215 Stop Trying, You Can’t Get Out

After hearing Lin Ran’s answer, Liu Ruxi’s expression darkened.

“In that case, we can only fight.”

As Liu Ruxi spoke, she slowly raised her hand. Only then did Lin Ran realize that her weapon was a soft sword that was usually hidden in the belt of the armor.

But was this weapon suitable for fighting on the battlefield?

Lin Ran had a question in his mind, but he didn’t think too much about it. With a thought, he put the Yin-Yang Sword back into the Divine Sword Technique Manual. Then, he raised his hands and chuckled. “Don’t be in a hurry to fight. I think we can still negotiate.”

Liu Ruxi tilted her head in confusion. “About what?”

“Tell me about your plan.”

Lin Ran said sincerely, “Let the Heavenly Saint Dynasty unify the world… Is this really a good outcome?”

Liu Ruxi narrowed her eyes and didn’t say anything, as if she didn’t understand what Lin Ran meant.

“Other than the Heavenly Saint Dynasty and Great Yong, how many other countries are there in the world?”

Lin Ran asked without rhyme or reason. At the same time, he calmly calmed his internal energy.

“There are a total of seven large dynasties. In addition to the Heavenly Saint Dynasty and the Great Yong Dynasty, there are also the Yunqiu Dynasty, Hetian Dynasty, Wunuo Dynasty, Hualuo Dynasty, and Dalou Dynasty.”

Liu Ruxi replied without thinking, “Including the small affiliated countries, there are about 30 of them. Why are you asking?”

Lin Ran didn’t answer. Instead, he continued to ask, “If we take over all these countries, how many territories will the Heavenly Saint Dynasty have? How many people will there be? How many things do we have to deal with every day?”

Liu Ruxi fell silent. She already knew what Lin Ran was trying to say.

Lin Ran could tell what Liu Ruxi was thinking, but he didn’t seem to care. He continued, “Not long ago in the Heavenly Saint Dynasty, a king rebelled.”

“If the territory expands by ten or even a hundred times, what more terrifying thing will happen?”

“We have cocoons.”

Liu Ruxi replied in a hoarse voice, “These cocoons will fight for the Heavenly Saint Dynasty!”

“What if these cocoons cause trouble?”

Lin Ran sneered and replied, “You’ve already solved their flaws. Without that pill, they will no longer be controlled by anyone. Are you confident you can restrict hundreds of thousands of grandmasters?”

“I can lie to them and give them some other pills, telling them that if they don’t take it, they’ll die.”

Liu Ruxi replied quickly, as if she had already thought of this solution. However, her face was a little pale because she knew that it wasn’t the safest solution.

Any lie would be exposed eventually. Even if Liu Ruxi could delay that day, she could not live forever.

After she died, this lie would bring about a calamity to the entire Heavenly Saint Dynasty!

“This plan is only temporary.” Lin Ran pointed out mercilessly.

He knew that what he said would trigger all the anger that Liu Ruxi had been suppressing for decades, but this was the only way to settle this fight peacefully. He hoped that this angry fire could awaken the trace of goodness that Liu Ruxi had hidden away in her heart.

Liu Ruxi’s face darkened and she did not speak. Her head was slightly lowered, and her eyes were hidden under her willow-like eyebrows. No one could tell what she was thinking.

However, it was not difficult to guess what she was thinking at this moment. What she had persisted for decades had been proven to be a mistake from the beginning. At this moment, she couldn’t possibly be in a good mood.

“Mother, you’ve neglected the complexity of the human heart.”

The empress’s voice suddenly sounded. Lin Ran was stunned. He turned around and saw that the empress was still standing in the same position as before.

“What’s wrong with you? Didn’t I tell you to run?”

Lin Ran asked in a low voice. After he secretly gestured to the empress to run just now, he focused all his attention on Liu Ruxi.

He thought that the empress had already hidden in a safe place. He did not expect her to be here all this time!

The empress ignored Lin Ran and looked at Liu Ruxi as she continued, “Mother, I know that you’re doing all this for the Heavenly Saint Dynasty, but have you thought about whether this is really a good thing for the Heavenly Saint Dynasty?”

Liu Ruxi remained silent.

The empress sighed and took half a step forward to stand beside Lin Ran. “Mother, stop. Forget everything here. We can go back…”

“Don’t call me Mother!”

Liu Ruxi suddenly screamed, and the aura of the sixth level of the Senior Grandmaster Realm erupted!

Lin Ran’s expression changed and he quickly reached out to pull the empress behind him. The aura of the sixth level of the Senior Grandmaster Realm was nothing to him, but it might not be the case for the empress, whose cultivation was not high.

“Your mother is dead!”

Liu Ruxi’s eyes were bloodshot as she shouted hysterically, “She was already dead the day she was abandoned by your father!”

The empress was stunned when she heard this. “Mother, what are you talking about? When did Father abandon you?”

Hearing this, the hysterical Liu Ruxi suddenly calmed down. Then, a bleak smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “Didn’t you ask me why I stayed in Great Yong?”

“Aren’t you here to use the people of Great Yong to complete your cocoon experiment that will cost many lives?”

From the conversation between Lin Ran and Liu Ruxi just now, the empress could roughly guess what her mother was doing.

“Of course not.”

Liu Ruxi smiled, and there was a hint of sadness in her eyes. “Nearly ten thousand people in the Heavenly Saint Dynasty are executed every year. That number is enough for me to do experiment.”

The empress was even more puzzled. “Then why are you staying in Great Yong?”

“I told you, I was abandoned by your father.”

Liu Ruxi replied indifferently, as if she was talking about something unimportant. “Back then, when the Heavenly Saint and the Great Yong Dynasty engaged in war, I led the troops to join the battle. In the end, the 3,000 remaining troops were encircled by hundreds of thousands of people from the Great Yong Dynasty.”

“We sacrificed dozens of people before finally sending out the message to ask for help. However, your father was worried that it was a trap set up by Great Yong, so he didn’t send reinforcements.”

The empress’s heart sank. “Then you…”

“I don’t blame him, really.”

Liu Ruxi shook her head with a smile, looking like a young girl defending her lover.

“Then how did you…”

The empress asked, but halfway through, she couldn’t continue.

However, Liu Ruxi understood. “You want to ask me how I survived, right?”

The empress nodded. Lin Ran said, “It’s because of Regal Descent. You made the first batch of cocoons in a desperate situation.”

“Clever.”

Liu Ruxi looked at Lin Ran in admiration. “Not only did we successfully break out of the encirclement, but we also forced back the Great Yong army. Although the cocoons all died from the backlash, I know this method is feasible.”

At this point, Liu Ruxi turned to look at the empress. “But after I told your father about this method, do you know what he said?”

The empress’s lips trembled slightly, and her clear eyes were covered in tears.

She knew that the most difficult moment for her to accept was coming.