All Things Are Contracts

Chapter 206: Stalemate

In the endless cosmos, distances measured in light-years separated civilizations. Yet powerful civilizations still produced mighty beings who could traverse the universe in physical form.

Gods could easily destroy galaxies, but across countless star systems, even they couldn’t reach. A god’s avatar tore through space in a golden light, moving at speeds beyond causality, its destination the marked red star – the location of the Myriad Spirits Realm.

In the Myriad Spirits Realm, night had fallen. The Strategist sat in a pavilion like an ordinary human, his gaze fixed on the red moon and the star that the Goddess had become. In his eyes, he could see countless threads of starlight rising from the mortal world towards the bright moon. Though the threads were thin, their number was vast. From all corners of the world, wherever the stars shone, this mysterious power was converging towards the Illumination Goddess.

Watching this scene, the Strategist murmured to himself: “None of the past emperors could become gods, yet this little girl succeeded. Only true gods can absorb the power of people’s faith. They won’t allow a real god to be born in this world. She’s still too weak, even as a god, she’s just a small deity. To resolve this crisis, perhaps only…”

In the Heavenly Book world, Zhanyue naturally didn’t know about the great crisis the Illumination Goddess was about to face. He was currently with Yue Feipeng, resisting the Blue Hill army’s offensive. Under Yue Feipeng’s command, the Great Fortune army was incredibly strong, with every soldier fearless and eager to fight. At first, the Great Fortune army gained a significant advantage, not only securing the high ground but also dealing a heavy defeat to the Blue Hill army.

The first month was a great victory, the second month a draw, but by the third month, they were at a disadvantage.

In the military camp, all the commanders were frowning. They could sense that the Blue Hill army was exceptionally fierce this time, with high morale, completely different from before.

“What happened, Deputy General Li? I ordered you to flank from the right wing. Your troops are all elites. They didn’t have a numerical advantage, yet they routed you! This ruined my entire strategy,” Yue Feipeng sternly questioned. His plan had no flaws, it should have been a certain victory, yet it ended in a draw, and Li’s elite troops suffered heavy losses.

Li immediately admitted fault and explained: “This subordinate followed orders. Everything was normal at first, they indeed were no match for us. But suddenly, a fierce wind arose, stronger than I’ve ever seen. Our soldiers’ eyes were blinded by flying sand and stones. Our arrows couldn’t fly out, while theirs came with doubled force on the wind. I wanted to wait for the wind to stop, but it didn’t. In the end, we were driven back. Please punish me, General.”

“General,” another commander stepped forward, “Something is very wrong. Earlier, I led troops to set an ambush. The weather was fine, but suddenly there was a downpour, delaying our march. We couldn’t reach the ambush point on time. It feels like the heavens are favoring the Blue Hill army.”

“Don’t talk nonsense,” Yue Feipeng quickly rebuked, not wanting to shake the army’s morale.

Beside him, Zhanyue also frowned. Over these months, he could sense Yue Feipeng’s brilliant strategies, worthy of his title as a war god. Yet Blue Hill hadn’t been defeated by the offensive, instead dragging both sides into a war of attrition, due to too many unexpected variables. “Could the other side have someone like Archmage Liu Xiu?”

“General, I also encountered something strange earlier,” another commander reported. “I met the Blue Hill army on a narrow road and once again faced my old rival, Dugu Ling. In the past, we were evenly matched, neither able to defeat the other. But in our recent encounter, his strength suddenly increased dramatically. I was almost captured alive. Fortunately, loyal soldiers came to my rescue, saving me from disgrace. Thinking back, that sudden increase in strength didn’t seem like any martial art technique, but more like sorcery.”

Yue Feipeng frowned deeply. “Don’t speak of spirits and demons, or we won’t be able to fight this war. I understand your concerns. The priority now is to confirm whether these incidents you’ve encountered are just our bad luck or if someone is truly interfering.”

The military camp fell silent, morale low, unsure what to do.

“I’ll go,” Zhanyue suddenly stepped forward. He hadn’t forgotten his mission. If this stalemate continued, even if Great Fortune eventually won, it would be a pyrrhic victory, and he still wouldn’t complete his task.

“You?” Yue Feipeng looked at Zhanyue gratefully.

“I haven’t contributed much since joining the army, just delivered a few letters for some commanders. With my lightness skill, scouting the Blue Hill army for intelligence should be no problem. Besides, they probably don’t know me,” Zhanyue volunteered.

The commanders all nodded. They had witnessed Zhanyue’s unparalleled lightness skill these days, his ability to transmit information far surpassing other messengers.

“Very well, then I’ll trouble you with this task,” Yue Feipeng patted Zhanyue’s shoulder. For this intelligence-gathering mission, he couldn’t think of anyone more suitable than Zhanyue.

Dismissing everyone else, Yue Feipeng kept only Zhanyue.

“Take this, it’s a letter from your wife,” Yue Feipeng handed Zhanyue a letter.

Zhanyue eagerly opened the letter, which was indeed from Feng Xueqing. After reading it, he felt relieved. In the letter, Feng Xueqing spoke highly of Prince Yu. Her suggestions were always implemented by Prince Yu despite opposition. With Prince Yu’s full support, the plague was effectively controlled. She had faced several assassination attempts but easily thwarted them.

Zhanyue took out paper and pen, briefly described the situation on his end, and asked Yue Feipeng to send the letter back.

Yue Feipeng waited beside him, not interrupting until Zhanyue finished writing. Taking the letter, he smiled and said, “Young Master Zhan and Divine Doctor Feng’s relationship is truly good.”

Zhanyue smiled noncommittally and asked in return, “Has General Yue not married?”

Yue Feipeng said, “My wife… she passed away ten years ago.” His eyes were full of sorrow.

“I’m… I’m sorry, General. My condolences,” Zhanyue said apologetically.

“It’s nothing, it’s all in the past now,” Yue Feipeng invited Zhanyue to sit down and personally poured him a cup of wine.

“Let this cup of wine be a send-off for Young Master Zhan. Such a dangerous task shouldn’t fall to you, but right now, you are indeed the most suitable person. Consider this a favor I owe you. If you have any requests in the future, I won’t refuse,” Yue Feipeng said. Although he still didn’t know Zhanyue’s purpose, he knew they were on the same side.

“General is too kind. Don’t worry, even if it’s a dragon’s den or a tiger’s lair, I’m not afraid. I have my own ways to stay alive,” Zhanyue said. Even if there really were supernatural beings in the Blue Hill army, he wasn’t afraid. Now he had the world’s best lightness skill and had unlocked the earth traversing technique. In terms of escaping, he dared say he was second to none.

The next day, Zhanyue secretly left the camp alone. There might be enemy spies in the camp, so he left without alerting anyone.

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