Chapter 45: The Will of Heaven, The Dark Shadow

Inside the pavilion, four men were dressed as ancient generals of the Great Xia dynasty, and Leona, integrated with dark gold armor, looked every bit a female general, not to mention the terrifying giant crocodile in the cage.

If any other Star Blue inhabitants saw this, they would likely think they had transmigrated into a cultivation or fantasy world.

"If you continue to act as you did before, rashly bringing this old official before outsiders to discuss matters, then this old official believes we will not be able to talk about anything at all."

Pan Zhen glanced at her upon hearing this, poured a cup of tea from the table, pushed it across, and replied indifferently.

"What is that supposed to mean!"

Seeing this, Leona sat down opposite Pan Zhen, clutching her teacup, and looked at him in incomprehension: "What on earth did I do wrong again? Could it be that helping Lieyang acquire benefits also displeased you?"

Previously, she couldn't understand why she had accomplished such a huge feat, yet Pan Zhen didn't offer a single word of praise.

She had thought it was because of something else, but now his meaning could not be more obvious.

She genuinely didn't understand; in his eyes, was everything she did wrong?

Half of a divine body's worth of materials!

How many total reserves did the entire Lieyang have? Ten? Eight? At the very most!

"You did nothing wrong in striving for benefits for Lieyang."

Hearing this, Pan Zhen shook his head, acknowledging Leona's achievements first, which slightly eased her expression.

"However, your overly rash contact with me today made it impossible for me to refuse in plain sight, yet it caused Lieyang to lose even greater benefits." He said, shifting the topic.

Leona became even more puzzled: "Refuse? Why refuse? And what do you mean by losing even greater benefits?"

A transaction.

Lieyang gained a powerful God of War, or half of a third-generation divine body's worth of materials.

Star Blue directly gained a human God of War, a reliable Super-God.

This was clearly a win-win situation; how on earth had Lieyang suffered even greater losses?

"If it hadn't been for the sake of preserving your dignity as Lieyang's supreme god at the time, if you hadn't directly placed me in front of Old Du and the others, even if you had consulted with me in private..."

Pan Zhen looked at Leona, his voice detached: "For Lieyang, I would rather Star Blue gained a powerful yet foolish peak beast-body, or an additional quasi-third-generation alongside a few first and second-generation ones, than have them gain another third-generation Super-God!"

"This..."

Leona's brows instantly locked tightly: "What kind of logic is that?"

Star Blue growing stronger was bad for Lieyang.

What kind of ghost logic was this?

"But I came here to help Star Blue!" It wasn't that she didn't understand a word, but rather that she found it hard to believe.

"And didn't you see? The growth rate of the Power of the Galaxy is astonishing. Shouldn't we in Lieyang be thinking about making friends with him, instead of plotting against him?"

Leona gripped her teacup tightly, speaking some of her innermost thoughts.

The atmosphere inside the pavilion was markedly serious. The other three Lieyang warriors stood quietly to the side, while as for Ton, locked inside a special cage, they harbored no concerns about information leakage.

"It is precisely because he is growing too fast." Pan Zhen said in a deep voice.

"Originally, I didn't think he would grow this fast."

"Or perhaps, even if he grew this fast, it wouldn't have mattered."

He looked at Leona earnestly: "But the unique insights he has repeatedly demonstrated, especially the height of his thinking and the clarity of his train of thought during this transaction... will all massively accelerate the growth rate of both him and Star Blue!"

"So you're saying I should trip him up?" Leona's expression was expressionless.

"No one told you to trip him up." Pan Zhen looked at her indifferently.

"Then it's still about helping, right?" Leona spread her hands.

"But help is not the same as help." Pan Zhen raised his teacup and cast a faint glance at the silver-armored warrior beside him.

"Your Majesty the Supreme God, let me give you an analogy."

The silver-armored warrior had a stern appearance with a trace of a contemptuous smile at the corner of his mouth, and he looked at Leona as he said: "Take Star Blue's current situation, it is like someone about to sink into a quagmire...

If you rescue him when he is almost entirely engulfed by the quagmire, he will be endlessly grateful to you and remember your kindness for a lifetime.

If you pull him tightly just as he is completely sinking so that he can at least expose his head to breathe, he will be endlessly grateful to you and even promise to offer you everything he possesses, as long as you guarantee he remains alive.

But if you warn him before he steps into the quagmire, or give him the ability not to sink into the quagmire at all, he will only say one word to you: thank you."

As his voice fell, the pavilion fell into absolute silence.

Only the sound of Pan Zhen lightly sipping his tea drifted in the mountain wind.

"So according to Xuan Tianji's logic," Leona looked calmly at Pan Zhen: "General Pan Zhen, you mean that I shouldn't have traded with Ge Xiaolun, allowing him and Star Blue to possess the ability not to fall into the quagmire, for fear that he and Star Blue might not surrender everything they have to us?

Even if I secured a massive amount of resources for Lieyang in the short term, it's still a loss in the long run.

Is this lesson today meant to teach me how to be utilitarian?"

Since matters had reached this point, she naturally understood everything.

As for who the quagmire represented, she wasn't a fool; of course she had known for a long time.

Naturally, she didn't mock it excessively.

After all, she also knew that the quagmire itself was not brought by Lieyang.

"This old official is not asking you to always hold a utilitarian mindset," Pan Zhen replied: "You are in Star Blue, representing the Lieyang Heavenly Dao. When the people of Star Blue encounter a crisis, you can display your abilities and charm, and genuinely help those you wish to help...

As for the other matters of the Heavenly Dao Plan, there is no need for you to worry.

However, I must make it clear to you: from now on, you may give a man a fish, but you must not teach him how to fish."

He took a sip of clear tea, resembling a teacher giving a lecture to a student.

Leona fell silent upon hearing this. In truth, she was Pan Zhen's student.

Yet this was the first time she had heard Pan Zhen speak with such blunt candor.

"But if something similar happens again in the future, and Ge Xiaolun offers benefits that Lieyang cannot refuse?" She thought for a moment, letting out a scoff: "I suppose I should just agree to nothing at all..."

Clearly, this was her first time achieving merit for Lieyang, where a single transaction equaled over a thousand years of Lieyang's heritage, yet not only did she receive no praise, she instead heard all this filthy maneuvering.

She was simply speechless.

Pan Zhen paused, letting out a soft hum: "I only said you should consult with me in private beforehand next time... Besides, do you think the Power of the Galaxy will encounter such a fortuitous encounter again? Even if he does, how many could there be?"

Although the growth rate of the Power of the Galaxy was somewhat unexpected, and this fortuitous encounter was also surprising.

This did not change the fact that Star Blue's current plight had not fundamentally altered.

According to his calculations, without a thousand years of growth for the Power of the Galaxy and Star Blue, and without the Star Blue people enduring in hell for centuries, they still wouldn't be able to rise above their circumstances.

Leona fell silent.

Although Ge Xiaolun's fortuitous encounter this time was astonishing, a fortuitous encounter was just that; it wouldn't happen continuously.

Reason told her that Ge Xiaolun and Star Blue would basically never encounter such a good thing again in the future.

Facing the Taotie Legion, facing a genuine interstellar war, especially with the Death God Carl standing behind the Nether Galaxy.

That single man and sword of Ge Xiaolun's, sharp though they were, could not play too large a role.

Even with the addition of a third-generation Su Xiaoli.

Not long ago she had bantered about the poverty of Star Blue, but now, although a third-generation Su Xiaoli had been added, matters seemed to have returned to the starting point.

"Hah, chattering endlessly about the Heavenly Dao Plan, just waiting for their country to fall and their homes to be destroyed so you can step in as saviors and rightfully seize their nest under a justified banner~" Leona suddenly twitched the corner of her mouth.

Pan Zhen calmly lowered his head to drink his tea, refusing to bicker with a child.

"Yet, Your Majesty the Supreme God," Xuan Tianji at the side curved the corner of his mouth, pointing to the distant scenery: "Look at how beautiful Star Blue is. Do you not wish for more Lieyang citizens to also live in such picturesque scenery?

You serve as a god in Lieyang; why can't you let other Lieyang people come over here to serve as gods?"

"Heh... If there is nothing else, I'll be leaving first."

Leona twitched the corner of her mouth, losing all interest in further debate.

She stood up, golden light surging beneath her feet, and leaped toward the distance.

Pan Zhen shook his head with an amused air, paying no mind to Leona's youthful impulsiveness.

"Pan Zhen..."

In the next second, however, his expression shifted, and his gaze suddenly locked onto a spot not far up the mountain path.

Xuan Tianji and the others also changed expressions, hastily raising their guard as they looked over: "Who goes there!"

A figure in black robes stood right there, wearing a skull mask with a dark complexion.

Pan Zhen glanced at it, his gaze shifting slightly.

It spoke in a deep voice: "Pan Zhen, the crocodile god Ton is my god Carl's..."

"Two sets of third-generation divine body materials, take him if you want him." Pan Zhen blew on his tea leaves, speaking indifferently.