Holly Keen sent out wave after wave of puppets, and Li Daohong did everything in his power to force them back. Given his status and intelligence, he had managed to learn quite a few Origin Skills. In addition, the Dream Beauty Bloodline was the most malleable out of the seven imperial family bloodlines. Even though its combat power was not particularly high, its compatibility was very high. Otherwise, Li Daohong wouldnât have been able to awaken two bloodlines that easily.
As a result, he had a surprising number of skills up his sleeve.
In one moment, he was unleashing streaks filled with consciousness power â his Desolate Beast Bloodline ability â then filling the skies with grey clouds a moment later, a manifestation of the Night God Bloodline. Then, thousands of streaks of sword Qi surged valiantly through the sky, followed by him transforming into a statue made of metal to withstand the attacks of the giant puppets. These two were skills that he had picked up along the way.
This guy actually controlled around eighteen powerful Origin Skills, each one considered top-tier. Normally, he kept them well-hidden, but now Holly Keenâs puppets had forced his hand. Su Chen clucked his tongue in amazement. âHe really is an imperial disciple and was given the Attendantâs Brain. I have nothing I can say about his studies.â
Zhu Xianyao said disdainfully, âThis guy should have been very smart. How come you were able to plot against him so easily? And he is just showing off his trump cards like itâs nobodyâs business right now.â
Su Chen countered, âHe might be smart, but he lacks wisdom.â
âOh? What difference is there between the two?â
Su Chen replied, âSmart people can think quickly, but that doesnât mean they are wise. Wisdom is a combination of intelligence, experience, knowledge, and personality. If intelligence is like a flower, then being smart is like that flowerâs stem.
âIntelligence is the root. That is why we say that smart people have clear eyesight. If a person is smart enough, they will be able to learn quickly, and their stem will be thick. This allows them to absorb much more nutrients, but the root is still a root, not a flower.â
âExperience is like the leaves of a flower. A person will learn many lessons throughout life, and these experiences teach a person how to protect themselves and improve themselves. The thorns on the flowerâs stems and leaves serve a similar protective purpose.â
âKnowledge is like the soil. The roots absorb nutrients from it in order to grow healthily. The human race starts from knowledge when it comes to seeing the world in order to improve ourselves by the same principle. Without enough knowledge, even the smartest brain will have a hard time reaching its full potential. This is like people who just loiter around all day and spend all their time trying to figure out how to make a small profit. Knowledge determines the layout. If the layout is small, it doesnât make a difference how smart you are.â
âPersonality is the seed. There are many kinds of different flowers. Some appear quite common early on but become breathtakingly beautiful when they grow. Some appear to be growing quite well but turn out crooked in the end. In the same way, the growth of intelligence is guided by personality. Those with wicked personalities will never become anything more than a poisonous flower no matter what kind of heaven-defying intellect they have. On the other hand, those with pure personalities will be able to become herbs that can heal others no matter how idiotic they are.â
âThose Attendants are a perfect example. What could they do with their momentary brilliance? Eventually, they were all wiped out. Then, you look at the Ravagers, who are living quite well nowadays despite the fact that most of them are idiots. The former is like a flower that shows off its beauty for some time but is eventually uprooted by the wind. On the other hand, the latter is like a weed. Even though its status is lowly and its appearance unrefined, it can survive in harsh environments without dying out, forcefully claiming territory for itself.â
Zhu Xianyao was taken aback. Even her mother, Zhu Yunyan, and Patelocke, who were listening, were also surprised.
Zhu Yunyan said, âDid you think of this yourself?â
Su Chen nodded. âIâve thought about this a lot in my spare time and have reached some conclusions. I feel a bit embarrassed to talk about them now, though.â
âBut youâre exactly right!â Patelocke sighed. âTruly intelligent people need to consider all of these aspects together. Personality is probably the most important, and of the remaining four factors, supposed âintelligenceâ is probably the least. That doesnât mean that it isnât important, but intelligence alone is not worth applauding. I donât think that Li Daohong is so dumb that he canât figure out what might have happened between the two of them, but just because he has figured it out doesnât mean that he is willing to do so.â
Su Chen chuckled. âLi Daohong has an innately arrogant personality, which makes him very stubborn. Holly Keenâs attack was not something he could accept, so he insisted on confronting Holly Keen despite knowing what had actually taken place.â
Zhu Xianyao clapped her hands. âI originally thought that Li Daohong would be a big obstacle in our path, but he seems distinctly average now. I feel a lot more at ease.â
Su Chen, however, shook his head. âGenerally speaking, even though Li Daohong has his fair share of problems, this poisonous flower was born into an imperial family and has studied under great teachers. In addition, he has experienced rises and falls, which means that he can still control his emotion. Of the five characteristics of a wise person, he has intelligence, knowledge, and experience in spades. Itâs just his personality that leaves much to be desired. However, poisonous flowers can be extremely tricky to deal with. He might not grow to become an important person, but he is still a powerful opponent that we cannot afford to underestimate!â
He wasnât so naive as to believe that he had defeated Li Daohong just because he had managed to trick Li Daohong once. After all, he was acting from the shadows, while his opponent had been thrust into the limelight. Once his opponent had an opportunity to recollect himself, the situation would be very different.
Poisonous flowers were hard to deal with because no tactic was off-limits for them.
âHopefully he gets quashed to death by Holly Keenâs puppets,â Zhu Xianyao muttered.
âI think that will be hard,â Patelocke sighed. âGiven how long the battle has been going on for, itâs likely that it will end soon.â
Yes, the conclusion was indeed near.
It finally appeared that the battle was reaching its conclusion.
Even though Holly Keen had many puppets, Li Daohong had mastered many techniques. If they were to continue fighting, all that would happen was that more of their subordinates would die. If they had only suffered a few casualties, they might not have cared much, but they would definitely feel the effects of losing a large number of subordinates.
In particular, even though Li Daohongâs Dream Beauty Bloodline was proficient in controlling others, he still felt a pang of sorrow when he realized how many sacrificial warriors he had lost during the course of this battle.
Those sacrificial warriors could be considered part of his wealth.
Li Daohong was also feeling pangs of sorrow over the destruction of his puppets. Li Daohong could recover Origin Energy just by resting for a little bit, but all of his losses needed to be paid for with real money. How could he not feel sad when watching them get destroyed like that?
Finally, both parties settled the matter by leaving it unsettled.
A grudge had formed now between Li Daohong and Holly Keen.
Secretly, however, Li Daohong was quite aware of the possibility that Zhu Xianyao had set him up. He still didnât know that Su Chen had arrived yet, only believing that Zhu Xianyao was scheming against him. Holly Keen once again thought of the kid that had âsentâ him the puppet. No wonder he hadnât asked for money â he had been planning on taking it back in the first place. This matter wasnât over yet â after all, there were only a few human groups in the Origin Light Castle, making them easy to find.
Su Chen calmly put away the âscreenâ. âAlright, the showâs over. Everyone should get some rest; we have a long journey ahead of us tomorrow anyways.â
âSo thatâs the end of things?â Zhu Xianyao asked.
âOf course not,â Su Chen coldly chuckled. âThe days are still long. No need to be in such a hurry.â
The next morning, the trade group set out for Sky City.
Not long after they left, Li Daohong left for Sky City as well.
Shortly after that, Holly Keen left as well.
He had managed to discover that the brat who had given him the puppet was part of the Zhu Clanâs trade group.
Most frustratingly, that transmission puppet had reappeared amongst the Zhu Clanâs ranks. No one had even made an effort to try and hide it â brat, you really are quite arrogant!
Holly Keen wouldnât have been Holly Keen if he didnât follow along. After all, he was planning on finishing off both Li Daohong and the Zhu Clanâs servant anyways.
The Cloud-Piercing Shuttles flew for another three days.
After three days, they touched down in the Farsighted Plains.
The Farsighted Plains used to be incredibly hilly. One of the peaks was especially famous for being over a million feet tall. In ancient times, one could see very far from the top of this mountain, which was where the name âFarsightedâ came from. However, drastic changes in terrain over time were not uncommon. At some point in time, a few powerful experts had fought fiercely here, turning it into a patch of flatlands.
However, the sight that people admired the most here were the Immortal-Tread Clouds.
The Immortal-Tread Clouds were very unique clouds. They were not formed from condensed water vapor but from a special substance floating through the air. The material was extremely gentle but didnât tear easily. Apparently, it was possible to walk on top of them.
These clouds were produced in Harpy territory. The Harpies grew their unique Windbells, Snow Pears, Shadowless Flowers, and other plants on these clouds.
The Harpies were mostly vegetarian, and their aesthetic preferences made it so that these dainty flowers and plants were their main source of sustenance.
Iron Cliff said that it would have been strange if they were able to become physically powerful by eating this kind of food all day. The Harpies werenât physically weak for no reason.
Su Chen could understand somewhat. The early Intelligent Races didnât have cultivation techniques, so how would the Harpies fly if they ate too much? Being lightweight was foundational for being able to fly, so it was natural that the Harpies had sacrificed physical prowess for this ability.
This was also why the Harpies had gradually become more and more disadvantaged in battle â at a certain cultivation point, everyone learned to fly, and the Harpiesâ flight advantage greatly decreased. In the end, they were forced to rely on the floating castles.
But that was a digression.
Immortal-Tread Clouds were how the Harpies sustained themselves. The Origin Light Castle was considered to be at the front lines, so nothing was grown there. Here, however, large swathes of these Immortal-Tread Clouds could be seen everywhere, and normal Harpies were harvesting, watering, nourishing, and planting all kinds of vegetation on these clouds.
In some sense, they were like humans. They relied on hard manual labor to eke out a living. The only difference was that their food source was different. Even so, these two struggling races just couldnât seem to get along. This was probably because of xenophobia.
They flew past this agricultural region and continued to advance. After the majority of the day had passed, they suddenly heard a mysterious vibrating noise.
It was as if the earth itself was trembling.
Was it an earthquake?
They were all initially worried before they saw that the Harpies seemed totally nonchalant, so they could only suppress the anxiety in their hearts.
As they continued to advance, the vibrations grew louder and louder, as if there was a sheet of metal ringing right next to their ears.
Those Harpies all began to pull out earplugs. It seemed that they had been prepared a long time ago.
One item that the Harpies had sold ubiquitously were earplugs. Su Chen hadnât understood at the time why the Harpies needed these items in such great supply. Now, he finally understood.
As the vibrations grew closer and closer, the people on the Cloud-Piercing Shuttles finally figured out what the source of the rumblings came from.
The people on the shuttles had some guesses about what the source of the rumblings were, but they couldnât help but sigh and exclaim in amazement when they saw.