Chapter 867: Negotiator
The blazing sun slowly sank.
As the sky darkened, the Dark Shadow clansmen hiding deep within the caves caves carefully poked their heads out of the cave entrances and waited a bit. When the sunlight had completely vanished, the Dark Shadow clansmen who had been hiding inside these stone caves for twelve days straight walked down the stairs one after another.
Most of the young Dark Shadow clansmen returned to their village at the foot of the mountain, discussing on how to capture spirit beasts.
Those who were older got ready to watch over their herbs or head to the mines for work.
Old Imperishable Realm martial pract.i.tioners like Eddie who had already gotten used to the darkness of the cave didn’t head out even after night had descended.
Any sort of activity would eat away at the energy inside their body, so they’d always tried to move as little as possible.
When the first crescent moon slowly appeared in the sky, a cool sensation appeared on Qin Lie’s right shoulder.
The silver moon mark imprinted onto his flesh began to absorb moon energy once again.
Suddenly, a bright, gold light appeared on the dim sky.
The gold light was also carrying with it the heat of the sun. It caused the gray sky to brighten up once more.
Many of the Dark Shadow clansmen who just returned to the village narrowed their eyes in fear and panic when they saw the gold light that suddenly appeared in the sky.
Inside the cave, Eddie paid close attention to the light for a moment before his expression changed slightly. He yelled, “It’s a sun war chariot!”
Qin Lie also looked astonished.
A short while later, a dazzling gold war chariot that looked like it was forged from pure gold descended from the sky. Gold sparks were coming off its body.
A young man with fiery red long hair clad in gold armor opened his mouth and put on a brilliant, sunny smile. He strode down from the war chariot.
The brilliantly hold war chariot were covered in many images of the sun, and these images all seemed to burn with bright flames.
The young man was smart-looking and handsome. His gold spirit armor was also engraved with many exquisite patterns. It only served to enhance his extraordinary presence and handsome looks even more.
Behind him, six martial pract.i.tioners dressed in the same gold armor adorned with Sun Palace’s symbol stood as firm as mountains.
“I am Sun Palace’s Jun Hongxuan, and I’ve purposely come today to visit the elders of the Dark Shadow Race. Please show yourself, honorable ones.”
The tall, broady and radiant young man was standing at the center of the Dark Shadow Race’s village, but his head was raised high as he stared at the caves in the middle of the mountain.
He obviously knew that the true people in charge of the Dark Shadow Race weren’t the young clansmen in front of him, but the old clansmen hiding inside the caves.
“Jun Hongxuan!” Eddie’s expression turned serious.
“Who is this man?” Qin Lie asked seriously.
He could feel that the young man who had called himself Jun Hongxuan was at most a Fragmentation Realm martial pract.i.tioner.
However, for some reason his eyes actually started to feel uncomfortable and dry because he stared at this young man for too long, even though he was so far away.
It was as if this man was radiating strong light.
It was a strong self-confidence and pride.
Qin Lie immediately realized that this Jun Hongxuan was far stronger than the Fragmentation Realm martial pract.i.tioners of the Land of Chaos even though he shared the same rank as them!
He could feel a powerful pressure from this young man.
It was a kind of pressure that he normally felt only when he was facing a Nirvana or Imperishable Realm martial pract.i.tioner.
“Jun Hongxuan is Sun Palace’s most terrifying young expert. He possesses the pure blood of the Flame Race, and he cultivates the Sun Palace’s spirit art. Right now, he has already reached the middle stage of the Fragmentation Realm, and he is extremely powerful in the Boluo Realm too.” Eddie inhaled deeply before continuing, “Sun Palace had been nurturing this man for many years. They also started leaving many of their businesses in Boluo Realm and Spirit Realm to him. Jun Hongxuan was the partic.i.p.ant and executor of many of Sun Palace"s battles as he went back and forth between Spirit Realm and Boluo Realm. He showed astounding abilities, and he won a great deal of love and trust from the old fellows in Sun Palace.
“This man may be young, but it is rumored that he’s an extremely vicious and difficult fellow to deal with. I don’t know why he has come to us, the Dark Shadow Race.” An old man took over the conversation with deep wrinkles on his forehead and obvious worry.
“If it is a blessing, it can’t be misfortune. And if it’s misfortune, we can’t avoid it. I shall meet him.” Eddie sighed and turned back to look at Qin Lie. He said, “You should stay inside the cave for now. It will be unwise to expose yourself and draw the other party’s attention.”
Qin Lie nodded.
Eddie walked out of the stone cave and summoned a few slivers of nether demonic energy. Then, he jumped down from the cave several hundred meters above the ground.
“Bang!”
After he stood still ten meters away from Jun Hongxuan, the old man bowed and asked humbly, “I am Eddie of the Dark Shadow Race, here to meet Young Master Jun of Sun Palace. May I know what business you have with our small Dark Shadow Race branch?”
“It can be nothing but the greatest of good news, of course.” Jun Hongxuan opened his mouth and smiled as brightly as the sun. It was obvious that he was feeling very pa.s.sionate and cheerful as he said, “Sun Palace knows that your clan is faring poorly in Boluo Realm, and out of sympathy for your plight our palace master has ordered us to come extend a helping hand.”
While saying this, Jun Hongxuan snapped his finger coolly.
Behind him, a Sun Palace martial pract.i.tioner took a step forwards and poured out a total of fifty thousand translucent spirit stones from his spatial ring.
The spirit stones piled up on the stone floor of the Dark Shadow Race’s village.
“Spirit stones! Tens of thousands of spirit stones! The quality of these spirit stones is much better than the ones provided to us by the Demon Dragon Race!”
“My G.o.d! These tens of thousands of spirit stones are enough for us to cultivate for a long time!”
The young clansmen of the Dark Shadow Race hadn’t seen so many spirit stones in their entire lives. They immediately grew excited.
Eddie looked calmly at those spirit stones. He looked a little unmoved.
He knew that he wouldn’t be so composed if Qin Lie hadn’t arrived earlier and dumped hundreds of thousands of high quality, Earth Grade spirit stones into the nether pool… and then told him he still had seven millions left.
Jun Hongxuan stared deeply at Eddie as a trace of astonishment pa.s.sed through his eyes. Even he was impressed by Eddie’s calmness.
“He definitely is an old fellow who once dared b.u.t.t heads against Sky Mender Palace. Three thousand years ago, these old b.a.s.t.a.r.ds once saw great scenes from the top and enjoyed boundless wealth. It is only natural that mere spirit stones won’t disturb his mind.”
Jun Hongxuan thought silently.
“Young Master Jun, what exactly do you mean by producing this many spirit stones?” Eddie asked calmly.
“I know that your clan was forced to migrate to Boluo Realm because of your b.l.o.o.d.y war against Sky Mender Palace, and I know that you were once forbidden from ever returning to Spirit Realm. Moreover, Boluo Realm doesn’t have a suitable land for your cultivation or any nether demonic energy that you can use, which is why your lives are as difficult as it were.”
Jun Hongxuan sighed softly with a sympathetic look on his face. Then, he said, “The palace master of Sun Palace felt sympathetic of your plight, and after we’ve negotiated and pleaded with numerous parties in Sky Mender Palace on your behalf, they have finally agreed to stop pursuing the wrongs you’ve committed back then. This also means that the Dark Shadow Race and even the Horned Demon Race and Ghost Eye Race of Nether Realm can return to Spirit Realm without worry of being hunted down by Sky Mender Palace any longer!”
“Thanks to our palace master’s efforts, Sky Mender Palace has cast their former pledge and your shackles!”
“All races of Nether Realm are now free!”
The moment he said this, the Dark Shadow clansmen in the village and the caves felt their breathing turned rapid and their faces blushed red.
They were so excited they could hardly control themselves.
To be able to return to Spirit Realm and their homeland, the Nether Continent, was their lifelong wis.h.!.+
It was a wish they once thought would never come true in their lifetime!
They never thought that Jun Hongxuan of Sun Palace would bring them such amazing news after so many years had pa.s.sed.
It caused blood of every Dark Shadow clansman to boil in joy.
Jun Hongxuan smiled as he watched the cheers of the Dark Shadow clansmen. He didn’t hasten his words and gave them time to be absorbed by happiness.
“It is not so simple.” Inside the cave, a Dark Shadow Race’s elder said calmly, “If Sun Palace really was willing to help us, they would’ve notified us about this even before negotiations have begun. They would not have waited until the dust has settled to tell us.”
Inside the cave, an old woman cast Qin Lie a deep glance with narrowed eyes before saying, “There’s no need to think. The Venerable One must have done his work in secret and somehow urged the Sky Mender Palace to give up on the agreement.” A pause later, she told Qin Lie, “The Venerable One must be the one who sent you over too. He had probably dealt with Sky Mender Palace first before he sent you over to bring us back to Spirit Realm.”
“This matter should have nothing to do with Sun Palace at all!” She stared coldly at Jun Hongxuan on the ground and snorted. “We may have become much weaker than we were before, but our brains haven’t deteriorated the same way. The truth is clear if one is willing to spend even a bit of time to think.”
Inside the cave, the other Dark Shadow Race elders also nodded after a moment of ponderment.
It was obvious that they too acknowledged the old woman’s deduction and knew that the truth was probably exactly as she said.
At the village, Eddie looked as unmoved as the rest of the elders too. He wasn’t as naive as the youths of the Dark Shadow Race.
“Was the palace master of Sun Palace really the one who convinced Sky Mender Palace?” Eddie asked indifferently.
“Do you think I’m lying to you?” Jun Hongxuan looked up with a bit of dissatisfaction on his face.
Eddie let out a couple of laughs but didn’t say anything. Instead, he fell into pondering silence.
Jun Hongxuan frowned slightly and pondered for a moment. When he saw that Eddie had no intentions of speaking up, he spoke up of his own accord, “There are two secret realm entrances that connect Spirit Realm and Boluo Realm. One of them is under our control.”
“I know.” Eddie nodded slightly.
“Today, I only wish to hear one thing from you. If you are willing to attach yourselves to Sun Palace and become our subordinate force, we will take you and all your clansmen away from Boluo Realm and back to Spirit Realm.”
“At Spirit Realm, the Sun Palace will also give you a middle-sized continent and pa.s.s it under your control.”
“After that, Sun Palace will take care of all the resources you need for your cultivation!”
“Also, we will take in any Horned Demon, Ghost Eye, or Dark Shadow clansmen willing to join us. We will give them all equal treatment!”
“However, you must also fulfill the responsibility of a subordinate force. When Sun Palace fights against another force, you will need to fight on the frontlines as our warriors.”
Jun Hongxuan straightened up and spoke frankly, revealing the true objective of his trip.
“Can you give us some time to think about this?” Eddie asked.
Just as Jun Hongxuan smiled slightly and was about to answer, his expression suddenly took a downward turn.
Beneath the first crescent moon, two beautiful and soft figures descended slowly onto the village while riding on an exquisite-looking flying spirit artifact.
Rays of moonlight descended from the sky and gathered around the two soft figures, adding to their beauty until they looked like living immortals of a moon palace.
“Lunar Temple can offer you the same thing as Sun Palace. In fact, we have additional gifts to give.” The clear sound of a woman’s voice travelled slowly across the air.
Jun Hongxuan couldn’t help but snort coldly.