Dual Cultivation God Returns

Chapter 685  Levers

When they reached the city, they could see the overseers on the lookout, as all four of them were experienced in seeking out signs of surveillance, but were able to pass without being noted.

It was not only their timing and route of blending in, but also the combination of Madam Liang's subtle manipulation, as well as Zhao Biren's abilities to confuse enemies by giving Spiritual Qi in the air lightly intoxicating properties, that those around took them for no more than regular folk, not worthy of attention.

"In many ways, we are cheating our way because of you, Valley Master", Liang Yuhan chuckled, and Wu Long smiled as well.

There was a veil of Spiritual Qi around them that prevented eavesdropping that Wu Long and Madam Liang created, turning their conversation into a mundane one.

"How are we cheating?", Hong Yue spoke up for the first time since they departed, for some reason startling Zhao Biren, who shuddered, and then giving an alternating look between his drinking gourd and the assassin decided to cork the gourd, putting it away.

'Hah, he really was pondering whether she was a hallucination', Wu Long chuckled as he saw that, as in his slightly drunken state the Wine Dao master managed to forget the presence of the quiet and naturally discreet beauty.

"Hmm, Cultivation World is cruel, and rules of what to do in new places are often learned only after going through harsh realities of mistakes", meanwhile Madam Liang answered Hong Yue's question. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

She then proceeded with a longer explanation, "It would seem natural that possessing our abilities we are able to not only stay undetected by the local powers but also in a way ahead of them. But in truth we would not even have a clue what would give us away"

"But you and Daoist Zhao have much information about this world too…", Hong Yue interjected and Zhao Biren nodded.

"That's true, but only to an extent. Such information is not readily available for the average folk, and even then what we mostly know are things such as big events, news about some notorious people", he clarified, "not something that could help us survive the first encounter with people in power here"

Madam Liang also nodded, adding "you might notice that neither of us knew about our physical difference that would have been crucial in our capture. It is because such knowledge rarely trickles down to the Boundless Mortal World"

"Haha", Wu Long chuckled, "more like any Boundless World has a filter of information from a Boundless World above it. It is not iron-clad, and some information will sometimes seep through, because this system is imperfect, as any other, but that information will be passed only in limited capacity, and after some time it would be lost within the vastness of the Boundless World, becoming mystery again"

"But why go to such lengths?", Hong Yue expressed confusion, as it seemed that it was a rather grand concerted effort by an enormous number of parties, with seemingly no profit.

"Because knowledge is the sharpest sword in the hands of someone who can wield it. And because those in power always want to stay in power. The best way to keep the status quo is to never let those not under control know the status quo", Wu Long shrugged his shoulders as he discreetly scanned the large street with a keen gaze, as did his companions.

"Someone who can change the existing power structure of the larger Seven Boundless Worlds must be very powerful. But such powerful individuals don't just appear as powerful as they are, they must grow to become such", he then added as they proceeded to move to one of the smaller streets and head toward a roadside inn like normal travelers seeking to take off the fatigue.

"That brings us to the snowball effect. There comes a point at which an advance of such rising star of the Cultivation World is hard to stop even with great effort", Wu Long paused, letting them finish his thought in their heads.

"So they get people who could have the potential to rise and prune them from the rising cultivators?", Hong Yue asked as they sat at the table and after the servant took their order, leaving them alone.

"Heh, hardly", Wu Long shook his head with a smile, "No one knows who will rise and who will not, such is the nature of life, it's unpredictable. Besides, despite how much power someone might have, no one really has the resources to cover the entirety of the Seven Boundless Worlds. Moreover, if you depend on a rigid structure to keep a certain order you will always fail, because every structure fails. No, those with power over the Boundless Worlds simply rely on the self-interests and incentives."

"So you're saying there is no central authority that manipulates the world even if multi-faced, but rather a collection of people acting in their interests that are dictated by how the world operates…", Madam Liang chuckled, finding that easier to believe than a grand organization that closely controls everything.

"You still didn't explain how they stop those who rise to be powerful", Hong Yue reaffirmed her question.

"For starters, they don't stop them. Those who will rise to power will rise no matter how you try, and if they don't, others will while you are busy stopping them" Wu Long explained, "The trick is to not stop anyone, but to gain leverage. And you do that by gaining leverage over everyone as they rise"

"So…", Hong Yue traced his thought with what they talked about before, "...when people ascend to higher Boundless Worlds, they don't have information, so they are easy to fall into pitfalls that Madam Liang spoke about. Thy get caught in the nets of those who are in charge in their vicinity"

"Correct", Wu Long nodded with a smile, "how powerful they may be in the future, how influential, it does not matter if you get them right at the moment they ascend, when they are naturally weaker than those who govern the region. And thus they have to comply. From there on they have to do what they have to in order to survive, even if that means falling in line with how the world works, and once you do what you have to, it can be very hard to be free and do what you want to. In a sense you perpetuate the structure by not allowing those who don't have entanglements to progress, and as those who survive go further, more and more entanglements are made"

"Hahaha, isn't that classic corruption technique?", Hong Yue seemed to have a strange feeling of recognition as he spoke, and then as it dawned on her she exclaimed her question with amusement, as she witnessed this in action over and over again in the countries of the Three Continents. It was, in part, how the politics of the Island Kingdom of Lihai was sustained for a long time.

"Exactly right", Wu Long chuckled, "Those who rise to positions of power must have levers to influence them with, those without levers of control must never rise, so you make the process of accepting levers of control the only way to rise, that is the only way to perpetuate a corrupt structure"

"But then, there must be exceptions that still manage to seep through…", Hong Yue asked, to which Wu Long nodded.

"There are, occasionally, those who slip through, but that's rare. After all, despite how crappy this mechanism seems, and how many different factors exist, the odds that someone manages to rise through it and not have the appropriate levers of control over them is very small", he shrugged his shoulders, as his companions sank into their thoughts.

The waiter came back with their order as they sat in silence, only resuming talking when they were alone again.

"How come you were one of those exceptions then?", Zhao Biren asked and a wry laugh came from Wu Long.

"Haha, by being unremarkable at first, then being alone and reckless until I reached the point of no return, where I simply was too hard to contain anymore", he answered without much joy in either of the reasons.

"Much of it was luck anyway, or a specific set of circumstances if you don't believe in the former. In any case even then I still lost in the end", he chuckled, remembering that his hand did not reach what he then perceived as the summit of the Seven Boundless Worlds, halting just a little away.

"Plus, this is something I have only realized after arriving in the world where I met you all, but I may have not been as free of control and influence as I liked to think. After all, I was useful in my own way, it is only when I got too close to being really out of control that my luck had abruptly and unceremoniously ran out", Wu Long then added much to the surprise of those he was talking to.

But as Madam Liang wanted to clarify what he meant by that, Wu Long cut the discussion short with "It seems our bait had been noticed, now we'll see what we stand to catch…"