Chapter 459: Chapter 459: The Downsides of Being Too Strong

"It’s come to this, and they still want to negotiate."

Li Rui shook his head after watching the news. The negotiation target was naturally the united entity led by those world NPCs.

It seems that a few days after this group of theirs arrived in the southern countries, the result of international discussions was to first make contact and determine their specific demands.

Having dealt with Zuo Qiutian multiple times, he knew well this person’s ways and held great hostility towards them.

By comparison, he also knew that Zhuo Feilong’s attitude was equally pessimistic. However, from the results, it was evident that many other countries didn’t want to heavily invest in war right away, so they wished to negotiate further.

"To put it bluntly."

Song Yao said beside him, "From what I understand of those people, as long as the united entity indicates that they will limit the killings to the Polar Alliance, I reckon many are willing to compromise."

"Isn’t there any sense of justice?"

"Yes, there is."

Song Yao sarcastically said, "They speak of justice, but only in words. Can you intervene in others’ internal affairs?"

"Someone said before that the historical issues in the chaotic land should be resolved, that they can’t be left in chaos forever. Yet, because of conflicting interests, no consensus has ever been reached."

The old man was quite straightforward. Whenever this topic arose, he would go on about it at length, something Li Rui had grown accustomed to hearing these past days.

"But I have a question,"

He continued, "Since two small nations saw their people killed on their way, why do they still hold on to this illusion?"

Not only Li Rui, but Cheng Mingyue and Guan Gui also found this somewhat peculiar.

Although Song Yao was straightforward, he wasn’t ignorant. He had considerable insight into the broader situation.

"You’ve misunderstood the key issue. Precisely because something happened, it caused some people to waver."

"International conflicts aren’t childish squabbles. If you hit me, I hit back. Everyone knows who silently wiped out those two teams, but it’s obvious that while we and the Western Kingdom led this action, we couldn’t prevent the enemy from making a move, which only made weaker nations and forces more uneasy. They’d rather swallow their grievances than outright flip the table."

He took a sip of tea, "It was our mistake, not anticipating they would strike so swiftly and accurately."

Li Rui and the others shared a look, realizing the issue. They always viewed the situation from the perspective of larger nations, knowing that even if full-scale war broke out, a country like Dragon Country likely wouldn’t suffer significant early losses.

But small countries were different. In the chaotic regions, even the Holy Judgment High Court could practically control three countries, not to mention the current united entity.

Had it not been clear that the other side wasn’t benevolent, many countries might even consider coexistence rather than submission.

Seeing them deep in thought, Song Yao decided not to interrupt. Matters like this require frequent contemplation and observation to build understanding.

Now, apart from watching the news each day, Li Rui and his companions were studying Secret Realm strategies and planning to acquire the Dragon Thunder, which took them seven days before they finally entered the Secret Realm on a sunny afternoon.

.....

Whether due to the many deaths of people and barbaric beasts, the Golden Scale Marsh was still shrouded in clouds.

The gateway to the Barbaric Beast Royal Court was not a physical door but two mountains flanking it.

These two mountains had steep slopes and sharp peaks, blocking the Royal Court like a giant beast’s fangs.

[Main quest updated, Phase 1: Enter the Barbaric Beast Royal Court.]

As soon as Li Rui opened his eyes, he received the main quest. According to the background story, the Liangting army faced strong resistance before attacking the Royal Court and could not force a breakthrough.

Under such circumstances, Liangting dispatched several teams to approach the Royal Court from different directions, intending to bypass Menya Mountain and disrupt the enemy’s rear.

"Strange."

Cheng Mingyue’s voice came from behind, "Wasn’t it said the starting point would refresh a random number of allies?"

Li Rui glanced around and saw Guan Gui approaching, "It seems there’s no one else."

"That’s not too bad."

Cheng Mingyue commented, "Without allies, executing our plan is easier, with fewer complications."

"Okay." Guan Gui stated, "I’ll scout first."

He pressed his hand on the ground, and a surge of Evil Qi seeped from his palm into the earth, quickly forming several small, three-legged sprites that scattered quickly and vanished.

At the same time, Guan Gui himself seemed to suddenly go blind, his eyes turning vacant.

This little sprite’s pathfinding skill was powerful, allowing the sprites to move quickly, use short-range Earth Escape, and share their vision.

However, skills leaning towards Yin Sha generally have costs. Here, the user temporarily loses their sight until the skill ends.

Thus, it’s not suitable for solo action, but with Li Rui and Cheng Mingyue as guards, it was different.

Time passed slowly, and Guan Gui’s eyes opened, ending the skill.

"I’ve confirmed a route with no enemies, follow me; we’d best use mist flow control to slightly cover our tracks."

Normally taciturn, he made sure to express his point clearly at this time. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Li Rui nodded, summoning a thin layer of mist to slightly reduce long-range visibility. In the moist climate of the Golden Scale Marsh, this was not unusual.

Following Guan Gui’s lead, the three set off to bypass Menya Mountain from the side.

Such caution was necessary because the process in this Secret Realm was unusual. Since the main quest was to disrupt the barbaric beast’s rear, upon entering through the mountain gate and reaching the designated point, the task then became to attract enough enemies and survive.

Of course, this wasn’t an easy task, but for Li Rui and his companions, it was manageable. The critical issue was their goal to find Dragon Thunder fragments, meaning they couldn’t complete the quest too quickly.

The problem was their strength; once exposed, they would inevitably draw significant enemy attention, potentially quickly fulfilling the main quest’s enemy requirements and forcing them out of the Secret Realm.

Therefore, they had already planned to avoid enemy detection as much as possible in this Secret Realm and to approach the boundaries of other Secret Realms from the side.

Thus, they couldn’t use Escape Techniques either, as enemies of the Barbarian Monarch level probably existed within the Royal Court, who were quite sensitive to such techniques.

Traveling through the mist again, the three crossed Menya Mountain along a route with almost no enemy presence, reaching the Royal Court’s interior, approaching a barbaric beast sentry under the cover of mist.

"This place is quite secluded. If we take them out and interrogate some information, it won’t be noticed for a while." Guan Gui said coldly. After obtaining the consent of the other two, eighteen coffins rose from the ground.