Chapter 612: Breakdown in Negotiations
Miao Yangxu’s voice rumbled from within the valley.
Before he spoke, righteous indignation had bubbled up inside of these Miao Family juniors, and all of them had been thinking of attacking Qin Lie. Now, however, all of them calmed down.
Miao Tai’s chest was slick with blood, but the look in his eyes clearly indicated that he had no intention of admitting defeat. If Xing Yuyuan hadn’t restrained him and prevented him from completely executing the Illusory Demon Reversal, he might have actually gone insane.
“Enter the valley!” Miao Yangxu yelled once more, his words booming out from the valley.
“Let’s go,” Xing Yumiao said with a frown, promptly heading into the valley. He didn’t want to waste any more of his breath.
“Go cool off,” Xing Yuyuan said, patting Miao Tai on the shoulder as he strode away as well.
A calm smile spread across Qin Lie’s face. Amidst the fierce stares of the Miao Family’s younger generation, he entered the valley.
Taking the lead, Miao Meiyu said, “Please enter.”
At the peak of the valley’s tallest palace, Blue Moon Valley’s five valley masters were silent.
After a long moment, Miao Yangxu spoke up.
“He is far, far stronger than Miao Tai,” he said in a solemn voice.
The other four valley masters nodded, grim expressions setting on their faces. Qin Lie’s surprising display of strength had surprised all of them.
“Blood Fiend Sect went quiet for a thousand years. They might be prepared to show themselves once more.” Miao Wenfan watched Qin Lie off in the distance, then carefully said, “Maybe we shouldn’t be rash and offend Blood Fiend Sect.”
“News of the commotion that occurred at the Setting Sun Islands has already spread throughout the Land of Chaos,” Miao Kang replied. “Barring any unexpected development, Black Voodoo Cult and the three great families won’t just stand by and watch. It won’t take long for them to attack the Setting Sun Islands.”
“Let’s just continue observing,” Miao Yangxu said thoughtfully. “We don’t need to make an enemy out of Blood Fiend Sect yet. First let’s see if they are capable of surviving an attack from Black Voodoo Cult and the three great families. If they do, we can consider cooperating with them and… taking care of those four forces. But trying to get our Miao Family to serve them as a va.s.sal force again is nothing more than wishful thinking on their part.”
All five valley masters quickly came to an understanding.
As Miao Meiyu led Qin Lie and the Xing brothers into the valley, she suddenly turned around and glared at Qin Lie with her bright eyes.
“Are you really a member of Blood Fiend Sect?” she asked.
Her sudden questioning startled Qin Lie.
“Of course I am,” he replied.
“You don’t look like one.” Miao Meiyu shook her head.
“Oh?” Qin Lie raised his eyebrows.
“A few members of Blood Fiend Sect have approached us in recent years, hoping to negotiate with us and obtain our support.” Miao Meiyu snorted and said, “None of them were nearly as bold as you are. They wouldn’t have dared to hurt anyone in Blue Moon Valley!”
Qin Lie glanced at the Xing brothers beside him.
Xing Yuyuan laughed dryly and said, “She’s right. Blood Fiend Sect came to us several times in the past as well, but they were always careful, afraid of exposing themselves. Furthermore… they were very humble each time. The arrogance they had in the past was nowhere to be seen.”
Qin Lie suddenly realized what they meant. He couldn’t help but sigh on the inside.
After collapsing a thousand years ago, Blood Fiend Sect lost all of its pride and arrogance. Only a small number of Blood Fiend Sect martial pract.i.tioners managed to escape annihilation and flee to safety. Not only were all of them seriously hurt, their strength had plummeted as well.
From that point onward, Blood Fiend Sect didn’t dare to reveal themselves to outsiders. They couldn’t even show their might to former subordinates like they would have in the past.
One could only imagine the indifference that Gold Sun Island and Blue Moon Valley had treated Blood Fiend Sect with.
The reason the Miao Family dared to trouble them over and over today was not just because Gold Sun Island’s return to Blood Fiend Sect’s side annoyed them greatly.
It was also because the Miao Family no longer thought anything of Blood Fiend Sect. The way that members of Blood Fiend Sect had compromised with them several times in the past made every Miao Family clansman believe Blood Fiend Sect to now be weak and pathetic.
“I don’t know how Blood Fiend Sect usually acted when they came visiting Blue Moon Valley in the past, but from this day onward we will not tolerate any ridicule from anyone!” Qin Lie declared coldly.
“Based on what? You?” Miao Meiyu snickered disdainfully. “Your Netherpa.s.sage Realm cultivation? Or your ability to control the eight G.o.d corpses?”
It was obvious that Blue Moon Valley had thoroughly investigated the battle at the Setting Sun Islands.
Blue Moon Valley supposedly had a Nirvana Realm expert guarding it. The five great valley masters were also in the late stage of the Fragmentation Realm. They were powerful, confident in their strength.
Therefore, after they learned of Qin Lie’s trump card, the Miao Family didn’t think that Blood Fiend Sect could threaten them.
“We’ll see,” Qin Lie said calmly.
“We will see alright!” Miao Meiyu snorted.
It didn’t long for Miao Meiyu to lead the group through half the valley and bring them to the palace where Miao Yangxu and the others were.
The five great valley masters of Blue Moon Valley—Miao Yangxu, Miao Wenfan, Miao Kang, Miao Tieteng, and Miao Zunsheng—were already waiting for them inside the main hall of the palace.
The moment they entered the hall, Xing Yumiao bowed slightly and called out, “Big Brother Miao.”
“Hehe, we were discussing something just now, so it was inconvenient for us to come out and personally welcome you. I hope you don’t mind, island masters.” Miao Yangxu smiled and waved the Xing brothers to their seats. Then he said, “We’re about to discuss some serious business, so let us talk seriously. Heh, also, in the future… you should just call me Valley Master Miao. I… don’t think I deserve the t.i.tle of ‘big brother.’”
Miao Yangxu took the initiative to distance himself from the Xing brothers.
The Xing brothers’ smiles suddenly froze.
Both families had been joined in marriage for many years and could be considered relatives. They called each other brothers in the past, but Miao Yangxu’s words today made it obvious that they no longer wanted to be involved with Gold Sun Island.
“Alright, Valley Master Miao.” Xing Yumiao inhaled deeply and regained his cool. Then he said, “I’ll get straight to the point. The Pan Family, Black Cloud Palace, and Heavenly Sea Pavilion have sustained great losses. The patriarch of the Pan Family, Zheng Zhihe of Black Cloud Palace, and Jiang Hao of Heavenly Sea Pavilion have all been killed. More than half of their experts have either been killed or wounded as well. We hope that Gold Sun Island can work with Blue Moon Valley to seize control over all the islands of these three forces.”
“Blue Moon Valley has already been making preparations. However…” Miao Wenfan wore a fake smile as he spoke and purposely paused in the middle of his sentence. “We don’t need Gold Sun Island’s help. Heh, Blue Moon Valley has always had a good appet.i.te, and we’re sure that we can take all three forces on our own. Your a.s.sistance isn’t needed.”
Xing Yuyuan’s expression suddenly darkened.
The Pan Family, Black Cloud Palace, and Heavenly Sea Pavilion had suffered huge losses thanks to Qin Lie’s eight G.o.d corpses and Gold Sun Island’s relentless pursuit after the battle’s conclusion.
If Qin Lie and Gold Sun Island hadn’t fought with their lives on the line, those three forces wouldn’t have suffered nearly as big of a loss as they had. Now that all three of them had declined greatly in strength, Blue Moon Valley had actually made secret preparations to take over the three forces. They were even going to cast Gold Sun Island aside.
Their appet.i.te was a little too ugly.
“Valley Master Miao, even if we disregard the ties we share, considering all the effort we spent relentlessly hunting down the three forces and the significant damage we dealt them, don’t you think we have a right to some of the spoils?” Xing Yumiao said gravely, controlling his temper.
Miao Yangxu just sat there, his head bowed. He seemed to be considering something.
He didn’t answer Xing Yumiao.
Unexpectedly, Miao Wenfan was the one who chuckled softly and answered him, shaking his head.
“I’ll be frank. Blue Moon Valley has been planning to attack Black Cloud Palace and Heavenly Sea Pavilion for a while now. Even if you hadn’t fought them, we still wouldn’t have had any problems taking Heavenly Sea Pavilion and Black Cloud Palace down.”
“Heavenly Sea Pavilion and Black Cloud Palace were our targets from the beginning,” Miao Kang added. “Therefore, even without the intervention of you Xing brothers and Gold Sun Island, we would have still eliminated both forces.”
“What about the Pan Family?” Xing Yumiao asked.
“The Pan Family is a va.s.sal force of Illusory Demon Sect just like us. The fact that you attacked them without saying a thing is… probably against Illusory Demon Sect’s rule of no internal conflict, don’t you think?” Miao Wenfan sneered.
“Xue Moyan was the one who attacked the Pan Family!” Xing Yuyuan yelled.
“By now, everyone knows that Xue Moyan is Blood Fiend Sect’s successor, so she no longer counts as a disciple of Illusory Demon Sect,” Miao Wenfan continued. “We of Blue Moon Valley will temporarily take over the Pan Family’s territory and see who it belongs to after consulting with Illusory Demon Sect.”
“You want to take the everything from the Pan Family, Heavenly Sea Pavilion, and Black Cloud Palace for yourself, huh?” Xing Yumiao exclaimed.
He stared straight at Miao Yangxu and yelled, “Valley Master Miao, do you share this opinion as well?”
Miao Yangxu lifted his head and calmly stared at him.
“I do.”
A tremor rocked Xing Yuyuan’s body, and he gave Miao Yangxu an intense look. He wore an ugly expression as he nodded.
“Then we have nothing else to discuss!” Xing Yuyuan turned around and left.
Qin Lie kept silent as he watched the two parties engage in a verbal duel. He also wore a dark expression.
“Let’s go!” Xing Yumiao exclaimed.
“Blue Moon Valley will be sweeping through these three forces in half a year or so. We don’t want to see anyone show up that has no business being there.” Miao Wenfan sneered and said, “If they do, it will be at their own peril!”
“Hahahahaha!”
Never having spoken a word throughout this enter exchange, Qin Lie laughed loudly as he walked out of the valley.
“Big brother?” Miao Wenfan exclaimed softly.
Miao Yangxu shook his head and calmly said, “Let them leave.”
“We haven’t troubled Blood Fiend Sect any further, but it seems like this kid lacks any sense of propriety,” Miao Wenfan said coldly. “He’ll probably try to cause some trouble when we seize control of the Pan Family, Black Cloud Palace, and Heavenly Sea Pavilion.”
“All youths have dramatic opinions of their own abilities. Compared to our treatment of previous members of Blood Fiend Sect, at least we gave him face.” Miao Kang snorted. “This kid doesn’t know how to appreciate a favor.”
“We will ignore them for now. Black Voodoo Cult and the three great families will attack the Setting Sun Islands soon enough.” Miao Yangxu’s expression was calm. “If Blood Fiend Sect is truly capable, they should be able to endure their attack, right? We just need to quietly stand by and see what they’re capable of.”
“Blood Fiend Sect may very well be eliminated to the last man this time!” Miao Wenfan chuckled strangely.
“If they’re utterly useless, they can only blame themselves. They can’t put the blame on us.” Miao Yangxu rubbed his chin and added, “If Black Voodoo Cult and the three great families get rid of Gold Sun Island and Blood Fiend Sect, we will be able to seize control of Gold Sun Island as well. With the territories of the Pan Family, Gold Sun Island, Black Cloud Palace, and Heavenly Sea Pavilion under our control, Blue Moon Valley’s dream of swiftly gaining strength and ascending to become a Silver rank force in a hundred years may no longer be a dream!”
The moment he said this, the eyes of every Miao Family clansman overflowed with the light of ambition.
Every single one of them dreamed of surpa.s.sing the glory of their ancestors and elevating the Miao Family to the Silver rank.