s butt, its tail stiffened and pointed up, "The sure-win way is simple; after one or two rounds of games, everyone will naturally see who is the popular winne."

"And the so-called emperor is the one more people follow, the more qualified he/she becomes. The emperor’s power comes from people’s awe and recognition. Thus, a candidate with a certain advantage is bound to get more sword sheaths’ allegiance, then like a snowball rolling down from Throat Snow Mountain in the heavenly world, it grows bigger and bigger, eventually engulfing all the other weak competitors."

"Just look at who is most likely to win, invest in her, and naturally win."

Night White said, "But isn’t this... betrayal?"

Raccoon Slave sneered, "The sword sheath and Sword Seeker haven’t known each other for long, how could it be betrayal? Moreover, it’s a mutually-beneficial relationship, once the benefits end, splitting up is the natural course."

"Then the Sword Seeker contest for the throne will quickly have results."

"Indeed, unless..."

"Unless what?"

Chirping Cicada Stir looked at the grass by the roadside, suddenly pointed at a flower with yellow petals among the shadows of night and asked, "Do you know what that flower is?"

Night White glanced at it, "Of course I know, that’s a Sunflower, loved by many for its trait of facing the sun during the day, I’ve memorized countless poems on it."

"There’s only one sun in the sky, so the Sunflower only faces one direction, right?"

"Exactly."

"A few days ago, I read a newspaper from the Outer District, saw a... hmm, I suspect authored by Backlight Particle’s little story." Raccoon Slave rubbed the obese orange cat’s ear, "The story says there are nine suns in the sky, scorching the earth barren, making people’s lives miserable, hence a person named Yi shot down eight suns, leaving only one he acknowledged."

"Indeed, sounds very backlight-like." Night White nodded, "The author should be imprisoned and tried at once."

"But after reading that story, I suddenly thought of the Sunflower."

Chirping Cicada Stir pointed at the Sunflower hidden in night shadows, "In a time with multiple suns in the sky, which direction would a Sunflower face?"

Wow, this question is so naïve and childish.

Night White thought that innately but dared not say, "Does this question relate to our conversation?"

"A bit." Raccoon Slave smiled, looked at the night sky, and said, "If there were really multiple suns in the sky..."

"Perhaps each Sunflower could choose the sun it wants to follow."

...

...

In Wanxiang Forest, it’s silent as the grave.

"One hour." Ming Shuangli said, "One hour later, the replica of the Holy Sword’s radiance will burn out, and the oath ceremony will be impossible."

"As long as you all remain silent for an hour, everything will end, and everyone can achieve a perfect conclusion."

"This is the better choice I offer."

Indeed.

No matter how Le Yin thinks about it, this is the better choice. Even though Le Yin is confident that the Ice Blood Physique can directly resist the mental influence of the Holy Sword’s radiance, other sword sheaths may not possess Le Yin’s ’Spirit Resistance Max’ trait. For them, just hearing this news should shake their resolve.

Secondly, Ming Shuangli promised to try her best to fulfill everyone’s wishes on the spot, even if it’s just a vague promise, but this promise doesn’t require risking failure and death.

If you continue to gamble, there’s a one-seventh chance of getting 100 points; if you lose, you get nothing. If you don’t gamble, you can at least get 10 points, and whether you can expand those 10 points to 100 points in the future depends on your own effort, but you definitely won’t lose.

Perhaps not everyone can win.

But no one will lose.

"It’s really tempting, Sister Shuangli."

Ming Shuangli looked over and blinked, "Dailan?"

Only to see a long-haired girl in a short skirt stepping out from the darkness. Her waist was slender, yet embracing, with a shiny blue moon-shaped hairpin on her head, like a fairy girl in the night. Le Yin, who was secretly observing, just saw a touch of night blue there.

Ming Shuangli sincerely asked, "Are you willing to give up, Dailan?"

"Not really," Ming Dailan shook her head, "If what you say is true and everyone else gives up, then my competitors in the sword-seeking competition are only left with you, Sister Shuangli. There’s a one-half chance to become the ninth Empress in Radiant history, which is really hard for me to give up."

"But Dailan, didn’t you want to find a handsome guy and have a world-shaking romance?" Ming Shuangli laughed, "Why do you want to be Empress now?"

"Becoming Empress means I can openly build a big crystal palace and marry dozens of handsome guys!" Ming Dailan said with a clenched fist, "And think about it, the consorts of previous Empresses were either Generals or the Prime Minister - all handsome guys with both beauty and talent. The thought of the Grand Scholar, Grand General, Martial Pillar, and Medical Officer all fighting for my affection... this is the kind of love I yearn for!"

"Have you read too many novels!"

"Dreams are always worth having; who knows, they might come true?" Ming Dailan laughed, "So, Sister Shuangli, can you step aside? I’m not planning to give up."

"That’s what you say..." Ming Shuangli shrugged, "But what about your sword sheath?"

"I don’t even know who my sword sheath is." Ming Dailan clasped her hands in prayer, "I hope my sword sheath is a tall, handsome, considerate man with an extraordinary background and a singular love..."

"I’m sorry to disappoint you."

A boy jumped down from the tree behind Ming Dailan, looking very immature, seemingly younger than Ming Dailan, and shorter by half a head. Le Yin had never seen him; from his appearance, he was likely posing as a student to infiltrate the academy.

Ming Dailan was stunned: "Hey kid, how old are you?"

"Fifteen."

"I’m not underestimating you—but when I was fifteen, I was busy learning piano, chess, calligraphy, and painting, hardly practiced Combat Technique. Can you really protect me as a sword sheath?"

"It’s not a big problem." The boy assembled a triple-section staff into a long stick taller than himself, then added a black spearhead, "After all, since I was five, I’ve been protecting thousands of people at the border of Liaoyuan District."

He stepped forward, light flowing like fiery blaze, instantly clad in layers of heavy armor, transforming into a golden saint warrior!

"Triple Armament!"

If equipping a layer of Light Armor is already an impenetrable fortress, then triple Light Armor armament is equivalent to a mobile fortress—unless one reaches the Peak of Perfection realm, it’s extremely difficult to break through triple Light Armor in one move; if one can’t do it in one move, the Light Armor will immediately restore before the Martial Artist’s Spirit is exhausted!

Moreover, Light Armor has a buffering effect, its appearance dazzlingly bright, so Martial Artists who can use Triple Armament were almost all considered tactical-level force capable of breaking armies alone in ancient times, often honored as divine generals!

A fifteen-year-old divine general! Even novels wouldn’t dare write this!

"I’ll hold off the swordsman; you go touch the Holy Sword’s radiance." The boy said.

"No problem!" Ming Dailan blinked, "Good luck, kid!"

"Don’t call me kid!"

The boy shouted in a burst, the spear instantly split into thousands of spear shadows, illuminating the entire Wanxiang Forest, like an army of spears charging into battle!

"Liaoyuan Combat Technique · Invasion Like Fire!"

Niruo gripped the Chizakura long sword tightly, took a deep breath, and slashed out Sakura Dragon Imperial River. The intangible stream accelerated into a river of light like a suspended Milky Way, sweeping away all spear shadows, with Sakura Dragon roaring in the river. Each spear shadow was countered by a droplet of river water, producing a thousand sounds of steel symphony, a turbulent storm blowing throughout Wanxiang Forest!

"Sakura Dragon Sword Dance · Floating Boat!"

As soon as the engagement began, both sides used their signature skills!

"I can’t achieve an absolute advantage." Niruo suddenly said.

"I authorize you to open Level One restriction, only injure without killing." Ming Shuangli said.

"As you wish."

Niruo took out a strange bone mask from his chest. The mask cracked from the center, apart from that, it seemed ordinary, neither terrifying nor glamorous, as if just a tool to cover one’s face.

He donned the mask on his face, and the crack in the center suddenly emitted a dark green glow, soon bathing his entire being in dark green light, even the elegant Sakura Dragon entwining the Chizakura long sword transforming into a ferocious green dragon!

"Shattered Mask, Evil Visage, or perhaps... Mad Mask." Ming Shuangli sighed, "Although I was mentally prepared for this, I didn’t expect we’d ultimately have to fight."

"Now what Niruo wears is Extreme Divine Weapon · Mad Mask, the effect is straightforward..."

"Speed becomes very fast."

Clang!

In an instant, Niruo traversed ten paces, slicing through the spear the boy used for defense with a single stroke, and with the speed of the blade, shattered the boy’s triple Light Armor, tearing a brutal wound on the latter’s body!

The boy grunted, half-kneeling, attempting to seize Niruo’s long sword, but Niruo’s swift kick sent him flying!

Halfway through, Ming Dailan blinked, looked at the five-step gap between herself and the Holy Sword’s radiance, saw Niruo staring at her, and directly turned and shouted, "Hey kid, I know Inner Scenic Combat Technique, do you need help?"