Transcending the Nine Heavens

After crossing Iron Cloud Nation's territory, they continued to trek in the snow for twenty consecutive days before finally reaching the border of Great Zhao. They then immediately sent the news to Diwu Qing Rou using local Horse Riders…

Only the word, tragedy was sufficient to describe their situation!

The entire Golden Horse Riders Department was in shock!

In the prime minister's manor, Diwu Qing Rou and Han Bu Chu looked at Cheng Yun He who was now thin and frail. He had clearly lost a lot of weight from the last time they saw him.

They were momentarily terrified when they saw the condition that he was in.

A few days before, Jing Meng Hun went to receive Yin Wu Fa upon receiving the news and gave them a brief account of what had happened. A few days later, they were now hearing the full account of what happened directly from Cheng Yun He. Diwu Qing Rou was filled with shock as he heard the details of the events that happened.

The meeting that they had were much larger than the usual ones conducted. There were two additional people: Jing Meng Hun as well as Yin Wu Tian, which were the two remaining King Level leaders of the Golden Horse Riders Department!

The five of them sat in a semi-circle facing Diwu Qing Rou with depressed look on their faces.

"Everything… happened just like that." Cheng Yun He said as he finished recounting everything. Cheng Yun He's cheeks were deeply sunken and while he had high cheekbones, his eyes seemed to appeared to be empty.

He was unable to fully describe to them in words how arduous their journey was!

Han Bu Chu and Gao Sheng started at him completely speechless. Cheng Yun He was supposed to go and take charge of the situation. However, when he reached, he was unable to do a single thing. All he was able to do was to bring home as much of their force out of the precarious situation!

However, this force… was truly pitiful!

However, the result of this mission could not be pinned on Cheng Yun He! Everything that happened was the result of Kong Shang Xin's actions. He made one mistake after the other and eventually put the entire group in a situation which could not be salvaged. Nevertheless, although he was the person responsible for the failure of the mission, he was already dead…

Therefore, how could he be held accountable? Diwu Qing Rou could not help but become extremely annoyed by this.

"Two King level leaders, three ninth grade Revered level Riders, more than thirty Revered level and above masters all perished in Iron Cloud!" Diwu Qing Rou scowled and said slowly, "Moreover, they had all perished in the hands of people who aren't even worthy of being called their opponents! They died in the hands of weaker people! Hahaha…"

Diwu Qing Rou laughed, "Such a peculiar event as this is worthy of being hailed as a legendary mystery." Although he seemed calm, it felt as though he was oppressing his rage. The tone of his voice made everyone's hair stand on its ends as they quietly listened.

"Prime Minister, please calm down." Han Bu Chu spoke up, "This, this really can't be blamed on the King level leaders. Neither can't be blamed on Brother Cheng. The King of Hell Chu is really just too cunning."

"King of Hell Chu is too cunning…" Diwu Qing Rou closed his eyes in deep thought before he spoke, "Three thousand years ago, there was a scholar, he was a strategist for the Sky Nation. His name was Dong Fang Qing Tian! At that time, Dong Fang Qing Tian's wisdom was unmatched and his strategies were flawless! He was hailed as the wisest individuals in all of Nine Heavens! Moreover, he helped the young ruler of Sky Nation fight and lay claim to their vast territory."

Han Bu Chu and company did not understand why the prime minister was intent on telling an old story. However, they realised that there had to be some sort of hidden meaning behind it and decided to quietly listen.

"Thus, Sky Nation's power grew quickly! This resulted in all of the surrounding nations feeling increasingly insecure. At that time, the progress of the nation began to stagnate. The prime minister, Chen Ping, suppressed all of the internal strife which eventually resulted in the prosperity of Sky Nation…"

"At its prime, the territories of Sky Nation was equal to that of both Great Zhao and Iron Cloud! However, from that moment forth, Sky Nation also lose power. They suffered one defeat after another. The smaller surrounding nations seized this opportunity and unexpectedly managed to topple this great nation!"

"Do you know why this happened?" Diwu Qing Rou asked.

"Perhaps at that time, Dong Fang Qing Tian had died?" Han Bu Chu and the others asked curiously.

"He did not die! In fact, he had continued to maintain control." Diwu Qing Rou said.

"Then… how did it happen?" Han Bu Chu and company were confused. A nation at peak power with a thorough strategist was being defeated by a group of weaker nations?

"While they were fighting to conquer the world, Dong Fang Qing Tian would always go into battle and personally direct each of the battles himself. It could be said that all of the battles he won were within a thousand mile radius of his weiwo. Do you know what a weiwo is?" Diwu Qing Rou asked.

"A weiwo is an army tent! A command center!"

"Yes, an army tent… This was key!" Diwu Qing Rou sighed, "After the nation prospered, this leading tactician was, of course, no longer able to go to the battlefront. Instead, he remained in the royal court to assist the emperor! Therefore, regardless of how effective or exhaustive his strategies were, by the time they were being relayed to the battlefront… were always late. Secondly, if the enemies changed their strategies even slightly, those at the battlefront would not know how to respond."

"Even though he was able to give out precise orders, those under him could not act as he intended! After all, no one was able to become Dong Fang Qing Tian himself!" Diwu Qing Rou said slowly, "In the end, Dong Fang Qing Tian had to leave the royal court and go to the battlefront in order to command the troops himself. However, by that time, the situation had changed. On one side was a defeated military force, and on the other was a military force ready to take back the world. They were completely different from one another!"

"Even if the force who fought to take back their world was weaker, they had heart. After they won, they would be able to regain their territory and wealth! However, the Sky Nation's military force was no longer as it had been before. This was especially true of the commanders. All of them were wealthy and their priority was now staying alive!"

"With Dong Fang Qing Tian's unrivaled strategies, they were able to restore the situation on one front. However, at that point, there was fighting at multiple locations simultaneously! Therefore, as a result, he was unable to control everything. All that he was able to do was to control the situation on one front. This continued… and as time went by, Sky Nation's territories were gradually eroded away as they were continually defeated again and again. In a way, Dong Fang Qing Tian was defeated by his own nation! Therefore, Sky Nation was no more! Dong Fang Qing Tian looked up at the heavens and sighed three times. He stood in the middle of the chaos, pulled out his sword and ended his own life!"

"What did he sigh about?" Han Bu Chu hastily asked.

"At that time, Dong Fang Qing Tian said, 'Even though I easily conquered the world through devising strategies and winning battles in a thousand mile radius, but I was unable to prevent the degeneration that came with prosperity! In history, has anyone led from inside the palace and won battles more than a thousand miles away? I failed because of power! I failed because of prosperity!'"

When Diwu Qing Rou finished, everyone remained silent. They didn't speak a word as they continued thinking about what he had just said.

"My ability is far less than that of Dong Fang Qing Tian!" Diwu Qing Rou said, "However, I can avoid the mistake that Dong Fang Qing Tian made! Thus, I have always remained in the prime minister's manor so you could demonstrate your strengths and train yourselves. I am not afraid that you will fail; as long as the failure is not too great, with me here, you will still have a chance to recover and take back what was lost!"

"This is because even if you fail, it would be your failure and not a failure in my leadership. After you fail in battle, you would still be able to turn that failure into a win with my leadership. Even when I do not say anything, you would still be able to understand your own shortcomings! Through your experiences, you will gradually grow." Diwu Qing Rou smiled bitterly, "Right now, most of you are capable of being in charge of your own territory. You are the greatest cards up my sleeves in my quest for the world! Do you understand this?"

Han Bu Chu said emotionally, "The prime minister's thoughts has put all of us to shame!"

"Kong Shang Xin added himself to the failure this time!" Diwu Qing Rou gently shook his head, "This is the biggest setback and our first major failure since the creation of the group."

"The reason is not that King of Hell Chu is too cunning!" Diwu Qing Rou said gravely, "These past few years, we have had it too easy; we did not have to fight!"

Jing Meng Hun sighed sadly without saying anything.

Yin Wu Tian retorted, "In any case, it is true that King of Hell Chu is very cunning!"

"Not so! King level leader Yin, let me ask you. If Golden Horse Riders Department was just created, and Kong Shang Xin went to carry out such a mission, would he have acted as carelessly as that? Would he dare?" Diwu Qing Rou asked slowly.

"He wouldn't!" Yin Wu Tian choked and finally dropped his head.

"Exactly! He would not dare!" Diwu Qing Rou said, "But at that moment, he did! Not only did he dare, he even made all of his subordinates to take the risk with him!"

"It is because he had become arrogant! He felt that Golden Horse Riders Department was powerful and that they were infallible! That they would not fail at anything! Therefore he took that risk! And he died!" Diwu Qing Rou said each word slowly.

"Kong Shang Xin's judgment was a long way from that of Dong Fang Qing Tian. Moreover, he also had much less power!" Diwu Qing Rou said majestically, "Therefore, Kong Shang Xin was deserving of his death! In the face of an opponent such as the King of Hell Chu, he was already dead the moment he made that rash decision!"

"This failure was well-deserved! However, you people of Golden Horse Riders Department should not have to experience such a failure!" Diwu Qing Rou said, "In the face of an enemy like King of Hell Chu, if Golden Horse Riders Department chooses to remain arrogant and think that you are superhuman like Kong Shang Xin and Yin Wu Fa, I would not find it surprising that the the entire organisation would be toppled by the hands of King of Hell Chu one day!"

Jing Meng Hun and Yin Wu Tian were soaked in sweat! The two of them had originally intended to dispatch martial experts to take revenge. However, without doing a single thing to stop them from doing so, Diwu Qing Rou had managed dissipated all of their irrational thoughts about taking revenge with his words. They finally realized that they were in the midst of a crisis!

Diwu Qing Rou's words were harsh! In all these years, this was the first time that Diwu Qing Rou had spoken like this! Especially to King level leaders like them.

At that moment, even a ninth-grade King level leader like Jing Meng Hun felt a chill ran down his spine!

"Your failure is like that of Dong Fang Qing Tian from past history. And I am Dong Fang Qing Tian. While I can arrange your tasks for you, if you don't do your job well, it would still result in failure!"

Diwu Qing Rou said each word calmly, "I hope that Golden Horse Riders Department will not turn me into the second Dong Fang Qing Tian! If that is the case, the Golden Horse Riders Department's existence would no longer be necessary!"