Chapter 1090: Chapter 1090

1090: Chapter 176: The Struggle for the Road 1090: Chapter 176: The Struggle for the Road Strength is the prerequisite for negotiation.

It might not make your adversary surrender directly, but most of the time, it can make them—full of arrogance and prejudice—calm down and communicate properly with you.

Is language the bridge for communication?

Indeed, but in Lu Ping’an’s view, violence is the “permit” that allows this “bridge” to be built.

Without sufficient strength for support, your eloquent words are considered meaningless by the opposite party.

If you want to make a fool sit down and listen, you first need the power to drag the fool out and beat them into a pulp.

Half a year ago, or even a month ago, if Lu Ping’an said he wanted to negotiate with the Lady of the Forest, the opposite party would have treated it as a joke and then casually sent out an assassin.

What would follow was mutual slaughter—with one dead, an even crueler one would come to assess Lu Ping’an’s threat level before sending out the cruelest one for a clean-up.

If there really were casualties, the powerful party would never actively stop; face and dignity are the confidence for maintaining unity and interest.

If they resolve to eliminate Lu Ping’an as an enemy…

His only option might be to flee to the Exotic Realm, advance to the eighth or ninth order, and then return for revenge.

The only real grudge between the parties at the moment was actually the incident with Liu Zibei (the small company dispute doesn’t count), and he had essentially already betrayed the Lady of the Forest.

So right now, this point in time, is actually the only opportunity to talk…

Lu Ping’an has demonstrated his abilities and confidence, and at the same time, neither side has become mortal enemies.

Therefore, both parties have needs and expectations, so negotiations naturally took place—the only one who remained sullen was the Big Cat.

Er, and that golden-haired “Little Girl” in the audience who’s angry for some strange reason.

Clearly, Eve has inherited someone’s animosity toward the Lady of the Forest.

Considering someone’s consistent pettiness in the past, it’s very possible she made the malice toward Lin Nu a bedtime story to tell the little girls.

“…No, I just created a special course teaching them daily how to deal with these bastards.”

Alright, so there are actual daily lessons.

I, Lu, have underestimated your tenacity, Chris.

“…Don’t compare, you cannot win.

Your inability to let go of your obsessions is the reason for your complete lack of odds.”

Lu Ping’an sighed helplessly.

The more he understood the grievances between Big Cat and Lin Nu, the less he felt there was to say…

That’s probably what she considered ideological rivalry, as well as full of personal vendettas.

Lu Ping’an had long since seen that Big Cat’s “everyone for myself” and Lin Nu’s “anyone can rise to power, winner takes all” were completely opposite “life concepts.”

He had once interacted with the simulated soul of the Lady of the Forest and knew that she craved mutual slaughter, but what she craved even more was the emergence of a “crowned king.”

Just like her archetype, the forest goddess of ancient mythology, she would watch battles and favor the victors of “competition.”

The slaughter of the competitors was her ritual; she would not actively decide who was the final victor, she would merely choose the last survivor in the name of a goddess as her sacrifice, and crown and authorize them.

She is the Lady of the Forest, the goddess of the woods, not the sole sovereign, more akin to a “Queen”…

while Big Cat is a pure “Tyrant.”

In Chris’s path, no one else exists; she wants to devour everything in the forest to become the only one.

It’s hard to say which path is superior.

The “Kings” of the Lady of the Forest may have changed countless times, but during that process, both the “Forest Land” and the “Forest Goddess” have become stronger…

the most obvious proof is probably the “Church Headquarters,” which has been replaced countless times.

“Fight, fight!” The fragmented spirit of Lin Nu from the beginning gave Lu Ping’an the impression of a madwoman who enjoyed watching gladiator fights.

But looking back now, this was her cleverness.

She was always the audience, always a link in the chain of life, and not even the one proactively entering the arena…

while Big Cat bore scars from entering the fray time and time again, only to emerge more solitary and distant.

Lin Nu was expanding her “natural circle”; everything in that “Forest Land” was her interpretation of nature, her philosophy; nature grew stronger as she progressed, gaining more and more followers.

“Chris, you probably knew all along that you took the wrong path, and that of Lin Nu’s was better…”

Lu Ping’an didn’t wait for a response, but the absence of one now probably meant agreement…

Had Lu Ping’an been wrong, Big Cat, given her fiery temper and current hypersensitive state, would’ve already jumped up and lashed out.

Having witnessed the Firebird, Lu Ping’an knew that High-order Professionals needed to “describe” their own “reason” and “rules”; they were like tamers of the wildly surging “Disorder Contamination”, acting as conductors and even dykes against it.

As a practitioner of the Life System, the eternal “question” for Lu Ping’an was to “describe the life as you understand it,” and the completely opposite answers given by the Lady of the Forest and Chris were certainly worth studying and appreciating…

“I, too, have reached the time to answer this question.”

Lu Ping’an was also aware that his Life Bank system was forming a cycle, interpreting “life” as he understood it.

With each new Profession he added, with every Advancement, Lu Ping’an felt himself drawing closer to the “answer.”

And the more he understood Big Cat, the more he felt that her past was all too tragic.

Perhaps she was right; her talents, accumulation, and even her luck were far better than that of the Lady of the Forest at that time.

But maybe out of personal obstinacy, or out of spite, she chose a path completely opposite to that of the Lady of the Forest…

Even when she herself wavered later on, by then she couldn’t stop anymore.

The World’s Reason is born from “rules”, which in turn evolve from “Decrees”.

The problem could have occurred very early on, perhaps it was just due to a fall-out or ideological dispute, leading her to impulsively make an extreme choice…

and for the rest of her life, she probably was paying back for that “extremism.”

The more she tried to prove herself right and the Lady of the Forest wrong, the more extreme she inevitably became.

Thinking this way, her hatred for the Lady of the Forest indeed had its reasons, probably it was the existence of the latter, along with her rise, that led her down a path of no return…

“…It is your luck that you can start from my endpoint…”

This abrupt statement was Big Cat’s response, which also made Lu Ping’an pause for a moment before he fully understood it.

“There’s no need to follow the road I took, you can go in any direction…”

The lack of Big Cat’s furious retort meant that Lu Ping’an’s understanding was correct.

And this cliché of “tsundere” speech made Lu Ping’an feel even more intrigued.

In fact, as several fourth-tier Professions gradually took shape, his “Life System” was becoming increasingly complete.

Reality is always harsh; compared to Big Cat, his “mentor”, Lu Ping’an’s system, his path, was obviously closer to that of the Lady of the Forest.

“…No, you’re closer to me, to the me of the past, the me and her once walked the same road.”

Well, this revelation did indeed startle Lu Ping’an, but now, it had little significance.

This time, facing the “Saint” of the Lady of the Forest, who might even guide the will of its original being, Lu Ping’an not only had to submit a satisfactory answer, but it had to be impressive in its victory.

He needed to demonstrate his potential, to showcase his path…

at least, to be seen as more worthwhile than a “Treasure Chest Monster.”

But at this moment, looking at the “Saint” in front of him who was prepared for battle, Lu Ping’an could see behind him the seemingly malevolent and pleased “Audience.”

“This, too, is an opportunity to validate my path…”

Lu Ping’an reached out his finger calmly, and a huge bony hand emerged from the void, making the same gesture.

“…But Chris, it was you who guided me along this way, so it is still a continuation of your road.”

The Pale Hand, a unique Profession of the Tyrant Balance Disaster Beast, demonstrated a completely different advancement and path in front of the world.

The “Saint” of the Evil Gods matched perfectly against the Saint of the Proper God, and between them, isn’t it another competition of ideologies?