Seeing the odd expression on Ye Yu’s face, Zhu Xincheng imdiately offered an explanation.
“So ti ago, a divine stone mine was discovered in the northern reaches of the Divine Realm!” she began.
“Once I learned of it, I dispatched forces to seize it at once and forbade any word to leak out. I planned to quietly reap trendous profits.”
“That’s why I brought so many of our Divine Clan mbers out and only returned yesterday.”
“But in the Divine Realm, there is no wall that doesn’t leak! Just now I received a report from the Extre Moon Pavilion.”
“The gist of it was: ‘We know about the divine stone mine. That location belongs to our lord’s cultivation grounds, so it’s effectively territory claid by Extre Moon Pavilion! You must imdiately order your Lieyang Sect to withdraw. Tomorrow we’ll send people to take over. If you refuse, then you’d better be ready for a fight. This isn’t a negotiation—it’s outright seizure!’”
Zhu Xincheng’s tone bore unmistakable arrogance. It was the typical domineering style of Extre Moon Pavilion: swallow everything whole, never leave a scrap for anyone else. With the backing of the Divine Alliance, they indeed had the power to act this way.
But Zhu Xincheng’s spine was strong—she couldn’t swallow such an insult. To capture that divine stone mine, Lieyang Sect had lost many Divine Clan mbers. They had only just secured it; now it was being snatched away? That was out of the question.
“True, Lieyang Sect is no match for Extre Moon Pavilion, but trying to bully us? Don’t dream it!” Zhu Xincheng declared.
Her plan for tonight was to ride through the night to Drunken Heart Valley and call for aid. The Divine Alliance there was also top-tier and had past grudges with Extre Moon Pavilion. Moreover, Zhu Xincheng enjoyed a asure of friendship with them. She was confident they’d back her, at worst splitting the mine’s profits. That would still be better than letting Extre Moon Pavilion take everything.
As for Ye Yu’s role, it was simple: he would lead the Lieyang Sect’s Divines to bluff the enemy. According to Zhu Xincheng, most of Extre Moon Pavilion’s elders were in seclusion; the only one managing affairs now was Seventh Elder Chen Guangju, who had sent the seizure order himself.
Zhu Xincheng believed that the notion of taking the mine solo was entirely his idea, so tomorrow he must lead the team to receive its surrender. Ye Yu’s task was to intimidate him—once Chen Guangju saw Ye Yu’s formidable presence, he would hesitate to act rashly and imdiately return to Extre Moon Pavilion to summon reinforcents. That would buy them ti.
After all, Zhu Xincheng planned to bring the Drunken Heart Valley forces to the mine ahead of ti. Having Ye Yu wait there was rely an insurance policy. When all was done, ten percent of the mine’s output would be credited to Ye Yu. What did he think?
Ye Yu pondered. Honestly, divine stones weren’t especially interesting to him; they were useless for cultivation, and divine techniques and relics were never in short supply. Yet this mission sounded dangerous—and the rewards were equally great. If he could unleash a spectacular display before the eyes of Extre Moon Pavilion’s mbers, he’d earn a wave of submission points. That would be far quicker than struggling to join another Divine Alliance. And tomorrow he could put it all on display, harvesting even more loyalty from the Lieyang Sect mbers who followed him.
True, it wouldn’t be much, but even mosquito at is at. If things went sour, he could always find a way to escape.
After a mont’s thought, Ye Yu agreed. Zhu Xincheng smiled, turned, and prepared to depart for Drunken Heart Valley. Before leaving, however, she paused and spoke earnestly, “Ye Dao You, take so ti to care more for your Dao partner. She has it hard.”
Ye Yu was left baffled. Why bring that up out of nowhere? But before he could ask, Zhu Xincheng’s figure had vanished.
Ye Yu turned toward the inner chamber. Sothing was wrong—way too wrong. Why did everyone else think Xie Buyu was fine, yet only he felt sothing amiss?
The next day, at the gates of Lieyang Sect Divine Alliance...
Fifty Divine Clan mbers had already assembled. Each looked at Ye Yu with reverent eyes. The terrifying scene in the main hall just yesterday was still vivid in their minds. Learning that this strong figure would lead them on the expedition filled them with excitent.
But one person’s gaze stood out—it bore sorrow rather than worship. That was Xie Buyu. Though she said nothing, her eyes spoke volus.
Last night, Ye Yu hadn’t returned to his quarters. That ant he stayed in the main hall—where the sect leader, Zhu Xincheng, resided. She had clearly moved faster than Xie Buyu had expected. Xie Buyu was resentful.
What she didn’t know was that Ye Yu had been alone in the main hall—no one else. His body remained pure. He simply hadn’t known how to face Xie Buyu: to have a deep talk? He couldn’t bring himself to. Guardedness wasn’t so easily shed.
Ignoring Xie Buyu’s resentful gaze, Ye Yu led the fifty Divine Clan mbers toward the divine stone mine. Two hours of flight later, they reached its outskirts.
A dozen Lieyang Sect operatives lay in ambush there. Once they joined forces, everyone took up positions, awaiting the arrival of Extre Moon Pavilion’s Divines.
Xie Buyu stood behind Ye Yu and whispered, “Husband, don’t worry. Extre Moon Pavilion is very far away. Even if they co, it won’t be until the afternoon.”
On the way, Ye Yu had already explained the situation with the divine stone mine to Xie Buyu, so she was fully aware. Ye Yu rely smiled. But he wasn’t afraid of Extre Moon Pavilion coming—he was worried they wouldn’t co at all.
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