Chapter 500: Chapter 246: Cutting off Karma_2

This is a 30% increase in cultivation speed!

It might not seem like much in the short term, but in the long run, having one’s cultivation speed slowed down by 30% is a huge loss.

Even 30% is an understatement.

Even if his Qi Luck is cut by 10%, slowing down his cultivation speed by 10%, it’s still an unbearable situation for Lu Yuan.

He governs his country, stabilizes his people, leads his troops into battle, expands his territory, and painstakingly earns his Qi Luck, sacrificing his lifespan to cultivate the Taiping Dao Book.

After paying such a high price, is he just going to let others benefit from it?

Just thinking about it is extremely frustrating, isn’t it?

It’s upsetting like raising a child for 20 years only to find out it’s not yours; the feeling of disgust is indescribable.

Now, the stolen Qi Luck is equivalent to the child Lu Yuan has brought up for someone else.

How much injustice does one have to endure to accept such a humiliating situation?

At least he can’t accept it.

“So, not only the master-servant relationship needs to be severed, but also the tribute system. Just as Yue Country has been destroyed, might as well take this opportunity to sever everything completely.”

When Lu Yuan realized this, his determination had already set in.

He cannot let others take away the Qi Luck he has painstakingly earned.

He has nothing to do with this newly established Ning Country, and as for Shen Qiu, a person he doesn’t even know wants to share his Qi Luck? Is he dreaming?

Now let’s take the chance to completely cut ties with those Coastal Aristocratic families.

Although Lu Yuan has decided to completely sever ties with Ning Country, the relationship between Changsha and Ning Country is not something that can be severed easily.

Moreover, even if it can be severed, doing it in a proper and well-thought-out manner is crucial.

The simplest and most direct method, of course, is to send a messenger to Jinling and personally confront Shen Qiu, condemning his despicable act of usurpation, denouncing Ning Country, and declaring war directly with them.

The above method is undoubtedly the fastest way to sever ties.

Not only will it completely sever their relationship, but it will also rally those loyal to the Yue Country, winning over the hearts of the people, and harvesting a wave of Qi Luck in return.

But can it be done like this?

Obviously not.

First of all, let alone the newly established Ning Country – after taking over the foundation of Yue Country, its strength is far greater than that of Changsha. If they were to declare war, chances of winning are slim.

Changsha is currently not in a position to risk a war that could potentially cause the collapse of the nation.

Therefore, the above method is not feasible.

Since direct confrontation won’t work, the only way to cleanly cut ties is to take a roundabout approach.

So when Lu Yuan received the news of the destruction of Yue Country and decided to cut ties with Ning Country, he immediately sent messengers to Southsea, Ninghai, Xichuan, and Hanzhong that very day.

The purpose of sending the messengers was simple, to unite these four countries in renouncing their master-servant relationship, and the tribute system with Ning Country.

Severing ties with Ning Country alone as Changsha Country, after all, might seem less convincing in terms of support.

But if he could pull in a few other countries, then their combined strength and support would be significantly increased.

The difference between dealing with a single Changsha Country and dealing with all the feudatory countries is significant for the Ningguo Dynasty.

One is a problem that can be easily resolved on its own; the other is an opponent that cannot be dealt with even if they give their all.

Which is easier and which is harder, that goes without saying.

The only headache here is whether the other countries will willingly follow Lu Yuan’s plan to break away from the Ningguo Dynasty’s tribute system.

Among the four countries outside Changsha, the probability of the newly established Xichuan and Hanzhong countries agreeing is not high.

These two countries have very limited strength, with just seven or eight hundred thousand people each, and their combined armed forces do not exceed 50,000. Calling them small countries would not be an exaggeration.

Yet, these two small countries have to uphold against 150,000 troops deployed by Zhou Country in Hanzhong County.

With such a strong enemy looming over them, it would be insane for Hanzhong and Xichuan to leave the protection of Ning Country’s “big tree” and give up their reliable alliance, choosing to stand alone against the surrounding powerful enemies.

Thus, it’s not very likely that they’d be successfully persuaded to join forces.

Fortunately, Lu Yuan didn’t have much expectation for them and didn’t rely on them for help.

His real expectation was with Southsea and Ninghai Countries.

These two countries have been old allies. They previously formed an alliance and stood up together against Yue Country, setting off the prologue of fiefdoms.

Lately, the three countries have been in a small coalition, advancing and retreating together, dealing with pressure from Yue Country and other nations.

Now Yue Country has ceased to exist.

Lu Yuan believes that he’s not the only one who’s shaken and has other thoughts in his mind in the face of this heavy news.

He wants to take this opportunity to sever ties with Ning Country and make Changsha Country independent.

And what about Southsea and Ninghai Countries? Don’t they also want to?

Err…

It might be possible that old Yan Wangqiu actually doesn’t want that.

The old man has aged, and now he seems to be 145 or 146 years old, just like the Wuan Marquis who died earlier this year, and probably won’t live much longer.

Under these circumstances, what he’s thinking about is stability – being able to pass on Southsea Country to the next generation.

Therefore, Yan Wangqiu might not support Lu Yuan’s intentions to cause trouble.

However, if old Yan doesn’t support it, Su Xuange might not necessarily share the same sentiment.

Unlike the old and dying Yan Wangqiu, Su Xuange is only 83 years old and still has over 60 years of life left. He’s in his prime.