Chinese-style Succubus, Time to Exert Your Power

【After listening for a long while, Mr. Xun finally spoke.】

【“He’s not Si Duo Duo.”】

【“As expected of Mr. Xun—truly a man with a discerning eye.”】

【“Whether the Kindling Association will participate in your plan is none of your concern. You should leave.”】

【“Why? This is an opportunity for the human race on Firelight Star! The Kindling Association also needs a stable source of resources and manpower, doesn’t it?”】

【Mr. Xun rose from behind the desk. He wore an old gray changshan and stood with his hands clasped behind his back.】

【“The Kindling Association does only one thing…”】

【“What?”】

【“We search for the human race’s prodigies, protect them, nurture them, and help them grow. Then we have them help the Kindling Association continue searching for prodigies, protecting them, and nurturing them. Generation after generation, the flame is passed on.”】

【“And then? Wait, you just keep passing the flame on without doing anything else?”】

【“And then… we wait.”】

【“Wait for what?”】

【“In every era, under the watchful eyes of the alien races, we preserve a portion of humanity’s strength. We wait for the chance when someone from the human race can truly fight back and turn the tables. When that time comes, the prodigies who have inherited the flame will fight for humanity.”】

【The Kindling Association knew how glorious humanity had once been.】

【The Kindling Association also knew that humanity would not remain fallen forever. One day, it would rise again.】

【Only, no one knew exactly when that day would come.】

【But opportunities always favor those who are prepared.】

【If that day arrived while every human was working as a slave miner, they could only watch helplessly as the opportunity slipped away.】

【What the Kindling Association did was ensure that no matter when the opportunity appeared, humanity would always have cards to play.】

【That was why they spared no expense to seek out and protect humanity’s cultivation geniuses, helping them grow stronger. Once these prodigies became powerful, they could continue protecting the next generation of prodigies.】

【And so the flame was passed on, generation after generation.】

【Ji Wuqing had already explained these beliefs and principles to you during the previous simulation.】

【You understood them completely.】

【But objectively speaking, if the Kindling Association cooperated with you this time, they would gain a second-class star as a base of operations, bringing them enormous benefits. The ascenders from your Human Realm would also gain a foothold from which to enter a first-class star, while the rebel army of the Eclosion Galaxy and the Kindling Association would be able to join forces.】

【Subjectively speaking, this was only a simulation. You could afford to make mistakes.】

【So today, you had to persuade Mr. Xun.】

【It was time for the “Chinese Charmer” to work its magic!】

【You straightened your collar and said with righteous conviction, “What if I told you that I am that opportunity?”】

【Beside you, Shen Yifeng: “Pfft!”】

【“Hey, old man! I’ve been putting up with you for a long time! You’ve been laughing this whole time! Have you even stopped once?”】

【“Brother Chen, don’t get worked up. I merely thought of something amusing.”】

【“What amusing thing? Did your wife just have a baby?”】

【“Er… Ah, no, no, that’s not right. My wife is already quite old. She… she can’t have children anymore.”】

【Mr. Xun noticed that the way you and Shen Yifeng interacted seemed almost as though you had known each other for many years.】

【However, he did not pursue the matter. He merely told you:】

【“I sincerely hope that you are that opportunity. At the very least, I hope that within my lifetime, I can see the Kindling Association, which has carried on its legacy for millions upon millions of years, take that step from ‘endurance’ and ‘preservation’ toward ‘resistance’—even if it ultimately falls after all its efforts end in failure.”】

【You took a deep breath. Thoughts surged through your mind, and you launched straight into your speech.】

【“Then let’s do it! Who cares whether I’m that so-called opportunity or not? The Kindling Association is spread throughout the entire universe. Are you really expecting the opportunity you’ve been waiting for to be something that every alien race in the universe can see clearly and say:】

【‘Oh my heavens, humanity has risen! If we don’t stop them now, we’re finished!’】

【Come on!】

【How could such an opportunity possibly exist?】

【Opportunities have to be created with our own hands!】

【We start in a small place! We start with a third-class star!】

【Make a show of attacking from one direction while secretly advancing from another!】

【We resist in silence for many years, until the moment the alien races discover us, we have already become a mountain they cannot push down and a river they cannot cross!】

【Are you really going to refuse to take that first step toward ‘resistance’ simply because you fear failure? Because you’re afraid that the results accumulated bit by bit over countless years might be wiped out by this one act of rebellion?】

【The larger the organization, the harder it is to move; the heavier the accumulated burden, the harder it is to turn back!】

【The more foundations the Kindling Association builds up, the heavier the burden on your minds becomes. The more afraid of failure you are!】

【Mr. Xun, do you think a Kindling Association like that still has any meaning?!】

【Is the Kindling Association truly waiting for an opportunity—or have the alien races bullied all the courage and spirit out of you?”】

【Your protagonist-worthy speech was so thunderous, so enlightening, so refreshing, so eye-opening, and so ruthlessly mocking of the present age that it left everyone reeling.】

【Shen Yifeng’s cultivation was lower, and his psychological defenses were weaker. He was convinced on the spot—one hundred and twenty percent.】

【He turned to Mr. Xun and said:】

【“Sir, let’s give it a try. Sooner or later, some branch of the Kindling Association has to take this step! We can sever our connection with the organization. Even if the uprising fails, only the Kindling branch on this one planet will fall. The Kindling Association elsewhere can continue to carry on the legacy!”】

【There was no denying that Shen Yifeng had struck the heart of the matter.】

【Or perhaps the “Chinese Charmer” had truly worked its magic. Mr. Xun changed his mind.】

【“Brother Shen is absolutely right. I also have a feeling that Brother Chen Dong may truly be an opportunity. However, please give me some time. I need to verify that you really are Chen Dong.”】

【The objective had been achieved, and you relaxed considerably.】

【“Investigate all you like.”】

【Twenty-sixth year. Fifty-two years old.】

【The Kindling Association confirmed your identity. You were indeed the rebel army’s Grand Marshal, Chen Dong, from the Eclosion Galaxy.】

【Mr. Xun was not the highest-ranking member of the Kindling Association on Firelight Star.】

【The Kindling Association had nineteen lines of communication on Firelight Star, and he was the superior overseeing one of them.】

【Above those nineteen lines was the Firelight Star Kindling Association’s committee, which included the president, vice presidents, and the advisory corps.】

【All major decisions had to be approved by a vote of this committee before they could be carried out.】

【With Mr. Xun’s introduction, you met every member of the committee.】

【You and the committee held a general meeting beneath a large tree at the entrance to a remote little village, where you finalized the direction and details of your cooperation.】

【To any outsider, the scene would have looked utterly comical.】

【A red-haired young man dressed like a general was passionately explaining how to conquer Firelight Star, deceive the outside powers, and strengthen humanity’s cultivators after victory to a group of dark-skinned, wrinkled, thin farmers squatting on the ground.】

【It looked more like a group of patients who had escaped from a mental asylum, comparing notes about their illnesses.】

【But in reality, these farmers truly were members of the Firelight Star Kindling Association’s committee. Every one of them was a cultivator of the Earth-Shattering realm!】

【The president, You Keqing, was even a cultivator of the Heaven-Piercing realm!】

“Brother Chen Dong, this plan is truly brilliant! The fact that you can transform into Si Duo Duo without leaving the slightest flaw makes it even more ingenious. Heaven knows—you may well be the opportunity our Torch Society has been waiting countless ages for!”