Seeing Ling Ziqing being led away by Huo Cheng, Fang Qingyuan breathed a sigh of relief. ’The depths of the Black River, a spatial fissure?’
’A place like that sounds incredibly dangerous just from the na. I just reached Foundation Establishnt. It’s better to leave this kind of thing to soone more suitable.’
Below, Situ Jingyu was happily eating. When she glanced up and saw that the annoying fellow from before had vanished, her heart jumped. She instinctively looked toward Fang Qingyuan, and only relaxed when she saw he was unhard.
As for where Ling Ziqing went, she couldn’t care less.
Huo Bai had barely spoken the entire ti. After Huo Cheng left, he grew even more silent. After a long while, he said to Lechuan,
"Senior Brother Le, this junior brother would like to ask for your help. I want to see Huo Hu."
Hearing this request, Lechuan sighed softly before saying,
"Let Qingyuan handle this. When it cos to the Artifact Talisman Alliance, it’s more convenient for Qingyuan to take care of such matters."
Huo Bai bowed to Lechuan in thanks, then fell silent again. Hearing Lechuan’s directive, Fang Qingyuan, who was standing to the side, had mixed feelings.
Huo Hu had helped him out once, back in the day. It was precisely because of the mission Fang Qingyuan had to undertake to beco an Inner Sect Disciple that Huo Hu found an excuse to go to the Barbaric Wilderness, where he t Wei Tong.
’Although everything that happened afterward was Huo Hu’s own choice, if I hadn’t sought him out back then, would his fate have turned out differently?’
Now, Huo Hu was imprisoned in the Artifact Talisman Alliance’s dungeon. Huo Gan had been greatly disappointed in him back then and had washed his hands of him, spending all these years focused on finding a Human-faced Serpent. In Huo Gan’s eyes, no mber of the Huo Family was as important as his own Spiritual Crane.
After Wei Tong’s death, Wei Xuan waged war across the land, and Huo Hu followed him steadfastly, deaf to anyone’s attempts to persuade him to return.
Just like that, the Wei Family waged incessant war in Northern White Mountain. After the Wei Family produced another Golden Core and a Golden Core Companion Beast, Wei Xuan’s ambitions swelled even further. He fought the Lu Family, then the Luo Family. After defeating the Luo Family, he still wasn’t satisfied and decided to settle old scores with the Artifact Talisman Alliance.
However, just as the Wei Family was at the height of its power, its montum seemingly unstoppable, the remaining Golden Core Cultivators of the Artifact Talisman Alliance made a final, ruthless decision: they had to destroy the Wei Family.
Otherwise, judging by the Wei Family’s actions and growth over the years, it was only a matter of ti before the Artifact Talisman Alliance would be crushed by them.
The two sides fought a decisive battle at Celestial Attraction Mountain. On one side were Wei Xuan, Wei Yuan, Wei Yuan’s Golden Core Companion Beast, their outside help Elder Green Robe, and Huo Hu, who was considered nearly half a Golden Core’s worth of combat power.
On the Artifact Talisman Alliance’s side were six Golden Cores led by Qi Wushuang. There had been another, Lu Shiluo, but he had already gone independent and died, so he naturally didn’t count.
The combat strength of both sides seed roughly equal, yet the Wei Family lost the battle. The Wei Family’s three Golden Cores and their ally, Elder Green Robe, all perished. Only Huo Hu survived.
This was because Huo Hu ca from the Beast Taming Huo Family, and the Artifact Talisman Alliance didn’t dare kill him outright. They had intended to let the Huo Family ransom him, but Huo Gan declared he wouldn’t get involved, so no one from the Huo Family dared to co on their own.
Thus, Huo Hu was imprisoned in the Artifact Talisman Alliance’s dungeon, forgotten by all. These events had happened just a few years ago. At the ti, Fang Qingyuan had been in seclusion, trying to break through to the Late-stage Qi Cultivation Perfection Realm, so he didn’t know much about it.
By the ti he ca out of seclusion, the outco was already set in stone. Fang Qingyuan had simply sighed a few tis and then put the matter out of his mind.
Now that Huo Bai wanted to see Huo Hu, Fang Qingyuan found it quite the headache. ’My own sect has so grievances with the Artifact Talisman Alliance. This won’t be easy to arrange.’
’But no matter how difficult, I have to do it. Otherwise, what’s the point of being the Vice Master of the Ministry of Affairs?’
The fairly successful banquet ca to an end. Afterward, when Fang Qingyuan looked at the bill, his vision went black. Situ Jingyu and her two companions had devoured Spiritual Food worth five thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones—enough to cover the costs of the other four branch sects combined.
But then Fang Qingyuan saw Situ Jingyu’s satisfied expression and found it in his heart to let it go. ’Let her eat. It’s all on the sect’s tab anyway. When you’re covered in lice, you stop worrying about a few more bites.’
Seeing that Situ Jingyu was in a good mood, Fang Qingyuan approached her and said,
"Senior Sister, are you free in the next few days? How about accompanying your junior brother on a long trip?"
"Is there a Spirit Stone reward?"
"Senior Sister, you’ve changed. You never used to talk about money so much."
"If soone pays, I’ll do the job. If I were doing it just for you, I wouldn’t charge. But this is business for the Southern Border Beast Taming Sect, so how could I not ask for paynt?"
Fang Qingyuan thought about it for a mont. ’That’s right, this is sect business. Why should I be frugal? I just beca Vice Master and I’m already subconsciously trying to save the sect money. That’s a bad habit. I need to change.’
At this thought, Fang Qingyuan smiled and said,
"Senior Sister has a point. How about this: accompany to the Artifact Talisman Alliance’s territory for a few days. Three hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones per day, capped at five thousand. What do you say?"
Hearing there was money to be made, Situ Jingyu’s eyes lit up. She puffed out her chest and declared,
"Don’t worry, Junior Brother. With around, I guarantee your safety."
...
After crossing the Death Swamp, Fang Qingyuan and Situ Jingyu concealed their presence and rode on Yin Bao’s back, secretly making their way toward the Artifact Talisman Alliance’s territory.
This matter for Huo Bai couldn’t be handled openly. Furthermore, the Spirit Wood Alliance was currently plotting against his sect, so Fang Qingyuan was still a bit afraid now that he was outside the Southern Border.
However, he would occasionally glance up at the sky, where Huo Bai was hidden.
For this plan to work, Fang Qingyuan needed to successfully negotiate things first, only then would Huo Bai reveal himself. Even when eting Huo Hu, Huo Bai had to do it secretly, without letting the other Huo Family mbers know.
Huo Bai had only dared to make this request because Lechuan had asked Huo Cheng to go rescue Heiye. Otherwise, with Huo Cheng by his side, he wouldn’t have had the courage.
With Huo Bai secretly following him, Fang Qingyuan’s courage grew. But this courage only lasted until he ca face-to-face with Qi Wushuang.
After sending in a formal request for a eting, Fang Qingyuan and Situ Jingyu were led before Qi Wushuang. As soon as he entered the main hall, Fang Qingyuan saw Qi Wushuang, seated high on an enormous Spirit Wood chair, lightly touching her forehead.
Upon seeing Fang Qingyuan, Qi Wushuang frowned. A terrifying pressure imdiately washed over him, and a bone-chilling coldness seeped into his heart, extinguishing the courage he had drawn from Huo Bai’s presence.
"The Vice Master of the Southern Border Beast Taming Sect? You?"
Qi Wushuang wore a white dress and appeared to be in her thirties. She had a long face and thin lips, her looks rely above average. The mont she spoke, it was as if a cold wind swept through the hall, causing the temperature to drop instantly.
She had been grievously injured at Celestial Attraction Mountain, leaving an unhealable scar that ran from her forehead to the corner of her brow. That was why she liked to cover it with her hand when eting people. A woman’s love for beauty was universal; not even a Golden Core Cultivator was exempt.
Hearing Qi Wushuang’s words, Fang Qingyuan knew that his low cultivation level had made the woman before him suspicious. Although he had been the Vice Master of Miscellaneous Affairs Peak for over half a month and Qi Wushuang should have received information about him, seeing him in person still made her unable to resist questioning him.
Besides, Qi Wushuang’s attitude toward him was far from friendly, a holdover from the ti before the battle at Celestial Attraction Mountain, when both sides had taken lives from the other.
Qi Wushuang was now the undisputed leader of the Artifact Talisman Alliance. After the war with the Wei Family, the Alliance’s many scattered factions had united. Their overall strength had not diminished but had actually increased, and they were now a major power in Northern White Mountain.
But the Artifact Talisman Alliance had a single fatal flaw: a lack of top-tier combat power. Although Qi Wushuang was the Alliance Leader, she was only at the Mid-stage Golden Core. No one else in the entire Artifact Talisman Alliance showed any signs of advancing to the Nascent Soul realm.
So, even though the Artifact Talisman Alliance had established its prestige in Northern White Mountain, it didn’t dare to strike out in all directions like the Wei Family once did. They could only hole up in their small corner of Northern White Mountain and focus on their business.
Fang Qingyuan didn’t answer Qi Wushuang’s earlier question. He withstood her oppressive aura, stood his ground, and asked in return,
"Alliance Leader Qi, what are your thoughts on the trailblazing war that will happen in ten years?"
Qi Wushuang thought for a mont, then said coldly,
"The trailblazing war is in the depths of White Mountain, tens of thousands of miles away from . Even if a war breaks out, it has little to do with our Artifact Talisman Alliance. We are business people; we only seek profit."
Fang Qingyuan chuckled and continued,
"Then I have co today precisely to discuss a big deal with Alliance Leader Qi. I wonder if you are interested in hearing about it?"
Qi Wushuang’s expression flickered, but it quickly returned to indifference. She looked down on the Southern Border Beast Taming Sect. Although the Southern Border Beast Taming Sect’s territory was not small, they had only been established in the Southern Border for ten or twenty years. Their foundation was too shallow; it was unlikely they had much wealth.
Moreover, the Beast Taming Sect had always been self-sufficient and crude in its ways. With their Spirit Beasts, they had little need for outside resources and were not considered good custors.
So, Qi Wushuang asked casually,
"What big deal?"
Seeing Qi Wushuang’s expression, Fang Qingyuan knew he was being looked down upon, but he didn’t care. He said, enunciating each word carefully,
"How about ten Flying Boat Hovering Ships?"
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