Chapter 414: Conscience of those in power Translator: ChibiGeneral Editor: ChibiGeneral Yan Yong got out of Dang Hun palace, after getting through some twisted and dark tunnels, he arrived on Dang Hun mountain. After seeing the crystal pink mountain, Yan Yong blew out a breath of turbid air, his fear and pressure had decreased greatly after leaving Fang Yuan. After moving on the mountain for a while, he was finally discovered by his tribemates. "Oh, our great and honorable leader, our hero, you are here!" Some rockmen cheered. "Please let me kiss your foot, to express my adoration of you." A few rockmen kneeled on the ground. "Big hero, big hero! Your courage is greater than heaven, your guts is thicker than the earth." Some tiny rockmen formed into groups and shouted loudly. Yan Yong laughed, no one knew how bitter he felt. The cheers he heard were extremely joyous, there were many tribesmen around him, gathering together, but he felt extremely lonely at this point. He looked at these tribesmen, these smiling rockmen, they were all going to die three months later. Dying of exhaustion after digging the river. But what could he do? From what the other rockmen saw, Dang Hun mountain’s victory was glorious, it was worth celebrating. But only he knew, this was only a game manipulated in the dark by that immortal. The cruel and chilling truth made him understand clearly that the sacrifice of those rockmen, and this difficult victory, it was so laughably pathetic, they were powerless. He led his tribesmen and gained more victories, but at the same time his fear towards Fang Yuan grew. "That immortal, he is a demon! His heart is harder and colder than us rockmen, his strength is greater than the weight of the mountains. I am so weak, what can I do? Resistance means death. I admit my cowardice, I am really afraid of dying. I have not slept enough, I am only a hundred and eighty years old." The moment Yan Yong thought about Fang Yuan’s appearance, his heart was filled with terror. His lingering bit of conscience was torturing him. He knew: he was about to send his tribesmen to death personally. He was being grilled by his conscience, every praise from his tribesmen was like a whip, causing his heart to be full of pain and scars. "Our esteemed, beloved tribe leader, you are finally back! Everyone’s waiting." The rockmen gave way to Yan Yong, as he walked unobstructed towards higher ground. "My tribesmen, these three days, our tribe has grown by many times. Our conquest has gotten us glorious results. But such victory is insufficient. Are you all willing to continue following me, towards a brighter future?" Yan Yong looked down at his tribesmen and shouted loudly. The rockmen used the loudest cheer they could muster to express their hundred and twenty percent support towards Yan Yong. Yan Yong nodded, he had expected such an outcome. Among the rockmen, there were no outliers or knowledgeable old rockmen. During the few intense battles, they had "gloriously" sacrificed themselves. The remaining rockmen were all newborn, they had a simple mind. As for the remaining old rockmen, they were all hardcore supporters of Yan Yong, his loyal worshippers. Yan Yong patiently waited for the cheers to stop before continuing: "These three days, I had been considering — how do we deal with the escaped immortal. Immortals have immortal essence, thus they are able to control the fox army, and have terrifying strength. He must have retreated to the lake at the north area, or hid in east area’s fire pit. We cannot allow him to recover." "Tribe leader is right!" "Tribe leader is too smart, we cannot allow that evil immortal to recover his immortal essence." "When that accursed demon recovers his strength, he will definitely find trouble with us rockmen!" "But what do we do now? The lake and fire pit are both dangerous areas. Even us rockmen cannot last long there. And these two areas are so wide, who knows where the immortal escaped to." Everyone was speaking as the scene turned noisy. Yan Yong interrupted everyone’s discussions, shouting: "That’s why, I thought of the only solution. We will use soil to fill the fire pit and lake, that way, the immortal will be unable to recover his immortal essence!" "Oh god, that is an insane idea!" At once, some rockmen shouted. "My great tribe leader, the lake is so wide, it causes people to stare in amazement. The fire pit has a fatal temperature, how can we use soil to fill it? That is impossible." An old rockmen immediately argued. Yan Yong stared at this old rockmen deeply, remembering him to heart. This rockmen dared to question him, it showed that his idolization was not deep enough, thus he shall get the heaviest and toughest job later, working to death. At this time, another old rockmen said: "We cannot do this forcefully, I have a solution. Maybe we can dig out a river and direct the lake water to the fire pit, using water to neutralize fire, that will be easier." Yan Yong’s killing intent rose even more. This old rockmen was very intelligent, he was a bigger threat than the old rockmen who rebuked him. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺 He immediately decided in this heart, he was going to send this old rockmen to a defense mission. He shall be killed by the fox army, this threat has to be eliminated! Yan Yong praised this old man plainly, shouting: "That is exactly my idea, we have to dig a river and direct the water over to end the fire. The immortal will have no place to recover immortal essence! Actually, white stone old tribe leader taught me before dying, he said that the water at the north and the fire at the east were all done by that evil male immortal. That is the source of his power, just like how we rockmen eat soil." "So white stone old tribe leader predicted this." "White stone old tribe leader, as expected of our philosopher." "White stone old tribe leader was already nine hundred and ninety-eight years old, of course he knew a lot." All the rockmen nodded, expressing their agreement with white stone old tribe leader, but also felt deep pity and anguish towards his death. Rockmen sleep for a long time, they have little interaction with each other. This sense of distance and mystery caused the deceased white stone old tribe leader’s knowledge to feel extremely profound. Using a phrase from Earth, if white stone old tribe leader could hear this in the afterlife, he might jump out of his coffin in anger. But unfortunately, he was completely killed by Fang Yuan, his soul was not spared, broken down on Dang Hun mountain by Fang Yuan. The essence landed on the mountain, forming a gutstone. Whether this gustone was smashed by a rockmen, or Fang Yuan himself, that would be an eternal mystery. After discussing, the rockmen agreed that Yan Yong should be the leader, overseeing the digging to connect the water and fire. Fang Yuan hid in the background, looking at this scene secretly. After seeing the finalized plan, he ordered little Hu Immortal. The land spirit released a trace of Dang Hun mountain’s power, and the rockmen felt their soul tremble, they got very dizzy. Many young rockmen fainted on the spot. "Oh no, let’s hurry and get out. Dang Hun mountain is going to attack!" Yan Yong said, as he left his tribesmen away from Dang Hun mountain. They did not return to their original home, but instead got to the north and east area in a grand fashion. In Dang Hun mountain, Fang Yuan looked expressionlessly at these leaving rockmen using the smoke cloud. "Master, have you heard of the story of the rockmen?" Little Hu Immortal’s tail was swaying as she spoke meekly. Fang Yuan laughed lightly: "You want to urge me to use soft tactics with the rockmen?" "Master is so smart." Little Hu Immortal’s large eyes were shining. "Heh, it seems you are not too familiar with this. Often, the power of fear and hatred surpasses gratitude greatly. Back then, when Fang Yuan found out that there was a group of rockmen, he was overjoyed. The rockmen lived underground, they ate soil as food and were skilled at digging. A large ground of rockmen could even build and underground city deep in the ground. Rockmen could excavate resources for the blessed land’s owner, they were excellent slaves. Many Gu Immortals want to buy rockmen and move them into their own blessed land. For Hu Immortal blessed land, because of Dang Hun mountain, and provided it had enough souls, just one rockman can use the gutstones to breed into a large clan. Fang Yuan could use this to mass produce rockmen and engage in slave trade with other Gu Immortals. Back then, Hu Immortal brought all these rockmen in with the same intentions. It was true, rockmen only succumbed to soft tactics. Most of the rockmen were stubborn and tough, warrior not afraid to die. Thus, many Gu Immortals have to use kindness and benefits to slowly use these rockmen and maximise their worth. Hu Immortal used such a method. But Fang Yuan did not adopt this. It was too gentle. He wanted squeeze them dry, to gain the most benefits! This world’s competition is so cruel, not only did man compete with each other, they also had to deal with disasters and calamities, who knows how many heroes had fallen to floods. So what if you are a Gu Immortal? If you did not arm yourself and make use of every resource you had to strengthen yourself, Hu Immortal’s demise would be the best example. A demonic path member has to make the best of his time, considering even the small bit of benefit, taking whatever he can and make himself stronger! "Anyone in power has to understand: Rules, laws, friendship and morals, these are all tools to squeeze out benefits. Leniency and conscience, cruelty and hatred, they are all the same." Fang Yuan laughed coldly in his heart. After wasting so much time with the rockmen, there were only seven months left to the sixth calamity. The lake at the north, fire pit at the east, they were all scars left by previous calamities, weak spots of the blessed land. When earthly calamities occur, they would be the weakest link. A team is only as strong as its weakest player. The weight a chain can hold up depends on the most fragile section. "So what if I am hated, detested, and scolded by countless people?" "If this world was so simple such that hatred, loathe, and curses work, why would I still need strength?" The most important thing was digging the river as soon as possible, to help the blessed land recover as much as it could, it did not matter how many rockmen died in the process. Since Dang Hun mountain was here, he just had to capture a few souls and there would be an uncountable number of rockmen produced!