Chapter 21: Killing Three Birds with One Stone

"Over these past few days, I have also had Ji Yun cooperate with him," Ji Tianxing said, pulling out his phone and opening a video.

The director on site immediately signaled the cameraman to focus on Ji Tianxing’s phone screen. The footage playing on the device was promptly broadcast live. It showed Ji Yun sitting on the ground, regulating his breathing and circulating his energy. In the video, one could clearly see the True Dragon bloodline radiating from Ji Yun’s body, surging outward and drifting toward the horizon.

"What is this showing?" the host asked, puzzled.

Ji Tianxing chuckled and nodded. "Ji Yun and Ji Ling are, after all, brothers by blood. No matter how many mistakes Ji Ling has made, as a father, I cannot bear to watch my own child die. Therefore, I allowed Ji Yun to sacrifice a portion of his vital essence to remotely transmit some of his own Divine Covenant power to Ji Ling."

"Such a thing is possible?" the host exclaimed, astonished. "That is absolutely unheard of."

Ji Tianxing, clearly well-prepared, smiled and explained, "This is a unique technique of our Ji family. It allows an ordinary person like Ji Ling, who is not a Divine Covenant holder, to briefly possess a portion of a Covenant holder's power. Of course, this power comes at the cost of Xiaoyun sacrificing his own vital essence. Xiaoyun has truly given up so much for Ji Ling."

In reality, Ji Tianxing’s words were pure fabrication. The video he recorded had been prepared in advance; he had simply filmed Ji Yun sitting in the training ground meditating, then used various software to add realistic special effects of flowing blood essence.

Ji Tianxing had long anticipated what Ji Ling might do. While others might be in the dark, Ji Tianxing knew very well that since Ji Ling had successfully contracted the Ying Long, he would inevitably use that power to act. Now, with this video, no matter what Ji Ling did in the future, the credit would belong entirely to Ji Yun. After all, it was Ji Yun who had "sacrificed his vital essence" to allow Ji Ling to wield "divine power."

Currently, in everyone's eyes, Ji Ling was merely an ordinary person—someone who possessed a legendary deity but lacked a Divine Space, rendering him incapable of the powers of a Divine Covenant holder. It was common knowledge that even if an ordinary person had a 100% compatibility rate with a deity, without a Divine Space or the status of a Covenant holder, they could not manifest even the slightest bit of divine ability.

That was exactly Ji Ling’s situation. Everyone knew he lacked a Divine Space and was not a Covenant holder. Ji Tianxing could explain away the "Thunderous Skies" technique Ji Ling had previously used as being remotely controlled by Ji Yun. However, since the live broadcast was continuous, he couldn't have Ji Yun acting at every moment, so he had come up with this foolproof, one-time solution: all of Ji Ling’s abilities were obtained at the cost of Ji Yun’s vital essence.

The goal was to prevent Ji Ling from dying. Predictably, this carefully woven lie had a massive impact.

[So that’s why Ji Ling has been using divine power so frequently these past few days!]
[Exactly! How could an ordinary person possibly perform such profound spells?]
[It turns out Major General Ji Yun sacrificed his own vital essence!]
[I can understand General Ji Tianxing doing this; he’s his own son, after all. What father in the world doesn't love his son? But Major General Ji...]
[It’s true! Ji Ling was always jealous of Major General Ji Yun, even stealing his notes and plagiarizing his research, yet Ji Yun still puts aside his grievances and is willing to sacrifice his essence for him!]
[And yet, Ji Ling uses it as capital to show off!]
[How can there be someone as shameless as Ji Ling in this world?]
[If it weren't for Major General Ji Yun sacrificing his essence, Ji Ling would have died in the Eastern Theater long ago!]
[How is he even able to swagger around like that?]
[Ji Yun is about to face the Sakura Nation in the Divine War! Sacrificing his essence now will definitely affect his strength!]
[Oh my god! If Major General Ji Yun loses the Divine War because he transferred his essence to Ji Ling, then Ji Ling will truly become the sinner of the entire Dragon Kingdom!]

Watching the comments scroll by rapidly, Ji Tianxing was overjoyed. He hadn't even expected his lie to have such an unforeseen effect. The people in the chat were truly capable of overthinking!

He realized it instantly: why hadn't he thought of that? Now that Ji Yun had "sacrificed" his essence to "exchange" it for the power Ji Ling was using, Ji Yun was bound to be affected. If Ji Yun were to suffer a crushing defeat in the upcoming Divine War, the blame could be shifted entirely onto the fact that he had depleted his essence to save his brother.

When that time came, even if they lost the Divine War and sacrificed the nation’s fortune, the Ji family would not be blamed; instead, they would become the very definition of righteousness. Everything would be blamed on Ji Ling. Ji Tianxing, Ji Yun, and the entire Ji family would be seen as the sympathetic "victims," while Ji Ling would become the target of public outrage. After all, if not for transferring his essence to Ji Ling, why would Ji Yun have lost his divine power? Why would he have lost the war?

Ji Tianxing wanted to find a mirror and kiss his own reflection. He was in awe of his own genius. This plan, killing three birds with one stone, would ruin Ji Ling’s reputation, provide a reasonable excuse for Ji Yun’s potential defeat in the Divine War, and even allow him to rake in over 800 million in betting winnings if they lost.

Ji Ling would be the only one suffering, while the Ji family would reap three major benefits! It was a brilliant bargain. Ji Tianxing was beaming, itching to call Ji Yun and tell him to stop training—just go through the motions during the Divine War and lose on purpose. But he had to hold back. He had been playing these roles with his youngest son since he was a child; others might not know, but as a father, he understood Ji Yun perfectly. Ji Yun might not have much talent, but he was deep-thinking and had been a devious child from the start. Even back in elementary school, if a classmate had a chicken leg in their lunch while his own was caviar and Wagyu beef—worth far more and tasting far better—he would still snatch the classmate’s chicken leg simply because he didn't have one himself.