In just an hour, Patriarch Lu had gained a clear idea about the situation. Xue Chou and his men had all returned to the Blood Evil Island.The result of this battle was clear. The Liu Family gained a complete victory. Apart from two Green Dwarfs being killed, the Liu Family didn’t sustain other great losses. Only 30 warriors and one Patriarch of the Spirit Sea Realm were dead which was nothing compared to the loss of the Blood Evil Island.
The Patriarchs gathered together and discussed about their next step. They all agreed to what Patriarch Seven proposed, continuing the triumphant pursuit and acting as circ.u.mstances dictated when they were outside of the Blood Evil Island.
Lu Li didn’t want them to advance prematurely, but to stay behind at the Blood Dragon Island was not a solution either. He kept silent as he thought many things but didn’t have a better strategy.
The time limit of using his Bloodline Skill was up. Lu Li was very feeble now. A drowsy feeling crept over him. But how did he dare to fall asleep now with the situation not clear? He had to hold on firmly despite the difficulty.
After some discussions, in the end, Patriarch Seven decided to bring all the warriors of the Spirit Sea Realm and some of the Xuan Wu Realm to station outside the Blood Evil Island together with the eight Green Dwarfs. They would do as they saw fit.
As the major force of the Liu Family, Lu Li naturally was asked to act together with them. He found it difficult to go against it, so he followed them with great efforts. They took two battles.h.i.+ps and travelled towards the Blood Evil Island. Lu Li sat in the cabin of the battles.h.i.+p with his legs crossed and his eyes closed. He was trying to recover his physical and mental strength that had been consumed too much.
Nearly all of the Liu Family warriors moved out. All the Spirit Sea Realm warriors and more than half of those at the Xuan Wu Realm went out to the fight. Of course… more than half of Xuan Wu Realm warriors were still less than 100. The number of Liu Family warriors was too small.
Granted, there were only a little more than 100 warriors in total, but every one of the Liu Family was risen with force and spirit. As long as they destroyed the powerful warriors of the Blood Evil Brotherhood, the Liu Family could own the Blood Evil Island.
With such a vast territory and the Blood Caterpillar Gra.s.ses, the Liu Family could develop with fast speed and finally stay stably at the Thousand-island Lake.
The Blood Evil Island was quiet!
When the two battles.h.i.+ps arrived outside of the Blood Evil Island, they found n.o.body on the dock. All the battles.h.i.+ps were gone. After they circled around the Blood Evil Island, they didn’t even see one scout of the Blood Evil Brotherhood…
Still, n.o.body was seen after the Liu Family warriors circled around the Blood Evil Island several times. The several patriarchs of the Liu Family were mentally disturbed. They had thought that they could retreat or advance as they saw fit, but now they found themselves on the horns of a dilemma.
If they advanced, the Blood Evil Island was others’ territory. The Blood Evil Brotherhood still had one or two thousand warriors and three at the Soul Pond Realm. Who knew what would happen when they went ash.o.r.e? Retreat? They would hate to do that.
"Patriarch Lu, bring someone with you to find out. Be careful."
Finally, Patriarch Seven ordered. They would have to wait for a clear understanding of the situation. Patriarch Lu moved with five top-level scouts of the Liu Family. They sneaked towards the Blood Evil Fortress via a small hill.
They anch.o.r.ed the battles.h.i.+p at the dock, and waited quietly for the search. An hour later, a figure rushed from the distance. He looked agonized.
"Third Brother Lu, what is happening? How come only you returned?"
When that man boarded the s.h.i.+p, Patriarch Seven asked. Patriarch Lu who came back shook his head and sighed. "There are too many people outside of the Blood Evil Island. Their Chief Patriarch fought in person. I would have died there if I weren’t so fast."
"…"
Who dared to move rashly without a clear knowledge of the situation? The warriors of the Liu Family looked at each other, at a loss of what to do.
Time pa.s.sed by and two hours later, on the road to the dock, Xue Chou walked over with two warriors of the Soul Pond Realm and hundreds more.
"Fall back 1000 feet and prepare for the fight!"
Patriarch Seven shouted. All drew their weapons out as the battles.h.i.+p moved backwards. Patriarch Seven, Patriarch Nine, and Liu Yi were standing on the deck, looking at Xue Chou who was slowly walking towards them with alarm.
It was nearly four hours now. Lu Li hadn’t recovered completely yet, but he was less consumed spiritually. He didn’t go out but still sit with his legs crossed in the cabin.
Xue Chou and the two Soul Pond Realm Patriarchs didn’t walk in the front. Hundreds of people were walking ahead of them. Clearly, they were afraid of surprise attacks from the Green Dwarfs.
On the open land in front of the dock, Xue Chou waved his hand to signal everyone to stop. Xue Chou started at Patriarch Seven and said, "Brother Shanhe, we took the Liu Family in. This is how you are treating us?"
Embarra.s.sment showed on Patriarch Seven’s face. This was not a simple matter of right or wrong. The Liu Family did bite the hand that fed them, but the Blood Evil Island also had bad intentions all along. They wanted to annex the Liu Family from the beginning and Xue Bugui almost raped Liu Yi. Additionally, seeing the Liu Family grew high quality Blood Caterpillar Fruits, the Blood Evil Island started a war immediately…
Neither side was wrong. Both parties sought development and strength. All their decisions that were for the sake of avoiding being destroyed and better development were right.
Patriarch Seven smiled with embarra.s.sment. He clasped his hands and said, "Brother Xue, we don’t have to say these words. For the good of the Liu Family, I, Liu Shanhe, have to bow to necessity. How about this? You leave the Blood Evil Island and I promise that we will no longer view you as an enemy. Furthermore, we will give you one million Xuan Crystals a year. How about it?"
"One million Xuan Crystals?"
A big commotion swept not only the Liu Family but also the Blood Evil Island. The price Patriarch Seven named was shocking. Even for the Blood Evil Island, one million Xuan Crystals was not a small amount.
Liu Yi and the rest gave it some thoughts. If the Liu Family could get the Blood Evil Island, how many high quality Blood Caterpillar Fruits could they grow? They could easily make several millions of Xuan Crystals a year. What was one million to give to the Blood Evil Brotherhood?
Xue Chou uttered no word. After a while, he mumbled with two other Patriarchs. After the time it took for three incense sticks to burn, Xue Chou turned back and said, "Brother Shanhe, what do you think of this? The Blood Dragon Island is still yours and we can also give you three neighboring islands. You will give us one million Xuan Crystals a year. From now on, we will live in peace and not interfere with other’s business."
Xue Chou seemed to be afraid of the Green Dwarfs. He aspired for war no more but peace talks. Patriarch Seven and Patriarch Nine looked at each other. Light flickered in their eyes.
It was their wish to stop the fight as well. The Liu Family needed time to evolve. As long as they could put off for some time, the Liu Family could purchase more Green Dwarfs. They could use resources to make a large number of their warriors to reach Spirit Sea Realm. The Liu Family could keep on developing, and in the end, gain a firm stand at the Thousand-island Lake.
Patriarch Seven discussed with several Patriarchs. Finally, Patriarch Seven made up his mind. He looked to Xue Chou and said, "Brother Xue, loan us the Blood Evil Island to us for a year. You will have the rest islands. Every month, we will give you 100,000 Xuan Crystals. In this way, both sides can develop fast. One year later, we will all leave the Blood Evil Island and we will fight for other islands that have lava lands. We can also swear a blood oath. If we violate it, we will succ.u.mb to horrible deaths."
What Patriarch Seven offered was generous and also advantageous for the Liu Family. As long as the Blood Evil Island was in the Liu Family’s hand for one year, the Liu Family could earn enough Xuan Crystals to buy dozens of Green Dwarfs. By then, it would be easy for the Liu Family to conquer any islands with lava lands.
Naturally!
Xue Chou seemed to be interested. His eyes glowed and he stated that it could be considered. However, he said he needed to call upon all the patriarchs of the Family to discuss and the Liu Family should allow him two hours.
Xue Chou went back with his men. Patriarchs of the Liu Family were elated and inspired. All they could think of was how the Liu Family should develop when they got to the Blood Evil Island and how to expand the farms so they could grow more Blood Caterpillar Fruits…
Liu Yi was uplifted. She went inside the cabin immediately to share the good news with Lu Li.
Lu Li’s mental status was better now. He became silent after he heard Liu Yi’s accounts. He pondered about it for the time it took for an entire incense stick to burn. Then he opened his eyes suddenly and said in a low voice, "You idiots. You are tricked. Xue Chou is stalling…"
…