I Don't Agree to the Terms
Chapter 526 - 289: Abdication Rejected, New Turbulence Arises

Chapter 526: Chapter 289: Abdication Rejected, New Turbulence Arises

In the blink of an eye, five years had passed, and the entire Dalong had undergone tremendous changes.

The initially cluttered powers were now reduced to nine, but compared to the three factions of Liang Wang Jiang Lu, Prince Xi Luo Chuan, and Zhou Ding of Prince Yan, the rest were relatively weaker and less dominant.

These three factions divided sixty states of Dalong among themselves, leaving the other six factions with the remaining forty-eight states, and naturally, there were disparities in strength.

Among them, Zhou Ding rose to the top, claiming twenty-three states, followed by Luo Chuan, who garnered extensive support from influential families through the Ninth Grade Law, holding twenty-one states, while Jiang Lu ranked third with only seventeen states; there were indeed gaps between them.

One who acted swiftly naturally took quicker steps, and to catch up later required an opportunity, especially after the successful maritime activities in Xuanzhou; Jiang Lu was forced to allocate some of his efforts there but achieved significant results. Now, among the nine great warlords of the entire Dalong, if one were to say who was the richest, it would undoubtedly be the Liang Wang faction.

They were not only wealthy but also did not lack food, military supplies, and so on. With seventeen states, they had managed to support thirty million Daoist Soldiers, of which Jiang Lu himself commanded ten million, and the remaining twenty million were divided among his subordinate commanders—something others could hardly conceive of.

Therefore, this was able to stabilize the nine great warlords considerably; of course, the real reason for stability was mutual restraint.

Facing this situation, Gu Shanhai felt it was necessary to produce a Zhang Yi or Su Qin to execute a strategy of alliances just to break the current deadlock.

Over these five years, Gu Shanhai had refined the "Thirty-Six Stratagems", enhancing his Daoist Soldiers further.

In a balanced power situation, the stratagems for combating the enemy included creating something out of nothing, secretly crossing Chen Cang, watching the fire from the other side, smiling yet hiding a knife, a decoy in place of the real thing, and taking advantage of a situation to pilfer a goat.

In a position of absolute advantage, the winning strategies included deceiving the heavens to cross the sea, besieging Wei to save Zhao, killing with a borrowed knife, resting to await the weary, plundering a burning house, and creating noise in the east but striking in the west.

By then, the "Thirty-Six Stratagems" could be considered as cobbled together.

In these, Gu Shanhai had added numerous insights and abilities to serve as enhancements, especially his breakthrough in Divine Skills and the inspiration provided by various Arrays.

As numbers contain techniques and techniques embody numbers, the mutual generation and regulation of Yin and Yang are the crux. Techniques should not be predetermined; if set, they miss the mark.

Combining techniques and calculations was aimed at synchronizing with the corresponding military formations.

Gu Shanhai’s military formation also showed a glimpse of potential, since he had already copied the "Thirty-Six Stratagems"; it was only logical to copy the ancient "Eight Formation Map" as well.

However, he had still not found the corresponding core; Gu Shanhai could certainly be a core, but only as the primary one.

Because this set of "Eight Formation Map" was not just a basic formation like Luo Chuan’s idea, Gu Shanhai had bigger ambitions and higher demands.

The "Eight Formation Map" was named after heaven, earth, wind, cloud, dragon, tiger, bird, and snake, along with the central army comprising a total of nine major formations. The central army consisted of sixteen minor formations, while each of the eight surrounding formations included six minor formations, totaling sixty-four minor formations. In the eight formations, heaven, earth, wind, and cloud were "four uprights," and dragon, tiger, bird, and snake were "four oddities." Additionally, twenty-four formations were deployed at the rear for maneuverability.

That’s right, since Gu Shanhai planned to copy, it had to be a complete copy; otherwise, just having the name was of no use.

Gu Shanhai could serve as the core of the entire "Eight Formation Map," but not for the many nine major formations, sixty-four minor formations, four uprights, four oddities, and twenty-four rear formations.

Eventually, he turned his attention to the Demonic Qi that had followed him from Hero World.

Since leaving, it had become pitifully weak, almost starving. Thankfully, Gu Shanhai occasionally fed it a few Guardian Demons; otherwise, it would have dissipated long ago.

Once removed from Hero World, this element became like a motherless child, no different from a mere blade of grass.

Mainly because it was of little use to Gu Shanhai, it was somewhat neglected. The abilities it possessed were also present in Gu Shanhai’s Heart Demon Divine Skills, and due to the depletion of the Demonic Qi, the efficacy was even less effective. Because of its unique origin, Gu Shanhai kept it alive; otherwise, it would have been handled long ago.

Now it was perfect, divided into eight to serve as the core of the eight military formation pivots.

"Looking at it this way, it seems I could piece together eight Great Evil Demons?" Gu Shanhai suddenly thought, "Eight Formation Map"—fitting in eight Great Evil Demons seemed quite complementary, especially since his Heart Demon Dao Soldiers were indistinguishable in combat.

Additionally, the raw material was called Demonic Qi, which was indeed professionally aligned.

"Seems like I could give it a try?" Gu Shanhai pondered whether this would make them into Demon Soldiers and Demon Generals or Monster Soldiers and Monster Generals. Thinking this, his expression fell. Before coming to this world, he had envisioned commanding Yellow Turban Warriors, Dou Department Heavenly Generals, and so on—clearly virtuous Daoist Heavenly Divine Generals.

Why had it taken such a severe turn, giving him a sense of helplessness?

He actually didn’t want eight Great Evil Demons; the conditions were just too good, compelling him to follow the imitation. If it really came to fruition, the power of the military formation "Eight Formation Map" would definitely reach a higher level.

"As long as I am strong, whether I am handsome can wait." Gu Shanhai thought; being strong was a matter of circumstances, being handsome was for a lifetime, but he was not a genuine player. If he died, there wasn’t as strong a resurrection mechanism for him.