Chapter 370: The Plot
"This is fine up to here; we'll see if the rest of the plot goes down the 'artsy-fartsy' route." Bai Mo recalled a novel he had read years ago, then uttered something Ramdo couldn't quite understand.
According to Bai Mo's calculations, if the Huaxia Federation truly made up its mind and mobilized all its power to capture someone, even Zhao Feiyan himself would have slim chances of escaping the country from the Huaxia interior, let alone his good-for-nothing younger brother.
With neither much wilderness survival skill nor any ability to guard against tracking and deduction, his whereabouts would be traced by following the vine to the melon within a day at most.
If the plot followed the "kneeling to reality" route, facing an enemy that had poured out its entire force, Zhao Feiling would absolutely not last three days before being tied up securely and sent back to Tianqing, turning it into a tragedy plotline.
However, if it followed the "defying fate" route, the Huaxia Federation, for various reasons—perhaps underestimation, perhaps being too busy—would only dispatch a search team whose combat strength was coincidentally only slightly higher than Zhao Feiling's, giving him a chance to turn the tables.
Then, through endless 'experience point' farming, Zhao Feiling would gradually grow stronger in battle, ultimately completing his comeback and overthrowing the Federation's evil rule.
But developments often turned out unexpectedly, and everything changed too quickly. After one piece of news, Zhao Feiling instantly became an insignificant nobody, of no concern to anyone.
"Three months from now, he will face the Zhao family in a duel to the death, offering the Imperial Dragon Art in his possession as compensation for the Huaxia Federation's non-interference in this duel?"
When the Huaxia Federation's diplomatic department delivered this confidential document to the Tianqing authorities, they never imagined that Li Bida would be so direct, like a street thug arranging a fight, constantly initiating personal duels to the death—an act utterly unbefitting a nation's supreme leader.
On the other hand, no one wanted to know how insane people could get on the verge of death. It was entirely possible for some lunatic to drag an entire city down with them as a burial offering before dying, and that was something no one wanted to see.
"This is how it should be—swiftly settling scores! Care little for life and death, if you're not convinced, then fight!" However, the high-ranking members of the Martial Arts Symposium expressed full understanding of Li Bida's intentions.
This super-force organization, detached from the center of power, uncharacteristically voiced their unanimous support on such a matter.
Unlike Spirit Cultivators, who relied on contemplation and explored their path forward step by step through experimentation, the growth in strength for martial artists often required extensive combat to temper their will, or to grope their way forward by instinct. Therefore, their worldview was comparatively more idealistic, emphasizing the clarity of one's will.
What the Federation sought was merely to reach a deal with the other party, which was why they planned to send the culprit as a goodwill offering. And the confidential document sent by Li Bida rendered Zhao Feiling utterly worthless.
However, Zhao Feiling was still unaware that, due to the aggrieved party Li Bida's single thought, his escape had turned into an ordinary 'life experience' trip.
The imagined plot of large numbers of military and police, along with cultivators who could fly and burrow through the earth, converging from both land and air in a dragnet encirclement, would not happen.
The off-road vehicle continued north without the slightest pause. Following his younger brother's instructions, Zhao Feiling had proactively discarded all means of contact before the escape began to prevent tracking and geolocation. Thus, from the Zhao family's perspective, he was temporarily lost contact.
Yet, at this moment, no one in the Zhao family had the presence of mind to look for a prodigal son who had lost contact. The duel declaration from Li Bida had brought a gamble that would decide the family's fate, immediately making them quite uneasy.
"Are they really going to stand by and do nothing?" After receiving the latest news, Zhao Feiyan immediately returned to the Zhao family mansion to discuss countermeasures with his father, Zhao Lingfei.
"What other choice would those self-preservation and profit-driven fellows make? They aren't the ones dueling. As long as they watch a show and get what they need, why wouldn't they be happy about it? Though, perhaps it's not that simple; those who care about their reputation won't do nothing."
"Li Bida is from Huaxia, and he's a pure-blooded Huaxian. Nationalistic hatred can't be incited, so there's no way to create public pressure to force him to give up. Or perhaps we should pay a visit to Old Li, that spellcaster?" As a middle-aged man already past sixty, Zhao Lingfei was more accustomed to resolving problems through non-military means.
"Why can't we just directly slay that bastard, instead of using these underhanded methods?! Big Brother already ran over his whole family anyway, so this time we can conveniently eradicate the root." Zhao Feiyan's response was clearly much more aggressive. With them already stomping all over them, he believed they should honorably beat the opponent to death.
"Feiyan, this isn't a game. You only have one life. The true path is to obtain the greatest benefit at the smallest cost. Reputation and pride are merely external things. No matter how despicable your methods are, or how many tricks you pull, as long as you win and still possess sufficient power, others will still fawn over you like pugs and sing your praises.
But if you only achieve a Pyrrhic victory, severely injuring yourself just to kill a piece of trash, losing your potential for future development, perhaps public opinion will elevate you for a short time. But once the fervor fades, what will be left of you? Merely a cripple. Are you content to live the rest of your life under my lingering influence?
Once you die, the other party will become a storybook hero of revenge, and you, what will you be? Nothing. I don't want to see a white-haired person send off a black-haired person. Feiling isn't making any progress either. With so much family wealth..."
"Only the living can casually rewrite history; the dead won't even get a chance to defend themselves. Afterwards, do some propaganda, and in a few years, invest in a few movies, stuff more money into the hands of screenwriters and directors, romanticize it and film it. Eventually, you'll become a hero.
As for those dirty dealings behind the scenes, with the movie creating a preconceived notion, how many people would bother to scrutinize it? People nowadays are actually very lazy. Compared to thinking, they prefer gossip or watching things that don't require any brainpower."
Zhao Lingfei spoke at great length to the son he placed great hopes on, hoping he would accept his own philosophy.
"Father, this..." Although Zhao Feiyan was arrogant and usually domineering, he was ultimately just a young man in his early twenties. His worldview hadn't become so cynical yet, and with so much dubious advice from his father suddenly appearing, he still felt a bit unaccustomed.
"Go back and think carefully about what I've said."
...
"Master, Council Member Chen's people have sent some things. They ask that you sign for them personally." After Zhao Feiyan emerged from the study, the old butler, who had been waiting outside the door, gently knocked to signal.
"Things? It seems they don't want to make things too difficult." Zhao Lingfei roughly guessed their intention.
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