northernbook Chapter 400 is the same.
Chapter 400 is the same.
The wind is no longer hot; a chill suddenly rises from the depths of the earth, and the faint coolness foreshadows that autumn is already halfway over.
When Zhong Ming realized that this was in the south, where the temperature was generally much higher than in the Yelanjiang area, summer had already passed, and a slight chill in the air meant that late autumn was approaching.
Of course, it could also be caused by someone's resentful gaze.
"Fang Qianqian, it's good enough that you have a place to stay, what are you being picky about?"
"This castle, only half-built? You gave the order?" Fang Qianqian was completely listless, a sign that her cultivation had gone wrong.
"Yep."
"Then you really should fix half of it! Why is half of the floor in my room good and the other half leaking? I was meditating when a gust of cold wind blew up from the cracks in the floor tiles and froze half of my butt."
He was too embarrassed to say that he felt a chill run down his spine, and the spiritual energy circulating in his dantian almost flew out.
"Oh, you can change rooms then, find a room that's been repaired."
"What are you going to use to judge? Do you want me to test you with my butt every day?" Fang Qianqian's protest was ignored by Zhong Ming, who didn't even bother to put on a sarcastic expression.
Zhong Ming looked at the militiamen marching in neat formation and nodded. "Everyone, take a break. Very good. You all did a great job this time."
The workers put down their stools, sledgehammers, and round tables...
There's no way around it. The cultivators in the logistics department are happy for a month if they get a magic weapon, so don't even ask what it is. These people, who may be limited by their talents and can only stay in the mid-stage of Qi Refining for their entire lives, how could they have military merit points to exchange for expensive protective magic weapons?
Shield cultivators are the most expensive cultivators to cultivate.
Shields and armor were unaffordable for most people; all they could use were random items found during the chaos and their own bodies.
"Alright, let me emphasize this again: when fighting, don't let sentimentality get in the way. Use the bodies of your comrades if you can. The bodies of high-level cultivators are much harder than the tables in your hands; they might even be able to block some spells. Now, disperse and rest."
After saying all this, Zhong Ming finally had time to turn around and face Fang Qianqian, who was complaining.
"Why are you looking at me? My butt is frozen stiff too. If you ask me, this counts as a work injury."
“You’re just like them.” Zhong Ming pointed to the workers outside who were doing “gymnastics” to loosen up their muscles.
"Me, just like them?" Fang Qianqian pointed to her face, repeating incredulously, "Are you kidding me? Me, the number one playboy in the camp, the battalion commander's brother-in-law, just like them?"
“Yes, the same.” Zhong Ming’s nonchalant attitude only fueled Fang Qianqian’s anger.
"How could I possibly be like them?"
"It's the same for everyone. They are very unwilling to accept defeat, but they are powerless to do anything about it. They don't even dare to say it out loud. They can only complain about this and that to vent their emotions."
Zhong Ming has seen far too many people like this these days.
Fang Qianqian didn't deny it; instead, she loudly questioned, "And then what? If I don't vent, am I supposed to suffocate here? Grow a demon in my heart? Or go and fight that person with a knife... ugh, I mean, go and die?"
"You know how to beat him, you've always known."
Zhong Ming took a deep breath and recalled the scenes that storytellers often mentioned. The lord frowned, not knowing what to do. The strategist beside him offered three options: superior, middle and inferior.
"I have three strategies: the best, the middle, and the worst. The best strategy is to cultivate diligently, seek opportunities, find treasure lands to hone combat skills, and while I am still young and my blood and energy are abundant and my meridians are unobstructed, seize every second to enter the Foundation Establishment stage, condense the Golden Core, and forge the Nascent Soul. There is nothing in the world that cannot be accomplished... The middle strategy is to smooth relations with the dynasty, bring treasures and spirit stones, find the Grand Judge of the Military Court, and try to convict him of treason. In the courtroom, I will debate with the scholars and deliver a verdict that pleases the people."
At this point, Zhong Ming suddenly paused. That's why they say the lord never chooses the best strategy. Everyone knows the best strategy; the difficult path is always the one less traveled.
"What's the next best option?"
"The worst option? You want to hear about the worst option? The worst option is to fire a cannon over there, blast them and their prison to smithereens, and then become fugitives." Zhong Ming suddenly laughed. "Of course, you'll most likely be executed by slow slicing, and you won't be able to run more than a few steps."
Before the verdict is handed down, the other party is an ally, no matter how serious their crime. The shells are... only a deterrent. Only shells that haven't left the barrel are threatening. Shells that have left the barrel are evidence that you have committed a capital crime.
Fang Qianqian suddenly deflated. What could he possibly know? Debate with a group of scholars? Did he even deserve that?
Without the right path and without a way out, one only suffers misery.
"Fang Qianqian, I'm asking you, what are your desires?"
"Desire? Desire is to eat well, drink well, have fun, and for my sister to be healthy and live a long life... a thousand years."
Zhong Ming held up a finger and waved it in front of him. "No, the desire I'm talking about is real desire, strong desire. Your desire is to kill those raiders, leave no one alive, sentence them all to death, and you will carry it out."
Fang Qianqian suddenly felt that Zhong Ming was terrifying. His expression was so natural when he said these things. That's what he thought, but... he probably thought that too.
"Yes...I guess so."
"And what about your suffering? Your suffering can't do that. It will trap you in a long, inescapable, and inescapable torment. The other path, the path of diligent cultivation and practice, is also full of suffering. You don't want it, you refuse it, right?"
Fang Qianqian remained silent, unsure of what to say, but perhaps he was right.
"Then you have to realize that the pain of the former is much stronger and more intense than that of the latter. Between two evils, choose the lesser. Do I need to explain this principle to you?"
“I can’t do it,” he shook his head frantically. “I can’t do it. I can do it today, but I’ll slack off tomorrow. I can’t keep doing this forever…”
“Recite this principle to yourself every day until you become ‘lazy’ before you start practicing, and you’re too lazy to remind yourself of it anymore, so you just start practicing directly.”
Zhong Ming ignored him and went about his own plans.
......
At this moment, the battalion commander stepped into darkness.
From the deep darkness, an aged voice came from the right, "Why did they do this?"
Another young voice came from the left, "Because there are definitely good things in this year's grand competition, some people are determined to get them and have bribed them."
The old man's voice asked again, "Who is behind this?"
The young man said, "Whoever wants it, whoever is suitable for it, whoever has the desire for it, that's who it is."
The old man added, "All those who make a move wear white gloves; no one knows what lies beneath."
The young man was silent for a moment, then suddenly changed the subject and said, "Perhaps we've all been wrong."
He chuckled. "Perhaps, the superficial facts are their ultimate goal."