Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 322 Still trying to take it all for themselves?

The place where the Huangquan Sect entertains guests is Youquan Pavilion, a beautiful spot near the Huangquan Dao Palace. The two masters from Cixin Temple are temporarily staying in a side room there, and Chen Ye went directly to meet them.

However, when Zhou Lang came to visit, Chen Ye chose to meet him on the thirty-third floor of the Yellow Springs Palace.

Although he disliked those formalities, Chen Ye knew that treating friends and "guests" was different, so he needed to brace himself and face the deputy leader of the Mirage Sect.

However, the beginning of the meeting surprised Chen Ye.

Zhou Lang greeted him with a smile and pleasantries, but although they didn't get to the point for a while, Zhou Lang didn't mention the feud between the Mirage Sect and Chen Ye at all.

Chen Ye didn't know whether Zhou Lang was just too shrewd or truly "magnanimous."

But since everyone else is chatting and laughing with you, Chen Ye can't just immediately turn on them and settle old scores.

Chen Ye had no idea that Zhou Lang was testing his character.

The feud between Chen Ye and the Mirage Sect was quite strange. It started when Chen Ye impulsively challenged Qin Ze, a disciple of the Mirage Sect, who was on the combat ranking list.

Then, inexplicably, Chen Ye won, and then inexplicably, they started arguing at the Yunlu Immortal Sect's Dharma Assembly, which led to another competition.

Losing both matches has completely humiliated the Mirage faction.

If it were just about saving face, that would be one thing, but who would have thought that Lingguangxian would get involved with Chen Ye, causing a lot of trouble later on.

Now that Zhou Lang is going to cover Chen Ye's mouth, he can't just start by threatening to kill him. Instead, he needs to figure out what kind of personality Chen Ye has.

Based on previous reports, Chen Ye seems to be the kind of person who is young and impetuous, unable to tolerate the slightest grievance, and even prone to exploding at the slightest provocation.

But after chatting for a while, Zhou Lang felt that Chen Ye was much more mature than he looked, and he spoke properly without any arrogance. On the contrary, he knew better than Zhou Lang, who was several hundred years old, how to treat people.

Putting everything else aside, Zhou Lang felt comfortable just listening to Chen Ye constantly mentioning "Master Zhou."

Even the disciples of the Mirage Sect call him the Deputy Sect Leader; they've never seen anyone as eloquent as Chen Ye.

If it weren't for the numerous conflicts between the Mirage Sect and Chen Ye, Zhou Lang would have thought this young man was quite good and even wanted to take him on as a disciple.

Zhou Lang couldn't help but wonder, "Where exactly did things go wrong? Chen Ye isn't an arrogant or conceited person, so how could he have been driven to the opposite side of the Mirage Party?"

It must be that the people below have concealed many details, which has put the Mirage Faction in such a passive position.

When we get back, we must give these good-for-nothings a good talking-to. All they do is cause trouble for the sect all day long.

However, it's useless to settle scores now; it's too late.

Zhou Lang had no choice but to steer the conversation back to the main topic, subtly inquiring: "Sect Leader Chen is young and accomplished, and he must have worked incredibly hard to establish this foundation in the Northern Frontier. During that time, he must have encountered many troubles, and perhaps even had some friction with mortals, thus making many enemies?"

The topic shift was a bit abrupt, and Chen Ye, who had been being rather perfunctory with his polite remarks, immediately perked up upon hearing this.

He's coming. Chen Ye really doesn't believe he's just here to offer congratulations. This deputy sect leader is finally going to show his true colors.

Chen Ye didn't mince words and frankly said, "The people of the Northern Frontier have been enslaved by the Nirvana Sect for a thousand years, and their original faith in their ancestral spirits is deeply rooted. Naturally, they are quite hostile towards the Yellow Springs Sect. However, as long as we treat each other with sincerity, we can now get along well."

Can sincerity be exchanged for sincerity?
Zhou Lang felt only disdain. The Mirage Sect was not entirely isolated from the world; they also had some interactions with ordinary people.

In Zhou Lang's view, most mortals are greedy and ignorant, and the Mirage Sect would have to spend a lot of effort dealing with them.

Fortunately, the restrictions on illusion magic were later lifted, so the Mirage Sect no longer needed to interact with mortals. They could simply use an illusion magic to make them do whatever they wanted.

However, the Mirage Sect is not a demonic sect after all, and mortals are of no use to them, so they usually don't bother with them.

What's the point of exchanging sincerity for sincerity? A group of mortals whose lifespan is only a few decades would want to tear you apart and devour you if they saw you live for hundreds of years.

Human hearts are fickle, and inner demons are hard to eradicate. Zhou Lang, a master of illusion, deeply believed in this principle.

In his view, Chen Ye had concealed many bloody events; otherwise, how could he have persuaded the people of the northern frontier to change their faith?

You must know that mortals are the most foolish and stubborn. They have worshipped the ancestral spirits for thousands of years, but in just a few months, the City God is replaced. How many people are willing to do that?
Even if they dared not carry out a massacre due to the rules of the Qinghe Sword Sect, the Huangquan Sect must have been stained with a lot of blood to become what it is today.

Moreover, there are rumors that Chen Ye has an ambiguous relationship with the Demonic Sect, and may have even used large-scale bewitching techniques to brainwash mortals into becoming his followers.

Whether Chen Ye acknowledges it or not is irrelevant; Zhou Lang wants to discuss the Mirage Sect.

"The Yellow Springs Sect has only been around for a few months, yet it has already encountered many troubles, let alone the Mirage Sect. Over the past thousand years, there have naturally been many unavoidable situations and unexpected events. If many of the sect's private affairs were to be leaked, others would attack it in every way, wishing they could slander it as a demonic sect..."

Zhou Lang poured out his grievances, and Chen Ye felt increasingly uneasy listening to him.

What exactly was Zhou Lang trying to say? Was he trying to explain the previous "misunderstanding" and hope that the two families could put an end to their differences?
That's not impossible.

Chen Ye has a lot to do these days and doesn't want to continue fighting with the Mirage Sect. Anyway, the Mirage Demons have all run away, and the rest are in the Ruins of Return. As long as the Mirage Sect doesn't provoke him anymore, he doesn't want to fight them to the death.

“I can relate to what Sect Leader Zhou said. Managing such a large sect is naturally a painstaking task, and you have to be careful in everything you do. But no one can be perfect in every aspect. It’s perfectly normal to make mistakes occasionally, and there’s no need to worry about it.”

Zhou Lang was immediately delighted upon hearing Chen Ye's words.

As expected, this Sect Master Chen was also a fellow practitioner, aware of the difficulties of managing a sect.

Zhou Lang pressed his advantage and said to Chen Ye, "That's right. There were some conflicts between the Mirage Sect disciples and Sect Leader Chen before. I think Sect Leader Chen is magnanimous and won't hold it against them."

Chen Ye breathed a sigh of relief; as expected, Zhou Lang had come to make peace.

"That's easy," Chen Ye readily agreed, saying to Zhou Lang, "It's just a small misunderstanding. You can't really see someone's true skills in a duel. I was just using a trick. The Yellow Spring Sect and the Mirage Sect are both righteous sects, so let's just treat it as a normal exchange. There's no need to take such a small matter to heart."

"So good, so good!"

Zhou Lang's eyes narrowed with joy. It seemed everything was going smoothly. Once he reached an agreement with Chen Ye, he could return to the Mirage Sect to focus on seizing power. The Yellow Spring Sect and the Mirage Sect were thousands of miles apart, so he wasn't worried about any impact.

"Since that's the case, I'll get straight to the point. Sect Leader Chen, you must have heard about the Ruins of Return from Immortal Lingguang. I can promise you that the two sects of the Mirage Demons within the Ruins of Return can share it. As long as you send Immortal Lingguang back, the two sects will become brother sects from now on, and we'll divide the treasures within the Ruins of Return together..."

Zhou Lang was speaking fluently when he heard Chen Ye say, "Sect Leader Zhou, you misunderstand. When I said we wouldn't hold it against each other, I meant from now on, we'll keep to ourselves. The Yellow Springs Sect doesn't want to be enemies with the Mirage Sect, but it also doesn't intend to deepen its cooperation with them."

Zhou Lang's expression immediately changed, and he asked in a deep voice, "Sect Leader Chen, what makes you say this? Do you intend to take Guixu for yourself?"

(End of this chapter)