Longzang

Chapter 349 The Three Visit
"Brother Wei, we have no grudges against each other, so why do you still curse me?" Tianyu asked quietly.

Wei Yuan said apologetically, "I really have something to discuss with you, and I have no other way to contact you. Besides, I don't know any other witch clans, so I can only turn to you."

Tianyu's expression softened, and he handed Wei Yuan a formation stone, saying, "You can activate this formation stone if needed. If I don't come, it means the hatred between our two races has reached a certain point, and I don't want to come."

Wei Yuan put away the array stones, then handed over a box, saying, "Take a look at these things first."

Tianyu opened the box, revealing four small compartments, each containing a piece of meat. The four pieces of meat were wriggling, each with its own thoughts.

Tianyu brought the bottle to his nose, took a deep breath, and said, "It smells wonderful! It smells so good! This is... the essence blood of the True Lord!"

"Can I exchange it for something?"

"Of course! You're so generous! How many do you have left? I'll take them all!"

"I need offerings, medicinal herbs, special minerals, spiritual plants, and... Blood Necklace."

Tianyu gave Wei Yuan a meaningful look and said, "It seems you've also embarked on this path. But that's normal; even if you don't want to, there are plenty of people forcing you. There are many Blood Necklaces, but the fresher they are, the better their quality. How many do you plan to take?"

Wei Yuan had previously crammed on the knowledge of Blood Necklace. This item was priced based on the number of years its internal essence could extend one's lifespan. Furthermore, because Blood Necklace had exceptionally terrifying side effects, the less one consumed, the better; therefore, for the same weight, the greater the lifespan extension, the higher the price.

The normal standard is that one pound of blood jewel can extend one's life by ten years, the lowest quality only by three years, and the best by fifty years. The price of the best quality is not five times that of the ordinary, but five hundred times.

Ultimately, the two agreed to exchange 100 jin of True Monarch flesh and blood for a standard year's supply of Blood Necklace. Wei Yuan obtained enough Blood Necklace to extend his life by 100 years. This was followed by sacrificial offerings, various minerals and medicinal herbs from the Witch Domain, and Tianyu promised a seed of immortal plant, for a total of 50,000 jin of flesh and blood.

After the agreement was reached, Wei Yuan said, "I have one additional request."

"any request?"

"I need to compile intelligence data and maps of the Wucheng tribe."

Tianyu immediately shook his head: "This is aiding the enemy! I cannot agree to this!"

Wei Yuan said calmly, "Isn't giving you so much flesh and blood also aiding the enemy? We can cancel this deal. Consider this box a gift to you."

Tianyu narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "You're using us to help you eliminate your enemies!"

Wei Yuan smiled and said, "You finally understand. We can eliminate my enemies and get what I need in return. Why not? But without information about this tribe, nothing is possible."

"That is Lord Momiji's Rain Country. Lord Momiji's power far exceeds your imagination. Back then, Lord Momiji offended Long Zhe and was demoted from his realm, and then exiled to the eastern border. If you ever face Lord Momiji in the future, you must not regard him as a great shaman, or even treat him as an ordinary wild shaman."

"How far is it from where Lord Hongye lives?"

"About... 200,000 li?"

"That's fine then, I can't go that far."

Tianyu said, "You've asked for quite a lot this time. I need to make some preparations. We'll trade in ten days."

"it is good."

Just as Wei Yuan was about to return to the realm, Tian Yu stopped him and said, "Remember to use the array stone, and don't curse me again!"

Wei Yuan said, "I only used five hundred people this time. I'm afraid you wouldn't have been able to sense it if I used fewer. Were you doing something else while I was casting the spell?"

"No, absolutely not!" Tianyu denied it outright.

Seeing Tianyu's fierce expression, Wei Yuan wisely refrained from asking further questions, otherwise the deal could easily fall through.

Upon returning to his residence, Wei Yuan was informed that Yuan Qingyan, the prefect of Ningxi County, was requesting an audience and was already waiting in Zhike Town.

Wei Yuan frowned slightly. He first summoned a disciple from the Heavenly Crafts Hall and asked him to choose a location. Then, he ordered the construction of a reception hall at each of the eastern, western, and southern borders of the realm for entertaining guests. The current Guest Town was too far inside the realm, which was somewhat inappropriate.

Upon arriving at the guest town, Yuan Qingyan had already been waiting for a long time in the reception room.

Wei Yuan entered the room, and Yuan Qingyan immediately stood up and bowed. He only sat down after Wei Yuan was seated.

"What brings you here?" Wei Yuan asked.

Yuan Qingyan took out a small booklet and presented it to Wei Yuan, saying, "This is a collection of poems by your student... I would appreciate your corrections, sir."

Yuan Qingyan realized that Wei Yuan's age made it impossible for her to call herself a student.

Wei Yuan casually placed the poetry collection on the table beside him and said, "Lord Yuan, you didn't come here just to deliver this poetry collection, did you?"

Yuan Qingyan did not return to his seat, but stood to the side like a student standing by, and said, "Poetry is used to express one's aspirations. In fact, I also have some small aspirations in my heart."

"Unfortunately, I don't understand poetry, and I'm not good at reading books, so I probably can't quite understand Lord Yuan's lofty ambitions. Oh, in this place, it seems that having ambitions is not easy to achieve."

Wei Yuan's words had a double meaning, which Yuan Qingyan naturally understood. He said, "In the territory under my jurisdiction, there is indeed nothing that can be done. The border will eventually be expanded. The so-called border is just a line on the map. Within the border, everything must follow your lead, sir. Therefore, my ambitions should be placed on you, sir."

"Unfortunately, I have no great ambitions; all I ever wanted in life was to live a life of leisure and idleness. Lord Yuan, please return!"

Yuan Qingyan said, "I am capable of attacking political enemies and pacifying the people, so I believe I can be of some use to you."

Wei Yuan hadn't expected Yuan Qingyan to be so persistent. He put down his teacup and said, "Lord Yuan, our feud isn't small. Shouldn't a scholar be willing to die to preserve his honor at a time like this? I've heard that Lord Yuan earned his nickname 'Mad Dog' by risking his life."

“Ordinary people seek power and profit, and many scholars also seek fame. I, Yuan, am no exception. If Lord Wei were sitting on the throne today, I would die for my principles and still have a good reputation after death. But today you have carved out a territory and become too powerful. Even if I were to die now, how would history record it?” Wei Yuan had studied history for many years, and a sentence flashed through his mind: In the first year of Tianqi, Wei Yuan raised an army, and the local prefect and other officials died for their principles.

A mere prefect is not even worthy of having his name recorded by the historian.

But Wei Yuan immediately remembered that the phrase was very unlucky, so he quickly banished it from his mind.

Then, subconsciously, he thought that the sentence should be written like this: In a certain year, Emperor Taizu Yuan raised an army, and the whole country rose up in response...

Wei Yuan dared not let his mind wander any further and said, "Lord Yuan, please return. I will consider this matter."

Having achieved his purpose, Yuan Qingyan took his leave.

Wei Yuan shook his head. After defeating the 300,000-strong army, the world around him seemed to have changed completely in an instant.

Just then, someone came to announce that the Xu family's envoy had arrived.

So Wei Yuan flew from the south to the northeast. The Xu family envoy was a Dharma Aspect Elder who refused to enter the realm and waited outside.

A short while later, Wei Yuan arrived in the northeast, where the envoy had already set up a camp. Wei Yuan entered the main tent and saw a thin old man reading inside.

Wei Yuan entered the tent, but the old man did not look up, continuing to read his book.

Wei Yuan didn't say anything. He walked to the side, picked up a candlestick from the table, looked at it, and then used the candlelight to light the tent.

The old man could no longer pretend not to see and angrily shouted, "What are you doing? How can you be so rude?!"

Wei Yuan smiled and said, "I saw that you were engrossed in reading and felt that the light in the tent was not bright enough, so I thought I would add some firelight for you."

The old man's face darkened, and he said, "At such a young age, instead of studying the classics, you've only learned some rogue and scoundrel tricks!"

Wei Yuan said calmly, "If the old man has no one to talk to, he can go home and scold his grandson, if he has any."

"You brat, you're courting death!" The old man roared in fury, his anger surging, and he prepared to attack.

Wei Yuan's eyes lit up, but he immediately sighed and stood still, knowing that this heavenly achievement was something he could only dream of but never reach.

Sure enough, the old man slammed his hand on the table, and then said nothing more.

The old man and the young man stared at each other for a long time before the old man finally spoke first, saying, "The Immortal Ancestor ordered you to release the Xu family members, return their equipment, and compensate them with one million taels of immortal silver, and this matter can be settled!"

Wei Yuan immediately replied, "The Immortal Ancestor never said that!"

The old man was stunned for a moment, then realized what he meant and angrily said, "This is the decree of the Immortal Ancestor! What, would I dare to falsely convey the Immortal Ancestor's decree?!"

"Don't you dare?" Wei Yuan retorted.

"Ignorant brat, how dare you..."

Wei Yuan interrupted him: "How about we swear on Xu Wangu's name?"

The old man was shocked and lunged forward to cover Wei Yuan's mouth, but he stopped halfway and looked at the crimson immortal sword pointed at his chest with a very ugly expression.

Wei Yuan slowly sheathed the Crimson Sword and the Immortal Execution Sword, comforting himself: "Oh well, it's just a hundred days' worth of merit, only a hundred. I'm not short of that..."

The laurel tree, however, swayed frantically, urging Wei Yuan to act. At least so far, no other immortal plant had challenged it for this gift from heaven and earth. Wei Yuan wanted to compete, but he couldn't.

Wei Yuan said, "Don't worry, your ancestor can't hear me. Of course, if I say too much, it might attract his attention. So let's not waste any more words. You think you can get something with your silver tongue that you couldn't even get with 300,000 troops? You'd need another million troops."

The old man's face turned pale, then flushed, and he said, "Then what do you want?"

Wei Yuan said, "Each cultivator below the Foundation Establishment stage costs fifty silver coins, with a minimum redemption of ten thousand. Foundation Establishment cultivators can redeem themselves, starting at five thousand silver coins. Not a single coin less, no discussion."

The old man said, "Then let's start with ten thousand, but I need to be selective about who I hire."

Wei Yuan sneered: "Don't even think about it! I'll let you pick ten. You'll make a lot of money even with ten."

The old man sighed, “All ten thousand slots must go to my Xu family’s private army; no government troops or civilians can be mixed in. Besides that, I will select fifty. I will earn money for ten myself, bribe officials for twenty, and for the other twenty, I have many relatives and owe a lot of favors, so I can repay some of them.”

Wei Yuan narrowed his eyes, looked at the old man, and remained silent for a long time.

The old man grew increasingly uneasy and finally said, "How about we choose forty? We'll repay less of the favors."

Wei Yuan suddenly smiled and said, "Actually, your clan never expected you to succeed in the negotiations, right?"

The old man gritted his teeth and then nodded.

"Then you can choose fifty. Oh, by the way, when you get back, remember to tell them that the ransom will increase by ten taels for each new person who comes to negotiate."

The old man breathed a sigh of relief.

Wei Yuan was also very satisfied; such a good negotiating partner was rare. The fact that the Xu family was now taking the negotiations seriously only demonstrated the weakness of the clan.

(End of this chapter)