Chapter 576: Sneak Attack!

Six years had passed since the initial promotion of the Shamanic Silkworm Artifact.

Now, the beings of the Lingchou Realm seemed to be torn in half; either an external pressure would force them to unite, or, if they couldn't unite, there would be civil war.

So, it was either an external war or a civil war.

At this very moment, within the Lingchou Realm, another standoff was taking place.

However, this standoff was particularly grand, and one of the opposing parties was Mo Xiao.

Mo Xiao was the main promoter of the Shamanic Silkworm Artifact six years ago, and now he was also the backbone of the faction that supported the world not depleting, and his prestige was very high.

On the other side was another corresponding person; he also had his own merchant association, and Mo Xiao knew him. He had also once supported the Shamanic Silkworm Artifact, but... his world-class giant ship had been plundered by pirates.

This directly led to a total loss of capital, and he was eventually forced to activate his Spiritual Artifact assembly line to make up for the goods and avoid breach of contract.

After that, he began to use the Spiritual Artifact assembly line more and more frequently, until now, he had fully come to support the Spiritual Artifact assembly line and advocated plundering more worlds outside. He even suggested to the Lingchou Realm Lord to launch a grand expedition to plunder worlds, all for the sake of replacing his nearly depleted world and expanding production capacity.

To be honest, Mo Xiao didn't know what the other party was thinking.

But obviously, the other party also felt that Mo Xiao was stubborn.

Since they couldn't understand each other, conflict was inevitable.

At the scene of the conflict:

"Resist aggression! Resist arms expansion!" someone shouted, holding up a sign.

But on the other side, some people threw stones at them, and even used spells.

The people on the other side shouted: "Are we to be sacrificed for your kindness?! I have children to feed at home, I want cheap meat, and cheap goods!"

Some on both sides were promoting, while others, unable to control their tempers, began to attack each other. Mo Xiao, meanwhile, directed the actions, calling for perseverance, urging everyone to hold on, and ensuring that the onlookers around them would see.

Yes, such a struggle was not to convince the opponent, but to convince passersby.

Halfway through the fight, Mo Xiao suddenly felt a chill down his spine.

He turned around, and a blade had already pierced his chest.

Assassination!

Mo Xiao's supporters went wild; they wanted to catch the assassin, but the assassin cast a spell and instantly left the crowd, fleeing far away.

Mo Xiao, lying in a pool of blood, was surrounded by the crowd. Some wanted to rescue him, some tried to protect him, and even more rushed towards the opposing side.

The people who had just shouted 'no war' actually initiated the attack.

In this conflict, Mo Xiao died after rescue efforts failed, the opposing leader was also beaten to death, and ultimately over eighty people were killed or injured, shocking the entire Lingchou Realm.

And all of this was within Envoy Pang's expectations.

In fact, whether it was civil war or external war, it didn't matter.

As long as there was war, as long as these people engaged in war, they would have to arm themselves.

So, if the attempt to provoke an external war failed, then civil war would do. Could those who clamored for peace and no aggression truly manage to restrain themselves from attacking first?

If they attacked first... then those who already harbored aggressive thoughts would be even less likely to hold back.

This conflict quickly stirred up a huge uproar in public opinion.

Everywhere, in pubs, newspapers, offices, and on the streets, everyone was discussing, everyone was arguing, and everyone was expressing their own opinions.

Newspapers, propaganda, various media outlets, and even film critics and various entertainment short videos were expressing their views, as if some force behind the scenes was fanning the flames, constantly creating hot topics, and prompting countless people to become increasingly invested in this war of words.

Today an incident would erupt, tomorrow another debate topic. Today, an opinion leader would gain recognition, and a few days later, he would face assassination. The entire world was in chaos, with everyone attacking each other. Every comment section related to the matter was a cacophony of constant arguments about which side was better, attempting to refute the other.

Under every piece of news favorable to one's own side, someone would mock, followed by another round of mutual insults, until this verbal abuse shifted from media comment sections to the real world.

Public opinion had been completely destroyed. The Shaman Dao envoy and the Human Dao envoy had only been there for a little over ten years, and the shift in ideology had become so sharp.

Finally, the Lingchou Realm Lord took action.

She used her power and oppressive force as a Fifth-Rank to forcibly stop all discussions.

But this was a blunder; high-pressure tactics were useless. On the contrary, they enraged everyone.

Those who were deprived of all legitimate means of self-defense, their unvented anger would eventually lead them to resort to illegal means, and no one could blame them.

If an observant person looked from the outside, they would find that Human Dao seemed to have gained an absolute advantage in this debate.

It seemed that both sides were still evenly matched, but when everything developed to the point where it could only be resolved by war,

all those illegal means required some material support.

And all this material support—

would lead the ideology towards the Spiritual Artifact assembly line.

Sitting in his seat, Envoy Pang read different intelligence reports every day, analyzing trends, and watching everything move in the direction he had planned.

He was somewhat curious: what method could the other side use to cope? In this current situation, what method could make the people of the Lingchou Realm put away their murderous intent?

If they couldn't put it away, then war would break out, and everything would be settled.

Envoy Pang reviewed documents, inferring the current situation from various data. It was either civil war or external war; a fight had to break out. Everyone was so hot-headed, so as long as a few more fires were lit, a raging inferno would naturally burn.

"Hmm, it's about time. I should go see the Lingchou Realm Lord and see what kind of war she needs; we'll provide that kind of war," Envoy Pang said.

As he spoke, the other team members around him also stood up, exclaiming, "Alright! Oh, the paperwork is finally done."

"When I get off work this month, I'm going back to Chang'an. I haven't eaten Chang'an cuisine in a long time."

"Don't waste the Golden Dais's transport capacity at such a critical moment, just for a meal. I can cook for you, can't I? I'm an amateur chef of level four."

These people were all very relaxed and friendly with each other.

If one only looked from here, one would only see harmonious interpersonal relationships, excellent work performance. Everyone was excellent, very amiable, and no one would be able to tell that they were actually manipulating hundreds of billions of lives into the flames of war.

But both sides were true; they were indeed very amiable and friendly. There was ample fairness within Human Dao, a perfect promotion mechanism. Everyone could find a place to fully exert their talents and strength, and then obtain the corresponding status. Naturally, there could be no resentment; everyone simply had very good, very kind relationships.

However... all this amiability, kindness, and fairness were for 'humans'.

The Lingchou Realm was not considered human.

It was merely natural resources.

From the very beginning, even if they achieved what was called 'submission,' Human Dao would not treat them as humans.

Because, it didn't matter what Dao Orthodoxy the Lingchou Realm cultivated or what ideology it wanted to use.

Did the world of Lingchou Realm truly have its own 'Dao'? Was there something worth the entire civilization sacrificing their lives for, something to uphold even if the civilization perished?

No, they didn't. The Lingchou Realm Lord, and indeed everyone in the Lingchou Realm, cared not about the Dao, but about survival, about profit, about a bite to eat, about dressing better tomorrow, about being a leader, about fame, about profit.

Did such things deserve to be called human? Did they deserve to be called civilization?

In the eyes of Human Dao, those still struggling for survival were not human; they were irrational, uncivilized beasts, no different from wild animals and plants.

True 'humans' acted solely from their original hearts; they were liberated from material instincts. Humans could sacrifice their lives because their hearts were there, their Dao was there.

In the eyes of Human Dao, civilization must be liberated from instinctive living, detaching its own life from external objects, freeing itself from specific behavioral relationships, becoming distant and detached to the point of transcendence and freedom, ultimately reaching a state where everyone acts for the Dao, only then can it be considered 'civilization,' only then can it be regarded as 'human.'

Various instincts, various struggles, and even the development of some technologies, learning various spell techniques, cultivation methods, and Divine Abilities, were essentially methods and means to pursue life. Each and every one of them was for a purpose, no different from the claws and teeth grown by beasts; they were merely living to live.

It must wait until civilization advances towards reason, and its life transcends instinct, meaning it does not fall into methods and means, but attains sudden enlightenment and reaches a state of non-action.

At this point, humans can develop interest and behavior in anything, not for survival.

The high and vast nature of human life is thus; survival is indeed very important, but the reason survival is important is that without survival, one cannot pursue true truth, or fulfill true ideals.

Maintaining survival is for the sake of maintaining something more noble, not for the sake of survival where everything can be abandoned.

The Lingchou Realm, for survival, for resources, could arbitrarily change its Dao, everything was profit-driven.

Throughout the entire civilization, what was pursued was not the Dao. The 'Dao' in their eyes was not the supreme pursuit, but a tool that could be used for survival.

That was a world without Dao, people without Dao.

Someone even once said: "In a world without Dao, do not tread its soil."

These eight characters were enough to explain Human Dao's attitude; they didn't even want to go there.

In Envoy Pang's eyes, they would choose to accept those like the Fu Cao Yi Realm if they genuinely wished to join Human Dao, but for types like the Lingchou Realm, they couldn't even be bothered to lift an eyelid.

Of course, this actually created a typical contradiction. The Fu Cao Yi Realm, for example, would absolutely not easily abandon their Dao. They accepted Shaman Dao because Shaman Dao had a very high overlap with them, and they considered Shaman Dao their Senior, thus enabling cooperation.

But if it were Human Dao, the Fu Cao Yi Realm would not easily change its Dao Orthodoxy even if it were exterminated; they would die standing.

Few worlds that Human Dao respects are willing to join.

Those that Human Dao looks down upon, on the other hand, desperately want to join, but unfortunately, Human Dao can't be bothered to lift an eyelid. They should just honestly enter the natural resource reserve list.

Envoy Pang watched these people leave, then stretched and stood up, preparing to leave the place himself.

Stepping out of this office, outside was a scenic lake of the Lingchou Realm.

This was an estate, located in a remote suburb, very quiet, with beautiful scenery, and many natural species unique to the Lingchou Realm, including some rare species.

Outside, some of these things had gone extinct due to the expansion of the Lingchou Realm civilization, but here they were well preserved.

After all... these were precious natural treasures.

A species is the result of billions of years of evolution. Any species capable of independent survival and reproduction is the result of the entire world's selection over billions of years, a treasure of the Universe.

Those who don't understand might think Human Dao would look down on these, but quite the opposite. Although Human Dao considers these things property, they are precious property. Human Dao's Spiritual Artifact assembly line can refine a Sixth-Rank Spiritual Artifact in just a few seconds, but these species take billions of years to appear. Their preciousness is imaginable, and the billions of years of evolution of these species means that there are always some useful characteristics, whether for medicine, raw materials, or food; they can always be put to use.

Sometimes, in a Human Dao world, a special plague might spread, and even a Fifth-Rank would be helpless, but the antidote might just be an ordinary, unrelated mushroom billions of light-years away.

After all, this world is just that wondrous.

Therefore, whenever Human Dao arrives at a place, it collects the complete species map of the entire world. This estate before him was a small ecosystem replicated through this map. If it operated properly, this ecosystem would later be moved and sent back to the world map in Chang'an for permanent preservation.

In the world map, all the worlds Human Dao has ever seen are preserved. If needed, these things can be utilized in almost all Domains.

Envoy Pang looked at the things here, preparing to rest for a bit before continuing his work. Anyway, the situation was almost impossible to reverse; the opposing Shaman Dao envoy had already lost thoroughly.

There was still one thing he hadn't figured out, and that was the source of the Shamanic Silkworm Artifact in the other party's hands, but he had already sent someone to inquire with Liu Canzhi, and he believed he would get accurate news after some time.

Perhaps it was a coincidence, speak of the devil and he shall appear. Suddenly, his terminal sent a message at this moment.

"Envoy, the message you requested has arrived. Liu Canzhi's Shamanic Silkworm Artifact was not leaked. The other party's Shamanic Silkworm Artifact came from somewhere else. Moreover, Mr. Liu Canzhi provided a special piece of intelligence: the Shamanic Silkworm Artifact was actually not developed by him alone; it was a joint effort of three people."

"One of them is from the Diviner lineage, named Bo Yue, whose whereabouts are currently unknown."

"The other is from the Invoker lineage, named Li Qi. According to our multi-party verification, he should be the true body of the opposing envoy. I have already sent you the recorded and analyzed Dao Orthodoxy techniques. The envoy can analyze the opponent's background based on the actual situation."

The message came from the terminal.

Envoy Pang's spirits lifted.

Good news!

However, at this very moment, the entire ecosystem suddenly exploded!