Ding Fan heard Ruo Zhong's words and directly refused. Ding Fan's purpose was very clear, he was very aware that the talk of exterminating bandits was just an excuse. The offer to bring out only five hundred n was absolutely unacceptable to Ding Fan, as five hundred soldiers amounted to just one-tenth of all the soldiers here.
This obviously conflicted with Ding Fan's plan. Having exerted so much effort, Ding Fan naturally couldn't settle for just dealing with such a small force. Ding Fan understood that if he missed this opportunity, it wouldn't be easy to slaughter the opponent without leaving any trace, and Ding Fan was quite confident in himself.
Since the other party wanted to negotiate, Ding Fan was more than willing to accompany them.
After all, with ten million spirit stones placed in front of everyone, it was tempting for the soldiers, the officers, and even the vice general. Ding Fan believed all the bargaining power should be in his hands. Even in negotiation, the opponent had no capital to compare with him.
Simultaneously, Ding Fan was prepared for the worst-case scenario. If the opponent didn't accept and wanted to take action directly, Ding Fan would neither fear nor hesitate. Before producing these ten million spirit stones, Ding Fan had been sowhat apprehensive about engaging directly.
In such a case, even if everyone unleashed their full cultivation and gave it their all, so soldiers would certainly escape. Although there were people like Long Ren intercepting on the periphery, doing so undoubtedly increased the risk of information leaks. But when Ding Fan took out all these spirit stones, seeing the soldiers' eager eyes, his worries diminished.
Ding Fan believed that if they really started fighting head-on, the soldiers wouldn't imdiately think of escaping but would try to grab so of the scattered spirit stones during the chaotic battle. Ding Fan and his companions only needed to guard around the spirit stones and kill, effectively preventing a large number of soldiers from escaping, which undoubtedly added insurance to Ding Fan's plan.
Imdiately, Ding Fan spoke to the opponent with an indisputable tone:
"Those bandits are extrely rampant. I trust your soldiers' combat ability; exterminating those bandits should be no problem. But there's an issue of face involved here. You should know us businessn value face the most. If soone doesn't give us face, we genuinely feel unhappy. Furthermore, those bandits don't just ignore our face - they trample on our dignity. We must retaliate beautifully, or we won't be able to hold our heads high in the future!"
Ding Fan had again fabricated a reason. Although he had confidence, he had to pay attention to thod and approach. Since he had already created a reason, he should continue with this reason for credibility, leaving the opponent with no way to refute them.
Ruo Zhong heard Ding Fan's words, observing Ding Fan's determined tone. He hadn't expected the opponent to be so resolute, insisting on half of the forces. But this would an trendous risk for him - one slip-up could cost him his head. At this mont, Ruo Zhong couldn't help but look towards several advisors beside him, especially wanting to hear the thoughts of the elder advisor.
At this ti, the advisors montarily had no good solutions. After all, if the opponent disagreed, what could they do? Everyone's expressions turned heavy, unsure of what to say - they clearly didn't have any better ideas. At this ti, the elder advisor cautiously spoke to Ruo Zhong, the vice general:
"General, can we just kill them directly? There are only four of them. It doesn't seem difficult to kill them."
Upon hearing the elder advisor, the advisors' expressions grew heavier again. They had considered this, but as advisors had a professional habit - if matters could be resolved without violence, they truly didn't want to use force. For the army, once fighting began, it could lead to massive casualties and consu a lot. Thus, in an advisor's view, war was considered a last resort.
Therefore, they hadn't voiced this idea, hoping to resolve issues peacefully.
But upon hearing the elder's words, they realized they had to consider this issue now, making them uneasy.
Ruo Zhong heard the elder advisor and, seeing that no one else had a different opinion, felt very hesitant, concerned:
"I don't think they're that simple. If we act directly, it might not be easy..."
Ruo Zhong's words were left unfinished. At this mont, he couldn't decisively issue an order. He knew the elder advisor was right, though he himself was a Nascent Soul Mid Stage cultivator. Yet, his instinct told him the cultivators before him weren't simple.
Especially when Ding Fan had produced so many spirit stones, Ruo Zhong knew very well that although they claid to be rchants, could there really be rchants in the Cultivation World who could instantly produce so many spirit stones? If that were true, wouldn't everyone in the Cultivation World pursue business success instead of cultivation?
Ruo Zhong knew the opponent wasn't simple and definitely wasn't just a rchant, especially the young one. The young one had been communicating with him all along, while the other elders were silent, listening to the youth. It was clear the youth held great importance among the elders.
But Ruo Zhong also knew the elder advisor was correct. If he really lent half of the forces to the opponent, and sothing went wrong, he couldn't bear the responsibility, and even if he wanted to, only death would suffice as an apology. This naturally wasn't a scenario Ruo Zhong wished to see.
At this mont, Ruo Zhong was extrely hesitant, his mind sowhat chaotic. After much contemplation, as he was about to take the old strategist's advice, Gao Jian appeared beside him at so point and ingratiatingly said to Ruo Zhong:
"General, what I said before wasn't false, right? The opponents are definitely not simple. If we can kill the opponent, the military resources we capture will be incredibly abundant. Now it seems this is true. General, you must believe ..."
"There's no ti to deal with you now. It's already a grace that I've kept you around until now. We'll discuss your issue later..."
Ruo Zhong directly interrupted Gao Jian, impatiently saying. At this mont, he was in no mood to deal with the other party, clearly already in a state of turmoil, how could he have the energy to manage Gao Jian. However, at this mont, his anger towards Gao Jian had indeed diminished sowhat, possibly because what the other party said earlier was indeed true.
After all, with nearly ten million Spirit Stones right in front of him, it already sufficiently proved Gao Jian's previous judgnt. But regardless, at this mont, Ruo Zhong had no energy to deal with the other party.
Then, Ruo Zhong's face darkened, wanting to confront Ding Fan and others.
Just at this mont, Gao Jian saw that Ruo Zhong's expression seed sowhat off. Being astute, she seed to have guessed the order the other party was about to give, and directly stood in front of Ruo Zhong, speaking anxiously and worriedly to Ruo Zhong:
"General, you must think carefully; hard fighting with the opponent is not a wise choice... In my opinion, how about agreeing to the opponent? We must know they're asking for half of our troops. It's not a small number; it's over two thousand soldiers. With so many soldiers, nothing will happen."
"Moreover, they only have four people. As for those bandits, they are simply no match for our soldiers. Besides, we won't encounter any accidents on our side. There's only the Great Ocean Sect nearby, and no other forces. We've always operated secretly; no one knows our existence. Plus, we've been stationed here for a while now and have already understood the situation around us and found no dangerous threats. What is there to worry about?"
Gao Jian talked incessantly without caring if Ruo Zhong listened. He was anxious at heart, as having the deputy general act rashly with the opponent seed unwise in his eyes; it was ignoring the best thod and choosing the worst.
At this ti, Gao Jian indeed had no personal agenda; he was truly considering Ruo Zhong's interests, hoping to lighten so of his gravest burden. He could tell from Ruo Zhong's attitude towards him earlier that the general wasn't as angry with him as before. Gao Jian knew this surely had sothing to do with the presence of the tens of million Spirit Stones on the ground.
Gao Jian felt sowhat smug as he didn't expect his guess to be correct, indeed, the opponents weren't ordinary and possessed a large amount of Spirit Stones. But the fact that it was tens of million Spirit Stones, Gao Jian couldn't have imagined in his wildest dreams, it was completely beyond his expectation.
He never expected the opponent could produce so many Spirit Stones at once. It was simply too unbelievable!
However, he felt sowhat grateful to the other party; if they hadn't brought out so many Spirit Stones, his life and death now would be uncertain... For Gao Jian, this gratitude was rely a passing thought; his greatest thanks were to heaven, which once again favored him, whereas towards Ding Fan, he felt nothing...
Regarding Ding Fan's life or death, naturally, he hoped the other party would ascend to heaven soon. After all, in Gao Jian's heart, it was Ding Fan who caused him to be sentenced to death, how could he wish anything good for him...
At this mont, Ruo Zhong had initially made up his mind but was once again swayed by Gao Jian's words, though unwilling to pay attention to the other party, he couldn't deny that what was said made sense, leading to renewed hesitation without saying anything.
Not only did Ruo Zhong hear Gao Jian's words, but those strategists also heard them, especially the elder strategist who didn't imdiately refute Gao Jian's words. He knew Gao Jian was making so valid points, while they had long feared unexpected incidents and the horrible consequences they couldn't bear.
But what unexpected incidents could occur?
As Gao Jian said, their camp had already been stationed here for several days, completely understanding the surrounding conditions. Moreover, even borrowing several thousand troops was truly without fearing these troops facing unexpected incidents; after all, it's over two thousand troops, even if any accidents occur, they could definitely resist.
Finally, the elder strategist carefully observed Gao Jian, realizing he was genuinely eager to redeem himself, speaking with the purpose of reducing his punishnt. Reluctantly, the elder strategist told Ruo Zhong:
"Since both thods are nearly identical, the general may decide freely."
Ruo Zhong heard the elder strategist's words, alleviating so of his inner anxiety, subsequently contemplating before finally abandoning his previous decision...
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