Hunyuan Immortal Sect

Chapter 461 Conditions of Cooperation
"Aren't you curious why I suddenly attacked you?" Song Xian seemed to see through his thoughts and took the initiative to bring up a topic in order to explain his behavior and rebuild his image.

"Could it be that Sect Leader Song has already learned about the origin of this item from Fang Mingxuan?" Wei Fan was indeed curious. He felt that there was no loophole in his words, and after thinking about it, he could only conclude that Song Xian knew the origin of the item.

“If I knew, would I have needed to resort to such methods? I could have just told you directly.” Song Xian smiled slightly and explained how he discovered that Song Xian was lying: “Because of the Fang family’s matter, I have become enemies with Xu Zhuoxuan, the leader of the Mingyue Sect. I was worried that Fellow Daoist Wei was sent by him and might have other motives, so I decided to strike first.”

Wei Fan simply nodded. After this conversation, he gradually calmed down: "Sect Leader Song, there's something I'm not sure if I should say?"

"Fellow Daoist Wei, please speak frankly."

"Then I'll be frank. Sect Leader Song invited me to that secret realm. Are you worried that I'll tell others about this secret after I leave?" Although Wei Fan misjudged Song Xian's methods and abilities, he wasn't stupid and naturally guessed his concerns.

Song Xian did not deny it: "I have many enemies. If people find out about this, I can't guarantee that someone won't ambush me."

Wei Fan slowly exhaled, as if he had made up his mind: "Since we've come this far, I won't hold back anymore. Fang Mingxuan and I don't have a deep relationship. It was just a coincidence that we were able to search for treasure together back then. The reason I continue to cooperate with him is firstly because we found this thing together, and secondly, more importantly, our cultivation levels are similar, and our strengths are also roughly the same."

"I do want to go to each other's secret realms, after all, I've waited so many years, otherwise I wouldn't have risked coming to your sect's gate. But I've already witnessed Sect Leader Song's strength. If we go to that secret realm together, how can I guarantee that Sect Leader Song won't suddenly turn against me after we get what we want?"

Upon hearing this, Song Xian simply smiled and said, "Then what does Fellow Daoist Wei think?"

"I need a guarantee."

"How can we make you feel secure, fellow Daoist?"

Wei Fan pondered for a moment: "One thing for another. I heard that Fang Mingxuan has a Golden Essence Pill, which must have fallen into the hands of Sect Leader Song. After I return to Xishu County, I will take it out and send someone to give it to Sect Leader Song. Sect Leader Song will then send someone to deliver the Golden Essence Pill to me in the Xishu County market. I will deposit it in the Xuan Yuan Pavilion pawnshop, and after we return from that secret realm, I will take out the Golden Essence Pill and return it to Sect Leader Song."

“We have a gentleman’s agreement. If I send someone to deliver the key and Sect Leader Song breaks the agreement, then I will announce the news of this secret realm.”

Song Xian smiled and said, "We don't know what's in that secret realm yet. There might be treasures, but there might be nothing at all. The Golden Essence Pill, however, is a truly priceless treasure. If you take the Golden Essence Pill and then run away, or even reveal this secret, who will I complain to then?"

"I am a rogue cultivator, powerless and weak, how dare I provoke Sect Leader Song?"

"Who can guarantee that? As Fellow Daoist Wei said, we are not related and can't trust each other. Fang Mingxuan was willing to assassinate Gu Xuntao, the leader of Xuanyang Sect, for this item, and Fellow Daoist Wei was willing to risk going to our sect's mountain gate to obtain the key. To be honest, Fellow Daoist is all alone and has no ties. But I have a family and business. I can run away, but I can't hide. It should be me who needs some protection."

"So, Sect Leader Song doesn't agree to this plan? Then what can Sect Leader Song do to give me a guarantee?"

"How about this? I'll give you 200,000 spirit stones as a deposit, and you can deposit it in the Xuan Yuan Pavilion pawnshop."

Wei Fan remained silent.

“Fellow Daoist Wei, you don’t need to answer now. You can go back and think about it first. If you have any other better solutions, you can also bring them up.” Song Xian didn’t force him to give an answer now, since this matter wasn’t urgent.

"Then I'll take my leave." Wei Fan had wanted to leave for a while, and upon hearing this, he immediately got up to say goodbye.

Song Xian personally escorted him out of the mountain gate, and only returned to his residence after seeing him disappear into the distance.

.........

In the blink of an eye, half a month has passed.

In the imposing and spacious Foreign Affairs Hall, in a slightly dimly lit room, Xiao Ling looked at the dossier in her hand and frowned slightly: "So, so far, not only have you not seen Ding Mingde, but you haven't even seen Zhang Xuan, who is in charge of market affairs."

"Yes." The disciple standing opposite bowed his head and replied, "The Bright Moon Sect has a deep prejudice against our sect. Our disciples in the market have been repeatedly ostracized and attacked by them recently, and even harassed without cause. As you instructed, I have requested to see Zhang Xuan several times, hoping to make contact with Ding Mingde through him, but he ignores me completely."

“We haven’t accomplished anything since joining the sect. This is a big deal. The sect leader entrusted it to me. If we fail to complete it, what will the sect leader think of us in the future?”

"But the Bright Moon Sect has already closed the communication channels with our sect. I have already tried my best."

Xiao Ling put down the dossier and remained silent for a while: "Tell the person in charge in Humen City to do everything possible to arrange a meeting with Ding Mingde's junior, Zhang Xuan. I will go to Humen City to see him in person."

The disciple was slightly startled: "You're going to Humen City? The current situation isn't safe. The Bright Moon Sect is very hostile towards us. If the higher-ups of the Bright Moon Sect find out you're going, they might plot something. How about I have the person in charge of Humen City arrange a meeting between Ding Mingde and the market town of Xijiang County?"

"Use your brain! Do you think Ding Mingde would actually come to the market town in Xijiang County to meet us?" Xiao Ling glared at him.

“I’m only concerned for your safety. Uncle Wang has been recruited and his fate is unknown. If something happens to you, we will be even less welcome in the sect and will be ostracized.”

"Then you'd better step up your game. If you fail to complete the task personally assigned by the sect leader, not only you, but even I will be too embarrassed to speak again." Xiao Ling scolded for a moment, then softened her tone.

"Although the Bright Moon Sect has a grudge against our sect, they shouldn't be so desperate as to ambush me. They're not in a good position either, having already fallen out with the Hua Yuan Sect and the Xuan Yang Sect. The main reason they've cut off cooperation with our sect is because they can't save face. My personal visit is to show sincerity and give them a way out. Even if they're unwilling to lose face and refuse, they won't completely block their path."

“I am neither an important person nor do I have any personal grudges with the Mingyue Sect. As long as the Mingyue Sect has any sense, they should not do such a thing, so there is no need to worry too much about safety.”

"Of course, this matter should not be carried out in a big way; try to keep it confidential."

.........

While the two were talking, in the alchemy room not far away, Qi Xiaobai was concentrating on refining pills. His palms were placed on both sides of the cauldron, and his eyes were shining as he looked into the inside through the transparent bronze mirror of the cauldron, adjusting the size of the flames with his spiritual power.

After a long while, he slammed his hand heavily on the cauldron, and a round, black pill emerged from it, falling into the wooden box below. Qi Xiaobai bent down, picked up the pill, examined it closely, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

After putting the pills into the bottle, he wiped the sweat from his forehead, then closed his eyes and sat cross-legged, immersing himself in the alchemy process once again.

He didn't leave the alchemy room until dawn the next day. He returned to his residence, and as soon as his escape light faded, a disciple came up to greet him and bowed: "Uncle Qi, Senior Brother Huo is waiting in the living room. He said he has important matters to report to you. He came yesterday, but knowing you were refining pills, he didn't disturb you. He came again early this morning to wait for you."

Qi Xiaobai seemed to suddenly remember something and quickly walked towards the waiting room.

Inside, a middle-aged man was already seated. Upon seeing him arrive, he smiled broadly, stood up, and bowed, saying, "Uncle Qi, I apologize for disturbing you."

Qi Xiaobai smiled somewhat embarrassedly: "There are no outsiders here, Junior Brother Huo, please don't stand on ceremony, please sit down. I've been researching a new elixir these past few days and forgot that yesterday was the headquarters' meeting day."

“I know that Uncle Qi is busy in the alchemy room, and I didn’t want to disturb you while you were working on your alchemy. This is the sect’s financial expenditure for this quarter. I’ve brought it all. Some of it requires your signature. Uncle Qi, please take a look.” The man flipped through his hand and took out a stack of files.

Qi Xiaobai took it and glanced through it a few times. Only when he saw the total expenditure figures on the last page did he ask, "Why are there so many expenditures in the past few months?"

"This isn't the previous great battle where so many disciples died. This is all compensation and condolence money for their families. The sect leader said to take good care of them."

Qi Xiaobai nodded, didn't ask any more questions, took out his pen, ink, and seal, signed and stamped them: "I have this problem, when I'm refining pills I easily lose track of time, and I always have to ask you to finish things before telling me, it's really a hassle for you."

“It’s only right, Uncle Qi, there’s no need to be so polite. I was just helping Uncle Qi with these matters. Without Uncle Qi’s promotion, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Uncle Qi, you’ve worked hard refining pills, so I won’t disturb your rest any longer.” The man stood up with a smile and took his leave.

……

The sky is clear and the air is fresh, with not a single cloud in sight.

In the market of Humen City, in front of the Hunyuan Pavilion shop, Xiao Ling saw Ding Mingde walking towards her and quickly went to greet him with a smile: "Fellow Daoist Ding, it's been a long time. I was worried that you wouldn't do me the honor of coming. If you hadn't come, I would have lost face."

"Fellow Daoist Xiao, you have quite the courage to ask me to meet you in Humen City at this time. Just because of your sincerity, I have no choice but to come."

"Although your sect and my sect have had some misunderstandings recently, it is not to the point of never speaking to each other again. Moreover, Fellow Daoist Ding is known for his clear distinction between public and private matters. How could he make things difficult for a weak woman like me because of a few misunderstandings between sects?"

"Fellow Daoist Xiao is a woman who is no less capable than men; how can she be compared to those pretty young women?"

The two chatted and laughed, then entered the inner courtyard together and sat facing each other in the room.

"I don't lie in front of a true person. Fellow Daoist Ding is a wise man, so I will speak frankly. Actually, I came here on the orders of the sect leader, hoping to continue our cooperation with your sect. The sect leader knows that Fellow Daoist Ding is a pragmatic person and is deeply trusted and valued by Senior Xu. If you can offer your advice to Senior Xu, I believe that Senior Xu will be willing to restore our old friendship."

Ding Mingde's lips curled up slightly, his tone undisguisedly sarcastic: "Your clan just stabbed us in the back, and now you shamelessly want to cooperate with us. Don't you find that ridiculous?"

These words were already quite harsh, but Xiao Ling didn't care at all, still smiling: "Even brothers have disagreements and conflicts, let alone between sects! Strictly speaking, our sect and your sect don't have any major conflicts. Fellow Daoist Ding, ask yourself, even if our sect didn't take action, could the Fang family deal with Xuan Yang Sect?"

"Why did the Xuan Yang Sect seek help from our sect instead of recalling the people supporting the Hua Yuan Sect? Because they knew that recalling the Hua Yuan Sect's people would be more dangerous than eliminating the Fang family."

"Therefore, even if our sect does not intervene, your sect's plan to use the Fang family to restrain the Xuan Yang Sect and force them to recall their disciples to support the Hua Yuan Sect, thereby reducing the pressure on your sect to attack the Hua Yuan Sect's mountain gate, will be difficult to succeed."

“Xuanyang Sect sees this very clearly, so they would rather make great concessions to our sect, giving up all the resources and territory of the Fang family to our sect, than transfer back the manpower to support Huayuan Sect.”

"As far as our sect is concerned, why would we not eat a piece of fat meat that is already in our mouths? If it were your sect, I would probably make the same choice."

Ding Mingde's expression turned cold, and he snorted: "Since your sect has already chosen to stand with Xuan Yang Sect, why bother mentioning cooperation again?"

Xiao Ling spoke slowly and deliberately: "Even if your sect failed to take over the Huayuan Sect's mountain gate, why did you withdraw from Yongning City? And why did you unconditionally return all the resources and territory of Yongning City that you occupied? The one who really stabbed your sect in the back was not our sect, but the Beast Taming Sect, yet your sect did not sever ties with them."

"In fact, everyone in your sect knows very well that the reason why your sect failed to take Yongning City this time was not because of the obstruction of the Beast Taming Sect, and it has nothing to do with our sect."

"The real reason is that your sect overestimated its own strength and failed to conquer the Huayuan Sect's mountain gate. If you had been able to conquer its mountain gate in one fell swoop, neither the Beast Taming Sect nor our sect could have stopped your sect from annexing Yongning City."

"Senior Xu dares not have any complaints against the Beast Taming Sect, so he can only vent his anger on our sect. Our sect leader understands this, so he does not care about Senior Xu's actions of coming to the Fang family's mountain gate to attack our disciples."

"Senior Xu's decision to sever cooperation between your sect and our sect is less about revenge and more about venting his anger."

"Fellow Daoist Ding should be well aware that although your sect's business is an important part of our sect, it will not have a significant impact on our sect."

"The cooperation between our two sects is a win-win situation. Breaking off the cooperation would be a loss for our sect and would not benefit your sect either."

"Our sect leader, believing that cooperation is mutually beneficial, sent me to persuade Fellow Daoist Ding because he knows that Fellow Daoist Ding is a shrewd and pragmatic person who distinguishes between public and private matters, and hopes that Fellow Daoist Ding can rebuild the bridge for cooperation between our two sects."

"Of course, if you and your sect's Senior Xu really think that doing this will cause our sect heavy losses while benefiting your sect, or if you are willing to suffer losses for the sake of spite, then just pretend I didn't say anything today."

"I have come today simply to make one point: as long as your clan is willing to restore our old friendship, we welcome you at any time."

(End of this chapter)