Hunyuan Immortal Sect

Chapter 416 Long-Term Plan
"Eliminate Wan Huaming." Huang Ye was startled and unconsciously repeated the order. Wan Huaming was a disciple of the Xuan Yuan Sect, and this matter could bring annihilation to the sect.

He wanted to advise Song Xian to think twice and consider the matter carefully, but he also knew that since Song Xian had summoned him to discuss this matter, he must have already made a well-thought-out decision.

Having been a member of the sect for so many years, he knew that once someone made a decision, they would not easily change it.

After a moment of silence, he secretly glanced at Song Xian before hesitatingly whispering, "Is it absolutely necessary to eliminate Wan Huaming? I suggest that the sect leader reconsider."

“I am well aware of the consequences. I have asked you to come here to help me complete my plan. I intend to lure him out of Xijiang County, find a remote and deserted place, and quietly eliminate him.”

Wan Huaming wasn't a particularly important figure in the Xuan Yuan Sect, and the Xuan Yuan Sect wouldn't turn the entire Western Frontier County upside down for him. As long as the plan was meticulous, the risks were completely manageable.

Hearing him say this, Huang Ye knew that he had made up his mind and there was no use in persuading him: "Whatever the sect leader's orders are, I will do my best."

Song Xian's expression was solemn: "First, find out who Wan Huaming trusts the most. Then, choose a suitable target and have someone approach him. Don't go to sect disciples; find a reliable independent cultivator outside, negotiate a price, and gain his trust. This is the first step."

"After gaining the trust of Wan Huaming's confidant, we will set up another scheme to lure Wan Huaming out of Xijiang County and take him to the Muhe Grassland or some other remote and deserted place. This is the second step."

Song Xian had been thinking about it all night and had a preliminary plan in mind for how to get rid of Wan Huaming without anyone knowing.

To eliminate Wan Huaming, it's definitely not possible to do so within the territory of Xijiang County.

First, there are many cultivators in Xijiang County who recognize this person, and he himself is quite strong. The longer the fight goes on, the higher the risk. Even if Wan Huaming is killed, if a passing cultivator sees him, there is a risk of exposure during the subsequent investigation by Xuan Yuan Sect.

Secondly, many people in Xijiang County have witnessed his moves, such as his powerful fire-attribute magic and Xuanluo Yin Fire, which he has used in front of others more than once.

He would inevitably use these techniques when he fought Wan Huaming. If a passing cultivator saw this, the Xuan Yuan Sect could easily pinpoint his location.

Therefore, we must leave Xijiang County and go to a remote and uninhabited place to take action, preferably an uninhabited island, which is the ideal location.

Secondly, he cannot take action in the near future, because he just met Wan Huaming's enemy's disciple. If he takes action now, it will easily bring up this matter and make people suspect him.

"Yes, I will investigate immediately," Huang Ye replied solemnly.

Song Xian said slowly, "Don't tell anyone about this, and don't let anyone else handle it. You have to do everything yourself. When choosing someone close to Wan Huaming, it's best to choose someone who is greedy, gambler, and lecherous. Don't choose someone who is shrewd and capable."

"Those who are close to Wan Huaming's confidants must meet the following conditions."

"First, one must be quick-witted."

"Second, he must have a family, preferably with elderly parents, a wife and children, and a harmonious extended family. Moreover, he must be a person who values ​​family."

"Let's finalize the selection first, then we can discuss the follow-up plans."

Huang Ye nodded solemnly: "I understand."

"How is your cultivation of the Nine Nether Ice Soul Technique going?" Because he also possessed a water-attribute spiritual root and had done many personal favors for him, Song Xian had long ago passed on the Qi Refining stage of the Nine Nether Ice Soul Technique to him.

"It has not yet been perfected."

"This cultivation technique will help you break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm. You have been in the sect for so many years and have planned a lot for me. In the sect, you are one of the people I trust the most. I know that you are meticulous and reliable, which is why I asked you to do this. Now your cultivation has reached the tenth level of Qi Refining. If you complete this task, I will give you a Foundation Establishment Pill to help you establish your foundation, and then I will teach you the cultivation technique for the Foundation Establishment stage."

"Thank you, Master."

"Go ahead! Once you've finalized the selection, let me review it. There's no need to rush this; we have plenty of time to screen candidates. The most important thing is reliability. This is a long-term plan, and I'm not planning to take action anytime soon."

"Yes." Huang Ye responded and withdrew.

.........

As night fell, Song Xian returned to his residence after a day of cultivation. His disciples reported to him that Zhang Yuansheng had woken up and was waiting in the waiting room.

"Sect Leader, I was confused for a moment, please forgive me." Seeing Song Xian enter from outside, Zhang Yuansheng immediately went to greet him, knelt down in fear and trepidation, and begged for forgiveness.

He was genuinely terrified, fearing that Song Xian might harm him.

"Alright, get up!" Song Xian went straight to the head seat and waved his hand.

Zhang Yuansheng slowly stood up, head down and hands hanging limply, like a child who had done something wrong.

"It's good that you realize your mistake. Don't try to be clever like that again."

"Yes, disciple knows his mistake and will take it as a warning in the future." Seeing that Song Xian did not intend to pursue the matter, Zhang Yuansheng breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's rare that you still have some loyalty to your friends, and since this is your first offense, I won't pursue your crime. Actually, I also like loyal and righteous people, but now that you've joined the sect and become a disciple, you have to consider the sect's interests more."

"This disciple will never dare to do it again. Thank you for your forgiveness, Master."

Song Xian flipped his hand and took out two third-tier spirit stones, tossing them to him: "Although Wan Huaming's white flame is not what I need, the clue is not false. Consider these two hundred spirit stones as a reward for providing the clue. If you have any news in this regard in the future, please report it to me. If it is something I need, I will reward you handsomely."

"I am already deeply grateful for the sect leader's forgiveness of my sins. I dare not accept the reward of spirit stones."

“One thing at a time. Punishment is punishment, and reward is reward. Even if you are not exempted from punishment, you will still receive your reward. The sect has always been clear about rewards and punishments.”

"Thank you, Sect Leader." Zhang Yuansheng's face lit up with joy. He had been feeling uneasy, but he hadn't expected to not only escape punishment but also receive a reward of two hundred spirit stones.

Two hundred spirit stones, though not much, was more than half a year's salary for him. More importantly, these two hundred spirit stones gave him peace of mind.

“If Wan Huaming finds out that I met with Li Zixing in private, you should know how much trouble this will bring to me and the sect. Therefore, this matter must be kept absolutely secret, and you must not mention it to anyone else. Not a single word about the grudges between Wan Huaming and Li Zixing can be revealed.” Song Xian’s voice suddenly turned cold.

"Don't say I didn't warn you. If I find out that others know about this or that people in the sect are talking about it, don't blame me for being impolite."

"This disciple would never dare. If this disciple were to divulge even a single word, may I be struck by lightning!" Zhang Yuansheng swore repeatedly in fear.

After giving him a dressing down, Song Xian waved his hand and let him leave.

Several months passed in the blink of an eye. After a long period of investigation and research, Huang Ye finally selected several key figures around Wan Huaming.

Inside the brightly lit room, the two took their seats as host and guest, respectively.

"Sect Leader, these are the suitable targets we selected after our investigation. There are two candidates." Huang Ye took out two files: "One of them is Wan Yuesheng. He is a descendant of Wan Huaming's family. He is a show-off and loves face. He often uses Wan Huaming's name to bully others. He is mediocre."

"The second one is Xun Jian. He was promoted by Wan Tianming and was in charge of the Xuan Yuan Sect's market affairs. He was only interested in making money and was also very lecherous, with a very bad reputation."

"Both of these people are close to Wan Huaming. Xun Jian is more favored, but Wan Yuesheng is a junior member of his family and receives more preferential treatment."

"Please decide, Master, who to choose as the target."

Song Xian took the dossier and carefully read through the information on the two men. Wan Yuesheng was fat and had big ears, while Xun Jian had a rat-like face. The information detailed their various bad deeds.

"Let's go with Wan Yuesheng!" After reviewing the information, Song Xian made his choice without much hesitation.

On the surface, although Xun Jian seemed to be more valued by Wan Huaming, valuing someone does not equate to trusting them. Moreover, Xun Jian was in charge of market liaison affairs, and even if he was extremely greedy and lustful, he still had some ability.

Therefore, of the two, he preferred Wan Yuesheng, who was somewhat of a spoiled rich kid.

"Alright." Huang Ye responded, then took out two more files: "These are two candidates I have selected who are close to Wan Yuesheng. Please take a look, Sect Leader."

Song Xian took the file and began to read it.

The first person is named Xu An, a Qi Refining Level 6 cultivator. He is a rogue cultivator who makes a living by selling talismans. His parents are still alive, and he has two siblings. He is a filial son and although he has been in the cultivation world for many years, he often goes home to visit his parents.

The second person is named Lin Xu, who is at the seventh level of Qi Refining. He is a merchant who makes a living by trading materials from monsters in the Muhe Grassland. Some time ago, the team had an internal conflict for some unknown reason, and Lin Xu was injured and had to recuperate. Although he has no older brothers or relatives, he has a wife and children to rely on and loves them very much.

"Go talk to Xu An. Don't tell him your real purpose. If he insists on asking, just say that you approached Wan Yuesheng to obtain information about the Xuan Yuan Sect."

"Yes."

The two talked for a while before Huang Ye left.

As night fell, the inner courtyard and rooms of the mansion were completely silent.

Su Zhirou nestled in Song Xian's arms, resting her head on his shoulder, her fingers gently tracing patterns on his chest: "Husband, I have something to tell you."

"What is it now? Is it another time you're pleading for someone?" Song Xian could tell from her tone that it wasn't anything good.

"No." Su Zhirou twisted her body and snuggled closer to him, saying in a sweet voice, "Today, Ling'er told me that she wants to move the fire-tailed rabbit breeding to Bianxi City. There is a place called Wuyu Mountain, which is particularly suitable for raising fire-tailed rabbits."

The Firetail Rabbit is a first-tier spirit beast. Its meat is tender and delicious, and it is very popular among cultivators in Xijiang County. Various types of rabbit meat spirit food sell well in Xishu County.

To obtain authorization from the Beast Taming Sect, the sect spent considerable effort and resources, and finally the sect granted permission for them to raise this spirit beast.

The Beast Taming Sect originally started by breeding spirit beasts and gradually grew into the largest power in Xijiang County. Therefore, they have strict control over spirit beast breeding, and all buying, selling, breeding and selling of spirit beasts in the entire Xijiang County must be approved by them.

In Xishu County, many cultivators from other counties who are unfamiliar with the Beast Taming Sect believe that the Beast Taming Sect specializes in training combat spirit beasts and relying on commanding them in battle, but this is not the case.

The Beast Taming Sect is called the Beast Taming Sect because their main business at the beginning was the large-scale breeding and sale of low-level spirit beasts, as well as the refining of spirit wine and spirit food.

Of course, the Beast Taming Sect is also very knowledgeable about spirit control techniques, but it is very difficult to cultivate combat spirit beasts on a large scale.

Raising high-level spirit beasts requires a huge amount of resources. Not to mention the spiritual veins they need, their daily food rations alone are a large sum.

Whether a spirit beast can advance to the next level depends on its own talent and luck.

Generally speaking, raising a spirit beast from its infancy until it advances to the fourth tier, which is equivalent to the combat power of an early Foundation Establishment cultivator, requires about 60,000 to 70,000 spirit stones a day for feeding it spirit herbs and pills. Moreover, whether it can advance to the fourth tier depends on its own development.

Why invest these resources in spirit beasts instead of training sect disciples? For example, the golden-armored ant that Song Xian raises is a rare spirit beast with excellent aptitude, but its cultivation progress has always been slower than his. This is because spirit beasts have long lifespans, averaging about twice that of cultivators, so their cultivation progress is not as fast as that of cultivators.

He has spent nearly 100,000 spirit stones on the Golden Armored Ant to advance it to the fourth-tier spirit beast.

In addition to feeding it Beast Spirit Pills every day and regularly feeding it spiritual medicines, he also used the Devouring Gu Insect Method to cultivate its combat power. The so-called Devouring Gu Insect Method is to make insect-type demon beasts kill each other to raise the strongest species. For this purpose, he specially had a group of ant-type spirit beasts raised, and occasionally let the Golden Armor Ants have a full meal.

Raising a fourth-tier spirit beast already requires so much effort and resources, let alone large-scale training.

This is not just a matter of financial resources; relying on a large number of spirit beasts to form a fighting force also presents technical challenges.

As is well known, if one wants to fully control a spirit beast, one must sign a blood-soul contract with the spirit beast when it is still young. Each cultivator can only sign such a contract with one spirit beast, so that a special telepathic connection can be established between the two.

Just like Song Xian and the Golden Ant, they can sense each other. He doesn't need any commands; as long as he has a thought, the Golden Ant knows what to do.

While this type of blood-soul contract is very useful and allows you to control spirit beasts as you please, it also has certain side effects.

If a spirit beast dies, it will affect its master, causing damage to the master's soul.

Without signing a contract, it is difficult to drive a spirit beast to fight desperately through training alone, because as the spirit beast's cultivation level increases, its intelligence also increases, and it will instinctively flee when faced with danger.

Without a signed soul contract, it is impossible to drive it to fight enemies to the death. It may even turn against its master. Some demonic beasts are inherently cold-blooded, and training and cultivating emotions alone are unreliable. This has long been established in the cultivation world.

Therefore, to cultivate combat-type spirit beasts, one must sign a soul contract with them. However, a cultivator can only sign a contract with one spirit beast. Thus, it is simply unrealistic to cultivate combat-type spirit beasts on a large scale and drive a large number of spirit beasts to fight to the death with enemies.

The large-scale breeding of beasts by the Beast Taming Sect is divided into two categories. One is low-level spirit beasts such as Fire-tailed Rabbits, which are used for sale or for refining spirit wine and spirit food.

One type is non-combat spirit beasts, such as the Azure Winged Bird. Through training and raising, they can be trained to carry people and cargo in flight, but they cannot fight to the death against enemies. They will run away when they encounter danger.

All combat spirit beasts are raised by individual cultivators through signing soul contracts. Because it costs them their own money, resources, and energy, these spirit beasts are personal possessions of the cultivators. Furthermore, due to the soul contracts, the death of a spirit beast will damage the soul of its owner, so it is impossible to hand over the spirit beasts to the sect for unified command in battle.

Many disciples of the Beast Taming Sect raise spirit beasts, but very few can advance to the fourth rank. Everyone values ​​and cherishes their spirit beasts, and they will not let their spirit beasts take risks unless they encounter a life-or-death situation with a powerful enemy.

(End of this chapter)